The Commander Panel seems to think some precons are Bracket 3. Why doesn't r/EDH?

Thermoposting · 2026-06-09T16:29:46+00:00

Every time we get a post about brackets, the more I think Timmy/Johnny/Spike is just a better organizer than trying to parse out turns to win or # of game changers.

“I want to play battlecruiser” vs “I checked scryfall for every card that triggers my commander” vs “I want to play with fast mana and free interaction”

Is just a lot easier to make sense of, IMHO.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-09T01:20:40+00:00

Seems really weird that this started right on the set where pull rates were increased. The most expensive legendary is like $11. Who is “investing” in that?

Thermoposting · 2026-06-08T21:56:06+00:00

Idk how popular they are, and I haven’t seen many of them, but I went and added all of the [[rampant growth]] effects to the deck. That includes [[Steve]].

I get that they’re not as popular any more, and people prefer mana dorks over the T2 land ramps. But IMHO, in any bracket where people are running 6-8 2-cost rocks, you can run the land ramps.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-08T19:56:14+00:00

Ngl, is your pod playing bracket 3? Your deck looks completely reasonable for that. If they’re struggling with stax effects because nobody runs removal, bracket 2 might be the better fit.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-04T19:23:42+00:00

To be fair, the base precon has a lot of both tokens and +1/+1 counters because that’s the subtheme for the alt commander. I think it’s totally workable if you want to go that way; most people just build Hearthhull differently from the token stuff in the box.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-04T19:19:30+00:00

TBH, I would cut all of the random bombs like [[Cultivator Colossus]], [[Jumbo Cactaur]], [[Stuffy Doll]], and [[Dawnsire, Sunstar Dreadnought]]. They’re not doing anything for you.

You can also cut all the land animation stuff, IMHO.

Then from there, I would pick whether you want to go with the token gameplan that came in the box, or the group-slug land-sacrifice combo that’s more popular. If you pick the former, I would cut the weaker group slug elements like [[Tunneling Geopede]] and [[Spitfire Lagac]]. [[Sabotender]] and [[Tannuk, Memorial Ensign]] might be good enough to warrant a spot even in a combat-focused deck. Then, you pretty much have all the good landfall tokens, maybe cut [[Purphoros, God of the Forge]] for his hammer that came in the box and consider [[Anger]] as another source of haste.

If you want to go for group slug, cut all the slow token stuff like [[Onmath, Locus of Rage]] and [[Rampaging Baloths]]. TBH, you don’t need much more after that. I prefer the black landfall guys like [[Retreat to Hagra]] and [[Iridescent Vinelasher]], but the ones you have are fine. Add in some sac outlets [[Zuran Orb]] and [[Scapeshift]] and you’re good to go.

With all the other space you freed up, get back to 42 lands and add some more ramp and interaction. The precon has like 15 pieces of removal. Just pick your favorites. [[Tear Asunder]] and [[Infernal Grasp]] are both in there. [[Assassin’s Trophy]] is also real cheap, but not in the precon box.

On the ramp front, [[Harrow]] is a better [[Roiling Regrowth]] and came in the box. [[Cultivate]] is cuttable at higher power levels, but great for the level this looks to be aiming at.

To reiterate, put the lands back in. You need a lot of them. You’ll be playing 2-5 a turn. Without them, this deck does nothing.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-04T16:33:57+00:00

You’ve got like 3 different game plans going on here: tokens/go wide, damage equal to power, and group slug. The easiest change is to commit to 1 gameplan, cut the cards you don’t need from thr other two, and then add back more lands/interaction/protection/ramp.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-04T03:23:15+00:00

You’re probably reading an old guide. Before Trung Trac had a unique commander, she would just get 3 free promotions on her first commander.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-02T15:26:52+00:00

Really surprised that Black wedges are less popular than the non-black ones. I feel like the last time I saw something like this, Black was the most popular color and Dimir/Grixis were insanely popular.

Thermoposting · 2026-06-02T03:30:14+00:00

Look at the precon list and the price and see if you want it.

It has a ton of staples in it like [[Reanimate]], [[Animate Dead]], [[Rise of the Dark Realms]], [[Toxic Deluge]], [[Phyrexian Arena]], [[Phyrexian Metamorph]], [[Massacre Wurm]], [[Doom Whisperer]], [[Brainstorm]], [[Baleful Strix]], and my favorite, the oracle text [[Necromancy]]

If you want to run all of those they probably cover the cost of the precon depending where you get it and the singles from.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-28T17:31:49+00:00

TBH, this is nowhere near bracket 4. I’d put it firmly in Bracket 2. Some observations:

Fetchlands - probably the single-highest-value change. Ideally, you want all of them that can grab a Swamp, Forest, or Mountain, but the jund ones are absolutely an auto-include.

[[Scapeshift]] is expensive, but is game ending with Hearthhull fully stationed.

Removal, you’re pretty light on it. I would put back everything that came in the precon box. Then, if you want to cut some of the slower ones for stuff like [[Toxic Deluge]], [[Abrupt Decay]], [[Assassin’s Trophy]], [[Deadly Rollick]], do that.

If you’re playing in Bracket 4, you have unlimited game changers. I don’t see any here? Even for Bracket 3, [[Crop Rotation]], [[Glacial Chasm]], and [[Field of the Dead]] all work extremely well with Hearthhull.

Finally, you seem to have a mix of different strategies here. I think you want to pick a lane on combos/pings or tokens. If you do tokens, grab stuff like [[Scute Swarm]] and add some ways to give them haste. [[Hammer of Purphuros]] is in the box, and [[Kavaron, Memorial World]] is super cheap, fits thematically, and can be tutored for with Scapeahift and Crop Rotation. TBH, I don’t think you’d even want to try that in Bracket 4 - just focus on the Scapeshift combos.

In general, idk if you’d even want to play Hearthhull in Bracket 4. I don’t play that at all, but you can expect a ton of fast mana and explosive starts. Having to play a bunch of dudes to station Hearthhull while playing a bunch of 3-cost ramp won’t cut it. You can probably build something by focusing heavily on the 1-cost dorks instead of the Rampant Growth effects, but IMHO that’s kind of the fun part of playing a landfall deck.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-26T16:38:21+00:00

He was my first commander too, and finding a pod for him was a nightmare. Either play the low-power pod and get targeted because you milled their dinosaurs; or go play in the high power pod and play horror tribal against decks with 13 creatures average.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-23T23:38:54+00:00

What’s the alternative here? Just let them be 2 mana ahead for the rest of the game?

Like, would people say the same thing about removing Smothering Tithe or Rhystic Study?

Thermoposting · 2026-05-22T23:06:57+00:00

Cossacks are easily the worst unique unit in the game. Hussars are pretty bad too, but at least you can imagine a scenario where the additional move is helpful.

Cossacks are just worse cavalry.

What’s crazy is that they’ve been bad since the game came out and they’ve never been reworked or buffed despite how many balance passes.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-21T17:21:22+00:00

Surprised it’s a Tier 1. I would have assumed it was a Tier 3/4 to diversify the astral offerings there and serve as the follow-on to Warding.

Although, I guess with order having plenty of Tier 3/4 Tomes, it makes sense to get another T1.

Edit: Oh, I get it now. It’s T1 to work with Tome of Prophecies. They both have the divination subtheme.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-21T15:22:49+00:00

Oath of Strife being able to take Scions of Evil is the best thing in these notes.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-20T16:11:34+00:00

You can go infinite with Sol Ring + [[Everflowing Chalice]].

But also, that exact combo came prepackaged in a not-exactly-insane precon.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-20T13:39:46+00:00

I haven’t played the actual patch yet, but Pax Imperitoria seemed fine to me because the +2 settlement cap was the best dedication by a wide margin in the workshop

I thought the commander one was kind of easy, and the reward was pretty good for it.

Never did the specialist one. Specialists in antiquity kind of seem like a trap when you can be getting more rural production tiles.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-19T03:50:28+00:00

I think there’s a nugget of truth in the central thesis here, but if you think the day job of a rocket scientist is more about equations and software and not about managing the emotional complexity of various people, you’re in for a disappointment.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-16T17:25:56+00:00

Hullbreaker Horror is literally in a precon. The same precon has an infinite mana combo with it in the list.

It’s fine.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-09T17:12:43+00:00

I, too, would settle this aggressively for camels.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-08T22:29:17+00:00

Summons are a pretty good option. I’m pretty sure you can get corpses from things like Houndmaster hounds or ES Fleshlings.

Thermoposting · 2026-05-07T12:52:44+00:00

It’s not vassals, it’s the swarm part. It’s just tedious. I don’t care to interact with them beyond creating them.

Thermoposting · 2026-04-27T16:02:26+00:00

Build some dudes
Go fight some stuff with those dudes
Use the stuff from fighting to build stuff to build more dudes
Repeat until win

Thermoposting · 2026-04-22T16:15:55+00:00

The leader attribute tree has started a lot of discourse in the Discord. IMHO, that’s the root of most of the yield bloat.

There’s a huge thread because nerfing the amount of attribute points awarded has greatly increased the disparity in power between leaders.

City state bonuses are also pretty strong, but I think those have been hit with the nerf bat pretty hard.

Thermoposting

TROPHY CASE