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Sythis, Harvest’s Hand Art by Ryan Yee

Brawl (Formerly Historic Brawl) – Midweek Magic Event Guide and Best Decklists

This guide will contain everything you need to know about the Midweek Magic: Historic Brawl event, including rewards and our exclusive sample decklists.

Table of Contents

Hey everyone! I’m back for the latest edition of Midweek Magic  where we will be playing Brawl. I heard a few groans out there, but it is actually Historic Brawl. Apparently at some point they renamed Historic Brawl to just Brawl and the former Brawl to Standard Brawl (where it will continue to never get played).

For those of you who just want to get your prizes and get out of there, I highly recommend you just stick with everyone’s favorite monkey Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. It’ll be nice and quick, I promise. I’ve got some of my other favorite Historic Brawl decks in here along with a budget version for those of you that don’t want to use a ton of wildcards on MWM.

Event Details

Welcome to Midweek Magic! Each week, try out a different way to play MTG Arena!

Bring a 100-card Brawl deck using any cards in MTG Arena and led by your favorite legendary creature or planeswalker!

Find out more details about this and upcoming Midweek Magic events HERE.

  • Duration: January 23rd, 2024 @ 2:00 PM PST to January 25th, 2024 @ 2:00 PM PST
  • Format: Brawl (formerly known as Historic Brawl)
  • Entry Fee: Free
  • Ends After: You can play as much as you like for the duration of the event.
  • Match Structure: Best-of-one matches (BO1)

Event Rewards

WinsReward
1 WinRare Individual Card Reward (ICR)
2 WinsRare Individual Card Reward (ICR)
3 WinsOne Random Cosmetic Item

Banned Cards

Decklists

Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

The entire Brawl meta revolves around Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. If you aren’t playing it or don’t have a way to deal with it on turn one, you’re gonna have a bad time. There are also plenty of opponents that see you playing this and immediately scoop the poop to move on to the next round.

MWM Brawl Ragavan
by j2sjosh
Buy on TCGplayer $374.69
Midweek Magic
best of 1
18 mythic
34 rare
6 uncommon
42 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Commander
Instants (10)
1
Shivan Fire
$0.35
1
Lightning Bolt
$1.49
1
Play with Fire
$4.99
1
Shock
$0.35
1
Fiery Impulse
$0.59
1
Abrade
$0.39
Artifacts (4)
1
Mox Amber
$32.99
1
Embercleave
$7.99
Enchantments (1)
Lands (35)
31
Mountain
$10.85
1
Castle Embereth
$0.59
1
Mutavault
$11.99
100 Cards
$382.19

Rusko, Clockmaker

Rusko turns back the clock to the times when Dimir control was all the rage (I’m looking at you Psychatog). He’s not a total boomer though because he can pseudo combo off by pinging away and setting those clocks to go off ahead of schedule.

MWM Brawl Rusko
by j2sjosh
Buy on TCGplayer $296.36
Midweek Magic
best of 1
10 mythic
41 rare
18 uncommon
31 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Commander
Instants (26)
1
Pact of Negation
$13.99
1
Malakir Rebirth
$5.49
1
Spell Pierce
$0.79
1
Wash Away
$0.79
1
Syncopate
$0.35
1
Fatal Push
$2.29
1
Cut Down
$1.99
1
Essence Flux
$1.79
1
Heartless Act
$0.39
1
Tale’s End
$3.99
1
Counterspell
$1.99
1
Bind to Secrecy
$0.00
1
Negate
$0.35
1
Essence Scatter
$0.35
1
Glorious Gale
$0.35
1
Cyclonic Rift
$42.99
1
Ertai’s Scorn
$0.35
1
Disallow
$4.99
Sorceries (10)
1
Thoughtseize
$15.99
1
Thought Erasure
$0.35
1
Pilfer
$0.35
1
Invoke Despair
$0.49
1
Crux of Fate
$4.49
Artifacts (4)
1
Arcane Signet
$0.99
1
Guardian Idol
$0.39
1
Coldsteel Heart
$1.29
1
Midnight Clock
$0.59
Enchantments (2)
100 Cards
$442.77

Sythis, Harvest’s Hand

Sythis gives you a lot of play against a variety of strategies. It can grind through so many extra cards against anything playing a long game while the life gain helps to stabilize against aggressive decks.

MWM Brawl Sythis
by j2sjosh
Buy on TCGplayer $319.98
Midweek Magic
best of 1
6 mythic
40 rare
22 uncommon
31 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Commander
Planeswalkers (1)
Artifacts (1)
1
Mox Amber
$32.99
100 Cards
$376.05

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

While Kinnan was banished to the hell queue early on, he’s not nearly as busted as he used to be. Still a great way to drop massive monsters way ahead of schedule. If that’s your thing, give it a run.

MWM Brawl Kinnan
by j2sjosh
Buy on TCGplayer $460.49
Midweek Magic
best of 1
21 mythic
27 rare
15 uncommon
37 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Commander
Instants (12)
1
Pact of Negation
$13.99
1
Brainstorm
$1.49
1
Snakeskin Veil
$0.39
1
Wash Away
$0.79
1
Counterspell
$1.99
1
Negate
$0.35
1
Cyclonic Rift
$42.99
1
Saw It Coming
$0.39
Sorceries (4)
1
Cultivate
$0.99
1
Tooth and Nail
$3.99
Artifacts (4)
1
Mox Amber
$32.99
1
Mind Stone
$0.39
1
Arcane Signet
$0.99
1
Coldsteel Heart
$1.29
Enchantments (5)
1
Frogify
$0.35
Lands (32)
12
Forest
$4.20
9
Island
$3.15
1
Yavimaya Coast
$1.49
1
Command Tower
$0.49
1
Breeding Pool
$20.99
100 Cards
$588.03

Budget Anax, Hardened of the Forge

Here’s your budget deck of the week. You just turn everything sideways and point a bunch of spells at your opponents face until they are nice and crispy.

MWM Brawl Budget Anax
by j2sjosh
Buy on TCGplayer $106.65
Midweek Magic
best of 1
0 mythic
0 rare
38 uncommon
62 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Commander
Instants (17)
1
Shock
$0.35
1
Magma Spray
$0.35
1
Play with Fire
$4.99
1
Voltage Surge
$0.35
1
A-Unholy Heat
$0.00
1
Monstrous Rage
$0.79
1
Improvised Club
$0.35
1
Abrade
$0.39
1
Magma Jet
$0.35
1
Searing Blood
$0.39
1
Volcanic Spite
$0.35
1
Hungry Flames
$0.35
1
Slaying Fire
$0.35
Sorceries (8)
1
Reckless Charge
$0.35
1
Strangle
$0.39
1
Incendiary Flow
$0.35
1
Roil Eruption
$0.35
Artifacts (6)
1
Bonesplitter
$0.35
1
Hexgold Halberd
$0.35
1
Hexgold Sledge
$0.00
Enchantments (1)
Lands (32)
32
Mountain
$11.20
100 Cards
$41.78

Complete List

For inspiration and ideas, more decks can be found in our Historic Brawl deck database.

Wrap Up

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back later this week to kick off my Limited coverage of Murders at Karlov Manor. Until then, stay classy people!

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j2sjosh
j2sjosh

Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.

Articles: 290