Magic the Gathering: Second Fiddle – A Look at the Secondary Brothers’ War Commanders
Urza and Mishra may be the face of the war, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t hire well.
The Brothers’ War is officially out, and if you’re a person of culture like me and play the BEST format, you’ve probably already looked over the preconstructed Commander decks. As expected, the two poster boys are the head honchos, getting powerful abilities to help fuel their artifact-heavy kits. However, they aren’t the only powerhouses in the deck, and Wizards of the Coast has given us some potent lieutenants as backup leaders or secret commanders. While they certainly aren’t the master wizards that the Brothers are, they can pull a lot of fun tricks out that might catch your opponents by surprise.
Tawnos, Solemn Survivor
A brilliant artificer and the top apprentice of Urza himself, Tawnos was a critical figure in the war, building many of Urza’s finest war automatons and even creating a stasis coffin to seal Mishra in. While he began life as a toymaker, his skill with primal clay and artifice elevated him quickly to the master level. In the precon, he honestly doesn’t look like much on the surface, causing you to burn through your library to get any value out of his abilities.
However, with any sort of recursion, you can quickly generate a massive token army, and should you mill into one of your beater creatures, you can simply make a copy to start punching face. Noxious Gearhulk is a great target for his doubling ability, allowing you to destroy creatures and gain life for minimal investment. Just be careful not to shred through your deck too fast (unless you’re packing a Thassa’s Oracle).
Ashnod the Uncaring
The dark mirror to Tawnos, Ashnod served as Mishra’s apprentice during the war, and she was notoriously sadistic. She viewed living things as systems to be exploited, disassembled, then rebuilt for more “efficiency”, and her Transmogrant soldiers were testaments to her skills. Her precon card mirrors this deadly skill, giving her not only deathtouch but the ability to double up on your abilities, so long as you sacrificed a permanent.
With only a few tweaks to the deck, you can make Ashnod an issue in just a few turns. Goblin Razerunners, Herald of Anguish, and the reprinted Braids are just a few cards that skyrocket in value under Ashnod’s sadistic care. With all the recursion in Grixis, sacrifice shouldn’t be a problem, so feel free to blitz your entire board, drown your opponents in effects, then just bring everything back.
Will you be picking up either of the precons?
