“It is in my hands, I must not fail, I must not fail”
Art:Brood Keeper
by Scott Murphy
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Brood Keeper is a really cool take on both dragons and an Aura focused deck, while we don’t get access to some really strong auras like All That Glitters
this is still a very strong auras deck that removes one of the biggest problems that aura-focused decks have, not having enough creature production, luckily we have more than enough creature production within our deck to be able to block pretty decently and go on the attack quite a bit as well. This deck has been a ton of fun to test and play, and while there are a lot of very strong options for a Voltron style deck, I find this one is extremely underplayed, and while it does have some inherent drawbacks, it is still really good. Without further ado, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Brood Keeper Dragon Auras!
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Why Brood Keeper?
Brood Keeper is a huge part of our deck and one of the main reasons our deck works, without our commander we don’t produce whelps and get no payoff beyond playing the Aura, while commander damage kills are absolutely possible in this deck they arent something we actively need or go for, if an opportunity arises where we can get a commander damage kill we will of course take it but its not something we actively need. Brood Keeper’s creature production is a huge part of our deck and one of the reasons we can hang with creature-focused strategies. Brood Keeper is a huge part of our deck and I never like to put them in bad combat situations or into harms way, them being on the battlefield is key to the gameplan.
Deck Matchups:
Since this is Pauper EDH, there are an absolute ton of things that can tip a game in your favor or out of it. While an archetype may seem favorable, there are absolutely good and bad commanders for our deck to go up against; I have included both these, which were all played among my testing groups using various decks, and I have included the sample size for clarity purposes. This is just meant to be a guide after testing a bunch of games with this deck!
The information below is notes about specific decks that were featured in our testing pods and how we fared against them. Naturally, Pauper EDH is a multiplayer game, so these are just a summary of my notes against different commanders and strategies. When we test these decks we try to test to its strengths and weaknesses to give a full spectrum of what the deck has to offer. Various commanders and archetypes/strategies are used to get the most accurate information.
Commanders, we have a good matchup against:
Ivora, Insatiable Heir
Record against Ivora, Insatiable Heir 3-0
As long as we can block effectively and not get one-shot by their commander, this is usually a very strong matchup for us. Being able to go wide with our dragons against this deck is pretty good a good majority of the time. Being careful when we swing out is key to this matchup, but overall, it’s quite good.
Famished Paladin
Record against Famished Paladin 4-0
Famished Paladin can gain a lot of life, but beyond that can’t do much against us, we get considerably better as the game goes on, and they just can’t compete with us, being able to run them over is quite easy in this deck. This is a very favorable matchup.
Evolution Sage
Record against Evolution Sage 3-0
This is a great matchup for us, they are quick, but they don’t have a bunch of removal or many ways to stop our flyers, they can get there quicker, but we scale our board very nicely, if we stick to our gameplan here we should have no trouble.
Commanders, we have a tough matchup against:
Khenra Spellspear // Gitaxian Spellstalker
Record against Khenra Spellspear 1-3
Khenra is arguably one of the best decks in the format and being able to get a game on them feels pretty good, if they stumble at all or one-shot another opponent and not us we can stabilize pretty well against this deck but if they target us first like most games against Khenra it can be pretty bad, here’s to hoping they don’t target us first!
Heartfire Hero
Record against Heartfire Hero 2-2
Even though we split the games in this matchup, it can still be very rough for us. They are quick and can dish out a ridiculous amount of damage. Our lack of removal and their huge buffs make their commander really hard to kill unless we have Lightning Bolt
on the draw. This can be a good matchup, but it is also quite rough. Just stick to our game plan, and you should be fine.
Kardur, Doomscourge
Record against Kardur, Doomscourge 0-4
This is a tough one. Kardur can really force us into terrible combat situations, and that can be really rough for the deck. The heavy emphasis on both removal and sacrifice effects is extremely tough as well. I struggled a ton and was never able to keep a board I tried to commit. This is a rough one for us.
Strategy Overview:
Keep Brood Keeper Alive:
Brood Keeper is a huge part of our deck and keeping them on the field allows us to continue our strategy, without them we can struggle.
Watch for opponent’s removal:
With the exception of cards like The Brute
which allow us to regenerate through opponents’ removal, it can be really tough and we need to be careful, don’t overextend and take it slow.
Be Aggressive:
If an opponent is presenting you a positive combat situation, you should take it and deal the damage, being aggressive when we can and being careful when we need to is key to keep us alive and allow us to win the game.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
Champion of the Flame
is a very strong backup Voltron creature for our deck, and if our commander keeps getting killed, this can be a very strong damage dealer for the deck. We do have some cool dragon cards like Dragon Hatchling
which does have firebreathing and is just an additional flying attacker for our deck which is always good. Dragon Egg
is a very good blocker for the early-game and allows us to get an additional firebreathing whelp which is perfect for us! Its not all firebreathing whelps around here as we also have some decent mana production like Iron Myr
and Hoarding Ogre
, I really like being able to ramp to speed up our gameplan which is always good as well as being able to put more mana into our firebreathing whelps. I love Witty Roastmaster
within the deck as well, essentially a second copy of Impact Tremors
which we also run and dealing some extra damage can help a lot.
Instants:
Our instant package is pretty big and has quite a bit of haymakers and bangers within the deck, one of my favorites is Breath Weapon
, this can really devastate token strategies and especially aggressive decks, the best of part of this is that it doesn’t effect our deck really at all, it can kill some of our creatures but doesn’t effect us nearly as much as it does our opponents. We get pretty aggressive at instant speed as well with cards like Ambitious Assault
, Downhill Charge
and Uncaged Fury
. Being able to deal additional damage when we attack can put a ton of pressure on our opponents which can help us end games very quickly, its very easy to end games quickly with cards like Fling
and Soul's Fire
which allow us to deal a crazy amount of damage to our opponetns. We do have some card draw at instant speed, this is key to our gameplan overall, and we can run through our cards pretty quickly, so being able to draw more is key. Dangerous Wager
is a super cool card that gets better as the game goes on, while it feels horrible if we are discarding five or six, if we are out of cards and are discarding a small amount of cards this is really strong, we also have Unexpected Windfall
and Big Score
which provide mana production as well as some card draw, both are amazing cards for the deck.
Sorceries:
If we have a big board or are ready to swing in being able to use Crash Through
to give them all trample can be a really good way to end the game, this is a cheap cantrip and a nice finisher for the deck but is pretty good at most stages of the game. Reckless Air Strike
is a two-fold card for our deck, depending on the matchup, we want to use the creature damage, which is great against aggressive decks, and in some matchups, we need the artifact removal; either way, this is a nice toolbox card for the deck. We round out our sorcery package with Reckless Abandon
which is a great piece of creature removal and with all of the whelps we produce is pretty much free.
Artifacts:
Mana-Ramp is pretty important in our deck, its the main reason we are running cards like Commander's Sphere
, Fire Diamond
and Mind Stone
being able to ramp into our commander as well as have more power to firebreath our whelp is very strong. Even though this is an aura’s focused deck, we do have a couple artifacts! Whispersilk Cloak
is just an amazing card and can assist us with a commander damage kill very easily, we also have Haunted Cloak
turning our commander or any other creature into keyword soup with most importantly give vigilance and trample which can be great offensively and defensively for the deck and the trample can allow us to deal a ton of damage.
Enchantments:
Now, don’t forget that every time we attach an aura to Brood Keeper, we get a firebreathing whelp, which fills up our board quite quickly and allows us to present a ton of damage. Claws of Valakut
and Granite Grip
are two of my favorite auras in the deck. These just continue to get better and are super aggressive. Bravado
is a damage machine for the deck and really feels like our version of All That Glitters, it scales so quickly and goes crazy. Even though our commander produces firebreathing creatures we have some firebreathing of our own like Ghitu Firebreathing
, Dragon Mantle
and Crown of Flames
. Since we have so many whelps produced we can easily kill opponents with Betrothed of Fire
which can provide a ton of buffs for Brood Keeper, perfect if we have trample! We have some nice support pieces within the deck like Bestial Fury
which provides some supplemental card draw and really punishes opponents for blocking, in situations where they have to block it can be really strong. While we do like to buff up Brood Keeper, we are able to get some value out of buffing up some of our other creatures/whelps with Betrothed of Fire, the first strike is very strong.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We are very evasive because of our commander’s ability.
- We have a quite a bit of direct damage to deal with our opponent’s creatures, allowing us to kill the best things they can play.
- We can dish out a ton of damage throughout the mid-game and with cards like Fling
and Soul's Fire we can end games pretty easily.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We are quite weak to single-target removal and don’t have really any ways to protect our commander, decks heavy on this can be tough matchups for us.
- We can run out of cards quite easily, we do have some card draw, but not a ton.
- We can be a little slow in the early-game, allowing us to take a decent amount of early-game damage from aggressive strategies.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Conclusion:
Thanks so much for reading to the end. This is such a cool deck, and I love how mono-red it feels. I also enjoy how it is a different take on a typical dragon’s deck. This is a cheap and amazing deck for players new and old and really is underplayed, in my opinion. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Stay tuned and tap in!