In the realm of "competitive" Commander, I will wholly admit up front that Bruna is actually probably pretty weak compared to other Commanders in her colors and of the Voltron variety. But I love her nonetheless and will try my hardest to make her the best I can
There are numerous different Bruna builds out there, and trust me when I say that I've tried pretty much all of them. But a traditional and straightforward Voltron Control style deck is the one that I prefer the most and find to be the most consistent. If you have an explosive start, you can just ramp out Bruna and start killing off players early. But the deck also has the option of just hanging back, holding out, setting up, and using Bruna as a late game finisher. Of course, the deck is far from perfect. An unexpected and resolved [[Rest in Peace]] or [[Leyline of the Void]] is virtually an auto-lose for the deck while [[Stranglehold]] is a huge nuisance for shutting off Time Warps and all my fetchlands and Stax-types decks are brutal since the deck doesn't run many creatures. Multiplayer is also unpredictable depending on who you end up playing with, but that's just life. You can't realistically always be able to handle an entire pod of players at all times after all.
The first thing you may notice is the fact that there are only 10 Auras in the deck. In all honestly, there are really only a small handful of Auras Bruna needs to become lethal. And concentrating your deck with too many will leave you with some pretty bad hands filled with useless cards. I originally had about 17 in my early builds, but I have since cut down in favor of just more cards that can tutor them up or just filter and dig through my deck to help find them or aforementioned tutors. Battle Mastery with Corrupted Conscience or Eldrazi Conscription is the "go to" lethal combo. Ethereal Armor and Sage's Reverie make Bruna huge as well. Steel of the Godhead and Unquestioned Authority give her evasion in the face of reachers or other flyers in her way. Vanishing and Gift of Immortality help keep her safe and make her difficult to keep off the board. Treachery is my tech Aura because getting to untap five lands when it comes in off of Bruna's trigger feels good every single time. And of course, effectively stealing any creature of your choice for "free" is awesome.
One of the other problems I had with the deck was figuring out exactly how much ramp to run. I read an article somewhere online saying an average deck should have between 6 and 12 means of ramping, so I just kind of met in the middle of that suggest range. So far, I like the ratio. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is my "ramp" tech because being able to cast Bruna for only 1WWU with him on board is amazing.
Tutors are pretty straightforward. Intuition is busted in this deck and is probably the best tutor in here. Tezzeret is a versatile meatshield. He can get me a Sensei's Divining Top if I need to set up draws, a mana rock to ramp a little, or finding some Greaves or Boots.
The card draw, dig, and selection options is the only section that I'm still not 100% sure about. Epiphany at the Drownyard is phenomenal. Read the Runes is also fantastic when you suit up Bruna to kill a player and then cast this to draw a bunch of cards, sacrifice the Auras on her, and then get them right back when you swing or block. Being able to reuse Unquestioned Authority, Sage's Reverie, and Treachery triggers with this is wonderful. Have the three big X draw spells (Blue Sun's Zenith, Sphinx's Revelation, Stroke of Genius) because I find myself with lots of open mana frequently, so might as well draw a bunch of cards to make efficient use of my mana and time. Dig Through Time is very easy to set up for delving, especially since I decided include all the fetchlands allowed in the deck. Deep Analysis is really the only questionable card I'm not sure of yet in this section.
For counterspells, I used to favor cheap and "free" ones. But now I've decided to opt for ones that can do other things to help minimize dead draws. Mystic Confluence is amazing, and I almost want to say that I like it more than Cryptic Command. In a serious pinch, I can use Arcane Denial to counter my own spell (usually an Aura I don't care about) to draw three cards during the next upkeep. Transmute on Muddle the Mixture is very handy when I don't need it to counter anything. Thwart is a great late game counter when you have enough mana that you won't really be missing losing three Islands. Pact of Negation can be tutored up with Tolaria West and just flat out says "NO" without any additional cost except being taxed 3UU your next turn.
Removal is pretty straightfoward. Elspeth, Sun's Champion is something I decided to tech since pumping out three Soldier tokens with her +1 can somewhat help against Stax as a means of trying to avoid having to sacrifice Bruna. Terminus has saved my butt numerous times, especially with an increase of Omnath, Locus of Rage and indestructible things at my store. The unearth on Kederekt Leviathan is quite handy. Either I can get two uses out of him or just not hesitate to pitch him to the graveyard for use later.
For the time magic, I purposely picked ones that can't be easily and readily abused by opponents. Vigilance on Bruna makes her not care about skipping an untap step with Savor the Moment. Temporal Trespass is very easy to set up for only UUU thanks to delve.
Twincast is just super useful and versatile. Most of the time, I'll use it to copy my own time magic to help set Bruna up for easy kills or against opposing countermagic directed at Bruna by copying it and using the copy to counter the original. But having the option to copy other spells like Demonic Tutor, Harmonize, Kodama's Reach, Call to Mind, etc. is also really sweet.
Lands are very straightforward. Running all the fetches I'm allowed to, Myriad Landscape for ramp, Hall of the Bandit Lord and Winding Canyons to give Bruna haste/flash her in end of turn, Tolaria West to find Pact of Negation or the aforementioned Hall or Canyons, and Strip Mine because things like Maze of Ith and Kor Haven are annoying against Voltron Commanders. With the exception of Celestial Colonnade, I've decided to run only dual lands that either come in untapped or who have conditions I can easily meet to come in untapped. And then a complete set of ZEN and BFZ full art Islands and Plains for my basics.
Hey @loozar42, thanks for the detailed writeup and list! I've been tuning Bruna for quite a while - she was one of my first EDH decks just because I opened her in a a pack of Avacyn Restored and decided to build a budget mill-aura list. Then I took a break from her, and now have been back on her for the last 6 months. Its a much different deck than it started as, and she's quite powerful without being absolutely broken, like Zur. My playgroup is just barely under the threshold of being 'competitive'(and were trying to keep it that way), but everyone agrees that Bruna is probably the most powerful deck. My roommate says he's heard them conspiring about how to deal with her when I'm out of the room or not around, before any games have even begun.
Your list also seems well-tuned and I'm sure plays quite nicely. At a glance I'd guess its a little slower but more resilient than mine. My list is neither Stax-oriented nor mill-oriented. Its pretty focused and is built to simply ramp, tutor, then kill; with just the bare minimum control cards and stax effects.
That said there are a few cards from your list that I would love to play, namely: treachery, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. Also Mystic Confluence seems very good, I'm just scared of its 5cmc cost.
Notable mentions: Mana Maze is just plain fun; makes Bruna uncounterable. Beware, a smart opponent can cast a W or U spell on your upkeep to prevent you from immediately casting Bruna in your main phase, however you can get around it pretty easily by casting anything of a different color. Walking Atlas + Land Tax is insane. Vanishing is a MUST-HAVE. Assault Suit is the most fun you can have in a Voltron deck. Hidden Strings is prolly the weakest card in my deck, but its a hedge against Turnabout
Anyways, comments/suggestions/criticisms are all welcome!
Quote from Phil
Have a helicopter drop you off out front. Light your cigar with a small Indonesian boy holding a black lotus. Then bust out a craw wurm deck with no sleeves. Raw dog shuffle, loose terribly, flip the table, leave in a hovercraft.
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There are numerous different Bruna builds out there, and trust me when I say that I've tried pretty much all of them. But a traditional and straightforward Voltron Control style deck is the one that I prefer the most and find to be the most consistent. If you have an explosive start, you can just ramp out Bruna and start killing off players early. But the deck also has the option of just hanging back, holding out, setting up, and using Bruna as a late game finisher. Of course, the deck is far from perfect. An unexpected and resolved [[Rest in Peace]] or [[Leyline of the Void]] is virtually an auto-lose for the deck while [[Stranglehold]] is a huge nuisance for shutting off Time Warps and all my fetchlands and Stax-types decks are brutal since the deck doesn't run many creatures. Multiplayer is also unpredictable depending on who you end up playing with, but that's just life. You can't realistically always be able to handle an entire pod of players at all times after all.
6 Bruna, Light of Alabaster
AURAS (10)
1 Ethereal Armor
1 Vanishing
3 Battle Mastery
3 Gift of Immortality
3 Steel of the Godhead
3 Unquestioned Authority
4 Sage's Reverie
5 Corrupted Conscience
5 Treachery
8 Eldrazi Conscription
RAMP AND ACCELERATION (9)
1 Sol Ring
2 Azorius Signet
2 Mind Stone
2 Talisman of Progress
3 Burnished Hart
3 Commander's Sphere
4 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
4 Kor Cartographer
4 Solemn Simulacrum
TUTORS (5)
1 Mystical Tutor
3 Intuition
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
5 Three Dreams
6 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
CARD DRAW, DIG AND SELECTION (10)
1 Brainstorm
1 Epiphany at the Drownyard
1 Read the Runes
1 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Blue Sun's Zenith
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Stroke of Genius
4 Deep Analysis
4 Fact or Fiction
8 Dig Through Time
0 Pact of Negation
2 Arcane Denial
2 Muddle the Mixture
4 Cryptic Command
4 Thwart
5 Mystic Confluence
SPOT REMOVAL (4)
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
3 Capsize
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
WRATHS (7)
2 Cyclonic Rift
5 Evacuation
5 Rout
6 Austere Command
6 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
6 Terminus
8 Kederekt Leviathan
RECURSION (2)
2 Snapcaster Mage
6 Sun Titan
HASTE AND FLASH ENABLERS (3)
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Swiftfoot Boots
5 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
TIME WARPS (4)
3 Savor the Moment
6 Part the Waterveil
7 Temporal Mastery
11 Temporal Trespass
UTILITY (1)
2 Twincast
UTILITY LANDS (13)
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Arid Mesa
0 Flooded Strand
0 Hall of the Bandit Lord
0 Marsh Flats
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Polluted Delta
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Strip Mine
0 Tolaria West
0 Winding Canyons
0 Windswept Heath
0 Adarkar Wastes
0 Celestial Colonnade
0 Command Tower
0 Glacial Fortress
0 Hallowed Fountain
0 Mystic Gate
0 Nimbus Maze
0 Prairie Stream
0 Tundra
BASIC LANDS (16)
0 Island x8
0 Plains x8
The first thing you may notice is the fact that there are only 10 Auras in the deck. In all honestly, there are really only a small handful of Auras Bruna needs to become lethal. And concentrating your deck with too many will leave you with some pretty bad hands filled with useless cards. I originally had about 17 in my early builds, but I have since cut down in favor of just more cards that can tutor them up or just filter and dig through my deck to help find them or aforementioned tutors. Battle Mastery with Corrupted Conscience or Eldrazi Conscription is the "go to" lethal combo. Ethereal Armor and Sage's Reverie make Bruna huge as well. Steel of the Godhead and Unquestioned Authority give her evasion in the face of reachers or other flyers in her way. Vanishing and Gift of Immortality help keep her safe and make her difficult to keep off the board. Treachery is my tech Aura because getting to untap five lands when it comes in off of Bruna's trigger feels good every single time. And of course, effectively stealing any creature of your choice for "free" is awesome.
One of the other problems I had with the deck was figuring out exactly how much ramp to run. I read an article somewhere online saying an average deck should have between 6 and 12 means of ramping, so I just kind of met in the middle of that suggest range. So far, I like the ratio. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is my "ramp" tech because being able to cast Bruna for only 1WWU with him on board is amazing.
Tutors are pretty straightforward. Intuition is busted in this deck and is probably the best tutor in here. Tezzeret is a versatile meatshield. He can get me a Sensei's Divining Top if I need to set up draws, a mana rock to ramp a little, or finding some Greaves or Boots.
The card draw, dig, and selection options is the only section that I'm still not 100% sure about. Epiphany at the Drownyard is phenomenal. Read the Runes is also fantastic when you suit up Bruna to kill a player and then cast this to draw a bunch of cards, sacrifice the Auras on her, and then get them right back when you swing or block. Being able to reuse Unquestioned Authority, Sage's Reverie, and Treachery triggers with this is wonderful. Have the three big X draw spells (Blue Sun's Zenith, Sphinx's Revelation, Stroke of Genius) because I find myself with lots of open mana frequently, so might as well draw a bunch of cards to make efficient use of my mana and time. Dig Through Time is very easy to set up for delving, especially since I decided include all the fetchlands allowed in the deck. Deep Analysis is really the only questionable card I'm not sure of yet in this section.
For counterspells, I used to favor cheap and "free" ones. But now I've decided to opt for ones that can do other things to help minimize dead draws. Mystic Confluence is amazing, and I almost want to say that I like it more than Cryptic Command. In a serious pinch, I can use Arcane Denial to counter my own spell (usually an Aura I don't care about) to draw three cards during the next upkeep. Transmute on Muddle the Mixture is very handy when I don't need it to counter anything. Thwart is a great late game counter when you have enough mana that you won't really be missing losing three Islands. Pact of Negation can be tutored up with Tolaria West and just flat out says "NO" without any additional cost except being taxed 3UU your next turn.
Removal is pretty straightfoward. Elspeth, Sun's Champion is something I decided to tech since pumping out three Soldier tokens with her +1 can somewhat help against Stax as a means of trying to avoid having to sacrifice Bruna. Terminus has saved my butt numerous times, especially with an increase of Omnath, Locus of Rage and indestructible things at my store. The unearth on Kederekt Leviathan is quite handy. Either I can get two uses out of him or just not hesitate to pitch him to the graveyard for use later.
For the time magic, I purposely picked ones that can't be easily and readily abused by opponents. Vigilance on Bruna makes her not care about skipping an untap step with Savor the Moment. Temporal Trespass is very easy to set up for only UUU thanks to delve.
Twincast is just super useful and versatile. Most of the time, I'll use it to copy my own time magic to help set Bruna up for easy kills or against opposing countermagic directed at Bruna by copying it and using the copy to counter the original. But having the option to copy other spells like Demonic Tutor, Harmonize, Kodama's Reach, Call to Mind, etc. is also really sweet.
Lands are very straightforward. Running all the fetches I'm allowed to, Myriad Landscape for ramp, Hall of the Bandit Lord and Winding Canyons to give Bruna haste/flash her in end of turn, Tolaria West to find Pact of Negation or the aforementioned Hall or Canyons, and Strip Mine because things like Maze of Ith and Kor Haven are annoying against Voltron Commanders. With the exception of Celestial Colonnade, I've decided to run only dual lands that either come in untapped or who have conditions I can easily meet to come in untapped. And then a complete set of ZEN and BFZ full art Islands and Plains for my basics.
Hey @loozar42, thanks for the detailed writeup and list! I've been tuning Bruna for quite a while - she was one of my first EDH decks just because I opened her in a a pack of Avacyn Restored and decided to build a budget mill-aura list. Then I took a break from her, and now have been back on her for the last 6 months. Its a much different deck than it started as, and she's quite powerful without being absolutely broken, like Zur. My playgroup is just barely under the threshold of being 'competitive'(and were trying to keep it that way), but everyone agrees that Bruna is probably the most powerful deck. My roommate says he's heard them conspiring about how to deal with her when I'm out of the room or not around, before any games have even begun.
Your list also seems well-tuned and I'm sure plays quite nicely. At a glance I'd guess its a little slower but more resilient than mine. My list is neither Stax-oriented nor mill-oriented. Its pretty focused and is built to simply ramp, tutor, then kill; with just the bare minimum control cards and stax effects.
That said there are a few cards from your list that I would love to play, namely: treachery, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV. Also Mystic Confluence seems very good, I'm just scared of its 5cmc cost.
Notable mentions:
Mana Maze is just plain fun; makes Bruna uncounterable. Beware, a smart opponent can cast a W or U spell on your upkeep to prevent you from immediately casting Bruna in your main phase, however you can get around it pretty easily by casting anything of a different color.
Walking Atlas + Land Tax is insane.
Vanishing is a MUST-HAVE.
Assault Suit is the most fun you can have in a Voltron deck.
Hidden Strings is prolly the weakest card in my deck, but its a hedge against Turnabout
Anyways, comments/suggestions/criticisms are all welcome!
1 Bruna, Light of Alabaster
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Heliod's Pilgrim
1 Mother of Runes
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Trinket Mage
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Burnished Hart
1 Walking Atlas
Artifacts:
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Expedition Map
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Assault Suit
1 Conqueror's Flail
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
Enchantments/Auras:
1 Endless Horizons
1 Land Tax
1 Mana Maze
1 Monastery Siege
1 Rhystic Study
1 Battle Mastery
1 Mystic Veil
1 Spectra Ward
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Vanishing
1 Vow of Flight
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Eldrazi Conscription
1 Compulsive Research
1 Divine Reckoning
1 Fabricate
1 Hidden Strings
1 Ponder
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Three Dreams
1 Windfall
1 Wrath of God
1 Open the Armory
1 Steelshaper's Gift
Instants:
1 Arcane Denial
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Disallow
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbid
1 Force of Will
1 Frantic Search
1 Intuition
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Negate
1 Pact of Negation
1 Path to Exile
1 Read the Runes
1 Render Silent
1 Swan Song
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Homeward Path
1 Marsh Flats
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Skycloud Expanse
1 Port Town
1 Tolaria West
1 Tranquil Cove
1 Winding Canyons
1 Mystic Gate
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Prairie Stream
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
8 Island
7 Plains
Have a helicopter drop you off out front. Light your cigar with a small Indonesian boy holding a black lotus. Then bust out a craw wurm deck with no sleeves. Raw dog shuffle, loose terribly, flip the table, leave in a hovercraft.