Updated for Crimson Vow!

Original Writeup:

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar has been my favorite brawl commander lately. She has self synergy without being a boring "do the thing to gain 1 life and draw a card" body. You'll find yourself out-aggroing most decks with her, and with your low curve and ability to dump out creatures like crazy, you'll almost never be without something to swing with!

This is primarily a "go wide and swing" deck, with Human tribal, token synergy, +1/+1 counter, and even lifegain themes woven in.

Your 1-drop slot is packed, as it really needs to be. If your opening hand doesn't contain a good one, you should probably be mulliganing. Esper Sentinel is a house in this deck, being a human, a draw engine (or a mana tax), and he synergizes splendidly with your +1/+1 counters which are abundant. Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort is another great one, since you're very likely to flip it with your gameplan and it can be an instant-speed pump for Adeline (or for your entire board with Cathars' Crusade). Authority of the Consuls may seem like more of a control card, but preventing your opponent from generating blockers is huge. I strongly considered Shadowspear since it would let Adeline punch through chumps, but I want as many creatures as I can get. Definitely worth a shot.

Mikaeus, the Lunarch is a bomb at 2+. There are so many ways to give him counters and have him distribute them out again that your own eyebrows will pop at the damage you're swinging for. One such way is Grateful Apparition, who synergizes with him delightfully, in addition to any other counters you've gotten, and with flying she can better swing into a dicey board state to trigger Adeline. Were we talking about bombs? Thalia's Lieutenant pumps your board, then Adeline pumps him twice the turn she comes down, and usually he's getting multiple counters every turn therafter. Incredible 2-drop.

On to three-drops. Many a game has been won off of Guardian of Faith or Teferi's Protection keeping your board alive when your opponent needed it gone. Sigrid, God-Favored zoinks their big/expensive stuff while letting you continue to swing. Basri Ket doles out tokens and threatens his giga-emblem. Unbreakable Formation lets you swing huge, as does Abzan Falconer if you've gotten counters distributed. Ranger-Captain of Eos is probably going to go grab Esper Sentinel, Mikaeus, the Lunarch, or Dauntless Bodyguard depending on situation, and his ability to shut off noncreature spells means you can again swing huge.

At four Felidar Retreat lets you get counters everywhere then swing big while keeping your blocks up. It's a great rate (although you can't effectively cast it the same turn you get 4 mana). I considered Anointed Procession, but even when getting same-turn value I wasn't that impressed with the result for a 4-MV enchantment. I also considered Basri's Lieutenant because of the +1/+1 and token synergies. Despite his cost it might be a good option. This deck is about being low to the ground, so I struggled to justify much above 3.

At 5, if you get Cathar's Crusade and/or Divine Visitation on the board with Adeline you've probably just won. Of the two, the Crusade is a couple dozen times better, but I can't let a good synergy with Divine Visitation go to waste, especially when you can often drop it T5 and slap with an angel the same turn without any additional mana.

Emeria's Call is a boltland, except for the exceedingly rare instances where it lets you swing with an invincible board.

Crimson Vow Update:

It's still quite early in the VOW meta, but I made changes since I wrote this post a week or so ago, so I'm going to lump my VOW trials in with them.

Out:

• Abzan Falconer
• Boros Elite
• Cathar Commando
• Faerie Guidemother
• Healer's Hawk
• Loyal Warhound
• Maul of the Skyclaves
• Rune of Sustenance
• 1 Plains

In:

• Isamaru, Hound of Konda
• Serra Ascendant
• Shadowspear
• Sungold Sentinel
• Tyrite Sanctum
• Cemetery Protector
• Hopeful Initiate
• Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity
• Welcoming Vampire

The cuts I'm not entirely sold on yet are Maul of the Skyclaves and Abzan Falconer, both of which have outright won games for me (and Cathar Commando as an instant-speed 3/1 with Artifact/Enchantment removal stapled on is also a hard loss).

From existing sets we added: Isamaru, Hound of Konda for his 1-drop 2/2-ness. I burned the WC on Serra Ascendant and he has caused multiple t2/t3 concessions as they stare down a flying 7/7 lifelinker. Shadowspear does work, usually on Adeline to give her trample, but it's killed a couple of careless Heliod, Sun-Crowneds as well. Sungold Sentinel is a powerful evasive 3/2 with gy hate and target protection. Tyrite Sanctum handing out counters at instant speed can be a godsend, and occasionally you get to make Adeline invincible which is great.

On to our Crimson Vow additions. Hopeful Initiate seems like everything we could ask for in a 1-drop. It is a human, it starts with 2 TOU, it can generate its own counters without mana, and it can use our existing counter synergies to remove artifacts and enchantments. Amazing value. Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity is white card draw or human token generation, both of which are right at home in this deck, and then it becomes an anthem, which is awesome. I have yet to play this one in a game but I'm excited to see how it performs. Welcoming Vampire is an incredible white card draw engine that is also a flying 2/3. Despite its lack of humanity, I feel like it's probably better in this deck than Mentor of the Meek, since it doesn't require any additional mana to draw a card. The once-a-turn restriction is annoying but we have a few instant-speed token generators to cheese out extra value. I'm testing out Cemetery Protector since it can flash in as a 3/4 (excited to ambush people), could hate on a GY at instant speed, and then pumps out humans.

When I feel confident burning WCs I'll be trying out By Invitation Only and Savior of Ollenbock. Savior seems a bit too slow to squeeze himself in, and that 3-slot is competitive. Of course, he's a Kill On Sight threat so that's value in and of itself. By Invitation Only seems incredible, especially since I will typically have a much wider board than my opponents, but 5-mana is a lot. I'll probably update in a few weeks after I've tinkered a bit more.