I really like Night of Souls' Betrayal personally. It's fantastic against Krenko, elfball, most token strategies to be honest. Having said that, for one extra mana, my favourite card that isn't in your list (and won't break the bank either) is Archfiend of Ifnir. It's really, absolutely devastating once you start looting in any way. I put it in as a cheaper Massacre Wurm. It won't bleed your opponents, but it IS cheaper, cycles if needed, has evasion and the counters are permanent. I've had games where I cast Archfiend, cast Windfall and the table sweeps.
I also recently added Mnemonic Betrayal - I haven't had a chance to playtest it yet, seems like it'll be Paradox Engine lite, if anything. I won't recommend it without having tried it, but it's a possibility.
It's been a while since there's been any activity here, but I'm building Dralnu and this had the most recent discussion back in March. War of the Spark has provided some crazy good Dimir cards to try out for control.
I'm curious what y'all think is worth putting in. Ashiok and Narset are powerful, even though they aren't an Instant or Sorcery. Bolas's Citadel is a ridiculously easy way for Control to stay on top of the game by using life as a resource. Finale of Eternity and Command the Dreadhorde are pretty powerful reanimation/removal spells. Deliver Unto Evil is a reverse Fact or Fiction. Liliana, Dreadhorde General seems like an amazing late game card for the deck.
I haven’t seen Jenn around for a little while, but I know she said life was getting pretty busy.
For my build, I’m super psyched to grab a copy of God-Eternal Kefnet and Narset’s Reveraal. Both are super solid auto adds here. Bolas’s Citadel I could see a place for as a storm finisher. It’s undoubtedly a strong card. I’m not sure if I’ll run a copy here myself, but I do try to stay a little shy of straight combo. Narset, partner of veils I like as a semi-leovold draw restriction. The amount of wheeling I do is not insignificant, so it’d make thing a lot more unilateral.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General I like, but I’m not sure if I like it here. The static ability will go wanting g a lot for what’s a fairly creature light build, so any value you get from her will come from her abilities. Which are strong, but for 4BB I question if it’s worth it. Command the Dreadhorde I really like, and I’d look to fit a copy in here. Likewise with Finale of Eternity - you need to decathlon cast it to get enough value from it, but I can see that happening here fairly easily. Deliver unto Evil doesn’t seem strong enough to me. Without a Bolas walker, and as a one time affair, it just needs to do a little more.
As for other new releases, I like Spark Double, but I’m not sure it’s better here than Clever Impersonator. Bond of Revival has the haste that Zombify and Rise from the Grave have always missed. Massacre Girl could be devastating, but I’m not sure it fits here well enough. All in all, there’s a lot of goodies from this set for Dralnu, and I think you’ve picked out most of the real gems.
Blast Zone is far and away my favorite EDH control card from this set, especially in Grixis subsets. Permanent answers to resolved enchantments are already in short supply, so having one that slots into the manabase is great. It's expensive, but you're already likely to be holding mana up with Dralnu and can charge it over a couple turns.
Finale of Eternity seems like it has some good synergy with Dralnu. You can cast it early while you're still stabilizing to remove a few smaller creatures, then flash it back for a game winning play late. It's a respectable enough 3-for-1 removal spell even without the overcost effect, even if it probably wouldn't make the cut as just removal.
I'm not big on Bolas's Citadel or Liliana, Dreadhorde General here. If you're on more of a combo Dralnu plan, Citadel gets a lot better. If you're playing control into a reanimation finish the life cost feels heavy unless you're supporting with a fair amount of lifegain. I typically stabilize at a fairly low life total when playing Dralnu-esque decks and it feels like it would be a dead draw. Lili just wants more creatures to take advantage of the static ability. The token production isn't worth 6 mana and I wouldn't be thrilled playing Barter in Blood at half again as much mana.
All the others are solid. The walkers in particular come down early, have an immediate effect, and then draw an attack or two away from your face. I wouldn't expect to protect them often unless they're very late game topdecks, and that's not really a problem. God-Eternal Kefnet seems like straight value as long as you're playing enough spot removal/card draw/reanimation/etc to take full advantage of the copying. It's another in the string of good control win cons we've seen over the last few years, following The Scarab God and Nezahal, Primal Tide.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Welcome to the thread Kelzam! Sometimes it gets quiet, but a few of us always have our eyes on it when people want to restart discussion. Personally, my list has got to a pretty comfortable spot, hence why I rarely update the list. But we always appreciate people joining to learn the wonders of Dralnu!
I agree with toc that you've hit the nail on the head with most of the attractive cards. At the moment, I have one flex spot in my list, in that I'm ready to cut Rite of Replication (Side note: I've decided Night of Souls' Betrayal is here to stay). At the moment I'm trying Primal Amulet in that slot, but I haven't actually got any games in since I made the switch so who knows if it's actually good...
Blast Zone is the only auto-include, but that's largely because it's a land, and thus easier to fit in.
Kefnet will definitely be the first card I test from WAR. I'll probably try a few games with Amulet, then a few games with Kefnet, and see which one feels better. I do like some of the other cards you mentioned, I just don't see any of them being worth cutting anything from my list at the moment. If I had to choose a second favorite, it would probably be Finale of Eternity, for all the reasons Weebo mentioned, but again I don't see me cutting anything for it.
And yes, in combo Dralnu, Citadel is nuts. Personally, I'm sticking with PE as my "back pocket" combo though, since I lean more on control.
I'd be interested to hear how Primal Amulet is playing out for you. Seems like it could go either way; could be a bit difficult to activate, or it could be effortless value. Personally I think Kefnet will be of more value, but I've yet to playtest myself.
Finale of Eternity I can see being decent, I just don't know if I see it here. I've got eyes on adding it to my Glissa build moreso; purely because it can make more of a mass reanimation spell than my Dralnu build can. I see Dralnu as more pick and choose reanimation for a control element, so I'd never bother with anything like Living Death and the big reanimation spells - Rise of the Dark Realms being the exclusion, as it just wins games.
Totally agree regarding Bolas's Citadel - if you're running committed combo, it'll be disgusting. I'm not super keen on running it here myself either, Paradox Engine is my busted rock of choice and it does more than enough without straying too far down the combo pathway.
I pretty much pulled everything I definitely wanted copies of from WAR - no Lili or Dragon God, but whatever. The one thing that stuck with me though was how much value there is right through the set. Even at common, Ob Nixilis's Cruelty is seriously good - 2B for instant speed removal and possible exile is really good, and Liliana's Triumph isn't half bad either. I don't think either one is a lock here, but if I were building this on a limited budget and had these cards available I'd probably do alright.
Heh, I've added the new Bolas's Citadel into my dedicated Dralnu Storm deck. I'm really looking forward to giving it a test spin sometime soon to prove why Dimir is da best. It opens up an entirely new combo line with Sensei's Divining Top and Aetherflux Reservoir, two cards I was already playing in the deck. It now feels like my Dralnu Combo deck is about as lean and optimized as it can be.
Yeah. Sad and unjustified imo. But whatever, rules are rules. I’m replacing with Turnabout temporarily, will see how it tests and go from there. Clearly it won’t have the sheer power of Paradox but it might be a thing. You never know.
But unfortunately, Dralnu might be. I've put this deck through a lot of testing since the Engine ban. That, plus it briefly looking like MTGS was going to close, I sort of forgot about the primer. I haven't really stuck with any Dralnu list post-Engine. I might be scraping the list entirely and using the reanimator core to build something new. Probably add green to the list and build Brokkos reanimator control. It's sad, but Dralnu isn't the same without Engine.
But unfortunately, Dralnu might be. I've put this deck through a lot of testing since the Engine ban. That, plus it briefly looking like MTGS was going to close, I sort of forgot about the primer. I haven't really stuck with any Dralnu list post-Engine. I might be scraping the list entirely and using the reanimator core to build something new. Probably add green to the list and build Brokkos reanimator control. It's sad, but Dralnu isn't the same without Engine.
I don't know if Toc is still playing Dralnu.
Neither! Hooray us!
It's been a while since I logged in here at Salvation, I'm usually found over on mtgnexus now, and I have transferred my list over that way too. I'll be honest, it's been a little while since I gave Dralnu any huge thoughts in brewing, but that's exactly why I'm here, to see if Jenn has anything fresh in her build. Paradox Engine was a huge part of making the build really viable. That being said, I'm still running my build, and there's a couple of key pieces I'm looking at working around moving forward, if for nothing else as a nice way to try something new with a deck I really enjoy. I'm managing like 16 lists now, which is a little exhausting for mental rent space and brewing capabilities, let alone publishing the thoughts online. But yeah, I really enjoy Dralnu and I'm not willing to let the deck fade into the distance just yet.
Here is my thread over at Nexus, you're all welcome to swing over and have a squizz at the list if there's any interest.
I really like your Nexus post and I'm glad you're still waving the Dralnu banner (and thanks for the shout out in your post )
I've been testing Brokkos since he was spoiled and I'll be honest, I think my Dralnu days are behind me. It's sad but the deck had grown around Paradox Engine more than I had realize and the ban really took away my enthusiasm for the deck. Brokkos has breathed new life into the deck for me and it feels similar enough while also feeling fresh and new.
I really like your Nexus post and I'm glad you're still waving the Dralnu banner (and thanks for the shout out in your post )
I've been testing Brokkos since he was spoiled and I'll be honest, I think my Dralnu days are behind me. It's sad but the deck had grown around Paradox Engine more than I had realize and the ban really took away my enthusiasm for the deck. Brokkos has breathed new life into the deck for me and it feels similar enough while also feeling fresh and new.
Aw, that's a shame, but I understand. And you're very welcome for the shoutout. This very quickly became my favourite primer on Salvation once I found it. I'm fairly committed to sticking with Dralnu for now, and my post needs a pretty good upgrade at some point, the front page is a bit of a mess. All in good time.
For myself I'm sort of glad Paradox Engine is gone, because my build got to the point of playing 'hold out until you can find Engine', and while it was effective it got a bit boring. So now I have a new plan to diversify the threats in my list a little and get value from a few more places. I'm gonna trial Bolas's Citadel and Dream Halls as value engines, and work in a few ways to untap Dralnu for recurring value (Chakram Retriever, Retreat to Coralhelm, Minamo, School at Water's Edge). Dream Halls I've had for the longest time, and I can't believe I didn't think of using it here. I can definitely make more use of it than my opponents, so I can break the symmetry of it easy enough, I'll just need to make sure I have strong draw to keep a full grip. Citadel should be fun too, and I kind of like the fact that both of them are a bit suicidal in different ways, it adds an element of having to take your shots and make them count, which I find fun.
I'm also looking at hamming up Mystical Sanctuary for value over turns too. Spamming Cryptic Command seems hilarious, and Citadel makes it easy enough to get decent use from whatever I'm recurring. Other than that, a couple of other storm elements may come in, but all of this is pure brainstorming at present, I haven't made any changes yet. I'm hoping it'll work out well and be fun, but who can say?
I also recently added Mnemonic Betrayal - I haven't had a chance to playtest it yet, seems like it'll be Paradox Engine lite, if anything. I won't recommend it without having tried it, but it's a possibility.
I'm building a similar list, but I intend to try:
God-Eternal Kefnet
Narset, Parter of Veils
Ashiok, Dream Render
Blast Zone
Debating on:
Narset's Reversal
Bolas's Citadel
Command the Dreadhorde
Deliver Unto Evil
Finale of Eternity
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
I'm curious what y'all think is worth putting in. Ashiok and Narset are powerful, even though they aren't an Instant or Sorcery. Bolas's Citadel is a ridiculously easy way for Control to stay on top of the game by using life as a resource. Finale of Eternity and Command the Dreadhorde are pretty powerful reanimation/removal spells. Deliver Unto Evil is a reverse Fact or Fiction. Liliana, Dreadhorde General seems like an amazing late game card for the deck.
(Also known as Xenphire)
For my build, I’m super psyched to grab a copy of God-Eternal Kefnet and Narset’s Reveraal. Both are super solid auto adds here. Bolas’s Citadel I could see a place for as a storm finisher. It’s undoubtedly a strong card. I’m not sure if I’ll run a copy here myself, but I do try to stay a little shy of straight combo. Narset, partner of veils I like as a semi-leovold draw restriction. The amount of wheeling I do is not insignificant, so it’d make thing a lot more unilateral.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General I like, but I’m not sure if I like it here. The static ability will go wanting g a lot for what’s a fairly creature light build, so any value you get from her will come from her abilities. Which are strong, but for 4BB I question if it’s worth it.
Command the Dreadhorde I really like, and I’d look to fit a copy in here. Likewise with Finale of Eternity - you need to decathlon cast it to get enough value from it, but I can see that happening here fairly easily.
Deliver unto Evil doesn’t seem strong enough to me. Without a Bolas walker, and as a one time affair, it just needs to do a little more.
As for other new releases, I like Spark Double, but I’m not sure it’s better here than Clever Impersonator. Bond of Revival has the haste that Zombify and Rise from the Grave have always missed. Massacre Girl could be devastating, but I’m not sure it fits here well enough. All in all, there’s a lot of goodies from this set for Dralnu, and I think you’ve picked out most of the real gems.
Finale of Eternity seems like it has some good synergy with Dralnu. You can cast it early while you're still stabilizing to remove a few smaller creatures, then flash it back for a game winning play late. It's a respectable enough 3-for-1 removal spell even without the overcost effect, even if it probably wouldn't make the cut as just removal.
I'm not big on Bolas's Citadel or Liliana, Dreadhorde General here. If you're on more of a combo Dralnu plan, Citadel gets a lot better. If you're playing control into a reanimation finish the life cost feels heavy unless you're supporting with a fair amount of lifegain. I typically stabilize at a fairly low life total when playing Dralnu-esque decks and it feels like it would be a dead draw. Lili just wants more creatures to take advantage of the static ability. The token production isn't worth 6 mana and I wouldn't be thrilled playing Barter in Blood at half again as much mana.
All the others are solid. The walkers in particular come down early, have an immediate effect, and then draw an attack or two away from your face. I wouldn't expect to protect them often unless they're very late game topdecks, and that's not really a problem. God-Eternal Kefnet seems like straight value as long as you're playing enough spot removal/card draw/reanimation/etc to take full advantage of the copying. It's another in the string of good control win cons we've seen over the last few years, following The Scarab God and Nezahal, Primal Tide.
I agree with toc that you've hit the nail on the head with most of the attractive cards. At the moment, I have one flex spot in my list, in that I'm ready to cut Rite of Replication (Side note: I've decided Night of Souls' Betrayal is here to stay). At the moment I'm trying Primal Amulet in that slot, but I haven't actually got any games in since I made the switch so who knows if it's actually good...
Blast Zone is the only auto-include, but that's largely because it's a land, and thus easier to fit in.
Kefnet will definitely be the first card I test from WAR. I'll probably try a few games with Amulet, then a few games with Kefnet, and see which one feels better. I do like some of the other cards you mentioned, I just don't see any of them being worth cutting anything from my list at the moment. If I had to choose a second favorite, it would probably be Finale of Eternity, for all the reasons Weebo mentioned, but again I don't see me cutting anything for it.
And yes, in combo Dralnu, Citadel is nuts. Personally, I'm sticking with PE as my "back pocket" combo though, since I lean more on control.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
I'd be interested to hear how Primal Amulet is playing out for you. Seems like it could go either way; could be a bit difficult to activate, or it could be effortless value. Personally I think Kefnet will be of more value, but I've yet to playtest myself.
Finale of Eternity I can see being decent, I just don't know if I see it here. I've got eyes on adding it to my Glissa build moreso; purely because it can make more of a mass reanimation spell than my Dralnu build can. I see Dralnu as more pick and choose reanimation for a control element, so I'd never bother with anything like Living Death and the big reanimation spells - Rise of the Dark Realms being the exclusion, as it just wins games.
Totally agree regarding Bolas's Citadel - if you're running committed combo, it'll be disgusting. I'm not super keen on running it here myself either, Paradox Engine is my busted rock of choice and it does more than enough without straying too far down the combo pathway.
I pretty much pulled everything I definitely wanted copies of from WAR - no Lili or Dragon God, but whatever. The one thing that stuck with me though was how much value there is right through the set. Even at common, Ob Nixilis's Cruelty is seriously good - 2B for instant speed removal and possible exile is really good, and Liliana's Triumph isn't half bad either. I don't think either one is a lock here, but if I were building this on a limited budget and had these cards available I'd probably do alright.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I will be updating this list with a replacement soon.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
@toctheyounger77
But unfortunately, Dralnu might be. I've put this deck through a lot of testing since the Engine ban. That, plus it briefly looking like MTGS was going to close, I sort of forgot about the primer. I haven't really stuck with any Dralnu list post-Engine. I might be scraping the list entirely and using the reanimator core to build something new. Probably add green to the list and build Brokkos reanimator control. It's sad, but Dralnu isn't the same without Engine.
I don't know if Toc is still playing Dralnu.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Neither! Hooray us!
It's been a while since I logged in here at Salvation, I'm usually found over on mtgnexus now, and I have transferred my list over that way too. I'll be honest, it's been a little while since I gave Dralnu any huge thoughts in brewing, but that's exactly why I'm here, to see if Jenn has anything fresh in her build. Paradox Engine was a huge part of making the build really viable. That being said, I'm still running my build, and there's a couple of key pieces I'm looking at working around moving forward, if for nothing else as a nice way to try something new with a deck I really enjoy. I'm managing like 16 lists now, which is a little exhausting for mental rent space and brewing capabilities, let alone publishing the thoughts online. But yeah, I really enjoy Dralnu and I'm not willing to let the deck fade into the distance just yet.
Here is my thread over at Nexus, you're all welcome to swing over and have a squizz at the list if there's any interest.
I've been testing Brokkos since he was spoiled and I'll be honest, I think my Dralnu days are behind me. It's sad but the deck had grown around Paradox Engine more than I had realize and the ban really took away my enthusiasm for the deck. Brokkos has breathed new life into the deck for me and it feels similar enough while also feeling fresh and new.
[Primer] Dralnu Control/Reanimator BU
[Primer] Jolrael, Empress of Beasts GG
Nath Stax BG | Borborygmos Enraged RG | Ladies of Magic UGW | Aminatou Control UWB | Enduring Ideal Zedruu UWR | Momir Vig Combo UG
Modern
Restore Balance RWUG
Kiki Chord RWG
Aw, that's a shame, but I understand. And you're very welcome for the shoutout. This very quickly became my favourite primer on Salvation once I found it. I'm fairly committed to sticking with Dralnu for now, and my post needs a pretty good upgrade at some point, the front page is a bit of a mess. All in good time.
For myself I'm sort of glad Paradox Engine is gone, because my build got to the point of playing 'hold out until you can find Engine', and while it was effective it got a bit boring. So now I have a new plan to diversify the threats in my list a little and get value from a few more places. I'm gonna trial Bolas's Citadel and Dream Halls as value engines, and work in a few ways to untap Dralnu for recurring value (Chakram Retriever, Retreat to Coralhelm, Minamo, School at Water's Edge). Dream Halls I've had for the longest time, and I can't believe I didn't think of using it here. I can definitely make more use of it than my opponents, so I can break the symmetry of it easy enough, I'll just need to make sure I have strong draw to keep a full grip. Citadel should be fun too, and I kind of like the fact that both of them are a bit suicidal in different ways, it adds an element of having to take your shots and make them count, which I find fun.
I'm also looking at hamming up Mystical Sanctuary for value over turns too. Spamming Cryptic Command seems hilarious, and Citadel makes it easy enough to get decent use from whatever I'm recurring. Other than that, a couple of other storm elements may come in, but all of this is pure brainstorming at present, I haven't made any changes yet. I'm hoping it'll work out well and be fun, but who can say?