Looking at Brothers’ War
The release of the Brothers’ War is soon, and today I want to look at some interesting cards that we may see played in the near future.
URZA’S SYLEX
The first card is helpful for control decks. It is vaguely reminiscent of Oblivion Stone despite it being worse since its ability can be activated exclusively as a sorcery. It will likely find a place because its second ability lets you pay two mana to search for a planeswalker (did someone say the new Teferi?) and add to your hand.
It’s a good card overall for control that I think will find space at least in 2x.
SAHEELI, FILIGREE MASTER
This planeswalker has everything needed to be one of the best cards in the expansion. The first ability makes scry 1 and taps an untapped artifact that draws a card and provides card advantage. The second ability is the most important one, as it puts two 1/1 tokens into play for self-defense. Finally, the emblem makes it an important threat to your opponent.
In short, it’s a pretty complete card that can lead to the birth of a new archetype as a UR artifact in Standard.
THE STONE BRAIN
This card’s effect is reminiscent of Cranial Extraction, a card that used to be played a lot and could solve complicated match-ups.
I’m betting a lot on this card because it’s an artifact and can be tutored with Karn, the Great Creator, it effectively gives a turn to Mono Green mirrors in Pioneer, and it provides a great solution to a deck that didn’t need it but will be played in the sideboard in 1x.
TEFERI, TEMPORAL PILGRIM
Here is another planeswalker that seems to have everything needed to be played often. Its static ability puts a counter every time you draw a card, which will make it difficult to destroy. The first ability draws a card. The second ability defends itself by putting a 2/2 and puts pressure on your opponent since these tokens get bigger with each card draw. The last ability will be rarely used because -12 is not common and will be used to clean up the board rather than to win the game.
PHYREXIAN FLESHGORGER
This is a versatile card. The prototype ability, which came with this expansion, seems strong since it makes expensive cards playable in both the early and late game. This wurm can either be a 3/3 menace Lifelink for three mana with ward forcing our opponent to pay at least three life, or it can be a 7/5 that does the same things but bigger.
We are almost there, and the preconditions for having an expansion full of strong, playable cards are all there. Let’s see what the latest spoilers will bring us, and let’s be ready to see the various balances of the formats change!
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