Who is Blue Braids? Braids, Conjurer Adept is the Time Spiral alter ego of Braids, Cabal Minion. Black Braids was a villain working for the Cabal. She is a dementia master responsible for several killings and the resurrection of Balthor the Defiled.
Not much is known of the storyline behind Blue Braids. Her art evokes a sense of quiet strength, she is more connected to her studies than the people around her. "Braids" started out as a cute nickname, but then became one to respect and fear for the massive creatures she unleashed and the intricate machines she could devise seemingly without effort.
Why play this general?
You will want to play this deck if:
You enjoy playing the biggest creatures in magic, including : Eldrazi, Colossi, Leviathans, Sphinxes, and Djinns.
You like stealing other peoples awesome creatures, like: Angels, Demons, Gargantuans, Praetors, etc.
You are of the opinion that two is always better, so Clone and friends are welcome.
You like the advantages of carddrawing and counterspells.
You are willing to play aggressively in order to devastate your opponents.
You do NOT want to play this deck if:
You prefer to play defensive/ attrition/ heavy control decks.
You like playing "typical" blue decks with loads of counterspells / control.
You like to play intricate "combo and win" decks.
Deck History:
EDH was just beginning to get big. Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, and Erayo, Soratami Ascendant were still being considered for the banned lists. I had already made my own versions of Rofellos (aka Waffles) and an Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck. I even made a Uril, the Miststalker(like everyone else did). I liked the feel of playing big splashy creatures and winning big. I also remember the raw power of stealing or copying cards with Mind Control and Clone effects. So I knew I wanted to make some version of a blue deck to take advantage of this. Would the deck be Momir Vig, Simic Visionary or a three color general? You can see I was still attached to the idea of green being the biggest, baddest creatures around.
OR
Well Time Spiral was being revealed on the boards and I saw new color-shifted Blue Braids! This alter ego was cute, fun, and had one of the most Timmy abilities Magic has ever known, Elvish Piper. I remember talking to my best friend, and thinking of popping Leviathans into play and dominating the combat phase. I also thought about Darksteel Colossus and the various Djinns. Then I remembered how impressive theft magic and clone had been. The next day I put together a basic decklist of my ideas. Naturally the list was about 250 cards deep!
The deck has evolved over time, taking advantage of Eldrazi, new powerhouse blue spells, and changes focused on efficiency and a toolbox approach. My focus in writing this primer is to streamline efficiency and focus on the essentials that work.
How To Play The Deck:
The strategy for Blue Braids is threefold, consisting of: blitzing out big dominating creatures, stealing or copying creatures, and making decisive board sweeps.
Step 1:Choose your mulligans wisely
The best hand consists of exactly four mana, a few great creatures, and possibly some clone action.
Other great hands include 4 mana, Gilded Drake, Phyrexian Metamorph, Control Magic, a counterspell, and a tutor. You won't have an explosive start, but you should be able to handle anything they play off of Braids until you find your win condition.
Step 2: Ramp up to 4 mana.
The deck has a very good suite of artifact mana accelerators. My absolute favorite is Sol Ring. This allows you to get a turn two Braids and start hitting people with Annihilators and Blightsteel on turn 3 or 4! If you can get Extraplanar Lens or Caged Sun out without Braids, you may forgo casting her and hardcast your creatures instead.
Step 3: Play Braids
There is rarely a time when you will not want to play Braids at 4 mana. Later in the game you should have enough mana (8+) to let her die or bounce her. If you smell removal, try to protect her with a counterspell, or shroud/hexproof.
than your decision is easy. Play one of them and start killing people. This will accelerate from early to late game very quickly as everyone brings out there big guns quickly.
Step 4b:
If your opening hand didn't consist of one of the awesome finishers than you will have to rely on the streamlined efficiency of the blue theft and cloning action.
You will still play Braids on turn four. Your objective in a mid game scenario where either Braids is dead or you don't have a great creature in hand is to copy, steal, and draw. Try to take advantage of the many draw card sources in the deck to find your win condition creature. Use the utility cards to search your deck. Clone any solid creatures your opponents play. This will at least deter them from attacking you. You should use your blue theft to maximum benefit. This deck is about getting to the end game as quickly as possible.
The deck has one major combo card: Deadeye Navigator. With it, you can abuse comes into play effects to generate infinite mana, bounce/remove numerous creatures, you name it. I am modifying my current list to take full advantage of him, trying out Venser, Shaper Savant, and others.
Matchups:
Your greatest threats are the 'combo and win' decks for two major reasons. One you aren't packing enough counterspell heat to stop them. Two they see Braids as the biggest threat! Combo decks like Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, Jhoira of the Ghitu, Taniwha, and any deck that plays a general 'just for the colors' likes to accelerate and build up critical mass for a sudden win. Braids enables every player to get to their win condition faster. So combo decks now have three powerful opponents to fight. With this said, level your Eldrazi and Blightsteel against the combo decks. Also you can try a more controlish package like Void Winnower, Back to Basics, Nullstone Gargoyle, and more counterspells, if your meta is filled with combo.
Additionally, annoying generals include Merieke Ri Berit, Sigarda, Host of Herons, and Teysa, Orzhov Scion. As a rule, if a general or deck is good at spot removal or plans to shut down the board, it is a bad matchup for Braids. Fight these decks first as well.
Each of the Eldrazi cards offers a crucial opportunity to devastate one or more opponents early in the game. Each Eldrazi needs to have Annihlator 2+ to be effective. My favorites include Pathrazer and It That Betrays. I used to run Ulamog's Crusher which is a really good card, but I cut it to have a stronger Deadeye Navigator package.
Blightsteel Colossus infect ability can instantly kill an opponent in one swing, cause blockers to have 0 toughness, and with indestructible only other infect/wither creatures stand a chance.
Theft Cards
Occasionally you will end up with a hand without an awesome beatdown or lockdown creature. The next best thing then is to allow your opponents to get big creatures and steal them for cheap.
Gilded Drake is the cheapest way to steal in Magic. There is no drawback whatsoever in giving a 3/3 flyer when you are playing EDH and most people are playing bigger.
Captivating Glance is a personal favorite of mine. Considering the deck has a very high converted mana cost, you will tend to win the clash more often. Additionally, you can clash with anyone, it does not have to be the controller of the creature! So even if you lose the clash one time, you can still take a good creature and give it away to an ally.
Memnarch is a late game card capable of disrupting and stealing an opponents win condition. You should have out Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo, or Extraplanar Lens to take full advantage of him.
Keiga, the Tide Star is a flexible theft spell in that she can acts as a rattlesnake card keeping more agressive creatures away from you.
Bribery is a blue theft staple. If you don't have one of your awesome beaters, then go steal theirs. Also note you will almost always be the target of opponent's Briberies.
Cloning
When looking at Blue Braids, it is tempting to include every big creature and artifact you can find. I have found it is often better to streamline your fatties to a few select individuals that dominate by themselves. However this reduces your potential to attack multiple opponents at once. Cloning helps to fill that gap and lowers your mana curve simultaneously.
Phantasmal Image is the cheapest copy effect you will find. That usually far outweighs its drawback.
Sakashima the Impostor is probably the best clone available since he can copy legendary creatures without dying. Also consider including Sakashima's Student since the ninjutsu ability can bounce an unblocked Braids.
Phyrexian Metamorph is a great 3cmc clone that hits artifacts too. Oftentimes he will just copy a creature, but being able to copy a great mana artifact or someone else's artifact provides a lot of utility.
Cryptoplasm is another great 3cmc clone that can change each upkeep.
Rite of Replication has the same converted cost as Clone but comes with a game winning kicker ability. In this deck, being able to copy an guy 5 times is ridiculous.
Quicksilver Gargantuan at 7/7 can outclass most dragons, demons, and angels in size. So copying one of those is a good idea.
Body Double for those times when some jerk Wrathed to kill a few fatties.
Protection
If your playgroup has never seen a Blue Braids deck before, and hasn't seen a Mayael the Anima strategy, you might be able to ignore some of these cards for awhile. Eventually though you will need to dedicate a suite of protection cards just as any good deck built around a general ought to do.
Vanishing absolutely the best way to protect Braids as it denies your opponents any chance to use Braids for their own benefit.
Vodalian Illusionist is Vanishing on a creature. You can use both of these cards to deal with an annoying creature your opponent is using.
Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are the standard package for protecting generals. They also allow you to have haste and protection for your fatties once Braids becomes nonessential.
Spellskite has proven to be invaluable for protecting Braids and your other awesome creatures. It's got a great low converted mana cost and you can still activate its ability when tapped out. Also consider Kira, Great Glass-Spinner as an effective double spell wall.
Synergy & Good Stuff
Braids strategy is straightforward, play big creatures and attack. It is possible though to capitalize on some interesting card interactions to improve your chances of success.
Paradox Haze is a card that must be mentioned when talking about any Blue Braids deck. Being able to put into play any two artifacts, creatures, or lands every turn can be devastating. It was one of the first cards I knew had to go in, and it was the hardest one to find at my local store. However, now that I have it, turns out it is just a "wins more" card. It is better to have more card draw and not over commit to the board. So the card is axed for more flexibility and utility.
Grafted Exoskeleton can usually make many of your creatures lethal with 1 or 2 hits of poison damage. Kinda like a mini Blightsteel.
Lighthouse Chronologist is a bomb. In EDH, I would reccommend playing him late to level up all in one go. Early game he will be a target for removal theft or cloning. On a note, copying someone else's Chronologist means only you two take turns.
Thassa, God of the Sea would normally be a beatstick in most decks. Here I am utilizing her more for the scry 1 every turn and the amazing ability to make an Eldrazi or Blightsteel unblockable. That said a 5/5 indestructible for 3cmc is pretty awesome.
I must also discuss Leyline of Anticipation, Vedalken Orrery, & Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. There is a lot of talk about using Braids first. I agree that going first is better. However, I have not found it powerful enough to warrant a card slot or two. My build includes enough theft and cloning that if someone cheap shots Braids before I can use her, I can still play the field and steal or copy with other cards. Recently, I have been convinced to try out Leyline and Teferi so that I can keep my hand in reserve to prevent over committing and use counterspells more aggressively.
Tutors Sensei's Divining Top is not technically a tutor. However it is an EDH staple for its ability to smooth out your draws. It's inclusion here is warranted considering the high mana curve of the deck.
Fabricate finds Blightsteel, mana artifacts, Phyrexian Metamorph, Contagion Engine, Steel Hellkite, you name it.
Riptide Shapeshifter is a recent find from another build I saw online. I'd say play him for free on upkeep with Braids, then confidently name Golem. If that doesn't work, you will never be disappointed naming Eldrazi or Praetor.
Treasure Mage finds Blightsteel, Contagion.... ok you get the idea, artifacts are good.
Long-Term Plans finds anything! Very much a toolbox card. Goes very well with Top.
Hmm? What will I grab....
Maybe....
THIS!!
Drawing Cards
Cards like these help keep gas in the tank.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is less card draw and more complete blowout card, yes he completely wins you the game and getting him turn 5 is just bonkers!
Consecrated Sphinx has become a staple in many blue EDH decks. Here your ability to cheat it into play early will pay huge dividends while your opponents will try to catch up or kill it.
Rhystic Study is another blue EDH staple. At the very "worst" it will slow down your opponents by a turn. While the card seems anti-synergistic with Braids, I have found players will continue to play spells in addition to the free creature/ artifact.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls is a personal choice of mine, with Braids being a wizard, you can draw two this turn and draw two more before your upkeep trigger. You may like using Arcanis the Omnipotent, but I find him slower.
Mystic Remora is another gem discovered after combing decklists online. This is like Rhystic Study on crack. Sure cumulative upkeep is a drain on resources, but you play your creatures for free. I'd highly reccomend playing around turn 5+ to keep the upkeep cost minimal.
Control
Being blue you have access to some really powerful sweepers, counters, and lockdown cards. Take advantage of this to play like green/blue.
Hinder, Counterspell, Negate, and Spell Rupture all serve the same purpose of insuring your fatties get to smash away. Negate and Rupture were chosen because often you are trying to protect your creatures which are already in play. Another card you can consider is Spell Crumple.
Wash Out, Innundate, Cyclonic Rift, and Kederekt Leviathan all serve the purpose of handling a board state that has gotten out of control. Usually that occurs when someone has an army of tokens, a "lockdown" in place. You can also use them to clear a path to victory.
Ætherling is a new and improved version of Morphling. He dodges wraths and removal and can hit for up to 8 damage a turn. I am trying this card out, get back to y'all soon.
Mana Rocks
You want to play a lot of mana artifacts in this deck as a secondary way of accelerating out your fatties.
Blitz Rocks: Sol Ring, and Mana Vault both allow for a turn two Braids! This means you can get a turn 3 Eldrazi or Blightsteel and clone it as well.
There are several options for getting a turn three Braids. The best options are: Sapphire MedallionFellwar Stone, Mind Stone,Thought Vessel, Coldsteel Heart, Fractured Powerstone, and possibly Everflowing Chalice.
Fellwar Stone since it usually taps for blue with the abundance of any color lands in the meta.
Mind Stone can be sacrificed later for a card.
Sapphire Medallion reduces cost of blue spells so you can have enough mana to cast multiple clones in one turn or keep mana open for counterspells.
Other Rocks: Caged Sun and Extraplanar Lens provide a tremendous boost in mana that means sometimes you can skip playing Braids and hardcast your creatures instead. They also combo with Palinchron for infinite mana.
Strip Mine is a just in case card. I wanted the option of killing annoying lands and threatening to do so.
Halimar Depths is usually a one-time deal. Just about any blue EDH deck should consider this card.
Card Options:
Not every Braids build is the same. Here are some cards I have tried and cut, and some cards I haven't tried. Give them a whirl. Changelog:
Recent Changes:
Out:
1 Control Magic
1 Treachery
1 Memnarch
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Cryptoplasm
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Quicksilver Gargantuan
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Ætherling
1 Back to Basics
1 Coalition Relic
1 Darksteel Ingot
Older Changes:
[spoiler]
Out: Stormtide Leviathan would normally be suboptimal for a beat down strategy as he often locks eldrazi, colussi, etc. However, with the multiple sources of cloning in the deck, having two Stormtides and no one else attacking becomes more efficient.
In: Archetype of Imagination this card did exactly what I wanted Stormtide to do, protect me AND make my attacks unblockable. The jury is still out on Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
Out:
-1 Vedalken Shackles
The island requirement is slowing this card down. Considering how fast the deck plays, it just sometimes can't keep up.
-1 Contagion Engine
With so few things to proliferate, this card often feels dead in my hand or board. A better mass wipe is available elsewhere. Also seems a better fit for an artifact deck I have in the works.
-1 Karn Liberated
1: this card can't be Cheatyfaced into play with Braids. 2: it often feels like 'winning more' which isn't necessarily bad in a Timmy deck. It's just not efficient enough. Also heading for the artifact deck.
-1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
His ability is devastating, but doesn't get online til truly late.
In:
+1 Bribery
This has been along time in making it into the deck. I think my only reservations stemmed from the price of this card.
+1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre also was cost prohibitive. With this I have all the Annihilator 2+ Eldrazi.
+1 Back to Basics acts as a blue Blood Moon. This might get some hate but I'm hoping shutting down good stuff and combo decks makes it worth it.
+1 Phantasmal Image is cheap copy at its best.
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler] Cards I have tried (aka the Old Changelog):
[spoiler]
While a number of these cards were in the original build, most of them are outclassed by Eldrazi. However a theme built on leviathans, krakens, and djinns is fun.
Unwieldily 1 Spawnsire of Ulamog (too mana intensive) 1 Grozoth (take a good long look at the 9cmc creatures available, is it worth it?) 1 Myr Battlesphere (belongs in a myr deck) 1 Great Whale (Palinchron combos with both Deadeye Navigator and mana doubling artifact) 1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle (Magus of the Future this is not) 1 Roil Elemental (TARGET!!) 1 Guile (requires a higher count of counter magic than I wanted to have) 1 Draining Whelk (too expensive) 1 Ixidron (often ruins your own creatures) 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent (Takes too long to get card advantage compared to Azami)
[/spoiler] Cards I haven't tried but you might:
[spoiler]
Budget Blue Braids
So here is my first pass at a budget version of the deck.
Big highlights include:
1- a strong Deadeye Navigator package.
2- an abundance of on theme krakens, leviathans, sphinxes to flood the board.
3- every card has a printing that costs less than $1 based on TCG mid prices. Which means the deck costs $33! ($27 if you don't count the basic islands)
Differences from the main competitive deck:
1-more, low quality creatures to flood the board.
2-less focus on cloning or stealing since we can't rely on having the best targets.
3- more focus on protecting Braids instead of a win-con beater
4- more options for combo with juicy artifacts.
Capsize also combos with Palinchron and Tidespout Tyrant.
Venser, Shaper Savant + Riptide Laboratory Lets you counter or bounce every turn.
The Riptide Laboratory will also let you bounce Braids.
If you run Vedalken Orrery and/ or Leyline of Anticipation you can make sure your the only player to use Braids ability.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Crystal Shard allows infinte turns with enough mana.
Emrakul + Time Elemental or Temporal Adept is another.
The Crystal Shard is another bounce for your General or Venser.
Bribery will let you get that Eldrazi titan out of their deck before they play it for free.
Gauntlet of Power is another mana doubler for your Palinchron combo.
Honestly, I don't think you would need to re-work your deck to fit in Stormtide Leviathan. Having one 8/8 unblockable when no one else can attack is scary enough on it's own. I found this out the hard way-- lost a game to that card, and this was in a game filled with other people who had black, and more spot removal than me.
Thanks to everyone who commented on this deck. I wanted to post this deck so that there would be a basic template for anyone wanting to build blue Braids. I didn't expect too many great ideas, but you guys helped me to fix a couple of problems with the deck.
First thanks to RedPanda, Eternal Dominion does sound awesome. I'm a bit scared of the epic mechanic so I usually shy away from it. Also Guile is kinda worthless in the deck now. He was a relic of an older build that wanted 6/6 and semi unblockable. He only survived cuts for ability to bluff people into thinking I had a Counterspell or the like. After Rise of the Eldrazi, a lot of the Djinns bought the farm. Sakashima the Imposter is also great, he is currently in my Azami deck. And I desperately need a Paradox Haze, just haven't been able to get a hold of one yet!
I would like to use Stormtide Leviathan. My big concern is however not the ability of my creatures to attack, but the mana fixing it provides to my opponents, blue is strong in my League. That said he is a powerhouse.
I know you're trying to keep the Island count high for the doublers but have you considered running additional utility lands? Riptide Laboratory could be a good way to protect Braids and prevent you opponents from using her. I'm also a fan of Academy Ruins to get back some of your more useful artifacts.
As a caveat I have avoided most enchantments in my build of Braids for thematic reasons. The ones I do play are cheap and useful (Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora for instance). Couple quick things (I'll be back with more later):
Archetype of Imagination is too good to pass up here. She creates an even stronger soft lock with Stormtide and provides effective unblockable to your beaters. Along similar evasive lines I play Akroma's Memorial.
As a caveat I have avoided most enchantments in my build of Braids for thematic reasons. The ones I do play are cheap and useful (Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora for instance). Couple quick things (I'll be back with more later):
After taking a second look, I wouldn't mind cutting Control Magic and Treachery.
I will defend Captivating Glance though. It is cheap and opens up great opportunities for politicking by giving away a creature.
I'm not so hot on Sower of Temptation largely because she becomes a target. I gave up Roil Elemental for the same reason.
Archetype of Imagination is too good to pass up here. She creates an even stronger soft lock with Stormtide and provides effective unblockable to your beaters. Along similar evasive lines I play Akroma's Memorial.
I absolutely love Archetype here. I was trying out Sun Quan, Lord of Wu and had mixed results. The power to steal flying is great. I have thrown around Memorial for awhile in my head. It seems wins more. I know it clinches games, do you think it's better than laying down two Eldrazi instead of one and Memorial? I will give it a shot.
It's refreshing that you are the first person to approach these cards from a Draw,(free creature, attack),Go argument. Most people simply argue for them by saying you can use Braids first, often times referencing Howling Mine. My thoughts are that those people haven't played Braids. Well since you recommend it, I will give Teferi a slot I suppose and perhaps Leyline if I can find room.
Crystal Shard is an excellent way to protect Braids and punish folks who may get a bit too greedy dropping creatures.
Not at all sure about Crystal Shard. Trinket Mage was a consideration since he could find Sol Ring and Top. I used to run a pretty janky 'combo' with Top and Timesifter.
Great suggestions that are well defended. Just what I was looking for. Any thoughts on cuts?
Memorial is the total package. The protection and flying are great but the real trick is haste. I always want Eldrazi titans to get a swing and haste is really needed for that.
Glad you like the flash components. This deck works best when it has mana up to respond to threats and bounce troublesome items that your opponents drop.
One other tennant my deck works under is maximizing turn 3 Braids through things like sky diamond and sapphire medallion. I'll expand on that later but the gist is I want opponents to overextended early so I can steal the best stuff and have opposing threats distract the board while I develop.
Don't overlook Magus of the Future. He is a legit engine with SDT, even if he's fragile. If you've enabled flash the combo is even stronger.
I'll add some more comments and suggested cuts in the near future.
All of these cards were originally included to abuse double mana, but I'm not sure I need it.
There are other possible cards to consider for cuts.
I would like to up my beaters to ten and also up the control package to be more protective of my creatures.
Suggestions?
Let's see. I think these are fine cuts, but I would actually consider cutting some of the Eldrazi to make space for more good stuff.
I play some additional bounce like Capsize and Wipe Away for some tempo bumps, as well as more mana doubling in Gauntlet of Power and Doubling Cube. Capsize may not be good enough without the mana doubling, but with a doubler out and say Tidespout you can control the board really well.
For other control elements I play Force of Will, Misdirection, and Pact of Negation. They are primarily in to hold off combo in the event I have to tap out, but they are also excellent at protecting an early Braids (as I mentioned I'm trying to maximize turn 3 Braids).
We also differ in some card draw choices. Specifically Recurring Insight and Arcanis, although I will admit that Arcanis leaves something to be desired sometimes.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I'm going to have to disagree on the Eldrazi. Resolving annhilator on even Ulamog's Crusher is dominating to one opponent. Being able to clone it is even better.
I like the utility of Wipe Away as well as Pongify,Rapid Hybridization, and Reality Shift. However, my number one way to deal with problem permanents is to steal them if possible. Now I am willing to dedicate some slots to single shot removal. But it must be flexible and cheap. I'm also not a fan of bounce effects since it is anti-synergistic with Braid.
I would love free counterspells, but my wallet isn't that deep.
Not sure what you meant about Arcanis, I run Azami.
Also considering Spellskite to round out my protection package.
Sunken Hope, you stack the triggers with Braids in play. It allows you to play good cop/bad cop. It screws over Jhoira's main strategy, since she can keep beaters on board while you can bounce ETB effects with a clone or auto exile with Ingester and friends. I use Gin Texas to get a hard lock, with Force of Will as bait. Show and Tell never got much mileage.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Life is a beautiful engineer, yet a brutal scientist.
Sunken Hope, you stack the triggers with Braids in play.
This is a strong play but runs counter to my basic plan (let everyone over-commit the board). I do my best not to control the board in the mid-game as I prefer for a couple players to get eliminated first. Also ETB creatures are all over the place in my playgroup so this could likely backfire.
Moving on, I really like Clever Impersonator and I will be making room for him. The flexibility to copy early ramp and card drawing then late game threats or lock pieces is too good to pass up.
I agree with Clever Impersonator. Just wondering if its a good replacement for Cryptoplasm or Vesuvan Shapeshifter. I like both of those cards for the flexibility. Cryptoasm is cheap, but has been a bit meh. Shapeshifter is a good combo with Brine Elemental which is a more combo route for the deck.
Also I'd like to post up a few different versions of the deck. I was thinking a combo version and a budget version if possible to get started. Thoughts?
I would cut Cryptoplasm for sure. In my experience it's been too slow and Shapeshifter already does the job better.
A combo version of the deck sounds like a cool idea, but I would challenge you to carefully consider and write up why someone would play combo Braids over other generals who traditionally do this better (Azami).
Budget is tough. This deck for me was a splurge deck and I didn't make any decisions based on budget. I think losing access to the Eldrazi titans and Blightsteel, for instance, causes you to miss out on some easy wins. One option I can think of for a budget version would be sea monsters - pack the deck with leviathans and kraken that you get to play for free.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
How did I forgot to mention Strionic Resonator? It's obviously awesome here, if a little win more. Bonus points for copying annihilator triggers since you play all the Eldrazi.
I see it's been considered before but I'll mention Riptide Laboratory again. It's really good protection and has next to no downside.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
So here is my first pass at a budget version of the deck.
Big highlights include:
1- a strong Deadeye Navigator package.
2- an abundance of on theme krakens, leviathans, sphinxes to flood the board.
3- every card has a printing that costs less than $1 based on TCG mid prices. Which means the deck costs $33! ($27 if you don't count the basic islands)
Differences from the main competitive deck:
1-more, low quality creatures to flood the board.
2-less focus on cloning or stealing since we can't rely on having the best targets.
3- more focus on protecting Braids instead of a win-con beater
4- more options for combo with juicy artifacts.
I've been working on a Blue Braids deck myself. One card I'm considering is Teferi's Veil. It seems almost like Vanishing 2.0, though obviously not as good.
I've been working on a Blue Braids deck myself. One card I'm considering is Teferi's Veil. It seems almost like Vanishing 2.0, though obviously not as good.
Actually, I really like this. Let's break it down.
Advantages:
1- costs 2 to play and no mana to activate.
2- affects multiple creatures
3- dodges sorcery speed board wipes and removal
4- no chance to be 2for1 if someone uses removal.
Disadvantages:
1- hurts vigilance creatures that you might have copied or stolen or Akroma's Memorial
2- requires Braids to attack to phase out which opens her up to being killed in combat.
Can't think of too many more.
All in all, I think the benefit is worth it. Definitely superior to Vodalian Illusionist. I'll look to work it into the main. Thanks!
One other consideration: you need haste out to ensure that they never get a braids trigger. I think all three might be worth running, just to have the redundancy.
Yeah if I had the opportunity to use Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots, I'd take advantage of it. I usually don't stress about them getting to use Braids though. Actually I'm relying on it because I plan to steal or copy their creatures.
From experience, Vodalian Illusionist is pretty bad, I've been looking for an excuse to replace it for awhile. It's squishy, drains resources and requires tapping. I'm glad you reccommended Teferi's Veil, it's much better and more flexible.
I think he's a champ in most decks, but your deck seems to lack ETBs to abuse with him. A lot of his use for you seems to be just resetting clones (which can let you abuse enemy ETBs, but that doesn't seem as reliable). Have you considered ditching some of the less useful eldrazi like Pathrazer in order to get more ETB juice to use with deadeye?
What do you think about Eternal Dominion, since Braids allows you to bypass its restriction by just placing creatures on the battlefield?
Might not be as competitive, but, seems fun.
I've always been wary of the epic spells. Most of them prevent any further interaction for the rest of the game. Eternal Dominion is slightly better since you can still affect the board with the permanent you find. My biggest concern is that an opponent will shoot Braids and then I'm left with just the epic.
I don't think it has a spot in the competitive build, however I agree that it sounds too fun to pass up. Especially with Paradox Haze and Strionic Resonator. So I'm going to add it to the budget build as a 'splurge' option.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Braids, Conjurer Adept is the Time Spiral alter ego of Braids, Cabal Minion. Black Braids was a villain working for the Cabal. She is a dementia master responsible for several killings and the resurrection of Balthor the Defiled.
Not much is known of the storyline behind Blue Braids. Her art evokes a sense of quiet strength, she is more connected to her studies than the people around her. "Braids" started out as a cute nickname, but then became one to respect and fear for the massive creatures she unleashed and the intricate machines she could devise seemingly without effort.
Why play this general?
You enjoy playing the biggest creatures in magic, including : Eldrazi, Colossi, Leviathans, Sphinxes, and Djinns.
You like stealing other peoples awesome creatures, like: Angels, Demons, Gargantuans, Praetors, etc.
You are of the opinion that two is always better, so Clone and friends are welcome.
You like the advantages of card drawing and counterspells.
You are willing to play aggressively in order to devastate your opponents.
You do NOT want to play this deck if:
You prefer to play defensive/ attrition/ heavy control decks.
You like playing "typical" blue decks with loads of counterspells / control.
You like to play intricate "combo and win" decks.
Deck History:
EDH was just beginning to get big. Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, and Erayo, Soratami Ascendant were still being considered for the banned lists. I had already made my own versions of Rofellos (aka Waffles) and an Azami, Lady of Scrolls deck. I even made a Uril, the Miststalker(like everyone else did). I liked the feel of playing big splashy creatures and winning big. I also remember the raw power of stealing or copying cards with Mind Control and Clone effects. So I knew I wanted to make some version of a blue deck to take advantage of this. Would the deck be Momir Vig, Simic Visionary or a three color general? You can see I was still attached to the idea of green being the biggest, baddest creatures around.
Well Time Spiral was being revealed on the boards and I saw new color-shifted Blue Braids! This alter ego was cute, fun, and had one of the most Timmy abilities Magic has ever known, Elvish Piper. I remember talking to my best friend, and thinking of popping Leviathans into play and dominating the combat phase. I also thought about Darksteel Colossus and the various Djinns. Then I remembered how impressive theft magic and clone had been. The next day I put together a basic decklist of my ideas. Naturally the list was about 250 cards deep!
The deck has evolved over time, taking advantage of Eldrazi, new powerhouse blue spells, and changes focused on efficiency and a toolbox approach. My focus in writing this primer is to streamline efficiency and focus on the essentials that work.
The Current Decklist:
Click to see the deck sorted by CMC.
1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
Beaters (7)
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 It That Betrays
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Ulamog's Crusher
Blue Thefty (4)
1 Gilded Drake
1 Captivating Glance
1 Bribery
1 Corrupted Conscience
Cloning(6)
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Sakashima's Student
1 Body Double
1 Rite of Replication
Protection (6)
1 Vanishing
1 Teferi's Veil
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Spellskite
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Leyline of Anticipation
Utility & Tutors(5)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Fabricate
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Treasure Mage
1 Riptide Shapeshifter
Card Drawing (5)
1 Rhystic Study
1 Mystic Remora
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Control (11)
1 Flusterstorm
1 Swan Song
1 Delay
1 Counterspell
1 Negate
1 Spell Rupture
1 Force of Will
1 Wash Out
1 Inundate
1 Archetype of Imagination
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Scourge of Fleets
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Rishadan Brigand
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Palinchron
1 Phyrexian Ingester
1 Chancellor of Spires
1 Diluvian Primordial
Mana Sources (42)
31 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Halimar Depths
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Saphire Medallion
1 Mind Stone
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Caged Sun
Deck sorted by converted mana cost
[spoiler=CMC Decklist]
1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
Land
31 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Halimar Depths
One CMC
1 Mystic Remora
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Vanishing
Two CMC
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Gilded Drake
1 Lighthouse Chronologist
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mind Stone
1 Negate
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Spell Rupture
1 Swiftfoot Boots
Three CMC
1 Back to Basics
1 Captivating Glance
1 Coalition Relic
1 Cryptoplasm
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Fabricate
1 Hinder
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Rhystic Study
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Treasure Mage
1 Vodalian Illusionist
1 Control Magic
1 Grafted Exoskeleton
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Rite of Replication
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Wash Out
Five CMC
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Bribery
1 Body Double
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Riptide Shapeshifter
1 Treachery
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Six CMC
1 Ætherling
1 Caged Sun
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Inundate
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Steel Hellkite
Seven CMC
1 Karn Liberated
1 Memnarch
1 Palinchron
1 Phyrexian Ingester
1 Quicksilver Gargantuan
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Ulamog's Crusher
Nine+ CMC
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 It That Betrays
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
[/spoiler]
How To Play The Deck:
The strategy for Blue Braids is threefold, consisting of: blitzing out big dominating creatures, stealing or copying creatures, and making decisive board sweeps.
Step 1:Choose your mulligans wisely
The best hand consists of exactly four mana, a few great creatures, and possibly some clone action.
The perfect hand:
Other great hands include 4 mana, Gilded Drake, Phyrexian Metamorph, Control Magic, a counterspell, and a tutor. You won't have an explosive start, but you should be able to handle anything they play off of Braids until you find your win condition.
Step 2: Ramp up to 4 mana.
The deck has a very good suite of artifact mana accelerators. My absolute favorite is Sol Ring. This allows you to get a turn two Braids and start hitting people with Annihilators and Blightsteel on turn 3 or 4! If you can get Extraplanar Lens or Caged Sun out without Braids, you may forgo casting her and hardcast your creatures instead.
Step 3: Play Braids
There is rarely a time when you will not want to play Braids at 4 mana. Later in the game you should have enough mana (8+) to let her die or bounce her. If you smell removal, try to protect her with a counterspell, or shroud/hexproof.
Step 4a: Play an awesome creature!
If you have
- Blightsteel Colossus
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- Pathrazer of Ulamog
- It That Betrays
- Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
than your decision is easy. Play one of them and start killing people. This will accelerate from early to late game very quickly as everyone brings out there big guns quickly.Step 4b:
If your opening hand didn't consist of one of the awesome finishers than you will have to rely on the streamlined efficiency of the blue theft and cloning action.
You will still play Braids on turn four. Your objective in a mid game scenario where either Braids is dead or you don't have a great creature in hand is to copy, steal, and draw. Try to take advantage of the many draw card sources in the deck to find your win condition creature. Use the utility cards to search your deck. Clone any solid creatures your opponents play. This will at least deter them from attacking you. You should use your blue theft to maximum benefit. This deck is about getting to the end game as quickly as possible.
The deck has one major combo card: Deadeye Navigator. With it, you can abuse comes into play effects to generate infinite mana, bounce/remove numerous creatures, you name it. I am modifying my current list to take full advantage of him, trying out Venser, Shaper Savant, and others.
Matchups:
Your greatest threats are the 'combo and win' decks for two major reasons. One you aren't packing enough counterspell heat to stop them. Two they see Braids as the biggest threat! Combo decks like Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, Jhoira of the Ghitu, Taniwha, and any deck that plays a general 'just for the colors' likes to accelerate and build up critical mass for a sudden win. Braids enables every player to get to their win condition faster. So combo decks now have three powerful opponents to fight. With this said, level your Eldrazi and Blightsteel against the combo decks. Also you can try a more controlish package like Void Winnower, Back to Basics, Nullstone Gargoyle, and more counterspells, if your meta is filled with combo.
Additionally, annoying generals include Merieke Ri Berit, Sigarda, Host of Herons, and Teysa, Orzhov Scion. As a rule, if a general or deck is good at spot removal or plans to shut down the board, it is a bad matchup for Braids. Fight these decks first as well.
Challenging and fun match ups include Uril, the Miststalker, Krenko, Mob Boss, and Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. I have some fond memories of facing off against those decks.
Favorable match ups include Mayael the Anima, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, Kaalia of the Vast, et cetera as these decks offer a nice selection of cards to steal or copy.
Card Choices Detailed:
The Win Conditions
Each of the Eldrazi cards offers a crucial opportunity to devastate one or more opponents early in the game. Each Eldrazi needs to have Annihlator 2+ to be effective. My favorites include Pathrazer and It That Betrays. I used to run Ulamog's Crusher which is a really good card, but I cut it to have a stronger Deadeye Navigator package.
Blightsteel Colossus infect ability can instantly kill an opponent in one swing, cause blockers to have 0 toughness, and with indestructible only other infect/wither creatures stand a chance.
Deadeye Navigator is a go to combo card with enter the battlefield abilities, and it can provide ok protection from spot removal effects. Cards to flicker in and out of play are: Palinchron for infinite blue mana, Venser, Shaper Savant for bounce and counterspell wall, Chancellor of the Spires/Diluvian Primordial for repeatable spell copying, and Phyrexian Ingester/Duplicant/Rishadan Brigand for removal.
Theft Cards
Occasionally you will end up with a hand without an awesome beatdown or lockdown creature. The next best thing then is to allow your opponents to get big creatures and steal them for cheap.
Gilded Drake is the cheapest way to steal in Magic. There is no drawback whatsoever in giving a 3/3 flyer when you are playing EDH and most people are playing bigger.
Captivating Glance is a personal favorite of mine. Considering the deck has a very high converted mana cost, you will tend to win the clash more often. Additionally, you can clash with anyone, it does not have to be the controller of the creature! So even if you lose the clash one time, you can still take a good creature and give it away to an ally.
Control Magic and Treachery are efficient theft spells for their costs.
Sphinx Ambassador is Bribery every turn. Be careful not to grab Gisela, Blade of Goldnight as that will almost always be the card they name.
Corrupted Conscience offers the advantage of theft and a poison win.
Memnarch is a late game card capable of disrupting and stealing an opponents win condition. You should have out Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo, or Extraplanar Lens to take full advantage of him.
Keiga, the Tide Star is a flexible theft spell in that she can acts as a rattlesnake card keeping more agressive creatures away from you.
Bribery is a blue theft staple. If you don't have one of your awesome beaters, then go steal theirs. Also note you will almost always be the target of opponent's Briberies.
Cloning
When looking at Blue Braids, it is tempting to include every big creature and artifact you can find. I have found it is often better to streamline your fatties to a few select individuals that dominate by themselves. However this reduces your potential to attack multiple opponents at once. Cloning helps to fill that gap and lowers your mana curve simultaneously.
Phantasmal Image is the cheapest copy effect you will find. That usually far outweighs its drawback.
Sakashima the Impostor is probably the best clone available since he can copy legendary creatures without dying. Also consider including Sakashima's Student since the ninjutsu ability can bounce an unblocked Braids.
Phyrexian Metamorph is a great 3cmc clone that hits artifacts too. Oftentimes he will just copy a creature, but being able to copy a great mana artifact or someone else's artifact provides a lot of utility.
Cryptoplasm is another great 3cmc clone that can change each upkeep.
Rite of Replication has the same converted cost as Clone but comes with a game winning kicker ability. In this deck, being able to copy an guy 5 times is ridiculous.
Vesuvan Shapeshifter is similar to Cyptoplasm but can copy Brine Elemental, which is not in this deck.
Quicksilver Gargantuan at 7/7 can outclass most dragons, demons, and angels in size. So copying one of those is a good idea.
Body Double for those times when some jerk Wrathed to kill a few fatties.
Protection
If your playgroup has never seen a Blue Braids deck before, and hasn't seen a Mayael the Anima strategy, you might be able to ignore some of these cards for awhile. Eventually though you will need to dedicate a suite of protection cards just as any good deck built around a general ought to do.
Vanishing absolutely the best way to protect Braids as it denies your opponents any chance to use Braids for their own benefit.
Vodalian Illusionist is Vanishing on a creature. You can use both of these cards to deal with an annoying creature your opponent is using.
Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are the standard package for protecting generals. They also allow you to have haste and protection for your fatties once Braids becomes nonessential.
Spellskite has proven to be invaluable for protecting Braids and your other awesome creatures. It's got a great low converted mana cost and you can still activate its ability when tapped out. Also consider Kira, Great Glass-Spinner as an effective double spell wall.
Synergy & Good Stuff
Braids strategy is straightforward, play big creatures and attack. It is possible though to capitalize on some interesting card interactions to improve your chances of success.
Paradox Haze is a card that must be mentioned when talking about any Blue Braids deck. Being able to put into play any two artifacts, creatures, or lands every turn can be devastating. It was one of the first cards I knew had to go in, and it was the hardest one to find at my local store. However, now that I have it, turns out it is just a "wins more" card. It is better to have more card draw and not over commit to the board. So the card is axed for more flexibility and utility.
Grafted Exoskeleton can usually make many of your creatures lethal with 1 or 2 hits of poison damage. Kinda like a mini Blightsteel.
Lighthouse Chronologist is a bomb. In EDH, I would reccommend playing him late to level up all in one go. Early game he will be a target for removal theft or cloning. On a note, copying someone else's Chronologist means only you two take turns.
Thassa, God of the Sea would normally be a beatstick in most decks. Here I am utilizing her more for the scry 1 every turn and the amazing ability to make an Eldrazi or Blightsteel unblockable. That said a 5/5 indestructible for 3cmc is pretty awesome.
I must also discuss Leyline of Anticipation, Vedalken Orrery, & Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. There is a lot of talk about using Braids first. I agree that going first is better. However, I have not found it powerful enough to warrant a card slot or two. My build includes enough theft and cloning that if someone cheap shots Braids before I can use her, I can still play the field and steal or copy with other cards. Recently, I have been convinced to try out Leyline and Teferi so that I can keep my hand in reserve to prevent over committing and use counterspells more aggressively.
Tutors
Sensei's Divining Top is not technically a tutor. However it is an EDH staple for its ability to smooth out your draws. It's inclusion here is warranted considering the high mana curve of the deck.
Fabricate finds Blightsteel, mana artifacts, Phyrexian Metamorph, Contagion Engine, Steel Hellkite, you name it.
Riptide Shapeshifter is a recent find from another build I saw online. I'd say play him for free on upkeep with Braids, then confidently name Golem. If that doesn't work, you will never be disappointed naming Eldrazi or Praetor.
Treasure Mage finds Blightsteel, Contagion.... ok you get the idea, artifacts are good.
Long-Term Plans finds anything! Very much a toolbox card. Goes very well with Top.
Maybe....
THIS!!
Cards like these help keep gas in the tank.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is less card draw and more complete blowout card, yes he completely wins you the game and getting him turn 5 is just bonkers!
Consecrated Sphinx has become a staple in many blue EDH decks. Here your ability to cheat it into play early will pay huge dividends while your opponents will try to catch up or kill it.
Rhystic Study is another blue EDH staple. At the very "worst" it will slow down your opponents by a turn. While the card seems anti-synergistic with Braids, I have found players will continue to play spells in addition to the free creature/ artifact.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls is a personal choice of mine, with Braids being a wizard, you can draw two this turn and draw two more before your upkeep trigger. You may like using Arcanis the Omnipotent, but I find him slower.
Mystic Remora is another gem discovered after combing decklists online. This is like Rhystic Study on crack. Sure cumulative upkeep is a drain on resources, but you play your creatures for free. I'd highly reccomend playing around turn 5+ to keep the upkeep cost minimal.
Control
Being blue you have access to some really powerful sweepers, counters, and lockdown cards. Take advantage of this to play like green/blue.
Hinder, Counterspell, Negate, and Spell Rupture all serve the same purpose of insuring your fatties get to smash away. Negate and Rupture were chosen because often you are trying to protect your creatures which are already in play. Another card you can consider is Spell Crumple.
Wash Out, Innundate, Cyclonic Rift, and Kederekt Leviathan all serve the purpose of handling a board state that has gotten out of control. Usually that occurs when someone has an army of tokens, a "lockdown" in place. You can also use them to clear a path to victory.
Phyrexian Ingester is a nice one-of to kill an annoying creature. I have also run Duplicant in the past.
Steel Hellkite has a weak Pernicious Deed like effect. Usually this card plays backseat to my 6 Eldrazi creatures though.
Tidespout Tyrant is a control card that doubles as a combo. It combos with Palinchron and a mana doubling artifact to bounce everything. If you clone it or Rite of Replication with kicker you can quickly reduce enemies to nothing. If your build includes Future Sight it will combo with Sensei's Divining Top.
Ætherling is a new and improved version of Morphling. He dodges wraths and removal and can hit for up to 8 damage a turn. I am trying this card out, get back to y'all soon.
Back to Basics is a blue Blood Moon and helps against good stuff and combo decks.
Archetype of Imagination provides a good defense and offense. Even though it has a low P/T, the stellar ability makes up for it. I see this as superior to Stormtide Leviathan and Sun Quan, Lord of Wu.
Planeswalkers
None stand out as viable in this build of the deck. Tried Karn Liberated and Tamiyo, the Moon Sage; neither one works well.
Mana Rocks
You want to play a lot of mana artifacts in this deck as a secondary way of accelerating out your fatties.
Blitz Rocks:
Sol Ring, and Mana Vault both allow for a turn two Braids! This means you can get a turn 3 Eldrazi or Blightsteel and clone it as well.
There are several options for getting a turn three Braids. The best options are: Sapphire Medallion Fellwar Stone, Mind Stone,Thought Vessel, Coldsteel Heart, Fractured Powerstone, and possibly Everflowing Chalice.
Fellwar Stone since it usually taps for blue with the abundance of any color lands in the meta.
Mind Stone can be sacrificed later for a card.
Sapphire Medallion reduces cost of blue spells so you can have enough mana to cast multiple clones in one turn or keep mana open for counterspells.
Thran Dynamo, and Gilded Lotus each provide a large boost in mana without a heavy price tag.
Other Rocks:
Caged Sun and Extraplanar Lens provide a tremendous boost in mana that means sometimes you can skip playing Braids and hardcast your creatures instead. They also combo with Palinchron for infinite mana.
Strip Mine is a just in case card. I wanted the option of killing annoying lands and threatening to do so.
Halimar Depths is usually a one-time deal. Just about any blue EDH deck should consider this card.
Card Options:
Not every Braids build is the same. Here are some cards I have tried and cut, and some cards I haven't tried. Give them a whirl.
Changelog:
Recent Changes:
Out:
1 Control Magic
1 Treachery
1 Memnarch
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Sphinx Ambassador
1 Cryptoplasm
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
1 Quicksilver Gargantuan
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Ætherling
1 Back to Basics
1 Coalition Relic
1 Darksteel Ingot
Older Changes:
[spoiler]
Out: Stormtide Leviathan would normally be suboptimal for a beat down strategy as he often locks eldrazi, colussi, etc. However, with the multiple sources of cloning in the deck, having two Stormtides and no one else attacking becomes more efficient.
In: Archetype of Imagination this card did exactly what I wanted Stormtide to do, protect me AND make my attacks unblockable. The jury is still out on Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
Out:
-1 Vedalken Shackles
The island requirement is slowing this card down. Considering how fast the deck plays, it just sometimes can't keep up.
-1 Contagion Engine
With so few things to proliferate, this card often feels dead in my hand or board. A better mass wipe is available elsewhere. Also seems a better fit for an artifact deck I have in the works.
-1 Karn Liberated
1: this card can't be Cheatyfaced into play with Braids. 2: it often feels like 'winning more' which isn't necessarily bad in a Timmy deck. It's just not efficient enough. Also heading for the artifact deck.
-1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
His ability is devastating, but doesn't get online til truly late.
In:
+1 Bribery
This has been along time in making it into the deck. I think my only reservations stemmed from the price of this card.
+1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre also was cost prohibitive. With this I have all the Annihilator 2+ Eldrazi.
+1 Back to Basics acts as a blue Blood Moon. This might get some hate but I'm hoping shutting down good stuff and combo decks makes it worth it.
+1 Phantasmal Image is cheap copy at its best.
[/spoiler]
Currently playtesting
[/spoiler]
Cards I have tried (aka the Old Changelog):
[spoiler]
While a number of these cards were in the original build, most of them are outclassed by Eldrazi. However a theme built on leviathans, krakens, and djinns is fun.
1 Deep-Sea Kraken
1 The Unspeakable
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Tidal Kraken
1 Maelstrom Djinn
1 Avatar of Will
1 Vizzerdrix
1 Mistform Skyreaver
1 Grim Poppet
1 Goliath Sphinx
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang
1 Quicksilver Dragon
1 Spawnsire of Ulamog (too mana intensive)
1 Grozoth (take a good long look at the 9cmc creatures available, is it worth it?)
1 Myr Battlesphere (belongs in a myr deck)
1 Great Whale (Palinchron combos with both Deadeye Navigator and mana doubling artifact)
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle (Magus of the Future this is not)
1 Roil Elemental (TARGET!!)
1 Guile (requires a higher count of counter magic than I wanted to have)
1 Draining Whelk (too expensive)
1 Ixidron (often ruins your own creatures)
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent (Takes too long to get card advantage compared to Azami)
[/spoiler]
Cards I haven't tried but you might:
[spoiler]
Lands
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
Creatures
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Rimefeather Owl (use snow-covered islands)
1 Phyrexian Juggernaut
1 Platinum Angel
1 Patron of the Moon
1 Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
1 Thopter Assembly
1 Sharding Sphinx
1 Ethereal Usher
1 Brine Elemental
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
1 Sturmgeist
1 Mischievous Quanar
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Eternity Vessel
1 Keening Stone
1 Mind's Eye
and many more!
[/spoiler]
Budget Blue Braids
So here is my first pass at a budget version of the deck.
Big highlights include:
1- a strong Deadeye Navigator package.
2- an abundance of on theme krakens, leviathans, sphinxes to flood the board.
3- every card has a printing that costs less than $1 based on TCG mid prices. Which means the deck costs $33! ($27 if you don't count the basic islands)
Differences from the main competitive deck:
1-more, low quality creatures to flood the board.
2-less focus on cloning or stealing since we can't rely on having the best targets.
3- more focus on protecting Braids instead of a win-con beater
4- more options for combo with juicy artifacts.
Well here we go:
1 O-Naginata
1 Vanishing
2 Counterspell
2 Delay
2 Dispersal Shield
2 Fellwar Stone
2 Fractured Powerstone
2 Magus of the Unseen
2 Mind Stone
2 Negate
2 Neurok Stealthsuit
2 Ring of Evos Isle
2 Silver Myr
2 Sky Diamond
2 Spell Rupture
2 Strionic Resonator
2 Swiftfoot Boots
2 Thassa's Rebuff
3 Barbed Battlegear
3 Captivating Glance
3 Commander's Sphere
3 Cryptoplasm
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Dominating Licid
3 Fireshrieker
3 Strata Scythe
3 Whispersk Cloak
4 Clone
4 Grafted Exoskeleton
4 Sisay's Ring
4 Ur-Golem's Eye
5 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
5 Corrupted Conscience
6 Aetherling
6 Archetype of Imagination
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Dreamstone Hedron
6 Ethereal Usher
6 Frost Titan
6 Jace's Mindseeker
6 Sphinx of Magosi
6 Steel Hellkite
6 Stolen Identity
6 Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
7 Chancellor of the Spires
7 Diluvian Primordial
7 Goliath Sphinx
7 Myr Battlesphere
7 Patron of the Moon
7 Phyrexian Ingester
7 Quicksilver Gargantuan
7 Scourge of Fleets
7 Tromokratis
7 Windreaver Sphinx
7 Colossus of Akros
7 Hoverguard Sweepers
7 Kederekt Leviathan
7 Tidal Force
7 Tidal Kraken
7 Trench Gorger
7 Ulamog's Crusher
7 Breaching Leviathan
"Splurge Options" ($2)
3 Paradox Haze
9 Artisan of Kozilek
11 Pathrazer of Ulamog
2 Ertai's Meddling
2 Mask of Avacyn
2 Nim Deathmantle
2 Renegade Doppelganger
3 Cackling Counterpart
3 Eye of Ramos
3 Fated Infatuation
3 Vow of Flight
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Dragon Throne of Tarkir
4 Hedron Matrix
4 Tempt with Reflections
4 Unstable Shapeshifter
5 Fool's Demise
5 Mercurial Pretender
6 Brine Elemental
6 Deepchannel Mentor
6 Djinn of Infinite Deceits
6 Guile
6 Infinite Reflection
6 Kapsho Kitefins
6 Mahamoti Djinn
6 Phyrexian Juggernaut
6 Roil Elemental
6 Sage-Eye Avengers
6 Scuttling Doom Engine
6 Sharding Sphinx
6 Shipbreaker Kraken
6 Skaab Goliath
6 Thopter Assembly
7 Guardian of the Ages
7 Kraken of the Straits
7 Pilgrim of the Fires
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
8 Benthic Behemoth
10 Broodstar
10 Deep-Sea Kraken
I'd love some feedback and some "splurge" options too.
How's Guile workin' for ya? It doesn't seem like you have many counterspells. Similar question on arcane/Unspeakable?
Also, if you like theft, Eternal Dominion is sick in braids. You can still play your hand through epic with braids' ability.
Also, Sakashima the Impostor can abuse your own Legendary creatures a little better.
Vanishing will let you keep the ability to yourself.
nvm, didn't see it in comboish
Paradox Haze to drop more cards.
Glissa, the Traitor, Ulasht, the Hate Seed, The Mimeoplasm
I would swap the 1-shot cards Mind Control and Persuasion for Dominating Licid and Vedalken Shackles.
Memnarch would be fun here.
Capsize, Venser, Shaper Savant, Time Elemental and Temporal Adept can all keep you opponents in check.
Capsize also combos with Palinchron and Tidespout Tyrant.
Venser, Shaper Savant + Riptide Laboratory Lets you counter or bounce every turn.
The Riptide Laboratory will also let you bounce Braids.
If you run Vedalken Orrery and/ or Leyline of Anticipation you can make sure your the only player to use Braids ability.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Crystal Shard allows infinte turns with enough mana.
Emrakul + Time Elemental or Temporal Adept is another.
The Crystal Shard is another bounce for your General or Venser.
Bribery will let you get that Eldrazi titan out of their deck before they play it for free.
Gauntlet of Power is another mana doubler for your Palinchron combo.
B Lover Since '09 ~
Standard:
meh.
Modern:
Urzatron GR
Vintage:
Contol-Slaver UBR
EDH:
Drana B
Jhoira UR
Savra BG
Turned into:
Adun Oakenshield BGR
Sharuum BUW
Turned into:
Memnarch U
KiKi-Jiki R
Turned into:
Godo R
Turned into:
Aurelia RW
The Mimeoplasm UBG
Rasputin Dreamweaver UW
Turned into:
Geist of Saint Traft -French 1v1 UW
Nekusar UBR
banner by Maelstrom Graphics
First thanks to RedPanda, Eternal Dominion does sound awesome. I'm a bit scared of the epic mechanic so I usually shy away from it. Also Guile is kinda worthless in the deck now. He was a relic of an older build that wanted 6/6 and semi unblockable. He only survived cuts for ability to bluff people into thinking I had a Counterspell or the like. After Rise of the Eldrazi, a lot of the Djinns bought the farm. Sakashima the Imposter is also great, he is currently in my Azami deck. And I desperately need a Paradox Haze, just haven't been able to get a hold of one yet!
Thanks to ZemogFC, you really stressed the importance of bounce, I can't tell you how devestating Hoverguard Sweepers and Tidespout Tyrant can be. Can you explain the Capsize and Palinchron combo to me. Do I need more than just the two, like Lens or Gaunlet of Power? Oh and Riptide Laboratory is a great idea too. Thanks.
I would like to use Stormtide Leviathan. My big concern is however not the ability of my creatures to attack, but the mana fixing it provides to my opponents, blue is strong in my League. That said he is a powerhouse.
Out:
In:
Let me know what y'all think.
Archetype of Imagination is too good to pass up here. She creates an even stronger soft lock with Stormtide and provides effective unblockable to your beaters. Along similar evasive lines I play Akroma's Memorial.
I prefer Sower of Temptation instead of the enchantment creature stealing.
Leyline of Anticipation, Vedalken Orrery, and Teferi, mage of Zhalfir are all in my build and extremely good. They help you further the plan of playing on your opponent's end steps and allow you to commit almost nothing during your own turn.
Crystal Shard is an excellent way to protect Braids and punish folks who may get a bit too greedy dropping creatures.
Trinket Mage and Seat of the Synod make it in to my list due to their additional utility. No reason not to play Magus of the Future since you're already playing Top.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
After taking a second look, I wouldn't mind cutting Control Magic and Treachery.
I will defend Captivating Glance though. It is cheap and opens up great opportunities for politicking by giving away a creature.
I'm not so hot on Sower of Temptation largely because she becomes a target. I gave up Roil Elemental for the same reason.
I absolutely love Archetype here. I was trying out Sun Quan, Lord of Wu and had mixed results. The power to steal flying is great. I have thrown around Memorial for awhile in my head. It seems wins more. I know it clinches games, do you think it's better than laying down two Eldrazi instead of one and Memorial? I will give it a shot.
It's refreshing that you are the first person to approach these cards from a Draw,(free creature, attack),Go argument. Most people simply argue for them by saying you can use Braids first, often times referencing Howling Mine. My thoughts are that those people haven't played Braids. Well since you recommend it, I will give Teferi a slot I suppose and perhaps Leyline if I can find room.
Not at all sure about Crystal Shard. Trinket Mage was a consideration since he could find Sol Ring and Top. I used to run a pretty janky 'combo' with Top and Timesifter.
Great suggestions that are well defended. Just what I was looking for. Any thoughts on cuts?
All of these cards were originally included to abuse double mana, but I'm not sure I need it.
There are other possible cards to consider for cuts.
I would like to up my beaters to ten and also up the control package to be more protective of my creatures.
Suggestions?
Glad you like the flash components. This deck works best when it has mana up to respond to threats and bounce troublesome items that your opponents drop.
One other tennant my deck works under is maximizing turn 3 Braids through things like sky diamond and sapphire medallion. I'll expand on that later but the gist is I want opponents to overextended early so I can steal the best stuff and have opposing threats distract the board while I develop.
Don't overlook Magus of the Future. He is a legit engine with SDT, even if he's fragile. If you've enabled flash the combo is even stronger.
I'll add some more comments and suggested cuts in the near future.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Let's see. I think these are fine cuts, but I would actually consider cutting some of the Eldrazi to make space for more good stuff.
I play some additional bounce like Capsize and Wipe Away for some tempo bumps, as well as more mana doubling in Gauntlet of Power and Doubling Cube. Capsize may not be good enough without the mana doubling, but with a doubler out and say Tidespout you can control the board really well.
For other control elements I play Force of Will, Misdirection, and Pact of Negation. They are primarily in to hold off combo in the event I have to tap out, but they are also excellent at protecting an early Braids (as I mentioned I'm trying to maximize turn 3 Braids).
We also differ in some card draw choices. Specifically Recurring Insight and Arcanis, although I will admit that Arcanis leaves something to be desired sometimes.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I like the utility of Wipe Away as well as Pongify,Rapid Hybridization, and Reality Shift. However, my number one way to deal with problem permanents is to steal them if possible. Now I am willing to dedicate some slots to single shot removal. But it must be flexible and cheap. I'm also not a fan of bounce effects since it is anti-synergistic with Braid.
I would love free counterspells, but my wallet isn't that deep.
Not sure what you meant about Arcanis, I run Azami.
Also considering Spellskite to round out my protection package.
Modern
Commander
Cube
<a href="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/588020-unpowered-themed-enchantment-an-enchanted-evening">An Enchanted Evening Cube </a>
Right, I was really just agreeing with you that Arcanis is good but not necessarily better than Azami.
This is a strong play but runs counter to my basic plan (let everyone over-commit the board). I do my best not to control the board in the mid-game as I prefer for a couple players to get eliminated first. Also ETB creatures are all over the place in my playgroup so this could likely backfire.
Moving on, I really like Clever Impersonator and I will be making room for him. The flexibility to copy early ramp and card drawing then late game threats or lock pieces is too good to pass up.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Also I'd like to post up a few different versions of the deck. I was thinking a combo version and a budget version if possible to get started. Thoughts?
A combo version of the deck sounds like a cool idea, but I would challenge you to carefully consider and write up why someone would play combo Braids over other generals who traditionally do this better (Azami).
Budget is tough. This deck for me was a splurge deck and I didn't make any decisions based on budget. I think losing access to the Eldrazi titans and Blightsteel, for instance, causes you to miss out on some easy wins. One option I can think of for a budget version would be sea monsters - pack the deck with leviathans and kraken that you get to play for free.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I see it's been considered before but I'll mention Riptide Laboratory again. It's really good protection and has next to no downside.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Big highlights include:
1- a strong Deadeye Navigator package.
2- an abundance of on theme krakens, leviathans, sphinxes to flood the board.
3- every card has a printing that costs less than $1 based on TCG mid prices. Which means the deck costs $33! ($27 if you don't count the basic islands)
Differences from the main competitive deck:
1-more, low quality creatures to flood the board.
2-less focus on cloning or stealing since we can't rely on having the best targets.
3- more focus on protecting Braids instead of a win-con beater
4- more options for combo with juicy artifacts.
Well here we go:
1 O-Naginata
1 Vanishing
2 Counterspell
2 Delay
2 Dispersal Shield
2 Fellwar Stone
2 Fractured Powerstone
2 Magus of the Unseen
2 Mind Stone
2 Negate
2 Neurok Stealthsuit
2 Ring of Evos Isle
2 Silver Myr
2 Sky Diamond
2 Spell Rupture
2 Strionic Resonator
2 Swiftfoot Boots
2 Thassa's Rebuff
3 Barbed Battlegear
3 Captivating Glance
3 Commander's Sphere
3 Cryptoplasm
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Dominating Licid
3 Fireshrieker
3 Strata Scythe
3 Whispersk Cloak
4 Assault Suit
4 Clone
4 Grafted Exoskeleton
4 Sisay's Ring
4 Ur-Golem's Eye
5 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
5 Corrupted Conscience
6 Archetype of Imagination
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Dreamstone Hedron
6 Ethereal Usher
6 Frost Titan
6 Jace's Mindseeker
6 Sphinx of Magosi
6 Steel Hellkite
6 Stolen Identity
6 Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
7 Chancellor of the Spires
7 Diluvian Primordial
7 Goliath Sphinx
7 Myr Battlesphere
7 Patron of the Moon
7 Phyrexian Ingester
7 Quicksilver Gargantuan
7 Scourge of Fleets
7 Tromokratis
7 Windreaver Sphinx
7 Colossus of Akros
7 Hoverguard Sweepers
7 Kederekt Leviathan
7 Tidal Force
7 Tidal Kraken
7 Trench Gorger
7 Ulamog's Crusher
7 Breaching Leviathan
33 Island
"Splurge Options" ($2)
3 Paradox Haze
9 Artisan of Kozilek
11 Parlthrazer of Ulamog
Other options
2 Ertai's Meddling
2 Mask of Avacyn
2 Nim Deathmantle
2 Renegade Doppelganger
3 Cackling Counterpart
3 Eye of Ramos
3 Fated Infatuation
3 Vow of Flight
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Dragon Throne of Tarkir
4 Hedron Matrix
4 Tempt with Reflections
4 Unstable Shapeshifter
5 Fool's Demise
5 Mercurial Pretender
6 Arbiter of the Ideal
6 Brine Elemental
6 Deepchannel Mentor
6 Djinn of Infinite Deceits
6 Guile
6 Infinite Reflection
6 Kapsho Kitefins
6 Mahamoti Djinn
6 Phyrexian Juggernaut
6 Roil Elemental
6 Sage-Eye Avengers
6 Scuttling Doom Engine
6 Sharding Sphinx
6 Shipbreaker Kraken
6 Skaab Goliath
6 Thopter Assembly
7 Guardian of the Ages
7 Kraken of the Straits
7 Pilgrim of the Fires
7 Sphinx of Uthuun
8 Benthic Behemoth
10 Broodstar
10 Deep-Sea Kraken
I'd love some feedback and some "splurge" options too.
Actually, I really like this. Let's break it down.
Advantages:
1- costs 2 to play and no mana to activate.
2- affects multiple creatures
3- dodges sorcery speed board wipes and removal
4- no chance to be 2for1 if someone uses removal.
Disadvantages:
1- hurts vigilance creatures that you might have copied or stolen or Akroma's Memorial
2- requires Braids to attack to phase out which opens her up to being killed in combat.
Can't think of too many more.
All in all, I think the benefit is worth it. Definitely superior to Vodalian Illusionist. I'll look to work it into the main. Thanks!
From experience, Vodalian Illusionist is pretty bad, I've been looking for an excuse to replace it for awhile. It's squishy, drains resources and requires tapping. I'm glad you reccommended Teferi's Veil, it's much better and more flexible.
I think he's a champ in most decks, but your deck seems to lack ETBs to abuse with him. A lot of his use for you seems to be just resetting clones (which can let you abuse enemy ETBs, but that doesn't seem as reliable). Have you considered ditching some of the less useful eldrazi like Pathrazer in order to get more ETB juice to use with deadeye?
I've always been wary of the epic spells. Most of them prevent any further interaction for the rest of the game. Eternal Dominion is slightly better since you can still affect the board with the permanent you find. My biggest concern is that an opponent will shoot Braids and then I'm left with just the epic.
Even then I would just find a mass board wipe like Nevinyrral's Disk, Oblivion Stone, or Worldslayer, then find a big creature and start beating.
I don't think it has a spot in the competitive build, however I agree that it sounds too fun to pass up. Especially with Paradox Haze and Strionic Resonator. So I'm going to add it to the budget build as a 'splurge' option.