The Brothers' War

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The Brothers' War
 
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The Brothers' War
[[File:{{#setmainimage:The Brothers' War.jpg}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description A split cog
Design Ari Nieh (lead)
Mark Rosewater
Emily Teng
Miguel Lopez
Kazu Negri
Ken Nagle
Noah Millrod
Ethan Fleischer
Yoni Skolnik
Bryan Hawley
Development Yoni Skolnik (lead)
Ari Nieh
Bryan Hawley
Chris Mooney
Zac Elsik
David Humpherys
Megan Smith
Melissa DeTora
Ben Weitz
Daniel Holt
Andrew Brown
Corey Bowen
Art direction Taylor Ingvarsson and Sarah Wassell
Release date November 18, 2022[1]
Themes and mechanics Artifacts, Powerstones
Keywords/​ability words Meld, Prototype, Unearth
Set size 287
Expansion code BRO[2]
Development codename Kayaking[3]
March of the Machine Standard
Dominaria United The Brothers' War Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Secret Lair Drop Series: Look at the Kitties The Brothers' War Retro Frame Artifacts
This page is about the set. For the event itself, see Brothers' War. For other uses, see The Brothers' War (disambiguation).

The Brothers' War is the ninety-fourth Magic expansion. It was released on November 18, 2022.[1][4][5]

Set details

Expansion symbol
“  Reinvent the Past. Retake the Future  ”

The Brothers' War was designed as an "event set", meaning that its mechanical structure was built around an event rather than a world. In this case, the set revolves around the story of the Brothers' War, a major event in Magic's timeline that was previously portrayed in the set Antiquities and various works of fiction such as the novel The Brothers' War by Jeff Grubb.[6][7] The Vision Design team, working in conjunction with the Creative team, divided the story into three acts: Childhood – We see the brothers growing up together and making a huge discovery that creates a schism, Adulthood – We watch as things escalate into a war that lasts decades and Final Conflict – We observe the ultimate event that ends the war and changes Dominaria forever.[8]

The Brothers' War contains 287 cards (101 commons, 80 uncommons, 63 rares, 23 mythic rares, 20 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Artifacts with color identity are now numbered with their color, a change from the previous where they were placed like other artifacts, after the multicolored cards. The regular cards include 10 full-art "mech" basic lands that showcase locations and the mechanical behemoths that battled in the war (#278-287).[9][10] Alternate card frames have a different card number than the original version. The Standard legal Jumpstart rares are #288-293, borderless planeswalkers, legendaries and pain lands are numbered #294-301. Extended artwork cards are numbered #302-377. The Buy-a-Box card is #378 and the Bundle promo is #379. The dark frame treatment cards from the Universal promo pack are numbered #380-384.

Storyline

Returning to a pivotal story of Dominaria's — and Magic's — history, what started as a feud between Urza and Mishra erupted into an all-out war that set into motion the future of the plane and Multiverse itself. Through the lens of Dominaria's locations, characters, and victims of the conflict, we'll see a plane-spanning conflict escalate with artifacts, giant artifact creatures, and beyond.[4][11]

This is the second part of the four-set Phyrexian story arc where the fate of Dominaria — and the Multiverse — is set to unravel.[5] As we follow familiar Planeswalkers traveling to one of Dominaria's key historical moments, we'll learn more about the people and places of the time.[12][13] The fate of the future might be rooted in the past.

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in The Brothers' War are:

Magic Story

Main article: Magic Story
Title Author Publishing date Set Setting (plane) Featuring
The Brothers' War - Episode 1: The End Miguel Lopez 2022-10-20 The Brothers' War Dominaria Kayla bin-Kroog, Tawnos, Myrel, Raddic
The Brothers' War - Episode 2: The Beginning Miguel Lopez 2022-10-20 The Brothers' War Dominaria Tawnos, Kayla bin-Kroog, Myrel, Jarsyl, Kaya, Teferi
The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-21 The Brothers' War Dominaria Teferi, Jodah, Elspeth Tirel, Kaya, Vivien Reid, Saheeli Rai, Wrenn, Seven
The Brothers' War - Episode 3: Sword One Miguel Lopez 2022-10-21 The Brothers' War Dominaria Llora, Sanwell, Rica, Tawnos, Carlo, Aiman, Death
The Brothers' War - Chapter 2: Antiquities Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-24 The Brothers' War Dominaria, Kaladesh Saheeli Rai, Kaya, Gonti, Jodah, Jhoira, Sharaman, Xantcha, Mishra
The Brothers' War - Episode 4: The Ink of Empires Miguel Lopez 2022-10-24 The Brothers' War Dominaria Farid, Karrak, Assad, Aiman, Ehsan, Usman, Laria
The Brothers' War - Chapter 3: Nemesis Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-25 The Brothers' War New Phyrexia Karn, Ajani Goldmane, Tezzeret, Elesh Norn
The Brothers' War - Chapter 4: The Dark Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-25 The Brothers' War Dominaria Elspeth Tirel, Wrenn, Seven, Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane, Jodah, Kaya, Saheeli Rai, Rona, Tezzeret, Ashiok
The Brothers' War - Chapter 5: Exodus Reinhardt Suarez 2022-10-26 The Brothers' War Dominaria Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane, Kaya, Saheeli Rai, Teferi Akosa, Wrenn, Seven, Nahiri, Jace Beleren, Jodah, Elspeth Tirel, The Wanderer, Kaito Shizuki, Tyvar Kell, Lukka, Vraska
The Brothers' War - Episode 5: As Cruel, As Necessary Miguel Lopez, Jeff Grubb 2022-10-26 The Brothers' War Dominaria Teferi Akosa, Kaya, Saheeli Rai, Urza, Tawnos

Marketing

Booster box depicting Mishra and Urza

The Brothers' War is sold in regular 16-card Draft Boosters (one card being a marketing card), Collector Boosters, Set Boosters, Jumpstart Boosters, the The Brothers' War Bundle (also in a Deluxe Edition), two Commander decks and a Land Station.[14] The Draft Boosters feature artwork depicting a hulking artifact creature. The Set Boosters feature art depicting Urza, and the Collector Boosters feature a dragon engine. The Jumpstart Boosters feature art from Rescue Retriever. With the release of The Brothers' War, 75 cards were rotated into The List, many of which were thematically or mechanically linked to the set. These can be found in the Set Boosters.

Universes Beyond: Transformers

Main article: Transformers

For the first time, some Universes Beyond cards are distributed through a premier set, advertising another Hasbro brand. Transformers cards can be found in Set Boosters, Collector Booster and Bundles. Note that these are original designs, and not skinned cards.[15][16] Transformers cards appear in 10% of Set Boosters. Shattered Glass Transformers cards appear in approximately 12% of Collector Boosters.[10]

Retro Artifacts

Main article: The Brothers' War/Retro Artifacts
Promotional Crystal Display with LED light for The Brothers' War (Mightstone and Weakstone)

Retro frame artifacts feature a unique set symbol and can be found in Draft, Set, and Collector Boosters.[9] They come in three versions: regular retro frame, "retro schematics" and serialized "retro schematics" with double-rainbow foiling. The serialized versions are numbered with their number out of 500, and they'll only be available in Collector Boosters. Each Set and Draft Booster contains a retro artifact. It's an uncommon approximately 66% of the time, a rare ~27% of the time, and a mythic rare ~7% of the time. One-in-six retro artifacts will be retro schematics. Approximately 24% of The Brothers' War Set Boosters contain an extra retro or schematic artifact in their wildcard slot.[10] Serialized retro schematic cards can only be found in Collector Boosters. Serialized cards are always in English but can be opened in Collector Boosters of any language.[10]

Events

Promos

Tokens and markers

The Brothers' War has 12 tokens and 1 emblem.[22]

  1. {U} 2/2 Spirit creature with vigilance and “Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature”, for Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim.
  2. {G} 2/2 Bear creature, for Argoth, Sanctum of Nature, Fade from History and Titania’s Command.
  3. {G} 1/1 Forest Dryad land creature, for Awaken the Woods.
  4. {C} 2/2 Construct artifact creature, for Kayla's Command.
  5. {C} 0/0 Construct artifact creature with "This creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control", for Urza's Command.
  6. {C} X/X Golem artifact creature, for Mask of the Jadecrafter and Rootwire Amalgam.
  7. {C} Powerstone artifact, for Arbalest Engineers, Argothian Opportunist, Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist, Cityscape Leveler, Excavation Explosion, Fallaji Excavation, Geology Enthusiast, Gix's Caress, Great Desert Prospector, Hall of Tagsin, Horned Stoneseeker, Junkyard Genius, Koilos Roc, Mishra, Lost to Phyrexia, Powerstone Engineer, Repair and Recharge, Sarinth Greatwurm, Sibling Rivalry, Slagstone Refinery, Splitting the Powerstone, Static Net, Stern Lesson, Stone Retrieval Unit, Thran Spider, Urza, Powerstone Prodigy, Urza's Command and Visions of Phyrexia.
  8. {C} 1/1 Soldier artifact creature, for Conscripted Infantry, Emergency Weld, Mass Production, Mishra's Onslaught, Myrel, Shield of Argive, Platoon Dispenser, Scrapwork Cohort, Siege Veteran, Skystrike Officer, Third Path Iconoclast and Urza, Planeswalker.
  9. {C} 1/1 Soldier artifact creature.
  10. {C} 1/1 Thopter artifact creature with flying, for Saheeli, Filigree Master and Thopter Mechanic.
  11. {C} 3/3 Zombie artifact creature, for Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist and Transmogrant Altar.
  12. Emblem for Saheeli, Filigree Master.

The last token has The Brothers' War Commander expansion symbol and collector number.

Themes and mechanics

Prototype card frame

As could be expected, The Brothers' War has an artifact theme.[23] Both of the main mechanics are exclusive to artifacts. The set lacks certain newer card types, such as Vehicles and colored artifacts to give it a "retro" feel[24], though many artifacts have color identities through ability costs.

Meld returns from Eldritch Moon with three meld pairs.[25] Meld is a keyword action that changes the card with meld and one specific other cards into one oversized card. That single card only exists on the backs of the two other cards.

Unearth is another returning mechanic — “[Cost]: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield. Unearth only as a sorcery.”

Prototype is the set's new mechanic.[26] Each prototype card includes two sets of characteristics: First, a larger default mana cost, power, and toughness. The second set of characteristics exists as part of the prototype ability. There, you'll find an alternate mana cost and an alternate power and toughness. As you cast a prototype card, you choose the characteristics you use.

Limited archetypes

  • {W}{U}: Soldier Matters[27]
  • {U}{B}: Second Card Matters
  • {B}{R}: Unearth Combined with Sacrificing
  • {R}{G}: Midrange Ramp with Powerstones
  • {G}{W}: Artifact Entering the Battlefield Matters
  • {W}{B}: Mana Value 3 or Less Matters
  • {U}{R}: Noncreature Spells Matter
  • {B}{G}: Graveyard Matters
  • {R}{W}: Unearth Aggro
  • {G}{U}: Big Powerstone Ramp

Card types

The set prominently features the Powerstone artifact type, as introduced in Dominaria United. Powerstone appears on predefined tokens with the ability “{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast a non-artifact spell.”[23]

Urza appears as a planeswalker type for the first time in an eternal-legal set.

Cycles

The Brothers' War has seven cycles, including two vertical cycles and a mini-cycle.

Vertical cycles

Cycle name
Urza Urza, Powerstone Prodigy Urza, Prince of Kroog Urza, Lord Protector
Depicting Urza in various stages of his life.
Mishra Mishra, Excavation Prodigy Mishra, Tamer of Mak Fawa Mishra, Claimed by Gix
Depicting Mishra in various stages of his life.

Horizontal cycles

Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Commands Kayla's Command Urza's Command Gix's Command Mishra's Command Titania's Command
Each of these rare modal spells has four modes and allow you to choose two different modes.
Basic land count spells Lay Down Arms Flow of Knowledge Corrupt Sardian Cliffstomper Blanchwood Armor
Five uncommon mono-colored spells which reward you for having many of a certain basic land type.
Self mill creatures Airlift Chaplain Fallaji Archaeologist Ravenous Gigamole Tomakul Scrapsmith Blanchwood Prowler
Five common mono-colored creatures which mill you for 3 on entry, then allow you to return a card of a certain card type milled this way to your hand or put a +1/+1 counter on the creature.

Mini-cycles

Cycle name Mine Power-Plant Tower
Urzatron workers Mine Worker Power Plant Worker Tower Worker
Three common Assembly-Workers, one for each of the original Urza's lands, that give extra effects if you control all of them.

Double cycles

Cycle name {W}{U} {U}{B} {B}{R} {R}{G} {G}{W} {W}{B} {U}{R} {B}{G} {R}{W} {G}{U}
Gold signposts Yotian Tactician Evangel of Synthesis Junkyard Genius Arbalest Engineers Yotian Dissident Hero of the Dunes Third Path Iconoclast Skyfisher Spider Fallaji Vanguard Battery Bearer
Ten uncommon dual-colored creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype.

Pairs

The Brothers' War has two mirrored pairs and one matched pair.

Mirrored Pair Description
Bladecoil Serpent ({U}{B}{R}) Clay Champion ({G}{W}) Two mythic rare artifact creatures that cost {X} and twice as much generic mana as colors in their color identity, which improve based on the amount and types of colored mana spent to cast them, in increments of two.
Urza's Rebuff ({U}) Mishra's Onslaught ({R}) Two common modal Instants with two effects to choose from, with mirrored flavor text depicting Urza's and Mishra's hostility towards each other.
Matched Pair Description
Mightstone's Animation Weakstone's Subjugation Two common blue Auras that can enchant an artifact. They represent the powers of Urza's Mightstone - empowering an artifact - and Mishra's Weakstone - disabling an artifact - respectively with mirrored art.

Reprinted cards

Functional reprints

Notable cards

  • Hurkyl, Master Wizard has two versions — the main set version and an extended art version found in Collector Boosters — that have two different rarities (Rare and Mythic Rare, respectively).[29]

Preconstructed decks

Main article: The Brothers' War/Commander decks

The Brothers' War features two Commander decks that are released as a regular part of a set's product line.

Theme
deck name 		Color Identity Commander
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Urza's Iron Alliance W U B Urza, Chief Artificer
Mishra's Burnished Banner U B R Mishra, Eminent One

References

  1. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (August 27, 2021). "We just shifted one earlier. Standard didn’t go up in premier sets.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  2. ↑ Information below the text box
  3. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 19, 2021). "Strixhaven Vision Design Handoff Document, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. ↑ a b Adam Styborski (August 24, 2021). "What Happened In Magic Showcase 2021?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (May 12, 2022). "Your Sneak Peek at Double Masters 2022, Dominaria United, and Beyond". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 7, 2021). "Is Brothers' Wars considered an event set?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  7. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 7, 2021). "Besides War of the Spark and Brothers' War, has Magic ever done any other event sets?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  8. ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 31, 2022). "Act of War, Part 1". Magicthegathering.com.
  9. ↑ a b Blake Rasmussen (September 29, 2022). "A First Look at the The Brothers' War". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. ↑ a b c d Max McCall (October 27, 2022). "What's Inside The Brothers' War Boosters?". Wizards of the Coast.
  11. ↑ Magic Showcase 2021 (live) (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (August 24, 2021).
  12. ↑ Adam Styborski (August 18, 2022). "The Next Year of Magic From Wizards Presents". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. ↑ Journey to the Past to Save the Future – The Brothers’ War: Building Worlds with Ladee Danger (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (October 20, 2022).
  14. ↑ WPN (October 11, 2022). "Retailer Rundown of The Brothers' War Products". Wizards Play Network.
  15. ↑ Hasbro Pulse Con 2022, DAY ONE (Video). Hasbro Pulse. YouTube (September 30, 2022).
  16. ↑ WPN (October 11, 2022). "Transformers Roll Out to The Brothers' War Battlefield". Wizards Play Network.
  17. ↑ Gavin Verhey (November 8, 2022). "The Brothers' War Prerelease Primer". Magicthegathering.com.
  18. ↑ WPN (August 18, 2022). "Wizards Presents: What Retailers Need to Know". Wizards Play Network.
  19. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (September 22, 2022). "The Brothers' War Prerelease Update". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (November 10, 2022). "Play Magic Now With The Brothers' War". Magicthegathering.com.
  21. ↑ For Korean Magic the Gathering users, Wizard has released a special token. Reddit (November 7, 2022).
  22. ↑ Kendall Pepple (November 7, 2022). "The Tokens of The Brothers' War". Magicthegathering.com.
  23. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (August 22, 2022). "Dominaria United We Stand, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. ↑ Matt Bassil (October 28, 2022). "MTG The Brothers’ War has no Vehicles, to keep its retro feel". Wargamer.com.
  25. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 30, 2022). "Urza is Brothers War's only Meld card?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  26. ↑ Matt Tabak (October 27, 2022). "The Brothers' War Mechanics". Magicthegathering.com.
  27. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 7, 2022). "Act of War, Part 2". Magicthegathering.com.
  28. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 18, 2022). "Why choosing to use 6 lands instead of a cycle of 5?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  29. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 28, 2022). "Hurkyl, Master Wizard Rarity Update". Magicthegathering.com.

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