The Brothers’ War tells of the mighty Conflict between Urza and Mishra, two brothers from Argive that grew immensely powerful after they discovered the Mightstone and Weakstone. They used these powerstones to build massive robotic armies that devastated the continent of Terisiare for decades in what became known as the Brothers’ War or the Antiquities War. The story is originally described in the Antiquities set from 1994, the first Magic Expansion that took place on Dominaria (or Dominia, as it was initially called). Now we finally get a retelling of the tale, and finally get to see many characters that so far have only been a part of the novel!
Now that the video for The Brothers’ War: Building Worlds has been released on YouTube, we finally got a glimpse of what the world will look like, along with several characters. Let’s look at the top five most exciting characters that will be included in this set!
Honorable Mentions
A couple of characters are obviously in this set or have already had their card released, so we’ll give them an honorable mention instead of making them a part of the list.
Urza
The eldest of the two brothers, Urza is a dominant character in much of Magic’s lore. We have seen him as a legendary creature in Modern Horizons, but finally, we get him in his Planeswalker form (his version in Unstable doesn’t count). This card does the character justice, and the flavor of the Mightstone and Weakstone igniting his spark and turning him into a Planeswalker is a complete flavor-win. In the Building Worlds video, we found out that a child version and a middle-aged version of Urza will also be included in the Brothers’ War set, and I can’t wait to see what those entail!
Mishra
Always in his brother’s shadow, Mishra is the younger of the two brothers. While Urza easily rose to power and lived lavishly in Kroog, Mishra had to fight constantly in the Fallaji Desert to become powerful. To achieve victory in the Brothers’ War, Mishra eventually threw in with the Gixians, becoming Phyrexian in the process. We have seen a Mishra card before in Time Spiral, but for the first time, we get to see him in his Phyrexian form, as he was at the culmination of the Brothers’ War.
Kayla bin-Kroog
The Queen of Kroog and Urza’s wife during the events of the Brothers’ War. Kayla is a strong and fervent leader who made a terrible mistake that plunged her country into war with the Fallaji. She is the writer of The Antiquities War, one of the only books about the Brothers’ War that survived Argoth’s destruction. Her card has already been previewed for the Brothers' War, which grants her a spot on our honorable mentions!
Now onto the top five characters that we are excited to see in The Brothers’ War!
#5: Tocasia
Urza and Mishra’s mentor finally gets her own Magic card! Tocasia was a hard-working archaeologist in the Fallaji desert when she was first introduced to the boys, Urza and Mishra. She took the brothers under her wing, and with her guidance, the brothers discovered the Ornithopter, the Caves of Koilos, and eventually the powerstone that split and became the Mightstone and Weakstone. This event would be her undoing, as the Mightstone and Weakstone’s power killed her during one of the brother’s fights.
#4: Harbin
Although he is not as well-known, Harbin is Kayla bin-Kroog and ‘probably’ Urza’s son (or Mishra’s, the details are somewhat muddy.) Harbin joined the military during the war and later discovered the island of Argoth, where the final battle of the Brothers’ War occurred. Harbin’s true fate is unknown; however, we do know that he is an ancestor of Jodah, Archmage Eternal. This means that Jodah’s ancestor could very well be Urza, which explains his raw talent for magic, or his ancestor is Mishra, which also would explain a lot about Jodah’s character.
#3: Tawnos
This is the first time we get a non-supplementary Tawnos Magic card, and I can’t wait to see what they do with the character. Tawnos was Urza’s right-hand man and his apprentice. He is responsible for several well-known artifacts in Magic’s history, such as the Candelabra of Tawnos and Tawnos’s Coffin, which would allow him to survive the destruction of Argoth. Tawnos would eventually become a Master of his craft after creating the Clay Statues for Urza’s military. He also has a very interesting past with Mishra’s right-hand woman and assistant, Ashnod.
#2: Ashnod
Feared by her enemies as well as her own troops, ‘Ashnod the Uncaring’ was Mishra’s apprentice. She conducted many horrific experiments during the time of the Brothers’ War and was the creator of Mishra’s army of Transmogrants. Her sadistic techniques and torture devices were well known in Terisiare, and after years of loyal servitude, she was finally banished by Mishra for helping Tawnos escape their dungeon. She would later give Urza the Golgothian Sylex, which ended the Brothers’ War and destroyed Argoth. While she has never had her own Magic card before now, she has been represented in the cards Ashnod’s Altar, Ashnod’s Transmogrant, and a few others.
#1: Gix
Generations before the Brothers’ War, Gix was a Thran who was turned into a Phyrexian Demon by Yawgmoth during the Thran-Phyrexian War. When Urza and Mishra entered the Caves of Koilos and split the powerstone, they unknowingly reopened a portal to Phyrexia, allowing Gix to return to Dominaria. During the time of the Brothers’ War, he cultivated a group of monks called the Brotherhood of Gix. Gix used these monks to infiltrate every part of Dominarian culture and eventually gained the favor of Mishra, whom Gix Compleated. Gix would subsequently be forced back to Phyrexia due to the Golgothian Sylex being activated, but his story continued until the Mending of Dominaria. While many cards reference Gix, he has never had his own card until now, and I can’t wait to see what the first Phyrexian Praetor has in store for us!
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