Hey, look, it's your friendly neighborhood aggro player, THE one and only 3drinks, with another spicy, reasonably successful brew to share with anyone who wants to know!
Sui Black, an archetype that hasn't put up real winning numbers in over a decade, but that hasn't stopped me in making it work in 2015. I unveil to you;
You and I seem to be in sync with our 1vs1 Commanders. Thalia, Alesha, and now Drana. Not bad.
Thanks for this list, I'll type mine up in the coming days. I've built it as a hyper-aggressive Thalia. Since Drana can't disrupt my opponents' spells naturally, I went as aggro as possible.
How do you feel about running Contamination as a win condition? It seems like it would serve a very similar role to Armageddon et al in Thalia.
What about shadow creatures, Nether Traitor and Dauthi Slayer (and others)? Seems quite strong.
Your comparisons to Thalia are apt. I opted for Drana though b/c the Animar match up is better and your guys aren't outclassed as quick.
I do not believe Contamination is good enough in a dork/rock meta. Nether Traitor is good in sac.dek but here it's a 2cmc Raging Gobin. I need raw power from my creatures - contrast Traitor @ 2 with Flesh Reaver for instance. Phyrexian Negator is good too (unless expecting Marath) although he's less good @ 3 as he competes with Drana.
Dauthi Slayer was the last shadow I had until I came upon Stronghold Crusader. Prot W & Jump lets me stone wall Sigarda all day, and relevant mana sink is relevant.
In Suicide, I need high power to low cost creatures. Those demons are two of the best at it. I just want a clock. And, being mono colour vs tri colour means I don't have the same options as you.
Likewise to the lack of Fiend/Maggot, 2cmc 1/1s aren't where I should be when I have 1cmc 2/2s available. Hyppie (as well as master of the feast & arrogant bloodlord) were cut b/c Drana is the three drop I want all the time. Endless One replaced one of those b/c its also a beater, but can fit anywhere on the curve.
Perish exists b/c big dumb green f*cks TM out grow us & do a helluva job stonewalling us.
What I want to justify, is War Horn as "Bad Moon #2".
So, you're saying in an aggro deck its good to sacrifice utility for raw power?
Edit: Rereading this comment I realized that my question could me misinterpreted as if I were sarcastically questioning your deckbuilding abilities. I want to be clear that I highly respect your deck building abilities and am wondering if I should take a similar approach to a more aggressive variant of Marchesa I have been testing lately. Sometimes I wonder if 4 mana 2/2's like Venser, Shaper Savant or Sower of Temptation are to slow even though they are amazing cards.
I think, doing 3c & aggro together is a mistake b/c you can't aggro fast enough while fixing colours. My Alesha, & yes your Marchesa, Anafenza as well, are all not aggro - they're midrange. This is an ideology I've begun adopting after more careful study of Asimov's lists (esp his Kytheon).
I think, doing 3c & aggro together is a mistake b/c you can't aggro fast enough while fixing colours. My Alesha, & yes your Marchesa, Anafenza as well, are all not aggro - they're midrange. This is an ideology I've begun adopting after more careful study of Asimov's lists (esp his Kytheon).
This is starting to get side tracked for a Drana thread (apologies) but I find trying to pull off Midrange without Green to help you ramp is difficult. You're always slower then the opposing green midrange deck like Anafenza or Deveri that are able to get their midrange threats out before you can thus winning the aggro race. The lack in speed affects other matchups too. I've been trying out a much more aggressive version of marchesa but I haven't decided which I like better yet between the aggro variant or my regular midrange version.
When I was testing Drana I felt that I almost never passed with mana up for removal, I preferred to use it main phase 1 so I could get in some damage. Because of that I made the exchange of Hero's downfall for Ruinous Path and it performed ok.
Do you think that Treacherous Pit-Dweller might see some play here? If it dies with a marker the opponent doesn't get it, so it might be worth as a big 2-drop.
When I was testing Drana I felt that I almost never passed with mana up for removal, I preferred to use it main phase 1 so I could get in some damage. Because of that I made the exchange of Hero's downfall for Ruinous Path and it performed ok.
Do you think that Treacherous Pit-Dweller might see some play here? If it dies with a marker the opponent doesn't get it, so it might be worth as a big 2-drop.
That's interesting. It may be worth testing, and its fairly easy to break since Drana hates Undying anyway. However there's a lot of two drops that could be considered first, and I'm not entirely sure this guy is better than them (he's great with active Drana, but there's still a large enough window for them to take it). In fact a removal on our combat totally ruins our combat math and destroys our clock.
As a four drop she's competing with six power guys, outclassed by Tombstalker's "2cmc", or Gary's drain.
Well obviously you're not cutting Gary, that would be crazy talk. I could see swapping one of the 6 power demons for it. You're neithor running enough removal nor sac effects like Carrion Feeder to justify Abyssal Persecutor.
Also can I just say thank you for introducing me to Flesh Reaver. I didn't know it existed but its perfect.
Don't like that Persecutor - so few ways to remove. No love for that 3 drop zombie with undying? The lashes and bonehoard should just be swords, you'll need the prots to push damage through in a lot of cases. Perish is an interesting meta choice, but toxic deluge is just bad - you will never be in the control role. No mogis Marauder? For shame. Wretched anurid? Dauthi slayer is still worth it.
Undying is a bit of a nonbo with Drana.
Those living weapons are actually quite integral as they come with a body attached. Swords are still five before I get a return. I'm going for raw damage output here - I have removal to clear the way. And those Lashes are some of the best damage outputs for this deck.
Don't worry about Percy, lol. Your opponents will remove him because he's pretty scary to look across from.
Dauthi Slayer was cut for Stronghold Crusader, and he is fantastic.
The deck really doesn't have a problem pushing damage through specifically, but more that I need a bit more reach. I had the idea after tonight, where since the games I lost were within 10pts, some burn would be fantastic. So I thought of Tymaret, which lets me play Drana's corre with Zurgo's burn suite. I'm going to try and have that ready for next week.
I'd be playing him as a four. And there's just so many better options @ 4.
Btw saw your PM, not ignoring. Just can't Salvation @ home (site filtered). So I'm limited to mobile or campus computers for this site. I'm on The Source though too which isn't filtered.
No Umezawa's Jitte? I would've thought it was basically an auto-include in aggro lists.
I was planning on including one the minute I got my hands on another copy.
I know, I had predicted the same too. It's because it's four mana, but no initial damage boost until the turn after. Try it out, you'll see the same. I never wanted to see a Jitte, and always preferred even the humble Bonesplitter or Nighthowler.
Addendum: I updated the OP to include my current list, (especially that I am testing Treacherous Pit-Dweller over Suffer the Past because "Drana hates Undying".)
Addendum: I updated the OP to include my current list, (especially that I am testing Treacherous Pit-Dweller over Suffer the Past because "Drana hates Undying".)
While I'm not sad to see suffer the past go I think the undying demon is win-more.
Addendum: I updated the OP to include my current list, (especially that I am testing Treacherous Pit-Dweller over Suffer the Past because "Drana hates Undying".)
While I'm not sad to see suffer the past go I think the undying demon is win-more.
It's worth testing, as a four power two drop. Flesh Reaver is definitely better though (I've only drawn TPD once though).
I'm going to try testing Despoiler of Souls in Marchesa to help deal with board wipes. It would be good in here too. What do you think of it? Personally I like it better then bloodghast for the extra power.
I'm going to try testing Despoiler of Souls in Marchesa to help deal with board wipes. It would be good in here too. What do you think of it? Personally I like it better then bloodghast for the extra power.
I think, that return clause is too much to ask for given it's stats. I'd rather that new dragon from C15.
Nah the dragon is garbage unless you can put it directly into the GY somehow. Think about it, T1 Vampire Lascerator, T2 Despoiler of Souls, T3 Drana. Your opponent then wipes the board giving him a 3 for 1. You can replay despoiler next turn while removing mitigating the CA loss. Against midrange the extra power is the difference between trading with Anafenza, the Foremost after getting a +1/+1 from Drana or just dying uselessly like Bloodghast would.
Nah the dragon is garbage unless you can put it directly into the GY somehow. Think about it, T1 Vampire Lascerator, T2 Despoiler of Souls, T3 Drana. Your opponent then wipes the board giving him a 3 for 1. You can replay despoiler next turn while removing mitigating the CA loss. Against midrange the extra power is the difference between trading with Anafenza, the Foremost after getting a +1/+1 from Drana or just dying uselessly like Bloodghast would.
It is true I never want to hardcast the Dragon ever (and I'd much rather have a Tombstalker on any day of the week, even when 'Stalker gets Memory Lapse'd...which happened last time lol. Was so awkward).
Sui Black, an archetype that hasn't put up real winning numbers in over a decade, but that hasn't stopped me in making it work in 2015. I unveil to you;
1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
Creature (36)
1x Bloodsoaked Champion
1x Carnophage
1x Diregraf Ghoul
1x Gnarled Scarhide
1x Gravecrawler
1x Reaver Drone
1x Tormented Hero
1x Vampire Lacerator
1x Asylum Visitor
1x Bloodghast
1x Dark Confidant
1x Erg Raiders
1x Flesh Reaver
1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
1x Hasran Ogress
1x Heir of Falkenrath
1x Nantuko Shade
1x Oona's Blackguard
1x Oona's Prowler
1x Pain Seer
1x Pale Rider of Trostad
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Spiteful Returned
1x Stromgald Crusader
1x Treacherous Pit-Dweller
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Withered Wretch
1x Wretched Anurid
1x Dusk Urchins
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Herald of Torment
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Lodestone Golem
1x Marshmist Titan
1x Tombstalker
1x Blinkmoth Nexus
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Contested War Zone
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Marsh Flats
1x Mishra's Factory
1x Mutavault
1x Peat Bog
1x Polluted Delta
21x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Wasteland
Sorcery (9)
1x Duress
1x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Thoughtseize
1x Grim Discovery
1x Night's Whisper
1x Sign in Blood
1x Tyrant's Choice
1x Pox
1x Temporal Extortion
Artifact (4)
1x Captain's Claws
1x Null Rod
1x Winter Orb
1x Tangle Wire
1x Dark Ritual
1x Disfigure
1x Ulcerate
1x Diabolic Edict
1x Geth's Verdict
1x Dismember
1x Kaervek's Spite
1x Snuff Out
1x Contagion
Enchantment (6)
1x Sarcomancy
1x Bad Moon
1x Bitterblossom
1x Dark Favor
1x Parallax Dementia
1x Sinister Strength
Planeswalker (1)
1x Liliana of the Veil
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Thanks for this list, I'll type mine up in the coming days. I've built it as a hyper-aggressive Thalia. Since Drana can't disrupt my opponents' spells naturally, I went as aggro as possible.
How do you feel about running Contamination as a win condition? It seems like it would serve a very similar role to Armageddon et al in Thalia.
What about shadow creatures, Nether Traitor and Dauthi Slayer (and others)? Seems quite strong.
BBB Mikaeus, the Unhallowed BBB
UG Momir Vig, Simic Visionary UG
UB Grimgrin, Corpse-Born UB
Your comparisons to Thalia are apt. I opted for Drana though b/c the Animar match up is better and your guys aren't outclassed as quick.
I do not believe Contamination is good enough in a dork/rock meta. Nether Traitor is good in sac.dek but here it's a 2cmc Raging Gobin. I need raw power from my creatures - contrast Traitor @ 2 with Flesh Reaver for instance. Phyrexian Negator is good too (unless expecting Marath) although he's less good @ 3 as he competes with Drana.
Dauthi Slayer was the last shadow I had until I came upon Stronghold Crusader. Prot W & Jump lets me stone wall Sigarda all day, and relevant mana sink is relevant.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
A few cards I recommend: Grim Haruspex, Mardu Strike Leader, Brain Maggot, Mesmeric Fiend and Hypnotic Specter.
Edit: Why Perish and Endless One?
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
In Suicide, I need high power to low cost creatures. Those demons are two of the best at it. I just want a clock. And, being mono colour vs tri colour means I don't have the same options as you.
Likewise to the lack of Fiend/Maggot, 2cmc 1/1s aren't where I should be when I have 1cmc 2/2s available. Hyppie (as well as master of the feast & arrogant bloodlord) were cut b/c Drana is the three drop I want all the time. Endless One replaced one of those b/c its also a beater, but can fit anywhere on the curve.
Perish exists b/c big dumb green f*cks TM out grow us & do a helluva job stonewalling us.
What I want to justify, is War Horn as "Bad Moon #2".
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Edit: Rereading this comment I realized that my question could me misinterpreted as if I were sarcastically questioning your deckbuilding abilities. I want to be clear that I highly respect your deck building abilities and am wondering if I should take a similar approach to a more aggressive variant of Marchesa I have been testing lately. Sometimes I wonder if 4 mana 2/2's like Venser, Shaper Savant or Sower of Temptation are to slow even though they are amazing cards.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Do you think that Treacherous Pit-Dweller might see some play here? If it dies with a marker the opponent doesn't get it, so it might be worth as a big 2-drop.
That's interesting. It may be worth testing, and its fairly easy to break since Drana hates Undying anyway. However there's a lot of two drops that could be considered first, and I'm not entirely sure this guy is better than them (he's great with active Drana, but there's still a large enough window for them to take it). In fact a removal on our combat totally ruins our combat math and destroys our clock.
I would still play Downfall b/c its options.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
As a four drop she's competing with six power guys, outclassed by Tombstalker's "2cmc", or Gary's drain.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Also can I just say thank you for introducing me to Flesh Reaver. I didn't know it existed but its perfect.
@Sink-Error. Same thanks goes to you for Wretched Anurid
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Undying is a bit of a nonbo with Drana.
Those living weapons are actually quite integral as they come with a body attached. Swords are still five before I get a return. I'm going for raw damage output here - I have removal to clear the way. And those Lashes are some of the best damage outputs for this deck.
Don't worry about Percy, lol. Your opponents will remove him because he's pretty scary to look across from.
Dauthi Slayer was cut for Stronghold Crusader, and he is fantastic.
The deck really doesn't have a problem pushing damage through specifically, but more that I need a bit more reach. I had the idea after tonight, where since the games I lost were within 10pts, some burn would be fantastic. So I thought of Tymaret, which lets me play Drana's corre with Zurgo's burn suite. I'm going to try and have that ready for next week.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Btw saw your PM, not ignoring. Just can't Salvation @ home (site filtered). So I'm limited to mobile or campus computers for this site. I'm on The Source though too which isn't filtered.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I was planning on including one the minute I got my hands on another copy.
BBB Mikaeus, the Unhallowed BBB
UG Momir Vig, Simic Visionary UG
UB Grimgrin, Corpse-Born UB
I know, I had predicted the same too. It's because it's four mana, but no initial damage boost until the turn after. Try it out, you'll see the same. I never wanted to see a Jitte, and always preferred even the humble Bonesplitter or Nighthowler.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
It's worth testing, as a four power two drop. Flesh Reaver is definitely better though (I've only drawn TPD once though).
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
I think, that return clause is too much to ask for given it's stats. I'd rather that new dragon from C15.
edit: Scourge of Nel Toth. There it is.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
It is true I never want to hardcast the Dragon ever (and I'd much rather have a Tombstalker on any day of the week, even when 'Stalker gets Memory Lapse'd...which happened last time lol. Was so awkward).
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.