The Brothers' War is in the rearview mirror of Magic: The Gathering, but that just means we've had ample time to test and play every card from it. With that in mind, it's time to put a spotlight on the best and brightest artifacts from this set and its associated Commander decks. I'm Luka Sharaska, and welcome back to CoolStuffInc. Before we get into the cards, let's go over the numbers.

To prepare for this article, I had to look over all 85 brand new artifacts printed between The Brothers' War (BRO) and The Brothers' War Commander (BRC) across paper and digital clients. Together, they set a new record for the most new artifacts in a single set, just barely beating Scars of Mirrodin (SOM), which featured 82. If you don't count the Commander decks, that number drops to 77, which still leaves BRO in a respectable second place.

More than two-thirds of the new artifacts in BRO are creatures, compared to the opposite being true for SOM. This is to be expected, as Magic has doubled down on being creature-focused many times over the years. Still, don't be surprised if many of the cards I'm featuring today aren't creatures at all. With all that in mind, let's get right into the cards.

Honorable Mentions

Just before we cover the best of the best, I'd like to shout out Steel Seraph and Combat Thresher. While each of those were all-stars in BRO Limited, Steel Seraph is still in the Vintage Cube to this very day. Just as well, Hulking Metamorph and Machine God's Effigy will do just fine in any Commander deck looking to cram additional copies of Clone. That said, not every card can make this list, so let's move on.

The Brothers' War Best Artifacts

This meek little insect has overperformed, to say the least. For starters, it's still in the current iteration of the Vintage Cube, to say nothing of its impact as a sideboard card in several other formats, or its presence in Commander. Haywire Mite gives you incidental life gain, a free chump block, and permanent removal against some of the stickier card types, all in one cheap little six-legged package.

I play a lot of Commander, so Cranial Extraction effects aren't usually my bag. That said, The Stone Brain has had quite an effect on formats like Pioneer and Modern, where getting rid of a particular card can be devastating. I've even seen this creep into the maindeck instead of being relegated to sideboard duty.

While you might see Cityscape Leveler as one of the many Eldrazi Tron payoffs in Modern, it's also been a reliable ramp payoff in Commander. Blowing up lands isn't the best strategy when you have to cast an eight-mana spell to get it done, so taking out a Leyline Binding or opposing creature is a fine consolation prize for when this invariably eats a removal spell. If that does happen, the unearth ability means you get even more bang for your buck. If it somehow survives, you're probably winning the game.

I've seen a few people try to shove Liberator into Eldrazi Tron shells, but the true value of this card is felt in Commander. The Legendary supertype only adds to the utility of this power-crept Shimmer Myr, and you even get the added utility of not being restricted to only artifacts. Even better, Liberator also gets evasion and pays you off for casting other colorless spells. That's what I call value.

I'm not completely sure, but this might be the first desk in Magic. If so, the next one has big shoes to fill. It might not look like much, but Mishra's Research Desk finds its way into all sorts of decks across multiple formats, including Vintage Cube, Modern, Standard, and of course, Commander. It doesn't seem an all-star or format warping monstrosity like Orcish Bowmasters, but it serves as a great way to dig just a little deeper in decks that care about artifacts.

When Portal to Phyrexia was previewed, I knew it was a card I wanted. Lo and behold, I managed to open it during the prerelease, and I won every game in which I drew it. The power level is high, it scales with multiple opponents, and it's clearly built to be cheated into play. Whether you're doing that with Make Your Own Luck in Standard, or Goblin Welder and Saheeli, the Gifted in Commander, it's a very powerful play.

This one wasn't actually on my radar, but after talking with a few of my Commander friends I was made aware of just how much this slaps in equipment decks. Ward 2 insulates you a bit against removal, while the power and toughness boost is like an All That Glitters that you can move around. I'm told it's quite pog.

Five mana puts The Mightstone and Weakstone in that awkward zone between cheap mana ramp and expensive haymaker, but you're getting a lot of extra value and flexibility for your trouble. In particular, ramp decks usually don't want to take a turn off to answer a threat, so getting -5/-5 stapled to a mana rock is a sweet deal.

There's no shortage of permanents that pay you off the longer they stay in play, but in a world where creatures and boardwipes reign supreme, I really appreciate not having all my eggs in one basket. Not only does Wondrous Crucible enable and protect itself, but every part of this card gets even better in multiples.

I had a real blast with BRO when it was first released, and I happily play some of the cards on this list to this day. I don't know how long it's going to be before we get another artifact-focused set like this one again, but when we do, I hope it's just as iconic and impactful. At any rate, that's all I have for you today.