Brago's Favor MTG Card

Rarity	Common
Type	Conspiracy
Abilities	Hidden agenda
Released	2014-06-06
Set symbol
Set name	Conspiracy
Set code	CNS
Number	3
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Karla Ortiz

Key Takeaways

Exploit game-changing effects and improve card advantage without losing additional resources.
Instant speed play provides tactical flexibility and opportunity for strategic reactions.
Brago’s Favor’s distinct ability can set up powerful combos and influence game dynamics.

Text of card

Hidden agenda (Start the game with this conspiracy face down in the command zone and secretly name a card. You may turn this conspiracy face up any time and reveal the chosen name.) Spells with the chosen name you cast cost less to cast.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Brago’s Favor enables players to replicate key spells, thereby multiplying potential game-changing effects and bolstering hand resources without expending additional cards.

Resource Acceleration: Complementing your strategy by efficiently using mana, it encourages swift development of your board state and expedites the execution of your long-term plans.

Instant Speed: Its instant speed nature provides flexibility, allowing players to react promptly to evolving game scenarios or to capitalize on optimal moments for strategic spell casting.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Brago’s Favor demands a card to be discarded from your hand, which can sometimes backfire by stripping you of vital cards that may be crucial for your turn or overall strategy, especially when playing a hand-resource intensive game.

Specific Mana Cost: With Brago’s Favor requiring a particular blend of mana to cast, it might not fit smoothly into multicolored decks that are not aligned with its color identity, potentially making it a dead card in situations where mana flexibility is key.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Its casting cost might be steep compared to other options available within the same mana range, potentially making it a less attractive choice for players seeking to maintain an efficient curve in their deck’s mana base.

Reasons to Include Brago’s Favor in Your Collection

Versatility: Brago’s Favor is a card that offers strategic flexibility to your deck. Its ability to flicker multiple nonland permanents can be harnessed in various setups, ranging from control to combo-oriented strategies, making it a great addition to any collection looking to explore new avenues of play.

Combo Potential: With its unique flicker ability, Brago’s Favor can be a linchpin in setting up powerful combos. It allows you to retrigger enter-the-battlefield effects or dodge removal spells, which can be game-changing in the right circumstances. This potential to turn the tides of a game makes it a must-have for players keen on intricate play sequences.

Meta-Relevance: Considering the shifting landscape of competitive play, Brago’s Favor has maintained its relevance. It serves as a formidable piece against various prevalent deck archetypes by recurring value from your own permanents or disrupting opponent strategies. Staying ahead of the curve with Brago’s Favor can be a key factor in consistent game performance.

How to Beat Brago’s Favor

Brago’s Favor is a card that can sway the game by reducing casting costs and allowing a circumvention of the traditional mana curve. This can lead to early deployments of heavyweight spells, giving the user a significant advantage. To counter Brago’s Favor, it’s crucial to disable its influence quickly. Strategies include employing counter spells to prevent it from landing on the battlefield or using targeted removal like Disenchant to swiftly eliminate it once in play.

Another tactic is to outpace the advantage Brago’s Favor provides by increasing your resource acceleration. This can be achieved through ramp spells that boost your land count, allowing you to cast high-cost cards naturally. Alternatively, playing cards that restrict your opponent’s ability to cast spells, such as Damping Sphere, can level the playing field and mitigate Brago’s Favor’s cost-reduction effect.

The key to overcoming Brago’s Favor lies in recognizing the shift in tempo it brings and responding with precise countermeasures. Whether through direct interference or strategic acceleration, keeping the game on your terms will disable the leverage Brago’s Favor offers to your opponent.

Cards like Brago's Favor

Brago’s Favor is a distinctive enchantment in MTG, inviting comparisons to other cards that manipulate voting within the game. Its ability to manipulate council’s dilemma and will of the council mechanics places it alongside Azor’s Elocutors, which uses the voting mechanic towards a different end – achieving victory through filibuster counters. While Brago’s Favor offers a strategic edge by allowing a double vote or swapping a vote for a more favorable outcome, Azor’s Elocutors rewards players for controlling the board long enough to meet its conditions.

Coercive Portal is another card that shares thematic elements with Brago’s Favor, providing a powerful ongoing effect based on a voting mechanic. However, Coercive Portal can lead to a sweeping board wipe or consistent card advantage, depending on the voting outcome. This is a considerable contrast to Brago’s Favor, which subtly influences votes but doesn’t pose a looming threat of immediate board impact.

Assessing these similarities and differences, Brago’s Favor carves out its niche within MTG. It is particularly effective in multiplayer formats where votes can drastically shape the course of the game. This subtle but significant power to sway decisions without a dominating presence on the board is what makes Brago’s Favor a card worth considering in vote-centric strategies.

Cards similar to Brago's Favor by color, type and mana cost

Unexpected Potential - MTG Card versions

Advantageous Proclamation - MTG Card versions

Muzzio's Preparations - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Brago's Favor MTG card by a specific set like Conspiracy, 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 Brago's Favor and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Brago's Favor has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Banned
Legacy	Banned
Oathbreaker	Banned
Vintage	Banned
Duel	Banned

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Brago's Favor card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2014-05-29	If there are additional costs to cast the spell, such as kicker costs, apply those increases before applying cost reductions.
2014-05-29	The second ability can reduce alternative costs such as overload costs.
2014-05-29	The second ability can’t reduce the colored mana requirement of a spell.
2016-08-23	A conspiracy doesn’t count as a card in your deck for purposes of meeting minimum deck size requirements. (In most drafts, the minimum deck size is 40 cards.)
2016-08-23	A conspiracy with hidden agenda that has a triggered ability must be face up before that ability’s trigger condition is met in order for it to trigger. Turning it face up afterward won’t have any effect.
2016-08-23	A conspiracy’s static and triggered abilities function as long as that conspiracy is face-up in the command zone.
2016-08-23	As a special action, you may turn a face-down conspiracy face up. You may do so any time you have priority. This action doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. Once face up, the named card is revealed and the conspiracy’s abilities will affect the game.
2016-08-23	At the end of the game, you must reveal any face-down conspiracies you own in the command zone to all players.
2016-08-23	At the end of the game, you must reveal any face-down conspiracies you own in the command zone to all players. Notably, you can’t bluff conspiracies with hidden agenda by putting other cards into the command zone face down as the game starts.
2016-08-23	Conspiracies are colorless, have no mana cost, and can’t be cast as spells.
2016-08-23	Conspiracies are never put into your deck. Instead, you put any number of conspiracies from your card pool into the command zone as the game begins. These conspiracies are face up unless they have hidden agenda, in which case they begin the game face down.
2016-08-23	Conspiracies aren’t legal for any sanctioned Constructed format, but may be included in other Limited formats, such as Cube Draft.
2016-08-23	If you play multiple games after the draft, you can name a different card in each new game.
2016-08-23	There are several ways to secretly name a card, including writing the name on a piece of paper that’s kept with the face-down conspiracy. If you have multiple face-down conspiracies, you may name a different card for each one. It’s important that each named card is clearly associated with only one of the conspiracies.
2016-08-23	You can look at any player’s face-up conspiracies at any time. You’ll also know how many face-down conspiracies a player has in the command zone, although you won’t know what they are.
2016-08-23	You don’t have to play with any conspiracy you draft. However, you have only one opportunity to put conspiracies into the command zone, as the game begins. You can’t put conspiracies into the command zone after this point.
2016-08-23	You must name a Magic card. Notably, you can’t name a token (except in the unusual case that a token’s name matches the name of a card, such as Illusion).
2016-08-23	You name the card as the game begins, as you put the conspiracy into the command zone, not as you turn the face-down conspiracy face up.