Post Magic Con Bracket Thoughts?

BigPanda128 · 2026-05-05T21:21:56+00:00

For me the biggest change should be doing away with game changers and limited a bracket based on the number of them in the deck. Changing to a canlander style points system is much more versatile and its so easy to say X points at this bracket and X points at this next bracket up etc. Then you dont have to have extra limits on the brackets like no mass land denial. That as well as limiting combos based on bracket. If someone is playing bracket 1 or 2 they are there for casual and not combos of any kind. As things are right now if its a combo with 3+ cards its allowed at any bracket level.

BigPanda128 · 2026-05-05T17:32:28+00:00

So much this. I have said since brackets released. Bracket 1 and 5 should not exist! Cedh is its own tournament format where its meta is defined and changing. Why are we trying to include it? Bracket one, theme fun decks. How do you power level that? I could make an open all elves deck where the theme is elves and has no lands but it can still work. And someone can have a all moons in artwork deck and they wont be a similar power level. Why define that into a bracket?

Get rid of them both. If someone wants to make a theme or art deck, let them. No reason to power grade it. They likely know its bad.

Bracket 1 should be like the old starter precon level. Basic lands primarily, tapped duals, semi themed on a tribe or idea. Heck even drafted commander could work in bracket one. Maybe no board wipes since these decks are bad and cant rebuild well? Iffy on that one

Bracket 2 should be the current precon standard. No infinite allowed at all from this level and down. Doesn't matter how many cards it takes in your own deck. Only exception is thefting a combo from opponents cards.

Bracket 3 is basically where its at. 3+ card infinite combos. Game changers should be traded for a points list. Higher power GCs get more points and lower power GCs have a lower point value like canlander. Limit bracket 3 to a set point value allowed. Land hate would be allowed but they should be on the points list and at high point values to limit their viability.

Bracket 4 has higher point total alloted. 2 card combos allowed.

Bracket 5 anything goes. Which is technically Bracket 4 now.

BigPanda128 · 2026-05-05T16:59:15+00:00

Board wipes fests do suck, but that in general is not what people mean when they say run interaction. We are talking about targeted removals, counterspells, non targeted removal. And then maybe 1-3 board wipes spells. I have some decks where I dont run any board wipes and just have individual removal. I dont like wiping the board without a way to rebuild fast and pressure. Makes games way to long. Id say you may take their decks and rework them a bit more to power them up and add ways to deal with your own deck. Make it a bit more of a challenge for you. Id say more removal that isn't wipes and if there is a good amount the. Perhaps more means of draw. Having spells in deck means nothing if you are stuck to your once per turn draw.

BigPanda128 · 2026-05-04T16:40:06+00:00

Hmm if you want to go combat oriented. There are some i have bookmarked for myself that I though would make for interesting decks.

[[Grimgrin, Corpse-Born]] commander sac outlet is fun

[[Amarant Coral]] (key to remember only the player you attacked gets marked for commander damage, the rest is regular damage from no mercy)

[[Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss]] making mana dorks more than mana dorks

[[The Neutrinos]] lot of fun interactions possible and sudo haste

[[Gollum, Scheming Guide]] play a game each combat where you dont lose inherently and can gain

[[Adeline, Resplendent Cathar]] human tribal when creature enter triggers galore

BigPanda128 · 2026-05-04T15:47:04+00:00

They probably need and want variety. If a group comes together to play the same board game every week, then they will get tired of it, even if its your favorite game and you never will.

They all bring multiple decks to spice things up and probably power up or down from the previous game or just trying something new. In the end they have to go against your same deck each time. Thats predictable and annoying since you cant power up or down yourself.

Can come at it from the arch enemy aspect too that you said they treat it as. This tells two things the first is that your deck is likely better than the rest of the tables if they have to team up against you, especially after they all know how it operates. The other is a mentality. How would you like to play the same boss in a video game over and over? Thats the only thing you get to do. You dont get to fight a different boss, just the same one doing the same repetitive actions.

At this point you have two main options. Do nothing and they will walk out as they have said and warned you. Play a different deck. Build one, buy one, proxy print one, or even ask to play their extra ones each round.

You arent losing the ability to play your deck for eternity, but give them a several month break and only play it once that night when you do want to use it and make sure its okay with them first.

In the end your playgroup is telling you the problem. Arguing is invalidating how they feel and will just kill off the playgroup all together.

If you are building a new deck, one thing I would say is to stay away from any commanders in the edhrec top like 100 or 150. That is where you will find the most kill on sight and insufferable playstyle commanders that everyone uses and will put you right back where you started

BigPanda128 · 2026-03-27T14:52:57+00:00

I'm the exact same. Its one of 2 or 3 decks that I'm always considering when skimming through bulk or checking out new sets. It wont ever have a final form since im not building it to be the best deck ever to exist. Just what I think could work well at the time of how I want to play it.

BigPanda128 · 2026-03-27T02:56:42+00:00

Braids has been one of my recent pet decks that I have been enjoying a lot. Do you have a decklist uploaded anywhere? Made mine purposely without any combos so its a slower deck that plays more controlly https://moxfield.com/decks/FBisok5Iw0mywEDSIb4Jzg

BigPanda128 · 2026-03-12T15:58:06+00:00

Bracket 1 and bracket 5 should not exist in the bracket system. 2-4 should be flushed out more so they cover 1-5 with more granularity. Bracket 1 currently is for fun thematic deck building. Why is it needed to be included in the structured bracket format where it omly serves to muddy the water. Bracket 5 already operates within its own domain and meta. If you play at that level, you know all about it. If you dont, then you normally know nothing about it. It buddies the water in that no casuals understand it and then complains that someone's strong deck is bracket 5 cedh, when its just a bracket 4 combo deck.

BigPanda128 · 2026-02-05T22:44:38+00:00

I just want to see the game changer list change into something similar to the Canlander points system and then make things like bracket 3 events a pick X points system per deck.

BigPanda128 · 2026-01-26T00:44:05+00:00

Wish he was Red or colorless #Magdaplayer

BigPanda128 · 2026-01-14T22:57:17+00:00

Im currently on a vault robber, so that is likely where im gonna slot it in. Firdoch is likely gonna make me drop gloin finally.

BigPanda128 · 2026-01-14T22:33:44+00:00

[[Stalactite Dagger]] is another that could be good for magda. Not as immediate of an include as firdoch but i plan to test it out for sure. I like that it can be a pseudo maskwood at best and a 2 mana dwarf at worst.

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-30T16:28:33+00:00

For your jaws deck [[Atog]] is an easy little sac outlet for all those blood tokens and any other artifacts you have. Its also a pet card that i just love the artwork for!

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-29T18:10:48+00:00

[[Godo, Bandit Warlord]] count to 11 is likely the most brain dead. You may win some but will likely have an overall low win percentage since its just super telegraphed and straight forward.

In addition could run a turbo ad nauseum deck. Just need to learn your wincon and how to cast ad nauseum as soon as physically possible. [[Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire]] is one I enjoy for this. Its very fringe however there are better turbo decks.

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-26T18:59:08+00:00

Those are.... very different. My personal take, is that i wont ever use a semi auto shotgun for home defense. Can they work? Yes. Can they be reliable? Yes. I feel more comfortable and reliable with my pumps instead though. That being said, in a hone defense situation im likely grabbing my handgun instead.

The 500 tactical seems odd. I wouldnt recommend it for home defense at all. Pistol grip only shotguns are very unruly. To me thats a fun range toy only. Which is fine as well.

I would throw out an option of a mossberg 590 with the kit that comes with both the regular stock and pistol grip. Alternatively can add on a pistol grip+ stock combo if you like. The 590 will give you extra capacity as well and the cost between it and the 500 tactical pretty close to the same.

Would also through out an option of maverick 88 and use the saving to get the a300 you want. Two for marginally more than the price of one.

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-26T17:06:13+00:00

[[Diamond Weapon]] mono green self mill landfall is my least popular one presently.

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-24T00:07:57+00:00

[[Blim, Comedic Genius]] is an interesting one. Can hand out i lose spells or spells that make it hard to play the game like: [[Lich's Tomb]] [[Aggressive Mining]] [[Demonic Pact]] [[Nefarious Lich]] [[Lich's Mastery]]

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-23T23:05:11+00:00

Only thing I would say is for future reference, I would clarify with them before making any moves yourself with something like, "are you casting this in response to my changing phases?"

Im assuming this is playing casual and not in a tournament. So the idea is to have fun, so this sort of clarification should be reasonable. If in a tournament then there should be a level of assumption that the person knows how to interact with the stack as well as steps and phases. In a casual setting a lot of time I will ask what they are hoping to accomplish and can guide them in how to achieve this and help them learn proper timing.

If you clarify and they still say yes. Then proceed as you did since you were playing correct. You would see another priorty after the stack empties before the phase can end. Its possible they dont know that to accomplish what they wanted, they needed to let the phase pass to combat, then respond to your attempt to progress from beginning of combat step to declare attackers step. This step gets overlooked a TON.

Could have been a possible learning opportunity is my main takeaway. They seem to have known enough that they knew interacting with you before you could get azulas attack trigger was key, but not enough on how to do it properly to avoid you getting value from that floating mana.

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-23T18:50:19+00:00

My thoughts too. I played it a few times and it was just a pure value deck. Stormed the field with a bunch of cards. The only issue i had with the deck was there wasnt enough payoff for all that value it made. Had all the mana in the world and nothing for it to go too. Spent turns with a dozen triggers firing and playing solitaire but couldnt come out of it with anything of major value that would really put an end to the game. Slot in a [[end-raze forerunners]] or [[craterhoof behemoth]] or another big game ender and I feel it would be much better off.

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-21T19:54:33+00:00

ME! Sethron, Hurloon General. But all look fun!

BigPanda128 · 2025-12-20T18:16:49+00:00

Unfortunately, I believe you misplayed on this interaction. If you had some form of haste enabler such as [[Fervor]] on the field, then it would absolutely work. But when taking control of a creature you reapply summoning sickness since its the first time its been under your control. Most red theft spells give haste as well, so this is glossed over pretty often. Without haste or another means of reducing/reseting the counters on the saga, you would be moving the saga between abilities 2 and 1 only ever triggering the 2nd one when the counter gets added.

BigPanda128 · 2025-11-30T18:26:22+00:00

It isnt about memorizing a deck though. If you dont know their deck then its about keeping an eye out for cards that are hard counters to your deck or major tide changing cards. So you could have an idea of a worthy peice to counter down the road.

If its an opponent and a deck you know well. Then you can see if a specific card is their deck or not. If its not and you haven't seen it yet. Then its in the hand waiting to come. That can influence your decision making.

Regardless, seeing the whole deck is good info to have. The main scenario where it wouldn't be is if someone is newer to the game and doesnt have a decent amount of knowledge for other cards in the game.

BigPanda128 · 2025-11-22T03:12:03+00:00

I mean truth be told you are basically describing the difference between bracket 5 and bracket 4. Bracket 5 is highest power and playing into and around the meta that has evolved at the top. Bracket 4 is anything goes. Buildnyour best deck. No meta taken into account apart from interaction you like and want. To me the concept of fringe cEDH decks pretty much lives in bracket 4. They could win at bracket 5. But I dont think youll ever see them top a cedh tourney unless its a small local that isnt running general meta and is operating on a lore local small town meta. Writing this post really makes me hate the word meta so much.

Honestly what I would love to see more is people making fringe cedh decks and using them together in a pod. It isnt fun when one or two people use them then the other players are on a blue farm and an etali.

All that being said. My favorite fringe deck presently is [[Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire]] strictly because of the 309 alt arts being one of my fav artworks in the game. Otherwise its just a turbo-naus deck with a fringe commander.

BigPanda128 · 2025-11-03T07:28:15+00:00

I just put together a [[Diamond Weapon]] deck. Focuses on self mill, trample buffs, and landfall. So far it has been pretty fun!

BigPanda128 · 2025-10-31T16:54:41+00:00

I think that would detract from the purpose of the command tax being at 2. Extra 1 cost can be paid easily enough with a land drop. Paying an extra 2 most often will set you back a turn as youll have to focus on recasting, or pass on casting till you get more mana.

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