I guess my only real issue is the walker side is very meh to me. But as we all know if you are drawing a million cards in your cube deck you are probably fine.
I think the planeswalker half is very strong since it's very reminiscent of Jace, Telepath Unbound. Its Achille's Heel is the low starting loyalty count making it so that you can't -3 immediately. But this is also like almost Oko level of a pain to deal with in combat since it has +2 loyalty gain + Jace, Architect of Thought effect. The recursion ability is also much better than JVP's since you can recur cards to your hand and save them for later, where JVP really didn't work well with counterspells unless you're protecting something on your own turn. Returning a spell to your hand also means it's not exiled like how it does with JVP, so you can continue recurring something like Ancestral Recall / Time Walk in a powered cube.
Securitron Squadron has been testing well for us so far. The floor of its base 2-cmc mode is extremely high given how many token generators there are. White also brings a lot of critical mass to artifacts matters, and this is one of the few colored artifacts that can take full advantage of Mishra's Workshop. Very versatile in token based aggro / midrange shells and artifacts matters.
I'd play the front face on its own (like with Tamiyo and Ajani), so I expect this to perform even if it is hard to flip.
I do think this card is better than it reads at first, both halves are probably better than I originally gave them credit for. I originally didn't notice that the planeswalker half also has extort, which is really nice. The planeswalker half can Lightning Bolt (or even more) immediately when it transforms, and it can keep spamming Lightning Bolts every other turn in combination with its food generating ability. That ability can get really out of hand if you have a big creature with lifelink. Extreme example where you're already winning, but this can burn for 7 if you touch something with Atraxa / Grislebrand. Or just crack a food and have another way to gain life.
Every cube may vary, but my cube actually has quite a lot more ways to transform this than I thought. I ran a filter through my cube for lifelink / food / and "gains" "life" and came up with 40-ish cards (really 45, but there's at least 2 false positives in my filter with Adanto Vanguard / The One Ring / Nissa, Ascended Animist. Some are also quite narrow, like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar's ultimate). Not to mention it can just get there with extort and / or a pump effect with lifelink.
Here's the filter syntax if anybody is interested in running it through their own cube on CubeCobra
It's not too unrealistic if you're storming off. The transformation is optional if you win the coin flip, so can hold off on the transformation until once you've hit your 6th instant / sorcery.
Probably the most difficult to transform out of the cycle, especially within its own color. While I'm not the biggest fan of this in straight up reanimator shells, this goes very well with things like Gravecrawlers / Unearth effects / Lurrus companion shells / Persist creatures. I don't think this will make the cut in most reanimator decks, and I really don't support Gravecrawlers / Persist, so I'm personally not too interested in this one at the moment. Seems strong in cubes that can take full advantage of it though.
A cheap defensive minded lifelinker is quite rare in black. This can transform off a single food activation from Oko / Gilded Goose / Tough Cookie, swinging with Intrepid Adversary, or Charming Prince ETB trigger. On transformation this can bolt immediately and can fire bolts off every other turn with its food generation. Seems like an interesting card to test given how much incidental life gain there is, and black can really use an extort / food engine.
A red Baral, Chief of Compliance that can randomly transform into a planeswalker very easily is pretty nifty for storm. Probably not too bad even outside of storm, but a bit more questionable for me. Might be at least worth testing even if you don't support storm.
Hard Evidence with a lower floor but much higher ceiling. The planeswalker side is very reminiscent of Jace, Telepath Unbound with its ability to recur instants / sorceries and shrink your opponent's offense in the fashion of Jace, Architect of Thought. It's not too hard to transform this on turn 2-3 with Ancestral Recall / Brainstorm / Chart a Course / Faithless Looting / any Demand Answers variant. This is also really strong in Academy shells since it's a rare blue 1-drop that can start putting artifacts on the board. This is my second favorite in the cycle after Ajani, I'm really glad blue finally has a strong blue 1-cmc creature. I also like how they're making more "draw cards matters" things that care about having something like Brainstorm / Sylvan Library.
Circling back to this card, it's been a huge hit in our playgroup and is one of best black's cards, period. It's often described as black's Bribery, but better since it's also a recursive initiative enabler. The graveyard is extremely dangerous these days, so it's very easy to abuse this in your own deck or use this against your opponent. You often don't care about losing initiative since re-casting this will give you back initiative. This can often create double or even triple initiaitve triggers in a single turn by stealing back initiative in combat, and then casting this on another initiative enabler.
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only mono black cards currently ahead of it in this data set are Dismember / Thoughtseize / Grief / Mind Twist / Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Is currently tied with fellow black 5-cmc allstar Necron Deathmark
- Is currently 1 card ahead of other mono black stalwarts like Demonic Tutor / Reanimate / Baleful Mastery
- Has more showings than other black initiative enablers like Ravenloft Adventurer / Passageway Seer
Palantir ended up being a bit hit and over performed all expectations of it. While it was overshadowed by things like Orcish Bowmasters / Forth Eorlingas / The One Ring, it's put in just as much work so far. Palantir slots into all sorts of decks and is always scary to face down.
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only colorless non manafixing lands ahead of it are Chrome Mox / Urza's Saga / Currency Converter / Strip Mine
- Is currently tied with things like Demonic Tutor / Forth Eorlingas
- Is 1 card ahead of fellow LTR allstar Orcish Bowmasters
- Has over double the representation of The One Ring
Necron Deathmark turned out to be a sleeper, it's quite popular in our playgroup. I really didn't have any expectations for it and thought things like Sheoldred / Royal Warden would take off, but pretty much the exact opposite happened. This having flash and being a decent closer makes this feel closer to Chaos Defiler than it is to Ravenous Chupacabra / Custodi Lich / etc.
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only mono black cards currently ahead of it in this data set are Dismember / Thoughtseize / Grief / Mind Twist / Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Braids is fine if you support recursive agro in black, I wouldn't argue against her inclusion in those cubes , but eh...
Cubes I've been playing have been dominated by matchups that Braids would be mediocore in.
This is probably the biggest issue with Braids, which people began bringing up in this thread 5 years ago in 2019. Before initiative became the boogeyman, cubes were still pretty aggressive. A lot of decks were playing more to the board with planeswalkers / Rabblemasters / etc, vastly weakening Braids' overall matchup spread. While I can blame initiative for being the final nail in the coffin for a lot of things in my cube, Braids was already out years before CLB came out. Braids doesn't even make the cut in my Old Fashioned Cube (similar to my normal cube but with no supplemental products).
She's great in some spots (when ahead against spell heavy decks)
To me this is the equivalent of saying Ryu's good qualities in Street Fighter is having really good matchup against *insert the 3 most bottom tier characters in the game here*.
It's like a monarch/initiative that can die to removal and takes longer to have a big effect on the game (there are exceptions).
Initiative is pretty much the point of no return to me for Braids for several reasons:
- Any black 4-cmc initiative enabler can go into any deck that Braids can, but Braids can't go into every deck that the initiative enablers can go into.
- Out of the box, Ravenloft Adventurer / Vicious Battlerager are out of range of most burn spells / Cut Down / etc, and any initiative enabler can get out of range next turn with the two +1/+1 counters from the Forge room.
- An opponent can deal with Braids with a removal spell, but a removal spell alone can't deal with initiative.
- Any initiative enabler can be played turn 1 on the play with Black Lotus where you wouldn't play Braids turn 1 on the play.
- Any initiative enabler is better at breaking stalemates / coming back from behind than Braids.
- Braids' body is far worse than pretty much every other viable 4-cmc black creature.
White Plume Adventurer
Blade Splicer
Skyclave Apparition
Elite Spellbinder
Flickerwisp
Loran of the Third Path
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
The two definitives for me is White Plume Adventurer #1 with Thalia, Heretic Cathar being at the bottom. After that you can really go either way with everything in between.
Here's how I'd rank everything else in the middle. Not definitive, any different day I'd probably rank them slightly different.
- Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- Skyclave Apparition
- Elite Spellbinder
- Blade Splicer
- Flickerwisp
- Loran of the Third Path
I've found Braids is often the best tool a creature toolbox deck tool has against slower control/ combo strategies.
That's basically the only good matchup for Braids, and initiative can already do the same thing. I've found slower decks in general are on the back foot anyways and I really shouldn't go out of my way to punish them. That's part of the reason why I don't play things like Thrun, the Last Troll / Carnage Tyrant anymore. Braids has basically been reduced to a "gotcha" card, but again it's much harder to lock opponents down when 2-3 cmc creatures are so efficient now and flood the board with creature / artifact tokens.
I was having some fun with the Wayback Machine, looking at my cube on CubeTutor (RIP) from 2018. One of the things I noticed is that all my black and green 4-cmc creatures have changed since then. Currently the oldest cards in either of those sections are from ELD in 2019 (Rankle and Questing Beast).
Looking at black specifically, it's nice to see we've come a long way from just playing every Ravenous Chupacabra variant that we can. Black especially has a lot of variety in options now, with most things being pretty unique instead of everything just being a spin on Ravenous Chupacabra / Flametongue Kavu / Hellrider / etc.
Does anyone else think Braids and Smokestack are just a bit durdly nowadays?
Circling back to this comment 5 years later, 2019 was probably around the time I cut Braids / Smokestack from my cube. They were feeling their age even before the power creep went to 11 in 2019 with WAR / MH1 / ELD. I probably held on to them longer than I should have because I was a die hard rogue Legacy Stax player for the better half of a decade. The speed of games do not work out in Braids / Smokestack's favor. Their matchup spread has gotten much worse as decks have to play more to the board now. Threats getting much more efficient means it's much harder for Braids / Smokestack to shut an opponent out. Smokestack can be a huge liability since it has no immediate board presence and most 3-4 cmc creatures can just kill you in record time. Comparing Braids to every other contemporary black 4-cmc creatures...
- Initiative enablers like Ravenloft Adventurer / Passageway Seer are better win conditions and can cheese your opponent much easier / more consistently than Braids can.
- Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is more than 2x the size of Braids, has deathtouch, and has much more combo potential.
While you can can still cheese an opponent with an early Braids / Smokestack, I feel like this is more of the exception in scenarios where you have an extremely good hand against an opponent having a poor hand. Even then, any initiative enabler will probably be just as good if not better in those exact same scenarios. At this point Braids is pretty much completely outclassed / obsolete in comparison to any initiative enabler, not to mention Sheoldred / Rankle. The only reason I'd consider justifying Smokestack today would be for critical mass for Mishra's Workshop, but even that's a stretch for me given today's options.
I think the planeswalker half is very strong since it's very reminiscent of Jace, Telepath Unbound. Its Achille's Heel is the low starting loyalty count making it so that you can't -3 immediately. But this is also like almost Oko level of a pain to deal with in combat since it has +2 loyalty gain + Jace, Architect of Thought effect. The recursion ability is also much better than JVP's since you can recur cards to your hand and save them for later, where JVP really didn't work well with counterspells unless you're protecting something on your own turn. Returning a spell to your hand also means it's not exiled like how it does with JVP, so you can continue recurring something like Ancestral Recall / Time Walk in a powered cube.
I do think this card is better than it reads at first, both halves are probably better than I originally gave them credit for. I originally didn't notice that the planeswalker half also has extort, which is really nice. The planeswalker half can Lightning Bolt (or even more) immediately when it transforms, and it can keep spamming Lightning Bolts every other turn in combination with its food generating ability. That ability can get really out of hand if you have a big creature with lifelink. Extreme example where you're already winning, but this can burn for 7 if you touch something with Atraxa / Grislebrand. Or just crack a food and have another way to gain life.
Every cube may vary, but my cube actually has quite a lot more ways to transform this than I thought. I ran a filter through my cube for lifelink / food / and "gains" "life" and came up with 40-ish cards (really 45, but there's at least 2 false positives in my filter with Adanto Vanguard / The One Ring / Nissa, Ascended Animist. Some are also quite narrow, like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar's ultimate). Not to mention it can just get there with extort and / or a pump effect with lifelink.
Here's the filter syntax if anybody is interested in running it through their own cube on CubeCobra
It's not too unrealistic if you're storming off. The transformation is optional if you win the coin flip, so can hold off on the transformation until once you've hit your 6th instant / sorcery.
Probably the most difficult to transform out of the cycle, especially within its own color. While I'm not the biggest fan of this in straight up reanimator shells, this goes very well with things like Gravecrawlers / Unearth effects / Lurrus companion shells / Persist creatures. I don't think this will make the cut in most reanimator decks, and I really don't support Gravecrawlers / Persist, so I'm personally not too interested in this one at the moment. Seems strong in cubes that can take full advantage of it though.
A cheap defensive minded lifelinker is quite rare in black. This can transform off a single food activation from Oko / Gilded Goose / Tough Cookie, swinging with Intrepid Adversary, or Charming Prince ETB trigger. On transformation this can bolt immediately and can fire bolts off every other turn with its food generation. Seems like an interesting card to test given how much incidental life gain there is, and black can really use an extort / food engine.
A red Baral, Chief of Compliance that can randomly transform into a planeswalker very easily is pretty nifty for storm. Probably not too bad even outside of storm, but a bit more questionable for me. Might be at least worth testing even if you don't support storm.
Hard Evidence with a lower floor but much higher ceiling. The planeswalker side is very reminiscent of Jace, Telepath Unbound with its ability to recur instants / sorceries and shrink your opponent's offense in the fashion of Jace, Architect of Thought. It's not too hard to transform this on turn 2-3 with Ancestral Recall / Brainstorm / Chart a Course / Faithless Looting / any Demand Answers variant. This is also really strong in Academy shells since it's a rare blue 1-drop that can start putting artifacts on the board. This is my second favorite in the cycle after Ajani, I'm really glad blue finally has a strong blue 1-cmc creature. I also like how they're making more "draw cards matters" things that care about having something like Brainstorm / Sylvan Library.
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only mono black cards currently ahead of it in this data set are Dismember / Thoughtseize / Grief / Mind Twist / Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Is currently tied with fellow black 5-cmc allstar Necron Deathmark
- Is currently 1 card ahead of other mono black stalwarts like Demonic Tutor / Reanimate / Baleful Mastery
- Has more showings than other black initiative enablers like Ravenloft Adventurer / Passageway Seer
Chrome Mox: 18
Bonecrusher Giant: 17
Grist, the Hunger Tide: 16
Dismember: 16
Thoughtseize: 16
Grief: 16
Chaos Defiler: 16
Mind Twist: 15
Force of Will: 14
Urza's Saga: 14
Karakas: 14
Fury: 14
Seasoned Pyromancer: 14
Remand: 14
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse: 14
Hymn to Tourach: 14
Pest Infestation: 14
Currency Converter: 13
Caves of Chaos Adventurer: 13
Necron Deathmark: 13
From the Catacombs: 13
Strip Mine: 13
Kolaghan's Command: 13
Bayou: 12
Mana Leak: 12
Occult Epiphany: 12
Archon of Cruelty: 12
Delayed Blast Fireball: 12
Forth Eorlingas!: 12
Dark Confidant: 12
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy: 12
Ertai Resurrected: 12
Reanimate: 12
Demonic Tutor: 12
Mawloc: 12
Palantir of Orthanc: 12
Baleful Mastery: 12
Ledger Shredder: 11
Gitaxian Probe: 11
Mana Drain: 11
Questing Beast: 11
Esika's Chariot: 11
Elvish Mystic: 11
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker: 11
Kari Zev, Skyship Raider: 11
Orcish Bowmasters: 11
Atraxa, Grand Unifier: 11
Baleful Strix: 11
Bitter Triumph: 11
Ignoble Hierarch: 11
Stomping Ground: 11
Undermountain Adventurer: 11
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes: 11
Talisman of Unity: 10
Thraben Inspector: 10
Palace Jailer: 10
Retrofitter Foundry: 10
Force Spike: 10
Swords to Plowshares: 10
Llanowar Elves: 10
Hullbreacher: 10
Mox Diamond: 10
Noble Hierarch: 10
Lightning Bolt: 10
Chain Lightning: 10
Fiery Confluence: 10
Chrome Host Seedshark: 10
Bloodchief's Thirst: 10
Lose Focus: 10
Daze: 10
Wheel of Fortune: 10
Glorybringer: 10
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only colorless non manafixing lands ahead of it are Chrome Mox / Urza's Saga / Currency Converter / Strip Mine
- Is currently tied with things like Demonic Tutor / Forth Eorlingas
- Is 1 card ahead of fellow LTR allstar Orcish Bowmasters
- Has over double the representation of The One Ring
Chrome Mox: 18
Bonecrusher Giant: 17
Grist, the Hunger Tide: 16
Dismember: 16
Thoughtseize: 16
Grief: 16
Chaos Defiler: 16
Mind Twist: 15
Force of Will: 14
Urza's Saga: 14
Karakas: 14
Fury: 14
Seasoned Pyromancer: 14
Remand: 14
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse: 14
Hymn to Tourach: 14
Pest Infestation: 14
Currency Converter: 13
Caves of Chaos Adventurer: 13
Necron Deathmark: 13
From the Catacombs: 13
Strip Mine: 13
Kolaghan's Command: 13
Bayou: 12
Mana Leak: 12
Occult Epiphany: 12
Archon of Cruelty: 12
Delayed Blast Fireball: 12
Forth Eorlingas!: 12
Dark Confidant: 12
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy: 12
Ertai Resurrected: 12
Reanimate: 12
Demonic Tutor: 12
Mawloc: 12
Palantir of Orthanc: 12
Baleful Mastery: 12
Ledger Shredder: 11
Gitaxian Probe: 11
Mana Drain: 11
Questing Beast: 11
Esika's Chariot: 11
Elvish Mystic: 11
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker: 11
Kari Zev, Skyship Raider: 11
Orcish Bowmasters: 11
Atraxa, Grand Unifier: 11
Baleful Strix: 11
Bitter Triumph: 11
Ignoble Hierarch: 11
Stomping Ground: 11
Undermountain Adventurer: 11
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes: 11
Talisman of Unity: 10
Thraben Inspector: 10
Palace Jailer: 10
Retrofitter Foundry: 10
Force Spike: 10
Swords to Plowshares: 10
Llanowar Elves: 10
Hullbreacher: 10
Mox Diamond: 10
Noble Hierarch: 10
Lightning Bolt: 10
Chain Lightning: 10
Fiery Confluence: 10
Chrome Host Seedshark: 10
Bloodchief's Thirst: 10
Lose Focus: 10
Daze: 10
Wheel of Fortune: 10
Glorybringer: 10
In 110 drafts since the release of LTR, it's currently one of the most represented cards in my 3-0 archive
Raw data - https://pastebin.com/raw/SJuraKDy
- The only mono black cards currently ahead of it in this data set are Dismember / Thoughtseize / Grief / Mind Twist / Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Is currently tied with fellow black 5-cmc allstar From the Catacombs
- Is currently 1 card ahead of other mono black stalwarts like Demonic Tutor / Reanimate / Baleful Mastery
Chrome Mox: 18
Bonecrusher Giant: 17
Grist, the Hunger Tide: 16
Dismember: 16
Thoughtseize: 16
Grief: 16
Chaos Defiler: 16
Mind Twist: 15
Force of Will: 14
Urza's Saga: 14
Karakas: 14
Fury: 14
Seasoned Pyromancer: 14
Remand: 14
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse: 14
Hymn to Tourach: 14
Pest Infestation: 14
Currency Converter: 13
Caves of Chaos Adventurer: 13
Necron Deathmark: 13
From the Catacombs: 13
Strip Mine: 13
Kolaghan's Command: 13
Bayou: 12
Mana Leak: 12
Occult Epiphany: 12
Archon of Cruelty: 12
Delayed Blast Fireball: 12
Forth Eorlingas!: 12
Dark Confidant: 12
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy: 12
Ertai Resurrected: 12
Reanimate: 12
Demonic Tutor: 12
Mawloc: 12
Palantir of Orthanc: 12
Baleful Mastery: 12
Ledger Shredder: 11
Gitaxian Probe: 11
Mana Drain: 11
Questing Beast: 11
Esika's Chariot: 11
Elvish Mystic: 11
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker: 11
Kari Zev, Skyship Raider: 11
Orcish Bowmasters: 11
Atraxa, Grand Unifier: 11
Baleful Strix: 11
Bitter Triumph: 11
Ignoble Hierarch: 11
Stomping Ground: 11
Undermountain Adventurer: 11
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes: 11
Talisman of Unity: 10
Thraben Inspector: 10
Palace Jailer: 10
Retrofitter Foundry: 10
Force Spike: 10
Swords to Plowshares: 10
Llanowar Elves: 10
Hullbreacher: 10
Mox Diamond: 10
Noble Hierarch: 10
Lightning Bolt: 10
Chain Lightning: 10
Fiery Confluence: 10
Chrome Host Seedshark: 10
Bloodchief's Thirst: 10
Lose Focus: 10
Daze: 10
Wheel of Fortune: 10
Glorybringer: 10
This is probably the biggest issue with Braids, which people began bringing up in this thread 5 years ago in 2019. Before initiative became the boogeyman, cubes were still pretty aggressive. A lot of decks were playing more to the board with planeswalkers / Rabblemasters / etc, vastly weakening Braids' overall matchup spread. While I can blame initiative for being the final nail in the coffin for a lot of things in my cube, Braids was already out years before CLB came out. Braids doesn't even make the cut in my Old Fashioned Cube (similar to my normal cube but with no supplemental products).
To me this is the equivalent of saying Ryu's good qualities in Street Fighter is having really good matchup against *insert the 3 most bottom tier characters in the game here*.
Initiative is pretty much the point of no return to me for Braids for several reasons:
- Any black 4-cmc initiative enabler can go into any deck that Braids can, but Braids can't go into every deck that the initiative enablers can go into.
- Out of the box, Ravenloft Adventurer / Vicious Battlerager are out of range of most burn spells / Cut Down / etc, and any initiative enabler can get out of range next turn with the two +1/+1 counters from the Forge room.
- An opponent can deal with Braids with a removal spell, but a removal spell alone can't deal with initiative.
- Any initiative enabler can be played turn 1 on the play with Black Lotus where you wouldn't play Braids turn 1 on the play.
- Any initiative enabler is better at breaking stalemates / coming back from behind than Braids.
- Braids' body is far worse than pretty much every other viable 4-cmc black creature.
The two definitives for me is White Plume Adventurer #1 with Thalia, Heretic Cathar being at the bottom. After that you can really go either way with everything in between.
Here's how I'd rank everything else in the middle. Not definitive, any different day I'd probably rank them slightly different.
- Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- Skyclave Apparition
- Elite Spellbinder
- Blade Splicer
- Flickerwisp
- Loran of the Third Path
That's basically the only good matchup for Braids, and initiative can already do the same thing. I've found slower decks in general are on the back foot anyways and I really shouldn't go out of my way to punish them. That's part of the reason why I don't play things like Thrun, the Last Troll / Carnage Tyrant anymore. Braids has basically been reduced to a "gotcha" card, but again it's much harder to lock opponents down when 2-3 cmc creatures are so efficient now and flood the board with creature / artifact tokens.
I can make an argument for playing nearly ten 4-cmc black creatures before I'd add Braids again.
- Gonti, Lord of Luxury
- Grief
- Hostile Investigator
- Passageway Seer
- Rankle, Master of Pranks
- Ravenloft Adventurer
- Ravenous Chupacabra
- Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Skinrender
- Vicious Battlerager
Looking at black specifically, it's nice to see we've come a long way from just playing every Ravenous Chupacabra variant that we can. Black especially has a lot of variety in options now, with most things being pretty unique instead of everything just being a spin on Ravenous Chupacabra / Flametongue Kavu / Hellrider / etc.
Circling back to this comment 5 years later, 2019 was probably around the time I cut Braids / Smokestack from my cube. They were feeling their age even before the power creep went to 11 in 2019 with WAR / MH1 / ELD. I probably held on to them longer than I should have because I was a die hard rogue Legacy Stax player for the better half of a decade. The speed of games do not work out in Braids / Smokestack's favor. Their matchup spread has gotten much worse as decks have to play more to the board now. Threats getting much more efficient means it's much harder for Braids / Smokestack to shut an opponent out. Smokestack can be a huge liability since it has no immediate board presence and most 3-4 cmc creatures can just kill you in record time. Comparing Braids to every other contemporary black 4-cmc creatures...
- Initiative enablers like Ravenloft Adventurer / Passageway Seer are better win conditions and can cheese your opponent much easier / more consistently than Braids can.
- Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is more than 2x the size of Braids, has deathtouch, and has much more combo potential.
- Rankle, Master of Pranks has a strictly better body and more immediate impact.
- Grief has the flexibility of evoke.
While you can can still cheese an opponent with an early Braids / Smokestack, I feel like this is more of the exception in scenarios where you have an extremely good hand against an opponent having a poor hand. Even then, any initiative enabler will probably be just as good if not better in those exact same scenarios. At this point Braids is pretty much completely outclassed / obsolete in comparison to any initiative enabler, not to mention Sheoldred / Rankle. The only reason I'd consider justifying Smokestack today would be for critical mass for Mishra's Workshop, but even that's a stretch for me given today's options.