The Brothers’ War is a retelling of the events from MTG’s very first sets. It centers around the conflicts of the now infamous Urza and his brother Mishra. The set will feature two brand-new precons and they are the focus of today’s article. So, let’s jump right in.
The Brothers’ War will contain two 100-card preconstructed decks. They were released on November 18th, along with the main set. One features Urza at the helm and the other will have Mishra as the commander. The decks are themed around time-traveling back to the original Brothers’ War conflicts.
Things like the release date are pretty run-of-the-mill information. With that said, there are quite a few very special, very exciting features being added to The Brothers’ War commander precons. With the general stuff out of the way, let’s take a look at the commanders, spoilers, and the big surprise for the decks.
Key Dates
These decks will release alongside the main set. Here’s a look at the important dates.
- The Brothers’ War Global Release: November 18
- WPN Game Store Commander Party Events: December 16–18
Set Symbol And Code
Below you’ll find the set symbol and code for the precons, specifically.
Set Symbol:
Set Code:
BRC
The Decks: Commanders, Themes, And Deck Lists
Given that the decks focus on the original conflicts between Urza and Mishra, it’s only fitting that each deck has one of the brothers as a commander. Each one comes in a traditional foil and foil-etched display version. Furthermore, since the decks take players back in time they are also retro-bordered cards! More on this below, but for now let’s take a look at the decks in-depth.
Urza’s Iron Alliance
Primary Commander:
Colors:
White, Blue, Black (Esper)
Theme:
The theme for Urza is pretty straightforward. He leads an aggressive artifact strategy. He reduces the cost of the artifacts you cast via “Affinity for Artifacts”, gives your artifact creaturs menace, and creates an artifact token whose power and toughness are equal to the number of artifacts you control at the end of the turn.
This is quite a lot of value on a single card but I would expect nothing less for Urza. Overall, I would say the game plan for this Esper list is as follows. First, cast as many artifacts as possible in the early game. Once you do, Urza will reduce the cost of your more expensive creatures.
Once you’ve built up a
Urza strikes me as being able to carry a deck without much other than his own abilities and I suspect this deck will be quite powerful.
Deck List:
Mishra’s Burnished Banner
Primary Commander:
Colors:
Blue, Black, Red (Grixis)
Theme:
The Mishra deck is also artifact based and seems to be aggressive. At the start of combat on your turn, Mishra will create a token of a non-creature artifact you control into a 4/4 construct. So, I think the deck will play fewer artifact creatures than the Urza deck does and more utility artifacts that it wants to clone.
Considering that the token is sacrificed at the end of combat, I could see there being some aristocrats synergies here as well, and generating value from the sacrificing could create quite the value engine. Without seeing the deck lists I would say that the Urza deck will be stronger out of the box.
With that said, if the decks were to be upgraded I think that the Mishra deck could be just as powerful. I’m excited to see what Wizards’ stock list looks like for this deck.
Deck List:
Retro-Frame Decks
As mentioned above, The Brothers’ War takes players into MTG’s past. As a result, every single card, new and old, will come with a retro frame. This means that many cards will be available in retro frame versions for the very first time.
Just to be clear, this means that all 100 cards (including lands) will be old-school framed. Let’s take a look at the cards from the decks that we’ve seen so far.
Spoilers
End Step
Most new sets these days come with commander precons and The Brothers War is no exception. With that said, The Brothers’ War decks are looking like some of the most exciting in a long time. Not only because they are helmed by Uzra and Mishra, but they all come fully decked out in retro-bordered treatment.
