{"ops":[{"insert":"[[Brago, King Eternal]] is an Azorius blink deck built around getting extra mileage out of enter-the-battlefield effects. Once Brago starts connecting, you can reset your useful permanents every combat: draw more cards, untap mana rocks, make tokens, bounce creatures and reuse removal.\nThere are a few infinite combos in the deck, but they aren't really the main plan. Most games are about building up a board of modest permanents and getting far more use out of them than you reasonably should.\nGame Plan"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Early Game"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Get your mana sorted and start putting useful permanents onto the battlefield.\n[[Wall of Omens]], [[Spirited Companion]], [[Sea Gate Oracle]] and [[Omen of the Sea]] replace themselves while leaving something behind for Brago to blink later.\nMana rocks are particularly good here. They help cast Brago early, then effectively untap whenever he connects.\nIdeally, Brago comes down with a board already waiting for him rather than onto an empty battlefield.\nMid Game"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Once Brago starts attacking, every successful hit should push you a little further ahead.\nBlink [[Mulldrifter]] and [[Cloudblazer]] for cards, reset [[Loran of the Third Path]] for removal, make more bodies with [[Blade Splicer]] and [[Master of Waves]], or keep opposing boards awkward with [[Reflector Mage]], [[Venser, Shaper Savant]] and [[Lavinia of the Tenth]].\nYou don't need to blink everything. Leave your attackers alone, keep [[Hero of Bretagard]] around to collect counters, and only reset permanents that actually benefit from it.\nLate Game"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"After a few Brago hits you should have built up a sizeable advantage in cards, mana and board presence.\n[[Master of Waves]], [[Blade Splicer]] and [[Whirler Rogue]] turn repeated blinks into an army, while [[Hero of Bretagard]] can become enormous just from Brago doing his normal thing.\n[[Tezzeret the Seeker]] is another way to turn that advantage into something useful. He can pull combo pieces or mana straight onto the battlefield, untap artifacts when you don't need a tutor, and his ultimate can eventually turn a pile of harmless mana rocks into attackers.\nSometimes the board is enough to win through combat. Other games end when one of the combo lines comes together.\nTutor Priorities"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The deck has [[Tezzeret the Seeker]], [[Whir of Invention]] and [[Muddle the Mixture]]. All three are flexible enough that it's easy to spend far too long looking for the perfect target, so a few defaults help.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"You can assemble the Resonator loop:"},{"insert":" find [[Strionic Resonator]]."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"You already have the loop but need a payoff:"},{"insert":" [[Tezzeret the Seeker]] or [[Whir of Invention]] can find [[Altar of the Brood]] or [[Codex Shredder]]."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"An opponent has removal in the command zone, or you're against a removal-heavy deck:"},{"insert":" [[Swiftfoot Boots]] is often worth finding before committing Brago."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"You're short on mana:"},{"insert":" use Tezzeret to find a rock, or simply +1 him to untap two artifacts if you already have enough in play."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Nothing urgently needs fixing:"},{"insert":" don't force it. Hold [[Whir of Invention]] or [[Muddle the Mixture]], or use Tezzeret for mana rather than immediately turning him into a combo piece."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"[[Tezzeret the Seeker]] is particularly good with Brago because you can activate him before combat, blink him when Brago connects, then activate the fresh Tezzeret again in your second main phase. His usual targets are fairly straightforward: -1 finds [[Altar of the Brood]] or [[Codex Shredder]], -2 finds [[Strionic Resonator]], [[Swiftfoot Boots]] or a two-mana rock, and -3 can put [[Basalt Monolith]] straight onto the battlefield.\n[[Muddle the Mixture]] can also transmute for [[Strionic Resonator]], [[Swiftfoot Boots]] or one of several two-mana rocks, while remaining a counterspell when that's more useful.\nKey Cards"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Getting Brago through"},{"insert":"\n[[Aqueous Form]] and [[Whirler Rogue]] help make sure Brago actually connects. [[Swiftfoot Boots]] protects him and lets a recast Brago attack straight away.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Card advantage"},{"insert":"\n[[Mystic Remora]] is excellent early, and Brago can blink it to clear its age counters and keep the cumulative upkeep manageable.\n[[Mulldrifter]], [[Cloudblazer]], [[Wall of Omens]], [[Sea Gate Oracle]], [[Spirited Companion]], [[Circuit Mender]] and [[Elite Guardmage]] all give you something useful on the way in and become much better when Brago can keep resetting them.\n[[Panharmonicon]] makes most of them considerably more obnoxious.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Mana and artifacts"},{"insert":"\nThe deck has plenty of rocks alongside [[Cloud of Faeries]], [[Kor Cartographer]] and [[Solemn Simulacrum]] to help get Brago online.\nThe rocks stay useful later because Brago can blink them after combat damage and bring them back untapped.\n[[Tezzeret the Seeker]] ties this package together. He can find whatever artifact you're missing, untap two artifacts for extra mana, and Brago can reset his loyalty to let you use him again.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Building a board"},{"insert":"\n[[Blade Splicer]], [[Whirler Rogue]] and [[Master of Waves]] turn all of this blinking into creatures.\n[[Master of Waves]] is especially nice here. Brago can blink it without killing the Elementals it already made, so each successful attack can add another batch of tokens.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Interaction"},{"insert":"\n[[Reality Acid]] is one of the nastier cards in the deck. Blink it with Brago and its old target gets sacrificed, then Reality Acid comes back ready to enchant something else.\n[[Reflector Mage]], [[Man-o'-War]], [[Venser, Shaper Savant]], [[Loran of the Third Path]] and [[Lavinia of the Tenth]] all become repeatable disruption once Brago is connecting regularly.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Staying alive"},{"insert":"\n[[Propaganda]] and [[Stonehorn Dignitary]] buy time against creature-heavy decks.\n[[Cloudshift]], [[Ephemerate]], [[Momentary Blink]] and the other instant-speed blink spells can save an important creature while getting another ETB out of it. [[Eerie Interlude]] is the emergency button when somebody tries to wipe the board.\nStrengths"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"A lot of the cards in this deck look harmless until Brago starts reusing them.\nOne attack can draw cards, untap mana, make creatures and remove something at the same time, and those little advantages pile up quickly.\nMost of the combo pieces are useful outside their combos too, so you aren't often stuck holding completely dead cards while waiting for the rest of a line.\nWeaknesses"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Brago is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.\nWithout him, plenty of the cards are still playable, but they're much less impressive. Repeated commander removal can leave you spending a lot of mana just trying to restart the engine.\nBrago also has to deal combat damage to a player. A good flying blocker or a crowded board can cause real problems without one of your evasion pieces.\nThe deck is also better at getting very far ahead than it is at ending the game quickly without a combo. Sometimes you'll have a ridiculous board and still need another couple of combat steps to actually finish things.\nTypical Play Pattern"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Play a cheap ETB creature or some ramp, cast Brago, then look for the safest player to attack.\nOnce Brago connects, blink whatever gives you the most back: draw creatures, mana rocks, removal or token makers. Use the refreshed mana to add another piece, then do it again next turn.\nEventually the pile of small advantages either becomes enough to win through combat or one of the combo lines presents itself.\nMulligan Priorities"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The ideal opener has "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"3 lands, some early ramp and at least one useful permanent for Brago to blink"},{"insert":".\nCheap mana like [[Arcane Signet]], [[Azorius Signet]] or [[Talisman of Progress]] makes a hand much more appealing because getting Brago down early matters.\nA cheap draw permanent such as [[Wall of Omens]] or [[Spirited Companion]] is also a very good start.\nInteraction is useful if the rest of the hand already works, but don't keep a pile of counterspells and blink spells with nothing useful to blink. Likewise, avoid hands full of expensive ETB creatures with no acceleration.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Against removal-heavy decks:"},{"insert":" value protection more highly. [[Swiftfoot Boots]], [[Cloudshift]], [[Ephemerate]] or [[Eerie Interlude]] can be the difference between getting the engine started and repeatedly paying commander tax.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Against creature-heavy decks:"},{"insert":" [[Propaganda]], [[Stonehorn Dignitary]] and cheap interaction become much better keeps. You have time to generate value if the table can't simply run you over first.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Against control or spellslinger decks:"},{"insert":" [[Mystic Remora]] is excellent, and keeping a counterspell alongside a functional hand is much more attractive.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Against fast combo:"},{"insert":" prioritise interaction over cute value pieces. A slower Brago hand that eventually draws six cards doesn't matter if another deck can win before you get there.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Against slower value decks:"},{"insert":" this is where you can afford to keep the classic Brago hand of ramp, an ETB creature and a clear route into the commander. You generally want to be the first deck at the table whose engine actually gets moving.\n"}]}