Brawl is a new Magic the Gathering format that was just released recently from the folks at Wizards of the Coast and I am very interested in the format.
First off this format is similar to Commander sharing a few similar rules. Except basic lands, you may only play with a single copy of any card in your deck. You will need 60 cards in your deck.
You need a commander who must be a Legendary Creature or a Planeswalker who will start in your Command Zone. Your commander is important as mana symbols that don't appear on your commander can't be in the deck, this includes the card's text box as well as its mana cost. When the commander is removed from the battlefield, you may place it in the command zone instead of anywhere else. For each additional time you cast your commander from the command zone, it will cost an additional two mana.
What is different with Brawl from Commander is very simple. You have 30 life and you can only use Standard legal cards. If the card has been banned from Standard is it banned form Brawl. This make you cycle cards in and out of your deck as Standard shifts, which is not as bad as it sounds.
You only need one copy of a card. Meaning those one off cards you picked up from a draft or sealed event (like a pre-release which is a favorite for the players in my crew) may be getting a home finally without having to complete a playset of four cards.
Secondly, Standard will be shifting in the fall of 2018 when Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, Welcome Deck 2017, Amonkhet, and Hour of Devastation will be cycled out. We'll be left with Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, and the yet to be released Dominaria and Core 2019.
Keeping a deck for a year doesn't sound so bad. My last Standard format deck was back in Theros block with a Minotaur Deck. When it cycled out I updated it with a few choice cards like Lord of Shatterskull Pass, Neheb, the Worthy, and Neheb, the Eternal. I added a few tribal bumps like Vanquisher's Banner. Mogis, God of Slaughter is my only non-Minotaur character in the deck. It's a favorite of mine that I still regularly play and my opponents know what's coming. What I'm trying to say is building a Standard legal deck is not bad because it doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. When it cycles out the deck is a foundation for more casual Modern or Legacy decks that we play around the kitchen table.
I can see Brawl starting to include Modern format restrictions and getting another name but Commander has the hold on the larger card selection that comes with eternal formats and the Modern restrictions may not fit it well. I'd like to see what folks would do.
What is really slick is you can take a starter deck like my starter with Angrath, Minotaur Pirate, and turn that into a Brawl deck. I think this could give these new Planeswalker led started decks to get some more life when they come out. I know that the Teferi, Timebender deck is calling my name. I was originally a Blue/White player and Teferi is one of my favorite Planeswalkers. So right away I'm looking at what I can do with each of those starters to make a Brawl deck.
With the released of Dominaria a set I've really been excited for, I've been getting that MTG itch that's been gone since the last Innistrad sets. Commander always gets my attention but new formats like Wizards Tower and Pauper are what keep me coming back. Shonty, Doc, Wolf, and I played with two other ladies at Emperor last friday and it was a great set of games.
- Will you be playing Brawl?
Dozer
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