I just tweaked it to be a lot more hostile to "spellslinger" decks, which were probably the worst matchup for this deck. Having about 10 cards that completely shut them down, then tutors, seems to ensure that I'm ok with a lot fewer counterspells in the build. About 8-10 seems like the right amount remaining for things like Enter the Infinite, Tooth and Nail, and so on.
Another thing, with the new changes to more small tutors for Vanishing, Sword of Feast and Famine is starting to shine as the brightest enabler. Laying Bruna down just as a blocker seems to be a fine thing to do, and I have not been punished for it yet by something like Darksteel Mutation. It is unlikely to run into a deck with specific hate like that right now.
I just tweaked it to be a lot more hostile to "spellslinger" decks, which were probably the worst matchup for this deck. Having about 10 cards that completely shut them down, then tutors, seems to ensure that I'm ok with a lot fewer counterspells in the build. About 8-10 seems like the right amount remaining for things like Enter the Infinite, Tooth and Nail, and so on.
Another thing, with the new changes to more small tutors for Vanishing, Sword of Feast and Famine is starting to shine as the brightest enabler. Laying Bruna down just as a blocker seems to be a fine thing to do, and I have not been punished for it yet by something like Darksteel Mutation. It is unlikely to run into a deck with specific hate like that right now.
It's a good thing you brought up "being hostile" against a specific archetype. A wall of bounce and counterspells really does put a damper on our general gameplan.
Just a thought: what do you guys think of Vanish Into Memory in Bruna? If Bruna doesn't have Shroud, you can easily draw 15+ cards given how high Bruna can be pumped through Auras. It could be a good way to juke/bait removal following the "First Blood" kill. I was thinking that Vanish into Memory would be a good card to have if your haste enabler was, say, Hall of the Bandit Lord and you only had pumps in hand without ways of protecting her; it could be a way to gas out in such a situation. On the return trigger @ your next upkeep, you need only discard 5 cards since the auras fall off of her. Moreover, you may have found a pair of boots to give her haste to swing on that turn as well. (You can also do nifty tricks like exiling an opponent's fatty and using Stifle among other such effects to permanently exile it and negate the discard).
(Also, RIP Bruna in Shadows over Innistrad; she will now ETB with an Eldrazi Conscription of sorts :p)
Just a thought: what do you guys think of Vanish Into Memory in Bruna? If Bruna doesn't have Shroud, you can easily draw 15+ cards given how high Bruna can be pumped through Auras. It could be a good way to juke/bait removal following the "First Blood" kill. I was thinking that Vanish into Memory would be a good card to have if your haste enabler was, say, Hall of the Bandit Lord and you only had pumps in hand without ways of protecting her; it could be a way to gas out in such a situation. On the return trigger @ your next upkeep, you need only discard 5 cards since the auras fall off of her. Moreover, you may have found a pair of boots to give her haste to swing on that turn as well. (You can also do nifty tricks like exiling an opponent's fatty and using Stifle among other such effects to permanently exile it and negate the discard).
(Also, RIP Bruna in Shadows over Innistrad; she will now ETB with an Eldrazi Conscription of sorts :p)
Vanish Into Memory also allows Bruna to dodge sweepers. How's testing going?
Also, while it did make me sad that Bruna's dead in the canon, it also feels somewhat right that she got eldrazified, since everyone knows how often it happens in Commander games. I did want a new Bruna card when I learned that we were going back to Innistrad (I got my wish, in more ways than one), but I was also pretty sure Light of Alabaster got it perfectly the first time around.
Just a thought: what do you guys think of Vanish Into Memory in Bruna? If Bruna doesn't have Shroud, you can easily draw 15+ cards given how high Bruna can be pumped through Auras. It could be a good way to juke/bait removal following the "First Blood" kill. I was thinking that Vanish into Memory would be a good card to have if your haste enabler was, say, Hall of the Bandit Lord and you only had pumps in hand without ways of protecting her; it could be a way to gas out in such a situation. On the return trigger @ your next upkeep, you need only discard 5 cards since the auras fall off of her. Moreover, you may have found a pair of boots to give her haste to swing on that turn as well. (You can also do nifty tricks like exiling an opponent's fatty and using Stifle among other such effects to permanently exile it and negate the discard).
(Also, RIP Bruna in Shadows over Innistrad; she will now ETB with an Eldrazi Conscription of sorts :p)
I've tried additional protection effects for Bruna, such as Abduction, but they never ended up making the final cut. My style is to just sit and wait to play Bruna until you are 100% sure that you will be able to protect her, and there really is no substitute for Vanishing in that. Vanish into Memory can be a pretty high value card in Bruna generally due to the draw effect on a single-target fog, and the fact that you can discard any auras on the back end of it, but it is generally not necessary to fulfill the purpose of protecting Bruna. Also once you have Bruna up via some card like Intuition, there is typically very little remaining purpose to drawing further into your deck.
I am not necessarily a competitive or tournament player, mainly for fun with friends, but I built a Bruna deck which I will actually put together when I have the money. I haven't gone through every page of this so maybe this was already mentioned, but I was wondering why Gift of Immortality wasn't mentioned. In my opinion it's way better than False Demise for obvious reasons and also better than Fool's Demise because it not only returns the creature to the battlefield but it also returns the aura at the end step, repeating the cycle. Also, you might consider a combo I did on accident (as far as I know it is legal, let me know if not), add Karmic Guide and put Gift of Immortality. When you have to pay the echo cost, don't and kill it, Gift of Immortality will bring it back and endlessly make creature return to the battlefield. I stumbled upon this in my Avacyn deck. It can be brutal when people are constantly getting rid of your creatures.
I don't have a Bruna deck, but a good friend does, and my two cents based on playing against it is that Vanish into Memory is almost always useful. It's a really solid (if maybe win-more as has been mentioned) when hitting Bruna but it's the versatility that always impresses me. I've seen him hit Batterskull with it and a gross Kemba wearing too much equipment and a Rafiq with some stupid amount of exalted triggers all for way imbalanced draws tied to a tempo hit. And even if you're not doing something abusive there's worse things in the world than buying yourself a turn by blinking that alpha-striking Thrax or whatever and looting half a dozen cards to find an answer.
I am not necessarily a competitive or tournament player, mainly for fun with friends, but I built a Bruna deck which I will actually put together when I have the money. I haven't gone through every page of this so maybe this was already mentioned, but I was wondering why Gift of Immortality wasn't mentioned. In my opinion it's way better than False Demise for obvious reasons and also better than Fool's Demise because it not only returns the creature to the battlefield but it also returns the aura at the end step, repeating the cycle. Also, you might consider a combo I did on accident (as far as I know it is legal, let me know if not), add Karmic Guide and put Gift of Immortality. When you have to pay the echo cost, don't and kill it, Gift of Immortality will bring it back and endlessly make creature return to the battlefield. I stumbled upon this in my Avacyn deck. It can be brutal when people are constantly getting rid of your creatures.
The Gift + 2x Demise enchantments are nifty and cute, but most Bruna decks I've seen are designed to essentially 1-hit upon her first attack. In a multi-player table it is usually better to simply murder the strongest opponent with Bruna and leave up countermagic for whatever the following opponent(s) may have to stop you. Any hard counterspell variant, even something as awkward as delay, would fit better over the gift + demise tech since the countermagic is useful at almost every part of the game, while these enchantments are useful in only extreme circumstances.
I've actually just inherited a buddies Bruna edh deck that was more enchantment based with little control I'm in the process of updating it to my own preferences and am currently making cuts (down to 122x at time of this post).
Most of my tables I face either one or two opponents, so while most of my decks are more 1v1 focused, I'm wanting to make this one bleed a little between multi-player and 1v1.
With that sort of opposition (1 to 2 opponents), what is a good average number of counterspells, board wipes, offensive enchantments, and (actually playable) looting effects to run?
While my deck is currently at 122x cards, here are the current packages that I've got;
There is a few sequence of 3x enchantments from above that can be found from intuition or three dreams that would make Bruna a 1-hit. The remaining enchantments I'm thinking for the deck are just Aura of Silence, Compulsion and Grasp of Fate.
I'm also thinking about utilizing two planesalkers, Dovin Baan and Narset Transcendent, as semi-annoying threats that will eventually need to be dealt with, that can help disrupt the opponents resource enough while I get up to casting Bruna.
Once I'm down to 105(ish) I'll spam my list for help with the remaining cuts. But hearing from everyone here what a good # of counters/wipes/offensive enchantments to run would be helpful.
The Gift + 2x Demise enchantments are nifty and cute, but most Bruna decks I've seen are designed to essentially 1-hit upon her first attack. In a multi-player table it is usually better to simply murder the strongest opponent with Bruna and leave up countermagic for whatever the following opponent(s) may have to stop you. Any hard counterspell variant, even something as awkward as delay, would fit better over the gift + demise tech since the countermagic is useful at almost every part of the game, while these enchantments are useful in only extreme circumstances.
I've actually just inherited a buddies Bruna edh deck that was more enchantment based with little control I'm in the process of updating it to my own preferences and am currently making cuts (down to 122x at time of this post).
Most of my tables I face either one or two opponents, so while most of my decks are more 1v1 focused, I'm wanting to make this one bleed a little between multi-player and 1v1.
I hear ya. Maybe it's just because I am just not a blue player traditionally, plus my Bruna deck is pillowfort currently. I may consider some of those counterspells. I purposely don't use the eldrazi one because of the annihilator and the hate it immediately draws to me, also since I hate annihilator. Also, and this is important, I generally play with 2+ people, almost never less than that. And almost never is one person more of a threat; they are usually even. Almost every time, I would die to one as soon as I killed another. Boardwipes will effect me, hence the Gift. Also, it gives me the ability to attach extra aura's I have picked up. My play group is notorious for going after commanders as soon as they come out just to make them harder to cast.
One issue I found with Bruna is that at times the game doesn't last long enough till she lands or she gets killed when she lands, having other threats in as heralds is idea.
One issue I found with Bruna is that at times the game doesn't last long enough till she lands or she gets killed when she lands, having other threats in as heralds is idea.
It's not a bad idea, it's just not enough.
EDH is about card advantage, and small creatures with auras are rarely enough to provide actual card advantage - too many board wipes going around for that to be effective. The only thing I'd think might have enough effect is if you were to hit Solemn Simulacrum or Knight of the White Orchid with Gift of Immortality.
Plus, you can't really threaten anyone with small creatures and auras in a 40 life format.
If we had G for enchantresses we would have a much easier time keeping up with everyone, but even then it wouldn't be enough for staying in par with blue card advantage.
If we had G for enchantresses we would have a much easier time keeping up with everyone, but even then it wouldn't be enough for staying in par with blue card advantage.
One issue I found with Bruna is that at times the game doesn't last long enough till she lands or she gets killed when she lands, having other threats in as heralds is idea.
I had Academy Researchers in the earliest builds. It just doesn't do enough TBH.
Hi guys. Sorry I haven't been checking in more often. I'm always on the lookout for new cards for the deck, though. There just hasn't been that any worthy auras lately. I think the last we got was Sage's Reverie. Apart from that, some good generic cards have come out. A recent standout is Pull from Tomorrow, which will probably replace Read the Runes.
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1 Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Artifacts:
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mind Stone
1 Mask of Memory
1 Scroll Rack
1 Static Orb
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
Creatures:
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Containment Priest
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Walking Atlas
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Trinket Mage
1 Heliod's Pilgrim
1 Court Hussar
1 Vedalken Æthermage
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
1 Magus of the Future
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Land Tax
1 Mystic Remora
1 Vanishing
1 Curiosity
1 Alexi's Cloak
1 Rule of Law
1 Arcane Laboratory
1 Energy Flux
1 Back to Basics
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Battle Mastery
1 Sage's Reverie
1 Future Sight
1 Eldrazi Conscription
Instants:
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Arcane Denial
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Counterspell
1 Remand
1 Impulse
1 Intuition
1 Capsize
1 Dream Fracture
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dissipate
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Forbid
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
Sorceries:
1 Preordain
1 Open the Armory
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Fabricate
Land:
35x As Desired
I just tweaked it to be a lot more hostile to "spellslinger" decks, which were probably the worst matchup for this deck. Having about 10 cards that completely shut them down, then tutors, seems to ensure that I'm ok with a lot fewer counterspells in the build. About 8-10 seems like the right amount remaining for things like Enter the Infinite, Tooth and Nail, and so on.
Another thing, with the new changes to more small tutors for Vanishing, Sword of Feast and Famine is starting to shine as the brightest enabler. Laying Bruna down just as a blocker seems to be a fine thing to do, and I have not been punished for it yet by something like Darksteel Mutation. It is unlikely to run into a deck with specific hate like that right now.
It's a good thing you brought up "being hostile" against a specific archetype. A wall of bounce and counterspells really does put a damper on our general gameplan.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
(Also, RIP Bruna in Shadows over Innistrad; she will now ETB with an Eldrazi Conscription of sorts :p)
Vanish Into Memory also allows Bruna to dodge sweepers. How's testing going?
Also, while it did make me sad that Bruna's dead in the canon, it also feels somewhat right that she got eldrazified, since everyone knows how often it happens in Commander games. I did want a new Bruna card when I learned that we were going back to Innistrad (I got my wish, in more ways than one), but I was also pretty sure Light of Alabaster got it perfectly the first time around.
Augustin, Rasputin, Bruna, Brago, Ojutai
I've tried additional protection effects for Bruna, such as Abduction, but they never ended up making the final cut. My style is to just sit and wait to play Bruna until you are 100% sure that you will be able to protect her, and there really is no substitute for Vanishing in that. Vanish into Memory can be a pretty high value card in Bruna generally due to the draw effect on a single-target fog, and the fact that you can discard any auras on the back end of it, but it is generally not necessary to fulfill the purpose of protecting Bruna. Also once you have Bruna up via some card like Intuition, there is typically very little remaining purpose to drawing further into your deck.
So I guess bottom line is that it's "win more".
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
The Gift + 2x Demise enchantments are nifty and cute, but most Bruna decks I've seen are designed to essentially 1-hit upon her first attack. In a multi-player table it is usually better to simply murder the strongest opponent with Bruna and leave up countermagic for whatever the following opponent(s) may have to stop you. Any hard counterspell variant, even something as awkward as delay, would fit better over the gift + demise tech since the countermagic is useful at almost every part of the game, while these enchantments are useful in only extreme circumstances.
I've actually just inherited a buddies Bruna edh deck that was more enchantment based with little control I'm in the process of updating it to my own preferences and am currently making cuts (down to 122x at time of this post).
Most of my tables I face either one or two opponents, so while most of my decks are more 1v1 focused, I'm wanting to make this one bleed a little between multi-player and 1v1.
With that sort of opposition (1 to 2 opponents), what is a good average number of counterspells, board wipes, offensive enchantments, and (actually playable) looting effects to run?
While my deck is currently at 122x cards, here are the current packages that I've got;
1x Condescend
1x Counterspell
1x Cryptic Command
1x Delay
1x Hindering Light
1x Mana Drain
1x Mana Short
1x Memory Lapse
1x Muddle the Mixture
1x Mystic Confluence
1x Negate
1x Power Sink
1x Remand
1x Render Silent
1x Trickbind
1x Orim's Chant
1x Scout's Warning
1x Silence
1x Three Dreams
1x Careful Consideration
1x Catalog
1x Dig Through Time
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Frantic Search
1x Intuition
1x Read the Runes
1x Thirst for Knowledge
+ generic 1:1 tutors mystical tutor/enlightened tutor/idyllic tutor/open the armory
1x Evacuation
1x Cataclysm
1x Day of Judgment
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Tragic Arrogance
1x Wrath of God
+ normal spot removal path/swords/reality shift/declaration in stone
1x Auramancer's Guise
1x Battle Mastery
1x Celestial Mantle
1x Corrupted Conscience
1x Eldrazi Conscription
1x Empyrial Armor
1x Righteous Authority
1x Sage's Reverie
1x Spectra Ward
1x Steel of the Godhead
1x Treachery
There is a few sequence of 3x enchantments from above that can be found from intuition or three dreams that would make Bruna a 1-hit. The remaining enchantments I'm thinking for the deck are just Aura of Silence, Compulsion and Grasp of Fate.
I'm also thinking about utilizing two planesalkers, Dovin Baan and Narset Transcendent, as semi-annoying threats that will eventually need to be dealt with, that can help disrupt the opponents resource enough while I get up to casting Bruna.
Once I'm down to 105(ish) I'll spam my list for help with the remaining cuts. But hearing from everyone here what a good # of counters/wipes/offensive enchantments to run would be helpful.
Links to my most current deck lists;
Primary EDH; Rakka Mar Token Perfection, Crosis Mnemonic Betrayal, Cromat Villainous, Judith Gravestorm, Rakdos Empty Storm, Exava Artifacts, Bant Trash, & Fumiko Voltron!
EDH kept at home; Ruzzian Isset & Rakdos LoR!
EDH (nostalgic/pimp/retired) in storage;
Latulla Burns, Akroma Smash, Jeska Voltron, Rakdos Storm, Bladewing Darghans, Lyzolda Worldgorger, Xantcha Steals your Heart, Jori Storm, Wydwen Permission, Gwendlyn Paradox, Jeleva Warps, & Sigarda Brick!
Legacy Showanimator and High Tide!
I hear ya. Maybe it's just because I am just not a blue player traditionally, plus my Bruna deck is pillowfort currently. I may consider some of those counterspells. I purposely don't use the eldrazi one because of the annihilator and the hate it immediately draws to me, also since I hate annihilator. Also, and this is important, I generally play with 2+ people, almost never less than that. And almost never is one person more of a threat; they are usually even. Almost every time, I would die to one as soon as I killed another. Boardwipes will effect me, hence the Gift. Also, it gives me the ability to attach extra aura's I have picked up. My play group is notorious for going after commanders as soon as they come out just to make them harder to cast.
GU is banned in EDH.
One issue I found with Bruna is that at times the game doesn't last long enough till she lands or she gets killed when she lands, having other threats in as heralds is idea.
Is it just me or has anyone mentioned Academy Researchers yet?
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
It's not a bad idea, it's just not enough.
EDH is about card advantage, and small creatures with auras are rarely enough to provide actual card advantage - too many board wipes going around for that to be effective. The only thing I'd think might have enough effect is if you were to hit Solemn Simulacrum or Knight of the White Orchid with Gift of Immortality.
Plus, you can't really threaten anyone with small creatures and auras in a 40 life format.
If we had G for enchantresses we would have a much easier time keeping up with everyone, but even then it wouldn't be enough for staying in par with blue card advantage.
Why not Mesa Enchantress?
Also as far as post Bruna card advantage +[a]+[card]&subtype=+["Aura"]&color=+![G]+![R]+![B]]we have all of these.
I know it goes against the "just Bruna" build, but Kor Spiritdancer makes for serious ramp.
I had Academy Researchers in the earliest builds. It just doesn't do enough TBH.
Hi guys. Sorry I haven't been checking in more often. I'm always on the lookout for new cards for the deck, though. There just hasn't been that any worthy auras lately. I think the last we got was Sage's Reverie. Apart from that, some good generic cards have come out. A recent standout is Pull from Tomorrow, which will probably replace Read the Runes.