Mana Drain too slow?

[MattInTheHat83]

I've seen very few Mana Drains in lists anymore, specifically in Oath decks. Is the card just too slow? Too costly? Does it still have a place among the blue-based control decks?

[Islandswamp]

I think that depends on your deck. My oath lists were built in such a way that Mana Drain wasn't wanted, but you could make a case for it in the right build.

[TheBrassMan]

I think the biggest problem with Mana Drain was the influx of cheaper counters a few years ago. Mental Misstep, Flusterstorm, Spell Pierce are all competing for the same space. Pyroblast, Duress, Mindbreak Trap are showing up more often in lists these days, too.

One big factor is that Gush decks like to operate on low mana counts, and don't need the colorless mana as much as old lists did, making Drain a lot less attractive than a one-drop. Drain is still a powerful card if you have a deck with free room at that mana cost, but that space is at a real premium these days.

[CHA1N5]

[Thiim]

I've seen very few Mana Drains in lists anymore, specifically in Oath decks. Is the card just too slow? Too costly? Does it still have a place among the blue-based control decks?

Mana Drain still got game!

http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=48332.0