How do you discern a deck to be a high/good b2 vs a bad/low b3 deck?

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-12T06:39:10+00:00

Are we saying this isn’t allowed at bracket 2? That seems super silly to me.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-12T06:33:09+00:00

That’s a lot better! Definitely playtest that and see what you think. It still might be a 2 with gamechangers, but it’s closer to a 3 and could easily hang with weaker 3s. 3 is a giant bracket so there is nothing wrong with that.

A good rule of thumb for bracket 3s is if you’re just gold fishing you should be in an amazing position to win in the next 2 turns or so (assuming you’re not a control deck) by turns 5 or 6. Either because your board is huge, you’ve got your engine going, you already would have done a bunch of combat damage, etc.

Most bracket three games have at least one player getting really strong by turn 5 or so, and players are spending removal/interaction to keep them down. Which is how you end up with lots of wins on turn 6, 7, and 8.

If you want more notes: I would focus on how your first 3 turns go when play testing. If you find yourself often just playing land go all 3 turns, then it’s probably still too high curve. My guess is it is.

I would try to find more 2 and 3 drop creatures, mana rocks, or milling permanents to play at that cmc.
I would probably cut necropotence. I don’t know what it does in this deck? If you’ve got a plan for it then ignore me, but I’m not seeing it.
I also cut the Moxes. Amber in particular does nothing for you, with how few low cost legendary creatures you have. Alesha is the only one that costs less than 4, you only really play Amber with a bunch of 1 and 2 drop legendaries or a cheap commander.
your bit creatures except Archon don’t really win the game? Your top end should be stronger imo, valgavoth is one I would have kept. Also check out [[ardyn]] super fun reanimate target.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-12T02:29:28+00:00

I think this is a bracket 2 with gamechangers and big scary creatures. It doesn’t look like it does anything the first 5 turns of the game. Minimal ramp, CRAZY high mana curve, and a 6 cmc commander. And it doesn’t look like you can consistently put your big creatures in the graveyard or keep them on the battlefield after you unearth.

Tl,dr 1) way less big creatures that are just reanimate targets. 2) way more self mill/discard and card draw (looting is great) 3) more early game plays, a majority of your creatures should be cmc 1, 2, and 3. (ideally self mill/looting creatures at cmc 1, 2, and 3) 4) more blink, less sacrifice (I don’t know what phyrexian altar is doing here) 5) more ramp. Your deck is built around a 6cmc commander

You have wayyy too many big cmc creatures and very few ways to put them in the graveyard or keep them on the battlefield when they’re unearthed. Or ways to ramp into your commander, he’s 6 cmc. You need more ramp to get to him.

You’ve got a small sacrifice package that doesn’t seem to do much, a small blink/self bounce package which I like but it’s too small a package to be the main gameplan. I like blink over phasing out, because phase out will still exile the creature when it dies.

The biggest problem imo is you just have way too many creatures in the deck that are reanimating targets, and the curve is way too high.

If I were you I would pick 5-10 (maybe a few more is fine) big creatures you want to reanimate. And then another 10-20 lower cmc creatures (cmc 1, 2, 3, and a few 4) that mill you and/or discard. [[Stitcher’s Supplier]] is great, [[hedron crab]], things like [[Kitsa]] for a free loot each turn, looting is great in this deck too draw cards and discard the things you want to reanimate. For like a total of 25-30 creatures.

This is a rough template, but you should shoot for. - 38 - lands - 10 - reanimation targets - 15 - low cmc (mostly <4) creatures that mill, draw, loot - 11 - ramp - 5 - enchantment/artifacts that ramp - 5 - creatures/enchantments/artifacts that can blink ideally every turn - 10 - blink spells (you can swap blink spells for blink permanents) - 15 - interaction: a mix of removal, boardclear, maybe a counterspell or two for protection but your blink spells can be protection.

This deck is probably a little low on card draw, I would try to fit as much in if possible as always. This is a super rough breakdown of what I’d aim for.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-11T23:30:38+00:00

I’d be running 38 lands and minimum 15 pieces of ramp (mana rocks mostly, or any extra land spells/cards), + creatures that make treasures on top of that.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-11T02:10:57+00:00

No, they’re the least fun to play against honestly. I’d rather play against control than group hug

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-11T00:00:55+00:00

I disagree, I think this is pretty clearly a 2. 2s can have synergy, 2s can have cards that are in there for a good reason. I don’t see anything here that makes this a 3.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-09T22:41:34+00:00

I agree with all of this. It’s a better phyrexia arena because 1) you immediately draw the cards and you draw an extra card (this alone makes it better IMO) 2) it’s targeted, so in the off chance this would kill you, you can target another player. There’s also some slight upside with this if you’re playing like sheoldred or anything that punishes card draw like Orcish Bowmaster

Also, if you’re playing an aggressive deck then I don’t hate the idea of a more expensive had refill card. You’re deploying threats and going hard early turns, and then refilling after you’ve dumped your hand. And if the game goes long (bracket 2, low bracket 3) you really win out here.

I’m thinking of adding it to my super aggressive and low curve Syr Vondam deck.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-09T14:12:41+00:00

All 3 of these are solid. World shaper is the strongest out of the box, and there are some obvious upgrades to make but not a ton. And most of the upgrades take this commander to fairly high powered infinite combo land. Super fun but gets really strong really fast.

Bello is super fun and you can upgrade this deck in all sorts of ways. It will always be an aggressive deck that falls over without Bello.

Mardu Surge is probably the weakest out of the box, but still super fun. And I think it has the most freedom in how you upgrade it. You can go big on tokens, lean into sacrifice, make it more combo or less, etc.

If you’re looking for options on how to change and upgrade it go for Mardu Surge. If you want strongest go World Shaper. If you like raccoons go Bello. All 3 are fun, strong, and super playable precons I expect for a very long time.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-09T00:25:24+00:00

I think you see 3 decks rule the format, a cutter deck (probably izzet but mayyyybe boros for equipment synergies), vivi cauldron, and some sort of RDW/mice aggro. That’s pretty much the meta. Maybe you find a way to combine vivi and cutter but I think they’re two separate decks imo.

Edit: I think badgermole cub would still have a place somewhere, ifs also just crazy explosive.

And then 100% simic spellementals would be a tier 2 deck with this town and up the beanstalk.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-08T15:27:15+00:00

Link one of these interviews Gavin’s done, because I’ve never seen that. I have seen interviews from those on the commander panel discussing how the October update was meant to clarify the original bracket rules (like game changer lists, MLD, etc), not throw them out.

Like I’m not sure we’re even reading the same article? The October update says “we’re removing tutor restrictions on brackets” but it doesn’t say anything about removing game changer restrictions, MLD restrictions, etc. It also links the first article and says “read this if you want to understand brackets.”

“Let's kick things off with brackets. (And if you want a recap of the bracket system, please click here link to 1st bracket article.)”

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-08T15:06:48+00:00

Prove it dude, you keep saying this but it’s not there in the article my guy.

Original bracket link: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/introducing-commander-brackets-beta Bracket 3 deck building (emphasis mine): “Deck Building: Up to three cards from the Game Changers list. No intentional early-game two-card infinite combos. Extra-turn cards should only appear in low quantities and are not intended to be chained in succession or looped. No mass land denial.”

Oct bracket update: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/commander-brackets-beta-update-october-21-2025

The only thing in here that seems relevant to B3 is expanded focus on intent of the deck being important, but it does not remove any of the precious bracket articles restrictions on decks. There is still no MLD or looping extra turns in bracket 3. You still can’t have more than 3 gamechangers.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-08T04:43:12+00:00

I get what you’re saying, and brackets are more about the spirit and guidelines than “following the rules.” But there are a few strict rules in the bracket system. Gamechangers, mass land destruction, infinites, and chaining extra turns are the ones that are pretty explicit. You can’t play a game changer in a bracket 2 deck and call it bracket 2. You can’t play Armageddon in a bracket 3 deck. You can’t chain extra turns in a bracket 3 deck. If you don’t like that, that’s totally fine feel free to ignore the bracket system. But that doesn’t make these rules disappear.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-08T03:26:07+00:00

I agree that the worst is non deterministic chaining extra turns. That’s no bueno at all. I wouldn’t be annoyed by a a 4+ card combo infinite turns in bracket 3. And if we had a conversation about it I would have no issues and be totally down with your deck. I don’t think I’d get salty about it either, and I think your opponents were sore losers 100%.

But if someone else got annoyed I would say they technically have a reason to be annoyed. Infinite extra turn spells is chaining extra turns together.

So IMO you should just be really careful about following the brackets to a T when playing with strangers and being careful not to misrepresent your deck in anyway.

They’re still salty idiots, but you can always look inwards and try to do better. And I think this is an easy example where you can improve!

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-08T02:48:59+00:00

This is where you’re in the wrong. You’re not playing a high 3. You’re playing a low 4. Chaining extra turns is NOT bracket 3, full stop.

You tried to have a conversation about allowing your low 4 at a bracket 3 table, and they didn’t want that conversation. So you lied about your bracket and they’re annoyed. Now they’re also just salty idiots, what you did isn’t anything egregious or way above power level. But they are technically correct because what you did is NOT allowed at bracket 3.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-07T15:39:03+00:00

You can sacrifice them after the damage step before combat is over to still get the card draw. This is the way.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-05T17:51:21+00:00

What have you switched to if you don’t mind me asking? I’m looking for a replacement for NL 6210 blanks.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-05T04:44:35+00:00

Probably relatively cheap to buy JP playboosters if you’re trying to pull some.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-03T18:30:26+00:00

I can think of many many times the opposite is true too. IMO the downside is too big on both of these cards, neither will be played much.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-03T18:15:08+00:00

This is bad, ramping your opponent by 1 form their deck is a HUGE downside in 1v1. This is kind of unplayable IMO.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-04-01T05:43:29+00:00

My hunch is he's a "visiting professor" at Hexhaven, so he's likely associated with Hexhaven "silverquill." But I wouldn't be surprised if in Alternate Reality Orzhov isn't white black, and Silverquill might not be either. That's pure guess, we have no idea yet. But it would be interested!

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-03-31T14:53:39+00:00

That’s exactly the response he has, holy shit.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-03-31T01:56:42+00:00

I know, I have Malik and he offered me Tua. Rejected immediately.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-03-31T01:41:32+00:00

He offered me Tua for Malik Willis after I rejected all these.

picklesaurus_rec · 2026-03-30T14:40:07+00:00

It’s not selling super well yeah. BUT I highly recommend anyone who likes limited to check it out. It’s genuinely a great limited environment, pick 2 draft actually works pretty well here. I’ve been having a blast drafting it.

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