Brawn MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Incarnation
Abilities Trample
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Brawn turns graveyard creatures into assets, giving all creatures trample with a forest in play.
  2. Its graveyard-triggered trample effect can surprise opponents and change combat outcomes.
  3. While powerful, Brawn requires strategic discards and deck synergy to be most effective.

Text of card

Trample As long as Brawn is in your graveyard and you control a forest, creatures you control have trample.

"'I have arrived,' bellowed Brawn, and the plane shuddered." —*Scroll of Beginnings*


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Brawn gives you a strategic upper hand by potentially turning every creature in your graveyard into a valuable asset. Once Brawn hits your graveyard with a creature card, each of your creatures gains trample as long as you control a forest. This persistent effect can easily tip the scales in your favor during combat scenarios, ensuring that your assaults have increased potency against an opponent’s defenses.

Resource Acceleration: While Brawn itself doesn’t directly provide mana or speed up your resources, the card’s inclusion in your deck synergizes with strategies keen on utilizing the graveyard. It can be especially useful in decks that focus on self-milling or discarding, enabling faster access to powerful creatures that benefit from having trample. This natural synergy accelerates your game plan towards a formidable board presence.

Instant Speed: Brawn’s ability to imbue your creatures with trample operates at instant speed – coming into effect the moment it hits the graveyard. This allows you to surprise your opponent by discarding Brawn through an instant-speed effect or during combat, suddenly allowing blocked or otherwise ineffective creatures to deal significant damage. The instantaneity of its effect makes Brawn a tactical resource, capable of shifting the tide of battle when your opponent least expects it.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Brawn demands that you discard a card to utilize its ability, which can be a trade-off if your hand is already depleting or if the discarded card is crucial for your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Brawn requires both green mana and generic mana for its casting cost, making it a better fit for mono-green or two-color decks rather than a more flexible choice for decks with a broader color palette.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, Brawn might not be the most mana-efficient choice, especially when there are other creatures or spells that could offer more immediate board presence or effects for the same or less investment.


Reasons to Include Brawn in Your Collection

Versatility: Brawn is a card that seamlessly integrates with a range of deck types, most notably those that channel a graveyard strategy or decks built around creature power.

Combo Potential: This creature’s ability to grant trample to all of your creatures as long as it’s in the graveyard provides numerous synergistic opportunities, deepening your strategy and interaction on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: Given its potential to turn any creature into a significant threat, this card can pivot the dynamics of a game, especially in metas where combat is decisive and evasion is key.


How to beat

Brawn is known for its ability to infuse creatures with the might of trample, transforming even the most benign of creatures into formidable attackers in Magic: The Gathering. The key to overcoming Brawn lies in mitigating its effect. This can be achieved by employing graveyard removal strategies which prevent the card from enabling trample for an opponent’s creatures. Cards like Bojuka Bog can exile graveyards, thus neutralizing Brawn’s influence on the game.

Another tactic is controlling the board with removal spells to ensure that creatures enhanced by Brawn do not stay on the battlefield long enough to cause significant damage. Spells such as Path to Exile or Doom Blade can be efficient ways to remove those threats. Additionally, countering the card before it hits the graveyard is also a sound strategy. Counterspells can prevent Brawn from ever influencing the game, thus maintaining control of the battlefield dynamics.

Ultimately, with a solid understanding of graveyard interaction and creature control, players can effectively contend with Brawn, ensuring that this powerful enabler doesn’t run rampant over the course of a match in Magic: The Gathering.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the nuances of Brawn in MTG can elevate your gameplay, turning each match into a strategic showcase of power and prowess. With its potential to convert your graveyard into a reservoir of strength, Brawn is a catalyst for deck strategies that emphasize creature force through trample. Embrace the opportunity to outmaneuver opponents with an unexpected display of power by incorporating Brawn into your deck. Let it harmonize with your green mana tactics to carve a path to victory. Keen to exploit the full potential of Brawn and dominate the battlefield? Dive deeper with us and refine your deck-building skills for triumphant matches ahead.


Cards like Brawn

Brawn holds a unique position as an influential creature in MTG, significantly enhancing the power of your other creatures through its ability to grant them trample when it’s in the graveyard. Looking at other cards with graveyard-triggered benefits, we can draw parallels with Anger, which bestows your creatures with haste under similar conditions. Both cards significantly impact the pace and strategy of gameplay, yet each offers a distinct advantage based on the game’s circumstances.

Similar in utility are cards like Filth and Wonder, which also gift your creatures with powerful abilities from the graveyard—swampwalk and flying respectively. Filth requires a swamp to be effective, favoring a black mana-based deck, while Wonder caters to blue mana strategies with the promise of aerial superiority. Brawn’s contribution to a green mana-based deck is just as pivotal, providing a critical edge by enabling your creatures to push through defenses that would otherwise halt them.

When considering the strategic incorporation of Brawn into a Magic: The Gathering deck, note that its value lies not only in the raw power it gives your creatures but also in the tactical dimension it adds to your gameplay, especially when combined with other cards with graveyard synergies.

Anger - MTG Card versions
Filth - MTG Card versions
Wonder - MTG Card versions
Anger - Judgment (JUD)
Filth - Judgment (JUD)
Wonder - Judgment (JUD)

Cards similar to Brawn by color, type and mana cost

Giant Spider - MTG Card versions
Marsh Viper - MTG Card versions
Scarwood Bandits - MTG Card versions
Carnivorous Plant - MTG Card versions
Erhnam Djinn - MTG Card versions
War Mammoth - MTG Card versions
Aurochs - MTG Card versions
Lhurgoyf - MTG Card versions
Jackalope Herd - MTG Card versions
Golden Bear - MTG Card versions
Argothian Swine - MTG Card versions
Elvish Piper - MTG Card versions
Erithizon - MTG Card versions
Skyshroud Cutter - MTG Card versions
Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth - MTG Card versions
Fungusaur - MTG Card versions
Viridian Lorebearers - MTG Card versions
Monkey Monkey Monkey - MTG Card versions
Matsu-Tribe Birdstalker - MTG Card versions
Order of the Sacred Bell - MTG Card versions
Giant Spider - Tenth Edition (10E)
Marsh Viper - The Dark (DRK)
Scarwood Bandits - The Dark (DRK)
Carnivorous Plant - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Erhnam Djinn - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
War Mammoth - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Aurochs - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Lhurgoyf - World Championship Decks 1997 (WC97)
Jackalope Herd - Exodus (EXO)
Golden Bear - Portal Second Age (P02)
Argothian Swine - Urza's Saga (USG)
Elvish Piper - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Erithizon - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Skyshroud Cutter - Nemesis (NEM)
Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Fungusaur - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Viridian Lorebearers - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Monkey Monkey Monkey - Unhinged (UNH)
Matsu-Tribe Birdstalker - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Order of the Sacred Bell - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Brawn MTG card by a specific set like Judgment and Magic Online Theme Decks, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Brawn and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Brawn Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2002-05-27 and 2023-04-21. Illustrated by Matt Cavotta.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-05-27JudgmentJUD 1071997normalblackMatt Cavotta
22010-11-08Magic Online Theme DecksTD0 A631997normalblackMatt Cavotta
32011-06-17Commander 2011CMD 1452003normalblackMatt Cavotta
42015-11-18Legendary Cube Prize PackPZ1 722015normalblackMatt Cavotta
52016-06-10Eternal MastersEMA 1592015normalblackMatt Cavotta
62018-06-08Commander Anthology Volume IICM2 1332015normalblackMatt Cavotta
72018-12-07Ultimate MastersUMA 1602015normalblackMatt Cavotta
82023-04-21March of the Machine CommanderMOC 2922015normalblackMatt Cavotta

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Brawn has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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