Brawl For All: Oko got Butterbeaned
Oko, R&D’s joko, was seen by Organized Play as broko….in Brawl… on Arena.
This announcement was hidden in an mtgesportsarena post which seemed odd at the time, wouldn’t such a momentous ban in the world’s greatest format deserve a Forsythe post on dailymtg? Then the more learned of us learned that this ban only takes place on brawl on Arena, which is a wonderful way to play, though in person brawl has its benefits too. Just today one of my friends talked about how Brawl saved his relationship. So for you “Brawl in the real” folks, unless you’d prefer to adhere to the Arena banned list can continue to play with the washboard elf.
So why just on Arena? Anecdotally I have checked a lot of data and it objectively points to one thing. 95% of complaints regarding Oko are from Arena players. It seems that if you are Oko’d 200 times in one day, it feels worse than getting Oko’d maybe 3 times on a Friday night. As such paper players don’t get as up in arms about Oko as say, MTG Twitter which always complains.
The biggest benefit I saw with Oko was being able to “Elk” problem generals. This matters more in the broken landscape of EDH though as compared to the fair and balanced cardpool that is brawl. He could also make food tokens. As brawl prefers less grindy games players start at a svelte 25, or 30 in multiplayer life. This means that a food token can possibly increase your life total by as much as say, 11%. This makes food very useful in Brawl.
What do I think of the ban? I feel it is sad and unfortunate. His last ability (the old switcharoo) literally already exists in this format.
Yet have you seen any decrying to ban Role Reversal? Yeah I didn’t think so. Also people mention that it is hard to deal with Oko. Well if you recall in my last article I mentioned that Stonecoil Serpent is a perfect Oko killer since Oko cannot target it for Elking or switcharooing. Also a card tons of fools sleep on that is also a stone cold RKO to Oko is
Seriously nobody seems to read the “or ability” part. Imagine being like, oh sorry Oko I’m afraid you Brolos is an elk now. Or oh sorry oko you did want to swap with my inquisitive puppet right? Then BAM, exile the puppet, now you just got a freeroll permanent.
Other ways to beat oko:
Use Creatures where being a 3/3 abilities elk is an upgrade.
Don’t play anything worth stealing.
I for one, cry for Oko.
Until next time, I hope to see you on the Brawl Pitch.
Chris
