From humble beginnings, the Brawl format on MTG Arena has grown into one of the most popular on the platform. For the most part, this is likely down to it being the closest thing to Commander Arena players have access to. To give Wizards their due, however, it’s also likely down to the format’s tight banlist. Unlike Timeless, Brawl has been carefully sheltered from some of the more broken Arena reprints via prudent bans.
While the formula seems to be working so far, Wizards clearly thinks it can work better. Beginning tomorrow, Wizards is launching the All-Access MTG Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge. This new event, which runs from December 16th to January 6th next year, features an all-new banlist for the format. It’s also strictly temporary, sticking around for just three weeks before phasing out for good. With this event, Wizards is ushering in an experimental new stage of the Brawl format, and one that may well pay dividends in the end.
The All-Access MTG Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge
As announced in the official Wizards article today, the MTG Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge will feature a heavily altered banlist. For starters, it will ban some of the very best legends in the format, in both the command zone and the 99.
This fresh batch of bans is based on the results of the format’s first Metagame Challenge event, which took place back in October. The main issue with this event was a lack of deck diversity, caused by a few power outliers dominating the rankings. Ajani, Nacatl Pariah, in particular, was absolutely everywhere, while other powerhouses like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Wrenn and Six also hogged the limelight.
Responding to these results, Wizards has crafted a fresh banlist for the Modified Metagame Challenge consisting of the following:
- Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
- Rusko, Clockmaker
- Old Stickfingers
- Wrenn and Six
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- A-Nadu, Winged Wisdom
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
Other than Oko and Lutri, which are part of the Brawl banlist normally, these bans are all-new. Taken as a whole, they seem to be aiming to push Brawl away from generic “good stuff” lists and into more synergy-driven strategies. Cards like Ajani and Ragavan, powerful as they are, mostly encourage decks that just curve out with quality creatures, whether it’s in Brawl or Modern. With them banned, players will need to engage more with the lesser-seen aspects of the format.
Absurd Unbans
The really interesting thing about the MTG Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge is that, other than those eight bans, everything else is fair game. This means 20 ridiculous cards from the official Brawl banlist will be available to play during this event.
Many of these cards are those that received pre-bans in Brawl on release, like Chrome Mox and Ancient Tomb. Others had some time in the format but proved too obnoxious, like Drannith Magistrate and Runed Halo. In every case, these are cards that have real potential to turn Brawl on its head.
Perhaps the biggest shift these cards offer is one of speed. Wizards has been careful to avoid most forms of fast mana in Brawl up until now, but these unbans throw that out the window. With Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox, and Channel now available, decks that want to turbo out threats should have no trouble doing so.
The other major theme among the unbanned cards here is disruption. Cards like Pithing Needle, Sorcerous Spyglass, and Phyrexian Revoker are all stellar answers to ability-centric Commanders like Grist, the Hunger Tide. Throw in Chalice of the Void and Drannith Magistrate, and this new format immediately feels much more anti-Commander than the previous one.
The unbanning of several powerful tutors in Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, and Natural Order really hammers this shift home. These cards all put the emphasis on what’s in your 99, rather than the legend you’ve chosen to lead it. There’s a danger with all these unbans that Brawl loses some of its identity as a Commander-adjacent format. At the same time, changes that encourage more balanced deckbuilding are always welcome, so this could well work out for the best.
Part Of The Process
While the Brawl Modified Metagame event is running on MTG Arena, you’ll be able to enter for 1,000 Gems or 5,000 Gold a time. In each run, you’ll play games of the new format until you hit seven wins or two losses. There are standard pack and Gem performances for good runs, but you also get a nice bonus just for entering in the form of an individual reward card. There are 12 possible hits here, encompassing the 10 great promos from the Avatar Commander Bundle, as well as Arcane Signet and Swiftfoot Boots.
If that wasn’t enough to entice you, it’s worth noting that this is an all-access event. This means you’ll have access to every card in the format regardless of your current collection, letting you brew to your heart’s content. You won’t get to keep the cards afterwards, of course, but you will get to keep your prizes, which is a nice incentive.
Perhaps an even better incentive is the ability to directly impact the evolution of the Brawl format. In Wizards’ article today, it notes that this event will be “one in a series of events exploring different ways we could set up a competitive version of Brawl.” It’s the first stage in a new Brawl experiment, in other words, which is pretty exciting for fans of the format. After a few of these events, Brawl could be looking totally different, and you could be an active part of shaping that.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew!