Simple Idea behind the deck is to get a soft lock via Winter Orb/Hokori, Dust Drinker/Static Orb going and use Brago to flicker my mana rocks back into play, while at the same time abusing CIP abilities from creatures, artifacts or enchantments. Teferi, Temporal Archmage and Treachery help bypassing the lock.
Still untested, but seems like fun (for me, at least)
Changes for: 25/5/15
- Lavinia of the Tenth // Needed a spot for Reveillark and she hasn't impressed me.
- Idyllic Tutor // I'd still play it if I could squeeze a spot for it.
- Dismiss // Too expensive and the card draw seems redundant.
+ Reveillark // Need a way to bring back some of my creatures.
+ Enlightened Tutor // Still tutors for enchantments if needed, but added a second way to look for Resonator
* Dissipate // Cheaper than Dismiss and the exile clause might be helpful.
Changes for 27/5/15: Too many of my lands come into play tapped. Which is problematic with Static Orb & friends
Changes for 6/20/15: Many changes accumulated over the last few weeks
- Temple of the False God //My land count is rather low for this, I think
- Azorius Chancery // Bouncelands make themselves pretty big targets.
- Celestial Colonnade // Enters tapped
- Rogue's Passage // Ability's too Expensive to use
- Reliquary Tower // May bring it back
- Jace, Architect of Thought // Tentatively out. Will bring it back when I find a spot.
- Teferi, Temporal Archmage // Too expensive
- Enlightened Tutor // Out for more direct card draw
- Remand // Out of spot removal
- Deprive // Muddle the Mixture is better, IMO.
- Render Silent // Expensive
- Dissipite // Expensive
- Fabricate // Out for Tezzeret.
- End Hostilities // Out for Winds of Rath (which may bypass an enchanted Brago
- Commander's Sphere // Out for Darksteel Ingot
- Spine of Ish Sah // Out for Reality Acid
- Sphere of Safety // Out for Copy Enchantment
- Mother of Runes // Nice, but need a rather more permanent form of protection
- Mistmeadow Witch // Trying Conjurer's Closet in its place
- Æther Adept // Trying Fiend Hunter in its place
- Solemn Simulacrum // Out for a mana Rock
- Body Double // Phyrexian Metamorph works better.
- Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir // Nice, but wasn't doing enough.
- Sphinx of uthuun // Too expensive
+ Ancient Den // Searchable & untappable by Tezzeret
+ Seat of the Synod // Searchable & untappable by Tezzeret
+ Darksteel Citadel // Searchable & untappable by Tezzeret
+ Tezzeret, the Seeker // PW, so can be abused with Brago's flickering.
+ Daze // Alternate CC helps with lockdowns
+ Muddle the Mixture // Doubles as a tutor
+ Capsize // repeatable bounce & may bounce an entire board position with Resonator/Brago
+ Darksteel Ingot // Indestructible
+ Vessel of Endless Rest // Doubles as Graveyard hate
+ Conjurer's Closet // Trying this in place of Mistmeadow Witch
+ Standstill // May be recurred with Sun Titan or Auramancer
+ Reality Acid // Trying this in place of Spine of Ish Sah
+ Unquestioned Authority // Card draw and unblockable for Brago
+ Copy Enchantment // Card draw and unblockable for Brago
+ Azorius Guildmage // Utility tapper & anti-PW
+ Sea Gate Oracle // More card drawing
+ Fiend Hunter // Can be abused with Crystal Shard or Deadeye Navigator
+ Flickerwisp // Flickerer and Beater
+ Phyrexian Metamorph // Better clone than Body Double, usually serves as Sol Ring or Mana Vault #2
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
First test report: played against Narset, Enlightened Master, Jenara, Asura of War, Glissa, the Traitor & Garza Zol, plague Queen. Made myself an unattractive target through an early Propaganda / Hokori, Dust Drinker pairing... though every one seemed to try taking shots at Hokori when they could. Blinking Mnemonic Wall to return Render Silent proved a godsend. Once I drew into Icefall Regent I thought I had the game in the bag, but Narset chained into a ridiculous number of extra attack faces to extra turns that ended with a Cataclysm followed by a herd of pegasi...
Second game I was curbstomped by an Early Jenara that grew way too fast and then backed herself with a Rafiq of the Many. Garza Zol player did everything he could to hinder my defenses.
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
An early Ghostly Prison stopped early hits from both Krenko and Slivers, who switched to hitting Teferi's wide open table. I started attacking Uril with Icefall Regent and Deadeye Navigator. Really nice pair, that! Uril retaliated with a progressively bigger Uril (Unquestioned Authority, Rancor, Empyrial Armor, forcing me to Wrath, then Supreme Verdict when I was countered. Game ended when Krenko did got a bunch of goblins together, slapped a Skirk Fire Marshall into play and called it a day. Not a single Stax orb drawn
Game two started similar, except that I got an early Sol Ring, followed by Propaganda, Rhystic Study and Winter Orb. That slowed down things enough to get me two more rocks and then Brago started hitting folks and flickering mana rocks and then got a Spine of Ish Sah and everyone scooped.
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
Game two against Child of Alara and Jenara, Asura of War. I started with a slower hand with several mana rocks. Regretably, Child of Alara has seen the deck in action before and went straight for my mana rocks. He cast Wear // Tear, Ancient Grudge on my Sol Ring, Talisman of Probgress & Azorius Keyrune... leaving me withuout artifact mana for a while. I managed to keep Jenara off my back with Oblivion Ring and Detention sphere, but inevitably, the world blew up when Child Died (Ray of Revelation against Treachery, followed by Armageddon, followed by Reprisal from Jenara's Player). I managed to recover first, with a lucky draw of Mana Vault and some extra lands, managing to get Sun Titan, bringing Lightning Greaves into play, bringing all may long dead mana rocks back, enabling me to Impersonate the Titan for even more shenanigans and the game.
Moral of the day: Not enough counters?
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
Played an ALL AZORIUS GRUDGE MATCH... against Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Daxos of Meletis, Bruna, light of Alabaster, Isperia, supreme judge & Hanna, Ship's Navigator. And it was really, really sloooooow. GAAIV and Hannah had a similar stasis plans to my own plus an Armaggedon / Ravages of War / Catastrophe package from Bruna. Add in more counterspells, board sweepers & spot removal than I can remember seeing in any pod. Augustin was at the receiving end of a brutal campaign from Daxos & Hannah, countering and killing anything he attempted to play. I took Isperia's player out pretty early when he played Plains / Azorius Chancery (bounce plains) and I proceeded to hit the Chancery with Flickerwisp... He never recovered but made it his mission to bog me down for the rest of the game.
In the end, the game got down to Hannah's constant recycling of artifacts & enchantments vs. Bruna's abuse of auras. I think I ddid pretty well, Taking out both Isperia & Daxos... until I got hit by Bruna pulling Battle mastery & Eldrazi Conscription from his hand and my own Traveler's Cloak.
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
A turn 1 Seat of the Synod + mana vault allowed me to play a turn two Island + Tezzeret, the seeker, which searched for a Tangle Wire. An opponent tried to Naturalize the Tangle Wire (I dazed that plan). Next turn I untapped with the walker and played Lightning Greaves. Sen Triplets killed my walker with Dark Ritual + Hero's Downfall. By then I played Brago, allowing me to reset the wire and start all over again. In the end, Omnath managed to break the Wire with a Viridian Shaman. I tried getting it back through Sun Titan, but Sen Triplets objected.
In the end, I drew into the Strionic Resonator, played Wall of Omens followed by Brago and proceeded to win the game by abusing the Wall CIP ability eventually drawing into capsize and infinite mana via artifacts. Everyone scooped.
Note to self, I need another way to bring back artifacts from the graveyard... Sanctum Gargoyle, maybe. Any better Ideas?
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
A nice initial hand with Sol Ring and Talisman of Progress allowed me to play an early Grand Arbiter, making a cheap Brago with a counter possible next turn. Drew Tezzeret, searched for Tangle Wire, then a Winter Orb and locked my opponent out long enough to win.
Second game was a bit longer, but eventually Mnemonic Wall, Sun Titan & Clever Impersonator recurred enough removal & Counters to make a difference and win through card advantage.
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A multiplayer against Kaalia of the Vast & Sliver Queen
Sliver player got out an earlyCrystaline Sliver & Harmonic Sliver that really wrecked my early game. By the time I managed to Wrath the table, Kaalia got down with haste, swung at me putting down a Master of Cruelties and one-shot me.
Game two I managed to turtle with a Propaganda / Ghostly Prison / Clever Impersonator (Kaalia kinda helped me with an Obliterate) and then rebuilt with Mana Vault, Hannah and eventually a Sun Titan!
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
It's a solid list, but I feel like you should focus more on the mains strategy: Prison / stax. I notice that you're missing a few really nice lock pieces like tsabo's web, meekstone, and embargo, as well as any true land destruction like Armageddon.
Also, I would advise upping your mana rock count. I play Brago as well, and I've that its optimal to run as many low-cost rocks as possible to maximize his one-sided board locks.
Finally, have you ever considered teferi, temporal archmage? He essentially functions as a secondary Brago, allowing the deck to function smoothly if the commander gets stuck under a darksteel mutation[/card or nevermore. He also has good synergism with Brago while both are on the field, allowing for up to four psuedo-untap phases in a single turn. He enables absolutely disgusting plays in the mid-game.
Feel free to browse my list for more possible additions. I try keep it as cutthroat as possible.
P.S., I think the list you have posted may be out of date. I noticed some of the cards you mention using in the discussion like strionic resonator don't actually appear in the main deck list. It makes it a bit harder to make suggestions.
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"Instead of building a fast car to win the race, you fill the race track with manure and drive your tractor to victory.
That is stax."
~cmv_lawyer, 2016
Spreading Seas I forgot about this! It's perfect to stop Maze of Ith or just blank other really nasty opposing lands! Plus the cantrip is ideal. I was using Ichor Wellspring since it draws me so many cards on ETB and one for being killed, but stopping Maze of Ith is my biggest issue right now. Thanks for the idea!
I run Crackdown in my list as well, it's kind of a meta call but still seems nice in a stax list.
I run Meekstone since it hits everything and is easily tutorable via Tezz. However it also hits my own dudes, but luckily none of them sans Lavinia is hurt by it (but I can blink him, so no problem there!)
Also, I would advise upping your mana rock count. I play Brago as well, and I've that its optimal to run as many low-cost rocks as possible to maximize his one-sided board locks.
Finally, have you ever considered teferi, temporal archmage? He essentially functions as a secondary Brago, allowing the deck to function smoothly if the commander gets stuck under a darksteel mutation[/card or nevermore. He also has good synergism with Brago while both are on the field, allowing for up to four psuedo-untap phases in a single turn. He enables absolutely disgusting plays in the mid-game.
Completely agree on the mana rock count, same with Teferi. He is just disgusting, and his -1 is one of the most powerful effects in the deck. Allows you to untap lands under Winter Orb effects too! His + isnt shabby either, if you somehow dont need to untap things, you can dig more more things. He is one walker I would never cut. And if you get off that emblem, your opponent's might as well scoop.
I considered Argivian restoration for artifact recursion, but decided that the 3/3 flying body (and the chance to flicker it) outweighed putting the artifact directly into play. Alas, I've not been been able to find a Rising waters
Meek Stone and Armageddon are really nice for me... I'll see how I fit them into the deck.
I used to run Strionic Resonator, but eventually my group decided on a "no-infinite shenanigans" policy... I blame the Sharuum player... There's no way innocent little Brago had anything to do with that. (That was a report from July 2015, BTW)
And I'll try to up the mana rock count too, give it a try.
I did give Teferi a try. He's a boss, but draws too much attention and my counterspell suite is somewhat limited.
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
Marchesa and Vorel get an early start with Sol Ring plus a Signet in their colors. Oloro counters a Sylvan Caryatid from Jenara and I manage to sneak in Rhystic Study and later a Propaganda, which makes other players ignore me, but the Marchesa player start targeting me as I have higher life A Wrath does pretty much nothing against Marchesa and her cronies and her Unspeakable Symbol. My Act of Authority finally allows me to start fighting back, and with the onlyflyers on the Battlefield at the moment I risk a 'geddon and flicker Act of Authority twice to take care of mana rocks. While I eventually drop an Icefall Regent and manage to kill both Marchesa and Jenara... Oloro Wrathes and Murders my critters while Vorel gets a Fathom Mage going that starts to grow to ridiculous sizes... eventually killing me. This was a fun game.
Game two versus the same pod Saw me getting an early Sol Ring and Talisman of Progress for a turn 2 Brago with counterbackup. I then drop Wall of Omens and Mastery of the Unseen and start amassing an army of manifested morphs, one of which is a Mnemonic Wall, bringing back my Counters. Just before I kill Marchesa, she exiles my graveyard out of spite!. Meanwhile, Vorel and Jenara have been taking turns beating Oloro, so I try some politics by taking a big Jenara with Treachery and untapping some of his lands. Between us, we manage to take down Vorel. Oloro doublecrosses me with a Magister Sphinx. I respond by locking the lands with Winter Orb, Tangle wire and Ghostly Prison and switching my treachery to the sphinx. This slows down the game enough to kill Jenara, and then Oloro.
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
What level of competitiveness would you say this list is at? I've loved Brago since he was released and I've been considering putting a list for him together. I try to make my decks with the 75% philosophy in mind where they are strong and can compete, but are not awful to play against. Would you say this list meets that ideal?
What level of competitiveness would you say this list is at? I've loved Brago since he was released and I've been considering putting a list for him together. I try to make my decks with the 75% philosophy in mind where they are strong and can compete, but are not awful to play against. Would you say this list meets that ideal?
Not sure how to answer this... the deck often does what I wanted it to do, it locks down lands with Winter Orb & Tangle Wire while using Brago to abuse CIP effects, and I usually win by attrition this way, bringing stuff back to reuse. How fun is it for others? Hard to judge, as my local playgroup may be more tolerant to this types of strategies. It took a while for us to house rule Infinite combos away.
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
+1 for the game reports, sir. They are my favorite part in reading other threads and I'm sad that other people don't include them as much. Thanks for this.
Have you considered adding in more of the tax elements? Cards like Thorn of Amethyst seem cute. Also, a hate bear that seems pretty good in this list with the blink effects you have is Containment Priest, while also just being a useful card outside of the blink effects against top-tier strategies. Reanimator decks and other 'yard based decks will just fold to it.
I kept a nice initial hand with 3 lands, Mana Vault, Tangle Wire and a Signet. Nyelea opened with a Birds of Paradise, Hokori played a Mother of Runes, the other Brago player started with a Mana Crypt. Teysa played innocent blood and I put the Mana Vault into play. Next turn had a Mana Rock from Hokori, Nylea and Teysa and Bragos from my opponent and myself. Turn three saw... Eight-and-a-half-Tails from hokori, Nylea ramped with Farseek, Other Brago got a lightform into play, manifested and promptly flickered for Counterbalance and another manifested thing. I flickered my vault and put Tangle wire and my signet into play. Hokori tried dusting Tanglewire and Mana Crypt but that got counterbalanced, Nyelea tried to Naturalize the wire as well (Negated!). Teysa got a Necropotence into play, Hokori tried to Erase it, but with Imp's Mischief, ended erasing Counterbalance instead. Other Hokori flickered / manifested some big dudes again... but I Path to Exiled it. Drew into Pentarch Ward, then Armageddon and then a Reality Acid.
By the time my next turn came around, I played the acid in the necropotence, eliminated the other brago and started going after artifacts with the acid, my opponents scooped.
Game two vs same pod...
I had a slow start with 4 lands and no mana rocks. Hokori got a Land Tax into play, Nylea a Sol Ring, Teysa got a Soul Warden and other Brago (who discarded to five) got a Sol Ring and mana vault into play. I just played my land. Hokori got a turn 2 rock, Nyelea Explosive Vegetation, Teysa got a Bloodghast into play. Other Brago played a second plains and a Sun Titan. I plowshared it... just because. I played... another land. Hokori gets the old Tax & Rack combo early, but Nylea kills the scroll rack via Acidic Slime. Teysa attacks me, clamps the 'ghast and brings it back and clamps it again! Other Brago does nothing... and I play another land plus my newly drawn Talisman. Hokori plays aura of silence and kills the clamp, but Teysa gets a Liliana of the Dark Realms into play. I get Augustin followed by a cheap Brago (even if I have nothing worth flickering), but Brago gets Exiled. Augustin gets plowshared. Nylea gets a Soul of the Harvest into play, but gets murdered by Teysa... who plays a Sun Titan in his turn, bringing back the clamp and proceeds to beat on me.
I Wrath the table, but Teysa Reanimates sun titan... by now Nylea is also putting some prettybig monsters into play so it's Hokori's turn to wrath. I finally start drawing some people (Mulldrifter and Reveillark) but by then it's too late. Liliana ultimates, puts a ton of tokens into play via Decree of Justice, then pumps them via Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and I pretty much die.
The most interesting part for me was watching the other Brago in action, who actually had very few Instants or Sorceries (Plowshares, Return to Dust, Wrath, Geddon that I saw) in order to maximize his manifesting gameplan with Mastery of the unseen, Cloudform and Lightform
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
Many changes due to new play group. Infinite combos back in the deck (Strionic Resonator shenanigans, Time Warp recursion). Giving a Counterless version & Manifest a try. Upping landcount to 37 to account for the updated mulligan rules from earlier this year.
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"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
Played a pod against Nekusar, the mindrazer, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV[/card] and Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. I keep a hand with 2 hands and a pair of mana rocks. Nekusar opens with a Chrome Mox, Augustin with a sol ring. I try to play a sol ring of my own, but that gets countered by Nekusar. Momir vig ramps with birds. When my second turn comes around I manage to play my signet, but Augustin Disenchants it. I miss my third land drop, so I try to remain insconpicous while Momir vig and Nekusar start amasing an army. Nekusar forces me to discard a couple of cards, and chose to drop Strionic Resonator, reasoning that I can always get it back via Sanctum Gargoyle... But Augustin torpedoes that plan via Rest in Peace... follows that by a web of inertia, ensuring we can't attack him.
Momir Vig starts getting a reasonable army going, but Nekusar Damns them, and I luck out into a Winter Orb to keep board clear long enough for me to get back in the game. I draw into Mana Vault, then some Islands and I finally get Sea Gate Oracle to give me my second blue mana source: a Seat of Synod, play Tezzereth the seeker, untap my artifacts and play Brago. Momir puts a Maze of Ith into play, but I get Lightning Greaves from the walker to keep my creature safe. I start blinking stuff, draw into Armaggedon, which I play, then search for Ancient Den... Then a Talisman of Progress. When I reveal Reality Acid, the table scoops.
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
I found that not only redundancy in Prison for Brago, but also mean things like storm cauldron and mana breach coupled with kismet, and of course the Rishadan Footpad/Brigand with the usual prison pieces. Storm cauldron is a real beating though, and in tandem with Armageddon and Lavinia of the 10th even moreso as she inhibits the opponents use of mana rocks, it's obscene.
Game 1
I start with Signet and Talisman against my opponent's Llanowar Elf, Farseek & Cultivate. He plays a Spike Tiller, which I Exile. I evoke my Mulldrifter and draw into Reveillark and Tezzeret the seeker. He plays Arcanis the Omnipotent next turn and I draw into Frost Titan, which I use to lock the Arcanis. He bounces the titan and plays Heroes' Bane. I play Mana Vaulta, which I use to get Tezzeret into play, untap it with his +1 and recast the Titan locking down Arcanis again. He plays Boots and Vorel, doubles the counters on his Hydra swings at my walker, but Reveillark chumps bringing back Mulldrifter, getting me Enlightened Tutor, which gets me a Strionic Resonator. On my turn, Tezzeret gets me Greaves of my own, cast Brago and barely have enough mana to go infinite with Mana Vault, Resonator and use the Titan to lock my opponent out for the rest of the game.
Game 2
I mulligan down to a slow hand with 3 lands, Venser, Shaper Savant, a Wall of Omens and a Treachery. My opponent opens with Sol Ring and a Simic Signet. I... play a land. he drops another land and kills my land via Bramblecrush. I... play a land. He kills it again via Acidic Slime. Next turn I play... a land. He entwines Reap and Sow I draw into another land, and he plays Deep Analysis, Flashbacks it and calls it a turn. I've got nothing. He gets an Oran-Rief Hydra on the board and I scoop.
Game 3
My opponent brings in a turn 2 Spike Rogue via Birds of Paradise. I just get going with a Turn 1 Sol Ring and a turn 2 Brago. Next turn, he gets Vorel and a Spike Drone into play. I've not got much going on, so I Cyclonic Rift my oponent's Vorel back to his hand, flicker the sol ring and play Archaeomancer to get the rift back. He gets the Vorel Back, a Glen Elendra Archmage. I get a Wall of Omens into play, plus bounce the Archmage. Get the Rift back again and draw into Time Warp, thus locking my oppoent out. He concedes.
Game 4
First game has my opponent start with nasty dedicated mana destruction: a Sinkhole and then a Rancid Earth. I try to keep up with Mana rocks, but I'm too far behind. He plays Zurgo and swings, I kill it with a Plowshares but he's got enough mana to recast it by now. I draw into Winter Orb, which he Disenchants. He gets some support into play with a Grave Titan and a Lethal Vapors which completely wrecks my flickering gameplan!... I luck and draw into Supreme Verdict... but he recasts Zurgo a third time. Swings and eventually wins through commander damage.
Game 5
Opponent opens with some Mana Rocks, and so do I. I manage a turn 3 Act of Authority to get his sol ring, and he Disenchants my enchantment. I get a small army going with Wall of Omens, Cloudform and Mother of Runes. He gets his Zurgo into play and swings, I decide to block with the wall. Next turn I get Brago and greaves on the board, flicker my artifacts, flicker the manifested creature into a Sun Titan, which gets me wall back and I draw into 'geddon. Next turn he tries getting back in the game with a land plus mana vault, swings again, gets blocked by the wall again "Aren't you going to protect the wall with Mother of Runes?" "Nope" he scoops.
Game 6
I play a turn one Seat of Synod and Mana vault, that allows me to get a turn two Tezzeret the seeker to tutor for greaves. My oppoent Lightning Helixes my walker. Meanwhile, my opponent has been ramping up on his own, via artifacts, allowing him to play a turn 3 overloaded vandalblast, which sends me back to the stone age. I still manage to get back by getting my fourth land into play followed by a Sanctum Gargoyle. He gets Zurgo on the field and the Gargoyle chumps him. I get the Vault back into play, put an Icefall Regent in to lock Zurgo, but my opponent Terminates that idea. During his turn he gets a Bogardan Hellkite on and swings. I draw a couple of non-flying chump blockers that don't help and die.
Game 7
Oponent starts with a Despise, but gets nothing out of it. I play Sol Ring and Mind Stone on turn 1, draw into Sea Gate Oracle and play that turn two, netting me Venser the Sojourner. My oponent makes me discard again with a Mind Rot, but I hold on to the Walker and an Enlightened tutor, which I use to look for Reality Acid. I play Venser and my oppoent puts his commander into play. During my turn I get the acid onto his creature, flicker it with venser and reatach to his black mana sources. I draw into Greaves, allowing me to play the boots and then Brago, attach and swing, killing his land, then following with Venser to kill another black mana source. My opponent decides to tough it out, even as I ultimate Venser, Use Brago, a newly flickered Venser and a spell to kill all his lands, then his few elves.
Game 8
Opponent opens the game with Dark Ritual and Phyrexian Arena, while I get a turn two mana rock, followed by Clever Impersonatoring the Arena on turn three. My opponent starts getting some targeted discard going, but the Arena helps me stay afloat. My opponent gets Nath into play with some elves, and I respond with a Lightform plus Brago. I discard Frost Titan to Nath, holding on to my Enlightened Tutor... when my opponent Mind Shatters me, I have to cast it, looking for Strionic Resonator. I get that into play next turn, and proceed to go infinite mana with mana rocks + Resonator... and my manifested creature that turns out to be Blue Sun's Zenith goes to the graveyard. I eventually manifest Mnemonic Wall getting me the Zenith back and force my opponent to draw a thousand and one cards.
Game 9
First game has me mulliganing down to five cards. My opponent gets some early game ramping via Birds, then Farseek, then Kodama's Reach. I'm trying to keep up with a single Talisman, and then I copy the Talisman with Phyrexian Metamorph. He casts the Wanderer into Bane of Bala Ged and Concentrate. I try to kill the Eldrazi, but that gets Meddled to the Birds of Paradise. After he swings with Wanderer and the Bane I'm so far behind I can't even see where I'm going.
Game 10
Second game gets me to start early with Sol Ring and Mana Vault both in my hand. I get an early Consecrated Sphinx, which manages to net me two cards before getting bounced. I put Brago in turn three, but my oponent gets an explosive Vegetation and ramps into six cards. I play Static Orb, but my opponent untaps two lands, gets another one into play and Krosan Grips it. I untap get the Sphinx back into the game again, and my opponent gets his Wanderer active. He lucks into Avenger of Zendikar for 8 plants and wood elves.He swings, I kill a few tokens, but don't manage to get anything to deal with the horde of growing plants.
6 points 5-5
All in all, not a very good day, IMO.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all." - Sherlock Holmes
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1 Brago, King Eternal
Creature
1 Wall of Omens
1 Rishadan Cutpurse
1 Mother of Runes
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Archaeomancer
1 Azorius Guildmage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
1 Karmic Guide
1 Whirler Rogue
1 Cloudblazer
1 Solemn Recruit
1 Mulldrifter
1 Lyev Skyknight
1 Flickerwisp
1 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Reveillark
1 Lavinia of the Tenth
1 Frost Titan
1 Sun Titan
Enchantment
1 Treachery
1 Parallax Tide
1 Rhystic Study
1 Reality Acid
1 Aura of Silence
1 Act of Authority
1 Lightform
1 Cloudform
1 Land Tax
1 Temple of the False God
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Nimbus Maze
1 Mystic Gate
13 Island
11 Plains
1 Halimar Depths
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Command Tower
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Prairie Stream
1 Wastes
Artifact
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Winter Orb
1 Mox Diamond
1 Static Orb
1 Ancient Den
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Azorius Signet
1 Strionic Resonator
1 Tangle Wire
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Meteorite
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Counterspell
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Negate
1 Dispatch
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Arcane Denial
1 Path to Exile
Sorcery
1 Armageddon
1 Catastrophe
1 Time Warp
1 Supreme Verdict
Planeswalker
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Simple Idea behind the deck is to get a soft lock via Winter Orb/Hokori, Dust Drinker/Static Orb going and use Brago to flicker my mana rocks back into play, while at the same time abusing CIP abilities from creatures, artifacts or enchantments. Teferi, Temporal Archmage and Treachery help bypassing the lock.
Still untested, but seems like fun (for me, at least)
Changes for: 25/5/15
- Lavinia of the Tenth // Needed a spot for Reveillark and she hasn't impressed me.
- Idyllic Tutor // I'd still play it if I could squeeze a spot for it.
- Dismiss // Too expensive and the card draw seems redundant.
+ Reveillark // Need a way to bring back some of my creatures.
+ Enlightened Tutor // Still tutors for enchantments if needed, but added a second way to look for Resonator
* Dissipate // Cheaper than Dismiss and the exile clause might be helpful.
Changes for 27/5/15: Too many of my lands come into play tapped. Which is problematic with Static Orb & friends
- Sejiri Refuge
- Tranquil Cove
- Vesuva
- New Benalia
+ Emeria, the Sky Ruin
+ Glacial Fortress
+ Plains x2
Changes for 6/20/15: Many changes accumulated over the last few weeks
- Temple of the False God //My land count is rather low for this, I think
- Azorius Chancery // Bouncelands make themselves pretty big targets.
- Celestial Colonnade // Enters tapped
- Rogue's Passage // Ability's too Expensive to use
- Reliquary Tower // May bring it back
- Jace, Architect of Thought // Tentatively out. Will bring it back when I find a spot.
- Teferi, Temporal Archmage // Too expensive
- Enlightened Tutor // Out for more direct card draw
- Remand // Out of spot removal
- Deprive // Muddle the Mixture is better, IMO.
- Render Silent // Expensive
- Dissipite // Expensive
- Fabricate // Out for Tezzeret.
- End Hostilities // Out for Winds of Rath (which may bypass an enchanted Brago
- Commander's Sphere // Out for Darksteel Ingot
- Spine of Ish Sah // Out for Reality Acid
- Sphere of Safety // Out for Copy Enchantment
- Mother of Runes // Nice, but need a rather more permanent form of protection
- Mistmeadow Witch // Trying Conjurer's Closet in its place
- Æther Adept // Trying Fiend Hunter in its place
- Solemn Simulacrum // Out for a mana Rock
- Body Double // Phyrexian Metamorph works better.
- Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir // Nice, but wasn't doing enough.
- Sphinx of uthuun // Too expensive
+ Ancient Den // Searchable & untappable by Tezzeret
+ Seat of the Synod // Searchable & untappable by Tezzeret
+ Darksteel Citadel // Searchable & untappable by Tezzeret
+ Tezzeret, the Seeker // PW, so can be abused with Brago's flickering.
+ Daze // Alternate CC helps with lockdowns
+ Muddle the Mixture // Doubles as a tutor
+ Capsize // repeatable bounce & may bounce an entire board position with Resonator/Brago
+ Darksteel Ingot // Indestructible
+ Vessel of Endless Rest // Doubles as Graveyard hate
+ Conjurer's Closet // Trying this in place of Mistmeadow Witch
+ Standstill // May be recurred with Sun Titan or Auramancer
+ Reality Acid // Trying this in place of Spine of Ish Sah
+ Unquestioned Authority // Card draw and unblockable for Brago
+ Copy Enchantment // Card draw and unblockable for Brago
+ Azorius Guildmage // Utility tapper & anti-PW
+ Sea Gate Oracle // More card drawing
+ Fiend Hunter // Can be abused with Crystal Shard or Deadeye Navigator
+ Flickerwisp // Flickerer and Beater
+ Phyrexian Metamorph // Better clone than Body Double, usually serves as Sol Ring or Mana Vault #2
Changes for 28/6/2015
- Darksteel Ingot
+ Tanglewire
Changes for 25/12/2017
Added Cloudblazer & Solemn Recruit as tests.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
First test report: played against Narset, Enlightened Master, Jenara, Asura of War, Glissa, the Traitor & Garza Zol, plague Queen. Made myself an unattractive target through an early Propaganda / Hokori, Dust Drinker pairing... though every one seemed to try taking shots at Hokori when they could. Blinking Mnemonic Wall to return Render Silent proved a godsend. Once I drew into Icefall Regent I thought I had the game in the bag, but Narset chained into a ridiculous number of extra attack faces to extra turns that ended with a Cataclysm followed by a herd of pegasi...
Second game I was curbstomped by an Early Jenara that grew way too fast and then backed herself with a Rafiq of the Many. Garza Zol player did everything he could to hinder my defenses.
Game three I got to combo out via Mana Vault/Strionic Resonator/Prophetic Prism drawing into a Blue Sun's Zenith. And then I realized it shuffled back into the library, so I could draw into it again to kill the entire table. Good Times!
Played against a Teferi, Temporal Archmage, Krenko, Mob Boss, Sliver Overlord & Uril, the Miststalker.
An early Ghostly Prison stopped early hits from both Krenko and Slivers, who switched to hitting Teferi's wide open table. I started attacking Uril with Icefall Regent and Deadeye Navigator. Really nice pair, that! Uril retaliated with a progressively bigger Uril (Unquestioned Authority, Rancor, Empyrial Armor, forcing me to Wrath, then Supreme Verdict when I was countered. Game ended when Krenko did got a bunch of goblins together, slapped a Skirk Fire Marshall into play and called it a day. Not a single Stax orb drawn
Game two started similar, except that I got an early Sol Ring, followed by Propaganda, Rhystic Study and Winter Orb. That slowed down things enough to get me two more rocks and then Brago started hitting folks and flickering mana rocks and then got a Spine of Ish Sah and everyone scooped.
Game two against Child of Alara and Jenara, Asura of War. I started with a slower hand with several mana rocks. Regretably, Child of Alara has seen the deck in action before and went straight for my mana rocks. He cast Wear // Tear, Ancient Grudge on my Sol Ring, Talisman of Probgress & Azorius Keyrune... leaving me withuout artifact mana for a while. I managed to keep Jenara off my back with Oblivion Ring and Detention sphere, but inevitably, the world blew up when Child Died (Ray of Revelation against Treachery, followed by Armageddon, followed by Reprisal from Jenara's Player). I managed to recover first, with a lucky draw of Mana Vault and some extra lands, managing to get Sun Titan, bringing Lightning Greaves into play, bringing all may long dead mana rocks back, enabling me to Impersonate the Titan for even more shenanigans and the game.
Moral of the day: Not enough counters?
Played an ALL AZORIUS GRUDGE MATCH... against Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Daxos of Meletis, Bruna, light of Alabaster, Isperia, supreme judge & Hanna, Ship's Navigator. And it was really, really sloooooow. GAAIV and Hannah had a similar stasis plans to my own plus an Armaggedon / Ravages of War / Catastrophe package from Bruna. Add in more counterspells, board sweepers & spot removal than I can remember seeing in any pod. Augustin was at the receiving end of a brutal campaign from Daxos & Hannah, countering and killing anything he attempted to play. I took Isperia's player out pretty early when he played Plains / Azorius Chancery (bounce plains) and I proceeded to hit the Chancery with Flickerwisp... He never recovered but made it his mission to bog me down for the rest of the game.
In the end, the game got down to Hannah's constant recycling of artifacts & enchantments vs. Bruna's abuse of auras. I think I ddid pretty well, Taking out both Isperia & Daxos... until I got hit by Bruna pulling Battle mastery & Eldrazi Conscription from his hand and my own Traveler's Cloak.
Played against Child of Alara, Omnath, Locus of mana, Narset, enlightened master and Sen Triplets
A turn 1 Seat of the Synod + mana vault allowed me to play a turn two Island + Tezzeret, the seeker, which searched for a Tangle Wire. An opponent tried to Naturalize the Tangle Wire (I dazed that plan). Next turn I untapped with the walker and played Lightning Greaves. Sen Triplets killed my walker with Dark Ritual + Hero's Downfall. By then I played Brago, allowing me to reset the wire and start all over again. In the end, Omnath managed to break the Wire with a Viridian Shaman. I tried getting it back through Sun Titan, but Sen Triplets objected.
I managed to get a nice army going with Mulldrifter and later an Icefall Regent, only to get myself Wrathed. Narset got herself Damned by Triplets, Second Sunrised and Damned again by Child of Alara.
In the end, I drew into the Strionic Resonator, played Wall of Omens followed by Brago and proceeded to win the game by abusing the Wall CIP ability eventually drawing into capsize and infinite mana via artifacts. Everyone scooped.
Note to self, I need another way to bring back artifacts from the graveyard... Sanctum Gargoyle, maybe. Any better Ideas?
A nice initial hand with Sol Ring and Talisman of Progress allowed me to play an early Grand Arbiter, making a cheap Brago with a counter possible next turn. Drew Tezzeret, searched for Tangle Wire, then a Winter Orb and locked my opponent out long enough to win.
Second game was a bit longer, but eventually Mnemonic Wall, Sun Titan & Clever Impersonator recurred enough removal & Counters to make a difference and win through card advantage.
-------
A multiplayer against Kaalia of the Vast & Sliver Queen
Sliver player got out an earlyCrystaline Sliver & Harmonic Sliver that really wrecked my early game. By the time I managed to Wrath the table, Kaalia got down with haste, swung at me putting down a Master of Cruelties and one-shot me.
Game two I managed to turtle with a Propaganda / Ghostly Prison / Clever Impersonator (Kaalia kinda helped me with an Obliterate) and then rebuilt with Mana Vault, Hannah and eventually a Sun Titan!
Also, I would advise upping your mana rock count. I play Brago as well, and I've that its optimal to run as many low-cost rocks as possible to maximize his one-sided board locks.
Finally, have you ever considered teferi, temporal archmage? He essentially functions as a secondary Brago, allowing the deck to function smoothly if the commander gets stuck under a darksteel mutation[/card or nevermore. He also has good synergism with Brago while both are on the field, allowing for up to four psuedo-untap phases in a single turn. He enables absolutely disgusting plays in the mid-game.
Feel free to browse my list for more possible additions. I try keep it as cutthroat as possible.
P.S., I think the list you have posted may be out of date. I noticed some of the cards you mention using in the discussion like strionic resonator don't actually appear in the main deck list. It makes it a bit harder to make suggestions.
That is stax."
~cmv_lawyer, 2016
WUI Don't Mean to Brago, But... RWBI'll Kaalia Back Later GBWKaradora the Graveyard Explorer BRGLive Long and Prosshper
BGUMuscle Plasm URGImperial Animarch BGLemon Meren Pie GWStop Being Such a Sisay UTefearsome RGWMarath of the Titans
UBRNow Watch me Trai Trai RWBAleshstax GWUPrison Can Roon Your Life BRGrenzo: Your Doom UArcum's Asylum of Stax
BGFeel the Ground Croak GThe All New 2016 Yisan Wanderer URFo Rizzle Mah Mizzle UBRA Game of Marchess
GEzuriG
WURaffUW
WBAyliBW
GOmnathG
URMizzixRU
I run Meekstone since it hits everything and is easily tutorable via Tezz. However it also hits my own dudes, but luckily none of them sans Lavinia is hurt by it (but I can blink him, so no problem there!)
Completely agree on the mana rock count, same with Teferi. He is just disgusting, and his -1 is one of the most powerful effects in the deck. Allows you to untap lands under Winter Orb effects too! His + isnt shabby either, if you somehow dont need to untap things, you can dig more more things. He is one walker I would never cut. And if you get off that emblem, your opponent's might as well scoop.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
These are literally perfect for this deck.
Also, Armageddon does tons of work in my deck. Power out a few artifacts, cast general, then Geddon. Pretty straightforward plan.
Meek Stone and Armageddon are really nice for me... I'll see how I fit them into the deck.
I used to run Strionic Resonator, but eventually my group decided on a "no-infinite shenanigans" policy... I blame the Sharuum player... There's no way innocent little Brago had anything to do with that. (That was a report from July 2015, BTW)
And I'll try to up the mana rock count too, give it a try.
I did give Teferi a try. He's a boss, but draws too much attention and my counterspell suite is somewhat limited.
Spreading Seas has been useful against Maze of Ith, as mentioned. Also, Kor Haven, Cabal Coffers and an unreasonably productive Serra's Sanctum. More often than not, however, I use it against Ravnica bounce lands which are popular in my group.
Oooh, I didn't know the blinky pirates, but they seem like a natural fit. I'll have to get some (somehow)
Thanks for the replies.
Took out a few counterspells, Luminate Primordial and some utility cards like Mother of Runes and Pemmin's Aura.
Marchesa and Vorel get an early start with Sol Ring plus a Signet in their colors. Oloro counters a Sylvan Caryatid from Jenara and I manage to sneak in Rhystic Study and later a Propaganda, which makes other players ignore me, but the Marchesa player start targeting me as I have higher life A Wrath does pretty much nothing against Marchesa and her cronies and her Unspeakable Symbol. My Act of Authority finally allows me to start fighting back, and with the only flyers on the Battlefield at the moment I risk a 'geddon and flicker Act of Authority twice to take care of mana rocks. While I eventually drop an Icefall Regent and manage to kill both Marchesa and Jenara... Oloro Wrathes and Murders my critters while Vorel gets a Fathom Mage going that starts to grow to ridiculous sizes... eventually killing me. This was a fun game.
Game two versus the same pod Saw me getting an early Sol Ring and Talisman of Progress for a turn 2 Brago with counter backup. I then drop Wall of Omens and Mastery of the Unseen and start amassing an army of manifested morphs, one of which is a Mnemonic Wall, bringing back my Counters. Just before I kill Marchesa, she exiles my graveyard out of spite!. Meanwhile, Vorel and Jenara have been taking turns beating Oloro, so I try some politics by taking a big Jenara with Treachery and untapping some of his lands. Between us, we manage to take down Vorel. Oloro doublecrosses me with a Magister Sphinx. I respond by locking the lands with Winter Orb, Tangle wire and Ghostly Prison and switching my treachery to the sphinx. This slows down the game enough to kill Jenara, and then Oloro.
EDH:
G[cEDH] Selvala, Heart of the StormG
URW[cEDH] Narset, the Last AirmericanURW
GWUSt. Jenara, the ArchangelGWU
UBGrimgrin, Chaos MarineUB
GOmnath, Mana BaronG
URWNarset, Justice League AmericaURW
GWUBAtraxa, Countess of CountersGWUB
GWUEstrid, Enbantress PrimeGWU
Not sure how to answer this... the deck often does what I wanted it to do, it locks down lands with Winter Orb & Tangle Wire while using Brago to abuse CIP effects, and I usually win by attrition this way, bringing stuff back to reuse. How fun is it for others? Hard to judge, as my local playgroup may be more tolerant to this types of strategies. It took a while for us to house rule Infinite combos away.
Have you considered adding in more of the tax elements? Cards like Thorn of Amethyst seem cute. Also, a hate bear that seems pretty good in this list with the blink effects you have is Containment Priest, while also just being a useful card outside of the blink effects against top-tier strategies. Reanimator decks and other 'yard based decks will just fold to it.
EDIT: Realized that it also affects your dudes...
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I kept a nice initial hand with 3 lands, Mana Vault, Tangle Wire and a Signet. Nyelea opened with a Birds of Paradise, Hokori played a Mother of Runes, the other Brago player started with a Mana Crypt. Teysa played innocent blood and I put the Mana Vault into play. Next turn had a Mana Rock from Hokori, Nylea and Teysa and Bragos from my opponent and myself. Turn three saw... Eight-and-a-half-Tails from hokori, Nylea ramped with Farseek, Other Brago got a lightform into play, manifested and promptly flickered for Counterbalance and another manifested thing. I flickered my vault and put Tangle wire and my signet into play. Hokori tried dusting Tanglewire and Mana Crypt but that got counterbalanced, Nyelea tried to Naturalize the wire as well (Negated!). Teysa got a Necropotence into play, Hokori tried to Erase it, but with Imp's Mischief, ended erasing Counterbalance instead. Other Hokori flickered / manifested some big dudes again... but I Path to Exiled it. Drew into Pentarch Ward, then Armageddon and then a Reality Acid.
By the time my next turn came around, I played the acid in the necropotence, eliminated the other brago and started going after artifacts with the acid, my opponents scooped.
Game two vs same pod...
I had a slow start with 4 lands and no mana rocks. Hokori got a Land Tax into play, Nylea a Sol Ring, Teysa got a Soul Warden and other Brago (who discarded to five) got a Sol Ring and mana vault into play. I just played my land. Hokori got a turn 2 rock, Nyelea Explosive Vegetation, Teysa got a Bloodghast into play. Other Brago played a second plains and a Sun Titan. I plowshared it... just because. I played... another land. Hokori gets the old Tax & Rack combo early, but Nylea kills the scroll rack via Acidic Slime. Teysa attacks me, clamps the 'ghast and brings it back and clamps it again! Other Brago does nothing... and I play another land plus my newly drawn Talisman. Hokori plays aura of silence and kills the clamp, but Teysa gets a Liliana of the Dark Realms into play. I get Augustin followed by a cheap Brago (even if I have nothing worth flickering), but Brago gets Exiled. Augustin gets plowshared. Nylea gets a Soul of the Harvest into play, but gets murdered by Teysa... who plays a Sun Titan in his turn, bringing back the clamp and proceeds to beat on me.
I Wrath the table, but Teysa Reanimates sun titan... by now Nylea is also putting some pretty big monsters into play so it's Hokori's turn to wrath. I finally start drawing some people (Mulldrifter and Reveillark) but by then it's too late. Liliana ultimates, puts a ton of tokens into play via Decree of Justice, then pumps them via Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and I pretty much die.
The most interesting part for me was watching the other Brago in action, who actually had very few Instants or Sorceries (Plowshares, Return to Dust, Wrath, Geddon that I saw) in order to maximize his manifesting gameplan with Mastery of the unseen, Cloudform and Lightform
Edit: Thanks for the comments Benjimeenbear.
Many changes due to new play group. Infinite combos back in the deck (Strionic Resonator shenanigans, Time Warp recursion). Giving a Counterless version & Manifest a try. Upping landcount to 37 to account for the updated mulligan rules from earlier this year.
Momir Vig starts getting a reasonable army going, but Nekusar Damns them, and I luck out into a Winter Orb to keep board clear long enough for me to get back in the game. I draw into Mana Vault, then some Islands and I finally get Sea Gate Oracle to give me my second blue mana source: a Seat of Synod, play Tezzereth the seeker, untap my artifacts and play Brago. Momir puts a Maze of Ith into play, but I get Lightning Greaves from the walker to keep my creature safe. I start blinking stuff, draw into Armaggedon, which I play, then search for Ancient Den... Then a Talisman of Progress. When I reveal Reality Acid, the table scoops.
Game two has Nekusar switch with Progenitus. I keep a nice hand with Hallowed Fountain, Adarkar Wastes and Nimbus Maze, plus a Manavault. Maze to Mana vault gets Commandeered (!). My second land is the fountain allowing to play grand abolishoner, Momir plays Back to Basics. I draw into some basic lands, Talisman of Progress and Mother of Runes, allowing me to have something of a defense, while not becoming a target. Augustin plays Static Orb, locking the game down even more. Progenitus gets a Unwinding Clock into play while Momir Vig plays a Seedborn Muse, and suddenly, the situation's looking pretty grim. I try to get Elspeth, Sun's champion into play, but that plan gets squashed... hard. Progenitus gets a Acidic Slime into his board, killing the Orb. But then Momir Vig Copies them, via kicked Rite of Replication, killing my mana producing... everything. After that, he returns the Rite to his hand via Eternal Witness... I died horribly.
Run it. At worst it clones one of your etb creatures for 4 mana. At best it wins.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
First opponent was Vorel.
Game 1
I start with Signet and Talisman against my opponent's Llanowar Elf, Farseek & Cultivate. He plays a Spike Tiller, which I Exile. I evoke my Mulldrifter and draw into Reveillark and Tezzeret the seeker. He plays Arcanis the Omnipotent next turn and I draw into Frost Titan, which I use to lock the Arcanis. He bounces the titan and plays Heroes' Bane. I play Mana Vaulta, which I use to get Tezzeret into play, untap it with his +1 and recast the Titan locking down Arcanis again. He plays Boots and Vorel, doubles the counters on his Hydra swings at my walker, but Reveillark chumps bringing back Mulldrifter, getting me Enlightened Tutor, which gets me a Strionic Resonator. On my turn, Tezzeret gets me Greaves of my own, cast Brago and barely have enough mana to go infinite with Mana Vault, Resonator and use the Titan to lock my opponent out for the rest of the game.
Game 2
I mulligan down to a slow hand with 3 lands, Venser, Shaper Savant, a Wall of Omens and a Treachery. My opponent opens with Sol Ring and a Simic Signet. I... play a land. he drops another land and kills my land via Bramblecrush. I... play a land. He kills it again via Acidic Slime. Next turn I play... a land. He entwines Reap and Sow I draw into another land, and he plays Deep Analysis, Flashbacks it and calls it a turn. I've got nothing. He gets an Oran-Rief Hydra on the board and I scoop.
Game 3
My opponent brings in a turn 2 Spike Rogue via Birds of Paradise. I just get going with a Turn 1 Sol Ring and a turn 2 Brago. Next turn, he gets Vorel and a Spike Drone into play. I've not got much going on, so I Cyclonic Rift my oponent's Vorel back to his hand, flicker the sol ring and play Archaeomancer to get the rift back. He gets the Vorel Back, a Glen Elendra Archmage. I get a Wall of Omens into play, plus bounce the Archmage. Get the Rift back again and draw into Time Warp, thus locking my oppoent out. He concedes.
Record 3 points, 2-1
Second game against Zurgo Helmsmasher
Game 4
First game has my opponent start with nasty dedicated mana destruction: a Sinkhole and then a Rancid Earth. I try to keep up with Mana rocks, but I'm too far behind. He plays Zurgo and swings, I kill it with a Plowshares but he's got enough mana to recast it by now. I draw into Winter Orb, which he Disenchants. He gets some support into play with a Grave Titan and a Lethal Vapors which completely wrecks my flickering gameplan!... I luck and draw into Supreme Verdict... but he recasts Zurgo a third time. Swings and eventually wins through commander damage.
Game 5
Opponent opens with some Mana Rocks, and so do I. I manage a turn 3 Act of Authority to get his sol ring, and he Disenchants my enchantment. I get a small army going with Wall of Omens, Cloudform and Mother of Runes. He gets his Zurgo into play and swings, I decide to block with the wall. Next turn I get Brago and greaves on the board, flicker my artifacts, flicker the manifested creature into a Sun Titan, which gets me wall back and I draw into 'geddon. Next turn he tries getting back in the game with a land plus mana vault, swings again, gets blocked by the wall again "Aren't you going to protect the wall with Mother of Runes?" "Nope" he scoops.
Game 6
I play a turn one Seat of Synod and Mana vault, that allows me to get a turn two Tezzeret the seeker to tutor for greaves. My oppoent Lightning Helixes my walker. Meanwhile, my opponent has been ramping up on his own, via artifacts, allowing him to play a turn 3 overloaded vandalblast, which sends me back to the stone age. I still manage to get back by getting my fourth land into play followed by a Sanctum Gargoyle. He gets Zurgo on the field and the Gargoyle chumps him. I get the Vault back into play, put an Icefall Regent in to lock Zurgo, but my opponent Terminates that idea. During his turn he gets a Bogardan Hellkite on and swings. I draw a couple of non-flying chump blockers that don't help and die.
Still at three points, 3-3
Third oppoent is Nath of the Gilt-leaf
Game 7
Oponent starts with a Despise, but gets nothing out of it. I play Sol Ring and Mind Stone on turn 1, draw into Sea Gate Oracle and play that turn two, netting me Venser the Sojourner. My oponent makes me discard again with a Mind Rot, but I hold on to the Walker and an Enlightened tutor, which I use to look for Reality Acid. I play Venser and my oppoent puts his commander into play. During my turn I get the acid onto his creature, flicker it with venser and reatach to his black mana sources. I draw into Greaves, allowing me to play the boots and then Brago, attach and swing, killing his land, then following with Venser to kill another black mana source. My opponent decides to tough it out, even as I ultimate Venser, Use Brago, a newly flickered Venser and a spell to kill all his lands, then his few elves.
Game 8
Opponent opens the game with Dark Ritual and Phyrexian Arena, while I get a turn two mana rock, followed by Clever Impersonatoring the Arena on turn three. My opponent starts getting some targeted discard going, but the Arena helps me stay afloat. My opponent gets Nath into play with some elves, and I respond with a Lightform plus Brago. I discard Frost Titan to Nath, holding on to my Enlightened Tutor... when my opponent Mind Shatters me, I have to cast it, looking for Strionic Resonator. I get that into play next turn, and proceed to go infinite mana with mana rocks + Resonator... and my manifested creature that turns out to be Blue Sun's Zenith goes to the graveyard. I eventually manifest Mnemonic Wall getting me the Zenith back and force my opponent to draw a thousand and one cards.
6 points, 5-3
Fourth opponent is Maelstrom Wanderer
Game 9
First game has me mulliganing down to five cards. My opponent gets some early game ramping via Birds, then Farseek, then Kodama's Reach. I'm trying to keep up with a single Talisman, and then I copy the Talisman with Phyrexian Metamorph. He casts the Wanderer into Bane of Bala Ged and Concentrate. I try to kill the Eldrazi, but that gets Meddled to the Birds of Paradise. After he swings with Wanderer and the Bane I'm so far behind I can't even see where I'm going.
Game 10
Second game gets me to start early with Sol Ring and Mana Vault both in my hand. I get an early Consecrated Sphinx, which manages to net me two cards before getting bounced. I put Brago in turn three, but my oponent gets an explosive Vegetation and ramps into six cards. I play Static Orb, but my opponent untaps two lands, gets another one into play and Krosan Grips it. I untap get the Sphinx back into the game again, and my opponent gets his Wanderer active. He lucks into Avenger of Zendikar for 8 plants and wood elves.He swings, I kill a few tokens, but don't manage to get anything to deal with the horde of growing plants.
6 points 5-5
All in all, not a very good day, IMO.