Not Your Prototypical Set
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In order to defeat the Phyrexians, the Gatewatch decided to look to the past. We can do the same thing to get some hints about Brothers’ War Limited.
In order to capture an event as grandiose as the fabled war between Magic’s most destructive rival siblings, the design team decided to go big. I mean, REALLY big. We’re talking about “Common 10/10 with Trample” big. This is bound to create a unique limited environment- but not one so far removed from the norm that we can’t make some pRedictions. I’m going to steal a page from Teferi’s book and look to the past to attempt to understand the future (which is a set about the past, viewed through the future, from past… whatever, you get it).
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Let’s start with the wildest- and easiest to demystify- mechanic, Prototype. Spoiler alert …it’s kicker! Everything is kicker!
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Prototype allows for flexibility with your massive metallic monstrosities. Nothing feels worse than your ten-drop rotting in your hand while your red-white opponent curves out perfectly. Now, your ten-drop is also your five-drop! In fact, I recommend treating it as a five-drop, and the ten-drop “kicker” is a bonus when you happen to have enough Powerstones laying around. We have kicker in DMU, but it tends to be for only one or two mana extra. Historically, “kicker for a big stat boost for lots of extra mana” tends to play out very well, as evidenced by my old buddy and solid playable Academy Drake
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Prototype is a clever curve workaround, but also allows for some added deckbuilding flexibility. For example, blue-green looks like a solid ramp vector. You can include Steel Seraph in your blue-green deck with zero white sources, as you know you’ll be able to cast it for full price reliably anyway. Black and white decks also have hard reanimation options, along with a light self-mill vector across all colors. Spells like Repair and Recharge will bring a creature with Prototype back as the full-sized creature, regardless of how it had been cast previously.
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If my opponents are playing seven+ mana artifacts, I want to be answering them for two mana! Disenchant
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In Theros Beyond Death, the best way to deal with a massive Nyxborn Colossus
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A lot of my favorite limited decks top their curve at about 4-mana. Imagine my horror at this fowl creature! When this thing hits the battlefield, you can proudly declare that “you haven’t even begun to peak.”
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Multiple ways to ramp at the four/five/six-drop slot isn’t the most common thing in limited, but it can only really mean one thing- there’s at least one vector that points towards hardcasting the big robots for full price. This reminds me of Brood Monitor
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Long-time listeners of the Draft Chaff Podcast know that I absolutely love symmetrical white card draw effects. Sure, I put this one at the end of the article so you wouldn’t think I’m nuts and close this article, but that’s just me hedging my bets- I have the winrate numbers with cards like Farsight Adept
To hear more ranting about symmetrical card advantage, or about the Brothers’ War in general, check out our upcoming set review on the Draft Chaff Podcast. Good luck with your prerelease!