A Wizard Tribal Deck (sort of) in the Brawl Format

As soon as I saw the Brawl format announced on the Magic mothership, my mind went racing toward a deckbuilding mindset. Poring over the Dominaria release notes that accidentally leaked, then posted officially, I found my first deck idea: Wizards! Then, something happened. Most of the wizards got cut in favor of more spells!

The culprit is Adeliz, the Cinder Wind . He has haste and flying and pumps all wizards each time you cast an instant or sorcery. So you've got one strategy pulling you into a Wizard tribal direction and another into a spell direction. With only 60 cards in the Brawl format, something had to give.

The solution: concentrate on Adeliz and a core cast of wizards, all of whom care about spells and work well together. And load the rest with burn, draw and counters. Include some of those sweet Sagas and a couple of Planeswalkers, and all the best red and blue lands and a couple of colorless all-stars. You’ve got yourself a deck.

The strategy is to cast Adeliz, attack, then cast spells, backing him up with counterspells if the opponent tries to remove him. This deck seems likely to perform better in a 1v1 situation as a result, but multiplayer might work too.

Here are some of the deck’s all-stars that help Adeliz push through damage. Keep in mind that much of this deck is Dominaria cards, so you won’t be able to build it for a few weeks yet.

Wizard’s Lightning & Wizard's Retort

With Adeliz or another legendary wizard or Planeswalker out, these cost the same as Lightning Bolt and Counterspell of old.

Jaya's Immolating Inferno

A Legendary sorcery that requires one of your key legendary players to be on the battlefield, this acts as a triple-fireball against up to three targets. Key for removing blockers.

Karn's Temporal Sundering

Another Legendary sorcery that gives you an extra turn and bounces a nonland permanent, meaning Adeliz has a good chance of hitting twice for significant damage.

Naru Meha, Master Wizard

Naru can flash in and copy an instant or sorcery on the stack, and is also a Wizard lord for another small boost to Adeliz.

The Mirari Conjecture

This Saga can do it all ... return key spells to hand, and a few turns later, copy all instants or sorceries you cast that turn. A vicious way to finish off your opponent.

Jaya Ballard

Effectively a 2-cost Planeswalker, as the three red mana gained by the +1 is easily put toward an instant or sorcery cast that turn. In a pinch, you can fill your graveyard with spells and draw more, and of course the ultimate is amazing.

Fight with Fire

After you’ve got one of your spell-doubling cards online, this can effectively deal 20 damage to the face, which by that point in the game, is likely lethal.

Baral, Chief of Compliance

Baral makes a third of your deck cost 1 less, and there are tons of counterspells, which let you draw and discard. In a pinch, he gets a boost from Adeliz and Naru. Where's the downside?

Adeliz Brawl