Brago, King Eternal Strionic Resonator stacking question
Asked by chiefdrana 9 years ago
I'm relatively new to Magic & was struggling tonight trying to play my Brago, King Eternal deck for the 1st time once I got the Strionic Resonator out because I wasn't sure how to stack Brago's repeated triggers after he dealt combat damage. Ignoring the other stuff I was repeatedly blinking, if I have Brago, King Eternal equipped with Whispersilk Cloak a Mana Vault to pay to activate Strionic Resonator for repeated Brago combat damage triggers & a Sol Ring to pay to reequip the Whispersilk Cloak how do I stack things so I can get around the cloak's shroud & return Brago untapped so he can be used as a blocker? I'm also uncertain about when my opponents get priority during all this, ie is this leaving him momentarily prone to a Doom Blade so I may only want to do it if I desperately need a blocker or can I get the cloak safely reattached before anything evil they could do to Brago would resolve?
Why would you need to target Brago at all? This is an infinite combo. You should be winning, not worrying about blockers.
December 11, 2015 7:26 a.m.
It is an infinite combo, but these cards alone won't win you the game, so that doesn't do a whole lot on it's own.
Priority works like this: Whenever players get priority, first the active player, than all non-active players in turn order get to do their thing (known as the APNAP order), for example activating an ability or casting a spell. Also, after something gets put on the stack or resolves, there's another round of priority in the same fashion.
Spelled out, that means that casting a Lightning Bolt when you have priority will give you (as the active player) priority once again, so you could put something else on the stack on top of the Bolt. If you don't, the first non-active player gets to respond. If they cast a Mana Leak in response, there is one more round of priority, starting with you again (the active player).
If noone does anything else, the topmost object on the stack will try to resolve and - in this example - attempt counter the Bolt. While Mana LEak is resolving, noone gets priority, only the controller of the targetted spell (you) has the opportunity to pay mana, which for the sake of this example you choose to do. Another round of priority happens before the stack continues to resolve, and again, if noone does anything, the topmost object on the stack - your Bolt - will try to resolve and burn someone's face off.
With the interacion above, there's a lot of priority, which is why no sane person would play this out without shortcuts. The important thing is that there's many opportunities where your Brago will be targetable, because as stated before, you can only equip the Cloak during your Main Phase, when the stack is empty and you have priority (a.k.a. when you could cast a Sorcery).
December 11, 2015 7:48 a.m.
"If they cast a Mana Leak in response, there is one more round of priority, starting with you again (the active player)."
Incorrect, the player who cast the mana leak is the first to receive priority:
116.3c If a player has priority when he or she casts a spell, activates an ability, or takes a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
The active player recieves priority first after a spell or ability resolves.
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
Everything else you said is true, but my point was this: Why take the Whispersilk Cloak off or try to target Brago at all?
You don't need to for this combo to work. What's the point? Just so he'll be untapped? You should have other creatures out already if you've assembled this combo.
And yes, there's absolutely no way to take the cloak off of Brago without leaving him open to an instant removal spell.
December 11, 2015 8:06 a.m.
@sonnet666: You would be correct about 116.3c... interesting, I totally forgot about that rule. Thanks for the heads-up!
And well, they asked whether "[they] may only want to do it if [they] desperately need a blocker", so yeah - maybe they just do. :)
December 11, 2015 9:44 a.m.
chiefdrana says... #6
I'm still trying to figure out the win conditions for this deck, I'm new & it was the 1st play. I kept because I had Tezzeret the Seeker in my opening hand & a bunch of many rocks, so I had Tezzeret out on turn 2 and minused him to bring out Strionic Resonator. Problem was I had my combo set up except anything for any final piece that would actually win or cripple my opponents. I got a Meteorite out, but they destroyed it before I could do infinite 2 damage. I got an Unquestioned Authority out so I could keep drawing into something, but they stole it. I got a Sun Titan out to block, but they killed it, etc. Meanwhile, I have 3 guys attacking me w/ everything every turn because they know if I can go infinite w/ any ETB card I can keep on the board, and all I have is 1 use of Kor Haven to stop 1 attacker, so blocking w/ Brago, King Eternal may have saved me 1 more round, but they probably would have killed him the second the Whispersilk Cloak was removed.
December 11, 2015 7:11 p.m.
I find a good option is Knight-Captain of Eos, as it stalls aggro on its own and can be used to make infinite soldiers.
Also, it sounds like you learned your lesson about not giving away your combos too soon. Don't worry, it happens to everybody at least once.
Matt_The_OGRE says... Accepted answer #1
Brago deals damage, ability triggers, at this point it doesn't matter what is targeted. Copy the ability with strionic resonator, exiling the resonator, mana vault, the cloak and what ever else you want, aside from brago. Let that trigger resolve, leaving the original on the stack. Once the cards return from exile, you can do this loop again as mana times as you want but now you can target brago.
You would not be able to reequip the cloak until you're second main phase, since it can only be done at sorcery speed. Also, before any of your triggers resolve, priority has to be passed, so after the first strionic resonator trigger resolves, brago can be targeted by your opponents.
December 11, 2015 4:33 a.m.