Drana's Ascension to Oblivion | Primer
Commander / EDH Control Infinite Combo Midrange Mono-Black Primer Tempo
Artifact (22)
-
1x
Azor's Gateway
*f-pre*
Flip
- 1x Basalt Monolith
- 1x Caged Sun
- 1x Charcoal Diamond
- 1x Doubling Cube
-
1x
Everflowing Chalice
- 1x Expedition Map
- 1x Extraplanar Lens
- 1x Fellwar Stone
-
1x
Gauntlet of Power
-
1x
Gilded Lotus *f-pre*
- 1x Jet Medallion
- 1x Lightning Greaves
- 1x Mana Crypt
- 1x Mana Vault
- 1x Mind Stone
- 1x Rings of Brighthearth
- 1x Sensei's Divining Top
- 1x Sol Ring
- 1x Thran Dynamo
-
1x
Voltaic Key
-
1x
Wayfarer's Bauble
*f-pre*
Creature (8)
Sorcery (17)
- 1x All is Dust
-
1x
Beseech the Queen
-
1x
Black Sun's Zenith
-
1x
Damnation
-
1x
Dark Petition
-
1x
Demonic Tutor
-
1x
Diabolic Revelation
- 1x Exsanguinate
-
1x
Mastermind's Acquisition
-
1x
Mutilate
-
1x
Night's Whisper
-
1x
Praetor's Grasp
-
1x
Read the Bones
-
1x
Sign in Blood
-
1x
Torment of Hailfire
- 1x Toxic Deluge
- 1x Yawgmoth's Will
Instant (11)
Commander (1)
Land (35)
- 1x Bloodstained Mire
-
1x
Cabal Coffers
-
1x
Cabal Stronghold *f-pre*
- 1x Deserted Temple
-
1x
Myriad Landscape
- 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- 1x Petrified Field
- 1x Polluted Delta
- 1x Reliquary Tower
- 23x Snow-Covered Swamp
- 1x Thespian's Stage
-
1x
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
-
1x
Wasteland
Planeswalker (3)
Enchantment (3)
Introduction
I'm the guy who loves playing decks that aren't that popular and will spends thousands of dollars refining them until I deem them complete, yes I am that type of person. I been introduced to Magic the Gathering back in middle school in the year of 2003, the block that I started in was the Kamigawa block and I found it very interesting. During that time I played a constructed deck on and off and eventually life happened and I stopped playing, flash forward almost exactly ten years later and I joined an anime/otaku club. Here I met people playing MTG and I also started getting back into it. Currently I am an avid competitive EDH player who has a tendency to play combo/control decks, I absolutely hate to lose but I enjoy a great match. I've been known in my group as always being threatening and able to win out of the blue so they love to make my life hard and deny me all of my resources, as you will see the reason a lot of my decks are built to win either with flair or questionable commanders. Now enough about me, go read further below that's what you actually came here for!
This was originally my sister's Horobi, Death's Wail EDH deck. She doesn't play as much anymore so I essentially reassembled it to something more suited for my playstyle. The outcome is what you see currently, it has aggro, control, and of course combo. In the earliest iteration of the deck it was a vampire tribal good stuff running the usual mono black infinite combos such as Exquisite Blood / Sanguine Bond , but now that has been changed and fine tuned into an infinite mana combo deck with Drana at the helm. It has the presence to control the board, the answers to deal with threats, and her pieces to win the game. Without further ado, I present to you Drana's Ascension to Oblivion!
Deck Breakdown
The main reason why I chose Drana at the helm of the deck is due to the fact that she can control the board with her ability. She can also be used as an outlet for your infinite mana as well as to blackjack opponents. Not to mention she is one sexy vampire. She also has built in evasion in terms of flying, a decent P/T for 5 CMC. She is also an underestimated commander that doesn't seem to threatening and will most likely be left alone on the board. She is also a good political tool when you need to get rid of a powerful creature. Since her ability doesn't destroy creatures we can get through indestructibility, provided we have enough mana to overpower the toughness of the creature. All in all a solid way that suits one of mono-blacks strength and that is creature removal.
Crypt Ghast
: Mono-black staple, doubles our black mana and also gives us access to extort as well. What's there not to love about this guy? Plus the additional life gain does help nullify the amount of life we lose from our various greedy cards.
Geth, Lord of the Vault
: A mana outlet, as well as value engine. Can procure quite a bit of goodies.
Mindblade Render
: Great CA engine for us as well as being a pseudo-
Bob
. We need as much CA as possible.
Nirkana Revenant : Relevant and stellar creature all around, we can't get enough mana doublers. The self buff she does is also great to go around those -X/-X spells.
Rune-Scarred Demon
: A beatstick that can tutor. We are light on creatures and sometimes we just need that blocker or beat stick to smash some skulls in.
Twilight Prophet : As with almost all decks CA is key in anywhere. We have enough permanents most of the time for the ascend trigger, and the life gain really does help, especially if we flip into our Eldrazi's our high CMC cost spells.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger : One of our few forms of removal. We gather mana extremely quick so getting the mana requirement is often easier done than said. Exile on cast and a exile twenty of their library on attack is a good deal. Definitely will eat up a removal spell before it comes back to your turn.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre : The OG Ulamog, your other form of removal that mono-black usually can't answer. Also here for anti-mill strategies and an indestructible beat stick that has Annihilator 4.
Dark Ritual
: Fast accelerant. Can be used for some janky situations.
Dismember
: Essentially a one drop kill spell, pure gravy.
Geth's Verdict : Our other way of killing off those hexproof thingies.
Go for the Throat
: Prime removal.
Hero's Downfall
: There are times where we can't activate Drana's abilities too many times, these types of spells help alleviate it.
Slaughter Pact
: A surprise card, when people see a mono-black deck tapped out they assume we can't do anything. This card at those times are very clutch.
Sudden Spoiling
: Another underrated card. Stops a lot of combo players due to the split second and losing all abilities.
Tainted Strike
: BOOM! SURPRISE MOTHERF-----!!! Yeah I like combat tricks.
Vampiric Tutor : So I get to choose an card, any card from my library? Yeah sure that's not like it's cheating or anything :P
Vendetta
: Need all them kill spells, life loss is irrelevant.
Vona's Hunger
: Meta call card. We play a lot against hexproof commanders and this card gets rid of them since our other targeted spells are useless.
All Is Dust : Your 'Oh shit' button.
Beseech the Queen
: 3 drop tutor. It good.
Black Sun's Zenith
: Another board wipe, and the artwork is pretty. Sooooo pretty.
Damnation
: Your classic black version of
Wrath of God
.
Dark Petition
: Essentially a
Demonic Tutor
when you have cards in the yard.
Demonic Tutor : OG tutor. Why would you not run this card?
Diabolic Revelation
: You should be able to win the game if X is 3 or more. Don't cast until you really need that tutor.
Exsanguinate : Mana sink for win.
Mastermind's Acquisition
: I swear I did not just shove a whole bunch of tutors in this deck...
Mutilate
: Mass board wipe, good against those indestructible based ones.
Night's Whisper
: We drop our hands pretty quick so we need more gas.
Praetor's Grasp : Useful in a lot of situations, basically an off colored tutor, but can deny people of their win cons.
Read the Bones
: Gas for the hand, always good.
Sign in Blood
: Same as the other two, more gas.
Torment of Hailfire
: Another mana sink, but the most fun one we have available.
Toxic Deluge : Your answer for Gaddock Teeg .
Azor's Gateway : The only thing to be afraid of is that this is easily removable but when it works, oh boy does it work. Having access to even 25 mana on the spot is a great feeling.
Caged Sun : Another mana doubler essentially, we run all of them. Mini buff for Drana.
Doubling Cube : This card has been a lot of value to me ever since I started running it. It can go completely bonkers early game in netting mana. Definitely worth keeping.
Expedition Map : Fairly important land tutor. Gives you access to your Cabal Coffers , Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth , or your Deserted Temple .
Extraplanar Lens : Risky mana doubler, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. It would be better with Snow-Covered swamps but I like my unstable swamps way too much.
Gauntlet of Power : It may give opponent's value as well, but it should give you the edge more than them.
Jet Medallion : No brainer. Duh. It's good trust me.
Lightning Greaves : Drana needs that protection. Also gives your Eldrazi that haste to smash some faces in after they come into play.
Rings of Brighthearth : Important combo piece for this deck. Enables for a lot of our infinite mana combo.
Sensei's Divining Top : EDH staple. Fixes our card draw as well gives the extra dig when we need answers.
Voltaic Key : Value card. Can go early game to produce us a lot of mana. Goes nuts with Doubling Cube .
Wayfarer's Bauble
: The substitute for the 0 drop mana rocks. Plus having more swamps matter in this deck.
Necropotence
: One of the best card draw engines there is.
Phyrexian Arena : Another good card draw engine. If Drana runs out of gas we die, so we need all the advantage.
Planar Void : Prevents them graveyard shenanigans.
Karn Liberated : All abilities have uses, whether if it's exiling permanents, card control, and even a reset button when it becomes too much. All in all, an extremely good card to have at any point of the game.
Liliana Vess
: More of a reusable tutor and disruption. Never used for the ultimate.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon : Our answer to clearing the board of colored permanents. Doesn't affect us as much as we are heavily based into artifacts.
Arcane Lighthouse : Narset...Thrun...Sigarda. Actually nah screw all hexproof commanders. We need to level them down to our size.
Cabal Coffers
: We either get a lot of mana or infinite mana. Hmmm, yeah that's why we use this card.
Cabal Stronghold
: With the release of Dominaria, we get essentially a more fair Cabal Coffers. Of course we will run this card. It's an mono-black staple guaranteed.
Deserted Temple : Combo piece, but even if not for combo, it's a value card.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx : Not as good in other decks but still nets us more advantage.
Reliquary Tower : This is included more for Necropotence .
Wasteland
: For all those
Gaea's Cradle
,
Serra's Sanctum
,
Academy Ruins
, etc.
Thespian's Stage : Great against mirror matches or copying value lands.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
: Essential piece for combo and netting a lot of mana.
The main pros are listed over here:
- Reactive
- Flexible
- Simplicity
This deck main strength is the simplicity of it. We are a mono-color deck so we don't have to worry about mana fixing and finding the right color for our spells. There is cards you will always grab in this type of deck, notably the Cabal Coffers / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth synergy. We also play fairly reactive and answering threats once it comes on board. Our game plan is also flexible, we can either go for the kill with a aggro approach using Drana, control the board with her ability and use the toolbox utility spell to help maintain the state where you are ahead, or we can stall the board out until we gain access to infinite mana and use one of our finishers to end the game.
The main weaknesses include:
- Lack of Enchantment/Artifact Removal
- Linear Game Strategy
Since we are a mono-black deck, there is a huge lack of removal when it comes to dealing with enchantments and artifacts. Especially when it comes to artifacts, our only way of removal in these form comes from Karn and both Ulamogs', aside from those three we have no other way to interact with them individually. Our other form of removal comes from Ugin as well as All Is Dust , but those aren't asymmetrical removal. The other weakness is our form of game plan, it is notable that our only way to win is to black jack an opponent or go into a pump X spell to win the game. A single counter can be enough to stop it since we don't run Boeiju, Who Shelters All or any form of anti-blue tech.
This combo works by having both pieces on the battlefield and at least . To start the infinite mana tap Basalt Monolith to add mana to your pool. Untap Basalt Monolith by using it's untap ability and copy it using Rings of Brighthearth ability, you must tap Basalt Monolith in response to the activation of Rings of Brighthearth's ability. From there you have an untapped Basalt Monolith and Rings of Brighthearth as well as mana net. Continue this for infinite colorless mana.
You must have 6 swamps available for this to work. To start the combo you will activate Cabal Coffers by tapping two of your swamps to add mana into your pool. Pay to activate Deserted Temple untap ability and copy it using Rings of Brighthearth ability to untap both Deserted Temple and Cabal Coffers. Now you should have mana floating, use it to start the combo again and net every time.
*Cabal Coffers can be substituted for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx provided we have 6 devotion on the battlefield.
Same with the previous combo, we need 6 swamps before we can use this combo. First equip Umbral Mantle to Magus and tap Magus to produce , then untap Magus with Umbral Mantle. We should have floating in the pool. Now activate Magus again and we net for every activation leading to infinite mana.
Requires 7 mana to start going infinite. Tap Doubling cube to double your mana to . Tap voltaic key to untap Doubling Cube and copy the untap with Rings to untap Voltaic Key. In response to untapping Voltaic Key, activate doubling cube to double your mana from to . With paying for Rings activation you will now have . Now continue again for infinite mana.
Everflowing Chalice must be a 4 counters in order for this to work. Tap Chalice to float , activate Volatic Key and copy with Rings to untap both Chalice and Key. You will now have floating. Rinse and Repeat for infinite colorless mana.
Deck Piloting
An optimal hand will be something akin to:
- 2-3 Lands (At least two land that can produce )
- A tutor
- Card Advantage (CA) Engine
- 1-2 Ramp
- 1-2 Interaction Spells
Since we run a decent curve, you will always want to get plenty of basic Swamps on the field. If you don't have any form of CA in your hand, your tutor will grab you one. Ramp is essential to gain value faster than your opponent and to accelerate your game plan as we are a mana intensive deck. You also want to have some form of interaction before having Drana on the field.
Your main goals are as follow:
- Establish CA Engine.
- Assess opponent line of game play and react accordingly.
- Assemble lines to win either via Drana or X spell kill.
As with most decks, establishing your CA engine is essential to a functional working deck. Since we run a plethora of kill spells, we will eventually run out of cards faster than our opponents so we will need to refill our hands quite often. However it is also wrong to kill every little creature, we have to be efficient with our mana. The quicker we get Drana on the field, the less we actually have to use our kill spells to answer problems. We can rely on Drana's innate kill ability to save up our spells for the more problematic creatures. Holding up mana and using them before our turn comes up again is generally the right play, we play more of a reactive approach and when the timing is right we then go for the win.
Assessing the board state and the type of decks your opponents play is also crucial, if you see a control player you will go after them first, unless a combo player shows more advantage. Tutoring for board wipes are also key when the situation arises. Your tutors are for the most of the time grabbing you your mana accelerators. You are also okay by sitting there leaving your black mana open to respond to threats, we are trying to out tempo our opponents.
Once we have a decent board state, this is then we start assembling our win conditions. If you have the pieces to go infinite mana, you will do just that as than you can just win the game from there. Drana is also a great outlet to clear the board and than kill the first person who can stop you. From there on you just kill the people down the line from order of threats.
Suggestions
Comments
Attention! Complete Comment Tutorial! This annoying message will go away once you do!
Important! Formatting tips — Comment Tutorial — markdown syntax
Please login to comment
Casual
98% Competitive
| Top Ranked |
|
| Date added | 6 years |
| Last updated | 5 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Commander / EDH legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 15 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 100 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.20 |
| Tokens | City's Blessing |
| Folders | Decks for Reference, EDH, Glorious and disgusting decks, Bloodsuckers, Retired Decks, Mono Black |
| Votes | |
| Ignored suggestions | |
| Shared with | |
| Views |