The Brothers’ War Commander Decks & Decklists

In this article, we’ll talk about everything you need to know about the Brothers’ War Commander decks. We’ll answer every question you might have about them, and provide all currently available spoilers and information about these new precons.

The Brothers’ War set will focus on the battle between Urza and Mishra, and so will the two Brothers’ War Commander decks. One deck will represent the strength of Urza, while the second will be led by his brother, Mishra.

Both brothers have something in common, which can be seen from the decks’ colors. Both decks will be in three colors: Blue, Black and White or Red. This color imbalance is quite unusual for regular Commander precons, although it does make sense story wise.

Another interesting thing about these decks is that all cards are going to be in old border!

Deck nameColors
Urza's Iron Allegiance Brothers War Commander Precon IconUrza's Iron Alliance
  • White
  • Blue
  • Black
  • Mishra's Burnished Banner Brothers War Commander Precon IconMishra's Burnished Banner
  • Blue
  • Black
  • Red
  • Urza’s Iron Alliance

    Urza's Iron Alliance Brothers War Commander Deck

    When the names of both commanders were spoiled, it was pretty obvious that both decks will feature artifact theme. The question was only how will Wizards make them feel different. One option, which looks like it’ll come true, was to make two mirrored decks. So, while both decks could focus on artifacts, they use them in completely different ways.

    Urza’s Iron Alliance focuses on going-wide with artifacts, preferably creature artifacts. This means that it wants to spawn a lot of smaller artifact creatures, preferably with cards that can make multiples of them. That would make a lot of sense due to the word “alliance” being in the name, and the Urza’s card. Speaking of which, let’s take a closer look.

    Urza, Chief Artificer Review

    Urza, Chief Artificer Brothers' War Commander Decklists

    Urza is a 4/5, but costs six mana total, which isn’t the best rate, but you know how it is with commanders – you care more about what’s inside the text box.

    The first line is very good, and explains the high casting cost. Affinity for artifacts creatures means that Urza is going to cast 1 mana less for each artifact creature you control. You can use this ability to reduce its cost down to three mana, provided you have enough artifact creatures. This can also help you get around the Commander tax, which is great.

    The second ability gives your artifact creatures menace. That’s a handy effect, but nothing groundbreaking.

    The third effect is truly quite powerful. At the beginning of your end step, you get a Construct token, which is as big as the number of your artifact creatures.

    All of these things together make for a really powerful Commander. On top of that, it’s a really cool build around, especially if you lean hard on the affinity ability. There wasn’t a great commander for this theme in Esper colors so far. If you were looking for a Myr tribal commander, Urza will do great.

    Even if your playgroup is competitive, you can expect Urza to hold its own – cost reduction is always amazing.

    Urza’s Iron Alliance Decklist

    Commander (1)
    Urza, Chief Artificer

    Creatures (30)
    Alela, Artful Provocateur
    Angel of the Ruins
    Armix, Filigree Thrasher
    Baleful Strix
    Bronze Guardian
    Chief of the Foundry
    Chrome Courier
    Darksteel Juggernaut
    Digsite Engineer
    Etched Champion
    Etherium Sculptor
    Ethersworn Adjudicator
    Filigree Attendant
    Indomitable Archangel
    Losheel, Clockwork Scholar
    Marionette Master
    Master of Etherium
    Myr Battlesphere
    Noxious Gearhulk
    Sai, Master Thopterist
    Sharding Sphinx
    Sharuum the Hegemon
    Shimmer Dragon
    Solemn Simulacrum
    Steel Hellkite
    Steel Overseer
    Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle
    Thought Monitor
    Vedalken Humiliator
    Whirler Rogue

    Sorceries (6)
    Austere Command
    One with the Machine
    Phyrexian Rebirth
    Preordain
    Urza’s Ruinous Blast
    Vindicate

    Instants (4)
    Despark
    Sphinx’s Revelation
    Swords to Plowshares
    Unbreakable Formation

    Enchantments (2)
    Tempered Steel
    Thopter Spy Network

    Artifacts (12)
    Arcane Signet
    Azorius Signet
    Bident of Thassa
    Cranial Plating
    Dimir Signet
    Liquimetal Torque
    Orzhov Signet
    Relic of Progenitus
    Skullclamp
    Sol Ring
    Swiftfoot Boots
    Thought Vessel
    Lands (36)
    Ancient Den
    Arcane Sanctum
    Ash Barrens
    Azorius Chancery
    Bojuka Bog
    Command Tower
    Darksteel Citadel
    Dimir Aqueduct
    Evolving Wilds
    Exotic Orchard
    Goldmire Bridge
    Mistvault Bridge
    Orzhov Basilica
    Path of Ancestry
    Prairie Stream
    Razortide Bridge
    River of Tears
    Seat of the Synod
    Skycloud Expanse
    Spire of Industry
    Sunken Hollow
    Temple of Deceit
    Temple of Enlightenment
    Temple of Silence
    Vault of Whispers
    Swamp
    Island
    Plains

    New Cards* (9)
    Hexavus
    Kayla’s Music Box
    March of Progress
    Sanwell, Avenger Ace
    Scholar of New Horizons
    Tawnos, Solemn Survivor
    Thopter Shop
    Wire Surgeons
    Wreck Hunter

    *These are the cards that were printed for the first time in this product.

    Urza’s Iron Alliance – New Cards

    Currnetly, there’s been two cards previewed for each deck. One is the face Commander and the other is the secondary commander, which you can swap the main one with. For Urza’s Iron Alliance, the secondary commander is Tawnos, Solemn Survivor.

    Tawnos, Solemn Survivor Brothers War Commander Decks

    At first look, Tawnos might look like a Blue commander, bot don’t forget the activation cost for his second ability, which makes him eligible for the helm of an Esper deck.

    Anyway, Tawnos cares about artifact tokens. It can be powerful, but you’ll definitely need to build around it. It looks like one of those commanders that won’t get hated on, but will still offer you a very interesting deckbuilding puzzle.

    Mishra’s Burnished Banner

    Mishra's Burnished Banner Brothers War Commander Deck

    As we’ve said before, the deck look like they’re going to be mirrored versions of one another. Where Urza’s deck cares about creature artifacts, Mishra’s rewards you for playing good noncreature artifacts, preferably with enter-the-battlefield effects.

    Why? Well, to copy them with Mishra. Let’s see how this brother holds up.

    Mishra, Eminent One Review

    Mishra, Eminent One Brothers' War Commander Decks

    Mishra. Eminent one is a mana cheaper, and has mirrored stats compared to Urza. Mishra is a 5/4, while Urza is a 4/5. Sadly, Mishra doesn’t have a built-in cost reduction.

    Furthermore, even though its text box is completely full of text, Mishra only has the one ability. At the beginning of your combat, you get a hasty 4/4 creature copy of one of your noncreature artifacts. At the beginning of your end step, you have to sacrifice it.

    While that doesn’t seem like much at first sight, you shouldn’t dismiss it too quickly. You can quickly get a three card infinite combo with this ability.

    The other two cards are Voltaic Construct, and any mana rock that makes three or more mana. (For example, Gilded Lotus.) You make a creature copy of a mana rock with Mishra’s ability, which allows Voltaic Construct to untap it. You tap it for three mana, and repeat the process, gaining one extra mana every time you do so. Once you have infinite mana it should be pretty easy to win.

    That’s why we think Mishra could also be a pretty bonkers commander. Of course, the combo isn’t that easy to set up, but you can also use Mishra fairly and generate various forms of advantage. All things considered, both face commanders look pretty amazing this time around.

    Mishra’s Burnished Banner Decklist

    Commander (1)
    Mishra, Eminent One

    Creatures (16)
    Audacious Reshapers
    Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer
    Emry, Lurker of the Loch
    Fain, the Broker
    Geth, Lord of the Vault
    Hellkite Igniter
    Herald of Anguish
    Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
    Master Transmuter
    Metalwork Colossus
    Muzzio, Visionary Architect
    Padeem, Consul of Innovation
    Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
    Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
    Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
    Workshop Elders

    Sorceries (5)
    Blasphemous Act
    Expressive Iteration
    Faithless Looting
    Feed the Swarm
    Thoughtcast

    Instants (5)
    Abrade
    Bedevil
    Chaos Warp
    Fact or Fiction
    Thirst for Knowledge

    Artifacts (27)
    Arcane Signet
    Commander’s Sphere
    Cursed Mirror
    Dimir Signet
    Dreamstone Hedron
    Executioner’s Capsule
    Fellwar Stone
    Hedron Archive
    Ichor Wellspring
    Idol of Oblivion
    Lithoform Engine
    Mind Stone
    Mirrorworks
    Mnemonic Sphere
    Mycosynth Wellspring
    Nihil Spellbomb
    Oblivion Stone
    Oni-Cult Anvil
    Prophetic Prism
    Rakdos Signet
    Servo Schematic
    Sol Ring
    Spine of Ish Sah
    Strionic Resonator
    Thran Dynamo
    Trading Post
    Wayfarer’s Bauble
    Lands (37)
    Ash Barrens
    Buried Ruin
    Command Tower
    Crumbling Necropolis
    Darkwater Catacombs
    Dimir Aqueduct
    Drossforge Bridge
    Exotic Orchard
    Great Furnace
    Izzet Boilerworks
    Mistvault Bridge
    Myriad Landscape
    Path of Ancestry
    Rakdos Carnarium
    Reliquary Tower
    Seat of the Synod
    Shadowblood Ridge
    Silverbluff Bridge
    Smoldering Marsh
    Temple of Deceit
    Temple of Epiphany
    Temple of Malice
    Terramorphic Expanse
    Vault of Whispers
    Mountain
    Swamp
    Island

    New cards* (9)
    Ashnod the Uncaring
    Blast-Furnace Hellkite
    Farid, Enterprising Salvager
    Glint Raker
    Machine God’s Effigy
    Scavenged Brawler
    Smelting Vat
    Terisiare’s Devastation
    Wondrous Crucible

    *These are the cards that were printed for the first time in this product.

    Mishra’s Burnished Banner – New Cards

    The secondary commander for the Burnished Banner deck is Ashnod the Uncaring.

    Ashnod the Uncaring Brothers War Commander Decks

    Ashnod certainly looks quite powerful, and will enable lots of sweet combos. If you need some suggestions, you could pair it with Mindslaver to control your opponent for two turns, or choose two opponents. Add Academy Ruins to the mix, and you can just take everyone’s turns with up to two opponents.

    Furtheremore, you can turn Mishra’s Bauble and Urza’s Bauble into a superb draw spell. Of course, you could also do mildly fair value stuff with cards like Burnished Hart. All in all, it looks like there will be a lot of interesting deckbuilding choices with Ashnod.

    Brothers’ War Commander Decks – FAQ

    In this section, we’ll try to answer your most commonly asked questions about the Brothers’ War Commander precons.

    How many Commander decks are in Brothers’ War set?

    There are two different decks.

    Are the Brothers’ War Commander decks fully powered or lite precons?

    These will be regular Commander decks, so fully powered with multiple new cards.

    Which colors are in the Brothers’ War Commander decks?

    Both decks contain Blue and Black. One deck also has White, while the other has Red.

    Do Brothers’ War Commander decks contain a booster?

    Yes, each deck contains a 2-card sample Collector booster pack.

    What’s inside Brothers’ War sample Collector booster?

    There are two card. One will be a rare or mythic rare with special art treatment (foil, borderless, or extended-art card). The second card will be a Retro frame artifact (regular or schematic version).

    Are the Brothers’ War Commander precons balanced against one another?

    Yes, they are relatively balanced against each other.

    Do cards in Brothers’ War Commander decks have old or new border?

    All cards in these two decks are in old border.

    Can you can Brothers’ War Commander decks in new border?

    No you can’t. The decks will only contain cards in old border.

    Conclusion

    That’s everything about the Brothers’ War Commander decks. Make sure to check back soon, when we’ll have more information to share with you. You can follow us on Facebook, or Instagram, so you won’t miss any important MTG news.

    If you want to find out more about the new Magic cards, you can check the following articles:

    Until next time, have fun, and may these Commander decks contain all the reprints that you wish for.

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