Drana, Liberator of Malakir - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

How refreshing: a Constructed-playable ally that costs less than 5 mana! We’ve seen how Zada, Hedron Grinder could be good, but Drana, Liberator of Malakir can fit into far more decks. Like Zada, Drana could care less about what Allies are on the battlefield alongside her. If she deals combat damage to an opponent, each of your attacking creatures - herself included - get a +1/+1 counter. Due to her having first strike, the rest of your team gets the buff before they even deal damage. Being a flyer, as well, you’re looking at a very solid 3-drop that could fit into a ton of Constructed strategies.

Is she better than the original Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief? As someone who has pretty much single-handedly won Commander games with her before, it’s hard to say. The original Drana is probably the better mono-black Commander, as being able to drain a creature and gain that power as a flyer until end of turn is simply nasty. Of course - little known tidbit - that Drana was originally meant to be a mythic rare, but was powered down slightly to fill a rare slot in the set. The Bloodchief didn’t really catch on in Standard, but the new mythic rare Liberator of Malakir most certainly should. Of course, you can play them together in Commander.

In Standard, the +1/+1 counter pump seems pretty relevant for Abzan Aggro decks that want to pump their Hangarback Walkers and is a great complement to Anafenza the Foremost. Drana’s presence may make Hardened Scales a more relevant card, too, pushing what’s been a Green/White deck into Black, as well - which also introduces the mythic Anafenza into that deck. Scales doubles Drana’s ability, as well as Anafenza’s. Perhaps Drana was the missing piece for that deck to be a top tier contender. Drana helps Abzan stay relevant - that’s for certain.

The other cool thing about this Drana is that she’s a 3-drop, making her playable with Collected Company, an Abzan variant that has seen some success. She might even creep her way into Modern, a format where Collected Company is even more powerful.

Being a legendary mythic rare that will probably see at least 3-of play in more than a few decks, this should be one of the more valuable mythics in the set. Her Commander value is going to be pretty good, as well, giving Vampire tribal a huge weapon, plus giving Alesha, Who Smiles at Death another two-power creature to play with. This is going to be a fun creature to play with.

What do you think of the new Drana? Do you think she’ll make Allies a worthy contender, or is she simply good enough on her own to be a part of some of the best decks in Standard?

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