Braids, Conjurer Adept Avatar MTG Card

Rarity	Rare
Type	Vanguard
Released	2003-01-01
Set symbol
Set name	Magic Online Avatars
Set code	PMOA
Number	66
Frame	2015
Layout	Vanguard
Border	Black
Illustred by	UDON

Key Takeaways

Braids enables summoning high-cost permanents early, yielding a significant card advantage.
Her ability accelerates resources, allowing for strategic plays without mana expenditure.
Strategic deck building and reactive measures can mitigate potential downsides of her symmetrical effect.

Text of card

: Each player may put a land card from his or her hand onto the battlefield tapped. : Each player may put a noncreature artifact card from his or her hand onto the battlefield. : Each player may put a creature card from his or her hand onto the battlefield. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Braids, Conjurer Adept, you’re given the unique ability to cheat out potentially high-cost permanents each turn. This can quickly overwhelm opponents as you amass an enviable board state without spending cards from your hand, effectively maintaining a card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Braids’ ability essentially acts as resource acceleration. Normally, you’d allocate significant mana to cast a game-changing permanent. However, Braids removes this cost once per turn, letting you deploy threats or powerful utilities while still having mana available for other strategic plays.

Instant Speed: Although Braids herself doesn’t operate at instant speed, she enables you to put an instant or flash permanent into play during your upkeep. This can catch opponents off guard, adapting in real-time to the evolving battlefield and potentially bypassing summoning sickness for creatures with flash.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Braids, Conjurer Adept doesn’t have a discard requirement, but her ability to allow each player to put a permanent card from their hand onto the battlefield could inadvertently benefit opponents significantly, especially in multiplayer games where control over what gets played is limited.

Specific Mana Cost: Being a mono-blue commander, Braids requires a heavy commitment to blue mana, making it challenging to include her in a multicolored deck that utilizes a diverse mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, there are other card options that allow for immediate impact or board presence, whereas Braids’ effect becomes advantageous only after a full rotation of turns, assuming she survives on the battlefield.

Reasons to Include Braids, Conjurer Adept Avatar in Your Collection

Versatility: Braids, Conjurer Adept Avatar allows for the free play of potentially impactful permanents on each of your turns. This kind of flexibility can be adapted to various deck archetypes by optimizing the selection of high-cost cards.

Combo Potential: Her ability synergizes with numerous other cards, creating opportunities for powerful combos. By dropping creatures or artifacts that can manipulate or benefit from the presence of powerful friends, you elevate the game to a new level.

Meta-Relevance: Given the presence of slower control or ramp decks in the meta, having a card that can accelerate your game plan without additional cost can be a game-changer. Braids slots into this space nicely, challenging opponents to find an answer to the relentless value she provides.

How to beat

Braids, Conjurer Adept is a unique card that creates intriguing game states in MTG. This blue legendary creature allows each player to put an artifact, creature, or land card from their hand onto the battlefield at the beginning of their upkeep. While this can significantly accelerate your opponents’ strategies, there are innovative ways to swing the advantage in your favor.

Counterplay begins with card selection; choose effects that can neutralize or take control of the formidable threats your opponents might free-cast. Removal spells, board wipes, and counterspells should be at the ready. Furthermore, you can capitalize on Braids’ ability by including cards that have enter-the-battlefield effects or by playing high-cost cards that you can now cast for free. Lastly, employing politics in multiplayer formats can also be crucial. Collaborating with other players to manage the threats on the board might just save you from being overwhelmed by the numerous powerful permanents Braids can summon into play.

Ultimately, turning Braids, Conjurer Adept’s generous ability to your advantage requires a well-thought-out blend of reactive measures and strategic opportunism, ideally leading your deck to maintain control of the game’s tempo and sequence of play.

Cards like Braids, Conjurer Adept Avatar

Braids, Conjurer Adept is a unique figure in the world of blue commanders, standing out for her ability to cheat out influential permanents early in the game. Comparable to her in effect is the card Show and Tell. Both allow players to pull powerful cards from their hands into play, potentially shifting the game’s balance. Where they diverge is in their scope—Show and Tell is a one-time event, while Braids offers a repeatable effect at the beginning of each player’s upkeep, providing enduring value.

Another card with synergies is Quicksilver Amulet, which also bypasses high mana costs to summon creatures. However, the Amulet demands a mana payment and only drops creatures, whereas Braids can introduce any permanent type into the fray. Lurking in this space too is the artifact Master Transmuter, offering a similar conjuring ability, but with a focus on swapping artifacts from hand to battlefield, adding a layer of strategic flexibility that Braids does not inherently possess.

Overall, while similar cards offer glimpses of Braids’ potential, none replicate her consistent omnipresence or broad scope in the game, affirming her standing as a prominent blue commander card that can set the tempo for a thrilling match.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Braids, Conjurer Adept Avatar MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Avatars, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Braids, Conjurer Adept Avatar and other MTG cards: