Magic: The Gathering recently launched its Eldraine Courtside Brawl. This limited time event started September 4 and ends September 9. Players that join this event get to try out four precounstructed deck that feature cards for the upcoming Throne of Eldraine set. Getting a certain number of wins rewards players with cards from the upcoming set.
If you're not familiar with the Brawl format then you're in luck, as in today's guide, we are covering the basic deck structures and rules.
Before we begin, below are information on what to expect from the brawl event:
- Event Dates: September 4, 12 p.m. ET – September 9, 2 p.m. ET
- Entry Fee: None.
- Event Format: Preconstructed Brawl (One-on-One, Best-of-One)
- Event Record: Players will earn rewards based on the total number of wins; losses are not counted.
- Event Rewards: These cards will only be available as event rewards during for Courtside Brawl! You will not be able to craft any Throne of Eldraine cards until the set officially releases on September 26.
- 1 Win: 4x (playset) of Heraldic Banner and 1,000 XP
- 2 Wins: 4x of Syr Konrad, the Grim
- 3 Wins: 4x of Faerie Vandal
- 4 Wins: 4x of Savvy Hunter
- 5 Wins: 4x of Inspiring Veteran
- 6 Wins: 4x of Order of Midnight
Playing Brawl
Brawl works like a combination of Standard and Commander. What you need to do is build a deck that focuses on a legendary creature of Planeswalker taken from the Standard card pool. For the Eldraine Courtside Brawl, you can skip that part since you are given preconstructed decks. The decks and sample decklists are below:
Knights Charge
Savage Hunter
Wild Bounty
Faerie Schemes
You can learn more about these four decks here.
It should be noted that one difference between the tabletop and digital versions is that Magic: The Gathering Arena only supports one-vs-one games.
The Commanders you can use in the event are the following:
A Brawl deck typically consists of the following:
- 1 commander card (any legendary creature or planeswalker from a set currently in Standard)
- 59 other cards (also from sets currently in Standard) that share a color identity with your commander.
- Only one copy of any card, except for basic lands
Color Identity
Now the color identity of a card is not that same as its color. This is because it can come from any part of the card, including the casting cost and any mana symbols in its rules text.
An example is the card below. Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood has a black mana cost. However, it has an activated ability that requires red mana. Thus its color identity is black and red.
Meanwhile, Lifecrafter's Bestiary is a colorless artifact. But with a triggered ability that requires green mana, its color identity is green.
For the Brawl deck, the difference is that:
- Every card must only use mana symbols that also appear on your commander.
- Colorless cards are allowed in any deck.
Command Zone
During the game, the Command Zone is where your commander resides when it is not in play. Each commander starts the game face up in the controller's command zone. You can cast the commander from the command zone as though they were in your hand for its normal cost. However, you need to add an additional two mana for each previous time that the Commander has been cast from the command zone during the game. This is informally known as the “commander tax.” If the commander changes zones, for example getting put into the library, graveyard, or exile, you have the option to instead return it to the command zone.
Starting a Game
You and your oppent start at 25 life. The first mulligan is to seven cards, with each mulligan resulting in one fewer card. As mentioned, all commanders start in their command zone and can be cast for their mana cost, plus 2 mana more for each time they've been put back in the command zone. Like with other format of Magic, the last player standing wins.
Hopefully this guide is enough to give you a head start for the Eldraine Courtside Brawl.
