Drana's Chosen

Creature — Vampire Shaman Ally

Cohort — {T}, Tap an untapped Ally you control: Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped.

Tokens

• Zombie 2/2 B

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

to_regatha_and_beyond on Busted Ally Deck

1 year ago

Good synergies you're establishing!

A few cards I would cut:

• Maskwood Nexus, you can't really use its first ability for much since every creature in the deck is an ally, and its activated ability isn't really powerful enough to bring it to the same level as the rest of your cards.
• Halimar Excavator isn't going to be super useful since you aren't really running enough mill to make it particularly viable as a strategy.

A few additions I would make:

• Tajuru Warcaller can often give your creatures +4/+4 each turn, with Panharmonicon that number goes up even more. Super helpful.
• Beastcaller Savant can provide some mana-fixing and ramp, which is quite useful in a 5-color deck, while also being an ally.
• Hada Freeblade is a great play for turn 1, as it will likely be a 2/3 by the time it attacks and will be huge by the late game.
• City of Brass instead of some of those vivid lands, it's faster as it enters untapped and it can profuce any color later in the game as well. If you're willing to spend a lot more money, you could use Mana Confluence instead because it's techically better, but in my opinion the price difference isn't really worth it.

If you're going to add a sideboard, I would include these cards:

• Kabira Evangel, it can be very helpful when you're playing against monocolored decks or removal-heavy / burn decks.
• Drana's Chosen can help by generating extra tokens in case your opponent runs a lot of spells that make you sacrifice creatures, or they can be used as chump-blockers.

Poly_raptor on Self Replicating Ally Token Army!

4 years ago

Intruder Alarm is nuts with Drana's Chosen - infinite tokens, which lets you abuse all the other cohort triggers,

• Munda's Vanguard - infinite counters
• Zulaport Chainmage - infinite life loss.

Glaciercold on Gorgeous Girls Deck(list)

5 years ago

Going back a few sets: Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Exert Influence, Drana's Chosen, Umara Entangler, Spawnbinder Mage, Angel of Renewal, Elemental Bond, Conclave Naturalists, Anointer of Champions, Willbreaker, Coralhelm Guide, Bloodhall Priest, Flameblade Angel, Weirded Vampire, Furyblade Vampire

HashMasta on Vela, Killer Queen (Combo)

5 years ago

I might wanna add that Drana's Chosen is a dead card to me considering there are no other allies that i can see. Incase you did not know, tapping the drana is part of the cohort ability and therefore cant be used on itself.

Firebones675 on Sek'kuar, Shaman Tribal Synergy

6 years ago

Looks pretty good! Here are a couple of things that come to mind:

You only have a few ally cards in the deck. As a result I'm worried that the ones that require multiple allies to be in play to be useful such as Agadeem Occultist and Drana's Chosen will often times not be as relevent as you hope. If you're not planning on adding other allies, i'd probably cut them. Additionally, I saw you put a combo with drana's chosen in the description but i don't understand how it works (it's possible i'm just missing something though). Assuming you had a sac outlet and either a second thornbite staff or Conspiracy (to make the tokens also be allies), i could see it working but since the staff only untaps one creature and you need to tap two allies to make a token (the chosen and another ally), you appear to be limited by the amount of allies already in play.

Here are a few other shamans you might want to consider: Leaf-Crowned Elder, Oracle of Mul Daya, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

multimedia on Suns_Champion

6 years ago

Hey, you asked for my advice on your Zur deck. You've put a lot of time and effort into it and the deck description is easy to read and understand very nice work. I've never seen Zur used with Alarm as a win condition combo. Very creative idea, well done, upvoted. For a first deck with combo you've gone combo crazy!

The idea is great the problem is the combos need to be streamlined, too many combo cards not enough synergy between all cards in the deck and not enough universal good Commander cards. You don't need to jam all the possible combos into a deck it's overkill. Consider trimming Combo #1, Combo #2 and cutting Combo #3? A lot of combo cards you're playing are only good with other combo pieces as part of a combo. These cards are not good by themselves or have synergy with the rest of the cards in the deck other than the combo they go with. Because of all the combo cards I see problems with playing a normal game of Commander.

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Show

Combo #1

The best option of the combo choices because it can be a two card combo which is the most realistic consistent combo to assemble. Of the choices Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip and Thraben Doomsayer are the best for this combo because they're good cards by themselves without Alarm especially Bloodline. I like that Sun Titan can reanimate Doomsayer or Alarm; a single card that can recur either of these combo pieces is very helplful.

Both these creatures are good with Standstill I suggest adding it to enhance the pillowfort strategy because you can get value from them, tokens without casting any spells.

This combo is however easy to disrupt because of a big drawback you can't tap either Bloodline or Doomsayer the turn they're played. The pillowfort strategy is good to help to keep these creatures safe for a turn before they can combo. I suggest adding Grand Abolisher he's good to shut down your opponent's during your turn which is helpful to being able to combo on your turn. Shielded by Faith this enchantment does a good job of protecting one of these creatures for a turn. It can also automatically enchant any creature you control who ETB. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir lets you to flash in creatures even Zur. He also protects the combo on your turn and he's a Wizard which is good with Azami and Combo #2.

Steward of Solidarity is not a good card without Alarm because of exert; it's not needed. Drana's Chosen and Skirsdag High Priest are also not needed because they require an additional combo piece added to the combo. These cards are not worth adding another combo piece/steps because they're not good cards by themselves without the combo.

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Combo #2

You're overcommiting to this combo as it seems difficult to assemble. Stonybrook Schoolmaster is not a good card by itself it needs a tap oulet otherwise it's not doing much. Schoolmaster makes Wizards which is good with Azami and Azami is a great card by herself. This Azami Schoolmaster interaction are two cards you can consistently use not in a combo. Using Azami as the third piece to this combo is not an infinite combo, but that's fine because you're still drawing a lot of cards good for drawing into possible other combo cards such as Hermetic Study or Psionic Gift as well as other pillowfort enchantments. Since both Schoolmaster and Azami are Wizards then Vedalken AEthermage is a tutor for these combo pieces. Zur is also a Wizard making him good with Azami. In my opinion Hermetic Study and Psionic Gift are the best options for a win condition with this combo because they're enchantments. Zur being able to tutor for either of these makes them the best options for the third piece of the combo.

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Combo #3

This combo seems too hard to consistently assemble so much so that consider cutting it entirely? Four card combos are easy to disrupt. In my opinion you don't need it because it contains many cards that are only good in this combo other than the combo they don't have much synergy with the rest of deck. Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Hell's Caretaker don't belong and are taking up valuable deck space from overall better cards.

While all that's going on.

Out of the choices Suture Priest and Altar of the Brood are the only two cards I would include. Infinite life or infinite opponent mill. Priest is fine for pillowfort and Altar effects all opponents at once. The rest I don't think deserve taking up deck space. I suggest adding Trinket Mage because he can tutor for Altar, he's also a Wizard. Martyr's Cause is a fine sac outlet for all the tokens that will be made. It's an enchantment that Zul can tutor for. I don't think sac outlets are what you want as this is taking on a completely different direction that's not strong with Zul, but Cause is the exception because it's a good pillowfort card. You can sac tokens to protect yourself.

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After streamlining Combo #1 and Combo #2 here's what they could look like:

Combo #1

• Option 1: Intruder Alarm + Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• Option 2: Intruder Alarm + Thraben Doomsayer

Combo #2

• Option 1: Intruder Alarm + Stonybrook Schoolmaster + Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• Option 2: Intruder Alarm + Stonybrook Schoolmaster + Hermetic Study
• Option 3: Intruder Alarm + Stonybrook Schoolmaster + Psionic Gift

My advice is to make a complete playable pillowfort control Commander deck first without these combos and then add Combo #1 and Combo #2. Going this direction requires only adding six cards which is a compact combos package. You have a nice established pillowfort strategy already I suggest expanding on this strategy making it the core strategy of the deck adding universal great control cards: draw, instant removal, some board wipes, some counterspells, etc and then add Combo #1 and Combo #2.

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Here's some budget (each card $6 or less) suggestions:

• Grand Abolisher
• Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• Mesa Enchantress
• Trinket Mage


• Ponder
• Preordain
• Impulse
• Supreme Verdict
• Anguished Unmaking
• Swords to Plowshares
• Cyclonic Rift
• Counterspell
• Arcane Denial


• Necropotence
• Mystic Remora
• Standstill
• Martyr's Cause
• Shielded by Faith
• Seal of Cleansing
• Enchanted Evening


• Talisman of Progress
• Talisman of Dominance
• Fellwar Stone

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Another possible addition is a secondary enchantment voltron strategy with Zur. He can enchant himself with the enchantments he tutors and he has flying. This can be a two card package that's tutorable win condition with enchantments:

• Ethereal Armor
• Empyrial Armor

Even just including Ethereal as a lone powerful enchantment Zur can get and enchant himself is worth it as a possible back-up win. Empyrial is nice with Combo #2 with Azami and Necropotence since either of these cards can put a ton of cards into your hand.

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To summarize my suggestions a possible creature package could look like this:

• Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• Thraben Doomsayer
• Stonybrook Schoolmaster
• Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• Sun Titan
• Suture Priest
• Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• Vedalken AEthermage
• Grand Abolisher
• Mesa Enchantress
• Trinket Mage

A possible pillowfort/enchantment package could look like this:

• Aura of Silence
• Blind Obedience
• Copy Enchantment
• Darksteel Mutation
• Detention Sphere
• Ghostly Prison
• Grasp of Fate
• Greater Auramancy
• Hermetic Study
• Intruder Alarm
• Karmic Justice
• Oblivion Ring
• Propaganda
• Psionic Gift
• Steel of the Godhead
• Necropotence
• Mystic Remora
• Standstill
• Martyr's Cause
• Shielded by Faith
• Ethereal Armor
• Seal of Cleansing
• Enchanted Evening

Your deck is very creative as a first deck with combo, you have a good grasp on the archetype. But you're going combo crazy which in my opinion will hinter gameplay much more than help it. It's more practical to pick a few combos that include cards that have overall good synergy with the entire deck not to use so many cards just because they're part of a combo.

Good luck with your deck.

ThallionDarkshine on IntruZur Alarm | Zur EDH

6 years ago

I second the suggestion of the talismans and Fellwar Stone, since ramping out a t3 Zur is always nice. I'm not a huge fan of Stern Mentor as a tap outlet, since it doesn't get around summoning sickness like most of the others, and is very slow. In addition, it feels like you may be overcommiting to the Stonybrook Schoolmaster combos. I would consider adding some more free sac outlets, since they not only enable your recursion combos, but also work with the infinite tokens you create with your other combos. Altar of Dementia is a great way to kill with infinite tokens, while Martyr's Cause and Fanatical Devotion are decent protection pieces that are tutorable by Zur. I would also definitely recommend including some counterspells to protect your combos. Maybe cutting back a bit on token producers, especially the worse ones like Drana's Chosen and adding some great cheap counterspells like Swan Song, Dispel, and Arcane Denial would be good to shift you away from being all in on your combo. In that case, you could tutor up Necropotence first as a draw engine, and be more resilient against disruption. Rule of Law is a decent piece of disruption, that doesn't affect you greatly, since all of your combos focus on activated abilities.

Suns_Champion on More combo help!

6 years ago

RazortoothMtg Thanks again! I'm gonna save the Puppet Conjurer + mana dorks for later, seems like a lot of work not being enabled by Zur, and I want to try all the other stuff for now.

I like Drana's Chosen and have a Arcane Adaptation so I'll do that for sure! Enabled by Zur which is great!

I also like the Ensoul Artifact or Tezzeret's Touch on an artifact token producer. Again enabled by Zur so that's good. I'll try it out too!