Nicol Bolas Brawl (deck 2B in series) (Brawl)

Attempting to create brawl decks for every viable general. I already hace created a Nicol Bolas deck, however I want to branch off and create one with a different theme. My first attempt was a control deck with a reanimator subtheme. This time I want to create a deck that uses our opponents resources against them. It is mostly a fun deck that can annoy opponents in many ways.

1) Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh. (General)
*While you probably want to use the +1 when Bolas etb's, the +2 steal ability is pretty sweet.

(A) I've learned quickly that in brawl, if you want to play multicolored decks, you must include mana fixing artifacts. i figure it is best to include these now, rather than try to cut slots for them later. This may feel like 6 slots wasted on stupid artifacts, but the deck needs them to have any hope of casting its spells on curve.

2) Treasure Map. (2)

3) Traveler's Amulet. (1)

4) Renegade Map (1)

5) Manalith (3)

6) Cultivator's Caravan (3)

7) Azor's Gateway (2)
*takes a bit longer, but has a big payoff.

(B) Now to start adding the meat of the deck. I'm looking at any cards that give me an advantage by utilizing my opponents assets.

8) Angrath, the Flame-Chained. (5)
has a built in ability to steal creatures (even destroys low costing ones).
the +1 is actually the best part of the card in multiplayer.

9) The Scarab God (5)
*an all-star at using your opponents threats against them. In these colors the graveyard should always be full.

10) Yawgmoth's Vile Offering. (5)
theft for planeswalkers and creatures is very sweet.
major advantage to get an elite threat and in return get to destroy one.

11) Etali, Primal Storm. (6)
*not an etb trigger, but a very powerful ability nonetheless.

12) Gonti, Lord of Luxury (4)
*so much more powerful in multiplayer

13) Dire Fleet Daredevil (2)
*so many more possible targets in multiplayer.

14) Vizier of Many Faces (4)
*there should always be clone targets and the built in reanimator puts it over the top.

15) In Bolas's Clutches (6)
*steals any permanent. The obvious implications is creatures or planeswalkers, however stealing a transformed land is also pretty sweet. There are also going to be some powerful enchantments running around in multiplayer.

16) Captivating Crew (4)
*not an etb, however it is a repeatable ability as a mana sink.

(C) The deck is slow to get going. Out of the gate our goal is to get our mana base established. In the late game we intend to use our opponents resources against them. What the deck currently lacks is a bridge between the early game to the late game. I believe this deck has two ways to fill this need: mass removal and planeswalkers.

i) We need mass removal just in case we come up against someone crazy enough to play multiplayer aggro or more likely green stompy and ramp decks. It is possible to be facing down swings of 15 damage in the midgame if things are left unchecked, and we must remember that there may be more than one player planning to attack us. Mass removal is simply our way to survive and even things up a bit until we get to power out our game plan.

17) Hour of Devastation. (5)
Cure for just about anything we see in the early stages of the game.
just watch out to not play our own threats out of turn and fry them as well.

18) Phyrexian Scriptures. (4)
allows us to clear the board while letting one of our own creatures survive.
clearing the graveyard is not ideal for us, but it is a small price to pay.

19) Time of Ice (4)
Slows up our opponents locking up a pair of creatures.
the bounce effect is a powerful way to slow down our opponents until the late game. It also leaves the things we wish to steal in play (only after the opponent wastes turns replaying them).
*bouncing our own etb's is a fantastic bonus to the final effect.

20) Bontu's Last Reckoning. (3)
*This is a pure panic switch. Break glass in case of emergency only.

21) Vona's Hunger. (3)
if timed well it is often better than a sweeper as your creatures stay around.
also provides an answer for indestructible/hexproof
*the city's blessing rarely matters, but you will get it in the late game.

ii) Planeswalkers are so hard to remove in this format. There are not a lot of cards that outright say destroy target planeswalker. Attacking into planeswalkers can leave you vulnerable to being attacked yourself in multiplayer. And burn is not a common type of removal for multiplayer... all and all, planeswalkers get to stay around in multiplayer.
*A bonus to planeswalkers is the attention they draw (and the removal). They often get panicked removed, sometimes for good reason, but if our opponents use up there spot removal here then they may regret it later on when the real threats come down.

22) Chandra, Torch of Defiance. (4)
*the toolbox special...main use here is to help cast spells, but drawing cards is another key ingredient.

23) Saheeli Rai (3)
copying something we steal is just fun times.
scrying and dealing 1 damage to multiple players is more than acceptable.

24) Karn, Scion of Urza. (4)
*I like drawing cards.

D) The deck is beginning to be pretty high on the mana curve. To balance things out I'm looking at adding some spot removal and card draw. If I can do so through creatures with etb's that is also a bonus.

i) The spot removal needs to be versatile, meaning that it must serve more than one purpose or be a catch all.

25) Abrade. (2)
*artifact removal with an alternate use.

26) Never // Return. (3)
*need as much planeswalker removal as possible.

27) Vraska's Contempt. (4)
*more planeswalker removal.

28) Fatal Push. (1)
*kills a lot for 1cmc.

29) Ravenous Chupacabra. (4)
*removal on a stick.

30) Hostage Taker. (4)
removal on a stick, that has built in steal.
forgot this one earlier.

31) Negate. (2)
never dead in Brawl as it is a fantastic way to deal with planeswalker generals.
always a live card in multiplayer

32) Essence Scatter. (2)
*same as Negate, only for creature generals.

ii) Adding a couple more pieces of card draw to finish off the non-land portion of the deck. Currently I'm running Chandra, Karn, Azor's Gateway, Nicol Bolas, Etali for multiple instances of card draw, while also having Treasure Map and Saheeli Rai to scry away unwanted cards. This does not take into consideration all the other spells that provide card advantage.
*what I'm hoping to add are permanents that provide multiple card draws.

33) Champion of Wits. (3)
*great turn three card filtering with the bonus of built in reanimation.

34) Search for Azcanta. (2)

• filters your topdeck early, but best utilized to draw into ins/sor late game.
  *Providing an extra land is nice for a slower deck like this.

E) Add in lands. All possible duals and any color producing lands...rounded out by basics.