At a glance
- Format: Brawl (100-card)
- Commander: Saruman of Many Colors
- Colors: White / Blue / Black (WUB)
- Archetype: Esper spellslinger draw-go control (budget)
- Power tier: competitive
- Competitive Brawl: ✅ Legal
Strategy
A wall-to-wall base of one- and two-mana cantrips and cheap interaction makes Saruman’s second-spell trigger fire almost every turn, milling each opponent and free-casting the best card out of their yard. Owned instant-speed counters and removal keep the engine live on other players’ turns, so you hold up mana and still land two casts. Cheap magecraft-adjacent payoffs (Murmuring Mystic, Talrand’s Invocation, Stormchaser’s Talent, Brineborn Cutthroat, Faerie Vandal, Enduring Curiosity) convert each cast into bodies, tokens, and cards. Golden Demise and Cry of the Carnarium reset the board while cheap serpents (Tolarian Terror, Cryptic Serpent, Eddymurk Crab) and Consuming Aberration close it out.
Upgrade path
This is the playable-now build: it uses only owned cards plus unlimited common/uncommon crafts and a single rare/mythic craft — the commander Saruman of Many Colors itself (unowned mythic). Unaffordable payoffs/bombs from the ideal (Storm of Saruman, Monastery Mentor, Archmage Emeritus, Ledger Shredder, Talrand, Sheoldred, Snapcaster, Torrential Gearhulk, Shark Typhoon, Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Esper Sentinel, Meathook Massacre, Supreme Verdict, Swan Song, Teferi, Approach) are swapped for the best owned or common/uncommon in-role pieces, so the second-cast steal engine still runs. The power version at data/decks_json/brawl-saruman.json is the ideal upgrade target once wildcards are available.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Saruman of Many Colors
Deck
1 Arcane Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Guardian Idol
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Opt
1 Consider
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Deduce
1 Unending Whisper
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Futurist Forge
1 Night's Whisper
1 Read the Bones
1 Behold the Multiverse
1 Cloudkin Seer
1 Mulldrifter
1 Spell Pierce
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Flusterstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Essence Scatter
1 Make Disappear
1 Syncopate
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fatal Push
1 Go for the Throat
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Black Sun's Twilight
1 Shoot the Sheriff
1 Stab
1 Epic Downfall
1 Bake into a Pie
1 Moment of Craving
1 Cut Down
1 Languish
1 Golden Demise
1 Cry of the Carnarium
1 Mercurial Spelldancer
1 Archmage of Runes
1 Stormchaser's Talent
1 Murmuring Mystic
1 Talrand's Invocation
1 Brineborn Cutthroat
1 Faerie Vandal
1 Enduring Curiosity
1 Soulblade Djinn
1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
1 Eddymurk Crab
1 Tolarian Terror
1 Cryptic Serpent
1 Consuming Aberration
1 Sengir Vampire
1 Spectral Sailor
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Command Tower
1 Demolition Field
1 Watery Grave
1 Gloomlake Verge
1 Underground River
1 Godless Shrine
1 Bleachbone Verge
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Floodfarm Verge
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Plains
16 Island
10 Swamp
Ideal build (upgrade target)
The power-ceiling build (multi-agent workflow output) — every premium payoff and the full combo/synergy package. The current list is the playable-now budget version; craft toward this as your wildcards come in.
Crafts to reach the ideal: 22 (9 mythic, 13 rare)
- Mythic: Monastery Mentor, Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Snapcaster Mage, Storm of Saruman, Teferi, Master of Time, The Meathook Massacre, Torrential Gearhulk
- Rare: Approach of the Second Sun, Archmage Emeritus, Baral, Chief of Compliance, Esper Sentinel, Ledger Shredder, Otawara, Soaring City, Raffine’s Tower, Shark Typhoon, Supreme Verdict, Swan Song, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Talrand, Sky Summoner, The Reality Chip
Full ideal list (paste into Arena):
Commander
1 Saruman of Many Colors
Deck
1 Arcane Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Guardian Idol
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Opt
1 Consider
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Brainstorm
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Deduce
1 Unending Whisper
1 Rhystic Study
1 Mystic Remora
1 Esper Sentinel
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 The Reality Chip
1 Futurist Forge
1 Spell Pierce
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Flusterstorm
1 Swan Song
1 Counterspell
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Essence Scatter
1 Make Disappear
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fatal Push
1 Go for the Throat
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Black Sun's Twilight
1 Shoot the Sheriff
1 Stab
1 Epic Downfall
1 Bake into a Pie
1 Moment of Craving
1 The Meathook Massacre
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Languish
1 Storm of Saruman
1 Ledger Shredder
1 Archmage Emeritus
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Mercurial Spelldancer
1 Archmage of Runes
1 Soulblade Djinn
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Shark Typhoon
1 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
1 Teferi, Master of Time
1 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Eddymurk Crab
1 Tolarian Terror
1 Command Tower
1 Demolition Field
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
1 Watery Grave
1 Gloomlake Verge
1 Underground River
1 Godless Shrine
1 Bleachbone Verge
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Floodfarm Verge
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Raffine's Tower
2 Plains
15 Island
7 Swamp
Card images & data via Scryfall.