Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge: December 2025 Event Rules Explained
In mid-December 2025, Wizards of the Coast used MTG Arena to run a competitive experiment aimed squarely at one question: what does “competitive Brawl” look like when the usual guardrails are adjusted?
The result was the All-Access Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge, a Best-of-One Modified Brawl event with a special ban list, ranked matchmaking, and a key rule change that immediately affects how games play out: there is no free mulligan in this event, even though regular Brawl includes one.
Below is a rule-focused breakdown of what the event was, when it ran, what it cost to enter, what was banned (and what was suddenly legal), and how the rewards were structured—using Wizards’ own published details.
The official event window (and the deadlines that mattered)
Wizards of the Coast scheduled the event to run across the holiday season, with clearly posted cutoffs for signups and the final match window.
According to Wizards’ event details:
- Event Start: December 16, 2025, 8:00 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC)
- Signups End: January 6, 2026, 8:00 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC)
- Event Ends: January 6, 2026, 11:00 a.m. PT (19:00 UTC)
Wizards also spelled out the practical implications of those times. After the signup deadline, players could not begin a new run, but they could finish one already in progress—specifically, Wizards said players have 3 hours after signups close to complete their current run. And once the event ends at 11:00 a.m. PT, Wizards noted that no new matches begin after that time, although matches already underway can finish.
This same date range also appeared in MTG Arena’s weekly announcements calendar, where Wizards listed the challenge under “Other Events” running December 16–January 6.
What Wizards was trying to test (and why it wasn’t “just another Brawl queue”)
The event wasn’t presented as a one-off novelty. In Wizards’ own framing, it’s part of a broader effort to understand what a more structured, competitive Brawl environment could be.
In “Brawl: Our Plans,” Jay Parker wrote that:
“Brawl is now clearly MTG Arena’s second most played format.”
In that same piece, Parker positioned the December event as part of a plan to test multiple “competitive Brawl” structures over the coming months. In other words, this was not only about rewards—it was also an intentional, public iteration on how Brawl might function when tuned for competitive play.
That context matters, because it helps explain why the event was labeled “Modified,” why the ban list was so unusual compared to regular Brawl, and why Wizards emphasized ranked play.
Format basics: Best-of-One, “modified” rules, and ranked matchmaking
At the highest level, the event used:
- Format: Best-of-One Modified Brawl
- Matchmaking: Ranked (Wizards said it is ranked and uses ranked matchmaking)
- Course length: A run ends at 7 wins or 2 losses
The 7-wins-or-2-losses structure is a familiar “challenge” style framework on MTG Arena: you keep playing until you hit the win cap or you lose twice.
However, the key detail here is what Wizards changed compared to baseline Brawl rules—and those changes are what defined the “Modified” label.
Baseline refresher: what “normal Brawl” rules look like (for comparison)
Wizards’ Brawl format page describes traditional Brawl (including how it typically plays on Arena) like this:
- 100-card deck total
- 2 players
- 1 commander (a legendary creature or a Planeswalker from a set currently on Arena)
- 99 other cards that match the commander’s color identity
- Singleton construction (except basic lands)
- No sideboard
- 25 starting life
- Best-of-one, including a free mulligan
That last bullet—including a free mulligan—is one of the biggest “feel” differences between casual Brawl and the December 2025 competitive event.
The biggest gameplay change: no free mulligan
Wizards made the mulligan rule change explicit:
- Unlike Brawl, there is no free mulligan in this event.
This single sentence has major practical implications, because it affects opening hand decisions immediately—especially in a singleton format where hands can be more variable than in 60-card constructed decks.
The important point for rules explanation is straightforward and fully sourced: normal Brawl includes a free mulligan, but the Modified Metagame Challenge does not.
“All-Access” and “ranked”: what Wizards actually confirmed
Two terms appeared prominently in the official description: all-access and ranked.
Wizards described the event as all-access, and said it gives players “the maximum freedom” to explore the format. Wizards also stated the event is ranked and uses ranked matchmaking.
Since Wizards did not provide a deeper rules glossary on that page, the safe, sourced takeaway is simply what Wizards stated: the event was designated all-access and structured as a ranked competition.
Entry cost: Gold or Gems
Each attempt (run) required a paid entry:
- Entry fee: 5,000 Gold or 1,000 Gems
That cost is per run, paired with the 7-wins-or-2-losses structure. Players could enter during the signup window and keep playing runs as long as signups remained open.
The heart of “Modified”: a special ban list (and a major shift in what was legal)
If the mulligan change defined the gameplay feel, the legality rules defined the metagame. Wizards was explicit that the Modified event did not simply inherit the normal Brawl banned list.
Instead, Wizards said:
- “All collectable cards on MTG Arena are legal in this format except the following …”
Then Wizards provided a specific eight-card ban list for the event:
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
- Rusko, Clockmaker
- Old Stickfingers
- Wrenn and Six
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- A-Nadu, Winged Wisdom
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
Just as importantly, Jay Parker explained the purpose behind this approach. The December iteration, he wrote, focused on removing “clear power outliers in commanders from the first event,” and he called out Ajani, Nacatl Pariah as an example of a commander that “dominated” during the earlier Brawl Metagame Challenge. Parker also stated that the selected banned cards would be banned both as commanders and in decks for the event.
That phrasing matters: it indicates the bans weren’t limited to “you can’t choose this as commander.” Wizards’ stated intent was broader: the banned list applied across the deck.
How different was this from normal Brawl?
To understand why the December event was such a big deal for deckbuilding, it helps to compare it to Wizards’ standard Brawl banned list.
On Wizards’ Banned & Restricted List page, the Brawl banned cards include (among others):
- Agent of Treachery
- Ancient Tomb
- Chalice of the Void
- Channel
- Chrome Mox
- Demonic Tutor
- Drannith Magistrate
- Field of the Dead
- Gideon’s Intervention
- Lutri, the Spellchaser
- Mana Drain
- Meddling Mage
- Natural Order
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Phyrexian Revoker
- Pithing Needle
- Runed Halo
- Sorcerous Spyglass
- Strip Mine
- Tainted Pact
- Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
By contrast, the Modified Metagame Challenge only banned the eight cards listed above, and Wizards went out of its way to highlight what that meant in practice.
Jay Parker explicitly noted that cards banned in normal Brawl—he gave examples including Pithing Needle, Drannith Magistrate, and Strip Mine—were legal in this event.
So, even without adding speculation, the facts show a deliberate shift: the event’s legality rules were engineered to create a distinctly different environment from the everyday Brawl queue.
A note on one internal discrepancy worth handling carefully
In the same “Brawl: Our Plans” article, Jay Parker also gave Deflecting Swat as an example of a card “banned in normal Brawl” but legal in the event.
However, Wizards’ official Banned & Restricted List page for Brawl (as referenced in the research) does not list Deflecting Swat among Brawl bans.
A fact-bound way to present this in an article is:
- Wizards’ event article states Deflecting Swat is “banned in normal Brawl,” while
- Wizards’ current Brawl banned list page does not show Deflecting Swat as banned.
Without additional official clarification, it’s best not to guess why the mismatch exists—only to accurately report what each official page says.
“Free if you control a commander” spells: explicitly called out as legal
Wizards also singled out a group of cards that often define Commander-style gameplay: spells that are “free” if you control a commander.
In the “Brawl: Our Plans” article, Parker specifically highlighted that the following five spells were legal in this event iteration:
- Flawless Maneuver
- Fierce Guardianship
- Deadly Rollick
- Deflecting Swat
- Obscuring Haze
This is useful for rules explanation because it confirms Wizards was not only aware of these cards’ competitive implications, but also intentionally allowed them in the Modified environment.
Rewards: what you got for entering, and what you earned by winning
Wizards published the prize table and participation reward structure in the event details.
Participation reward (given on entry)
Wizards stated that entering awarded:
- 1 of 12 Individual card rewards (ICR) from this list:
– Enlightened Tutor – Flawless Maneuver – Fierce Guardianship – Mystical Tutor – Deadly Rollick – Entomb – Gamble – Deflecting Swat – Worldly Tutor – Obscuring Haze – Arcane Signet – Swiftfoot Boots
Even without editorializing, this is a concrete rules-and-economy detail: every run begins with an ICR from a defined pool.
Per-win rewards (the full table Wizards posted)
Wizards’ rewards were structured by total wins in the run:
- 1 win: No rewards
- 2 wins: 2 Historic-legal packs
- 3 wins: 250 Gems + 4 Historic-legal packs
- 4 wins: 450 Gems + 4 Historic-legal packs
- 5 wins: 900 Gems + 8 Historic-legal packs
- 6 wins: 1,350 Gems + 16 Historic-legal packs
- 7 wins: 1,800 Gems + 24 Historic-legal packs
This reward structure is also helpful when explaining the competitive incentive: the top payout is tied to a flawless or near-flawless run within the 7-win cap.
Why Wizards had just adjusted Brawl bans (and how that connects to this competitive push)
The Modified Metagame Challenge didn’t occur in a vacuum. In the Banned and Restricted Announcement – November 10, 2025, Wizards addressed Brawl bans in a way that explicitly connects to how the company was thinking about format health and competitive play.
In that announcement’s Brawl section, Daniel Xu described the targeted problem cards as:
“homogenizing, efficient, and polar.”
Wizards also provided a specific performance statistic about one of those cards—Mana Drain—saying:
players who draw a Mana Drain in their opening hand have a ten-percent higher win rate.
Finally, Xu tied the earlier Brawl Metagame Challenge (October, referenced as prior context) to Wizards’ interest in exploring whether a separate competitive Brawl environment could be viable long term.
Put together, those official statements establish an important, fact-supported narrative bridge: Wizards was simultaneously adjusting Brawl’s baseline ban philosophy and testing event variants that dramatically reshape legality and competition.
What we don’t have (and should not invent)
For a professional, data-driven metagame article, it’s also important to acknowledge what isn’t publicly provided in the cited official sources:
- Wizards did not publish (in the referenced pages) the event’s total entrants, match counts, deck/archetype win rates, or commander usage rates for the December 16–January 6 run.
That absence doesn’t prevent a rules explainer—if anything, it keeps the focus where it belongs: on what was officially announced and how the event functioned.
Quick rule summary (fact-only)
If you need a clean “rules box” version for readers:
- Event: All-Access Brawl Modified Metagame Challenge (MTG Arena)
- Dates: Dec 16, 2025 (8:00 a.m. PT) through Jan 6, 2026 (11:00 a.m. PT)
- Signups end: Jan 6, 2026 (8:00 a.m. PT); 3-hour completion window for active runs
- Format: Best-of-One Modified Brawl
- Run ends at: 7 wins or 2 losses
- Entry: 5,000 Gold or 1,000 Gems
- Major rule change: No free mulligan
- Event-only bans: Oko; Ajani, Nacatl Pariah; Rusko; Old Stickfingers; Wrenn and Six; Ragavan; A‑Nadu; Lutri
- Participation reward: 1 ICR from a 12-card list
- Max rewards (7 wins): 1,800 Gems + 24 Historic-legal packs
Sources (all Wizards of the Coast)
- “Brawl: Our Plans” (Dec 15, 2025) — event details, ban list, rules differences, prize table, timing
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/brawl-our-plans
- “MTG Arena Announcements – December 8, 2025” (Dec 8, 2025) — event listed Dec 16–Jan 6
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/announcements-december-8-2025
- “MTG Arena Announcements – December 15, 2025” (Dec 15, 2025) — weekly schedule context
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/announcements-december-15-2025
- “Brawl Format” — baseline Brawl rules (deck size, free mulligan, life total)
https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats/brawl
- “Banned & Restricted List” — baseline Brawl bans list
https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list
- “Banned and Restricted Announcement – November 10, 2025” — Brawl ban philosophy + Mana Drain stat
https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/banned-and-restricted-november-10-2025
