Bruna,Control-Tron

Commander / EDH QKNARWHAL

SCORE: 110 | 89 COMMENTS | 25546 VIEWS | IN 53 FOLDERS


QKNARWHAL says... #1

MordMetal - It works well as is, and I wouldnt say it really needs any changes for edh. For Cedh there are a few changes I would make but for the most part it has a good balance for both

May 4, 2018 11:02 p.m.

I would recommend Spectra Ward in bruna because it gives protection and makes it almost unblockable

May 19, 2018 8:46 p.m.

QKNARWHAL says... #3

Chickens_are_awesome- Used to run it but took it out. Steel of the Godhead Diplomatic Immunity do similar things and I like them more.

May 19, 2018 10:48 p.m.

xEleven says... #4

What do you do against decks that sacrifice creatures? Like each player sacs a creature? QKNARWHAL

June 14, 2018 3:09 p.m.

QKNARWHAL says... #5

xEleven- The times I’ve dealt with those sorts of effects I think usually try not to let them resolve or I slow my gameplan to look for answers such as Cyclonic Rift or Austere Command. You just have to think through your game plan and make sure you don’t make stupid mistakes that lose you Bruna

June 14, 2018 8:52 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #6

I have seen it said before, but I want to question your win-condition as a deck under the "Competitive Hub".

Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a very good "pub-stomp" commander. I am sure you can understand why, it is really good at pumping out damage once you deck has the ramp and enchantments to pull it off. Good card draw or tutoring allows you to pump it up with 2-3 enchantents that get it to one-shot opponents. That wins in three turns!


I think I should break that down just a bit. You need 2-3 cards additional to the commander, and for the sake of arguement, I will say 2. Battle Mastery + Corrupted Conscience for example, given you only have a few other 2 card "combos" with you commander, this one is the cheapest. All together it would cost mana, but your commander really makes that mana and a combat step uninterrupted. Honestly, winning with 2 cards additional to the commander that costs 6 mana outside of green isn't great, but given you can tutor them up well, which you can to some extent as the cards you need are aura enchantments and you are in white.

Truely, this is wrong though. Intuition and Three Dreams are one-card combos with your commander, sadly your commander can't cheat their costs, so if we take Intuition with Bruna, Light of Alabaster, it costs 9 mana, and it one-shots a player per turn.

Per turn is the issue though. A 3 turn win (killing one opponents a turn) leads to 6 turns your opponents have to answer an unprotected body (no hexproof nor any indestructible type effects). 6 turns is forever in cEDH, and since you run so much of your deck as useless enchantments (outside of combat win), it is simply not likely you can counter everything your opponents through at you.

This is why I question your win-condition.


The thing is, a control deck isn't just trying to win. It needs an absurd amount of card draw and cheap answers to stop every attempt at dropping a stax lock or combo finisher. Every Dark Confidant, Trinisphere, and Food Chain needs a Swords to Plowshares, Chain of Vapor, and Swan Song respectively. You don't have the luxury of running just 20 answers for the 20 threats in each opponents deck, you need 60 answers for the 20 threats in each of 3 of your opponents deck. 60 cards that are simply answers won't do the trick either, you are drawing one card a turn, your opponents (collectively) draw 3 a turn. EDH is a game that every player is at a statistical disadvantage.

So run multple answers in each card Grasp of Fate all the Dark Confidant, Trinisphere, and Food Chain all at once. Windfall a new hand of answers, Timetwister back your answers, and draw a new hand. Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain, Opt, Impulse, Serum Visions and cantrip your way to the right answers for the situation at hand.

You actually have what I would normally say is the next point, prematurely answering threats. Armageddon can wipe a hand out of the game, if your opponents can's cast the cards in their hands, they might as well not have it. Cataclysm is similar, for obvious reasons, and so is Ravages of War, a card I would greatly recommend.

To get more value out of these effects, you need another tutor like Personal Tutor is a great way to find a land-swipe effect, I also suggest better card draw like Timetwister, Time Spiral, Manifold Insights, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, etc.

Cheap answers like Chain of Vapor, Fragmentize, Mental Misstep, Delay, Mindbreak Trap, Rapid Hybridization, Pongify, Into the Roil, Blink of an Eye, Grafdigger's Cage, and other such answers are the best thing to have a ton of. They are blowouts early-game, useful tempo boosts mid-game, and still relevent late game. Being able to have a card for every threat means spending more cards on ramping is unrealistic at best, but running a deck very low to the ground is incredibly useful, pretty much every cEDH control deck is either stax-hybrid control, or straight 1-2 mana answers, some sweepers, and 1-3 mana card draw.


To end all of this, I would recommend greatly changing this deck, or dropping the "Competitive" tag, it is misleading as-is.

I also want you to know, QKNARWHAL, that I mean no disrespect to you or your deck-building capabilities, I do not think that this deck is a bad deck, simply not competitive. A previous user, Podkomorka had showed similar thoughts to mine, yet did not explain them. Podkomorka also was not mentioned or responded to in further posts, which I hope will not be done to myself.

Thanks for reading! - SynergyBuild (I'll toss you an upvote on the way out)

July 18, 2018 9:10 a.m.

QKNARWHAL says... #7

SynergyBuild- I will look more closely at your comment later. I was actually about to go through Bruna soon and take out some stuff for some new things most likely card draw, I understand the thought on Bruna not being competitive because she really isn’t. Though she has held her own very well and won many a competitive pods. I’m not shy to the cEDH scene as my other decks are Doosmday Zur, Brostorm Selvala, High tide jace, Combo gitrog. I appriecate You taking the time to write out your thoughts though and will most likely be making some changes in the coming weeks

July 18, 2018 10:21 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #8

Thank you for responding, I am a huge fan of making non-competitive commanders a powerful list. I believe Bruna, Light of Alabaster can helm a competitive stax-control or control list very well due to its colors, but I think that no enchantments other than Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study and stuff of that nature should be run.

July 18, 2018 10:28 a.m.

QKNARWHAL says... #9

SynergyBuild-probably going to be taking out Damping Sphere (was testing it), As Foretold, Celestial Mantle, and maybe some other stuff. My meta varies heavily so I probably won’t go full stax as it would be dead against some decks.

July 18, 2018 10:32 a.m.

Cocanine132 says... #10

How does this deck stack up against competitive Dredge decks

March 24, 2019 2:07 p.m.

QKNARWHAL says... #11

Cocanine132 Not sure what dredge decks you’d be playing against except maybe Gitrog? If you have a problem with them in your meta feel free to sub in more graveyard hate in place of some counterspells.

April 3, 2019 2:31 a.m.

dchu650 says... #12

I run a similar Bruna deck where it is a mixture of stax and tempo. Have you thought about running Narset, Parter of Veils? That card is almost always just drawing me a card and stopping the opponent from going off.

November 27, 2019 12:37 p.m.

QKNARWHAL says... #13

dchu650 Yes definitely been on the play test list. Seems like an all around great addition to the deck.....but I need a foil one

November 27, 2019 4:39 p.m.

camallu says... #14

Have you looked at Savor the Moment over Temporal Manipulation? With Bruna having vigilance, how often are you needing the extra untap step?

March 9, 2020 9:21 p.m.

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