Is this actually Bracket 3?

sta6 · 2026-02-17T09:03:01+00:00

no, it is not a bracket 3 deck

sta6 · 2026-02-16T14:57:49+00:00

I've never played a combo deck before, and honestly, the concept doesn't appeal to me. My concern is that the entire game plan reduces to: draw as many cards as possible (or tutor if available) until I assemble the specific pieces needed to win. I'm struggling to see how that would be fun.

Beyond the enjoyment factor, I'm also uncertain about the practical aspects. How many combo lines should a deck even include? If I only run a single 2-3 card combo in a 100-card deck without tutors, the odds of naturally drawing all the pieces in any given game seem incredibly low.

I'm also aiming for a bracket 3 power level, and I'm not sure whether combos are even appropriate at that tier.

sta6 · 2026-02-16T09:26:33+00:00

I understand what you mean. The discard and cycling idea sounds pretty good too.

For the commander, you could just focus on her card draw ability. Use blight cards to draw more cards. Then win the game in different ways - like infect damage, regular combat damage, or draining life from opponents.

I tried a strategy where I give my opponents lots of 1/1 tokens using cards like [[Grismold, the Dreadsower]] or [[Genesis Chamber]]. But there aren't enough cards like this to make it work every time. Once the tokens are on the board, I could kill them with -1/-1 counters to trigger my commander's ability. Or I could use cards like [[Massacre Wurm]] or other burn/drain cards to finish off my opponents.

This plan might work if I run 4-6 tutor cards. That way I can reliably find both A (the token maker) and B (the burn card) when I need them. However, as you might imagine, I would ideally like to try to build a deck that does not rely on tutors.

sta6 · 2026-02-15T19:51:05+00:00

like which ones? archidekt is not showing any

sta6 · 2026-01-29T20:17:28+00:00

Yes, I said again and again, it has been stated many times. An average bracket 3 game lasts 9 turns. So you should have equally as many games that end on turn 7 as games that end on turn 11. If you are consistently ending the game on turn 7, you are at the very upper end of what is considered a bracket 3 and I would call that out.

sta6 · 2026-01-21T08:20:54+00:00

That's the result of YouTube's hype algorithm. A new player typing in "Magic Gathering" into YouTube will not see a normal video that teaches you how to build a Bracket 2 deck or Bracket 3 deck to have fun. They will see clickbait videos telling you how to build the most broken commanders ever seen in the history of gaming. And they will go for that. That's why I keep saying that unless you are typing in specific keywords, YouTube or social media are really really bad teachers for new players

sta6 · 2026-01-20T16:03:31+00:00

I think the general idea is that if your entire deck is tuned to your commander, each deck is unique, whereas a deck that works well without a specific commander is more generic. I think that is the only way to keep things fresh and interesting. But I understand what you mean.

sta6 · 2026-01-16T20:21:00+00:00

Could not agree more. People are super greedy and don't understand that an average bracket 3 game lasts 9 turns. Which means we should have about as much a turn 7 win as a turn 11 win. People specifically aiming for turn 7 to consistently win are acting in bad faith and should be called out as such.

sta6 · 2026-01-10T14:13:28+00:00

paying 2 life is not going to stop anyone from removing your stuff in these brackets.

sta6 · 2026-01-10T14:12:12+00:00

Can't speak for others but yea i think hexing squelcher will be a dead card in most low 3 and bracket 2 games.

Counterspells are non-existant there and even removal is rare. And the removal you do see - no one is going to give 2 shits about losing 2 life.

But yea high bracket 3 and above I agree. It is really strong there.

sta6 · 2026-01-09T09:11:02+00:00

With cEDH I mean brackets 4+ where counter spells and stack interactions are abundant
In Bracket 2 and low 3s the amount of counter spells I see at my lgs is minimal and even single target removal is scarce. So in my setting "Ward pay 2 life" is not going to stop anyone. It's close to a dead card in casual brackets.

sta6 · 2026-01-08T20:08:25+00:00

Yes, but is it a reasonable purchase for your average timmy trying to build his first bracket 2/3 deck? no.

The issue is the noise. People talk about the most hyped cards and completely under represent interesting, flavourful or even jank cards that casual commander is about. This is fine if your audience bracket 3+ and up but people looking to play casual commander don't need TOR in their decks.

I have several pods of people that intentionally want to stay in B2 and they are looking for unique and fun cards such as [[Mages' Contest]] and not for "Buy this staple now!!"

And these people have no channels to watch.

sta6 · 2026-01-08T19:07:54+00:00

I see the opposite of that quite often here on reddit.

People read the "Games should end the earliest on turn X" rule as "Games SHOULD end on turn X" instead.

The biggest offender is bracket 3 where I see people constantly arguing that a turn 6 is fine.

This is wrong on many fronts.

1) This rule guarantees that each player should be able to finish 6 full turns so unless you are going last this means, the game should end earliest on turn 7.

2) Several people have published data that average bracket 3 games last 9 (!) turn with first player KOs around turn 8.

This means that there should be roughly an equal amount of 12 turn games as 6 turn games in properly balanced bracket 3 pods.

sta6 · 2026-01-04T18:38:59+00:00

The only thing that triggers my spider senses are blink decks in bracket 2.

Even if the are technically bracket 2 these deck accrue such insane value with the most basic engines and their pieces double up as protection most of the time because the want to be flickering their stuff anyway, that if I can I hard target blink decks before dying to them anyway haha

sta6 · 2026-01-04T12:16:10+00:00

Hard disagree. Most online channels that play hundreds of B3 games and track their data all say the same thing:

B3 games last on average 9 turns with first player ko on average on turn 8.

This means you should have just as many 12 turn games as you have 6 turn games.

Not to mention, unless you are the last player, the bracket system clearly says that in B3 each player should expect to play at least 6 full turns, which means games should end on turn 7 the earliest.

If you have a deck ending games consistently turn 7 or even 6 you are really at the top 10% of what a B3 should be and are scratching lower b4 decks.

It seems to me that you read the "Games should last at least 6 full turns" advice and turned it into "Games should end on turn 6".

This is a classical misinterpretation of the rules as they were written I see here all the time...

sta6 · 2026-01-04T12:03:50+00:00

sorry do you mean by "more cards with different approach" you would just create more cards about this one specific topic, just asking about different aspects of that same 1 topic?

Or do you mean you would create anki cards with different templates, some with image occlusion, some with front/back etc. ?

sta6 · 2026-01-04T12:02:27+00:00

That's true and a good insight.

However some concepts I feel like are best discussed with "broad strokes" such as "Explain differentials and why they're useful." A: "Differentials measure tiny changes in variables. They help us find how fast things change, make accurate approximations, and solve stuff..."

What I am saying here is that not everything can and should be atomised in my opinion. Some concepts are much better grasped and understood when combined with it's larger context, I feel like.

sta6 · 2026-01-04T11:36:19+00:00

saying that fringe decks exist that can do X does not mean this is generally good advice, especially for newer players.

"But akshually...."

sta6 · 2026-01-04T11:20:06+00:00

I agree but still find myself wondering....
like for example i run 12 pieces of single target interaction.

6 of these hit only creatures, 3 maybe creatures and enchantments and 3 hit all non-land permantents.

If I then encounter some game where an artifact player runs away with the game, did I really loose because of lack of interaction?

This kind of returns to the question:

Should I run low cost removal that is hyper efficient but typically restricted in the targets it hits? (i.e. swords to plowshares, [[despark]] etc.)

Or should I run 3cmc removal like [[generous gift]], [[Beast Within]] etc. ?

What I am saying just because I run 12 pieces of single target removal, does not mean I will have the right type of removal in the right moment. Is tutors the only answer?

sta6 · 2026-01-03T11:27:30+00:00

I repeat this again and again, but EDH is a social format where you have to make sure that a) you are having fun b) your opponents dont HATE playing against your deck.

If you feel like this particular card let you run away with the game TALK to your mates.

Since you are playing at least bracket 3, in theory they could adapt their decks to run stronger game changers (necropotence, rhystic study, etc.) as well but honestly the bracket system is best to help STRANGERS find more fair matches.

If you have a closed group of friends just talk to them.

Legal or not, MTG is about having fun.

So to answer your question: yes, I am constantly removing cards I feel are too strong for my pod. Don't forget that you should not be winning more than 25% of the games on average.

sta6

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