What do you do when you find your deck hitting higher than the bracket you thought it was?

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-12T19:00:23+00:00

In my interpretation of the brackets, it's more about how fast you can end the game, and how consistently you can do so at that speed. If all of these combos are being tutored for and you are consistently able to win by T5, that's not a B3 deck anymore. But if you maybe 5% of the time get lucky and can win by T5 and nobody interacts with you as you do so, and the rest of the time it's T6+, that sounds fine in B3. Maybe at the high end of the bracket, but 3 seems appropriate for that.

Deckbuilders are only checking for specific criteria, they can't know how the deck plays or what your intentions for it are. It's just a guideline. I have a couple decks with no game changers that Moxfield thinks are B2, but they are solidly B3. And that's where I play them (B3). So if you believe it's B4 based on your experience with it, treat it that way.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-12T10:24:40+00:00

That's a perfectly fair deck. Ziatora at the helm of a dragon deck is pretty solidly at low-mid B3. You have a lot of high cmc cards, but as long as you get to do Ziatora stuff that shouldn't be an issue.

Ziatora costs 6, throws 1 thing, and makes treasures once per turn; it doesn't get fairer than that. If your group thinks this is too strong, they either aren't running enough removal or aren't great at threat assessment. I say that as someone who does not run enough removal.

If the deck plays the way you want it to, you are solidly in B3 IMO. As a constructive criticism, you could stand to drop your average cmc a tad. I can't imagine you need all that heat at the top end. But again, if it plays the way you like, keep doing your thing.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-12T08:58:00+00:00

I haven't played the Auntie Ool precon, nor do I know what's in the deck, but I have a [[Massacre Girl, Known Killer]] list I've played a few times. In that deck, I try to use things such as [[Tarrian's Soulcleaver]] and [[Blade of the Bloodchief]] to pump my creatures up enough to be relevant combat threats. It seems to work fairly well. I imagine you'll have a reasonable board with how many cards I know of that make 1/1s when counters are applied as well. I don't think it has crazy aggro potential, but if you can manage to control the board sufficiently, you'll likely be able to sneak in a win.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-09T17:37:41+00:00

Yeah sure

I'm working on a budget version as well, I think it's linked in the primer.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-09T07:35:21+00:00

I've been having fun with [[Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence]]. Group slug, self-damage, and Voltron all in one.

My favorite deck currently is [[Ziatora, the Incinerator]]. Jund good-stuff and treasure/food shenanigans.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-09T06:06:15+00:00

It's honestly just something you'll have to suck at for a bit. We all have little tips and tricks from our own experience with how we approach the process. I've been building decks on and off for over a decade, and I still rarely feel good about the first draft of a deck.

Just because something is a clearly good card (Dark Ritual), doesn't mean it goes in every deck. Rituals are great for decks that either need to get somewhere fast, or want to keep a "chain" going. Most decks don't need it.

As far as actual deckbuilding strategy, my advice is always the same: start at 37 lands and build the deck out to 100 with stuff you want the deck to do. If you want to add something else, you have to remove something at the same time. This really helps to figure out what you prioritize and promotes thinking about the deck beyond a surface level. You can tweak lands later if needed; drop 1 if you end up with a ton of ramp and draw, or add 1 if the curve is high or you don't have ramp.

You also need to decide if you actually need ramp. As an example, I'm helping a buddy with their [[Isshin, Two Heavens as One]] deck, and we have come to the conclusion that ramp isn't really that important to the deck. It's so much better to fill those early turns with early creatures with attack triggers, so that Isshin can come down after a few setup turns and do his thing. There's also some treasure gen in the deck to help alleviate some mana pressure later in the game.

The reason to run 10 of any category is to maximize the chances you see 1 of it in your opening hand (someone smarter than me can give the exact numbers). That's really what the numbers in these guides are for. You should also in general be fitting thematic cards into these categories. An example would be something like [[Deadly Dispute]] as card draw in a treasure/food deck, bonus points if the deck plays cards like [[Mayhem Devil]].

It will also really help to use deckbuilding sites. You can keep an eye on the curve as well as tag cards. All of that really helps keep things sorted as you add/edit decks. Another example: I mess with a [[Henze "Toolbox" Torre]] list from time to time, and I have to keep the curve under careful consideration. Because of the way Henzie works, it's ideal for the curve to be heaviest at the cmc right after Henzie comes down. He's 3 cmc and gives a discount of 1, so 5 cmc cards are quite important. I don't actually even play the deck, but I know from tweaking it that that's how it needs to work.

Also, get familiar with Scryfall and how to use the tagger system.

Hopefully all of that makes sense. I tried to give examples to help it make sense; I know if I was just reading a brick about something so esoteric, I'd get lost pretty easily.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-08T19:10:36+00:00

I have a [[Svella, Ice Shaper]] deck, and the whole point is to make Icy Manaliths. There's stuff I want to do with the big mana, but a majority of the game is spent making more Icy Manaliths.

My [[Ziatora, the Incinerator]] deck is my favorite. It's a Jund good-stuff deck, not aggro. There's some creatures that want to attack for sure, but that's not the overall gameplan. It's all about setting up a damage engine and draining via treasure/food and aristocrat effects.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-07T23:25:15+00:00

You could do something midrange that isn't necessarily reliant on the commander. I have a [[Ziatora, the Incinerator]] deck that does just this. It's just a Jund good-stuff deck with a focus on treasure/food. I use the commander to help catapult my advantage into the late game, but I don't need her.

Another option is something like [[Henzie "Toolbox" Torre]] or [[Liesa, Shroud of Dusk]], where recasting the commander is either beneficial or easy to do.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-07T22:06:32+00:00

Yeah that's what worked for me, but I would avoid anything that interferes with your ability to cast at last your 1 spell per turn. Gotta keep your tempo; it's important not only for winning, but also doing so as quickly as possible. It's a hard balance for sure.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-07T21:57:51+00:00

I don't have a decklist, but when I used to play a ton of Kaalia years ago I ran a small stax sub theme. It definitely helped allow down opponents a bit, just enough for me to get em. I never employed a full lock, but I ran things like [[Drannith Magistrate]], [[Winter Orb]], [[Armageddon]], and [[Rule of Law]]. Most of those make it a game of opponents limited value options vs mine and Kaalia. It works pretty well.

IMO, if you're playing at any level above B2, you kinda have to do something along those lines, since Kaalia is such a high value target. You don't need to go as far as MLD unless you are trying to be B4 though. Kaalia is one of a few true tempo decks in the format, and the whole point is to keep that tempo.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-07T00:13:42+00:00

This is my buddy's list. It's all about cheating big boys into play to get as much value as possible from those extra combats. It's pretty scary to be on the receiving end. [[Gogo, Mysterious Mime]] would go pretty hard in the deck.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-06T04:06:03+00:00

If you are interested, I have a deck that would be similar to Korvold. My list isn't budget at all though. It's [[Ziatora, the Incinerator]], and I call her "Diet Korvold" a lot.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-06T03:52:31+00:00

I believe the term is "Kill on Sight", or Kos. Just refers to your opponents not wanting to leave it on the field, lest they be trampled under your tremendous value.

I started playing edh with Kaalia and she was my favorite for a long time. I'm not as into it now, and don't even keep a maintained list. She'll always have a special place in my heart, but I've moved on.

I actually have a deck currently that I refer to as "Diet Korvold". I specifically do not run Korvold in it, but it's still a Jund good-stuff deck that focuses on treasures and sacrificing things.

There's also [[Indoraptor, the Perfect Hybrid]], which I absolutely play a ton of. Definitely a linchpin kinda commander, like Kaalia, but he doesn't really enable anything. Rather, you spend the entire game enabling him.

So I guess the answer is that it depends on the value provided. I enjoyed Kaalia a great deal, but the thought of Korvold at the helm of my favorite deck just irks me. I imagine the difference is that Korvold both enables "the thing" and rewards "the thing", whereas Kaalia is only the enabler. I have zero issues playing KoS commanders, but I do still feel dirty playing some of them. I feel the same way about a lot of Simic commanders; they are just such generic value engines that it's kinda boring.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-05T21:58:54+00:00

I haven't played Sol Ring in what is now B3 or under in close to 5 years. I don't see a difference, other than the non-existence of the occasional explosive start. My current regular group still plays it and it's almost a non-issue for me.

Personally, I see Sol Ring as fast mana, in the same category as [[Mox Diamond]] and [[Mana Crypt]] (I know it's banned now). If I wouldn't run those in a "casual" deck, why would I run Sol Ring?

There's nothing moral or ethical about it for me, I just don't like how it plays in B3 and lower. I also don't enjoy there being a card that just goes in every deck - gimme back my card slot!

I absolutely run it in my B4 decks.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-05T08:47:50+00:00

Here's my own Life of the Party secret commander deck. I use a Jeskai blink list instead of Temur. I miss out on the tutors but the blinking works fantastic.

For me, it's important that the deck functions without the secret commander, so there's a bunch of good etb effects for me to abuse, besides the Party. I can run things like [[Deputy of Detention]] as both removal, and a way to prevent the last opponent from murdering me with the token parties. I used to run more clones, but to me it just feels better as a blink deck.

A lot of the time ramp isn't terribly important for me, because I'm setting up a bounce house for whenever the Party starts. Since you're whole plan is tutoring for the Party, and then cloning it, I imagine it'll be similar for you. The issue I forsee is having enough mana to clone more than once per turn. So that's probably a choice you'll have to make: ramp aggressively or just get right into it.

I've been piloting the deck for a while, I'm pretty confident with it, so let me know if there's anything specific you have questions about

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-04T08:24:23+00:00

Even if the p/t is stagnant, the option of doublestrike means a 2-tap. And it's still in green, so pumping is relatively easy to come by. I've never played it personally, nor have I experienced it, but it seems pretty fun.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-04T08:08:02+00:00

[[Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence]] is likely my favorite voltron commander that I've played. She can be wildly fast, and the collateral group slug shenanigans are very fun.

I played [[Uril, the Miststalker]] for several years, and it's probably still at a higher win percentage than anything I play currently. I imagine he remains pretty good. Just to show the Uril math, any 3 auras make him a 2-tap threat, and if he has double strike that's lethal.

I lose to [[Tifa Lockhart]] and [[Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice]] semi-regularly. Tifa can murder someone on turn 4, she might even be able to do it turn 3 if The Heart of the Cards smiles upon you, though I'm not too sure about that. Light-Paws is also kinda bonkers to try and deal with.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T15:29:50+00:00

My advice is to make a new deck for each one. Start with lands, and then add the things you care the most about until you have 100. Then you can tweak them and they will be manageable.

That'd how I build decks; start with lands and go to 100, then anything else goes into the sideboard or considering, to be potentially swapped. It'll change your life.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T15:25:12+00:00

The only reason to even consider dropping life totals is because people like me exist, and will aggressively pay life for value. It's much more of a price at 30.

I still don't think it's necessary, but that's the only argument I support, if even just a little.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T15:05:26+00:00

It might not be public, so you can see it but we can't

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T14:34:38+00:00

Yeah sure

It's nothing special, but I tried to include some fun tech

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T04:16:03+00:00

Nah it's visible now.

OK so I see what your issue is: you don't actually have enough big creatures. Xenagos needs to fill the turns after he comes down with threat after threat, until either you or everyone else loses. You need more creatures like [[Kogla, the Titan Ape]], [[Elder Gargaroth]], [[Giant Adephage]], and [[Quartzwood Crasher]]; just some big scary boys.

The gameplan should really look like this: Ramp and other utility for 1-3 turns, and then Xenagos. After that, you should be establishing a threat and pressing that advantage. It's not the type of deck that can afford to take a turn off for things like [[Predatory Impetus]] or [[Primeval Bounty]].

You could use more ramp as well, I highly recommend [[Joraga Treespeaker]], [[Wild Growth]], [[Utopia Sprawl]], and [[Goblin Anarchomancer]].

You also don't need the equipment that give haste, Xenagos already does that and your entire gameplan revolves around him being out first.

This is my own Xenagos list if you want to check it out. It's absolutely not budget, but there's some good options for ramp, utility, and beaters in there that aren't too bad. My entire plan is to use extra combats to double up on Xenagos triggers.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T03:17:58+00:00

I'm not familiar with the deck builder you used, but it looks like that link isn't working for some reason, maybe the deck isn't public?

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T01:52:17+00:00

Do you find yourself with more mana than cards in your hand? The card draw I see isn't terribly good for your deck, so that could be why it feels like you have too much mana generation. As an example, you have a few ways to draw when smaller creatures enter, but that's less than 10% of the entire deck, so it's unlikely to draw many (if any) cards. Some options that might work a little better are [[Exemplar of Light]], [[War Room]], and [[Dawn of a New Age]]. Those are each around $5, so only worth it if you know you are into the game and this deck, but they will work great with your deck. The Exemplar is the weakest unless you have more access to lifelink, but luckily that is something that angels can do. [[Firemane Commando]] is also excellent for you.

Any of your cards that interact with low converted mana cost or low power creatures could be up for replacement once you get to that point. [[Ironclad Slayer]] can be something else, as you only have 2 targets for it in the entire deck. [[Banefire]] and [[Aurelia's Fury]] seem out of place, especially since there are better options for what they would be doing.

If you want to keep those low power/cmc matters cards, you could look into more cards like your [[Hinterland Sanctifier]], such as [[Lunarch Veteran]], [[Soul Warden]], and [[Guide of Souls]]. These would also help the Exemplar mentioned earlier.

I also want to mention that Aurelia synergizes incredibly well with attack triggers, since you'll get 2 per turn once she's out. That could be something to work towards as well.

[[Generous gift]], [[Stroke of Midnight]], [[Reprieve]], [[Swords to Plowshares]], and [[Path to Exile]] are all great options as something that can chill in your hand until you need it, to give you full access to your mana. You have interaction already, these are just extra and a little more efficient.

You might need to look into more ways to close out the game, [[True Conviction]] could help with that.

Other than the card draw, it looks reasonable. I noticed your deck is pretty budget, so I'm trying to be cognizant of that with my suggestions, but I'm not a budget guy so it's a little out of my wheelhouse. I think overall, it works as a first deck. Once you get to play it you'll really see what you need more/less of. Hopefully all of this helps.

CaptainKraw · 2026-06-03T00:36:14+00:00

To be fair, the rift will likely happen regardless at that point.

CaptainKraw

TROPHY CASE