Braids, Conjurer Adept

$0.42

At the beginning of each player's upkeep, Braids lets that player put an artifact, creature or land card from their hand onto the battlefield. The effect is symmetrical, so every opponent gets a free permanent too. The deck tries to make its own free drops much bigger than anyone else's by filling the hand with expensive colorless threats and artifacts, then using blue card draw and counterspells to keep the table from catching up. Mana costs stop mattering for creatures and artifacts once she survives a full turn cycle.

In the recorded games, the payoff cards were Blightsteel Colossus, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, with Show and Tell as a second way to get them out. Annihilator triggers put real pressure on the table, and Lightning Greaves helped a freshly cheated creature swing right away. Counterspell and Disallow protected the key turns, and Howling Mine kept hands full, which fed Braids for everyone. Some pilots held Braids back early so opponents could not ramp off her for free. The weakness is obvious: the deck gave the table free permanents, and once a giant threat landed it drew every removal spell and attack in the game.