The Brothers' War is here and results are just starting to come in, as we are now moving from the theoretical stage of preview season to the empirical stage of actually evaluating the cards in game. There have already been a ton of Standard games played on MTG Arena, but tomorrow marks the first foray of The Brothers' War into paper events where there are quite a few big ones. Aside from your usual RCQs and cash tournaments, the Dreamhack Regional Championship is also this weekend, which is a huge Pioneer event with a massive prize pool and Worlds and Pro Tour invites on the line.

Today, I want to draw attention to some of the cards that are making a fast impact from The Brothers' War, so let's get right to it!

Lay Down Arms

Lay Down Arms is a very exciting removal spell.

A homage to one of the best removal spells ever printed in Swords to Plowshares, Lay Down Arms isn't quite that good, but two of the most important elements for removal these days is how efficient it is and if it exiles, and Lay Down Arms checks both those boxes. The only catch?

You've got to play a mana base of almost all Plains. Oh no, completely unplayable! Jokes aside, this does limit the scope of what decks can play Lay Down Arms, but it provides an excellent payoff for being Mono-White that didn't really exist before. There were some Mono-White decks in Standard prior to The Brothers' War, but they didn't really have a good reason to be Mono-White; now they do.

Mono-White Control | BRO Standard

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Ambitious Farmhand // Seasoned Cathar
• 2 Sanctuary Warden
• 3 Anointed Peacekeeper
• 3 Spirited Companion

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 2 Elspeth Resplendent
• 4 The Wandering Emperor

• Instants (2)
• 2 Destroy Evil

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 Farewell
• 4 Lay Down Arms

• Enchantments (5)
• 2 The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration
• 3 Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity

• Artifacts (6)
• 2 Surgehacker Mech
• 4 Reckoner Bankbuster

• Lands (24)
• 17 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 2 Mech Hangar
• 4 Roadside Reliquary

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Knockout Blow
• 4 Unlicensed Hearse
• 3 Depopulate
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 1 Karn, Living Legacy
• 2 Loran of the Third Path

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Lay Down Arms is definitely going to be a major player in Standard for as long as it is legal, but also has a chance to make waves in Pioneer and Historic too. This is a good one!

Surge Engine

Next up is Surge Engine. Wait, what? Surge Engine? The weird Figure of Destiny wall?

Yeah, actually.

Surge Engine is a weird card that looks like a lot of pretty bad cards. However, when it comes to rate Surge Engine is surprisingly there. It blocks well enough on turn two, and then for a single mana becomes a fast and hard to deal with attacker that can attack immediately on turn three. Give it a little more time and you've got a huge unblockable creature taking quarter-sized chunks out of your opponent's life total each turn. And if you're flooded? Draw some cards!

The biggest draw to Surge Engine is how effective it is on level one the turn you play it. Most Figure of Destiny, Ascendent Spirit, or Evolved Sleeper variants are only a 1/1 when you first play them, so they require more mana to actually be a presence on the board. A 3/2 is perfectly fine to block in a pinch which is very important when you're on the backfoot.

Grixis Midrange | BRO Standard | Yuya Murayama

• Creatures (15)
• 3 Surge Engine
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Corpse Appraiser
• 4 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

• Instants (12)
• 3 Abrade
• 3 Cut Down
• 3 Go for the Throat
• 3 Make Disappear

• Sorceries (1)
• 1 Hostile Takeover

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Reckoner Bankbuster

• Lands (26)
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 3 Shivan Reef
• 3 Sulfurous Springs
• 3 Underground River
• 4 Haunted Ridge
• 4 Shipwreck Marsh
• 4 Xander's Lounge

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Cut Down
• 1 Duress
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 1 Negate
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Make Disappear
• 1 Dreams of Steel and Oil
• 1 Hostile Takeover
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 1 Kaito Shizuki
• 1 Brotherhood's End
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse

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Midrange decks like Grixis are definitely in the market for a 2-drop that can either trade to turn on Corpse Appraiser, or hit hard later in the game, and Surge Engine is a surprising but effective fit.

I'm very curious to see where else this one shows up.

Third Path Iconoclast

Third Path Iconoclast is a really easy one.

While it will probably see play at some point in Standard, this is a card built for older formats. Young Pyromancer has seen tons of play in almost every format over the years, very often in Blue decks, and Third Path Iconoclast has some sneaky upside. You can pitch Third Path Iconoclast to Force of Will, and it being a prowess trigger rather than a magecraft trigger means it will trigger off of artifacts, planeswalkers, and enchantments too. Lastly, it also makes artifact tokens which can help further artifact synergies.

I played the card in Standard in my Ten New Brews last week, and I know Todd Anderson has been working on 8-Pyromancer lists in Pioneer, but perhaps the most interesting use so far is perhaps unsurprisingly from noted modern brewer aspiringspike:

Izzet Iconoclast | Modern | aspiringspike

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• 4 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
• 4 Third Path Iconoclast

• Instants (12)
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 3 Galvanic Blast
• 3 Unholy Heat
• 4 Metallic Rebuke

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Expressive Iteration
• 4 Thoughtcast

• Artifacts (9)
• 1 Aether Spellbomb
• 1 Mishra's Research Desk
• 1 Mox Amber
• 1 Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1 Springleaf Drum
• 4 Mishra's Bauble

• Lands (19)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Urza's Saga

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Alpine Moon
• 3 Flusterstorm
• 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 2 Pyrite Spellbomb
• 1 Shadowspear
• 2 Shattering Spree
• 2 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 Unholy Heat

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Using the artifact synergies of Third Path Iconoclast to help power out Thoughtcast, Galvanic Blast, and Metallic Rebuke is pretty awesome and something Young Pyromancer could never do.

Kayla's Reconstruction

Kayla's Reconstruction is the card I gave my Best In Show award to in my usual Complete Set Review, and with good reason.

The easy comparison is to Collected Company, a card that has seen play in dozens of different decks across various formats. At five mana, Kayla's Reconstruction is a sorcery speed Collected Company that loses the speed and efficiency of the former, but the exchange here is for the ability to get huge as the game goes on.

For six mana, you can easily get three permanents, like a super Collected Company, which is excellent for all the same reasons that Collected Company is excellent. Both of these cards excel in decks that are looking to put a lot of stuff into play, as well as gain card advantage in a way that can keep up with other non-creature decks.

Selesnya Angels | Pioneer | Nammersquats, MTGO 4-0

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Realmwalker
• 4 Bishop of Wings
• 4 Giada, Font of Hope
• 4 Resplendent Angel
• 4 Righteous Valkyrie
• 4 Skyclave Apparition
• 4 Youthful Valkyrie

• Instants (4)
• 4 Collected Company

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Kayla's Reconstruction

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Portable Hole

• Lands (24)
• 8 Plains
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 2 Overgrown Farmland
• 4 Branchloft Pathway // Boulderloft Pathway
• 4 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield
• 3 Declaration in Stone
• 2 Archon of Emeria
• 4 Pithing Needle
• 3 Shapers' Sanctuary

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Magic Online player Nammersquats took a unique take on Selesnya Angels to an undefeated run in a Magic Online event recently, using Kayla's Reconstruction alongside Collected Company to put together unbeatable boards of synergistic angels. And check out that Portable Hole value too!

Karn, the Great Creator

Wait a second, Karn, the Great Creator isn't in The Brothers' War. Sure, but oh boy it has to be his favorite set of all time.

A Disenchant, a big catchall, a powerful finisher, a Cranial Extraction, a Twiddle, and a few "new to Historic" cards like Liquimetal Coating to kill lands and big finishers Sundering Titan and Wurmcoil Engine.

That's a huge upgrade to one of the most powerful cards in the best deck in Pioneer, as well as a key card in both Modern and Historic. Karn falls under a similar umbrella to a card like Stoneforge Mystic, in that it just gets better and better as more unique Magic cards are printed.

Oh Brother

The Brothers' War is definitely a very interesting set, with a lot of oddball pieces and mechanics like meld and prototype, which aren't easy to parse at first. This is likely to be a set that ends up being very powerful, but will take some time as players figure out exactly what to do with it.

I just hope nobody broke Pioneer for the Regional Championship tomorrow!