Bre of Clan StoutarmBre of Clan Stoutarm | Art by Jesper Ejsing

In the quiet fields of Lorwyn, a peaceful Giant tends to her sheep. Daughter to Brion StoutarmBrion Stoutarm, Bre of Clan StoutarmBre of Clan Stoutarm inherited her father's knack for throwing creatures. She can give any creature flying and lifelink, but she does not throw them with so much force that we would need to sacrifice the creature, unlike Brion.

So, maybe it's more of a gentle toss?

What Does Bre of Clan StoutarmBre of Clan Stoutarm Do?

Bre is a four-mana 4/4 with an excellent end step ability. If we gained life, we exile cards from our library until we hit a nonland card, and if that card's mana value is less than or equal to the amount life we gained that turn, we can then cast it for free. Or, if the spell's mana value is higher or if we don't want to cast the spell (being an ill-timed board wipe or something), we can put it into our hand.

Effectively, we "discoverdiscover" at our end step each turn.

Getting free spells each turn is powerful in Boros (), especially with all the ways we can gain life in this deck. However, there are some downsides to note about Bre's ability, albeit minor ones.

The lands we exile before hitting a nonland card are gone for good. Poof. That sounds bad, but it really isn't. We'll likely exile 1-3 lands at each end step, in most cases. And we wouldn't see those lands anyway if this ability were instead cascade or discover.

The second downside is that she's pretty slow if we were relying on her lifelink ability to be the only way we gain life. However, this isn't really a downside if we have enough early lifegain to start.

Key Cards for Bre of Clan StoutarmBre of Clan Stoutarm

Early Lifegain

Serra AscendantSerra Ascendant is the best turn-one play we can have in this deck. She's expensive, monetarily, but man, does it feel good to start the game with a 6/6 flier. With Bre out, we can really cast any card in our deck for free.

Serra Ascendant's not the only one-mana creature in this deck. Healer's HawkHealer's Hawk and Ruin-Lurker BatRuin-Lurker Bat are both 1/1 fliers with lifelink, and while nowhere near as strong, they will be extremely helpful in triggering our lifegain payoffs.

Ocelot PrideOcelot Pride is another all-star one-mana white creature that creates a 1/1 Cat at our end step.

At the two-mana slot, Kinscaer SentryKinscaer Sentry is a new all-timer from Lorwyn Eclipsed. A 2/2 with first strike and lifelink is solid and will be amazing for triggering Bre in the early game. And getting to put a creature onto the battlefield for free is insane. This, with all the small creatures we can have in play early, will excel us so far into the lead that our opponents won't be able to keep up.

Aerial ResponderAerial Responder may not be like the pushed all-star lifelink creatures mentioned before, but the stats on him are great; he can be played before Bre comes out, has flying so he can attack with ease, and he has vigilance and lifelink, making him an amazing blocker that gains us life on our opponents' turns.

Best Beaters To Give Lifelink To

We have our early game planned out, but let's not take for granted that Bre can give any creature flying and lifelink.

I like Tectonic GiantTectonic Giant a lot for this deck. Both modes are great. Exiling cards can provide a neat synergy with a few exile-matters cards we have in the deck, but dealing three damage to each opponent becomes a lot scarier when we give it lifelink.

Aurelia, the Law AboveAurelia, the Law Above also deals damage to each opponent in addition to being a repeatable card draw engine.

We only have a few creatures that deal damage to each opponent, but among them, Giggling SkitterspikeGiggling Skitterspike is simply the best. We have multiple ways to put counters onto our creatures through cards like Cleric ClassCleric Class, so this will drain our opponents' life totals for a ton of damage each turn. This having indestructible will have our opponents scrambling to find a Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares.

Counters

Speaking of counters, many cards in this deck give out +1/+1 counters when we gain life.

Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune will put counters on each creature we control for each instance of lifegain we get. This Angel makes those little 1/1 fliers I mentioned earlier a bigger threat since Archangel of Thune will trigger each time we gain life. On top of being a lifelink flier, this Angel will be a huge threat the longer it sticks around.

Nykthos ParagonNykthos Paragon does something similar but will only trigger once each turn. That's why we'll want ways to gain life on other players' turns like with Riot ControlRiot Control.

Heliod, Sun-CrownedHeliod, Sun-Crowned can give out counters to our creatures and is a better lifelink granter than Bre since we don't have to tap him, and he can give lifelink to multiple creatures.

Reluctant Role ModelReluctant Role Model is one that I forgot about from Duskmourn, but is surprisingly great for this deck. It only shows up in three of the currently 600 Bre decks so far, but already, this might be an underrated gem for Bre. Flying and lifelink counters are very relevant for this deck, especially if we give those counters to another creature when it dies. And the Role Model is great for saving our counters and putting them onto another creature we control.

It's a lot of value for a two-mana creature.

Simply Amazing Value

Out of the 34 creatures in the deck, only six of them don't have white. Increasing the power of our creatures aids us in gaining more life, and since most of our deck is white, Heraldic BannerHeraldic Banner would be a great way to add that extra bit of damage. It's one of those cards that I keep in the back of my mind when thinking about utility mana rocks, especially if a commander makes creature tokens of the same color.

I don't think there are many creatures that should be considered auto-includes, but Balefire LiegeBalefire Liege provides too much value to ignore. It turns Bre into a 6/6 and with each white spell we cast, we gain three life. And while we don't have many red cards, the incidental three damage is sweet.

Exemplar of LightExemplar of Light is another one of our creatures that gets counters when we gain life, but when we do, we also draw a card. Combined with lifegain effects like Soul WardenSoul Warden, we could be drawing up to four cards in a turn cycle.

Double the Spells

Why stop at just casting one spell for free? Wild-Magic SorcererWild-Magic Sorcerer cascades off the first spell we cast from exile, providing us additional value on top of the free spells we're getting.

Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator is great for copying Bre's end step trigger so we can get extra free spells, but it also can copy other powerful triggered abilities such as Giggling SkitterspikeGiggling Skitterspike and Aerith GainsboroughAerith Gainsborough.

And Chimil, the Inner SunChimil, the Inner Sun is a great piece of protection against counterspells as well as backup for this deck if we don't have Bre out. Among the cards we could hope to hit off Bre's trigger, this is certainly up there as one of the best.

How Does This Bre of Clan StoutarmBre of Clan Stoutarm Deck Win?

With the number of ways this deck can grow our board with +1/+1 counters, any creature we have could be a lethal threat to our opponents. But we'll need ways to clear the board to ensure our victory. Bond of DisciplineBond of Discipline taps down all our opponents' creatures and grants ours lifelink, allowing us to swing out and pad our life total against any crack-back.

We have a few ways we can give our creatures lifelink and evasion, but The Wind CrystalThe Wind Crystal is one of the best. It provides a ton of value for just four mana: It makes our white spells cheaper, allows us to gain twice as much life, and is a finisher in a deck full of beaters.

And what better way to swing out than by giving all of our creatures a myriad of keywords with Akroma's WillAkroma's Will. It's a versatile instant that can either protect our board or grant them double-strike, or both if Bre is out. Both modes give our creatures evasion, so with Bre on the board, we'll easily be able to close out the game.

Bre of Clan Stoutarm Commander Deck List

Bracing for Impact

Lorwyn Eclipsed has been a lovely return to a world full of whimsy and dark fantasy. I've already opened much of this set, and I've been poring over the art of every card I've seen. It's as magical as Magic can get. Let me know what you've enjoyed most about this set in the comments below!

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