When was The Brothers' War Commander released?

The Brothers' War Commander (BRC) was released in November 2022, alongside the main The Brothers' War set.

How many cards are in The Brothers' War Commander set?

BRC contains 209 cards in total across both Commander precon decks, including new cards designed specifically for Commander and reprints.

Are The Brothers' War Commander cards legal in Standard?

Cards that were first printed in BRC are not automatically legal in Standard or Pioneer. They're legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. Reprints retain their original format legality.

What is the theme of The Brothers' War Commander decks?

Both decks lean heavily into artifact synergies, reflecting the lore of the Brothers' War — the ancient conflict between Urza and Mishra, fought with powerful mechanical war machines on Dominaria.

Are The Brothers' War Commander decks good for beginners?

Yes — they're specifically designed as on-ramps to Commander, with straightforward themes and a mix of new cards and reprints. They're a solid starting point, especially for players who've just drafted or played The Brothers' War main set.

What plane is The Brothers' War set on?

The Brothers' War is set on Dominaria, during the ancient war between the brothers Urza and Mishra. It's one of Magic's oldest and most important storylines, originally told in Jeff Grubb's 1998 novel.

The Brothers' War Commander (BRC): Set Guide

Commander precons have become one of the most reliable entry points into Magic's most popular format, and The Brothers' War Commander decks follow that tradition closely. Released alongside The Brothers' War in November 2022, these decks are designed as on-ramps to Commander - accessible enough for newer players, but with enough interesting pieces to satisfy veterans looking for a ready-to-play experience.

What is The Brothers' War Commander?

The Brothers' War Commander (set code BRC) is a pair of preconstructed Commander decks released alongside The Brothers' War main set in November 2022. The set contains 209 cards total across both decks, a mix of new cards designed specifically for Commander and reprints chosen to support each deck's strategy.

Like most Commander precon releases of this era, BRC sits at that interesting crossroads: it introduces a handful of brand-new cards to the Commander card pool while using reprints to fill out the 99. The new cards are legal in any format that allows cards from The Brothers' War, but the reprints retain their original legality.

Format check: Cards printed for the first time in Commander precon sets like BRC are generally legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. They are not automatically legal in Standard, Pioneer, or Modern unless they appear in a main set.

Themes and mechanics

The Brothers' War as a setting is all about ancient artifice - the titanic conflict between the brothers Urza and Mishra, fought with increasingly devastating war machines on the plane of Dominaria. It's one of Magic's most storied storylines, and the Commander decks lean hard into that flavour.

Both decks emphasise artifacts and artifact synergies, which fits the lore beautifully. If you've ever wanted to build a battlefield full of mechanical constructs and ancient war engines, these decks point in exactly that direction.

Lore and setting

The Brothers' War is one of the oldest and most consequential stories in all of Magic lore. It takes place on Dominaria, thousands of years before most of the game's modern storylines, and chronicles the catastrophic falling-out between the brothers Urza and Mishra - both students of the archaeologist Tocasia, both obsessed with the ancient Thran civilization and its powerful artifacts.

What begins as a rivalry over a mysterious powerstone escalates across decades into a world-spanning war, drawing in nations, mercenaries, and eventually forces far darker than either brother intended. The conflict ends with the detonation of the Golgothian Sylex, an event so devastating it triggers an ice age that reshapes Dominaria for millennia.

Lore aside: The story was first told in Jeff Grubb's 1998 novel The Brothers' War, set during the Antiquities (1994) era of the game. The 2022 set revisits that conflict with modern card design and storytelling tools - and the Commander decks give you the pieces to build your own corner of that war.

Key figures from the lore who loom large over the set's flavour include Urza, Mishra, Kayla bin-Kroog (Urza's wife and a ruler in her own right), Tawnos (Urza's apprentice), Ashnod (Mishra's ruthless lieutenant), and Titania, the ancient elemental of Argoth whose forest became the war's final battlefield.

Set legacy

The Brothers' War Commander decks occupy a familiar but valued place in Commander's precon history. They're entry-level by design - the power ceiling on these decks isn't as high as, say, a Commander Masters or Commander Legends release - but they serve their purpose well as introductions to Commander for players coming off The Brothers' War draft experience.

For longtime fans of Dominaria's deep lore, there's also genuine pleasure in seeing the Brothers' War era get the full modern treatment. The artifact-heavy identity of both decks captures the flavour of Urza and Mishra's endless mechanical arms race, and the reprints chosen to support those strategies give newer players a solid foundation of staple artifact cards to build from.

I think the most lasting contribution of sets like BRC is often the new Commander-specific cards themselves - a handful of cards designed with the 100-card singleton format in mind tend to quietly find their way into many artifact Commander decks long after the precon box has been cracked open and rebuilt.