Braids, Conjuror Adept is an incredibly fun Commander and makes for a chaotic fun time every time I play it! I think it makes for a great budget build too because your mana base is cheap and there are plenty of impactful big creatures that are very budget friendly! Here is a link to the list over on Archidekt! It clocks in at around $100 but you could do it cheaper for sure! I’ll talk about some of the splurges and why I added them as we go along!

A few notes about Braids as a commander. Most people know what’s up when they see this in the command zone. Which means depending on your meta it might be wise to have some way to protect her in hand when you play her. The overall goal is that you are give away free permanents on everyone’s turns but you take better advantage of this than anyone else at the table. If you want to play group hug/politically but still want a chance to win consistently there is no better commander than Braids, Conjuror Adept!

To start off let’s look at some of the splurges in this deck. Artifacts…

About half of the budget for this deck went towards artifacts! There are a few reasons why.

Artifacts are so useful in commander and since they slot into any deck regardless of color I consider them first when concerned about a budget build. They are pricey but they always hold value well and translate over to new decks most of the time.

Helm of Awakening, Font of Mythos and Howling Mine are great political plays that will hopefully allow you to stay in the game long enough to spring the Timmy/Tammy trap that is Braids’ specialty. The high mana cost mana rocks can come into play off of Braids too so they are a great way to build board presence early in the game. That way even if Braids gets removed you have a fall back plan or just outright have enough mana to keep casting Braids.

Lightning Greaves is at the time of writing around seven dollars so it was a splurge for a budget deck but I felt like a copy of this and Swiftfoot Boots was a shoe in… Oh my glob I’m so sorry.

This deck scales really well too! If you want to power it up there are so many options out there from adding very efficient artifact ramp in the form of Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt to big beaters like Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, or even tricky options to let you cheat more things into play like Quicksilver Amulet or Helm of the Host! That being said the budget build is super powerful as is!

This is a good time to cover how Braids’ ability works. You do get come into play effects but you do not get cast triggers. The really good news is that her ability is a triggered ability so counter magic doesn’t work! Keep in mind it is also not an activated ability so even cards like Voidslime can’t stop it! So what wackiness should we rain down on our opponents??? Let’s take a look!

Grozoth is crazy good in this deck! And of course when he comes into play you get to search up some more nasties! Void Winnower is the most expensive card in the deck but it massively impacts the board! Sphinx of the Second Sun is also one of the pricier cards in the deck but it gives you another Braids activation and that can really be crucial once you start dropping these giant threats on the board! Paradox Haze is another card that has this effect but I left it out due to budget considerations.

Timing is everything with this deck and setting up the trap is one of the best things I’ve experienced in Magic! Once again click here to see the full list!

Thanks for reading this deck tech and I wish you free Eldrazi at the table this week!

-marksquare