(Bria, Riptide Rogue | Art by Borja Pindado)

Committing a Bria Brew With Brio

Greetings and salutations, from a country where, apparently, political turmoil is only beginning. I'm Arnaud, and I'm thrilled to take you on a journey of budget builds, spellslinging slinks and powerful prowess.

First of all, I hope everyone could enjoy a nice holiday with their family (if applicable, as I imagine most readers are from the US). It seems said holidays may have slightly influenced your commitment to the cause, as this time the poll garnered only 148 votes. No worries, it's more than enough for our purposes.

In last position, we find Sliver Hivelord, with a puny 24 votes (16%), one of the lowest lows ever hit by a commander. I get it, slivers are boring, you've seen them a thousand times, and want stuff that's fresh and new. Second place went to Prime Speaker Vannifar, with 52 votes (35%).

This is more interesting. While this commander has been deemed somewhat "solved" by the community, I feel like there might be some more quirky venues with the budget constraint.

Sure, some of the key pieces are what's politely qualified as "utter garbage" in other brews, but I feel this would have been a nice challenge to try out. This leaves us with this week's winner, Bria, Riptide Rogue, with 72 votes (49%). Let's take a closer look.

When Bloomburrow spoilers started appearing, this was among the few cards that really sparked my attention. It seems I'm not alone. With 4,120 decks to its name, this otter is one fierce rascal. And for good reason. It literally screams spellslinging all over.

will give you a 3/3 with Prowess, granting all other creatures Prowess and, if that wasn't enough already, providing ultimate evasion whenever you cast a non-creature spell. Talk about pushed!

All of which translates into a steep price, around $20. I'm impressed, all the more since Bria was one of the two legendary creatures featured in the Bloomburrow starter pack. Fun fact, the Otter costs around €10 in Europe, or roughly $10.56. Talk about a price gouging...

Enough with the commander, let's get started on the list. Combining all cards from the regular and cheap options on Bria's EDHREC page, we reach a healthy 347 cards. Shall we move on?

First Trim - The Cardboard Chainsaw Massacre

Hey you! Yes you, first-time reader, come hither, don't be shy. Tell me, do you know what we're doing here? Correct, budget brews, and...? That's right, budget brews with a twist. More precisely, a neck twisted on any card worth more than $1.10. Why the 10 cents reprieve? Well, to account for price variations of course!

So then, we started with 347 cards. Axing most of the precious bling leaves us with 262 cards, 28 of which stand between $1.10 and $2. Let's have a quick look at the most notable ones:

• Storm-Kiln Artist: A must-have in any deck heavy on instants and sorceries, generating insane value in Treasures. At $1.17, it misses the mark by a smidge.
• Brainstorm: I get inflation and all, but $1.18 for this classic, reprinted into oblivion? Ouch.
• Arcane Bombardment: Costly in terms of mana, but this is pure value, which you can snowball quickly given that it also counts spells cast on opponents' turns, not only your own.
• Archmage of Runes: Give it some time, maybe wait for it to be reprinted in a precon. I wouldn't be surprised to see it drop around $0.50 eventually.
• Past in Flames: In a deck filled with low mana spells, this often translates into a wincon, plain and simple.
• Mystic Sanctuary: Another must-play, just like our Artist above. This is free recursion.
• Niv-Mizzet, Parun: Given that our deck is likely to be all about cantrips and cheap spells, Good Old Niv could have easily replaced our current commander.
• Echoing Assault: I guess this is in here because of the potential EtB effects the deck could pack. The added evasion is a nice touch.
• Stella Lee, Wild Card: Anyone who has played against Miss Sheriff over there know she's a real powerhouse, accruing absolutely insane value.
• Reliquary Tower: Can someone explain to me why this card keeps shifting from $0.50 to more than $1.50 back and forth every two months?!?
• Baral, Chief of Compliance: Classic among classics. Cost reduction and filtering all in one.
• Sorcerer Class: Versatility, here we go again. With card selection, ramp and spell copying, this card looks made for Bria.
• Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch: Giving rebound to all of your spells is no joke. Plus, this God is a 4/3 with flying, all for . What's not to like?

In the $1 to $1.10 frame, we have some juicy goodies:

• Counterspell: Need I say more?
• Teferi's Ageless Insight: Yes, yes, yes and quadruple yes. Cantrip value, here I come!
• Thought Vessel: The perfect match for the spell above. Don't throw away your hard earned stuff!

After this healthy cleanup, we're down to 234 cards. On the the homework, dare I say.

Second Trim - Cardward Scissorhands

So. We're supposed to enter Veggies territory, the one category that usually makes me feel relaxed and sure of myself. Instead, I'm confused. I'm going through the list and see stuff that has absolutely no reason being there. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, let's focus on the pillars of our deck.

This is where we stand at, prior to cutting anything else:

Wow, that's a lot of card draw. Which is good, because I intend keeping a lot of it. I mean, a LOT. These may be in the form of cantrips or other cheap spells, probably not exceeding the three-mana threshold. I want my hand filled, I want it filled consistently, and I want to cast multiple things per turn.

Given that the curve will hopefully be fairly low, I'm going to stick to around 12 ramp spells. Hopefully that should prove enough. Removal-wise, I'm aiming at 4-5 spells tops, as there's also a hefty counterspelling package we'll go through later, and maybe 2-3 board wipes. The logic behind this is that I want to keep some room for the two stars of the deck: cheap creatures and cheap support. Let's cut.

That was a lot of cuts. I don't think I remember having so many draw spells in one of these articles before. I might have to do some spelunking to confirm that.

At any rate, the coast is clearer now, and after cleaning up the land base, we have a clear view on our next step. With 161 cards left to go, we still have a long way ahead of us.

Third Trim - Cutting Off the Rough Edges

Now that the tedious part is over, it's time to have some fun, and make some decisions.

Based on what I'm currently seeing, there are mainly two routes that brewers have undertaken: go big, or go wide.

In other words, there is a slew of creatures with built-in Prowess, or other means to pump them through non-creature spells, as well as a bunch of token-makers. Both have their merits, and here's why.

On one hand, generating a lot of tokens, then casting Bria and a few cantrips could pump your team enough to take out a player, if not a couple. Let's imagine Magic Christmas Land for a second. With 10 1/1 tokens on the field, casting 4 spells could lead to a whopping 50 potential damage.

Not bad, especially since a lot of the token makers are not creatures themselves, therefore growing our army and buffing it in one swoop. The issue is that if Bria is killed, then you're left with a bunch of puny creatures until you can recast the Otter.

On the other hand, having a lot of creatures with self-pumping abilities (Prowess and affiliated) means you don't have to rely as heavily on your commander. While its assets turn it into a star player, it will also be a prime target for your opponents' removal spells. This is good for both resiliency and versatility, as you'll keep your opponents on their toes, and there's only so much removal out there.

The con is that these creatures won't trigger prowess on their own, and as they're usually a bit costlier than token makers, you'll have to rely more on Bria to make sure the damage goes through.

Both approaches are solid, but I'm going to favour the latter. We already built an Ovika, Enigma Goliath deck some time ago, and I'd like to explore a new venue. This doesn't mean I'll get rid of all tokens altogether, but they'll have to be worth their salt.

We also have a strong pack of counterspells, and some cleaning will be required there.

Finally, aside from the miscellaneous stuff that have no categories on their own, there are three more we have to take a look at.

First, spell copying. I'll be blunt, I don't like these here. We're not a storm deck, and Prowess cares about spells being cast, not copied. Therefore I feel most if not are out of place, not mentioning their impact on the average mana value.

Second, pingers. We have quite a few, not mentioning some that would feel right at home and, for a reason, are not played (Firebrand Archer? Electrostatic Field? Thermo-Alchemist? Unruly Catapult? Gelectrode even? ).

I'm a bit torn on these. They could undoubtedly deal some decent damage over time, in addition to being able to attack as well, but... Well, I'm not certain we'll have the room in the end, sad as it may sound.

Third, pump effects. This is a category I'll have no issue trimming down, save for the most efficient ones, since our creatures should already do most of the work. I will likely be keeping some power-doubling and double-striking effects, but overall I'm not sure we need that many in here.

Right, let's get to it.

So, a few comments over the cuts made here. I kept a few of the token-makers in the end, as I feel our cheap spell-slinging could eventually turn them into a massive payoff. I cut almost all of the spell copying effects, for the reasons mentioned above.

I retained only three Counterspells, which I consider being the Cream of the Crop. Pump effects got a severe axing, as most felt underwhelming, especially those dedicated to a specific creature type.

Altogether, this leaves us at 109 cards. Shall we go to the final cuts? You bet we are!

Final Trim - Heart-Wrenching Choices

Here we are, the final decisions, the difficult options, the soul-tearing removals. What should we get rid of?

As usual, bear in mind that, at this point, there are (supposedly) no bad cards left. The following list is all from a personal and very subjective perspective:

• Rapid Augmenter: This would have been fantastic with a build leaning more towards tokens (also, why isn't Devilish Valet in here in the first place?!?). While it could potentially grow into a massive threat, the chances for it to hit that +1/+1 counter and unblockability are too slim in our current setting.
• Kindlespark Duo and Kessig Flamebreather : Much as I like the ping, here I'd rather swing. I'd have loved to keep both the latter and include Firebrand Archer though.
• Epic Experiment: We're running a tight ship here, and I'd rather focus on what's in my hand rather than gamble on my deck. The payoffs are simply not worth it in my book.
• Reality Shift: Maybe we can make do with one less removal spell? I'm not 100% sure on that one.
• Pearl of Wisdom: Nice with your commander out, too expensive otherwise.
• Mind Stone and Strike It Rich: The curve is exceptionally low (around 2.4 at this point), so I feel I can cut a rock and a Treasure.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: It pains me, but I need the room, and at this point I'm grasping at straws.

Well, if the cuts had been fairly easy insofar, these last few were a drag. But at last, here we are. Dear readers, I give you:

Additional Trim - A Look Into the Past

After all this Brainstorming, let's have a look at an old list of ours. This time, it's Good old Charix to come back to the grill.

This one did fare quite well. At the time of writing, there are only three spells worth more than $1.10:

• Tribute Mage: $1.33
• Swiftfoot Boots: $1.55
• Spectral Deluge: $3.49

Let's replace them with these:

• Scourge of Fleets: Decent body, and altogether decent wipe
• Slip Through Space: You cannot block what you cannot see.
• Robe of the Archmagi: This has dropped down in price quite a lot, and despite being costly to equip, I feel the payoffs can be hilarious.

And just with that, we're done. You can find the updated list here.

Conclusion

As the year draws to a close, I'd like to thank you all once more for your commitment to these articles. I really enjoy writing all this stuff, and the knowledge it may be of use to some of you is the best incentive possible.

No poll this week, as I'm preparing something special for the next iteration, and you have better things to do with the holidays fast approaching anyway!

See you next time!

Arnaud Gompertz

Arnaud Gompertz has been playing Magic since 4th Edition, back in 1995. He's been an assiduous EDH enthusiast since 2012, with a soft spot for unusual and casual Commanders. He'll always favour spectacular plays against a boring path to victory. Aside from mistreating cardboard, he's a dedicated board games player, loves a challenging video game and occasionally tries to sing with his choir.