Set four and a half millennia (~4500 years) before Dominaria United, the new Magic set The Brothers’ War relives one of Magic’s greatest stories - the war between Urza and Mishra. The set features many callbacks, similar to Dominaria United, with a large design influence coming from Antiquities meaning a heavy Artifact focus.
As with other Top 10 lists, we’ll skip over Legendary Creatures and focus on cards that are best for your 99. Let’s get to it and see what new additions we can find for our decks!
1. Calamity's Wake
While it may not look like much at first glance, Calamity’s Wake is a great answer to several challenges. If you’re staring down any reanimation strategies this can act as a reactive Rest In Peace. It can also be good against a one-off Living Death or early Reanimate. The other half of Calamity’s Wake that I want to call out is the casting restriction. This could be used as a Silence if you’re ready to close the game or a response to a spellslinger deck that is starting to become unruly.
2. Soul Partition
Wow, Soul Partition is fantastic removal*. Yes, it is only temporary as your opponent can re-cast the exiled permanent, but it can provide an excellent opportunity to sneak in. This could be a strong combo piece like an Ashnod’s Altar, a huge advantage engine like The Great Henge, or even a specific Creature that’s attacking you (or a temporary ally) for lethal. Being able to exile any nonland permanent is a strong effect, and this one shouldn’t be slept on.
3. One with the Multiverse
One with the Multiverse is a great card for those of us looking to do splashy things but not generate a lot of threat. It is sizably weaker than Omniscience, but it adds a Future Sight effect which can help you dig into your other big splashy spells. I’m excited to try this out and see what others think.
4. Hostile Negotiations
You may have come across Fact or Fiction or Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths in Commander games you’ve played, making for a little mini game. Hostile Negotiations takes the same concept and flips it, letting you make the piles and forcing an opponent to choose what you get. There are a lot of different ways to play this, and you can try to bluff your opponents into making the choice you want. In the worst case, this will be equivalent to an Ambition’s Cost, which is still pretty good.
5. Transmogrant's Crown
Skullclamp is an extremely powerful card in Commander. Just like our earlier example of One with the Multiverse, Transmogrant’s Crown is a weaker version of a highly desired effect. It draws fewer cards, doesn’t include a way to self-sacrifice and has a Black color identity, so it likely won’t be a staple by any means. But, if you are looking for a budget alternative to Skullclamp, this pointy crown may do the trick.
6. Over the Top
This is a card that will likely have mixed feelings due to the chaos that may ensue, but I think it’s a great way to see what everyone’s deck can do. Over The Top acts similar to Warp World, but it leaves the current permanents in play. It may set up one of your opponents for a win, but there are going to be many stories made possible with this card, and will likely be some of the most over-the-top ones you’ll be able to share.
7. Awaken the Woods
Getting ahead on resources in Commander is a good way to increase your odds of winning, and Awaken the Woods gives Green decks another way to implement this effect. While it is risky to create a bunch of Land Creature tokens that can be wrathed away, the potential big swings this can lead to are tantalising. You’ll get the most out of this when you’re casting it for seven or more, but it has enough flexibility to be a Rampant Growth equivalent if you’re really behind. I’d definitely pick this one up, especially if you enjoy big risks and big rewards.
8. Legions to Ashes
There once was a time when Vindicate was premiere removal in Commander, but those days are long past gone. Legions to Ashes swaps the ability to target Lands for exiling instead of destroying and tacks on a Maelstrom Pulse-like effect that wipes all tokens with the same name. It is limited to Sorcery speed, so I wouldn’t replace Anguished Unmaking, but wiping out an opponent’s Treasures (or forcing them to use them) is a decent upside.
9. Cityscape Leveler
Colorless options for removal are always great to see, especially for Colors that have difficulties with specific permanent types. Cityscape Leveler is a high cost beater that can remove at least one problem nonland permanent, but potentially multiple. Of note, the destroy trigger is on attack, so if you had several of these attacking at once you could destroy potential blockers to finish the game. It also has Trample, meaning it’ll likely get in for a few points of damage as well.
10. The Stasis Coffin
Once again we have another imposter in this list, this time with The Stasis Coffin which is comparable to Teferi’s Protection in some ways. The Stasis Coffin does need to be on board, costs more to use and will only net you one turn of freedom, but it will likely be much more affordable for just those reasons. If you have any decks where you just need that “one more turn” to win it, this coffin may be worth trying out.
There we have it! Ten solid pick ups you should grab for your decks from The Brothers’ War. I’m really excited to try these out in my decks soon, particularly Hostile Negotiations and Over The Top to see what kind of interesting decisions come up. As with other recent sets there are a lot of hidden gems for specific strategies, so I’d urge you to flip through the full set and see what suits your own decks.
Were there any cards you’re excited about that I missed? Let me know in the Chimera Gaming Discord, or you can reach me directly on Twitter. Happy shuffling, and hope to jam a game or two with you in the future!
