MTG Combo: Cloudform + Lightform

GS10 on Brago Bounce

8 years ago

Crystal Shard seems awfully inexpensive. Once you play it once people will know how to play around it so I never really found it useful. It's true utility is bouncing a target you control to your own hand and you can only do it once, so it seems narrow.

• Obviously Sol Ring and Thran Dynamo are upgrades to look up for in the future, since mana rocks work brilliantly with Brago. Basalt Monolith is also really good, and in truth, any cheap mana rock that comes in untapped is added value.

• If and when you get your mana rocks, especially Sol Ring get a Strionic Resonator and an Altar of the Brood. These are cheap and go infinite with Brago for a win con possible at turn 3. Other spells that work with infinite blinks from Brago, King Eternal and Sol Ring + Strionic Resonator are Thought-Knot Seer (which is still a bit expensive), and Cloudform + Lightform to manifest your whole deck until you find your Altar of the Brood for instance. Check out Oblivion Ring and Detention Sphere rullings too, since if you blink them infinitely with they're ETB ability on the stack, they aren't on the Battlefield when the triggers resolve, so targets are permanently exiled.

• I've also locked some games with Render Silent. You can stop the more dangerous player from doing anything (it actually nerfs Narset, Enlightened Master decks) and if you have Archaeomancer you can blink it back every turn.

• And this being EDH, Cyclonic Rift is everywhere, so, especially in conjunction with Archaeomancer blinking in and out, it has a place in there once you decide to make the investment.

Have a look into my deck, I hope my insights are of some help to you ;) +1 given

Dead Ghost Resurrection

Commander / EDH GS10

SCORE: 6 | 2 COMMENTS | 189 VIEWS | IN 3 FOLDERS

GS10 on

8 years ago

Hey! I'll leave a link to my Brago deck if you want to check it out:

Dead Ghost Resurrection

Commander / EDH GS10

SCORE: 2 | 94 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS

I haven't tested a shell like this, but it seems to lack a bit of focus so I have a few suggestions for you to test in the future:

• 47 lands is waaaaay too much. I run 40 in my mana hungry Omnath Deck and the only time I brought them all out was with a Splendid Reclamation on my last turn after being milled to death lol. I'd run 36 to 38 depending on the average cost and curve you end up with.

• Probably you're running that many lands because you don't have any acceleration. I'd run things like Azorius Signet, Azorius Cluestone, Basalt Monolith, Sol Ring, Darksteel Ingot and Thran Dynamo at least, or any other combination of cheaper mana rocks, since you can use them all on your first main phase and blink them with Brago for double the use after combat. That also allows an infinite combo that I'll talk about later.

• Brago's true power lies in repeated ETB Triggers. Heliod is the guy for vigilance, Brago's thing jin the long game is the ETB trigger toolbox. Look into cards like Mulldrifter, Sun Titan, Reflector Mage, Man-o'-War, Knight-Captain of Eos, Archaeomancer, Rishadan Brigand, Trinket Mage, Peregrine Drake, Cloud of Faeries and so on.

• Vehicles seem underwhelming appart from Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, for the ETB trigger I went on about. Marshal's Anthem also does not take advantage from Brago Triggers (You'd rather plus Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, next turn ultimate him, blink it with Brago, plus him again on second main phase, next turn ultimate again and so on, for repeated Anthem effects if you want those)

• There is a possible infinite combo win for Brago. The quickest route requires Sol Ring, Strionic Resonator and Altar of the Brood. Use Sol Ring to activate the Resonator on Brago's blink ability, blink them both with the copied ability (which resolves first), when they come into the battlefield, do it again copying the original Brago trigger which is still on the stack, and you can do that infinitely to mill everyone out with Altar of the Brood. If you don't want to mill, that interaction can generate everything from infinite mana, to infinite draw or infinite tokens, so it's just a matter of pick and choose. If you dislike infinite combos, you don't need them or you can play the pieces without going infinite (which is what I do most times), but I strongly recommend Strionic Resonator for extra blinks. And I'd loose the blink effect instants. I've tried them and they don't seem very impactful, since Brago does that well by himself.

• Then I'd run either a manifest engine, or a bit of countermagic. Mastery of the Unseen, Lightform and Cloudform give you insane card and board advantage, but will sometimes waste you important instants and sorceries. I prefer countermagic and only run Cloudform + Lightform for the infinite combo. I suggest some like Counterspell, Render Silent, Rewind, Dissolve. Nothing x costed like Clash of Wills and hard counters mostly on 3, 4 mana max, depending on the added value you get from them. How many depend on how you feel you might need them. Personally I run 2, since I have a lot of ways to draw into them or bring them back from the grave.

Try some changes out, bit by bit ;) I've been playing Brago since June and I like it more and more, the more I tweak it. It's really fun and has probably one of the cheapest infinite combos available to it. (Probably on par with Ezuri, Claw of Progress + Sage of Hours most times)

Feel free if you have some questions. I'm no expert, but I'll be glad if I'm of any help.

GS10 on Everlasting Bragstopper

8 years ago

Altar of the Brood is a quicker and safer way to win the game with the infinite combo between Brago, King Eternal and Strionic Resonator.

About Cloudform + Lightform they're worth it. Don't worry about Stasis or any of that. You'll flat out win the game if you get one of those manifest enchantments with Strionic Resonator going infinite.

• Manifest pretty much the whole deck until you find Archaeomancer and any combination of counterspells you feel you might need to avoid a board wipe at all costs;

• Then you blink all manifested permanents you NEED in play, and leave the others manifested. Blink all the counterspells, let them go to the graveyard and blink Archaeomancer to get them back to your hand. Keep mana up for them, even if you need to blink some manifested lands.

• Survive the turn, countering any board wipe or effect that prevents you from swinging with everything next turn and GG.

I went through that explanation in my deck tech, so check it out and see what other options you might have to consider to win the game going infinite with the Resonator. Speaking of which, Oblivion Ring is an additional hit that works with the infinite combo.

Dead Ghost Resurrection

Commander / EDH GS10

SCORE: 1 | 71 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

My Brago deck is more of an aggressor while your is more of a stax deck, but they have the infinite combo and some of the same weaknesses in common, so have a look and I hope I've been able to help somehow ;) +1 given.