Sets Battle for Zendikar Spoilers

[Eric Chan]

Scatter to the Winds might be a thing. I'm really happy with Dissolve, and I run Draining Whelk as well, which my playgroup is quickly latching onto; a card that is slightly weaker on both ends but has the flexibility to be cast for either mana cost might just do the trick.

 

[RavebornMuse]

but modal and not blink-friendly.. Hmm..

EDIT: Eric beat me to it!

 

[yan]

this is a good three mana counter
not that those are really great for smaller cubes

 

[Dom Harvey]

Retreat to Coralhelm + Knight of the Reliquary is a combo in Modern

ETA: slow pony, though worth noting it staples Lotus Cobra text onto mana dorks

 

[anotak]

look p solid

 

[safra]

watch the white one be another variant on Healing Salve

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Ooooo! Another solid hit for the utility land draft!

 

[Lucre]

I love the land themes in this set, I just wish they hadn't also tried to cram in all these disparate other themes in there too, they are all over the place in this one.

 

[Eric Chan]

These lands are so much better than the non-rare utility lands from the original Zendikar block. Can't wait to see the rest of the cycle!

 

[Goldenpineapple]

Beastcaller Expert
Elf Shaman Ally
Haste
Birds of paradise for creature spells only.
"They come because I call. They stay because I listen."

Lotus Cobra what are you doing

 

[RavebornMuse]

I'd tap that

 

[Eric Chan]

 

[Grillo_Parlante]

I want to like it, because I think thats a unique effect for black; however, I've traditionally found those types of anthem effects to be too slow :/

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Drana is a card I can get behind. Curse of Predation is one of the best anthem effects available, and this is not much (if any) behind, since it will put the counters on attacking creatures before they (or the ones without first strike anyway) get to deal damage. There's much to like here.

 

[Goldenpineapple]

The black 3 slot is kind of a rough one but I think she's plenty good enough; the first strike really makes it.

Nice common, cool name

 

[Chris Taylor]

Nice, another card to link to people occasionally

New Drana seems awesome. Curse of Predation was actually too strong for me, so we'll see if I have to exclude her as well.

 

[Grillo_Parlante]

Usually the way those cards work is you invest a turn casting them, than they die before they connect.

Curse is much better because you can get value out of it the turn it comes into play, and you get the counters before damage is dealt. Drana is a turn behind that, though she is pretty sweet if you can manage to connect with her.

I'm really tempted to scratch out flying, first strike and write in haste.

 

[Diakonov]

Drana being a prime target doesn't immediately equate to a bad thing. Looking at my own cube, let's see how hard it is for her to connect on curve.

By turn three, Drana can be dealt with 1-to-1 using the following:

Condemn
Swords to Plowshares
Unexpectedly Absent
Oblivion Ring
Tragic Slip (maybe)
Murderous Cut (maybe)
Hero's Downfall
Toxic Deluge
Lightning Bolt
Volt Charge
Song of the Dryads
Detention Sphere
Dreadbore
Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Chained to the Rocks
Lightning Helix

Though, for many of these, if they're being used against my 3 drop instead of a 4 or 5 drop, that's not terrible value for me.

Creatures that will block or trade by turn 3:

Serendib Efreet
Vendilion Clique
Vampire Nighthawk
Herald of Torment
Baleful Strix

1-to-1 removal (or better) by turn 4:

Wrath of God
Faith's Fetters
Citadel Siege
Old Man of the Sea
Control Magic
Silumgar Assassin
Damnation
Languish
Pernicious Deed
Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Ral Zarek

A lot of these are wrath effects, so you should be employing the usual caution.

Effective blockers by turn 4:

Restoration Angel
Falkenrath Aristocrat

It seems like it would really not be so bad in my cube.

 

[Grillo_Parlante]

Where those cards have a problem is when they don't come out on curve. Cast on turn 4, dosen't swing until turn 5, buffed team can't swing until 6....

Much worse. Though unlike other variants this one can switch to a defense role due to the flying first strike, which is rather nice, and may be enough to make up for her slowness.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Drana is definitely good, I'm with Chris on Curse of Predation probably being too good for my environment, she is a more muted version of the effect. I also like the contrast with Vampire Nighthawk. They are both 2/3 flying for , but nighthawk has great defensive abilities and is fine being run out alone, while Drana has a powerful offensive ability and likes to have dudes on board. Very cool. Blade of the Bloodchief might be getting another run.

 

[RavebornMuse]

Drana looks fantastic for my environ. Anthems on a stick are pretty great over here, and I run both Curse of Predation and Curse of Stalked Prey to great success. Her costing 3, being black, and the 3 toughness help her dodge some removal or trade effectively with it, which is appreciated, and I'm on the same train Chris is; if you use removal on her, I'll be bummed, but I won't necessarily fall behind, as I'd rather lose a 3 than a 4 or 5. Permanent anthems like this have proven to be exactly what I want after some time using Archangel of Thune and my two curses, so I'm extremely optimistic about Drana. She also provides some heft to the WB recursive/token sacrifice theme I'm pushing - hello growing Lingering Souls! I'm super happy with this.

 

[ahadabans]

Where those cards have a problem is when they don't come out on curve. Cast on turn 4, dosen't swing until turn 5, buffed team can't swing until 6....

Much worse. Though unlike other variants this one can switch to a defense role due to the flying first strike, which is rather nice, and may be enough to make up for her slowness.

The card is better than you think because of the first strike. Cast on Turn 4, swing turn 5, deal FS damage, buff team, non-FS guys deal damage with +1/+1 counters on T5 not T6. So it's a turn faster actually.

Still slower than curse of predation, but that might make it the right power level. I'm interested but not sure where I'll find a cut at that CC. Double black doesn't help either.

 

[Aoret]

I saw Drana, immediately went and checked my list, and holy shit if black three drops are the new four drops. What the hell do I even cut? freaking bone shredder?! Literally every other black three I'm running is hooked into some kind of theme or another (and old boney is a Pod / CoCo candidate soooo....)

Anyway, the BFZ spoiler has been pretty good to me so far. I'm still trying to figure out if I can justify running retreat to coralhelm. I really want to Knight of the Reliquary somebody, but I'm just not sure that card is enough without being in a silly bant combo deck. Maybe my BTP fetchland experiment makes retreats good enough?

 

[Grillo_Parlante]

I have been persuaded: its quite a bit more interesting when I think of it like a vampire nighthawk with a powerful offensive ability I can leverage.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Also why are we all talking about casting her on 4?

She costs 3, and 1BB is hardly hard enough that the average case will be a full turn later. Not exactly kitchen stinks or invoke prejudice