The Best Brawl Decks on MTG Arena Right Now! (2024)

Articles / Brawl / Guides

4, Jun, 24

See Also

“Get a Clue” – Page 10 – bobbymgskWWF 2001 - The No Invasion Edition (WM X7 to Backlash) | Wrestlingfigs.com WWE Figure Forums

Alex Atkin

Article at a Glance

Sadly, at the moment, MTG Arena does not have a true Commander format. The closest Arena players have to that much-requested feature is Brawl. Similarly to Commander, Brawl is a singleton format where every deck is helmed by a Commander. Currently, on MTG Arena, there are two different versions of Brawl that can be played, Brawl and Standard Brawl.

Unlike Standard, Historic, and Timeless, sadly Brawl does not have a competitive queue, but it’s still great casual fun. While the lack of competitive events may put off some players, Brawl and Historic Brawl still have a lot to offer. With both fun decks and fiercely fought games aplenty, Brawl matches still offer the best bits of MTG. Thanks to recent promises from Wizards about the format, it should only be getting better, so there’s never been a better time to get into either format!

To help you do just that, throughout this article, we’ll be detailing all the best MTG decks in both Brawl and Standard Brawl. So, whether you’re looking to get into the format or push your deck to the next level, we’ve got you covered! Before that, however, there is one major caveat we have to cover first.

Brawl Has Been Renamed!

Before we get started, we’d be remiss not to mention that Brawl has been renamed! Occurring in December of 2023, this quiet change caught many players by surprise, so you might be wondering what’s going on. Thankfully, while initially somewhat confusing, the change is a fairly minor one that should make things simpler in the long run.

To put it simply, Brawl is the new name for what used to be Histroic Brawl. Similarly, Standard Brawl is the new name for what used to be Brawl. Outside of this change, nothing about the formats is different as they each follow their own unique ban list.

While no official announcement about this change was made, it makes a lot of sense that this change was made. Not only was Historic Brawl vastly more popular than its counterpart, but it wasn’t really Historic either. Since Brawl has its own banlist, the connection between the format’s names only made things more confusing.

Overall, hopefully, this change should talking about the two vaguely connected formats simpler. Considering a lot of people already called Historic Brawl just Brawl, this change was really a long time coming.

Play What You Want

One of the best things about Commander is the format’s casual nature, which allows basically any card or archetype to be played. Thankfully, the same is true in Brawl, thanks to the Matchmaking system available on MTG Arena.

Recently, the secrets of this matchmaking system were revealed to the world following some clever reverse engineering from players. As expected, this sleuthing revealed both the Commander you pick and the cards you play, factor into a deck’s strength.

Unfortunately, and somewhat unsurprisingly, this matchmaking system was hardly flawless. For better or worse, some Commanders and cards were dramatically over or underrated. This has long been causing issues where players and decks are being matched up inappropriately.

Thankfully, after hearing these concerns, Wizards has vowed to improve the issues with the current matchmaking. Even before they’re fixed, however, the matchmaking system on MTG Arena is hardly incompetent by any means, so don’t worry about playing today.

Ultimately, thanks to MTG Arena’s matchmaking system, you can truly play whatever you want in Brawl. All you have to do is build your deck, and the matchmaker will handle the rest, finding you a, hopefully, power-level appropriate opponent.

Should you not trust an algorithm to find your opponents, you can always direct challenge friends on MTG Arena. Much like in Commander, knowing your direct challenge opponents will allow you to self-police your decks, ensuring fun and fair matches.

Now, without any further ado, let’s dive into the best Brawl and Standard Brawl decks in MTG!

Read More: Free MTG Arena Codes and Content

Brawl

Despite having a very similar name, Brawl is a very different format to Standard Brawl. For starters, it doesn’t rotate, it has 100 card decks, and it’s not playable on paper. The last major point is thanks to the format using MTG Arena exclusive Alchemy cards. Just like Standard Brawl, Brawl has its own banlist that’s separate from the core Historic format.

Most similar to the Commander format, currently, Brawl can only be played in 1 vs. 1 matches. This, however, may well change in the future, as Wizards is hoping to introduce true multiplayer to MTG Arena. Alongside this, it appears Brawl players may be getting some dedicated content in the future. When or if that appears, however, remains to be seen.

For now, even without added content, the format is still incredibly diverse and interesting. So, if you’re looking to get into it or up your game, you’re in the right place. Here are the best decks in the Brawl format right now on MTG Arena!

Mythweaver Poq

If you want a Brawl deck that really screams MTG Arena, Mythweaver Poq is the Commander for you. Hailing from Alchemy: Ixalan, this Cat Shaman offers an insane amount of ramp. If you want to cast some seriously strong creatures this Brawl deck is the one for you.

To get things started, the early game of this deck features a handful of mana dorks to get Mythweaver Poq into play as soon as possible. Once here, cards like Kami of Bamboo Groves

or

[tooltips content = \'hello, wp\']wordpress[/tooltips]

",'0'); }); and Cultivate

or

[tooltips content = \'hello, wp\']wordpress[/tooltips]

",'0'); }); literally become twice as effective. Obviously, this is great to ramp into massive threats, but there are exciting times before then.

Alongside a fair few massive stompy green creatures, Mythweaver Poq decks also tend to have a Landfall theme. Similarly to their ability to ramp, Mythweaver Poq supercharges these abilities, making them twice as powerful. If you have a Lotus Cobra

or

[tooltips content = \'hello, wp\']wordpress[/tooltips]

",'0'); }); or Scute Swarm

or

[tooltips content = \'hello, wp\']wordpress[/tooltips]

",'0'); }); in play alongside Poq, it’s hard not to snowball into success!

If you’re not dominant enough in the midgame, the top end of Mythweaver Poq decks are seriously scary. Boasting Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider

or

[tooltips content = \'hello, wp\']wordpress[/tooltips]

",'0'); });, Vorinclex

[tooltips content = \'hello, wp\']wordpress[/tooltips]

At the end of the day, if you love mono-green decks like I do, Mythweaver Poq is incredibly fun. Beyond this, the deck is also seriously strong, with many lists boasting 60%+ win rates on Aetherhub. While Brawl isn’t all about winning, this is nonetheless a nice added bonus.

Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

Despite being one of the most recent Commanders on MTG Arena, Pantlaza, Sun-Favored is also one of the most popular. Arriving alongside The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, this unique dedicated-Commander card is a treat to have on MTG Arena. As you can tell from the card’s place on this list, it’s a treat that many players are definitely enjoying!

At its core, this Brawl deck is focused on all things Dinosaurs. In fact, almost every single creature in the deck is a Dinosaur. The only exception to this self-imposed rule is Ramble Familiar who handily cheats out more Dinosaurs. Even a lot of the deck’s spells are delightfully Dinosaur themed in this powerful Typal deck.

As for this deck’s Dinosaurs, there’s plenty of synergy to be had before ramping into the massive threats. With Topiary Stomper and Marauding Raptor to get this deck off the ground, big threats are rarely far away. Thanks to the theme, the threats are most certainly big, with Ghalta, Primal Hunger and Zacama, Primal Calamity being absolutely massive.

To top off all the fantastic creatures that MTG Arena has no shortage of, Pantlaza, Sun-Favored offers incredible value. Despite their surprisingly affordable cost for a Dinosaur Commander, Pantlaza offers insane value. Capable of Discovering and cheating out some potentially massive creatures, it’s no wonder this deck has been doing so well.

Voja, Jaws of the Conclave

Since their release in Murders at Karlov Manor, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave has quickly become one of the most popular Brawl Commanders. Considering the popularity of Elf-Typal decks in Historic, it’s just a wonder this archetype wasn’t more popular sooner. Now that it’s here, this deck is remarkably potent, with Voja able to crash in for insane damage.

When played alongside a horde of Elves, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave scales incredibly quickly every single turn. Gaining a +1/+1 counter for each Elf you control, this deck succeeds in going tall as well as wide. Beyond just being a giant scary threat, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave also has Trample, Vigilance, and Ward 3, so they’re incredibly difficult to deal with.

Alongside this deck’s insanely powerful Commander, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave decks obviously employ a lot of Elves. This includes everything from classics like Llanowar Elves and Elvish Archdruid to cards like Tolsimir, Midnight’s Light. On top of all these Elves, adding a few Wolves like Cemetery Prowler into the mix provides extra card draw.

Unlike past Elf typal decks, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave has a fantastic Naya color identity. This allows the deck to utilize all manner of utility spells such as Lightning Bolt and Swords of Plowshares. Ultimately, this gives the deck a massive edge over the past Elf-based competition.

All in all, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave helms an incredibly powerful and deeply synergistic deck. Thanks to this, it’s no wonder that they’re so popular in Brawl right now. Thanks to their strength and color identity, it seems they’re going to remain a dominant force for quite some time, so don’t fret about wasting Wildcards.

Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty

Much to the delight of my inner mono-green player, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty is all about big spells and creatures. Given that Imoti gives each high-cost spell Cascade, it’s absolutely no wonder they’re quite popular for this role. Potentially doubling the value of each spell you cast, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty is potentially absolutely devastating.

Utilizing plenty of ramp in the low end, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty decks quickly scale into utterly massive threats. Between Titan of Industry, Tyrranax Red, and Koma, Cosmos Serpent, this deck has more than enough win conditions. As if it wasn’t enough to get one of these cards out into play, Imoti makes it likely you’ll get two!

Unfortunately, as you might expect, stompy Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty decks are incredibly vulnerable to removal. This can make matchups against Atraxa, Grand Unifier decks incredibly punishing. Despite this major drawback, however, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty is still incredibly fun to play.

Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin

After taking one look at Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin the rest of the deck should be no surprise at all. Primarily built around the fifteen Shrine cards in MTG, Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin is all about Shrine Typal. While this may sound like a niche game plan, they’re devastatingly powerful as each Shrine gets better the more you have.

Should you manage to get a few Shrines into play, the game is almost instantly yours. Offering a mix of draw, lifegain, damage, and discarding, Shrines can really do it all. Typically, keeping them around is the hard part, but thankfully Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin fixes that problem and then some.

Alongside using all the Shines available on MTG Arena, Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin decks also feature plenty of Enchantments. Offering expanded synergy with themselves, and an avenue to create more Shrines, this deck is ruthlessly efficient. So much so, in fact, that opponents will often concede long before your board is complete.

Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice

On both paper and MTG Arena, Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice is one of the most popular Commander options around. Providing a consistent Proliferate trigger each turn, this immense Phyrexian Angel works wonders in a variety of decks. On MTG Arena, the go-to strategy for most players is a Superfriends deck.

In case you’re not yet familiar with fighting against Atraxa, Superfriends decks are typically comprised of myriad Planeswalkers. Each synergizing with Proliferate triggers, and usually each other, these Planeswalkers quickly band together to create an unbeatable board state. Unlike many Commander decks, this board is even somewhat protected against board wipes which is always a blessing.

Alongside utilizing Atraxa to Proliferate your Planeswalkers toward their ultimate abilities, these decks typically include plenty more token doublers and accelerators. Thanks to Atraxa’s wide color identity, cards like Doubling Season and Ichormoon Gauntlet are both on the table. As if that wasn’t enough, a few spells and creatures also have always-useful Proliferate abilities.

To cap off this already potent deck, many Atraxa decks also feature myriad board wipes to keep opponents in check. Since Planeswalkers aren’t typically affected by these spells, they can be used to even greater effect than normal. Between shutting down your opponent and building your own expansive board, it’s no wonder Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice Brawl decks are so popular.

Standard Brawl

As we’ve mentioned time and time again at this point, Standard Brawl is technically a paper MTG format. Using all the cards from Standard to create a 60-card singleton deck, there’s nothing stopping you from playing it on paper. Well, that’s not entirely true… A lack of other players will definitely stop you from enjoying yourself.

Primarily played on MTG Arena, Standard Brawl gives otherwise enthusiastic Standard players a break from the mono-black dominated midrange soup. If you’re looking for a taste of a different soup with cards you likely already own, Standard Brawl might be the format for you. To entice you in, here are the strongest decks in the format right now!

Kaya, Intangible Slayer

Curiously, compared to Commander, Standard Brawl has a few unique rulings that set itself apart as its own thing. A major one of these differences is highlighted with Kaya, Intangible Slayer. As you can see above, Kaya, Intangible Slayer is a Planeswalker, and not one with the rules text “Can be your Commander.” Despite this, however, this Kaya is a-okay to use in Standard Brawl should you want to!

Beyond being a curious novelty, Kaya, Intangible Slayer is actually a great Standard Brawl deck, so there’s plenty of reason to use them. At its core, this rather unique Standard Brawl deck follows a rather controlling game plan that culminates in massive game-ending threats. Specifically, Breach the Multiverse and Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting are there to end games in a jiffy.

Alongside these massive threats, this Standard Brawl deck also has a fair few powerful creatures to keep you in control. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is an obvious inclusion, for instance, as is the other Sheoldred in fact. With Sanctuary Warden and Serra Paragon bringing some angelic justice too, this deck is seriously potent.

Toxrill, the Corrosive

As if we didn’t already have enough dominant black decks, Toxrill, the Corrosive is a very similar story. Thankfully, while black creatures and removal are definitely the focus, Toxril does add a little extra spice. This comes in the form of a few major blue threats, as well as a little tipple of counterspells.

While far from moving into pure control territory, Toxrill, the Corrosive decks offer more flexibility than pure mono-black lists. Adding in Ertai Ressurected and Memory Deluge, this splash makes the deck a little more consistent. Alongside this, Toxrill, the Corrosive is also just great fun to play as a massive controlling threat.

Etali, Primal Conqueror

Like most Gruul decks in MTG, Etali, Primal Conqueror helms a big stompy pile of cards. Filled with major threats capable of ending games, this deck has an incredible top end that’ll devastate your opponents. Unfortunately, however, getting there is no mean feat.

Without all the fixing from Historic, Etali, Primal Conqueror decks can’t blitz through the early game nearly as quickly. Thankfully, this is the same for every Standard Brawl deck, so this Gruul list isn’t totally outclassed. In fact, they’re very far from worrying about that. Boasting a 74% win percentage on Aetherhub, this deck is safely the best in the Standard Brawl format on MTG Arena.

Upon reaching the lucrative high end, this Gruul deck can start playing threats like Titan of Industry and Cityscape Leveler. Not needing much more than their strength, these cards can easily beat down an opponent. Sure, they might be removable, but in a world of mono-black domination, this deck is a welcome and powerful treat.

While they’re claiming the top spot in this section all about Standard Brawl, Etali, Primal Conqueror is also the number one choice in Brawl. If you want to see a decklist for that instead, we’ve provided one here.

Read More: Best MTG Arena Decks