Brawl format

[WWolfe]

From the link in the first post...

Each player's deck is exactly 60 cards. Other than basic lands, no card may appear in a deck more than once. Each card must be legal in the Standard format; cards banned in the Standard format can't be played in the Brawl variant.

I could see it working more with what use to be the Extended format than the Standard format. That would give cards much longer in the format and increase the chances that cards would come out that you would want to "upgrade" your deck with in a way that the cards rotating out aren't that big a deal unless of course it's your commander.

[ApothecaryGeist]

Oh thank you.  I see it now in the announcement.  It was kinda buried in all that text.

I think this is the epitome of lazy ... no sanctioned events, and a shared ban list with a preexisting format.  Why invent this new format at all?

Attune with Aether does not seem broken to me in a singleton format.  Nor most of the other cards on the ban list.

[WWolfe]

I think they're doing it to capitalize on the popularity of Commander in a way that will both increase people buying Standard legal product while also introducing people to Commander in a way that will also increase it's popularity to add to people buying the Commander product.

I have no problem with a for profit company trying to increase sales, I just don't think this is a very well thought out format. It reminds me of the decision they recently reversed of doing away with core sets as well as the way they changed Standard rotation only to change it again two years later (I think two years?).

[Soren841]

Maybe this will lead to more EDH support (sanctioned events?) And is used to introduce people

[Nils]

I have added the format to our database now, so you can start categorizing your Brawl decks properly: https://deckstats.net/decks/f/brawl/

[WWolfe]

Thanks Nils!

[ladof]

Remember Tiny Leaders, that commander variant that lasted for 2 months? I give this the same amount of time. Brawl is not going to be successful, because you have a limited card pool to work with, which means:

1. Garbage mana ramp
2. Garbage tutors (Whir of Invention is the only good one right now).
3. Less cards that combo with your commander. The Locust God just isn't the same without Windfall.

Because of this, some commanders will just be better than others. I'm going to make my prediction now: The Scarab God and Gishath, Sun's Avatar are going to be the best, because they can function with a small card pool (Gishath has dino-specific ramp, and all of the good dinosaurs. The Scarab God just steals everyone else's deck). Maybe Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca and Zacama, Primal Calamity might also see play. But none of the other commanders have the supporting cards to work.

This has a better chance of getting a foothold than tiny leaders for one reason: MTG Arena. When Dominaria launches, it'll launch Brawl and give Arena another format to play other than constructed. People will like having alternatives and have a chance to test things before buying physical cards for the format. Tiny Leaders never really had that backing on MTGO.

I didn't even think about that. Another thing to sell Arena with. I haven't been reading or watching aaaaaaanything about arena. Is that going to have modern?

As of now they are not planning on implementing any set older than Kaladesh. Currently they only have Amonkhet block and Ixalan block available, not even Kaladesh. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to make a 'new' eternal format in a year or so for Arena like Frontier, but starting at Kaladesh. Gives the players with Kaladesh and such cards something to do with them once they rotate in the fall, since you can't destroy them to craft other cards in games like Hearthstone.

[dokepa]

I am still a beginner player at magic , let there be no doubt  , the first time I saw someone playing magic was at work , 2 guys were playing edh . First mistake was going up front and buying 2 packs of khans of tarkir , I got a pain land in each pack r.i.p . I then started reading and learning how to play when Oath of the Gatewatch came out . I for one found it overwhelming to try and build and run 100 card deck so I resorted to playing 60 card . And I remember saying at that time , if edh was 60 I would certainly be interested ! So this is great news for people like me , regarding all the other issue that the longtime players have with this format , I look at it as a pair of training wheels , to be able to learn how to ride in edh at 100 card level . There are most likely going to be far less people like me than all of you , but I know many of people who turned away from edh for the cost , building , trying to find those right 100 cards especially when you are a new player and just dont have those older cards laying around in a binder . I hope this at least holds steady for a period of time !  I think it gives another way for people to play against each other , if some do not like standard and some are not ready for commander it has a half way point . ( just my personal feelings )

[ApothecaryGeist]

I know many of people who turned away from edh for the cost , building , trying to find those right 100 cards especially when you are a new player and just dont have those older cards laying around in a binder . I hope this at least holds steady for a period of time !  I think it gives another way for people to play against each other , if some do not like standard and some are not ready for commander it has a half way point . ( just my personal feelings )

Any time you and your play group find a format that you enjoy - go for it. 

Just a question (out of curiosity for this new format): When Standard rotates (and therefore Brawl rotates) will you still want to maintain it?  Those packs you mentioned from Khans of Tarkir and Oath of the Gatewatch are not currently legal in Brawl.  Cards are only in Standard for about 2 years; each year expansion sets rotate out.  Are you, as a new player, going to want to keep up with this rotation and buy enough cards to make entirely new Brawl decks that often.  Isn't that the problem with Standard?

[dokepa]

I have been collecting since oath of the gate watch so I do have complete play sets of all cards that have been printed since then , so im okay adding cards from current sets ( i would think that is what people do in edh ? they just add the cards that fall out of standard that are strong enough to play ? ) but then someone else who just started playing would be in the same boat I am in for 100 card commander , they do not have many cards at all which will make it expensive , ( I think it would still be much cheaper to try to establish brawler decks than any of the edh decks ) I mean if you look at the sets and prices there isn't anything in a block set that would cause you to take out a second mortgage on your house . And every time I tell my friend I have a new card for the edh deck I'm building his reply is the same ......such and such a card is better and faster and more expensive, you would be losing the game by the time you play that anyway . ( which is deterrent in itself ).
And I hate to be negative , so I guess its like anything else , If you want to play , at some point in time you are gonna pay ( or have a bunch of friends which a bunch of cards )

[WWolfe]

( i would think that is what people do in edh ? they just add the cards that fall out of standard that are strong enough to play ? )

Commander decks can use Standard cards as soon as they come out. So usually it's a matter of updating your deck once the new cards come out. Has nothing to do with waiting for them to fall out of Standard.

[dokepa]

sorry for my bad wording  , I did mean to say pull out of not fall out of  .

[Morganator 2.0]

Whenever I say that Modern is too expensive for me, I always hear the same thing:

"In the long run, it's cheaper than Standard"

My solution was to not play either. Now let's apply this to Brawl. Let's use The Scarab God as an example. You throw together some cheap zombies, and a few other creatures that you've collected from draft. The deck won't go far, so you spend a little bit to get some more useful creatures. Noxious Gearhulk, Torrential Gearhulk, Walking Ballista, Metallic Mimic to enforce tribal zombies. You're also going to want some utility cards like Search for Azcanta, Vraska's Contempt, Fatal Push, Disallow, and Fetid Pools. Turns out, the cards that are good in standard are also good for brawl.

You've spent your money on the deck, and it rotates out in 6 months. Now you have to start again.

Fortunately, you can go to 100 commander. So you get a Commander's Sphere, Doom Blade replaces Vraska's Contempt, Counterspell replaces Disallow. You can also expand on the zombie theme with Diregraf Captain, Fleshbag Marauder, Noosegraf Mob, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Forgotten Creation.

The difference? Every commander card I mentioned is less than $1.00 right now. These prices are stable. Every Standard card I mentioned is at least $5, and will go down in price after the rotation (side note: I'm pretty sure Fatal Push and Disallow are going to maintain their price). And talking about money reminds me of one last point: The Scarab God is $30 right now, and that's because of Standard.

There are functional decks in 100 card commander that you can make on the cheap, without fear of rotation, and still have a whale of a time.

[robort]

I like this idea, but foremost is that commander itself can be budget. There is enough supplemental cards out there to make a budget deck. I will use 1 card for is cyclonic rift, pretty good card but nothing wrong with a cheaper simple substitute of say aetherspouts.

However standard commander is interesting. Using cards you obtain that normally sit in your binder or a box just collecting dust. You get to use cards that normally wouldn't see any type of daylight. For instance playing white and you get the 5 mana cost card that if I recall says destroy target attacking or blocking creature. How about being able to play the cheap money costing Warkite Marauder? The possibilities of making new decks constructed with just standard cards are endless. Granted you also do get possible combos such as the Forerunner of the Empire and Polyraptor getting off. I think this format may lean towards more agro style decks but then again it may not.

It makes things in a way for players to get into commander and standard at the same time all the while without breaking your wallet. I also like the idea that it is multiplayer compared to 1 vs 1

[WWolfe]

Man, I just can't decide on a possible commander for a Brawl deck. No more than I anticipate playing the format I don't want to build one that rotates out this fall, maybe I should wait until Dominaria and build around one of those legends.