Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief

Legendary Creature — Vampire Shaman

Flying

{X}{B}{B}: Target creature gets -0/-X until end of turn and Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief gets +X/+0 until end of turn.

Legality

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

Discussion (49)

DreadKhan on Maga, Draining the Swamp

6 months ago

I think the general 'rule' around here is to never bring up politics in an existing discussion (or use it to harass people in their own spaces) because it's super off topic and poisons the well so to speak. I've got political decks (generally lefty stuff) and haven't had too much trouble, and I've seen people with some pretty right wing stuff that is acceptable on here.

In light of the present election I took another look at Maga, Traitor to Mortals and I was a bit surprised to realize (as you did) that it's a fairly playable card to build around. The card's name is objectively hilarious now, so I do wonder if it'll be a fun card to build, seeing this list illustrates the potential, but I have a few ideas that might be worth a look!

This might sound weird, but are you sure you want stuff like Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire? Ditto for Sanguine Bond stuff, I think you should leave in Exquisite Blood (it's amazing with your Commander), but I feel like making this a combo deck will make it much less fun to play (obviously ymmv, just my thoughts!). Anyways, your Commander already gives you an outlet for big mana, and with all your ramp it should be fairly easy to eliminate an opponent; have you thought about some Flash sources, maybe Emergence Zone and/or Vedalken Orrery? If Maga has Flash you can potentially hold up enough mana to eliminate an opponent that is about to win (or simply eliminate you!). I'd rather play against that than Torment of Hailfire!

I rarely regret including stuff like Night's Whisper and Sign in Blood, these can do a lot of work. I don't think I'd bother with the Fallen Empires one, but Subterranean Hangar is a fairly good card if you want to store mana, I look at it as a ramp card instead of a land. I'm not sure if it's too much of a hassle, but Diabolic Revelation is a pretty crazy tutor if you dig out more than 2 cards. Maybe War Room? Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is a great sponge for extra mana, she can remove creatures (including blockers) and then hit the opponent like a truck. Morbid Opportunist can draw a decent number of cards. Once Maga is out either Scavenged Brawler or Mask of Griselbrand can offer a lot of value for mana, maybe Shadowspear? I don't know if you have enough Demons to make Liliana's Contract a viable win con (though TBH I think it's a reasonable one because it's so telegraphed, and more decks can interact with it) but it's also a good card draw effect. I can't decide if Mandate of Abaddon is worth it, if Maga is big he just wipes out EVERYTHING except himself, so he can probably kill a player the turn you play Mandate and swing.

Hope these ideas help!

DreadKhan on My Vampire Deck

8 months ago

Just at a glance, if I was you I'd probably hack out Bloodthirsty Aerialist, this is too small of a payoff in a Commander game IMHO, Defiant Bloodlord is a literal mountain of Mana (unless you've got a doubler out it's hard to cast a 7 drop), he's also redundant with your Commander to an extent. I'm guessing it's a pet card but I don't like Eternal Thirst. The various and sundry Murder effects (3 mana to kill 1 creature) are pretty awful in my experience, but mono-Black makes it a bit harder to eschew cards like this. I've mentioned a few removal options below for you to consider, hopefully something will fit in!

I feel like I should mention Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, it's $$$ but it's a pretty good card in a Black deck that wants to use some utility lands. Maybe Expedition Map, finding a land for 3 mana is really good if you've got Urborg or Coffers out, being able to get the other one can be helpful. With your Discard payoffs I think you could justify a Geier Reach Sanitarium, the dig can be nice if you've drawn an otherwise 'meh' hand but have enough mana to want to keep it. I feel like I'd switch out Wedding Invitation for Tome of Legends, you certainly want to cast your Commander and he can give EVERYONE Lifelink. I feel like if you've got this many 'big mana' sources in here you could switch out Diabolic Tutor for the much, much flashier Diabolic Revelation, I love it in a weird Rakdos list that often ends up with too much mana, if you can cast it for 9 or more you're just getting a bespoke hand! The other option I'd consider switching out Diabolic Tutor for is Rune-Scarred Demon, mostly because it gives you a fairly big blocker to help you survive when you find your win con, but IMHO Revelation is way more fun (it's also a gorgeous foil). You might try out Decree of Pain over In Garruk's Wake, the card draw is usually VERY good, and sometimes you actually need an instant speed -2/-2 effect to kill a token army before the opponent can resolve their Craterhoof. I'm lowkey shocked to see you're not running a War Room in here, I think it's certainly worth a look. If you're fine with combos and already have Bolas' Citadel in here, maybe Sensei's Divining Top and Aetherflux Reservoir as a back up combo? Top and Citadel are amazing, as is Reservoir with Citadel, but all 3 should win on the spot. Now that I think about it you could probably benefit from Reservoir even without the other two, if your deck is working correctly you're probably at a solid life total and can threaten to 1-shot someone with the Reservoir.

As for removal, they cost a bit of life, but you can easily afford it so maybe Ashes to Ashes and Reckless Spite? I've always liked Cannibalize, it's exile on top of everything, including being a potential buff if you need 2 more damage from a swing. I've heard only good things about Curtains' Call, it's busted in a 4 player game. Do or Die and Make an Example are both impressive cards, even if they are Sorceries they can cripple an opponent, though Make an Example is IMHO the Gold Standard of sorcery speed removal for creatures, it gets around almost any protection and always removes at worst the creature you most want gone from EACH opponent, that's insane value for only 4 mana. There is also Wicked Pact *list*, it's not a 'great' card but the art is cool on some versions, and it's still a 2 for 1. TBH I don't think I'd run more than 2 removal spells that only hit non-Black creatures, but one or two is rarely a problem in my experience. Feed the Swarm is a pretty wild colour break, this lets you blow up an Enchantment, something Black normally can't do, this can save your bacon sometimes. It's a bit of a weird card, but Transmogrifying Wand is a criminally underplayed card, removing 1 creature isn't great value, but the 2nd and 3rd creature feels pretty amazing. Just thought of one of my old favourites for any big mana deck with Black in it, Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is removal on a flying stick that is incredibly powerful late game.

DreadKhan on Painful chaos

8 months ago

I have a Rakdos deck that's trying to do some similar things, I leaned into creatures that could double as removal, some games you can eliminate a player by resolving an early Dwarven Miner/Dwarven Blastminer, Tsabo Tavoc is a hilarious card in a Commander game, Olivia Voldaren and Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief make very good use of late game mana and can create a whole mess of trouble, maybe War Cadence is a very political card I love to try to sneak into decks, the really sweet part is you can use it on an opponent's attack to help THEM get in, and an Archenemy is tapped out that means you only need to spend {1} to make everything unblockable... it's a real skill testing card IMHO. Rite of the Raging Storm can kill off any opponents that don't have blockers, and it survives most Wraths. It's also a sacrifice effect when it dies, so it works with Mayhem Devil without support. Even without it's combo I find Exquisite Blood can be an amazing card, it's hilarious with Protection Racket out! If you want things to get chaotic/people to have to make choices you might like some of the Dr. Who stuff, the only card I personally use is Ensnared by the Mara, which isn't too jarring IMHO, most people wouldn't realize it's Universes Beyond at a Glance IMHO. Humble Defector is a fun card even if you don't run ways to kill him off right after he changes hands, some players will agree to trade him back even! Din of the Fireherd and Fevered Suspicion are pretty chaotic effects, though some people will really get up in arms if you take away more than a couple lands! Speaking of taking a couple lands, Volcanic Offering is hilarious IMHO.

Rakdos isn't the ideal colours to make him pop but I still like Brash Taunter, he's also great with anything that gives him lifelink, but it's surprising value if you can resolve something like Scavenged Brawler on Taunter, it's worth noting that Brawler would also help turn Vial Smasher into a much better threat/life source.

Finally, have you thought about some auctions, maybe Thieves' Auction or Illicit Auction? 5 mana to maybe not get a creature isn't amazing, but in practice if you ever have the most life it's just 5 mana to steal whichever creature you want! Thieves' Auction is a good card if you have a lot of permanents that work just by being out (like symmetrical chaos effects), but it's also decent if you don't run an especially sturdy board (since you pick first!), I've had situations where nothing on my board was taken until everyone else's boards were taken, my cards were that bad! Such a great feeling to get value out of stuff like Thieves' Auction.

I like the idea of your list here, you might get a kick out of my Pavel the Mighty, Hero We Deserve list, it's a Chaos deck that overflows with pet cards!

DreadKhan on bungo

11 months ago

I'm not super familiar with Zombie decks (and have zero experience with Crime decks), but I think I can spot a few cards that you could probably cut for something better. Brain Pry seems like it'd be embarrassing to cast, I'd cut this unless you want actively bad cards (I keep them in some decks so I know when I'm drawing truly awful, but it's very suboptimal). Crippling Fear seems pretty small when there is Kindred Dominance and even Necromantic Selection, either of these is a much bigger, beefier effect. Diabolic Tutor is not a very good card IMHO, if you have access to large amounts of mana potentially (and you do from multiple sources) Diabolic Revelation is a much bigger, better effect, I like to run it with Emergence Zone. Gravestorm is a pretty uneven card if your Commander isn't out, I'd cut this for Phyrexian Arena, your Commander comes out late and resolving Arena on turn 3 feels amazing, if you miss 2 or 3 free cards you might not even be able to cast Gisa. I feel like I'd run Sadistic Hypnotist over Cabal Therapist, even at 5 mana the effect is so much stronger. I might be missing something with Hunted Bonebrute, it's not a Zombie, and Hunted Horror exists, offering a much stronger political play. I usually like Keen Duelist, but your MV might not be high enough to support this kind of effect, in general you should be regularly walloping your opponent with huge MV stuff to justify this. I guess if you throw in Kindred Dominance and/or Necromantic Selection Duelist gets a bit better, but your MV probably needs to be closer to 4 or this will just give free cards to opponents unless your Commander is out (and people are going to be wiping you a lot I suspect). Unless you throw an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in I don't know if Oblivion Sower is good enough, ymmv. If you already have it by all means keep it in, but I feel like Urza's Incubator is not a very good card in here? You have a lot of {B} mana requirements, and your zombies aren't especially big overall, I'd switch this for Sceptre of Eternal Glory if possible.

This is a bit out in left field, but can you imagine if you have Zombie Trailblazer out with your Commander and an Amulet of Vigor? That's infinite, right? Not sure if you want infinites or not, just wanted to mention it (because it'd be a sweet combo because you'd still need Haste or your Altar of Dementia, so it'd still be a 'look out next turn!' thing at 3 cards).

Generally I'd say discard effects are a lot less powerful the less of them you use, but I get that you want to commit crimes in here, perhaps you could look into repeatable removal sources? Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is a budget card that can commit a crime for BB, and if you have extra mana you can also pump Drana while killing off Blockers. You might also try out Transmogrifying Wand, this can commit 3 very useful crimes, 2/4 vanillas are about as useful as floppy carrots in Commander, especially compared to 3 of the best creatures on the board (which you can reanimate I guess, since it's a Destroy effect). There is always good old Royal Assassin, this is SO MUCH better than Urza's Glasses in practice, and it's only BB more to make a gigantic impact on the board.

Here's some stuff you might consider adding, Night's Whisper is a very good low-to-the-ground card draw effect, as is Sign in Blood, both can help you get your Commander out on time more consistently. Sign can even be used to finish off a vulnerable opponent in a pinch. You also might be curious about War Room and Bonders' Enclave, both are lands that can draw, very useful with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

Sorry if I missed some synergies, I like the idea of this deck but am a bit agog at how much this Commander can do if properly supported, Ward seems like major overkill! Have fun out there!

DaWubber on Can we play that commander? …

2 years ago

Can we have Olivia Voldaren Olivia, Mobilized for War and Olivia, Crimson Bride.

Mom: Sweety, we have all three Olivia at home.

Olivia at home: Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief Drana, Liberator of Malakir and Drana, the Last Bloodchief.

For real though, it feels like every version of a Drana we got was followed soon by a version of Olivia that does a similar thing. The first Drana and Olivia leverage excess Mana as removal that doubles as a bump in power. The second versions are aggro strategies, and the third (and currently final versions) are reanimator cards. I play the first Drana, and am kinda annoyed att how similar they always seem to me.

Grends27 on Don´t be afraid to give blood

2 years ago

Chakagozio you’re welcome, happy to help!

seshiro_of_the_orochi - these suggestions are helpful to me, thanks! I originally added Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, but I feel like it’s ability is expensive for what it is. I just removed her in favour of adding Shadowgrange Archfiend back in because the madness/blood token synergy basically turns it into a 4-drop asymmetrical board wipe with a draw at instant speed (each opponent sacs 1 plus you can flash SA as a blocker). What are your thoughts on this vs. keeping Drana?

seshiro_of_the_orochi on Don´t be afraid to give blood

2 years ago

Strefan akways looks pretty brutal to me, dropping all these vampire beaters. You seem to have most of the big bad bloodsuckers in here, but maybe I can suggest some you haven't considered yet:

Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is powerful, and you can even pump her right after dropping her.

Skeletal Vampire is a lot worse, but still interesting.

Bishop of the Bloodstained will propably deal quite a bit of damage.

Bloodline Necromancer is fine recursion.

Champion of Dusk is a big draw spell.

Defiant Bloodlord will deal lots of damage here.

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet is fun.

Marshland Bloodcaster is powerful ramp.

Shauku, Endbringer looks pretty cool in here, and if only to have it enter attacking in spite of its static ability.

Triton on Volrath Voltron Reanimator

2 years ago

My suggestion for potential cuts for Meteor Golem are either Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief or Steel Hellkite. Perhaps Plague Wind, seeing as it's a rather inefficient board wipe imo. If you need a boardwipe, maybe Mutilate?

I feel like Liquimetal Torque is best in colors that remove artifacts easily, more like green or red. It's far from a bad card though! I'd recommend Thought Vessel as a potential contender as well.

Hope this helps a bit! :)