Brago, The King Infinite

Commander / EDH Control Infinite Combo WU (Azorius)

spacemanpizzaexpress

Creature (22)

• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Auramancer
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Cloudblazer
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Eldrazi Displacer
• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Man-o'-War
• 1x Manic Scribe
• 1x Mnemonic Wall
• 1x Peregrine Drake
• 1x Reflector Mage
• 1x Riftwing Cloudskate
• 1x Soulherder
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Tribute Mage
• 1x Trophy Mage
• 1x Wall of Lost Thoughts

Instant (10)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Eerie Interlude
• 1x Ephemerate
• 1x Faerie Trickery
• 1x Momentary Blink
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Teferi's Time Twist

Artifact (15)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Azorius Cluestone
• 1x Azorius Keyrune
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Hierophant's Chalice
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Static Orb
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Aqueous Form
• 1x Dovescape
• 1x Karmic Justice
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Parallax Tide
• 1x Reality Acid
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Stasis
• 1x Steel of the Godhead

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Venser, the Sojourner

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Boreal Shelf
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 12x Island
• 1x Meandering River
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 12x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Skycloud Expanse
• 1x Tranquil Cove
• 1x Tundra

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Refurbish
• 1x Supreme Verdict
• 1x Time Warp

---

This is the upgraded version of my first Brago build. After several play tests with my playgroup, I got to troubleshoot the blindspots of the deck and optimize its interactions to other players.

First Things First

Brago has a unique mechanic that you need to get used to: Blinking.

Basically, blinking is exiling target permanents and returning them to the battlefield depending on the time that was ruled by the spell. Sometimes it's instantaneous, sometimes it's in the beginning of your end step, or sometimes it needs a permanent to leave the battlefield. No matter which, remember to check rules on EXILE.

With blinking, the deck uses a lot of things that triggers on ETB (enter the battlefield) or LTB (leave the battlefield) effects.

The Brago Combo

The Brago Combo is basically blinking your stuff infinite times. Obviously enough to leave a mark on your playgroup's future plans, more specifically, your friendship.

With the infinite blinking effect, you can trigger your permanents' ETB or LTB infinite times. Infinite damage? Check. Infinite mill? You got it. Infinite draws? Better keep that Reliquary Tower. Infinite turns? Give your friends activities on the side to keep them amused. It will take that long.

Fodder to the Engine!

The Brago Combo goes like this:

1. Brago deals damage and his ability is put on the stack.
2. Activate Strionic Resonator and copy the ability.
3. Blink out your non land permanents via Strionic Resonator.
4. Strionic Resonator comes back to the game with Brago's triggered ability still on stack.
5. Activate Strionic Resonator and copy the ability (You've resolved the blink copied by Strionic. Brago's triggered ability is still on stack, ready to be copied like an EDM song).
6. Infinite loop. Lose your mind. Lose your friends

As you may have already noticed, the combo will be dependent on three main components:

The Sparkplug

Brago's main skill reads: "Whenever Brago, King Eternal deals combat damage to a player, exile any number of target nonland permanents you control, then return those cards to the battlefield under their owner's control." This means that whenever Brago deals damage, you get to blink as much nonland permanents as you like and return it to the battlefield. In order for you to do this, you need to make sure that Brago stays on the field and is unblockable.

The following cards in this deck will help you:

Venser, the Sojourner - can make your creatures unblockable

Whispersilk Cloak - can make your creatures unblockable but also immune to ALL magic. Even yours.

Aqueous Form - can make your creatures unblockable

Steel of the Godhead - can buff your creatures and make them unblockable as long as they are blue .

Lightning Greaves - can make your creatures unblockable but also immune to ALL magic. Even yours. (A good alternative can be Swiftfoot Boots , or you can add the both of them)

Rogue's Passage will let you pay 4 and tap that land. Brago can now have access to the back door to bitch slap someone.

The Engine

Strionic Resonator will make your dreams come true. For you can copy Brago's triggered ability on the stack and use it to blink your stuff out. It will comeback to the game fresh and ready to copy Brago's ability again, making sure that you get those ETBs 60% of time all the time.

The Fuel

The Engine relies on mana rocks, or artifacts that can produce mana. You will notice that we run a lot of mana rocks in this deck: Sol Ring , Basalt Monolith , Grim Monolith , Thran Dynamo , and Azorius Rocks. Why these? Because these can be blinked out and back again, untapped and ready for use and abuse. Alternatively, you can use Hedron Archive to replace Grim Monolith if you're running on a budget.

The Win-Con

Knowing the win condition is the same as answering this question: What can I blink infinite times to kill off the board? This deck has three answers for that: Infinite Mill, Infinite Damage, and Infinite Turns.

Mill Scenario

Brago Combo x Manic Scribe or Wall of Lost Thoughts . You can also blink your permanents infinite times while leaving out Altar of the Brood . This way, they get to mill (x) cards where (x) is the number of permanents entering under your control. Now, I'm not good with math but that looks like (x) cards milled per instance where the instance is infinite.

Damage Scenario

Brago Combo x Hierophant's Chalice . You can alternatively use Staff of Nin , although it's CMC is much more expensive and it's not as "utility" as the Chalice.

Brago Combo x any creature. Without blinking the Soulherder , it can have infinite +1/+1s, ready to swing at the next opponent. Make this monster unblockable and you'll run a clock where you can one hit an opponent every combat.

Turn Scenario

Cast Time Warp to get an extra turn. Execute the Brago Combo x Archaeomancer or Mnemonic Wall . Fish out Time Warp from your graveyard and recast it in your second main phase. Play Netflix on your phone and let the playgroup watch. You guys might be here for at least infinite turns.

Meet The Family! (Creatures)

Brago's cohorts are ETB utilities. Through a series of rigorous auditions and drama, we have selected the people that will help Brago's quest for world domination. In this section, we'll discuss the different uses of your creatures so that you'd have an idea on what they need to do should the time come.

Utility Blinkers

Brago won't always be there to hold your hand, considering that your friends have figured out a way to bump him off the board. These creatures will help you with the ETBs.

Venser, the Sojourner

Soulherder

Eldrazi Displacer

Deadeye Navigator

Felidar Guardian

Bouncers

These creatures return stuff back to their owners' hand once they ETB. This can help you control what you want on the board and slowing down your opponents since you're returning their combo stuff back into their hands.

Reflector Mage

Riftwing Cloudskate

Man-o'-War

Tutors

These creatures tutor (or will allow you to search your library) artifacts that will help you win the fight. Blink them off to make a sustainable way of getting cards.

Tribute Mage - will fetch you cmc artifacts which is Strionic Resonator aka the crown jewel of the deck, and Grim Monolith aka fuel cells.

Trophy Mage - will fetch you cmc artifacts which is Basalt Monolith , a fuel cell. And Hierophant's Chalice , an endgame combo piece.

Graveyard Rescue

Whenever I create a deck, I always try to make everything "recyclable" since you only have one card each. All of these creatures can rescue specific card types in case your friends started wrecking your board.

Auramancer for enchantments and auras

Archaeomancer or Mnemonic Wall for instants and sorceries

Sun Titan for permanents

Karmic Guide for creatures

For All Intents And Purposes

Glen Elendra Archmage essential piece as you can sacrifice this creature to counter spells. She's also recyclable for the second time with the persist counter BUT if you can blink her out, her counters also reset. Yes, there is a possibility of sacking her over and over without her dying.

Aven Mindcensor ONLY YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TUTOR PROPERLY!

Grand Abolisher ONLY YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CAST SPELLS ON YOUR TURN!

Cloudblazer and Consecrated Sphinx are card advantage creatures.

Peregrine Drake You can't blink out lands to reuse them? Why not let the drake untap it for you? I mean five you. Okay, that doesn't work.

Game Enders

Manic Scribe and Wall of Lost Thoughts basically mills them out. You can also blink them off not-so-infinite times if you don't have your combo set up. It will still be painful as hell.

Alert The Armory (Artifacts)

Brago's armory is made up mostly of mana rocks that he can blink out and use over and over. In this part, we'll cover the non-fuel artifacts.

Thought Vessel this will enable you to keep your cards if you go over seven. As a blue player, you should be able to interact with the table. Keeping your cards on hand can help you with this.

Panharmonicon my mistake in my first games was the mindset "go infinite or go home". This is not true as Brago will take in a lot of hate and may be pushed off the board a lot of times. Panharmonicon may not give you the infinite trigger but it can trigger your ETBs twice. You might think that twice ain't much but believe me, it gets the job done.

IMAGINE! Peregrine Drake? Now untaps 10 lands! Felidar Guardian? Blinks two permanents! Archaeomancer? Let me get two spells from the graveyard! The possibilities are ⁠— well ⁠— times two!

Static Orb basically gives your friends a hard time. Two things that shouldn't be in one sentence. The concept here is, hold them by the nuts to buy you just enough time to combo out.

Last but definitely not the least, Strionic Resonator - this is the single most important artifact in your deck. The reason why you have graveyard rescues and artifact tutors. What it does basically is to copy a triggered ability for the cost of . This means that you can copy your creatures' ETBs like a solo Panharmonicon, making sure that you're making the most out of your triggers. The only difference with Brago is that he can blink out any number of permanents, including mana rocks, so you can do the copying infinite times.

Brago Enchanted! (Enchantments)

Brago is also equipped with enchantments that will either make it hard for your enemies or to make it easier for Brago's damage to get through. Remember that your attacks should connect or his skill won't be triggered.

Protective Custody

These are enchantments that will shield your board.

Dovescape counters every spell and changes them into a flock of elite and highly inoffensive doves. Hashtag peace out yo!

Monastery Siege the great thing about this is it's multi-purpose. You can either do a card advantage/filter or tax your opponents for targeting their spells towards your denizens.

Karmic Justice Basically: "You mess up my shit, I mess up yours."

Clear The Way

These are enchantments that you can attach to Brago to make sure he damages someone. Remember that if you blink Brago out with Auras attached, these Auras must find new (see: Creatures that were not blinked out) legal targets, lest they fade into oblivion (no, just to your graveyard).

Aqueous Form

Steel of the Godhead

Alternatively, you can also use Traveler's Cloak (yay, Rebecca Guay art!) and Unquestioned Authority . These cards allow you to draw stuff as well when they ETB. These cards do not give "unblockable" outright, but their mechanics are similar to that.

Pay Up!

These enchantments give you card advantage by forcing your opponents to pay tax. If they don't pay, you get to draw a card.

Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora but especially the Remora since this is a cheap tax with 1 cmc. Blink this out and that pesky cumulative upkeep resets. Kingly generosity!

Alternative cards to consider can be Ghostly Prison and Propaganda (or Norn's Annex to stop the token storm tsunami going your way)

Utility Enchantments

These are enchantments with various purposes. Their effects will be invaluable to your campaign.

Reality Acid attach this to your opponents' pieces, blink it off via Brago Combo (landing on new targets everytime it comes back) and it will force your friends to sacrifice their entire board.

Parallax Tide this is a combo piece with Felidar Guardian. We'll cover that later in the Sub-Engines section, but for now, what you need to know is it exiles stuff. You can also have two cards of the same effect as Parallax Wave does the same thing, only of different name and color. How's that for options!

Leyline of Anticipation this is a crazy card. It basically allows you to cast all spells in instant speed.

Stasis hold them by the nuts! All players skip their untap steps which won't be a problem for you since all permanents that blink in and out will come back untapped and ready for use.

In Response! And Other Spells (Instants and Sorceries)

One thing that I learned from my first build is that I don't have a lot of interaction cards, which is inexcusable since I have access to blue. Basically, I added more counterspells that can help me respond to things that I don't like casted. Rest in Peace for example, since it would stop me from rescuing my stuff. or Torpor Orb or Tocatli Honor Guard which stops all ETB effects. Depending on your playgroup's meta, you'll find all sorts of unsavory things that you need to interrupt.

You also have utility blink spells but be imaginative as you can use Eerie Interlude and Teferi's Time Twist to protect yourself from board wipes. I'll also be adding Teferi's Protection somewhere here just to add to that evasive board maneuvers.

As for the sorceries, I've only added your run-of-the-mill tutors for artifacts, a board wipe ( Supreme Verdict ), and a shenanigan spell ( Time Warp ).

Sub-Engines and Shenanigans

Okay, so your friends are foiling your combo plans! And now, for some reason, Brago can only be hard casted through an insane amount of mana or that the Resonator was taken apart like your old car! Fear not, as I have made "contigency plans" for this event. Here are some combos that you can still play.

Felidar Guardian x Parallax Tide or Parallax Wave this combo will put each other in infinite blink loop. Parallax Wave/Tide exiles the Guardian when it comes into play, and the Guardian blinks out the Parallax system, thus returning both into the battlefield. The Guardian ETB blinks the Parallax System again, with the system exiling the Guardian.

What you can add: Altar of the Brood for infinite mill, or Panharmonicon so the Guardian can ETB blink another piece infinite times. Hierophant's Chalice or Manic Scribe perhaps.

Eldrazi Displacer or Deadeye Navigator x Peregrine Drake since the Drake can untap lands everytime it comes in, you can pay for the blink cost infinite times.

What you can add: Altar of the Brood for infinite mill. Maybe Suture Priest for infinite life, then sling that life with Aetherflux Reservoir

REMEMBER that Strionic Resonator needs to run. So the monoliths will give you infinite colorless mana since it produces . Pair it with Azorius stones being blinked infinitely, and you have a spell outlet. BUT WAIT! Remember that this is all happening at instant speed and Leyline of Anticipation will help you curb this.

Things to Consider

Counter-terrorism and Exiling

Since you're using the exile mechanic for blinking, it would be best to brush up on your rules. Two things to remember:

COUNTERS RESET

Blinking permanents means that they come back as the most vanilla version of themselves without any recollection of their past achievements. This can work for you when it comes to negative counters like -1/-1s, cumulative counters, and persist counters. But remember that buff counters like +1/+1s will also be removed.

A FRESH START

In relation to the first point, all blinked creatures will suffer from summoning sickness. These creatures are also not "casted". This can be useful for you when someone gains control of a creature (like Brago) by blinking it out. As a fresh start, it will go back to it's original owner's control.

PHASING IS NOT BLINKING

Remember that phasing cards do not leave the zone unlike exiled ones. This means that they are not "entering the battlefield" once they phase in.

Second Main Phase

Second Main Phase is a very essential phase for Brago since his skill triggers during combat. Remember that you can blink mana rocks out and ready for use during your Second Main Phase. Use your mana during your main phase to run creatures, then after combat, blink your resources out so you can cast sorceries like Time Warp .

Subthemes and Other Cards

ETBs come in different shapes and sizes. All you have to do is to find the right cards to augment the effects of what you have on hand. Infinite Life and sling is possible with Aetherflux Reservoir , or maybe you want to try the tokinator ones like Knight-Captain of Eos .

You can also run a Fireshrieker if I'm not mistaken. Just as long as you don't blink Brago on the first strike damage, you can blink your nonland permanents twice.

Budget!

Please remember that you don't have to run the expensive parts of this deck like Tundra and Grim Monolith these can be substituted for any dual land card and Hedron Archive respectively to reduce the cost.

Academy Ruins can also be substituted with Buried Ruin or land cards that can rescue your artifacts.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 23 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.17
Tokens	1/1 WU Token Creature Bird, Emblem Venser, the Sojourner