Drana is one of my favorite cards, so I decided I'd try making an EDH deck for her. I didn't feel like vampire tribal, as I decided I'd save that for Olivia Voldaren or Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge so that I could get some more colors in there. With that out, Drana doesnt make too much sense in the typical mono-black Zombie/recursion theme, so it left me with focusing on her and winning with Commander damage. No hexproof/indestructible means that I should go with Equipment rather than Auras.
The Commander:
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief - I already went over her above. But in case you decided to skip down to the meat of the description, I'll briefly cover her again. She's a beast. Repeatable removal is good, especially her kind (suck it indestructible cards). But not only that, she pumps herself, which isnt a typical thing for Black. I know it does exist elsewhere, but not on a legend. To put the cherry on top, she flies. So you pump her, kill enemy flyers, profit.
Equipment:
Argentum Armor - Its so expensive. But so worth it. Black can't kill artifacts or enchantments, so this helps out. The buff is cool too.
Batterskull - Too good. Its a creature, its a buff, it dodges removal. What more do you want?
Blade of the Bloodchief - Honestly, mere P/T buffs aren't what I'm looking for. However, this made the cut because it is crazy cheap, leaves permanent buffs, and synergizes with the amount of killing Drana will be throwing down.
Champion's Helm - Hexproof is good. The +2/+2 is marginal, but in this deck, the Hexproof makes it worth it. Shroud is too limiting.
Darksteel Plate - Indestructible is also good.
Illusionist's Bracers - Makes her ability double. More death, more buffs, more shenanigans in general.
Kusari-Gama - Puts the opponents in a pickle. Block? Ok, boardwipe. As a colorless source of damage, there is also very little protection from it.
Lashwrithe - It is one of those mere P/T boosters I mentioned earlier. But if Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is out (which is easy with all the tutors), the buffs are high enough that its worth it.
Nightmare Lash - See Lashwrithe.
Swiftfoot Boots - Hexproof again. The haste is a cool bonus.
Sword of Feast and Famine - +2/+2 and pro green/black is great. That untap ability though... 1st main/combat, buff Drana. 2nd main, cast some spells or get another kill from Drana. So beast.
Sword of Fire and Ice - Protection from those colors is nice. Free card draw and burn (for those pesky creatures that are just out of Drana's ability's range).
Sword of Light and Shadow - Protection from two very powerful colors, especially in terms of removal. The triggers are actually less helpful than the protection in this case, however some free life and recursion cant hurt.
Sword of Vengeance - Keywords, keywords everywhere. All but haste is relevant.
Umezawa's Jitte - The legend. Its so good. More pumps, removal or lifegain, whichever fits.
Artifacts:
Ashnod's Altar - A cheap sac outlet, in case some one tries to steal/Arrest Drana.
Caged Sun - Mana doubling, as well as a small buff. Expensive, but worth it late game.
Claws of Gix
- Another cheap sac outlet. But this one can get any of my permanents. Which could help with my coveted Equipment...
Expedition Map
- Finds Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, or if I already have that, Cabal Coffers.
Gauntlet of Power - Cheaper than Caged Sun, a little more limited too, but the mana doubling it allows to very one could deter my opponents from killing it or me.
Gilded Lotus - Colorful ramp.
Jet Medallion - Cheaper casting is good.
Lux Cannon - similar to Argentum Armor in use, good for destroying whatever ails me.
Sol Ring - RAMP.
Thran Dynamo, Basalt Monolith - MORE RAMP.
Trading Post - Another sac outlet. Plus it recurs my dead artifacts. In general, utility is good.
Worn Powerstone - Did I mention ramp?
Creatures:
Bloodgift Demon - Card draw is sweet, and he allows the ability for politicking in larger games. "Hey, help me out? Here's a card for your troubles"
Burnished Hart - Land ramp. The best kind of ramp.
Crypt Ghast
- He's an early mana doubler, as well as an extorter. The extort keeps me alive while the mana lets me kill them all.
Dread
- This guy. He can pick up a Sword and go to town if need be. And he deters attackers. Sign me up.
Erebos, God of the Dead - He's alright. A solid blocker when he's a creature (Sup Phyrexian Obliterator?), a source of card draw, and stops lifegain. He isn't too amazing at anything, but he's good at a lot of things.
Grave Titan - A big, scary dude who brings some buddies. Even scarier when equipped with something. Sword of Vengeance in particular.
Guul Draz Assassin
- He's more efficient than Drana once he's leveled up. He has a cap, but in conjunction with Drana, very little can survive.
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
- Murder on a stick plus benefits. Yay.
Kokusho, the Evening Star
- He's a great beater/blocker, as well as a great second wind of life late game. Hard to see not playing him.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - He's easily castable, he draws cards, he's an Eldrazi Titan. Need I say more?
Magus of the Coffers - Cabal Coffers on a stick. As a sidenote, he has one of the best P/Ts of any of the Maguses.
Nirkana Revenant - Another mana doubler, but this one can win on its own if I need.
Phyrexian Obliterator - Dude's a beast. The devotion boost is cool too.
Sepulchral Primordial - It can also wield a sword, and build a nice board presence after a board wipe.
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Unblockable when Urborg is out, so, swords are good. Also, control with minimal investment is cool.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - More colorless permanent destruction. So that's good, plus the whole Indestructible, Annihilator 4 thing is decent too.
Sorceries
Beseech the Queen - A decent tutor, good enough to find Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Cabal Coffers. If my land base is looking good, I can whip out whatever sword I need.
Black Sun's Zenith - A good board wipe that I can tutor up again.
Cruel Tutor - This tutor has a good amount going against it. 3 cmc, life loss AND it doesn't even replace itself. I could definitely replace this card. I don't think there are any more tutors that aren't ridiculously expensive both cost-wise (Imperial Seal, Grim Tutor), or mana-wise (Increasing Ambition,
Demonic Collusion
), so I don't think I want to replace it with another tutor. I mean, its not even bad in the first place, just my least favorite in the deck.
Damnation - Wrath of God in black. I love wraths, so this is an insta-include.
Demonic Tutor - OG tutor. There's a reason its restricted even in Vintage.
Diabolic Tutor - Its amazing the difference 2 mana makes right? However this is EDH, so tutoring is strengthened and higher mana costs aren't as bad. Again, most of this tutoring is used to fix my mana, as in making sure I have a ton of it. The artifacts and such will come naturally and aren't a necessity.
Exsanguinate - It wouldn't be EDH without this card. Most non-ramp black decks run this, so its amplified even more in this deck.
Mutilate - Yet another wipe.
Syphon Mind - If you're thinking this seems out of place, you're correct. I'd love to put something with more synergy in its place, but its hard to argue with card advantage like that.
Toxic Deluge - Don't forget to wipe.
Enchantments
Black Market - Drana was made to abuse this. The more things you kill, the more mana you get. The more mana you have, the more things Drana can kill.
Exquisite Blood - Another black staple. There's really no reason not to play this.
Phyrexian Arena - Cards.
Underworld Connections - Moar cards.
Instants
Hatred - No blocks? Ok, you lose.
Vampiric Tutor - If this put cards directly into hand, it would join Demonic Tutor on the restricted list. But still, instant-speed tutoring for 1 mana is pretty crazy.
Planeswalkers
Liliana of the Dark Realms - She fixes my land drops and makes my lands powerhouses. Instant include.
Liliana of the Veil - Yup, she's making an appearance in EDH. Her Ultimate allows me to deal with artifacts and enchantments in a roundabout way. She'll also draw attention away from me, so that's nice.
Utility Lands
Buried Ruin - Much needed Artifact recursion. Something black isn't very good at.
Cabal Coffers - A great ramper, and the best part is that its a land, so it isn't easily removed.
Leechridden Swamp - Why not? You never know when you may need it.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Similar to Cabal Coffers, but not as consistently good
Temple of the False God - Extra mana is good, and there's enough fixing in here that hitting 5 lands by T5 should happen often.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - The best land here. Makes my lands swamps for Lashwrithe and Cabal Coffers, and makes my opponent's into swamps for the occasional Sheoldred, Whispering One sighting.
Volrath's Stronghold - When the commander casting gets too high, I can bypass it with this.
As far as suggestions go, be my guest. Just because I've made a case for all these cards does not mean that they are necessarily the best choices. So go ahead!
