OK, now that battlebond has happened and distracted me back into commander for a few weeks, it's time to focus up on brawl again with the new crop of commanders from M2019. Here's my thoughts.
Ajani, adversary of tyrants - D+
Can't say I see ajani making many waves. His abilities are pretty grindy and I don't think do enough in multiplayer to justify that risk that he's likely to get beaten down within a turn or two, and he doesn't do a great job of defense. His emblem is sweet but doesn't necessarily win the game.
Tezzeret, Artifice Master - B
I don't think he's going to be totally bonkers, since he's also a bit grindy, but his ability to draw 2 cards, and to defend himself, while building towards a powerful ultimate is a strong combination.
Liliana, untouched by death - C-
She does have some capacity for removal, but her +1 doesn't really do anything useful defensively and her -3 requires a lot of setup. Overall she seems like an ok commander for a zombie tribal deck, but with the number of white zombies around, and the fact that she doesn't really do much on her own, I think she won't be the zombie commander of choice.
sarkhan, fireblood - D
For starters, there's only 7 total dragons he can play unless I miss my count. So his best ability is pretty lackluster, and he needs to survive a full turn to make it worth much, which is very tough in mono-red standard imo. His rummage ability is ok but no one wants to play rummaging goblin for a commander. his ult is...fine, but very answerable, and more importantly extremely difficult to achieve.
vivien reid - C+
Vivien strikes me as being more of a support commander, not a leader. She wants a decent creature count and she provides solid artifact/enchant/flyer removal, but besides that she doesn't push the deck in a particular direction. I think she's a solid role-player but makes more sense in a deck than leading it.
Lena, Selfless Champion - B
Lena does two things pretty well - she makes a lot of tokens, and she protects your white weenies. Unfortunately she doesn't synergize well with other token production, but she still goes well with an aggressive deck that wants to go wide and protect itself from board wipes. In fact she goes very nicely with her own board wipes. Casting one followed by a team pump is certain to take some people out, which I think means Lena is actually pretty decent commander material.
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma - B-
Ramping out a bunch of dudes at below rate and going to town is an ok plan, but I don't think it scales as well to multiplayer as goreclaw might hope. There are some good tools in green right now to keep up value, though, so it might be better than it looks.
sai, master thopterist - B+
There are plenty of good artifacts in standard right now, and Sai doesn't ask much to be great. His draw ability is pretty inefficient but it does give you an artifact sac outlet, and is a solid answer to artifact hate. I think he'll be a solid commander for sure.
Isareth, the awakener - B-
So unlike chainer she makes you pay full price for your reanimation targets, and she has to get into the red zone to do it, you only hit your own grave, and you can't simply sac the creature to cheat the reaper. On the plus side, she's cheap, she doesn't exile her buddies, and... Honestly she looked amazing to me at first glance, but on a second one she seems merely ok. She's an efficient body that generates decent card advantage, but since you aren't getting a discount she doesn't do anything too spectacular, basically just lets you draw a creature from your grave when she attacks. Which is solid, but not insane.
Lathliss, Dragon Queen - C-
Same problem that applied to sarkhan applies here. She just doesn't have the support at the moment. She's ok on her own, but she's so disruptable and doesn't provide synergy with enough cards that I'm just not interested.
Arcades, the Strategist - C
So unfortunately, there are only 8 defenders currently in standard by my count. Which makes arcades look pretty unexciting, though he's still a solid beater and he's honestly pretty great with just a couple walls, and he gives you three colors. Much more exciting for commander than brawl, I think.
Chromium, the Mutable - D+
He's an ok card and he gives you esper colors. That's really about it. Besides some voltron value I don't see him doing anything interesting.
Nicol Bolas, the Ravager - A
I mean, this guy is obviously insane. 4/4 flyer with a huge upside for starters, plus his flip ability never increases and his planeswalker side is just bonkers. The only issue is getting 3c to work in brawl, but I think he more than makes up for the risk.
Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner - D+
Ruiner of being interesting. Same camp as chromium, decent if uninteresting creatures that give you 3 colors.
Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire - B+
I don't think there are many tools for fatesealing in standard, but the presence of treasure is great for getting some free permanents into play. Besides that, he's a brutal commander killer than can keep grinding out value, even if occasionally it backfires. His attack triggers is probably on a par with etali, except that he provides 3 colors instead of suffering with only one.
PW deck commanders - F
All of these are pretty awful. Ajani's -3 is interesting to have in the CZ but I don't see it holding a candle to lena for that sort of deck. Vivien's abilities are kind of ok, but she's too expensive to make them anywhere near good. And her ult is super lame.
Ajani, adversary of tyrants - D+
Can't say I see ajani making many waves. His abilities are pretty grindy and I don't think do enough in multiplayer to justify that risk that he's likely to get beaten down within a turn or two, and he doesn't do a great job of defense. His emblem is sweet but doesn't necessarily win the game.
Tezzeret, Artifice Master - B
I don't think he's going to be totally bonkers, since he's also a bit grindy, but his ability to draw 2 cards, and to defend himself, while building towards a powerful ultimate is a strong combination.
Liliana, untouched by death - C-
She does have some capacity for removal, but her +1 doesn't really do anything useful defensively and her -3 requires a lot of setup. Overall she seems like an ok commander for a zombie tribal deck, but with the number of white zombies around, and the fact that she doesn't really do much on her own, I think she won't be the zombie commander of choice.
sarkhan, fireblood - D
For starters, there's only 7 total dragons he can play unless I miss my count. So his best ability is pretty lackluster, and he needs to survive a full turn to make it worth much, which is very tough in mono-red standard imo. His rummage ability is ok but no one wants to play rummaging goblin for a commander. his ult is...fine, but very answerable, and more importantly extremely difficult to achieve.
vivien reid - C+
Vivien strikes me as being more of a support commander, not a leader. She wants a decent creature count and she provides solid artifact/enchant/flyer removal, but besides that she doesn't push the deck in a particular direction. I think she's a solid role-player but makes more sense in a deck than leading it.
Lena, Selfless Champion - B
Lena does two things pretty well - she makes a lot of tokens, and she protects your white weenies. Unfortunately she doesn't synergize well with other token production, but she still goes well with an aggressive deck that wants to go wide and protect itself from board wipes. In fact she goes very nicely with her own board wipes. Casting one followed by a team pump is certain to take some people out, which I think means Lena is actually pretty decent commander material.
Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma - B-
Ramping out a bunch of dudes at below rate and going to town is an ok plan, but I don't think it scales as well to multiplayer as goreclaw might hope. There are some good tools in green right now to keep up value, though, so it might be better than it looks.
sai, master thopterist - B+
There are plenty of good artifacts in standard right now, and Sai doesn't ask much to be great. His draw ability is pretty inefficient but it does give you an artifact sac outlet, and is a solid answer to artifact hate. I think he'll be a solid commander for sure.
Isareth, the awakener - B-
So unlike chainer she makes you pay full price for your reanimation targets, and she has to get into the red zone to do it, you only hit your own grave, and you can't simply sac the creature to cheat the reaper. On the plus side, she's cheap, she doesn't exile her buddies, and... Honestly she looked amazing to me at first glance, but on a second one she seems merely ok. She's an efficient body that generates decent card advantage, but since you aren't getting a discount she doesn't do anything too spectacular, basically just lets you draw a creature from your grave when she attacks. Which is solid, but not insane.
Lathliss, Dragon Queen - C-
Same problem that applied to sarkhan applies here. She just doesn't have the support at the moment. She's ok on her own, but she's so disruptable and doesn't provide synergy with enough cards that I'm just not interested.
Arcades, the Strategist - C
So unfortunately, there are only 8 defenders currently in standard by my count. Which makes arcades look pretty unexciting, though he's still a solid beater and he's honestly pretty great with just a couple walls, and he gives you three colors. Much more exciting for commander than brawl, I think.
Chromium, the Mutable - D+
He's an ok card and he gives you esper colors. That's really about it. Besides some voltron value I don't see him doing anything interesting.
Nicol Bolas, the Ravager - A
I mean, this guy is obviously insane. 4/4 flyer with a huge upside for starters, plus his flip ability never increases and his planeswalker side is just bonkers. The only issue is getting 3c to work in brawl, but I think he more than makes up for the risk.
Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner - D+
Ruiner of being interesting. Same camp as chromium, decent if uninteresting creatures that give you 3 colors.
Vaevictus Asmadi, the Dire - B+
I don't think there are many tools for fatesealing in standard, but the presence of treasure is great for getting some free permanents into play. Besides that, he's a brutal commander killer than can keep grinding out value, even if occasionally it backfires. His attack triggers is probably on a par with etali, except that he provides 3 colors instead of suffering with only one.
PW deck commanders - F
All of these are pretty awful. Ajani's -3 is interesting to have in the CZ but I don't see it holding a candle to lena for that sort of deck. Vivien's abilities are kind of ok, but she's too expensive to make them anywhere near good. And her ult is super lame.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6