Forming it with rebar and pouring concrete is definitely going to be strong, but that sounds a bit more complicated and time consuming. The brick wall lasted for at least 20 - 30 years. I would say concrete blocks should last longer. Again, this is inside the basement and I will be building some water relief. My plan is to level out the earth behind the wall and build the wall a few inches away from the soil. Then pour wall gravel in between the wall and the soil and compact it.perf pipe with soil sock along bottom of wall for drainage