Bruna. Why all the Hate
Deck Help forum
Posted on March 29, 2013, 6:42 a.m. by Sainted
Hey there. So recently Ive been poking around at Enchantment based decks and just Blue in General. I prefer Modern and Legacy but to be honest Ill play any format if I like the deck I made for it. Ive been trying to use Bruna, Light of Alabaster lately because I think as a Tribe they are incredibly versatile and I respect that. However in my deck building process of speaking to people at Card shops, Friends, and Tapped out, Bruna gets nothing and I mean NOTHING but hate as a horrible card. Now... I refuse to believe with an Ability like the one she has, she can't be used to completely roll house. the main thing I hear is that she is too slow....and it never seems to cross that for one..your running the Color of Control (Blue) and you could splash green for some serious ramp if you know what your doing. Now i don't know if this if I'm mostly getting opinions from people who think they have more card knowledge than they really do or if I'm just refusing to accept a "fact". So I am asking you all. Can Bruna be used effectively in Modern/Legacy ANY Format with either a U/W or G/U/W. Id prefer if you don't like Bruna for you to state some relevant info and not just bash. The more i can learn the better.
imagine hitting someone with Bruna, Light of Alabaster
, with a bunch of auras. Sounds pretty devestating, I know, but burna can always be hit with a kill spell in response to her trigger, and unless you give her haste, the opponent will always have 1 turn to look at her and react.
Now imagine another scenario, except with Invisible Stalker
, and you hard-cast auras on him over the next few turns. All of a sudden, you have a creature who can't be blocked, and who can't be targeted.
He's doing a whole bunch of damage every turn and only a few select cards will get rid of him.
March 29, 2013 10:12 a.m.
Ohthenoises says... #4
EDH? Amazing general. Aura Mind Trick. U/W control with my general as the finisher.
The best use of her I've seen so far is Esper self mill + reanimator. Forbidden alchemy to hunt for control spells like Dissipate and Barter in Blood . When the time comes for a kill con after laying out Oblivion Ring s and Detention Sphere s with a Bruna, Light of Alabaster and Ethereal Armor + Holy Mantle in the graveyard you Unburial Rites then protect her for a turn then swing for near game.
Not really much going on in Bant, I mean it's doable but Esper allows you to clear the field much easier.
March 29, 2013 11:05 a.m.
I agree with Ohthenoises. Bruna is a very strong commander, and is devastating if used right.
As a tack on to the idea Ohthenoises saw, Auramancer's Guise will also help. If you really need to protect her, have a Whispersilk Cloak on the field to attach to her right away.
March 29, 2013 11:19 a.m.
Ohthenoises says... #6
I was giving standard examples. You could make it MUCH more powerful in modern/legacy. (ala 1-2 of Eldrazi Conscription .)
March 29, 2013 11:44 a.m.
I'll just affirm some opinions to strengthen the argument. Bruna is too slow, pure and simple. Modern and legacy are not to be fucked with - they are serious, fast, and concise formats that Kor Spiritdancer could even do better in.
My favourite card is Lorescale Coatl , who for general purposes is typically outclassed by Tarmogoyf . It's just how competitive play works. Play Bruna in casual or EDH, but not in a competitive format.
March 29, 2013 2:32 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
Honestly, Bruna, Light of Alabaster is only strong in EDH.
At least in EDH you have the ability to build around her properly. She needs so much support that she isn't viable in other formats. EDH has the ramp and card allowance to pull off an effective deck.
In Standard, you're up against tempo, control, and aggro. If you even make it to turn six without dying or missing a land drop, you then have to fight to resolve Bruna, Light of Alabaster , keep her alive, and then pull Auras to support her. She's very slow and vulnerable. Frankly, she's a terrible finisher. Cards like Restoration Angel and Angel of Serenity are much better because they support your deck rather than the other way around. For Bruna, Light of Alabaster to be anything more than a bigger, more expensive Serra Angel , you need to devote deck space to Auras and potentially even ramp. That means you're relying on a card with no real inherent survivability and devoting a lot of your resources to supporting it. The Auras are dead draws until you land Bruna, Light of Alabaster , and they could be used for cards that are more useful in general. A deck is certainly doable, but it likely won't get very far in the current meta.
In Modern, you'll get mauled by aggro and tempo decks before you can even think about dropping Bruna, Light of Alabaster . Same in Legacy, but with more counterspells. Usually, decks in these formats don't even want to play a card with CMC 4 unless it gives enormous, immediate advantage. Bruna, Light of Alabaster just doesn't generate that kind of impact. She is too slow and detracts too much from the flexibility of your deck that you're ultimately left behind in relation to the power curve. Even if you try to fit her into proven decks like Enchantress, you're detracting from a design that works by trying to make it work in a different way. Bruna, Light of Alabaster is not good enough to make that change worth the effort.
Despite those arguments, I'm not saying Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a bad card overall. She has a time and place, but she just isn't suited to the competitive 60-card environment. Some cards seem awesome in theory, but just don't play in paper the same way they play on paper. Current examples are Gideon, Champion of Justice and Isperia, Supreme Judge . Initially, they seem reasonably powerful. However, they just aren't relevant in the environments into which they are sometimes being forced.
wreckedd says... #2
In modern and legacy you're going to be going up against hyper aggressive decks, turn 6 without ramp or possibly turn 4 with is in my opinion a bit slow for that format, as well its very easy to remove that late in the game, and you will likely have to wait an extra turn before you can utilize the ability. The ability also messes with timing as you're going to want to keep cards in your hand to use once she is down, but as well you need to play stuff before she goes down or you're a sitting duck. Either way, without card draw I don't think you're likely to have many cards in hand at that point. Perhaps in EDH where the game is a bit slower she would be awesome. This is just my opinion though, I can't say she's a bad card, just I think those are her draw backs.
March 29, 2013 9:06 a.m.