Standard-legal Commander — 60 cards, singleton, with a commander
Magic: The Gathering Brawl — Commander, but Standard-legal
Brawl takes the Commander template (singleton deck, legendary commander, color identity) and constrains it to Standard-legal cards only. The result is a smaller, faster, more accessible Commander variant — 60-card decks instead of 100, only current Standard sets, and natively supported on MTG Arena (where it's the most popular alternative to Standard). Brawl is great for new players: Commander's elegant rules without the expense or daunting card pool of full Commander.
Quick reference
- Deck size
- 60
- Starting life
- 25
- MTG Arena
- Yes
- MTGO
- No
Key rules
- 01
Decks are exactly 60 cards, including the commander.
- 02
Singleton: one copy of each card except basic lands.
- 03
Commander = a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker. Same color identity rule as Commander.
- 04
Only Standard-legal sets allowed.
- 05
25 life starting, 1v1 format (also 3p variants exist).
Strategy and feel
Brawl strategy reflects Standard's meta. Commanders that draw cards or generate value over time tend to dominate. Top picks rotate with each set — recent favorites include Atraxa, Grand Unifier and various color-pair midrange commanders.
Official B&R list
Wizards maintains the official banned and restricted list. Updated periodically — check the official source before any tournament:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list#brawlReady to build a Brawl deck?
Build a Brawl deck with automatic format validation, import from Moxfield/Arena, and play online with friends when it's ready.