I completely agree with you on Navigator. I'm thinking about making a big change for the list and Navigator is a huge factor. Brigand, however, is quite debatable. I believe that it's quite risky to drop something like that since it tends to generate more hate than it should.
I run Stonehorn Dignitary in my deck and it's broken. I also run Restoration Angel, Flickerwisp, and the like and when they're all blinked back into play and you decide the order in which they enter the stack, you could essentially remove all players' combat steps.
Bless you! I used to be confused about the point of Dignitary until you mentioned that I can pair it with these blinkers. Never crossed my mind!
White Kytheon, Hero of Akros: While 1 CMC is tempting, Kytheon shouldn't have enough impact anyway. Furthermore, I believe that it will signal a bad sign, politically speaking.
Archangel of Tithes: Great card. We already have tons of 4 CMC though. Three whites are also a little bit much. If you lean toward token a little bit more than me, I think this angel is an excellent choice. If not, it should worth a proxy trying at least.
Starfield of Nyx: Unfortunately, Starfield doesn't interact with aura so it's not that big of a deal for us.
Hixus, Prison Warden: An interesting choice, but I don't expect it to be good in this deck. We should be fine with the combat defense as it is. Combo is a much harder strategy to counter. Hixus definitely has a place in draw go deck though.
Hallowed Moonlight: I like this card. Yes, I like it. It'll definitely shift my perception of blink. I may be a little bit more reluctant to blink something just to give it psedo-vigilant. Furthermore, it shuts down many nasty combo.
Tragic Arrogance: A win-con if your group is ok with it. Brago is one of a few deck that can survive this easily. For an example, mana rock, Brago, Manifest engine and a planeswalker.
Vryn Wingmare: For a singleton format, I prefer Thalia. Augustin stax will be happy with it though.
I find that I rarely need to manage my top since I'm usually happy with whatever I happen to manifest. Top manipulation is more like a bonus.
Nevertheless, I'm thinking about adding Enlightened Tutor as well since I haven't lost a game that I can resolve Mastery of the Unseen!
I find that mine is more consistent when I don't run counterspell. Counterspell is a sound strategy, but until you establish a decent mana base, your counterspell is hardly effective since you want to tap out. Counterspell can be a win-con but I find people tend to get cranky if you win that way too often. Last but not least, I try to run as many permanents as possible for manifest.
I find Parallax wave to be win more in this deck ever since the new commander rule and people can't tuck our Brago anymore. Tide, however, is one of the most broken option this deck has.
I prefer Knight-Captain of EOS to Dignitary. It's more political and token engine is generally good with Brago.
Excellent question (love the username by the way.) It's been a blast. I usually win if my manifest engine sticks for a while. The game is by no mean slow and the Titans aren't necessary for the deck at all. I only include them because they make the deck better. I think of them as an artillery strike, a super weapon to employ once in a while. It's also helpful against mill decks (rarely relevant though.)
Just wanted to drop a line.. but often times when playing my Brago deck, I find myself expending all the cards in my hand in a hurry because of all the extra mana. This means that my hand is often dry, so I've been looking for something to help Brago move a little faster. I found that in Slithermuse.
As for wincons, I think the standard beatemup approach to be a little slow and I need something more definite and sure. That's why I run a Time Warp engine. It's the quickest way to victory after a lot of testing because it allows Brago to dig for what he needs, push damage safely, and loop infinitely with Archaeomancer. Given, you're pretty much playing solitaire, but it will dramatically boost the power of the deck and give you a solid wincon over the Strionic Resonator. I also like Angel of Serenity with blink because it allows you to play with the extra mana since you can recycle creatures your board, as well as control others.
Also, I looked through this entire thread and I don't see nearly as many tutors for wincons. Our easiest and most simple way is the resonator and I'm not seeing Fabricate, Transmute Artifact, or Muddle the Mixture in many decks. Same goes for utility spells that chain into eachother once you reach infinite mana. Getting infinite mana is cool, but what are you going to do with it? That's why you need something like Mystical Tutor, draw, Merchant Scroll to go into Capsize, or something of similar value. One more thing, I'm not seeing Æther Gale anywhere. That card is the best thing to come out for blue EDH in the last several years. For 5 CMC, you can pretty much read the card as: reset everyone but you, and/or some other creatures you want to ETB further. For white, I think Unexpectedly Absent is insane for 2CMC: put target non-land perm on top of your opponent's library.
I think it's important to capture what is the safest and easiest way to win with Brago on the field, and read certain cards as such. Narset Transcendent in my time travel Brago deck reads: -2: take 2 turns. Tezzeret the Seeker is -2: find wincon. Arcaheomancer is: Win if you have Time Warp in hand. Merchant Scroll is: Find Capsize and win when I have infinite blue.
UW has plenty of ways to win, but most of them in blue. Being aware of these wincons is what makes separates a decent Brago deck with a crazy one.
Slithermuse was in the deck list but I find it to be unreliable on the ground that its merit depends entirely on your opponents. I find that I have enough card advantage as it is, but if your opponents run anti-ETB or draw a lot of cards, I would encourage the muse.
Time magic had been the sole win-con for this deck for a very long time. Now, I also have Eldrazi titan and tokens to simply beat my opponents into submission. I rarely ever go infinite mana.
I think we essentially run two different decks with Brago as a commander. Your Brago is much more spell-oriented while mine is permanent-oriented. I used to go with your route but I find that it's problematic when I have to fight combo deck since it's political incorrect for a spell-based deck to not reserve mana for countering the combo deck.
Hero, I like your approach, do you have any decklist to show?
I'm pretty sure this would be appreciated by all.
This thread is nice and i come here often to see the news. Pinguis, do you plan on turning this thread into a primer?
Also, can someone explain me clerly the resonator combo?
Finally, what is the best engine to produce infinite land?
Thx guys!
Thank you! How kind! My current list is a few post above yours. Yes, I'm planning to turn this into a primer. Actually, I'm writing it now.
As for Augustin, I believe that most will agree with me that Augustin is great in a deck dedicated for him. One mana is not THAT effective, yet it will draw many hatred. Players will be justified in going too hard on you. Brago is powerful as it is.
Hello everyone.
The problem with my Brago is that it feels like I am missing a win condition. I went with the token iteration on the first go with Master of Waves and some of the white soldier producing creatures.
I am thinking adding an enchantment package, with a voltron aproach. Specifically Heliod's Pilgrim as tutor with these targets:
A hidden gem is Sage's Reverie, Cloudform and Lightform count as Auras on the battlefield as well. Almost all of the above have the "Draw a card" line so they can't be that bad. I also want to add Plea for Guidance for my enchantments.
What do you think?
While I think Sage's Reverie is a brilliant find, I don't think that these auras will solve your problem. You need bigger auras (which are vulnerable.) If I were you, I will either include time magics to enhance combat damage and other values or enhance the tokens. My new list is doing both.
Obviously, these two don't have any synergy whatsoever with the deck. However, they are so powerful on their own. They can end game or at least turn the table around. Kozilek can draw us cards while Ulamog can ruin someone's else game. As a bonus, they can safeguard us against mill deck.
I consider them because we have a lot of mana. It's relatively easy for us to reach 10+ mana with rocks, Tezzeret and Teferi.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Would post it here but I'm donating plasma atm.
I find some of your choice questionable. I doubt the effectiveness of Blade Splicer, but i suppose she doesn't cost much. Geist-Honoured Monk and Winged Splicer, however, seem to demand too much mana for such abilities. I would replace them with spot removal. I also find it puzzling that you don't use any haste enabler.
Very interested in this deck. Is it more suited for duel or multi-player EDH?
I believe that mine is at its best in a small pod. Duel is too fast for Brago's attrition style. Brago can win a big pod with time magic but we can simply beat them up if the pod is not too big.
so i've been playing about with my brago list for a while now, and have found a piece of often forgotten tech in stonecloaker. what do you guys think of replacing tormod's with him, as he's bouncable card draw, instant speed, and can bounce one of your other creatures all at the same time to save them from untimely removal, all for the price of only targeting one card in your opponents grave (which most of the time i find is enough. He's been a real superstar of my list so far. i'm also finding that having planeswalkers on the board gain you so much momentum, especially if you get the double activation the turn you play them.
in terms of what i'm still looking to find space for in it. one or two land wraths to join crucible strip mine, an finding space for a stoneforge, when i get my hands on another one (probably replacing jitte as of now, but jitte has also been performing admirably)
mana crypt would also be nice, but i havnt been able to find one whatsoever, and so i'm not getting my hopes up
From my experience, Stonecloaker is too slow if you're facing a fast combo deck. It also demands you to hold back your mana to remove something immediately.
I put Pact of Negation in. I'll try it for a while to see how I like it; I also have Tolaria West in the deck for some added situational synergy. I'm playing a fair share of ramp artifacts (and Tezzeret and Teferi for nasty untap tricks) so I hope that'll help too.
Sword of Vengeance doesn't seem that great. I have the swords in another deck which is a bit more tuned, and I'm trying to build Brago as a cheap fun deck for less competitive games. I think I might go with some auras instead (Heliod's Pilgrim is like 1/10000 of the cost of a Stoneforge lol), even though they are more susceptible to sweepers.
And you're probably right about the well.
Sun Titan or Auramancer can easily fetch the auras that get tossed into the bin. You could go a stax/lockdown route like what Jvizz mentioned earlier. I was only running 3 counters but decided to cut them for things like Opposition and Stasis (my decklist above has been revised). You'll need at least 5 to reliably see one or two during a game. Not saying counters aren't useful, they are, especially in a Brago deck. I just couldn't think of more cuts to make room without hindering what I had going on. With all the stax effects along with the likes of Winter Orb, Static Orb, Dream Tides, Rishadan trio (Rishadan Cutpurse, Rishadan Footpad, Rishadan Brigand), ect., ect. it'll become harder for opponents to cast things anyways.
I approve of the the cut. While counter is truly powerful tool, STAX is much more suitable for Brago since you want to tapout most of the time.
I believe that Narset will make time magic even more powerful. Powerful enough to include at least three in a deck. Savor seems to be a correct choice for the third since it is more feasible to drop Narset and then savor than any other legal time magic.
While the command is interesting. I'm afraid that we don't use enough 2CMC creature, thus, we will most likely just counter and draw. Dismiss is rarely good enough for this deck so I doubt that the new command will be better.
If you're willing to be flexible, you can run a fairly good Brago without graveyard. But I have to agree with Shakespeare that it is better to run prison deck if you want to restrict yourself that much. Kataki is pretty interesting especially when you don't want to use artifact.
I came around to Brago + Manifest on my own and decided to pop online and see if anyone else had come to the same conclusion that I had and, lo and behold, it's a thing. Brago with Manifest can just get absolutely stupid. Nice work, Brago players. We're so cool.
I completely agree with you on Navigator. I'm thinking about making a big change for the list and Navigator is a huge factor. Brigand, however, is quite debatable. I believe that it's quite risky to drop something like that since it tends to generate more hate than it should.
Bless you! I used to be confused about the point of Dignitary until you mentioned that I can pair it with these blinkers. Never crossed my mind!
I intend to review the set once it's completed, but I don't really see anything that will boost our deck that much.
Nevertheless, I'm thinking about adding Enlightened Tutor as well since I haven't lost a game that I can resolve Mastery of the Unseen!
I find that mine is more consistent when I don't run counterspell. Counterspell is a sound strategy, but until you establish a decent mana base, your counterspell is hardly effective since you want to tap out. Counterspell can be a win-con but I find people tend to get cranky if you win that way too often. Last but not least, I try to run as many permanents as possible for manifest.
I find Parallax wave to be win more in this deck ever since the new commander rule and people can't tuck our Brago anymore. Tide, however, is one of the most broken option this deck has.
I prefer Knight-Captain of EOS to Dignitary. It's more political and token engine is generally good with Brago.
Slithermuse was in the deck list but I find it to be unreliable on the ground that its merit depends entirely on your opponents. I find that I have enough card advantage as it is, but if your opponents run anti-ETB or draw a lot of cards, I would encourage the muse.
Time magic had been the sole win-con for this deck for a very long time. Now, I also have Eldrazi titan and tokens to simply beat my opponents into submission. I rarely ever go infinite mana.
I think we essentially run two different decks with Brago as a commander. Your Brago is much more spell-oriented while mine is permanent-oriented. I used to go with your route but I find that it's problematic when I have to fight combo deck since it's political incorrect for a spell-based deck to not reserve mana for countering the combo deck.
Thank you! How kind! My current list is a few post above yours. Yes, I'm planning to turn this into a primer. Actually, I'm writing it now.
As for Augustin, I believe that most will agree with me that Augustin is great in a deck dedicated for him. One mana is not THAT effective, yet it will draw many hatred. Players will be justified in going too hard on you. Brago is powerful as it is.
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Body Double
1 Clever Impersonator
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Gilded Drake
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Jalira, Master Polymorphist
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Master of Waves
1 Mirror Entity
1 Mulldrifter
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Nevermaker
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Precursor Golem
1 Reveillark
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Sun Titan
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
Planeswalker (4)
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Karn Liberated
1 Teferi, Temporal Archmage
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 High Market
11 Island
1 Mystic Gate
11 Plains
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Skycloud Expanse
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Temple of the False God
Sorcery (7)
1 Armageddon
1 Austere Command
1 Catastrophe
1 Ponder
1 Recurring Insight
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Time Warp
Enchantment (7)
1 Act of Authority
1 Aura of Silence
1 Cloudform
1 Lightform
1 Mastery of the Unseen
1 Opposition
1 Parallax Tide
1 Azorius Signet
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Expedition Map
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Vault
1 Proteus Staff
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Voltaic Key
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
Instant (5)
1 Brainstorm
1 Path to Exile
1 Return to Dust
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Swords to Plowshares
They are awesome!
I can reliably cast them on turn 7 and often faster. It will eventually be answered, but that is alright.
I'm happy with this current list (probably will post it tomorrow.) I think I'll write the official primer the day after that.
While I think Sage's Reverie is a brilliant find, I don't think that these auras will solve your problem. You need bigger auras (which are vulnerable.) If I were you, I will either include time magics to enhance combat damage and other values or enhance the tokens. My new list is doing both.
Obviously, these two don't have any synergy whatsoever with the deck. However, they are so powerful on their own. They can end game or at least turn the table around. Kozilek can draw us cards while Ulamog can ruin someone's else game. As a bonus, they can safeguard us against mill deck.
I consider them because we have a lot of mana. It's relatively easy for us to reach 10+ mana with rocks, Tezzeret and Teferi.
What do you think?
I find some of your choice questionable. I doubt the effectiveness of Blade Splicer, but i suppose she doesn't cost much. Geist-Honoured Monk and Winged Splicer, however, seem to demand too much mana for such abilities. I would replace them with spot removal. I also find it puzzling that you don't use any haste enabler.
I believe that mine is at its best in a small pod. Duel is too fast for Brago's attrition style. Brago can win a big pod with time magic but we can simply beat them up if the pod is not too big.
From my experience, Stonecloaker is too slow if you're facing a fast combo deck. It also demands you to hold back your mana to remove something immediately.
I approve of the the cut. While counter is truly powerful tool, STAX is much more suitable for Brago since you want to tapout most of the time.
While the command is interesting. I'm afraid that we don't use enough 2CMC creature, thus, we will most likely just counter and draw. Dismiss is rarely good enough for this deck so I doubt that the new command will be better.
Great minds think alike!