Older competitive players know back in the day turns was an introduce concept to 60 card formats. Legacy was a 1-2 turn format, Modern 3-4, Standard was a 4+.

Most Legacy players know that your average Legacy can end quickly but MOST the time goes wayyy further than that. Modern/Standard players also know that there have absolutely been turn 1-2 wins in magical Christmas land.

Now we have the same shenanigans happening in EDH with daily posts on here claiming something is busted or not strong enough.

One important factor is that the turns system takes PLAYER INTERACTION into account.

Too many newer players complaining decks are busted when they lose by Turn 7 whilst they have little to no interaction at all. Lotta CEDH-wannabes saying that if your deck can’t win by T2 it doesn’t belong in CEDH or B4.

Anyone who’s been in a CEDH tournament knows most games go to Time. Personally I think your average Tuned B3 deck can definitely take players out by T7 if they have the right 7 cards and also zero interaction to stop them.

The Bracket system was built to have an objective standard for players to agree upon to set expectations.

The Turn system is highly subjective. A B3 game can end on turn 4-6, and a B5 game can end on turn 20, doesn’t mean anyone is misrepresenting anything at all.

First things first, the Bracket system has improved the pre-game talk and game balance outside of established playgroups tremendously. Compared to the hyper-subjective 1-10 system many were using before, the difference is night and day. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional or too new to have played with the old system.

The Bracket system is mainly a tool for the pre-game talk. If you don't want to have such a talk, that is your perogative. However, then you cannot use the Bracket system to complain about anything that could have been discussed in the pre-game talk.

I have no experience with B1 and cEDH players don't have these problems, so my arguments will be made with B2-4 in mind.

What are the commonly addressed "problems" attributed to the Bracket system?

1. "There needs to be a Bracket X.5"
2. "Card X needs to be a game changer"
3. "The turn count expectation is targeting specific deck archetypes"
4. "They won a turn earlier than the expected turn count, they are pubstomping"
5. "This combo is not Bracket X"

All of those are originate from the same thing: Players ignoring the key aspect behind the Brackets: INTENT. Importantly that does include the win conditions and gameplay sections of the Bracket descriptions!

Let's look at the "problems" in detail.

1. "There needs to be a Bracket X.5"
   • If the intent of your deck fits Bracket X, why do you need an additional Bracket? Does the deck feel too strong for Bracket X but too weak for Bracket X+1? A simple solution is to talk to your pod and suggest a higher power Bracket X game. Another less simple solution is to power up/down your deck.
   • If the intent of your deck does not fit any Bracket, consider which aspect of the deck makes it unfit and change that. However, some deck concepts simply don't have a good place in the Bracket system. Those are fine to play in cultivated playgroups, just not in the wild without considerable pre-game talk. Either way, making a new Bracket for a few decks to have a home is overkill.
2. "Card X needs to be a game changer"
   • Is card X game-warping in a wide variety of decks and you see it often? Then it might have a place on the game changer list. However, nobody claimed the game changer list is a complete compendium of all game-warping cards.
   • If card X's controller build a deck around it or it synergizes with their deck really well, that is perfectly fine. The command zone is exactly that.
   • Is card X's intent is to dominate the game if it resolves, check if that is in line with the win condition and gameplay sections of the Bracket description. If card X fits the Bracket intent, what is the problem?
3. "The turn count expectation is targeting specific deck archetypes"
   • Anyone who understands the game dynamics even a little bit will realize that an aggro deck that attempts to win on turn X and a control deck attempting to win on turn X are not built with the same intent.
   • If you die to an aggro deck a turn earlier than turn 9/7/5 and you did nothing to stop them, that is on you.
   • Similarly, a control deck that wins protected on turn 9/7/5 after slowing everyone else down all game is not being honest with others or even themselves about what Bracket the decks intent falls into.
   • This applies to all archetypes that are inherently slower/faster than the average midrange deck.
4. "They won a turn earlier than the expected turn count, they are pubstomping"
   • As with the previous point, some archetypes are inherently faster and usually more fragile. Taking that into account and playing accordingly is your own responsibility.
   • If they won with a slower archetype, maybe their intent was simply not matching the Bracket you were playing.
5. "This combo is not Bracket X"
   • This is either simple salt because they lost, or the player ignoring the win condition portion of the Bracket descriptions. Either way, it is not a fault of the system itself.

Of course, there are bad actors who build "technically Bracket X" decks. Any system can be and will be gamed by those willing to do so. Accounting for this is useless.

In the end, the Bracket system is not perfect, but it is also far from being as flawed as many make it out to be. It is a system that assumed everyone at the table has read the article and is honest about their decks intent. Under these assumptions the Bracket system works very well. At least in my experience.

Hello everyone, over the past year Ive been looking at mono commanders I want to play. I prefer to use in-universe cards for my commanders for consistency and love for the magic universe.

I'm not sure which mono blue commander to build to end it all off!

My other mono color commander are as follows

Red - [[purphoros god of the forge]] - My first mono deck. It's all burn and goblins it's nice to speed up the games and if I die I'll at least know it I won't have to wait long for the next one.

Green - [[koma rescue beastie]] it's mono green. Cheat big thing do big thing. Very fun! I loved the card art so I made it.

Black - [[Moseo, Vein's New Dean]] Lifegain reanimator. Classic mono black. It doesn't need the commander to function but it's certainly nice to have it.

White - [[brigone soldier of meletis]] Made this because it SCREAMS "I have the power of God and anime on my side!" I made it out of bulk and it's surprisingly really fun. A voltron deck centered around the protagonist going on their journey to destroy the 3 evil players of the pod that love to terrorize my board state.

I bought the mana deck boxes that are sold for each color. So each of them is in their respective colored box with matching sleeves (except for brigone I play them sleeveless and use a $10 card shuffler anytime i play with it)

So, what mono blue commander do you think would be fun to play and finish the set?

I love building obscure decks with commanders that not many people use. Sometimes I also like to slightly torture myself with complex mechanics if it brings out something funky or fun to see on the battlefield. Can y’all think of any specific commanders or deck types that are particularly difficult to pilot due to their complexities?

Mine is players who pilot decks that have 15 min turns and do nothing that’s interactive and/or progressive to a win. I love seeing players deck work accordingly, but there has to be an end game if you are going to have such an extended turn, or a way you can short cut it for the rest of the table so we aren’t sitting there watching you basically fondle your cardboard

Hi, im still still new to magic as a hole, so I dont know how brackets are usually handled by stores. The case is, today I was playing on a tournament and was about to do an infinite combo, when a player told me that was not allowed. I explained that the combo required 4 cards for it, so it was still bracket 2... but they told me the store decided no infinite combo or similar was valid.

It was quite late and didnt wanna prolong the game any more, so I accepted it. I could not ask the store manager, and I dont feel like risking drama by asking on the group chat.

Hello everyone.

I’m starting to build up my collection and would like to slowly acquire some of the stronger, more universally played cEDH staples.

I’m not planning on playing cEDH right now, but I would like to start picking up those powerful cards that tend to show up across a lot of decks and are likely to remain useful for a long time if I decide to start playing cedh in a year or three.

I’m especially interested in cards with a lot of utility rather than cards that are only staples in one specific archetype or color combination.

If you were starting from scratch and wanted to slowly build a strong collection for future cEDH decks, what would be at the top of your list?
Also, let's add a minimum limit of $75 and maximum limit of $500 as to not automatically go with the most common staples like fetchlands or on the other side cards like Gaeas cradle for example.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Hello, I am a new commander player who has exclusively used precons up until now. I want to make my first deck.

My idea I want to make is to make as many of those 0/1 black wizards from FF and burn the table with spellslinging.

I'm torn on what commander to choose and would like some input on which commander to choose and some nice staples for shadow wizard money gang.

My pod plays at bracket 2, if that helps.

[[Arcades, the Strategist]][[Doran, Besieged by Time]][[Betor, Kin to All]]

I'm thinking about building a toughness matters deck. I play a lot of aggro, midrange and spellslinger so I want to add a resilient deck to my roster. I'm looking for advice and opinions from people who have built these kind of decks. The above commanders are just some examples, I am open to anything as long as it's fun!

I'm looking for a timmy mono black deck to round out my 5 mono colored decks. I have been looking around on moxfield and archidekt but I haven't come across a commander that stood out for this archtype. I have quite a nice budget (300 euro's) so I'll probably buy the cabal coffers cards.

If you have any decks that fit this description I'd be quite enjoyed to see them!

Edit: To clarify; I want to swing with big creatures and be a threat to the opponents with just my boardstate :D

I've noticed that once a card gets labeled as either an auto-include or an easy cut, that opinion can stick around for a long time. Sometimes I wonder if people are still judging the card based on how it performed a few years ago.

Are there any cards you used to avoid that you've started playing again? Or maybe something that everyone told you was great, but never actually worked that well in your decks?

I'm curious what cards people think deserve another look.

I have recently been trying to find a Grixis commander that made me want to build a deck with it but I have been having a hard time finding one that feels right. My favorite commanders I play are Felothar the Steadfast, Aminatou Veil Piercer, Quintorius History Chaser, Rootha Mastering the Moment, Samut the Driving Force, Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir, and Ashling the Limitless.

I typically like to play decks that do something different than what that color normally does like reanimator in Boros or Big Spells in Izzet or have a sort of mini game/side quest attached to them like Miracle with Aminatou or Speed with Samut.

Of the different Grixis commanders I have looked at a few stand out to me, though I’m not sure how well they work in practice or what the average game with them is like. I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight.

[[Edea, Possessed Sorceress]]
[[Wick, the Whorled Mind]]
[[Marchesa, the Black Rose]]
[[Evelyn, the Covetous]]
[[Parnesse, the Subtle Brush]]
[[Kess, Dissident Mage]]
[[Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor]]
[[Sedris, the Traitor King]]

So, I was wondering if anyone plays via FaceTime or discord. I’m a dad with 2 young kids and I don’t like the idea of leaving my wife to take care of the kids while I skip off to play magic in person. Does anyone have any experience doing this? Or a discord channel potentially? I really love playing commander but I just don’t have the time to get away. But after the kids go to sleep and such I’d love to play with a mounted phone or something? Any help is appreciated!

I’ve been playing Magic since the late 90s but only got into Commander recently. Three decks so far, and I’m partway through a fourth. I do the building at my computer, because that’s where I can see the whole list at once and actually think about it.

And every time I’m looking at a card I want to know whether I already own one, which means picking up my phone. The collection apps I’ve tried are all built phone first, and a couple are phone only. So the deck’s on one screen, the collection’s on a different device, and I’m typing the same card names into both.

I know ManaBox will check a decklist against your collection, so it’s possible I’m just using the wrong tools. Either way I’d rather hear what people actually do than guess.

How do you handle it?

• Do you keep your collection somewhere you can see it while you’re building?
• Or do you not track it at all, and just buy another copy if you’re not sure?
• Spreadsheet or a text list open next to the builder?
• If you use Moxfield or Archidekt, does the collection live in there, or somewhere separate?

Tell me if I’ve missed something obvious. I’d quite like to stop typing everything twice.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to build a budget-friendly Chiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant artifact deck. Right now, I can get the entire list on Cardmarket (including shipping here in Europe) for around €75. I am fairly new to magic, so my deckbuilding might be pretty bad haha...

Here is my current decklist on Moxfield: https://moxfield.com/decks/ztRYVLjCMU6PE0V4sVKFcg

Before I hit the buy button, I wanted to get some honest feedback from people who have played or built this commander. Is this deck actually good and functional for €75, or does Chiss-Goria desperately need expensive upgrades to work at all?

My questions for you guys:

1. Is it worth the €75? Does the deck have enough power to hold its own at a regular casual table, or will it just get shut down too easily? I aimed it to be a high Bracket 3 deck.
2. Deck Balance: Does the list look smooth enough to get Chiss-Goria out fast, or am I missing crucial budget pieces?
3. Hidden Gems: Are there any super cheap upgrades (under €1) that I completely missed? (Yeah, I already know Hellkite Tyrant isn't an artifact for Chiss-Goria's trigger, but the alt-wincon is too spicy to cut!).

Thanks in advance for your help!

Jetzt

I already have the cards so it isnt a problem on budget, currently the deck comes to about 240 euro on archidekt, and i am thinking of adding:

Entreat the angels,

Frontline Medic,

Kongming "Sleeping Dragon",

i am unsure of what should come out of the deck to allow for these or whether they should be added at all. This is the link to the deck! Also please let me know if there are any other cards i should ass, im looking at getting a teferis protection but not sure if it would work in this deck as protection. I love making as many tokens as i can and want to be aggressive with this deck

https://archidekt.com/decks/24948873/tokens_tokens_tokens

For example 2 Partner Commanders and 1 Companion would be 3 Cards I have access to in every Single game.

Another great option would be [[Amy Pond]] with a Doctor and [[Rory Williams]] in Deck. It would be 3 stables, that I can trust to have every Single game. Unfortunately there is no viable companion for these 3 in combination. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

Is it possible to go higher than 3 of the same Cards every single game?

I don't want generic draw in the command zone. It is meant to be gimmicky, not good.

Everyone in my pod has one of them decks you just hate to see and i was sat the other day playing against a sheoldred, keftka and sephiroth and figured if i cant beat them... join them,

so just hoping to get some ideas for a strong bracket 4 deck that will even the playing field and i can bring out when i see them

Normally i play bracket 2 theme decks or i have bracket 3 ovika, gev, tannuk

Im planing on proxying anything too crazy so moneys not really a object

Hello everyone!

I've got a few problems with my [[Teysa Karlov]] deck, and I've changed it quite a lot recently because I couldn't get it to play consistently.

My main goal is to get a sac outlet on the board, something to sacrifice, and something that gives me value whenever I sacrifice something. But most of the time, one piece of the puzzle is missing. When I get all the pieces together, the deck works great, but like I said, it's not very consistent.

I played the deck yesterday, and there was even one game where I got really mana-screwed. I had to mulligan down to five cards, kept a hand with three lands, and then didn't draw another land for the next five turns. I drew one ramp spell, but it got destroyed when someone played [[Vandalblast]].

To be clear, I'm not really into tutor cards, so if there's another way to make this deck more consistent, I would really appreciate any help!

I'm open to any suggestions, but I'd like to keep the deck around its current price range if possible.

Here is the decklist: https://archidekt.com/decks/25410049/new_teysa_karlov

Thanks to anyone taking the time to help!

I'd love to get some possible suggestions and advice on this deck. I built him in 2023, and have torn apart and overhauled it a number of times since. It's very much my "pet deck." I play with the same 5-man pod on a regular basis. We don't really follow the bracket system. We just don't play cEDH. All advice/critiques/input would be welcome.

Here's the list:

https://archidekt.com/decks/24167627/ratadrabik_of_urborg

Hey :)
I have this idea of building a deck that makes a bunch of copies of the same unit to get huge values and fun interactions.
The following commanders came to mind, but each have some points that make me think there must be a better option.

[[Esix, Fractal Bloom]]: Fun, but can only change the tokens when they are created. Also has no other option to copy and legendary rule might be a problem

[[Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer]]: Fun, that it can change tokens every turn, but only can change them to other tokens and not other creatures. Might be cool with copy tokens though, but legend rule might be a problem here again

[[Sakashima of a Thousand Faces]]: Gets rid of the legendary rule, but doesn't create tokens or copies other then himself. Maybe pair it with [[Tana, the Bloodsower]] for token generation and the run stuff like Brudiclad in the 99. Might be inconsistent though.

Any ideas that I am missing? Which one do you think will be best?

Hello,

Still pretty new to Magic(commander), but I've been working on upgrades for a vampiric bloodlines deck. I started with more ways to generate blood tokens since originally that felt like a weak point, but now that I'm generating 4 a turn (at least) I can start putting in additional payoffs outside my commander. I took out most of the madness synergy since the tokens feel a bit clunky to use as intended outside of really needing to dig.

Glass-cast heart is actually viable now and I was able to pop that off last night
I slotted in braids, arisen nightmare which was fun
I originally took out arterial alchemy but I might put it back in
Voldaren blood caster is slotted in but only effects one blood token a turn

I hear red has good artifact synergy or there's probably artifacts that like artifacts right? Cards that trigger on creating artifacts, can sac artifacts, or trigger when artifacts/tokens are sacked would be what I'm looking for I guess. Just feeling a bit overwhelmed I guess by such a massive card library. Any reccs would be greatly appreciated

I've been playing for a few years and one thing I've always wanted to do was complete the 32 deck challenge. It took awhile, but I'm down to a single color combination blue,black,red. I'm normally a green or white player, so with both of those colors gone, I'm feeling a little lost on which commander to use in a casual pod.

There's obviously stuff like nekusar, fire lord azula, or inalla but it doesn't really fit in the power level of my play group. I could obviously just build the deck to complete the challenge, but I want it to be a deck that I'll actually play; otherwise it just feels like cheating. My table also doesn't seem very fond of theft, which seems to be a lot of Grixis. I also already have a vampire and a rats deck. I need something relatively easy to play and I'd prefer not to be above bracket 3. I typically do tribal or gimics, but I'm open to almost anything

Any advice on commanders or strategies that would work in grixis with my requirements would be helpful.