MtG Card type question

[Dr Grordbort]

Batgirl-BarbaraGordon

nukeman8000

Batgirl-BarbaraGordon

Also another card

Braid of Fire

It has cumulative upkeep
(If i'm correct) This means it gets an age counter each upkeep
So

I play it,
Next upkeep it get's an age counter, however the one mana it produces can be used to pay that
However next upkeep, it get's a 2nd age counter....so logically you need 2 red mana to pay the cost
However it has only generated 1 red mana.....so doesn't that mean that it destroys itself unless you tap an untapped land?

Cumulative upkeep says that you must pay the upkeep cost or sacrifice the card. The Cumulative up keep on braid of fire is not that you have to pay mana, rather it is the fact that it generates mana. This means that every upkeep you will get an increasing amount of mana added to your pool, and that is ALL. There is no other effect of braid of fire than generating mana.
Note that this mana goes away before your main phase, so it can only be used things during your upkeep step.

So whats the whole age counter then sacrifice it thing then?

There's really no reason you can't just let Braid of Fire sit these days. Used to be, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, you took 1 damage for each point of mana you couldn't utilize before it dissipated. That's when Braid of Fire was a double-edged sword. Now it's just kinda cute.

If, for some reason, you couldn't add red mana to your pool (and don't ask me how) you'd need to sacrifice braid of fire.

[SporkMaster5000]

Dr Grordbort

Batgirl-BarbaraGordon

nukeman8000

Batgirl-BarbaraGordon

Also another card

Braid of Fire

It has cumulative upkeep
(If i'm correct) This means it gets an age counter each upkeep
So

I play it,
Next upkeep it get's an age counter, however the one mana it produces can be used to pay that
However next upkeep, it get's a 2nd age counter....so logically you need 2 red mana to pay the cost
However it has only generated 1 red mana.....so doesn't that mean that it destroys itself unless you tap an untapped land?

Cumulative upkeep says that you must pay the upkeep cost or sacrifice the card. The Cumulative up keep on braid of fire is not that you have to pay mana, rather it is the fact that it generates mana. This means that every upkeep you will get an increasing amount of mana added to your pool, and that is ALL. There is no other effect of braid of fire than generating mana.
Note that this mana goes away before your main phase, so it can only be used things during your upkeep step.

So whats the whole age counter then sacrifice it thing then?

There's really no reason you can't just let Braid of Fire sit these days. Used to be, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, you took 1 damage for each point of mana you couldn't utilize before it dissipated. That's when Braid of Fire was a double-edged sword. Now it's just kinda cute.

If, for some reason, you couldn't add red mana to your pool (and don't ask me how) you'd need to sacrifice braid of fire.

you can also just opt not to add the mana to your pool, and then the braid will have to be sacrificed. not generally a choice worth making, but mindslaver, and effects that can penalize you for things you have on the field might make it relevant.