Derevi is a pretty popular commander for multiplayer, but broken in 1v1. (It has been banned as a 1v1 commander at duelcommander.com) If you just wanted to play it for multiplayer, then it would probably be a pretty drastic change as you don't utilize ETB effects as much in a Derevi deck.
And I don't think you could really make a deck that's all-purpose for both 1v1 commander and EDH. Your needs for each format differ from one to the other. For example, a duel commander deck with blue may have 10-20 counter spells. Whereas a multiplayer deck may only have 5-10. A multiplayer deck may have 5-10 board wipes and a few spot removal, whereas a duel commander deck may have 3-4 board wipes and more spot removal. In multiplayer, you can more easily play high casting cost spells like Exclusion Ritual/Duplicant, but in duel commander you want to play more cheap/efficient spells.
If you want to play a more competitive Brago deck, I find it working better (for me, at least) as a 1v1 commander.
If you are going to play Hinder/Spellcrumble, then maybe you should consider Tunnel Vision and Terminus. In my deck i also play armageddon, for 2 reasons mostly:
1. Im an ********
2. I play lots of mana stones, Kor Cartographer and some card draw. Blowing up the lands is usualy a solid plan.
Usualy win with either X1000 BSZ or infinite turn combo. Im considering Twilight Shepherd for reusable tutors, ponders and againts board swipes(both mine and my opponents). Mangara of condors is also quite good if you can blink at instant speed. If you are going for big ETB creatures, then maybe you should consider Proteus Staff(trade wall of omens for a diluvian primordial ), it also removes generals quite well, so it might do some work in a blink deck.
Tunnel Vision is a solid option but I usually use the counters at the earlier turns which means Vision is only effective if I cast it almost immediately before someone crack a fetch land or search engine.
Mangara makes sense! Thanks.
Proteus Staff is on my waiting list! I used to use it a lot but I'm not sure whether Jalira is enough. She, in my opinion, is a little better since it dumps creatures into a graveyard so we can bring those creatures back.
1. I see people post lists for either 1v1 or multiplayer. What if I just want an all-purpose deck? When I go and hang out at my local game shop, sometimes we'll get 3-4 people together, other times it's just 1. I'm looking for a deck I can keep in my box, and whip out when I want to play some EDH. Is that possible?
2. I won a FTV:20 at a PTQ a few weeks ago, so I decided to play UW. I built the following Brago deck:
I pieced it together from a few posts here. I'm having an issue with the deck: I feel like I'm not actually *doing* anything. I just durdle around playing a card a turn, if I'm lucky. I find myself with 3-4 mana artifacts out, and then maybe a single creature. My opponents do these crazy turns where they draw a bunch of cards, play a bunch of stuff, combo out. Then I untap, maybe play a creature, and then just pass. I feel useless. While I see potential for crazy-cool stuff, it rarely comes to fruition, because my opponents deal with my spells before I'm able to take advantage of them.
Because of that, I'm not sure the best way to proceed. Is it my deck? I never saw a lot of options to improve the way I handled things. This isn't coming from a casual or new player's mindset. I'm a competitive PTQ and GP grinder, so when I say I felt completely out of the water, I hope you'll take it more seriously than "play better." I ran out of cards and threats much more quickly than my opponents. Should I play more counterspells? Too many mana artifacts?
With that being said, I've seen a lot of popularity for Derevi, and thought about trying to swap over to him. Any thoughts on that? Would it be too much of a drastic change, or is it something feasible? Is it something you'd recommend, to improve my competitiveness?
I've got $50-$100 I could put into the deck, and even more if you think trading away the Jace TMS would net me a huge gain.
Thanks!
1. It is possible if your opponents do not specifically tune their decks into 1v1 as well. For instance, if the spectrum of Azorious' counter spell count in multiplayer is 4-6 while 8-12 in 1v1, you may want to keep the counter spell at 8 which may not be optimum for both formats.
2. I think your problem is chiefly because you run too much lower quality cards. For examples: Augury Owl, Clone, Banishing Light, Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, Mind Stone, Prismatic Lens.
Act of Authority is safer than those enchantment removal. Yes, it's not as versatile but you can use other forms of removal such as Path To Exile instead. Karn Liberated is a must as a universal spot removal in my opinion.
You may also want more dig power. Jalira, Master Polymorphist is a powerful dig engine. Draw engine is also helpful. Swords such as Sword of Feast and Famine is also helpful especially when you like small creatures.
3. Derevi is a fine option but I think the power of 'next level blink' is interesting in itself. You only need to adjust it a little bit and most of my suggestions have been given in the consideration that you may want to switch to Derevi later.
Derevi is a pretty popular commander for multiplayer, but broken in 1v1. (It has been banned as a 1v1 commander at duelcommander.com) If you just wanted to play it for multiplayer, then it would probably be a pretty drastic change as you don't utilize ETB effects as much in a Derevi deck.
And I don't think you could really make a deck that's all-purpose for both 1v1 commander and EDH. Your needs for each format differ from one to the other. For example, a duel commander deck with blue may have 10-20 counter spells. Whereas a multiplayer deck may only have 5-10. A multiplayer deck may have 5-10 board wipes and a few spot removal, whereas a duel commander deck may have 3-4 board wipes and more spot removal. In multiplayer, you can more easily play high casting cost spells like Exclusion Ritual/Duplicant, but in duel commander you want to play more cheap/efficient spells.
If you want to play a more competitive Brago deck, I find it working better (for me, at least) as a 1v1 commander.
I find that Brago needs time magic to be competitive. It doesn't have to be infinite. The fact that you can activate a planeswalker for four times in one turn is incredible. Fact or fiction three times in one turn (Sphinx of Uthuun) is also incredible.
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I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
I'm experimenting with adding more small creatures such as Aven Mindcensor, Grand Abolisher and Mangara of Corondo. So far so good. Aven used to be my favourite in Rasputin deck since it can hose a lot of deck. Abolisher allows us to use time magic or tapout before mass untap (Sword of Feast and Famine, Parallax Tide or the new card I mentioned before) without worrying that someone will pull a cruel trick on us. Mangara is so perfect with Brago I want to marry them!
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I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
What I'm calling the three flash rocks are Basalt Monolith, Grim Monolith and Mana Vault. They are usually considered classic mana rocks in EDH. They provide 3 mana advantage which means casting Consecrated Sphinx on turn 4 is a reliable strategy. Their common flaw however is that you have to use them smartly since they won't untap on their own.
Forget what I say when it comes to next level blink. You can reliably untap these rocks almost in the same way you untap Sol Ring every turn.
Chromatic Lantern is a helpful rock since we run a considerable number of colourless lands and the four aforementioned colourless rocks.
Lightning Greave and Swiftfoot Boots aren't the best equipments we can use but they serve their purposes. Brago'll draw hate to himself. Bashing face as quick and stealthy as possible is usually a good option.
Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of Fire and Ice are crucial for our deck. The problem with Brago is the fact that he is so small yet he is at his best when he engages in combat (he is almost useless otherwise.) Hence; any card that gives him relevant evasion, relevant protection and nice buff is always welcome. It seems too greedy to ask for even one more extraordinary effect let alone two...oh, wait!
Tangle Wire is cruel. Your opponent has to try to find the four scapegoats every turn while you can just tap some enchantment and blink them back like nothing happens (except drawing two cards, perhaps?)
Tormod's Crypt is crucial. It is currently my only plan against graveyard deck. I think I should add at least one more. Any suggestion?
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I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
Scenario #1 (Doesn't Work) Brago deals combat damage and triggered ability goes on stack. Mangara is activated and is exiled along with target. Brago's ability resolves and cannot blink Mangara which is no longer in play.
Scenario #2 (Doesn't Work) Mangara is activated before combat damage and is exiled along with target. Brago deals combat damage and ability goes on the stack. Brago's ability resolves and cannot blink Mangara which is no longer in play.
Scenario #3 (Not even possible) Brago deals combat damage, but before ability triggers (which is instantaneous by the way) you put Mangara's ability on the stack before receiving priority (which comes after all triggered abilities enter the stack).
Damn! Really? And I thought they were a match made in heaven. Thank you for your correction. I still want to lower the curve a little bit though. Any suggestion?
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I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
Some of the changes I'd make from personal experience.
- Planar Cleansing
How have you been finding this useful in a permanent-based control/combo deck? I could see Austere Command since it's selective, but this doesn't seem as good because the only situation I could potentially see needing to cast this a Wrath of God would just be better.
+ Treachery or Peregrine Drake
Take control of a threat and untap 5 lands per turn... sounds good. Makes a slightly higher curve less of a problem. And works amazing with cards like Tangle Wire, Static Orb, and Winter Orb
- Skybind
Oddly enough, I have never been impressed by Skybind unless I was using it to blink a creature or an artifact, which is honestly pretty narrow since most of the artifacts don't have etb abilities. At least Venser can blink Enchantments too. And if you add one of the following, untapping mana rocks doesn't seem as important. So really Skybind is only useful for creatures.
+ Treachery or Peregrine Drake
The other one
- Consecrated Sphinx
Personally I've never liked this card. Every time I've played it or against it, the person who played it became a target. It has little to no synergy with Brago and there are plenty of other great ways to draw cards that don't draw nearly as much table malice like Tsabo's Web, the 3 aura staples, Sea-Gate Oracle, Wall of Omens, and Mystic Remora
+ Winter Orb or Static Orb
I've been finding the stasis-style build to be incredibly effective. It's the whole reason why Tangle Wire is good. This and Tangle Wire pretty much lock your opponent out completely. You'll at least have some things untapped thanks to Brago, Tezzeret, Treachery, Peregrine Drake, etc. And you can search both TW and Orb up with Tezzeret the turn you drop him.
Other suggestions I'd make:
- Try more counterspells. They're incredibly useful even in multiplayer games for when an opponent finds a way to deal with your stax.
- I also don't particularly care for Sphinx's Revelation, believe it or not.
What I'm calling the three flash rocks are Basalt Monolith, Grim Monolith and Mana Vault. They are usually considered classic mana rocks in EDH. They provide 3 mana advantage which means casting Consecrated Sphinx on turn 4 is a reliable strategy. Their common flaw however is that you have to use them smartly since they won't untap on their own.
Forget what I say when it comes to next level blink. You can reliably untap these rocks almost in the same way you untap Sol Ring every turn.
Chromatic Lantern is a helpful rock since we run a considerable number of colourless lands and the four aforementioned colourless rocks.
Lightning Greave and Swiftfoot Boots aren't the best equipments we can use but they serve their purposes. Brago'll draw hate to himself. Bashing face as quick and stealthy as possible is usually a good option.
Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of Fire and Ice are crucial for our deck. The problem with Brago is the fact that he is so small yet he is at his best when he engages in combat (he is almost useless otherwise.) Hence; any card that gives him relevant evasion, relevant protection and nice buff is always welcome. It seems too greedy to ask for even one more extraordinary effect let alone two...oh, wait!
Tangle Wire is cruel. Your opponent has to try to find the four scapegoats every turn while you can just tap some enchantment and blink them back like nothing happens (except drawing two cards, perhaps?)
Tormod's Crypt is crucial. It is currently my only plan against graveyard deck. I think I should add at least one more. Any suggestion?
Tangle Wire is really good, but you cannot tap enchantments, it specifies Artifacts, Creatures or Lands.
Also, I would disagree with removing C Sphinx. Too good, draws so many cards, and if the deck is build similarly to mine, you have a lot of mana rocks, so vomiting your hand is pretty easy.
Also, I have added in Stasis, wins games. All you need is a mana rock that taps for a U and you keep beating in for two until they remove Stasis or Brago. Can win on its' own. Yeah, people will hate you, but it is competitive, who cares?
Some of the changes I'd make from personal experience.
- Planar Cleansing
How have you been finding this useful in a permanent-based control/combo deck? I could see Austere Command since it's selective, but this doesn't seem as good because the only situation I could potentially see needing to cast this a Wrath of God would just be better.
+ Treachery or Peregrine Drake
Take control of a threat and untap 5 lands per turn... sounds good. Makes a slightly higher curve less of a problem. And works amazing with cards like Tangle Wire, Static Orb, and Winter Orb
While Treachery is good, (I used to use it,) Planar Cleansing is good to wipe out a really sticky board state. For instance, when someone is dominating the board with planeswalkers.
- Skybind
Oddly enough, I have never been impressed by Skybind unless I was using it to blink a creature or an artifact, which is honestly pretty narrow since most of the artifacts don't have etb abilities. At least Venser can blink Enchantments too. And if you add one of the following, untapping mana rocks doesn't seem as important. So really Skybind is only useful for creatures.
+ Treachery or Peregrine Drake
The other one
This one is my bad. I excluded Skybind a long time ago but forgot to update the list.
- Consecrated Sphinx
Personally I've never liked this card. Every time I've played it or against it, the person who played it became a target. It has little to no synergy with Brago and there are plenty of other great ways to draw cards that don't draw nearly as much table malice like Tsabo's Web, the 3 aura staples, Sea-Gate Oracle, Wall of Omens, and Mystic Remora
+ Winter Orb or Static Orb
I've been finding the stasis-style build to be incredibly effective. It's the whole reason why Tangle Wire is good. This and Tangle Wire pretty much lock your opponent out completely. You'll at least have some things untapped thanks to Brago, Tezzeret, Treachery, Peregrine Drake, etc. And you can search both TW and Orb up with Tezzeret the turn you drop him.
Sphinx is useful in an environment that run a little bit too few spot removal. I understand your point. I would say that if your local run an adequate amount of spot removal, don't run it. But if the average is around 3 or less per deck, then it should be able to stick for at least one and a half turn which is more than enough.
Other suggestions I'd make:
- Try more counterspells. They're incredibly useful even in multiplayer games for when an opponent finds a way to deal with your stax.
- I also don't particularly care for Sphinx's Revelation, believe it or not.
I like the idea of running more counterspells but I don't know what to cut. I think two more is ideal.
As for Sphinx's Revelation, I would say that it's a legitimate cut especially if you run more stax. As of now, the power to draw 7 cards instantly is too tempting for me to cut it. I would experiment with your stax route and see how it goes though.
Tangle Wire is really good, but you cannot tap enchantments, it specifies Artifacts, Creatures or Lands.
Also, I would disagree with removing C Sphinx. Too good, draws so many cards, and if the deck is build similarly to mine, you have a lot of mana rocks, so vomiting your hand is pretty easy.
Also, I have added in Stasis, wins games. All you need is a mana rock that taps for a U and you keep beating in for two until they remove Stasis or Brago. Can win on its' own. Yeah, people will hate you, but it is competitive, who cares?
My bad on Tangle Wire. I always tap correctly but I didn't have the card in front of me when I was typing, I guess. Thank you for pointing it out.
I would try the more stax route. What would you suggest to cut though?
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I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
I've been running a Brago deck that uses creatures that ETBs for multiple tokens to maximize stax artifacts and Opposition. It's been surprisingly effective! Being able to blink multiple targets at once allows you to run smaller etb effects without feeling that you're 'wasting' your blink effects on them.
Here's a controversial suggestion: cut Venser the Sojourner. From experience, whenever he comes along, he's useless because Brago's doing all the blinking I could want! I thought that he'd make a good backup plan in case something happens to Brago, but being able to blink one more thing is very rarely enough to save you from a bad situation, and maybe if I had a counterspell or some other thing instead so I had saved Brago in the first place, I could be winning. The unblockable ability was usually useless too, since there's almost always someone without any fliers in a 4+ player game.
Here's a controversial suggestion: cut Venser the Sojourner. From experience, whenever he comes along, he's useless because Brago's doing all the blinking I could want! I thought that he'd make a good backup plan in case something happens to Brago, but being able to blink one more thing is very rarely enough to save you from a bad situation, and maybe if I had a counterspell or some other thing instead so I had saved Brago in the first place, I could be winning. The unblockable ability was usually useless too, since there's almost always someone without any fliers in a 4+ player game.
That has also been my impression (which is why I dropped it).
Also, the best etb token maker in the colors is likely Master of waves, which is odd since it is not something blue is good at (note that the tokens stays then you blink him, since creatures only dies to 0 toughness as statebased effects, which is not checked in the middle of the abillity).
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"Hail to the speaker, hail to the knower; joy to he who has understood, delight to they who have listened." - Odin
Also, the best etb token maker in the colors is likely Master of waves, which is odd since it is not something blue is good at (note that the tokens stays then you blink him, since creatures only dies to 0 toughness as statebased effects, which is not checked in the middle of the abillity).
I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Ixidron is a great answer to creatures that does not target.
I will reiterate: "No no no no no no!"
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
How about Faith's Fetters? Does the lifegain and the ability to shut down noncreatures enough to make up for the additional 1 in your opinion?
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
How about Faith's Fetters? Does the lifegain and the ability to shut down noncreatures enough to make up for the additional 1 in your opinion?
I think it seems like a great choice. Especially in multiplayer EDH where you're facing a wider variety of threats than just creatures. And the life gain seems relevant as well since you could potentially be annoying the whole table with Brago. And the 1 extra casting cost isn't too bad when you remember that EDH is supposed to be a slower format than Duel Commander.
I think it seems like a great choice. Especially in multiplayer EDH where you're facing a wider variety of threats than just creatures. And the life gain seems relevant as well since you could potentially be annoying the whole table with Brago. And the 1 extra casting cost isn't too bad when you remember that EDH is supposed to be a slower format than Duel Commander.
Thank you! I really think conditional removal like Journey to Nowhere and Pacifism types are a bit stronger in Brago decks.
I've been running a Brago deck that uses creatures that ETBs for multiple tokens to maximize stax artifacts and Opposition. It's been surprisingly effective! Being able to blink multiple targets at once allows you to run smaller etb effects without feeling that you're 'wasting' your blink effects on them.
Here's a controversial suggestion: cut Venser the Sojourner. From experience, whenever he comes along, he's useless because Brago's doing all the blinking I could want! I thought that he'd make a good backup plan in case something happens to Brago, but being able to blink one more thing is very rarely enough to save you from a bad situation, and maybe if I had a counterspell or some other thing instead so I had saved Brago in the first place, I could be winning. The unblockable ability was usually useless too, since there's almost always someone without any fliers in a 4+ player game.
Here's a controversial suggestion: cut Venser the Sojourner. From experience, whenever he comes along, he's useless because Brago's doing all the blinking I could want! I thought that he'd make a good backup plan in case something happens to Brago, but being able to blink one more thing is very rarely enough to save you from a bad situation, and maybe if I had a counterspell or some other thing instead so I had saved Brago in the first place, I could be winning. The unblockable ability was usually useless too, since there's almost always someone without any fliers in a 4+ player game.
That has also been my impression (which is why I dropped it).
Also, the best etb token maker in the colors is likely Master of waves, which is odd since it is not something blue is good at (note that the tokens stays then you blink him, since creatures only dies to 0 toughness as statebased effects, which is not checked in the middle of the abillity).
While I also feel that Venser isn't as powerful as one would expect him to be in such deck, I think he is a good option nonetheless. The chief reason isn't for his ability to be a substitute for Brago but his ability to let Brago sneaks attack someone with a bonus to reblink something. It is also possible for him to blink two lands or Gilded Drake which Brago can't. To put it bluntly, he isn't useful when we are still in a 3-4 playes situation but when it comes down to one on one, Venser can help us through.
Nevertheless; I understand if anyone wants to cut him.
As for Master of Waves, I actually think about him for a while now especially since I've started my experiment with Spreading Sea. I think he's a solid option.
I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Ixidron is a great answer to creatures that does not target.
My concern is that we usually want Brago so Ixidron may hinder ourselves. Obviously, if you have serious issues that demand mass removal of sort, then Venser is a solid option to turn back Brago and fly us through victory. It's a little bit tricky to pull off though.
Also, the best etb token maker in the colors is likely Master of waves, which is odd since it is not something blue is good at (note that the tokens stays then you blink him, since creatures only dies to 0 toughness as statebased effects, which is not checked in the middle of the abillity).
I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Ixidron is a great answer to creatures that does not target.
I will reiterate: "No no no no no no!"
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
I've never seen Hobble before (I think!) That's a solid option. Treachery is the best removal of this nature though.
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
How about Faith's Fetters? Does the lifegain and the ability to shut down noncreatures enough to make up for the additional 1 in your opinion?
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
How about Faith's Fetters? Does the lifegain and the ability to shut down noncreatures enough to make up for the additional 1 in your opinion?
I think it seems like a great choice. Especially in multiplayer EDH where you're facing a wider variety of threats than just creatures. And the life gain seems relevant as well since you could potentially be annoying the whole table with Brago. And the 1 extra casting cost isn't too bad when you remember that EDH is supposed to be a slower format than Duel Commander.
Faith's Fetters is a really good option especially against 5cc which tends to use Sliver Queen and Planeswalkers.
Now, the problem is obvious. What to cut down?
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I'm sorry this post is so long, I didn't have time to make it shorter.
You can ask yourself if a card is just there because it's too powerful to cut, even if it's not necessarily good in a Brago deck. If it is, try replacing it with one of the cards that aren't as generally strong, but have potent (or even just fun) interactions with Brago. At the very least, you'll be able to deduce for yourself if you can live without some of the overused staples, but I'm confident that you'll find fresh interactions.
I also run Rest in Peace for more graveyard hate. While it doesn't go well with Sun Titan, it completely shuts down several deck in my meta.
I found Vanishing by far the best way to keep Brago alive, with 2 blue mana open there is just no way to get rid of him. Especially since all aura's and equipments attached to him phase out with Brago.
I'm considering adding Hive Mind. It doesn't synergize with Brago, but since I run almost no instants/sorceries it would make things a lot harder for opponents than it does for me. Any thoughts on this?
Honestly, I try and keep things fair. The most broken aspect I have is recursion with sun titan, reveillark, karmic guide. I don't care for the sol ring/strionic resonator cheese or archaeomancer and time magic cheese. Hive Mind, I mean why? Do you play PONegation? If you want a frustrating card, try Decree of Silence for moans and groans and couple it with auramancer to recur it lol. I forgot about Vanishing that sounds like a great way to protect Brago (as I am seeing more and sweepers). Rishadan Brigand is a pretty fun card with Brago and not overpowered but a decent little card.
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And I don't think you could really make a deck that's all-purpose for both 1v1 commander and EDH. Your needs for each format differ from one to the other. For example, a duel commander deck with blue may have 10-20 counter spells. Whereas a multiplayer deck may only have 5-10. A multiplayer deck may have 5-10 board wipes and a few spot removal, whereas a duel commander deck may have 3-4 board wipes and more spot removal. In multiplayer, you can more easily play high casting cost spells like Exclusion Ritual/Duplicant, but in duel commander you want to play more cheap/efficient spells.
If you want to play a more competitive Brago deck, I find it working better (for me, at least) as a 1v1 commander.
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
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
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
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
Still, double-striking your ETBs is solid, if ETB is what you're doing.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
What I'm calling the three flash rocks are Basalt Monolith, Grim Monolith and Mana Vault. They are usually considered classic mana rocks in EDH. They provide 3 mana advantage which means casting Consecrated Sphinx on turn 4 is a reliable strategy. Their common flaw however is that you have to use them smartly since they won't untap on their own.
Forget what I say when it comes to next level blink. You can reliably untap these rocks almost in the same way you untap Sol Ring every turn.
Chromatic Lantern is a helpful rock since we run a considerable number of colourless lands and the four aforementioned colourless rocks.
Lightning Greave and Swiftfoot Boots aren't the best equipments we can use but they serve their purposes. Brago'll draw hate to himself. Bashing face as quick and stealthy as possible is usually a good option.
Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of Fire and Ice are crucial for our deck. The problem with Brago is the fact that he is so small yet he is at his best when he engages in combat (he is almost useless otherwise.) Hence; any card that gives him relevant evasion, relevant protection and nice buff is always welcome. It seems too greedy to ask for even one more extraordinary effect let alone two...oh, wait!
Tangle Wire is cruel. Your opponent has to try to find the four scapegoats every turn while you can just tap some enchantment and blink them back like nothing happens (except drawing two cards, perhaps?)
Tormod's Crypt is crucial. It is currently my only plan against graveyard deck. I think I should add at least one more. Any suggestion?
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
Scenario #1 (Doesn't Work) Brago deals combat damage and triggered ability goes on stack. Mangara is activated and is exiled along with target. Brago's ability resolves and cannot blink Mangara which is no longer in play.
Scenario #2 (Doesn't Work) Mangara is activated before combat damage and is exiled along with target. Brago deals combat damage and ability goes on the stack. Brago's ability resolves and cannot blink Mangara which is no longer in play.
Scenario #3 (Not even possible) Brago deals combat damage, but before ability triggers (which is instantaneous by the way) you put Mangara's ability on the stack before receiving priority (which comes after all triggered abilities enter the stack).
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
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
- Planar Cleansing
How have you been finding this useful in a permanent-based control/combo deck? I could see Austere Command since it's selective, but this doesn't seem as good because the only situation I could potentially see needing to cast this a Wrath of God would just be better.
+ Treachery or Peregrine Drake
Take control of a threat and untap 5 lands per turn... sounds good. Makes a slightly higher curve less of a problem. And works amazing with cards like Tangle Wire, Static Orb, and Winter Orb
- Skybind
Oddly enough, I have never been impressed by Skybind unless I was using it to blink a creature or an artifact, which is honestly pretty narrow since most of the artifacts don't have etb abilities. At least Venser can blink Enchantments too. And if you add one of the following, untapping mana rocks doesn't seem as important. So really Skybind is only useful for creatures.
+ Treachery or Peregrine Drake
The other one
- Consecrated Sphinx
Personally I've never liked this card. Every time I've played it or against it, the person who played it became a target. It has little to no synergy with Brago and there are plenty of other great ways to draw cards that don't draw nearly as much table malice like Tsabo's Web, the 3 aura staples, Sea-Gate Oracle, Wall of Omens, and Mystic Remora
+ Winter Orb or Static Orb
I've been finding the stasis-style build to be incredibly effective. It's the whole reason why Tangle Wire is good. This and Tangle Wire pretty much lock your opponent out completely. You'll at least have some things untapped thanks to Brago, Tezzeret, Treachery, Peregrine Drake, etc. And you can search both TW and Orb up with Tezzeret the turn you drop him.
Other suggestions I'd make:
- Try more counterspells. They're incredibly useful even in multiplayer games for when an opponent finds a way to deal with your stax.
- I also don't particularly care for Sphinx's Revelation, believe it or not.
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
Tangle Wire is really good, but you cannot tap enchantments, it specifies Artifacts, Creatures or Lands.
Also, I would disagree with removing C Sphinx. Too good, draws so many cards, and if the deck is build similarly to mine, you have a lot of mana rocks, so vomiting your hand is pretty easy.
Also, I have added in Stasis, wins games. All you need is a mana rock that taps for a U and you keep beating in for two until they remove Stasis or Brago. Can win on its' own. Yeah, people will hate you, but it is competitive, who cares?
MTGS egos at their finest.
Thoughts on proxies:
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
Here's a controversial suggestion: cut Venser the Sojourner. From experience, whenever he comes along, he's useless because Brago's doing all the blinking I could want! I thought that he'd make a good backup plan in case something happens to Brago, but being able to blink one more thing is very rarely enough to save you from a bad situation, and maybe if I had a counterspell or some other thing instead so I had saved Brago in the first place, I could be winning. The unblockable ability was usually useless too, since there's almost always someone without any fliers in a 4+ player game.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
That has also been my impression (which is why I dropped it).
Also, the best etb token maker in the colors is likely Master of waves, which is odd since it is not something blue is good at (note that the tokens stays then you blink him, since creatures only dies to 0 toughness as statebased effects, which is not checked in the middle of the abillity).
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsI had not considered that! Thanks!
I have to wonder how good Myr Battlesphere and (more scary, still) Precursor Golem are in Brago.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
I will reiterate: "No no no no no no!"
This card turns ALL other nontoken creatures facedown (including Brago). And the only way to get your Brago back is to have it die "somehow". If Brago is facedown your opponent is going to avoid killing it. I suppose if you want to cast it when Brago isn't in play, fine but you can't even blink it with Brago.
EDIT: If you want deal with creatures without targeting them, use Brago + Aura. Aura's do not target when entering the battlefield by means other than casting. They're simply attached to an appropriate permanent. Aura's like Prison Term, Treachery, Hobble all work just fine.
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
How about Faith's Fetters? Does the lifegain and the ability to shut down noncreatures enough to make up for the additional 1 in your opinion?
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
I think it seems like a great choice. Especially in multiplayer EDH where you're facing a wider variety of threats than just creatures. And the life gain seems relevant as well since you could potentially be annoying the whole table with Brago. And the 1 extra casting cost isn't too bad when you remember that EDH is supposed to be a slower format than Duel Commander.
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
Thank you! I really think conditional removal like Journey to Nowhere and Pacifism types are a bit stronger in Brago decks.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
Now, the problem is obvious. What to cut down?
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez
You can ask yourself if a card is just there because it's too powerful to cut, even if it's not necessarily good in a Brago deck. If it is, try replacing it with one of the cards that aren't as generally strong, but have potent (or even just fun) interactions with Brago. At the very least, you'll be able to deduce for yourself if you can live without some of the overused staples, but I'm confident that you'll find fresh interactions.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
I found Vanishing by far the best way to keep Brago alive, with 2 blue mana open there is just no way to get rid of him. Especially since all aura's and equipments attached to him phase out with Brago.
I'm considering adding Hive Mind. It doesn't synergize with Brago, but since I run almost no instants/sorceries it would make things a lot harder for opponents than it does for me. Any thoughts on this?
GEzuriG
WURaffUW
WBAyliBW
GOmnathG
URMizzixRU