The Brothers War Commander: Mishra’s Burnished Banner

With the release of The Brothers War, Wizards of the Coast have jumped back in time to a pivotal moment in Magic’s history. And what better way to tell the story of two feuding brothers building to all out war than by giving each of them a commander deck! It’s only fitting that a product set in the past comes with a little extra old school flavour, as both decks have been treated to the retro frame on every single card.

The second deck is led by the ruthless Mishra, brother of Urza and eventual Phyrexian pawn. Just like his brother, Mishra was a keen artificer and liked his constructs to be large and in charge. After the discovery of the Mightstone and Weakstone and the ensuing war, Mishra was eventually slain by his brother in a Sylex blast so large it ignited Urza’s planeswalker spark (not the most ideal outcome in Mishra’s opinion).

Unlike Urza’s go wide gameplan, Mishra wants to copy his artifacts for double the value and play out devastatingly large constructs to overwhelm his opponents. Along with his best chum Ashnod, he also takes great pleasure in sacrificing these creations for even more advantage from simple synergies. So creating plenty of tokens to sacrifice rather than actually cards from your deck can make for a very minor cost for some major payoffs. Because of this copy and sacrifice plan, you will find a lot of cards that provide a benefit when they enter the battlefield AND when they leave it. Simple cards like Ichor Wellspring and Servo Schematic can easily become four cards drawn or four servos created for a very low cost.

Now, this deck had some excellent cards to synergise with Mishra and his game plan, I couldn’t decide which were my favourites. The biggest stand out card for my love of big mana cards that provide a surprise has to be Wondrous Crucible. The advantage that ward can provide is very clear, especially if you’re making copies of the crucible each turn. And the ability to potentially play some devastating nonland cards for free each turn has you feeling unstoppable on the battlefield. Cards like Muzzio, Visionary Architect and Padeem, Consul of Innovation are great for taking advantage of your pricey artifacts to keep the deck flowing and I have to mention Lithoform Engine in a deck that has plenty of abilities and permanents to copy, this card is an absolute must have.

The retro frames were the main draw for picking up this deck but the way it plays and the artifact synergies it creates make you stick around for game after game. It really is well put together and a complete flavour win for the history-visiting Brothers War set. This deck is great fun at any table and well worth picking up a copy if you can. To grab your own, head on over to /shop/card-games/magic-the-gathering/commander-magic