PETTY EXTORTION [PRIMER|DUEL|1vs1] BRAIDS

Duel Commander Competitive Control Mono-Black Pox Primer Stax

SakuraStorm

★ LANDS ★ (32)

• 15x Swamp
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Traitors
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Dunes of the Dead
• 1x Ebon Stronghold
• 1x Lake of the Dead
• 1x Peat Bog
• 1x Rishadan Port
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

★ STAX STARTERPACK ★ (8)

• 1x Ensnaring Bridge
• 1x Sphere of Resistance
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Winter Orb
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Icequake
• 1x Sinkhole
• 1x Smallpox

★ CARDDRAW ★ (4)

• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Sign in Blood

★ GRAVEYARD-HATE ★ (2)

• 1x Tormod's Crypt
• 1x Leyline of the Void

★ THE BIG GUY ★ (1)

• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator

★ DISRUPTION ★ (14)

• 1x Pithing Needle
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Diabolic Edict
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Liliana's Triumph
• 1x Withering Boon
• 1x Hope of Ghirapur
• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope
• 1x Collective Brutality
• 1x Hymn to Tourach
• 1x Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1x Thoughtseize

★ MANA-DORKS & -ROCKS ★ (13)

• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Jeweled Amulet
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Star Compass
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Leaden Myr
• 1x Manakin
• 1x Millikin
• 1x Coldsteel Heart

★ REANIMATION ★ (3)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Reanimate

★ TUTORS ★ (2)

• 1x Tainted Pact
• 1x Demonic Tutor

Commander (1)

★ BREAKING PARITY ★ (13)

• 1x Ichor Wellspring
• 1x Mycosynth Wellspring
• 1x Servo Schematic
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Bloodghast
• 1x Carrier Thrall
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Flesh Carver
• 1x Nether Traitor
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Dreadhorde Invasion
• 1x Bitterblossom

★ RITUALS ★ (6)

• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Sacrifice
• 1x Bubbling Muck

★ FREE SACRIFICE ★ (1)

• 1x Shield Sphere

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"In addition to killing peasants, punishing subordinates, and raising an army of nightmares, Braids somehow found time for her favorite hobby: petty extortion"

[Braids, Cabal Minion - Primer]

Intoduction

Lately i've been arguing quite a lot about the banlist of multiplayer, after the (at the time) recent bannings of Iona, Shield of Emeria and Paradox Engine .

At that point, i again started discussing the creation of own banlists and took a deeper look at why certain cards are banned in multiplayer.

One got stuck in my head though, guessed right... Braids, Cabal Minion .

Thing is, i was amazed by the artwork, the brutal effect and ways to build around it. Her lore is also super fun and got me into buying the books, as i wanted to know more 'bout this mad, nightmare summoning waifu.

Since i've been frustrated to a certain degree by multiplayer, this was a welcome project. As i don't have to rely on politics, groupdynamic, false threat assessement or the "social contract". Duell's banlist(the french one) follows a straight line and that's a welcome twist.

Utilizing the ludicrous banlist multiplayer provides, yeah she's super busted. But if you take the thing towards Duell Commander, she makes a solid let's say tier 3 deck, at tournaments a rogue deck and a super fun one too. Without the whole Crypts and Vaults, Moxen and whatever, just 20 lifepoints, you gotta put some work in it to win a game with her as commander.

How does it work?

Since this is STAX deck, the gameplan is all about breaking parity. Turning Braids's effect or a Smallpox to the point you don't care about it anymore, or even get an advantage out of it.

This deck is absolutely dependant on it's commander to work properly. If you can get her out by turn 2 with certain setup good. But it's crucial that she's out by Turn 3.

Turn 1 and 2 are mainly for disruption or setup to have something to sacrifice to Braids.

From there on it's about keeping your enemy low, low on lands, low on creatures and low artifacts. While you're advancing your board and keeping control.

Also protecting Braids is important as she's your main wincondition and gameplan with this deck.

Usually games are won on turn 9-14,though games are decided by turn 3-4 most of the time ;)

Card-Choices explained

★ BREAKING PARITY ★

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Ichor Wellspring , Mycosynth Wellspring , Servo Schematic

These feel like they were printed for this deck, each has an amazing effect on entering and leaving. CMC2 makes sure you can always cast them a turn prior to Braids.

Bloodghast , Nether Traitor , Reassembling Skeleton

They are fragile to graveyardhate, but amazing when not interrupted, each of them can come back on his own.

Bitterblossom , Dreadhorde Invasion , Ophiomancer , Cryptbreaker

Best token producers i could find in mono-. All are again CMC2 or less(except Ophiomancer ), so they can come 1 turn prior to Braids and be sacrificed.

Hangarback Walker , Flesh Carver , Carrier Thrall

They die and you get a decent replacement. Hangarback Walker can pretty escalate, if he doesn't eat removal.

★ DISRUPTION ★

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Pithing Needle , Phyrexian Revoker , Hero's Downfall

These are the main answers to oposing planeswalkers, although it's also always nice to shutdown a mana rock or dork with Phyrexian Revoker .

Diabolic Edict , Liliana's Triumph , Dismember

Dedicated creature removal, much needed to get the opponent to sacrifice lands.

Hope of Ghirapur

Amazing card, makes Braids almost always uncounterable.

Hymn to Tourach , Inquisition of Kozilek , Thoughtseize

Dedicated discard, necessary to get Braids through and keep her alive.

Liliana of the Veil , Liliana, the Last Hope , Collective Brutality

Multipurpose, some of the best cards mono- has to offer.

★ STAX-STARTERPACK ★

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Ensnaring Bridge

Works great against aggro and can buy a lot of time. Attack, play in MP2, sac the thing in your upkeep to Braids, to get back to attacking.

Sphere of Resistance

Can be used to play around counters, or just to close the game.

Tangle Wire

Is simply amazing, game ender and another great option to buy time and create a stallmate.

Winter Orb

Can't sadly be saced to Braids to get an untap, but shuts the opponent down as good as always.

Contamination

Should be used with caution, as it's not always guaranteed that it can maintain on board.

Sinkhole , Icequake

Makes sure the opponent won't progress and can cripple decks that run greedy on colored mana.

★ RITUALS ★

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This is as old as it gets, cards as Dark Ritual allow for a turn 2 Braids including all the setup you need, draw enough of these and you can bring the game to a super early close. Even the ones requiring to sacrifice a creature are unproplematic to cast, as almost all creatures replace themselves or are easy revived.

★ LANDS ★

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Ancient Tomb , City of Traitors , Crystal Vein , Ebon Stronghold , Lake of the Dead , Peat Bog , Gemstone Caverns , Phyrexian Tower , Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper

All of them are ramping and make sure you can get a safe turn 3 Braids.

Dunes of the Dead , Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai

Can be sacrificed to Braids, to get some nice replacement.

Cavern of Souls

Makes Braids uncounterable.

Rishadan Port , Wasteland , Bojuka Bog

Some nice disruption and mana denial.

Command Beacon

Safes a mana, if you need to let her get back to the command zone.

★ REST ★

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Tormod's Crypt , Leyline of the Void

Graveyardhate of choice, as both can essentially be cast for 0 and make up a free sacrifice to spare your creatures, lands or artifacts from Braids.

Shield Sphere

Does a good job against aggro and can also be just a free sacrifice, if you do'nt want to sac something else.

Charcoal Diamond , Everflowing Chalice , Fellwar Stone , Jet Medallion , Jeweled Amulet , Mind Stone , Prismatic Lens , Star Compass , Thought Vessel , Leaden Myr , Manakin , Millikin , Coldsteel Heart

Rocks and Manadorks of choice, all enable a turn 3 Braids and can later be sacrificed to her. Everflowing Chalice can also be cast for 0, to enable another free sac.

Phyrexian Obliterator

Works good in defense and offense.

Skullclamp , Dark Confidant , Night's Whisper , Sign in Blood

Cheapest Carddraw available, Dark Confidant can attack and Skullclamp creates value as cretures die to Braids and can later on also be saced to Braids.

Animate Dead , Dance of the Dead , Reanimate

Mainly used to recast Braids from the grave, can also be useful to get another token from stuff like Flesh Carver .

Demonic Tutor , Tainted Pact

Best tutors that mono- has to offer.

Important Rulings

Upkeeptrigger and the Stack

Here's something to keep in mind. In each turn's upkeep you get to chose the order in which your "beginning of upkeep" effects hit the stack.

Best example would be Tangle Wire and Braids herself, as it's your opponent's turn, you're almost always better off putting Tangle Wire s ability first and then Braids.

Resolving in your opponent having to sacrifice something to Braids first and then tapping for Tangle Wire . Making sure he can't sac something already rendered useless by Tangle Wire .

Hope you enjoyed reading! Am i missing something? Open for feedback/ suggestions/ help

Top Ranked	Achieved #27 position overall 5 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Duel Commander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 30 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.90
Tokens	Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Horror */* B, Servo 1/1 C, Snake 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie Army 0/0 B
Folders	ACTIVE DUEL DECKS <3, Braids