The Streets of New Capenna set for Magic: The Gathering will launch on April 29 and Screen Rant can exclusively reveal the contents of the Bedecked Brokers Commander Deck, which will be released with four other Commander Decks on the same day. The Bedecked Brokers Commander Deck is based on the Brokers, which is one of the five crime families in the city of New Capenna.
Streets of New Capenna has a gangster theme, with its five warring families using their own particular brand of illegal activities. The Brokers are the lawyers of New Capenna, who twist the letter of the law to their own ends, as well as run protection rackets. They are led by an aven named Falco Spara, whose preferred method of dealing with enemies is tossing them through windows or off balconies. The Brokers use blue, green, and white cards, and have a unique mechanic centered around shield counters. If a card with a shield counter on it would be damaged or destroyed by an effect, then the shield counter is removed instead.
The Bedecked Brokers Commander Deck for Magic: The Gathering features reprinted cards, including:
The Streets of New Capenna preview starts with three potential choices for the commander in Bedecked Brokers are Denry Klin, Editor in Chief; Kros, Defense Contractor; and Perrie, the Pulverizer. Kros and Perrie were recently revealed by Wizards of the Coast, but they're included here for completion's sake. Denry Klin is a legendary creature with the ability to enter the battlefield with a counter that grants first strike, vigilance, or +1/+1. Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield, they gain the same type of counter as Denry, making him great for granting free buffs to the rest of the deck. Kros has a unique take on the shield counter mechanic, as he can grant them to other monsters, while also giving them goad and trample, making them attack another player. Perrie puts a shield counter on another creature when it enters the battlefield and when it attacks, it gives a target creature trample and +X/+X, with X being the number of different counter types the player controls.
Aven Courier is a blue flying 1/1 creature with the ability to duplicate a counter whenever it attacks and give it to another creature that doesn't possess that type of counter. This means Aven Courier can copy shield counters and pass them around the field, or one of the buff counters used by Denry Klin. Angelic Sleuth is a white 2/3 flying creature, and it can investigate whenever another permanent the player controls leaves the field, using the mechanic that was introduced back in Magic: The Gathering's Shadows over Innistrad set. Bribe Taker is a green 6/6 creature with trample, which gains a +1/+1 counter for each kind of counter on a permanent that the player controls, but only when it enters the battlefield.
Park Heights Maverick is a green 2/2 creature with the dethrone ability, which means it gains a +1/+1 counter whenever it attacks the player with the most life. If the Park Heights Maverick dies or damages a player, they duplicate any counters on any players or permanents. Park Heights Maverick cannot be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less. Shield Broker is a blue 3/4 creature that puts a shield counter on any noncommander creature the player doesn't control and takes control of it for as long as it has a shield counter. Skyboon Evangelist is a white 3/3 flying creature, which gives six other creatures +1/+1 counters when it enters the field. If a creature with a counter on it attacks while Skyboon Evangelist is on the field, it gains flying until the end of the turn. These new Magic: The Gathering creatures in the Bedecked Brokers deck have some amazing synergy when it comes to using counters, which is bolstered by other cards in the set that can easily duplicate or move counters.
Agent's Toolkit is an Artifact - Clue card. It enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter, a flying counter, a deathtouch counter, and a shield counter. Agent's Toolkit can give one of its counters to a new creature that enters the battlefield. The player can pay two mana to sacrifice Agent's Toolkit and draw a card, which is best saved for when all of its counters are gone. Gavel of the Righteous is an Artifact - Equipment card that adds a charge counter at the beginning of combat. The equipped creature gains +1/+1 for each counter on Gavel of the Righteous, and it gains double strike if Gavel of the Righteous has four or more counters.
Bedecked Brokers has new enchantment cards. Family's Favor is a green enchantment card that puts a shield counter on an attacking creature. Until the end of the turn, that creature removes a shield counter when damaging a player, and its owner draws a card. Resourceful Defense is a white enchantment card that moves counters from a permanent leaving to the battlefield to another permanent under the player's control. The player can also pay four mana and one white mana to move any number of counters from one permanent to another they control, without it needing to be leaving the field.
Broker's Confluence is an instant with three options and the player can choose one option multiple times. The three options are: proliferate (duplicate any counters on any players or permanents), a target creature phases (card cannot be interacted with until their next untap step), or counter an activated or triggered ability. Contractual Safeguard is an instant that gives a creature the player controls a shield counter if it's cast during the main phase, and can duplicate one type of counter on a creature and give it to each other creature the player controls. Storm of Forms returns a nonland permanent to its owner's hand and its ability can be used on a number of targets equal to the kinds of counter that the player controls.
Damning Verdict is a white sorcery card that destroys all creatures without any counters on them. The fact that so many cards in Bedecked Brokers grant counters means that the player's own creatures should be safe when using this card. This is especially useful when facing Streets of New Capenna's Cabaretti decks, as they swarm the field with weaker creatures and tokens.
Magic: The Gathering Streets of New Capenna will be released on April 29, 2022. Screen Rant attended a press event for the purpose of this preview.