Over the course of Magic the Gathering‘s 30-year-long history, heroes have risen and villains have fallen. There have been countless wars and conflicts across the game’s huge multiverse, however one of the first, and arguably nonetheless the most notable, was the Brothers’ War. It was a large world-spanning battle between artificer siblings Urza and Mishra, and launched the menace of Phyrexia to the Multiverse whereas catapulting Dominaria, the siblings’ dwelling, right into a darkish age. And now, with Phyrexia on the rise as soon as extra, Magic‘s modern-day heroes are travelling into the previous to unlock the secrets and techniques to defeat the Phyrexians as soon as extra.
The Progenitors of Conflict
In the new Brothers’ War enlargement, Magic gamers will get their first alternative to participate in a battle that, up till now, was solely seen in novels and taste textual content. In Brothers’ War, we’ll see a number of variations of Urza and Mishra throughout completely different intervals of their lives. Over the course of a number of playing cards, followers will see Urza develop from an inquisitive younger boy right into a calculating and terrifying planeswalker. And on the opposing aspect, gamers will get to see Mishra go from being a sibling drained of residing in his brother’s shadow right into a distorted cybernetic monster, consumed by anger and Phyrexian expertise.
Beyond the variations of every brother featured in the primary enlargement, every of the Brothers’ War Commander decks will every characteristic a novel model of one of the siblings.
A Trip Through Time
Connecting the Brothers’ War to Magic‘s present day fight against the latest incarnation of Phyrexia is Teferi, a time-bending Planeswalker who is desperate to find the secret to using the Sylex, an ancient artifact technology that destroyed the Phyrexian incursion into Dominaria during Urza’s and Mishra’s time.
The Rise of Titans
The Brothers’ War enlargement will see the return of Meld, a mechanic designed to tickle the fancy of anybody who has wished to see large outsized monsters smash collectively on the battlefield. Cards with Meld are totally purposeful on their very own, however when you’ve got two specific playing cards on the battlefield collectively, you may flip them each over and kind a single super-card!
Unearthing History
The Brothers’ War additionally sees the return of Unearth, a mechanic initially from the Alara block of Magic expansions. Cards with Unearth might be performed usually, however as soon as they’re in your graveyard, they get a second probability at life– albeit for just one flip.
Not solely is Unearth again, however Brothers’ War is unearthing a treasure trove of artifacts from Magic’s previous. Much like 2021’s Strixhaven: School of Mages enlargement reprinted a mystical archive of instants and sorceries, each pack of Brother’s War will comprise a retro artifact card, chosen from artifacts all through Magic’s lengthy historical past.
These reprints will are available two completely different potential flavors: one will characteristic art work beforehand used on the card, and the different will characteristic a model new “Schematic” remedy that’s meant to evoke the feeling of an historical blueprint.
Finally, for gamers who purchase Collector Boosters, there can be a uncommon alternative to open a serialized model of the Schematic artifacts. An instance of a serialized Wurmcoil Engine might be seen under.
Powerstones
In Dominaria United, the enlargement launched prior to Brothers’ War, a small subset of playing cards produced Powerstone tokens– artifacts that could possibly be used to generate small quantities of mana to energy particular subsets of playing cards. These Powerstone Tokens are again in Brothers’ War, and now we get to see their properties maximized to energy every kind of spells and skills.
Iteration, Iteration
While the Brothers’ War includes a selection of returning playing cards and mechanics from Magic’s previous, the set does characteristic just a few model new methods. The greatest one is Prototype, a brand new capability that enables you to solid playing cards for various mana prices, giving them completely different colours, stat strains, and different attributes. This capability will provide you with extra flexibility in deciding how to construct your mechanical military– do you have to summon a prototype Fleshgorger now to lead the vanguard, or wait till you may summon it at full energy to crush your enemies?
Collecting Brothers’ War
For these taken with navigating the complexities of Magic‘s current roster of products, here’s a rundown of what you’ll discover in every kind of Brothers’ War booster pack:
Every The Brothers’ War Set Booster accommodates:
- At least 1 uncommon or mythic uncommon card (roughly 42% to have 2, 13% to have 3, 1% to have 4, and < 1% to have 5)
- 1 Retro artifact or retro schematic card from the retro artifact bonus sheet
- 1 Traditional foil card of any rarity, together with borderless rares, Transformers playing cards, retro artifacts, retro schematics, Jumpstart playing cards, or Commander playing cards
- 2 Wildcards of any rarity, together with a chance to open The Brothers’ War Commander playing cards, Jumpstart Booster rares, Transformers playing cards, or retro artifacts and retro schematics
- 3 Connected uncommons
- 3 Connected commons
- 1 Basic land or mech primary land that would are available foil or non-foil
- 1 Art card
- 1 Card from The List or a token, DFC helper card, punch-out counter card, or advert card
The Brothers’ War Draft Boosters comprise:
- 1 Rare or mythic uncommon, that may doubtlessly be in the borderless body
- In a 3rd of boosters changing a standard, 1 conventional foil card that may be a primary land, widespread, unusual, uncommon, or mythic uncommon, or a retro artifact or retro schematic card
- 1 Retro artifact or retro schematic card
- 1 Basic land or mech land card
- 3 Non-foil uncommons
- 10 Non-foil commons, except one is changed by a standard foil card of any rarity
Each Collector Booster accommodates:
- 1 Foil alternate-frame uncommon or mythic uncommon that could possibly be an extended-art, Commander extended-art, borderless, retro artifact, or retro schematic card, or serialized retro schematic card (in lower than 1% of boosters)
- 2 Non-foil retro or schematic artifacts: Each Collector Booster accommodates 1 retro artifact and 1 schematic artifact, one of which can be uncommon or mythic uncommon.
- 1 Additional foil unusual retro or schematic artifact
- 1 Transformers collection card, which is perhaps foil (in 21% of boosters) or Shattered Glass (in 12% of boosters) or each (in lower than 1% of boosters)
- 1 Traditional foil uncommon or mythic uncommon
- 1 Non-foil borderless or extended-art uncommon or mythic uncommon
- 1 Non-foil extended-art Commander uncommon or mythic uncommon or Jumpstart uncommon
- 1 Traditional foil mech land
- 2 Traditional foil uncommons
- 4 Traditional foil commons
- 1 Traditional foil double-sided token
The Future is in the Past
The Brothers’ War enlargement seems to be to be an thrilling addition to Magic‘s ever-growing universe of cards. Featuring cards with epic new abilities and characters that longtime fans are going to be overjoyed to see, there’s a bit one thing for everybody right here. The Brothers’ War hits retailer cabinets on November 18, 2022.
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