The Brothers' War cards still see Commander play years later

Released worldwide on November 18, 2022, The Brothers' War was built around Urza, Mishra, and the detonation of the Sylex. The set came packed with artifact payoff and utility pieces that continue to earn deck slots long after Standard rotated away.

1. Foundry Inspector

Foundry Inspector reduces the cost of artifact spells. In a set full of robots, Powerstones, and recursive artifact value, shaving mana off every spell lets the whole deck start acting a turn early.

2. Diabolic Intent

Diabolic Intent turns one resource into the exact card you need. Sacrificing a token, a stray treasure, or a disposable body to tutor the right answer gives black decks a level of precision that keeps paying off in multiplayer.

3. Darksteel Citadel

A land that also counts as an artifact gives Darksteel Citadel a slot in artifact shells. It advances synergies without asking for a spell slot, and indestructible means it is much harder to knock off the table than most utility lands.

4. Loran of the Third Path

Loran does two jobs at once: she answers an artifact or enchantment on entry, then turns into repeated political card draw on demand. Her 302,000-plus deck count on EDHREC keeps her in lists that want interaction plus a body.

5. Demolition Field

Demolition Field answers the utility-land problem. With more than 281,000 decks on EDHREC, it gives decks a low-friction way to check problem lands without cutting into their core game plan.

6. Mentor of the Meek

Mentor of the Meek turns small creatures into fresh cards. In token decks, blink shells, and any build that keeps making bodies, it converts board presence into the gas needed to keep playing after the first wave of answers.

7. Portal to Phyrexia

Portal to Phyrexia combines removal with inevitability: it clears away opposing creatures, then starts stealing the best things from graveyards and turning the game into a grind your deck is happy to play.

8. Awaken the Woods

Awaken the Woods keeps finding homes because it is both ramp and board development in one spell. Making a pile of Land tokens means green decks can accelerate mana while also stocking the battlefield with material for sacrifice, landfall, or token-based payoffs.

9. Sylvan Scrying

Tutor effects for lands are never glamorous, but they are exactly what utility-driven Commander decks want. Sylvan Scrying turns one green mana into whichever land matters most, whether that is a combo piece, a fixing land, or a utility land that changes the texture of the game.

10. Gaea's Gift

Gaea's Gift protects a key creature while also pushing combat in a way that can swing a board from stable to lethal. It has about 106,724 decks and a 2.50% inclusion rate on EDHREC.