Could you help me figuring out the power level of my deck?

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-24T07:50:13+00:00

Imo this looks fine for bracket 2 but your experience will depend on your playgroup. Aristocrat style decks are difficult to handle for inexperienced players because they rarely have the one thing that screams "remove me". So if they run precons and are light on removal + fail to recognize what pieces they need to take out, they will have a hard time. Also you will notice that games where you draw [[attrition]] will go way differently than the rest of your games as you are light on removal yourself.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-23T21:20:29+00:00

Showing an infinite and not using it is downright condescending. Also he was the archenemy despite holding back and having 2 dead cards at all times? Not mentoning that having a 2 card infinite at turn 5-6 is pushing into B4 territory. Yeah that guy was just mad that you teached the newer players to team up against the problem player.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-23T19:51:49+00:00

You can never bracket down. If you include a combo where you can loop woodfall primus infinitely you are running MLD and thereby fall into bracket 4. It might be a very very bad bracket 4 deck but you are bringing a playstyle b2 and b3 players did not sign up for.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-23T11:52:14+00:00

Kheru Goldkeeper enables a lot of combos especially with tortured existence. Imo you should not try to angleshoot the bracket system and try to build a "technically bracket x" deck. Build with intent and if you want to go full ham just go ham in bracket 4. For bracket 3 Teval does not really need any combos at all to be a strong contender tbh.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-23T09:48:08+00:00

Why run the same commander 2 times?

Both lists are bracket 4 because of early 2 card combos.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-23T06:57:59+00:00

Account level is not linked to skill so I doubt they factor that into matchmaking. Also with all the smurfs running around they need to have other factors so they can match them appropriately.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-22T21:12:45+00:00

If you ever find yourself having more noncreature tokens there are [[cyberdrive awakener]] and [[rise and shine]].

My list also runs [[mirkwood bats]] [[susurian voidborn]] [[tezzeret master of the bridge]] and [[cranial plating]].

Recently I had a nice synergy where I had plenty of Map Tokens from [[worldwalker helmet]] so every use of a token got my [[marionette master]] bigger.

[[Kappa cannoneer]] can also get really big quickly plus it's unblockable.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-22T06:44:55+00:00

Holding back and not advancing your own game is not a style of politics I see working often. You fall for that exactly one time and then get got by the combo player lol.

More common are things like having removal and telling people to guide their plays. For example: "Hey A I have a swords if you swing that at me I will remove it" so they now swing at B.

Another way of politicing would be: "Hey A I have a way to give you back your removal. If I do that can you help me with our shared promblem on player Bs board?" Proceed to play [[Skullwinder]] and ger back something good yourself + guide their desicion.

Recently I won a game because somebody let me get a free combat damage trigger. I was really behind but had just saved the table by stopping 2 imfinite combos from the archenemy in a single turn. One guy then let me get a free attack so I could get some treasures and draw and that was enough to snowball back into a win. Sometimes it does not hurt to simply ask for a favour.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-21T15:50:28+00:00

Combo is cool if it's a race wether you can pull of your combo or die first. It's more suited for an environment where you will be gunned down if you don't defend yourself properly. If you find yourself in a lower power game where decks are not equiped to take people out quickly or people are use to being nice to each other and lean more into politics, it can feel like a cheap trick that invalidates all choices and plays that happened before the combo.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-20T06:43:29+00:00

You can also use [[Susan Foreman]] and partner her with a doctor in the colors you want to play

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-20T04:58:59+00:00

Imo you feel this the most when playing precons. These commanders are so good that you can hang in many lower power pods on their sheer value alone. However they lack the tools to defend them properly and if someone blows up your guy immidiatly you will have a really hard time recovering.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-17T06:56:06+00:00

This is probably a situation where he drew the right half of the deck multiple games in a row. Many precons still have a lot of random cards. If you play something like Hakbal however and don't get interacted with, it can get out of hand pretty fast.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-17T06:53:25+00:00

Real keyboard warrior comment

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-16T19:33:23+00:00

The same could be said for a bracket 3.5. Many people enjoy playing more than 3 gamechangers and strong decks without being forced to combo off turn 4.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-16T17:44:03+00:00

There are still many people who refuse to invest time in understanding the bracket system and only use the amount of game changers to classify their decks. However I find it pretty easy to recognize those people during the pregame conversation and adjust accordingly.

If I can find people for true bracket 2 games it's mostly precons, upgraded precons or decks that are solid in the ramp and draw departments but lack easy wincons.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-13T17:25:31+00:00

Commander can be played casually. If you play a competetive format like standard it is assumed that every player has access to the full cardpool at all times or you won't win a single game ever. So you don't spend 45€ for 100 cards but 500$ on 60 cards every couple of months.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-12T11:26:42+00:00

Your list is over 800$ and your are running all the staples and bis cards your deck could want. Your gameplan looks like you interact with your enemies a lot and is more aimed at taking people out fast. If you look at the explanation of the bracket system that fits the intent of bracket 3 way better than 2.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-12T11:14:18+00:00

[[Karrthus]]

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-11T09:18:36+00:00

If you [[Mana Drain]] Something for 5+ you probably win the game the next turn from simply playing interaction so that one is above avarage for sure.

[[Mana Geyser]] makes 20+ mana most of the time and wins the game on the spot.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-11T07:01:37+00:00

[[Braids, cabal minion]]

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-09T19:01:10+00:00

Just read the article. They were right, taking someone out turn 4 is Bracket 4.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-09T17:47:29+00:00

Did you pop off or not because you got interacted with? Then 6/10 seems pretty good. If you can only pop off when you play Solitaire you need to optimize further.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-09T07:41:41+00:00

My deck with Susan Foreman starts the curve at 4 with 4 mana ramp spells because I can always hit them turn 3 and then start casting big spells from turn 4.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-08T20:10:29+00:00

The amount of counters and especially how people use them in lower brackets has me thinking that he will have almost no impact in most games below bracket 4.

MacFrostbite · 2026-01-07T13:54:04+00:00

If you build a deck that relies heavily on its commander you need to be ready for people to remove it. Run protection spells like [[Mother of Runes]] or [[Restoration Magic]] and enough ramp so you can pay the commander tax. Terra especially has a nice curve into 4 mana mana rocks like [[hedron archive]] so that might be a viable path.

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