I use the following ten parameters to determine the strength of the deck. For each, I allocate a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad); when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck (maximum score is 50 points).
- Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
- Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
- Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
- Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
- Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
- Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
- Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
- Interaction: indicates how much this deck can mess with opponents’ board states and turn-phases.
- Resilience: indicates whether the deck can prevent and take punches.
- Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.
Mana: 3
Since blue does not have any direct ramping options, sufficient mana-rocks were added in order to maintain game-progress speed. This deck contains eight such rocks, as well as a card that will double my available blue mana and a resource that will allow me to cast blue spells cheaper.
Ramp: 1
This deck contains one ramp option.
Card Advantage: 5
Divided by category, this deck contains seven direct draw engines (without requiring preconditions), five draw cards dependent on preconditions, two filter- and draw mechanisms, two tutors, two top decking options and a whopping eight cards that allows me to steal cards. In all, plenty of methods to keep a steady supply of resources coming my way.
Overall speed: 3
No ramp, some mana rocks and a whole lot of draw. Combined, this gives me an average measure of speed (provided that the additional draw allows me to get to the mana rocks and the deck’s land-base at the appropriate time).
Combo: 1
Simply put, aside from including a few avenues to use Braids’s ability exclusively for myself, this deck is not combo-oriented at all.
Army: 4
Powerful sphinxes, djinns, shapeshifters and even Eldrazi. This deck features some crazy strong creatures; all packed with abilities to either provide card advantage or to inhibit the opposition in a serious way. As individuals, most of them are strong already. Combined into a host, they represent a threat that is very hard to deal with.
Commander: 2
The name of my game is to cheat stuff onto the field with Braids. Without her presence, I am left with having to hard-cast, which is a lot less efficient. Doesn’t make winning impossible, but an order of magnitude harder.
Interaction: 4
In order to ensure no-one truly benefits from Braids but me, I need to control the battlefield. This can be accomplished by using either one of the eight options to steal cards, one of five options to bounce permanents, a wipe or one of the three forced saccing options. Obviously, because it’s blue, I’m also using a few counterspells.
Resilience: 1
Aside from counter-spelling some harmful stuff, I can assist Braids with escaping from harm through the clever use of phasing or controlled bouncing.
Spellpower: 3
Obviously, most of the major spells included feature bounce and stealing mechanics, but there are also some other important game-changers in there involving free permanent casting and additional upkeeps (which allows for multiple uses of Braids' triggered ability per turn).
Total power score: 27
In terms of power, I score this deck as slightly above average. Its speed is mediocre on average, yet it packs quite a wallop at times. It’s of great use to players who care for the use of politics and it is able to interact very well with opposing board-states (or even library-states!). Its offensive power is truly stunning at times in both raw power and in the application of various different inhibitive techniques.