The release of The Brothers’ War is just over a month away, but the giant mechanical hype train has already left the station. Ahead of the set’s major reveal later this month, Wizards has showcased the set in a new Building Worlds video. Narrated by Wizards staff and YouTuber Rhystic Studies, this video treated excited players to a taste of the set’s story. Alongside story details, players were also shown some of the set’s artwork to fawn over before the set’s release. As well as being spectacularly gorgeous, this art appears to have confirmed major The Brothers’ War spoilers. If the concept art is to be believed, Urzatron lands are getting reprinted.
Urza’s Back and He’s Bringing His Lands With Him
During the Building Worlds video, Wizards of the Coast flashed up “Urza Tower Concept” art on screen. While missing the apostrophe, this reveal quickly set the live stream’s chat ablaze with a flurry of speculation. After all, it looked like Wizards just confirmed a reprint of
Urza’s Tower
Urza’s Tower
{T}: Add {C}. If you control an Urza's Mine and an Urza's Power-Plant, add {C}{C}{C} instead.
in The Brothers’ War. This also seems to imply that
Urza’s Mine
Urza’s Mine
{T}: Add {C}. If you control an Urza's Power-Plant and an Urza's Tower, add {C}{C} instead.
and
Urza’s Power Plant
Urza’s Power Plant
{T}: Add {C}. If you control an Urza's Mine and an Urza's Tower, add {C}{C} instead.
may also be reprinted. While tremendously exciting for some, not all MTG players were excited about these immensely powerful cards being reprinted.
To put it plainly, the Urzatron land cycle is powerful, to say the least. Potentially providing seven colorless mana by turn three was once a dominant force in Modern. While they’ve since been somewhat outclassed, Urza’s Tower, Urza’s Mine, and Urza’s Power Plant still see play occasional play. After all, it’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of playing
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
+2: Ugin deals 3 damage to any target.
−X: Exile each permanent with mana value X or less that's one or more colors.
−10: You gain 7 life, draw seven cards, then put up to seven permanent cards from your hand onto the battlefield.
on turn four from lands alone. Thanks to this strength, it’s safe to say that the Urzatron lands can utterly destroy a format if haphazardly implemented.
It’s important to note, however, that we’ve only seen concept art for “Urza Tower” during the Building Worlds Livestream. This means there’s no telling whether one or all of the Urzatron lands are actually in The Brothers’ War. At least, not until later this month, on the 27th of October, when Wizards of the Coast will reveal more. Until then, there’s another very important caveat that it’s worth keeping in mind. Even if the Urzatron lands are being reprinted, there’s no word on where they’re being reprinted just yet. There’s the possibility, after all, the Urzatron lands may only appear in the Urza-themed Commander deck; Urza’s Iron Alliance.
Green Galore
Alongside the potentially devastating return of the Urzatron lands, the Building Worlds video also revealed plenty more for players to be excited about. Since this video only showed art, however, this excitement is primarily driven by a heavy amount of speculation. That said, flagrantly wild speculation can be a grand ol’ time, so let’s get right into that shameless speculation. Firstly, as if it didn’t already maybe have enough, The Brothers’ War may feature another Urza land. Named Urza’s Workshop, we highly suspect this land isn’t going to synergize off past Urzatron land. Instead, we expect that Urza’s Factory will be more similar to
Mishra’s Foundry
Mishra’s Foundry
{T}: Add {C}.
{2}: This land becomes a 2/2 Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
{1}, {T}: Target attacking Assembly-Worker gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
.
Alongside the Uzra lands, new and old, the Building Worlds video also debuted a few more tantalizing reprints. These include the creature tutoring Fauna Shaman, which will be an excellent addition to Elf decks. Throughout the Building Worlds video, Wizards revealed several new Elves such as Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea. While there’s no telling how powerful these Elves are, it appears that Elf tribal may be a supported Standard deck.
Following the reveal of Titania, Avenger of Argoth, an Elf-based Standard deck seems like a near certainty. And that’s not just because I will be playing it regardless of how uncompetitive it is. As with all these art reveals, there’s no word on the finer details. However, it appears that Titania, Avenger of Argoth is the third and final Meld card in The Brothers’ War. Believed to be comprised of Argoth, Sanctum of Nature, and Titania, Voice of Gaea, Titania, Avenger of Argoth could be a genuinely devastating threat in green decks.
But Wait, There’s More!
Alongside the captivating reveals that we’ve showcased so far, Wizards revealed a lot more art during the Livestream. There’s so much, in fact, that we couldn’t hope to cover it all here. Rest assured, however, that all the new art looks absolutely incredible, so by all means, watch the video from Wizards. We’ve even handily embedded it above for your convenience! If YouTube videos aren’t your thing, we’ll also be recounting some of the successes and problems with what we’ve seen in the future, so stay tuned for that.
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