This is my Brago, King Eternal deck after its first day of testing. It performed fairly well for being in alpha state, but there is still lots of room for tuning.
I was inspired to make this deck when I saw Hushwing Gryff spoiled. It seemed like my Roon of the Hidden Realm deck could be falling on hard times if the Gryff saw lots of play, but Brago is less affected by Griff and Torpor Orb since is does nothing about enchantment ETB effects.
The deck is mostly budget-ish but I did spend more than $10 on a few cards that are major synergy peices (i.e., Treachery) and borrowed a few planeswalkers from other decks I was not going to buy again.
Cards of Note/Strategy:
The strategy is to leverage the ETB effects of your enchantments and creatures to control board states and eventually swing in with Brago and possibly some online Gods for the kill.
Parallax Wave is a major house. It can be use defensively, used to remove blockers, and as a second way to recur your own creatures if Brago gets shut down. And by bouncing it, you reset the counters. Parallax Tide is mostly for your own lands to untap with, though I did use it to lock down an opponent's Nykthos to good effect. I find this tech a bit questionable, but I'll keep running with it to see how it goes.
Mana rocks can be blinked to get a second use out of them in a turn. Strionic Resonator can recur your Brago trigger or any ETB effect. If you have 2 mana worth of mana rocks (e.g., a Sol Ring) on the board, you can infinitely recur the Brago trigger. Reality Acid is also a major piece of tech as you can get rid of anything, disregarding indestructibility, every time you blink it.
You can also reset counts of cumulative upkeep things and planeswalkers. I got a couple of chances to use Jace, Architect of Thought twice a turn and it's very good.
It's fairly important to connect with Brago. At the same time, be careful when planning out your turns if there is any chance that your opponents can keep you from connecting. You'll have a sad face if you are planning on untapping your Basalt Monolith, Sol Ring, and a couple of lands with Parallax Tide and your opponent flashes in a blocker or takes him out with spot removal.
Righteous Authority seemed a little sketchy, but it's card draw and helps me get there with commander damage.
Latest Changes
I just added the Boonweaver Giant tech that I have been seeing in other decks. It didn't occur to me how much of a house that card is until last night, as every turn you connect with Brago, you can move one aura off the giant and go fish for another one. Quick note: though spectra ward is great to get on Brago, you can't target the giant with Brago's trigger until after you move the aura off.
I also just added Nevermore and Tormod's Crypt. Nevermore seems mean, but it can be a lifesaver if you know an opponent's deck plays a certain win condition. The Crypt seems appropriate since early testing shows I need some graveyard hate, and Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage prevent recurring my enchantments. Also, my Trinket Mage package was very light, so Tormod's Crypt seems a good fit.
I was playing Chariot of Victory, but while I found haste important, protection and unblockability are more important, so I swapped in Whispersilk Cloak.
This seems like a fun Roon style variation. I was also considering Brago as an alternative to my Roon deck if I ever became tired of it or started getting hated out of my meta.
Anyways, looking at your list, may I suggest Bruna, Light of Alabaster? I see that you have several auras functioning as removal. Undoubtedly, those will be the first creatures sacrificed to sac effects or as a cost to a Life's Legacy style of card so they'll hit the graveyard at some point. If you attacked with Bruna, you could bring all of those aura's back and then move them around when Brago hits, right?
This seems like a fun Roon style variation. I was also considering Brago as an alternative to my Roon deck if I ever became tired of it or started getting hated out of my meta.
Anyways, looking at your list, may I suggest Bruna, Light of Alabaster? I see that you have several auras functioning as removal. Undoubtedly, those will be the first creatures sacrificed to sac effects or as a cost to a Life's Legacy style of card so they'll hit the graveyard at some point. If you attacked with Bruna, you could bring all of those aura's back and then move them around when Brago hits, right?
You make a very good argument. I think I need to get more of a feel for the tempo of the deck to understand just how much benefit Bruna would provide, but I could easily put her in the slot Nevermore fills.
Amusingly enough, some of the tech I have in here was put in a tech against a pretty sick Bruna voltron deck that's dominating my meta (e.g., Prison Term, Runed Halo
Why run Cryptoplasm over a different clone that works well with your general? I mean, if you use something like Clone you can just flicker it and make it copy the best creature on the board every time, right? That seems like a much better deal than waiting till the upkeep, unless this is an attempt to defend yourself from Hushwing Gryff
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EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
Why run Cryptoplasm over a different clone that works well with your general? I mean, if you use something like Clone you can just flicker it and make it copy the best creature on the board every time, right? That seems like a much better deal than waiting till the upkeep, unless this is an attempt to defend yourself from Hushwing Gryff
Hushwing Gryff wouldn't matter in this case because cards like Clone and Phyrexian Metamorph don't have enter the battlefield "triggered" abilities. They simply enter as a copy of whatever you choose to copy. If they copied a creature with an etb triggered ability it would trigger, unless something like Hushwing Gryff was preventing it. Which is why I like Phyrexian Metamorph. It can also copy artifacts.
It doesn't really do much considering Brago has flying. All it does is prevent creatures with reach from blocking it and they're not very common outside of green. And with a 3 equip cost it's not very efficient either.
It doesn't really do much considering Brago has flying. All it does is prevent creatures with reach from blocking it and they're not very common outside of green. And with a 3 equip cost it's not very efficient either.
Quote from Skyblinder Staff »
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and can't be blocked by creatures with flying
Ah I misread it. And yes, the first 3 are pretty much auto includes. Aqueous Form is interesting and seems decent for a budget version as it helps you filter your draws. I'm not sold on the last one though. All it really does is make it unblockable and reduce the commander damage clock by a few turns.
I had a Spirit Mantle in the cards I was considering, but I ultimately decided that the synergy of blinking enchantments that let you draw cards is more significant than the +1 in more cases. You usually aren't trying to voltron out, but go slow and steady.
In subsequent testing, my #1 problem has been preventing Brago from dealing damage. In fact, Kor Haven in 2 different decks shut me down. I think I need to amp up the hexproof a little more, e.g., putting Pemmin's Aura in, etc.
Opposition is also ok for shutting down Maze of Ith and co. You're almost always going to have a creature that's just lying around waiting to be blinked, and Opposition put that guy to use tapping problematic combat phase lands and even blockers. They become untapped when Brago connects, anyway, then they can stand by to tap creatures that are threatening to attack you. If Geist-Honored Monk happens to be cranking out extra tokens, Opposition will eventually lock out opponent's lands.
Spreading Seas is the real deal tho. It shuts down land utility without the controller feeling that sore about it because you're still leaving him a mana source. Plus you can switch it from land to land per blink, depending on what needs to be neutralized more.
I see you're considering Mystic Remora; you should definitely run it! It once gained me 7 cards in one round of turns of a 5 player commander game. I really don't know why this card sees so little play in any deck that runs blue..
I also played a few counterspells, but ended up only using them for protecting brago. Therefore I switched them for more protection such as lightning Greaves, Gift of Immortality, etc.
Vanishing is imo one of the best ways of protecting your commander; it makes him practically invincible! You should really consider that one.. Alternatively you can use it to lock other commanders out of the game
I really like this deck. I have been running Ephara and this list is basically nothing like mine. Gotta love some UW. May I suggest mother of runes? She is just really efficient and versatile.
Try Ixidron, he is sick with Brago. I have also been using Sky Hussar as a way to untap all my creatures after I attack. Reality Acid is super silly with Brago. You can also try Reveillark and Body Double which are both good on their own and combo together. Never leave home without Karmic Guide which also has sick synergy with Reveillark. If you want pure cheese, Archeomancer plus Time Warp means good game for infinite turns. For card draw I use Mulldrifter and some Jace Beleren, and if you want some filtering try Seagate Oracle. If you want incremental lifegain you can add Aven Riftwatcher or Angelic Chorus. Lastly if you want to steal your opponents creature Sower of Temptation works beautifully.
My Brago Deck runs 10 protection effects for the general. If he dies to removal or gets tucked away the deck shuts down pretty hard. Sure once Brago is protected each additional protection card is mostly a dead draw...but id rather waste a draw or two then to be shut down.
Unless your play group isn't spot removal happy like mine is.
I'd like to mention Vessel of Endless Rest here, since it's a solid mana rock that Brago "untaps", it's a graveyard control card that tucks one potential reanimation target per Brago-blink, and it can also return one of those game-changing artifact to your library so you can fish them out with Tezzeret the Seeker later.
I just added Tezzeret the Seeker after seeing another Brago deck use it and have to say it is the real deal. Quickly fetching the resonator and a sol ring takes this deck from a tepid deck to a fearsome one.
I was inspired to make this deck when I saw Hushwing Gryff spoiled. It seemed like my Roon of the Hidden Realm deck could be falling on hard times if the Gryff saw lots of play, but Brago is less affected by Griff and Torpor Orb since is does nothing about enchantment ETB effects.
The deck is mostly budget-ish but I did spend more than $10 on a few cards that are major synergy peices (i.e., Treachery) and borrowed a few planeswalkers from other decks I was not going to buy again.
Cards of Note/Strategy:
The strategy is to leverage the ETB effects of your enchantments and creatures to control board states and eventually swing in with Brago and possibly some online Gods for the kill.
Parallax Wave is a major house. It can be use defensively, used to remove blockers, and as a second way to recur your own creatures if Brago gets shut down. And by bouncing it, you reset the counters.
Parallax Tide is mostly for your own lands to untap with, though I did use it to lock down an opponent's Nykthos to good effect. I find this tech a bit questionable, but I'll keep running with it to see how it goes.
Mana rocks can be blinked to get a second use out of them in a turn.
Strionic Resonator can recur your Brago trigger or any ETB effect. If you have 2 mana worth of mana rocks (e.g., a Sol Ring) on the board, you can infinitely recur the Brago trigger.
Reality Acid is also a major piece of tech as you can get rid of anything, disregarding indestructibility, every time you blink it.
You can also reset counts of cumulative upkeep things and planeswalkers. I got a couple of chances to use Jace, Architect of Thought twice a turn and it's very good.
It's fairly important to connect with Brago. At the same time, be careful when planning out your turns if there is any chance that your opponents can keep you from connecting. You'll have a sad face if you are planning on untapping your Basalt Monolith, Sol Ring, and a couple of lands with Parallax Tide and your opponent flashes in a blocker or takes him out with spot removal.
Righteous Authority seemed a little sketchy, but it's card draw and helps me get there with commander damage.
Latest Changes
I just added the Boonweaver Giant tech that I have been seeing in other decks. It didn't occur to me how much of a house that card is until last night, as every turn you connect with Brago, you can move one aura off the giant and go fish for another one. Quick note: though spectra ward is great to get on Brago, you can't target the giant with Brago's trigger until after you move the aura off.
I also just added Nevermore and Tormod's Crypt. Nevermore seems mean, but it can be a lifesaver if you know an opponent's deck plays a certain win condition. The Crypt seems appropriate since early testing shows I need some graveyard hate, and Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage prevent recurring my enchantments. Also, my Trinket Mage package was very light, so Tormod's Crypt seems a good fit.
I was playing Chariot of Victory, but while I found haste important, protection and unblockability are more important, so I swapped in Whispersilk Cloak.
Decklist:
4 Brago, King Eternal
Creatures
2 Azorius Guildmage
2 Mistmeadow Witch
3 Auramancer
3 Burnished Hart
3 Cryptoplasm
3 Drogskol Captain
3 Heliod's Pilgrim
3 Mesa Enchantress
3 Monk Idealist
3 Pilgrim's Eye
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
3 Trinket Mage
4 Archaeomancer
4 Ephara, God of the Polis
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Custodi Squire
5 Geist-Honored Monk
5 Lavinia of the Tenth
5 Mulldrifter
5 Peregrine Drake
5 Reveillark
6 Sun Titan
7 Boonweaver Giant
Instants/Sorceries
1 Swan Song
2 Counterspell
2 Split Decision
3 Dissipate
3 Dissolve
3 Render Silent
4 Plea for Power
4 Replenish
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Darksteel Mutation
2 Runed Halo
3 Act of Authority
3 Arrest
3 Detention Sphere
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Pariah
3 Reality Acid
3 Prison Term
3 Traveler's Cloak
3 Unquestioned Authority
4 Parallax Tide
4 Parallax Wave
5 Righteous Authority
4 Faith's Fetters
4 Nevermore
5 Treachery
5 Skybind
5 Spectra Ward
8 Decree of Silence
Artifacts
0 Tormod's Crypt
1 Sol Ring
2 Strionic Resonator
2 Swiftfoot Boots
3 Azorius Keyrunt
3 Basalt Monolith
3 Whispersilk Cloak
4 Eye of Doom
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
5 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
5 Venser, the Sojourner
12 Island
12 Plains
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Halimar Depths
1 Opal Palace
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Considering
Want list
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor
Anyways, looking at your list, may I suggest Bruna, Light of Alabaster? I see that you have several auras functioning as removal. Undoubtedly, those will be the first creatures sacrificed to sac effects or as a cost to a Life's Legacy style of card so they'll hit the graveyard at some point. If you attacked with Bruna, you could bring all of those aura's back and then move them around when Brago hits, right?
UBRGrixis Kiki Control
BGUSultai Shadow
GWRBushwhacker Zoo
EDH:
BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose
GWU Roon of the Hidden Realm
You make a very good argument. I think I need to get more of a feel for the tempo of the deck to understand just how much benefit Bruna would provide, but I could easily put her in the slot Nevermore fills.
Amusingly enough, some of the tech I have in here was put in a tech against a pretty sick Bruna voltron deck that's dominating my meta (e.g., Prison Term, Runed Halo
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
Hushwing Gryff wouldn't matter in this case because cards like Clone and Phyrexian Metamorph don't have enter the battlefield "triggered" abilities. They simply enter as a copy of whatever you choose to copy. If they copied a creature with an etb triggered ability it would trigger, unless something like Hushwing Gryff was preventing it. Which is why I like Phyrexian Metamorph. It can also copy artifacts.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
It doesn't really do much considering Brago has flying. All it does is prevent creatures with reach from blocking it and they're not very common outside of green. And with a 3 equip cost it's not very efficient either.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
It makes Brago unblockable except by creatures with reach. I'd still rather have Unquestioned Authority, Traveler's Cloak, Pentarch Ward, Aqueous Form, or Spirit Mantle for less mana.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
In subsequent testing, my #1 problem has been preventing Brago from dealing damage. In fact, Kor Haven in 2 different decks shut me down. I think I need to amp up the hexproof a little more, e.g., putting Pemmin's Aura in, etc.
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Spreading Seas is the real deal tho. It shuts down land utility without the controller feeling that sore about it because you're still leaving him a mana source. Plus you can switch it from land to land per blink, depending on what needs to be neutralized more.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
I see you're considering Mystic Remora; you should definitely run it! It once gained me 7 cards in one round of turns of a 5 player commander game. I really don't know why this card sees so little play in any deck that runs blue..
I also played a few counterspells, but ended up only using them for protecting brago. Therefore I switched them for more protection such as lightning Greaves, Gift of Immortality, etc.
Vanishing is imo one of the best ways of protecting your commander; it makes him practically invincible! You should really consider that one.. Alternatively you can use it to lock other commanders out of the game
Exclusion Ritual is just unfair when consistently blinking it.
Giving Brago doublestrike lets you blink everything twice, Silverblade paladin might be a nice addition.
I really like Tezzeret the Seeker; lets you tutor up two artifact a turn (if you blink it with Brago).
GEzuriG
WURaffUW
WBAyliBW
GOmnathG
URMizzixRU
Like Strionic Resonator and Mortarpod.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
Or Tangle Wire and Winter Orb/Static Orb
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Also Sky Hussar is redundant since blinking your creatures untaps them.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Unless your play group isn't spot removal happy like mine is.
I'd like to mention Vessel of Endless Rest here, since it's a solid mana rock that Brago "untaps", it's a graveyard control card that tucks one potential reanimation target per Brago-blink, and it can also return one of those game-changing artifact to your library so you can fish them out with Tezzeret the Seeker later.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
Roon of the Pod People (Roon of the Hidden Realm)
Sydri, Super Genius (Sydri, Galvanic Genius)
Marchesa, the Black Rose
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
Retired:
Grimgrin's Corpse-Beats (Grimgrin, Corpse-Born) | Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge | Varolz, the Scar-Striped (1v1) | Glissa, the Traitor