(Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir| Mike Bierek)

Introduction

Magic: The Gathering is full of Vampires. On Innistrad, we have Sorin MarkovSorin Markov, his old man EdgarEdgar, and Olivia VoldarenOlivia Voldaren who had maybe the bloodiest wedding this side of Game of Thrones.

On Ixalan we have the saint Elenda, the Dusk RoseElenda, the Dusk Rose, the sinner Vona, Butcher of MaganVona, Butcher of Magan, and Amalia Benavides AguirreAmalia Benavides Aguirre who's neither as holy as Elenda, or as cruel as Vona, but is more capable than either of them of comboing off and wiping the board.

Just about everywhere you look in the multiverse, there are Vampires abound.

Today's Under the Radar will focus on, arguably, Zendikar's most famous Vampire DranaDrana.

Drana is the leader or "blood chief" of the Kalastria clan, Zendikar's most powerful Vampire family. She has shown up on four different cards throughout the game's history. She first appeared in the 2010 set Rise of the Eldrazi as, Drana, Kalastria BloodchiefDrana, Kalastria Bloodchief.

She made a return in 2015, in the set Battle for Zendikar as Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir and again in 2020 in Zendikar Rising as Drana, the Last BloodchiefDrana, the Last Bloodchief.

Finally, in 2023, she formed an unlikely alliance with the Angel Linvala in March of the Machine and the two fought off both the Phyrexians and the activated abilities of cards controlled by other players as Drana and LinvalaDrana and Linvala.

Unfortunately for Drana, her tag team with Linvala was the only one of her cards that gained any significant traction. All three of her solo appearances command under 500 decks, making them all eligible to be discussed here on Under the Radar.

Today, we'll be talk about Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir, her Battle for Zendikar iteration. While this version of Drana commands only 406 decks (as of 02/24/2025), she has plenty of potential to lead the charge on some truly intimidating strategies. Let's get going...

Causing Drama with Drana

Drana, Liberator of Malakir

With Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir in the command zone, aggression is the name of the game.

As a flyer with first strike that grants all of your creatures +1/+1 counters whenever she deals damage to an opponent, Drana rewards you for building a wide board of creatures and attacking with them early and often.

Remember that, since Drana has first strike, your creatures will gain their counters in time to do increased damage.

Black has lots of tools to fill the board with creatures like BitterblossomBitterblossom, Ogre SlumlordOgre Slumlord, and Lord Skitter, Sewer KingLord Skitter, Sewer King.

Black is also great at punishing opponents when creatures die. Cards like Blood ArtistBlood Artist, Blade of the BloodchiefBlade of the Bloodchief, and Sadistic GleeSadistic Glee are typically used in sacrifice-themed decks, but they can be just as useful here in a combat-oriented build where lots of casualties will be piling up on both sides.

As both a Vampire and an Ally, Drana is a member of two interesting creature types. Edgar MarkovEdgar Markov is the de facto Vampire typal commander, but he's in Mardu and Drana presents an interesting mono-black alternative.

The Ally creature type meanwhile was a former feature of Zendikar that has fallen out of prominence. Allies like Hada FreebladeHada Freeblade and Hagra DiabolistHagra Diabolist provide beneficial effects whenever their controller plays a new ally.

Given that there are only 17 Allies available in mono-black, including Drana herself, it will be tricky to build an Ally deck around her, but with enough Changelings anything is possible.

There is nothing about Drana that inherently incentivizes you to build a typal deck, but these avenues are open if you are interested in exploring them.

Let's have a look at Drana's average deck and see if it's as aggressive as we're imagining...

Drana's Average Deck

The EDHREC average deck feature looks at all of the decks that have been built around a given commander and puts together an average list containing the most common cards that show up in each of them.

Currently, as of 02/24/2025, there are 406 Drana decks logged on the site. Let's see what this average list looks like...

The first thing that leaps out here is that this is unambiguously a Vampire typal deck. To reiterate, there are alternative ways of building around this commander, and you absolutely don't have to take the Vampire typal route.

Drana encourages an aggressive, strategy where you cover the board in creatures and this can be achieved without needing to put her at the head of an army of vampires.

In fact, if you're feeling like catching your opponents off guard, Drana makes a great commander for a Zombie or a Rat themed deck since both of those creature types excel at flooding the board.

With all of this said though, the article from here on will focus on building Drana as a Vampire typal commander, since this is the deck list we will be working with.

As well as a bunch of Vampires, this deck also currently contains the Sanguine BondSanguine Bond + Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood combo.

These two cards set off a game ending combo when any opponent gets damaged. Your mileage might vary, but I would personally recommend cutting this in the interest of fun.

We're here to win with nice fair combat damage, not with a two card combo that immediately destroys the rest of the table. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk RoseVito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose has the same effect as Sanguine BondSanguine Bond but he's at least a vampire, fitting in with the deck's theme.

Bloodthirsty ConquerorBloodthirsty Conqueror isn't currently in the deck, and is a very costly card, but it's Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood on a stick. I'll leave it up to you if you want to cut this combo, or go in the opposite direction and add in Bloodthirsty ConquerorBloodthirsty Conqueror and some tutors to make it easier to pull off.

Now let's look at bringing down this deck's $300 price tag. Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers, Bloodletter of AclazotzBloodletter of Aclazotz and the aforementioned Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood are the three most expensive cards here, all of them costing more than $20.

Bloodletter of AclazotzBloodletter of Aclazotz typically costs more than $30. You'll make some pretty significant savings by immediately cutting these three cards.

Cabal StrongholdCabal Stronghold is a $15 card, while Black Market ConnectionsBlack Market Connections costs about $10 so they can also be cut to bring down the price.

Now let's have a look at some cards to keep and some cards to cut...

5 Cards To Keep

Vampire of the Dire MoonVampire of the Dire Moon

Vampire of the Dire Moon

Currently in 48% of decks.

The very offensive strategy incentivized by by Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir is great, but if you swing out with your entire board every turn then your opponents will all just stomp you while your shields are down.

It can be useful to hold at least one creature back to block, and Vampire of the Dire MoonVampire of the Dire Moon makes a great choice.

Creatures with deathtouch always make amazing blockers, since however big your opponents' creatures may be they'll never want to attack into a death toucher, as it will take them down.

The fact that Vampire of the Dire MoonVampire of the Dire Moon has lifelink, and also supports the Vampire typal theme is also fantastic.

Sorin, Imperious BloodlordSorin, Imperious Bloodlord

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

Currently in 26% of decks.

If you mention this card to any Pioneer player, you will see the light leave their eyes, as they flashback to early 2024 when this card and Vein RipperVein Ripper tore their way through that format.

While not quite as infamous as Oko, Thief of CrownsOko, Thief of Crowns, Sorin, Imperious BloodlordSorin, Imperious Bloodlord is still probably one of the top 10 strongest planeswalkers ever to be printed, and a fantastic support card in any Vampire deck.

Both of Sorin's +1 abilities are decent, but it's his -3 that really steals the show as it allows you to bring any Vampire in your hand straight into play without paying their mana cost.

Since Sorin only costs 3 mana himself, this is a shortcut to bringing out your massive beaters way ahead of the curve. You'll be able to play your Patron of the VeinPatron of the Vein and your Butcher of MalakirButcher of Malakir three and four turns early respectively.

While Sorin, Imperious BloodlordSorin, Imperious Bloodlord is a bit pricy, coming in at just over $5 dollars, now is the best time to buy it since it was reprinted recently in Innistrad Remastered. Your opponents will be sorry that they're up against Sorin.

Nighthawk ScavengerNighthawk Scavenger

Nighthawk Scavenger

Currently in 57% of decks.

Back in 2009, Zendikar gave us the card Vampire NighthawkVampire Nighthawk. One of the most infamous uncommon of its era, Vampire NighthawkVampire Nighthawk was known and feared for having three formidable keywords (flying, lifelink and deathtouch) alongside a decent 2/3 stat line.

11 years later, Zendikar Rising gave us Nighthawk ScavengerNighthawk Scavenger a beefed up version of the original nighthawk, with power that scales based on the number of cards in the opponents' graveyards.

Both of these vicious vampires make for great additions to any vampire typal deck, and they will only grow stronger getting constantly pumped up by Drana'sDrana's effect.

Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel

Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Currently in 29% of decks.

Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel may not be a vampire, but old Gary is still a staple in any mono-black deck. When this card enters play, all of your opponents will be drained for an amount equal to the number of black pips that you control.

Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel counts itself, so this will always be a minimum swing of six life. If you're able to get your hands on a Bloodletter of AclazotzBloodletter of Aclazotz then the two cards synergize incredibly well, as the three black pips on the bloodletter, combined with its damage doubling effect, means that your Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel will drain everyone for at least 10 the moment that it hits the board.

Bloodletter or no though, all of the small Vampires in this deck mean that you'll likely rarely have a shortage of black pips, making this deck an ideal place for this gray merchant to set up shop.

Sanctum SeekerSanctum Seeker

Sanctum Seeker

Currently in 52% of decks.

Let's look at one last Vampire typal card before we move on to the next section. Sanctum SeekerSanctum Seeker is the most popular Vampire printed in Ixalan, a set that had no shortage of bloodsuckers.

Sanctum SeekerSanctum Seeker is currently in 44'762 decks, two percent of all the black decks logged on EDHREC. This card works best in Vampire decks looking to go wide, attacking with lots of small Vampires results in Sanctum SeekerSanctum Seeker draining the most life possible.

Fortunately, that's exactly what we're looking to do here, meaning that Sanctum SeekerSanctum Seeker has found the perfect home.

5 Cards To Cut

Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos

Whip of Erebos

Currently in 27% of decks.

Spending four mana to give your creatures lifelink isn't a great deal, especially when just under 20% of the creatures in this deck are already lifelinkers.

While Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos does also possess a reanimation ability, it's hamstrung by the fact that it only lasts for a single turn and that most of the creatures in this deck cost less than the four mana this effect costs.

If you're looking for a four-mana card that will gain you some life with this deck go for Sanctum SeekerSanctum Seeker rather than this underwhelming whip.

MurderMurder

Murder

Currently in 25% of decks.

MurderMurder may be the most clean and evocative removal spell in the entire game. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and just straight up kills a creature of your choice. There are no thrills, or bells or whistles, something just dies.

The smooth execution of this card's design (pun very much intended) unfortunately doesn't make it powerful. MurderMurder is strictly worse than Hero's DownfallHero's Downfall , Spin OutSpin Out, and Feed the CycleFeed the Cycle none of which are exactly A-tier cards.

Swap this card out for Withering TormentWithering Torment, or Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm which have the benefit of also being able to target enchantments.

5 Cards To Add

Dusk Legion SergeantDusk Legion Sergeant

Dusk Legion Sergeant

Currently in 21% of decks.

Dusk Legion SergeantDusk Legion Sergeant offers both a relevant typal two-drop, and a powerful protection effect. Granting all of your Vampires persists means that they will return to play when they are removed with a -1/-1 counter, so long as they don't get exiled.

Fortunately, this downside is incredibly easy to circumvent thanks to DranaDrana producing +1/+1 counters that will wipe those negative counters right off. Whether it's board wipes, or a single target removal spell aimed at one of your stronger Vampires, Dusk Legion SergeantDusk Legion Sergeant can keep you safe.

Sorin the MirthlessSorin the Mirthless

Sorin the Mirthless

Currently in 9% of decks.

Sorin, Imperious BloodlordSorin, Imperious Bloodlord isn't the only Sorin in town. Sorin the MirthlessSorin the Mirthless is another great version of Innistrad's premiere Vampire planeswalker.

This card's +1 is an upgraded version of Dark ConfidantDark Confidant, since you won't need to risk taking massive damage if you have a card like Shadow of MortalityShadow of Mortality on top of your deck. It's this card's -2 which makes it worth using though.

The 2/3 Vampire tokens Sorin generates can protect him from harm, ensuring that you'll be able to keep him alive to activate the ability multiple times.

They also make great attackers to join DranaDrana synergizing with all of the other Vampire typal and life gain payoffs in the deck. Sorin may be mirthless, but this card is far from worthless.

Bloodthirsty AerialistBloodthirsty Aerialist

Bloodthirsty Aerialist

Currently in 19% of decks.

Ajani's PridemateAjani's Pridemate is one of the most iconic life gain cards in the game. Bloodthirsty AerialistBloodthirsty Aerialist is a color-shifted counterpart which, while marginally more expensive, gains flying, an additional point of toughness, and an arguably more relevant creature type.

With all of the lifelinking vampires in this deck, it won't be hard to pump up Bloodthirsty Aerialist'sBloodthirsty Aerialist's stats, especially since she'll be gaining extra +1/+1 counters whenever she attacks alongside DranaDrana as well as every time you gain life.

Drown in IchorDrown in Ichor

Drown in Ichor

Currently in 9% of decks.

At first glance, Drown in IchorDrown in Ichor may seem like a removal spell designed for use in limited unworthy of a spot in your Commander deck. Fortunately, this card has a lot to offer deep beneath its bubbling inky surface.

First of all, there will essentially always be something relevant that you can get rid of by giving it -4/-4, since this effect doesn't deal damage or explicitly "destroy" a card it can skirt around indestructibility.

Not even Ketramose, the New DawnKetramose, the New Dawn is safe from this inky black ichor. Of course, the real reason this card is great is because it has Proliferate, enabling you to put plenty of extra counters on the creatures that attack with DranaDrana.

There are very few powerful monoblack Proliferate effects, and this card is significantly stronger than Spread the SicknessSpread the Sickness or Whisper of the DrossWhisper of the Dross.

BloodghastBloodghast

Bloodghast

Currently in 16% of decks.

BloodghastBloodghast is one of the most infamous monoblack aggro cards in Magic. While aggro isn't quite as strong in Commander as in 20 life formats, and Bloodghast isn't quite as formidable now as it was back in 2009 this card still remains an absolute nightmare to remove.

No opponent will want to waste a Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares or a Path to ExilePath to Exile on a two-drop like Bloodghast, but if they just try to take it out in combat then it will just continue to return again and again.

DranaDrana, and all of the vampire typal support in this build of the deck make it the perfect home for this aggressive ghast.

Conclusion

Whether she's charging into battle at the head of a legion of Vampires, a swarm of Rats, a horde of Zombies, or a hodge-podge collection of aggressive black creatures Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir always brings it.

As an evasive attacker with first strike, and the ability to coat your board with plenty of +1/+1 counters Drana is a good commander for anyone looking to assemble a massive mono-black army.

Most mono-black commanders incentivize a sinister, yet subtle, game plan. Syr Konrad, the GrimSyr Konrad, the Grim wants to load creatures into the graveyard to gradually bleed opponents out.

K'rrik, Son of YawgmothK'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth allows players to cheat their black cards into play early, letting them get their strategy going before the opponent has time to respond.

Tergrid, God of FrightTergrid, God of Fright wants to watch the world burn on a pyre of sacrifice and discard effects. Drana, Liberator of MalakirDrana, Liberator of Malakir certainly isn't subtle, or complex but she can still be pretty strong. Who needs to combo off, when you can just flood the board with creatures?