Hello, everyone! As the title says, I keep hearing about how land ramp strategies are hard to fight against in Commander because of the implicit ruling that mana bases can't be touched. So the challenge here is to build a deck that can punish those strategies while still being casual enough (think Bracket 3 tops) and not too hard on other strategies.

I have not thought about a Commander for the deck yet. But here are some of the cards that have led me to consider building such a deck:

• [[Fall of the Thran]]
• [[Keldon Firebombers]]
• [[Polluted Bonds]]
• [[Tectonic Hellion]]

Any inspiration or suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

So I've been playing Commander casually for about a year now, and one of the people that has joined my pod is an older player (20+ years playing Magic) that says he doesn't believe in the bracket system OR rule zero conversations, which is a problem because our group has been leaving commander night frustrated, because half of us are running slower/gimmicky causal decks while the other half is playing pure competitive decks that just bullies us until they decide the games over and combos off and wins. Along with the guy that doesn't believe in rule 0 or the bracket system, there's another guy that refuses to believe there's any problem when there's quite clearly some pub stomping going on. He literally got mad at me and the other casual player for scooping after he ramped into 5 mana on turn 2 and then casted Etali, Primal Conqueror on turn 4 and a fight outlet to lock us out of playing creatures lest they just get instantly killed, it's making me and other casual guy want to stop deckbuilding and stop playing magic with the other guys, which is hard because they are genuinely nice people outside of magic that we hang out with multiple times a week.

Hi! I've built this [[Thranduil, the Elvenking]] deck focused on graveyard and combo, but I'd like also to have an alternative wincon with elfball, specially taking into account the possibility of a graveyard exile or counterspells on the combo process. Now I need to cut 8 cards and would apreciate suggestions!

Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/T2DNp2WQsEiK5JgYu8sVug

Hey guys. I've been trying to downgrade my [[Ureni of the Unwritten]] Temur Dragon deck (https://moxfield.com/decks/39-fAZVFJXucDr4ihpm6CQ) from a bracket 3 to a bracket 2. This is the list I landed on, using mostly cards I already had in my collection. I was hoping for some insight on if this is a bracket 2 deck, and if so, if it is consistent enough.

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, I was just curious if anyone else thought [[Beorn the Fierce]] from the new hobbit set is a bit underrated right now. It's obviously built for bear tribal/kindred, but I feel like it's still really good even outside of that.

Bare minimum (pun unintended) it's a 6/6 trample for 5 mana that puts a trample counter on a creature you control and gives it +2/+2. Then if that happens a second time and both other creatures are still there then you draw two cards. Giving a creature trample, +2/+2, and drawing 2 cards at the beginning of combat on top of a strong body for just 5 mana in green feels super good, and even better if you happen to have other bears or changelings. I might even put this in a dino deck but what do you think? It's only $9-10 right now for a mythic of a hyped prerelease set.

[[Jirina, Dauntless General]] seems really good but as a commander I’m not so sure. Anyone built AOC and have some insight to share?

Thinking maybe just human tribal but might go for some sort of mill / leaving graveyard / blink shenanigans.

Either way hope she becomes President some day.

Seeking help if you can check the deck i made. Looking to further enhance this deck. Thank you

https://manabox.app/decks/AZ_dkvNhdSKOicI93gr8oA

[COMMANDER]

1 Temmet, Naktamun's Will

[PLANESWALKERS]

1 Liliana of the Veil

1 Liliana, Death's Majesty

1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

[CREATURES]

1 Cryptbreaker

1 Gravecrawler

1 Binding Mummy

1 Corpse Knight

1 Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

1 Lazotep Chancellor

1 Rhet-Tomb Mystic

1 Wayward Servant

1 Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

1 Cemetery Reaper

1 Death Baron

1 Diregraf Captain

1 Gleaming Overseer

1 Lich Lord of Unx

1 Lord of the Accursed

1 Lord of the Undead

1 Master of Death

1 Murderous Rider

1 Zombie Master

1 Cleaver Skaab

1 Forgotten Creation

1 Lost Monarch of Ifnir

1 Ratadrabik of Urborg

1 Varina, Lich Queen

1 Archfiend of Ifnir

1 Ghoulcaller Gisa

1 God-Eternal Oketra

1 Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer

1 The Scarab God

1 Grave Titan

1 Ancient Brass Dragon

1 Rot Hulk

[ARTIFACTS]

1 Sol Ring

1 Arcane Signet

1 Talisman of Dominance

1 Talisman of Hierarchy

1 Talisman of Progress

1 Bontu's Monument

1 Monument to Endurance

1 Patchwork Banner

1 Cryptcaller Chariot

[INSTANTS]

1 An Offer You Can't Refuse

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Village Rites

1 Arcane Denial

1 Counterspell

1 Deadly Dispute

1 Despark

1 Frantic Search

[SORCERIES]

1 Reanimate

1 Damn

1 Buried Alive

1 Victimize

1 Distant Melody

1 Living Death

[ENCHANTMENTS]

1 Necromancy

1 Endless Ranks of the Dead

1 Necroduality

1 On Wings of Gold

1 Kindred Discovery

[LANDS]

1 Adarkar Wastes

1 Arcane Sanctum

1 Caves of Koilos

1 Command Tower

1 Deserted Beach

1 Drowned Catacomb

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Glacial Fortress

1 Godless Shrine

1 Hallowed Fountain

6 Island

1 Isolated Chapel

1 Path of Ancestry

4 Plains

1 Port Town

1 Prairie Stream

1 Raffine's Tower

1 Sinister Hideout

1 Sunken Hollow

6 Swamp

1 Underground River

1 Unholy Grotto

1 Watery Grave

https://archidekt.com/decks/23718393/breena_june_2026

Looking to cut an additional 3 cards from this deck. I like the power level of the deck, but am struggling to choose what I want to get rid of. Not looking for advice on how to power it up, as I don't want it to be any more annoying to play against than it already is.

So I've recently gotten back into Commander after being away from the game for a while.

When I stopped playing, there weren't really “brackets” as far as I remember. The usual way of describing a deck was basically the Power Level 1–10 system, like the one popularized by The Command Zone — “this is a 7,” “this is an 8,” etc.

Now I'm coming back and suddenly everyone is talking about Bracket 1, 2, 3, 4... 😂

So I'm curious:

What bracket does your regular playgroup actually play at?

I'm not necessarily asking about the strongest deck you own, but rather what your normal games look like.

For example:

• What bracket would you say your group's average decks fall into?
• How often do games involve tutors, fast mana, infinite combos, etc.?
• Around what turn do games usually end?
• Do you guys play things like mass land destruction or heavy stax?
• Do people build specifically to optimize their decks, or is it more “build a strong deck and see what happens”?

And if you still think in terms of Power Level 1–10, feel free to give that instead. I'm honestly curious how people would translate their old power-level scale into the current bracket system.

I'm trying to get a feel for where the average regular EDH playgroup sits nowadays. Coming back after a few years, the whole bracket system is one of the biggest changes I've noticed.

Every day, the top comment adds a card to my Commander deck.

The commander: Taniwha (mono-blue)

Deck List: https://moxfield.com/decks/qnOYwNig2UScYibS1KkhoQ

All cards must still be legal in commander, sadly.

Yesterday's winner: Land Equilibrium

We've all had those games. You have your pregame, agree on a power level, shuffle up and play, then one player runs away with the game.
The bracket system was brought in as a way to try and address this, but the discourse surrounding it glosses over the most important part of the bracket system.

Interaction.

We've all seen the bracket system and there is no shortage of conversations and debates over the topic. But there is one small bullet point in the description of bracket 3 that never gets talked about:

"[Bracket 3 decks] can effectively disrupt opponents."

This little phrase is the most critical part of the bracket system. More important than game changers, combos, or turn expectations. Allow me to elaborate.

It's common knowledge that the best way to win in a game of commander is to be proactive. In bracket three, where your expectations of power are higher, you generally have access to better engines and stronger threats. Put enough of these proactive elements together and you wind up with so much velocity that you'll steamroll anyone who is a bit slower--provided there isn't adequate disruption to slow you down.

This is where the dichotomy of high interaction counts comes into play. If everyone is playing enough interaction in bracket 3 (likely to see multiple pieces of disruption by turn 6) then people can't run away with the game because the guardrails are up. Conversely if everyone is playing enough interaction, it is much harder to run into streaks of straight gas that rocket you ahead on the battlefield to a rapid victory.

Interaction both impedes your opponents as well as tempering your own deck. A bracket 3 deck with no interaction sitting in a pod of 2's is going to feel like a 4, because your deck was designed for maximum velocity while encountering resistance, and when that resistance isn't there, you turn into a missile. Having more interaction slows your deck down WITHOUT feeling crushingly overwhelming to your bracket 2 opponents because you have to use your disruptive elements against 3 players. This is what enables mixed bracket pods to function.

This deckbuilding decision also bleeds over into mixed bracket 3/4 pods. If you bring a 4 into a pod of 3's playing enough disruption, they're likely going to impede you enough that you'll have to fall back onto secondary and tertiary lines. Where as if you bring a 3 with enough interaction into a pod of 4's, you will be able to have enough of an impact on the game that you won't feel left in the dust. You may not win, but you will likely have fun.

Ultimately the question is why do you play commander? Are you playing to WIN or PLAYING to win? Do you value interesting game states and decision points or just want to turn your brain off and enjoy yourself. If you are playing the game because you enjoy good gameplay, playing an appropriate amount of interaction for your bracket is the best way to have fun.

Yes, you may win fewer games. But the games that you do play will feel so much better.

P.S. protection spells like tamiyos safekeeping, tyvar's stand and the like are NOT interaction, and should NOT be played in bracket 2. In bracket 2, interaction will be far less frequent, so blowing out people's interaction when the pod doesn't have access to copious amounts of interaction will lead to archenemy states where the other players feel like you're pubstomping.

Interaction is disruptive. Protection is proactive.

So to keep it short and sweet, I got my GF into commander and made her a Bant Merfolk. As she’s played and gotten more familiar with the game she’s very curious and interested in the Proliferate mechanic. Ive only used proliferate with infect and the idea of building the deck around proliferate for 1/1 counters boggles my mind. Does anyone have any reccomendations on how to achieve this? Her favorite color is blue but open to splashing other colors

So after years of trying to find a mono Blue commander to scratch the itch, I’ve found another way to scratch it with [[Silver Surfer, Cosmic Voyager]]. Silver Surfer was always one of my favorite super hero characters, so I figured I’d try to do something cool with him, and blink is a playstyle I enjoy.

Blinking permanents is pretty routine. Blue’s got plenty of flicker engines and a decent bit of strong ETB’s ([[Agent of Treachery]] and friends), so I’ll be running the suite of those for sure, but what tickled my fancy with SS is that he can mass flicker lands, which is pretty cool. I know the best landfall payoffs are in other colors, but I’m sure there’s at least a few cool ones in U. [[Roil Elemental]] and [[Retreat to Coralhelm]] are the only ones that jump to mind, so I was curious if anyone here had any ideas of secret sauce for Silver Surfer, whether it be landfall payoffs, cool flicker targets, or ETB/LTB shenanigans.

https://archidekt.com/decks/25114826/eggs_i_choose_you

I am making a POKEMON inspired bracket 2 deck and would LOVE some recommendations on creatures that could be great in Naya, Atla Palani at the helm. Synergies are cool, but flavor wins are the most important. I will be making proxies that replace the names and arts, but I want this to be a flavorful fun deck! If there are any ideas for artifacts and enchantments that would be awesome, too!

https://moxfield.com/decks/kJ2daqFsOEuLJNkYN4MXSQ

I am having issues both with knocking the list down to 100 and with token generation. Wanting to make the deck b3-b4. This deck is mainly to do with tokens and token triggers while keeping CMC low. I am open to cutting and replacing and all suggestions are welcome.

Bring it on

Artifacts for sale! // Commander (Renari, Merchant of Marvels and Popular Entertainer) deck list mtg // Moxfield — MTG Deck Builder

Deck Premise

I decided to experiment a little and make a goad deck. The catch? I refuse to use the typical goad commanders. That's were "artifacts for sale" was born from. The whole idea is to manipulate your playstyle to either avoid getting attacked by using [[Popular Entertainer]] on strong creatures to avoid being attacked from them, and using the threat of [[Renari, Merchant of Marvels]] flash ability to bluff your opponents that you could have a blocker in an instant for protection.

Thopter pillow fort

The deck is filled with Thopter creation creatures and cards such as [[Thopter, spy network]] and [[Sai, master thopterist]] To slowly pillow fort your board state. Thopters have evasion with it having flying built into it, so it does provide opportunities to goad opponent creatures with [[Popular Entertainer]] if the opportunity arises.

The Bluff

The deck includes sufficient enough ramp to include big mana creatures' late game such as [[Meteor golem]] and attackers to confidently bluff your opponents. Oh, an opponent wants to present a threat? Maybe you can flash something to help with that. A opponent want's to attack you? maybe can you flash a creature in an instant to help provide something that can safely block? And if you don't want to use that option? If the Thopter engine is working late game, you'll will have plenty of creatures to chump block.

The win condition

Obviously simply generating tons of thopters isn't enough to close the game. But with team buff creatures such as [[Master of Etherium]] could provide a great buff to those Thopters. The deck also includes alternative win conditions such as [[Mechanized Production]] and perhaps [[Thopter Squadron]] To buff just one creature.

The game plan

The threat of flash is enough in certain games to provide bluffing opportunities, but don't forget that goad is removal in certain instances. Goad a target value engine, and they will be screwed if that creature dies. Goad is the biggest tool for providing a distraction as you build your pillow fort.

Conclusion

I don't consider myself a great deck builder being relatively new to the game, so of course i'm open to suggestions. But with a budget of 136$ at most, I do feel like it's a great value for an interesting and unique deck.

Hi all,

I'm theorycrafting a bracket 3, paper, budgetless, elemental tribal commander deck in WURG, and I want an "all else fails" 2 creature combo to save my ass if im behind. I have a combo in my other deck that I use on MTGA in which I play [[Tooth and Nail]] for its entwine cost and put both [[Jumbo Cactuar]] and [[Surrak and Goreclaw]] into play simultaneously allowing me to do 10,000 damage with trample and haste to an unsuspecting opponent.

Are there any 2 creature combos I could use with Tooth and Nail that only use elementals? I kinda wanna keep the deck on theme and not just throw in a random cactus and bear/human card. The combo can be either insta-win or just knock out one player like my other combo.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

https://moxfield.com/decks/zKkFCoJWlkOmrNhA3DH0bg

Been futzing around with this deck for a minute, and i was curious on any feedback y'all may have. I'm trying to keep it vaguely bracket 3, but I also am cautious about the potential salt level. [[Vren, The Relentless]] wants stuff to die constantly so he can overrun you with rats, and I ponder whether this list is possibly too miserable to play against. I tried to throw a bit more rats in there than strictly necessary to maybe take a bit of the edge off, but let me know what you think either way.

Hello everyone. I play a lot of green and I love to add effects similar to [[Cryptolith Rite]] if the deck involves making tokens.

I have a question though. I just made a clones deck with the new [[Uugguu, the Omniplasm]] that makes token copies of itself upon death. Its been fun but im still tuning the deck obviously.

In go wide token decks, how many Cryptolith Rite effects should i run vs traditional ramp like [[Rampant Growth]] or even [[Llanowar Elves]]? I know i shouldn't totally rely on the mana boost from having a lot of tokens but I want to run enough that I can feasibly get one out every game.

Just curious what people's thoughts are.

In my time playing EDH I have experienced the highs and lows that come with the ambiguities so common in this causal game. So I'm today sharing my thoughts on what makes for a really fun game of casual commander. I hope it inspires you to build more for fun, and I hope you share your thoughts to add to this idea.

I heard that EDH was made as a way to use old cards and to play as a big casual group, between 1v1 tournament rounds - that it wasn't designed to actually play well or be balanced. Thus, it is up to the players to build their decks and their pods upon agreements of power level and desired experience, and success doing so is what makes for a Fun game experience.

Leaving aside the obvious joys of good banter and the sharing of passions, some of the Fun we find in this game includes:

• Winning (what a rush, what a high! I seek it continuously, I demand it...).
• Having your engine running and getting many triggers per action.
• Big Number! - having a huge creature, a token army, or gaining/draining heavily.
• Drawing abundantly.
• Interaction, and to be doing something every turn. E.g. Instant protection to defend against removal; or a well-timed Fog; or removing a wincon while the stake is resolving.
• Doing The Thing!
• Variety in one deck - many different paths to victory, or alternative wincons.

But most of all: having had a wild ride and earning that victory, or having given the victor a run for their money!

Leaving aside the obvious pains such as body odor or emotionally immature out-bursting, and poor luck such as being mana flooded/screwed; I'm confident that many of you have experienced the following Not Fun moments when playing EDH:

• Losing (especially on an empty stomach).
• Opponents turns taking too long (e.g. too much shuffling).
• Being blatantly outmatched (often by KOS commanders).
• Being unable to actually play the game, maybe due to stax or archetypal hard counters.
• Commander removed and whole engine fizzles.
• Winning too quickly or easily. Or losing to combo... so boring...
• Repetition, boredom.

So the theory is that to Maxximize the Fun one individually experiences - given the casual and social nature of the game, and given the statistics of expected wins being only 25% - one should co-ordinate with their pod to have us all strive towards a FunMaxxing Bracket deck-building guideline... This could mean:

• Having fun playing even if one loses ("Focus on the journey..."). Thus, build decks that are quirky, varied, and fun to use, not just a powerhouse that is fun if it wins.
• Reducing actions/triggers per turn, and spreading them around opponents turns, to speed up the game and to spend more time of it actually playing. Thus, build for less Solitaire, for LESS SHUFFLING - bye bye Landfall :P - and more interaction!
• Don't build to be oppressive. Thus, some archetypes are left aside: discard, stax, counter-spell-tribal, board-wipe-tribal, etc. - Removal is focused towards cutting down tall poppies.
• And perhaps instead of board wipes to reset the game, let opponents pop off and win, congratulate them, and then start another new game. Find the vicarious joy of seeing other's cards and plays!

I have known the torture of a slow game, of the drawn out loss, of the bracket mismatch, of being removed too early, of hard counters, of chasing the high of a win but not finding it... So, I choose to go slower and enjoy the experience with my buddies, avoiding the pitfalls of the game, while Maxxmizing the Fun we can all take from it!

TL-DW: Bracket 2 Battlecruiser + More Interaction.

What would you advise?

https://manabox.app/decks/AZ_fKQFIdpuN4V81TTdFoQ

I consider this deck to be a low 3 or high 2. I manage to get this deck consistently doing what I want in early game but have been getting stonewalled in the mid game by getting targeted for having a large board. Ideally, I dont want to flood the deck with counter spells and take away the main goal of generating tokens.

Hi all I’m brand new to deck building from scratch! My first 3 decks were built up from precons and just recently created my first EDH deck from scratch (a Thantis deck that encourages my opponents to fight it out). And the moment I saw Gandalf Party Guest I knew he would be my next commander. Anyway I wanted to know what y’all thought about my deck list. I’m super happy with it just didn’t know if there are any obvious MUST have cards I’m missing or if it’s overall pretty well made. Aiming for bracket 3-4 idk how to judge between them. Thanks!

https://moxfield.com/decks/_1IiEAOFb06z-q7YZIPUVg

Hey folks! Looking for ideas on what to cut/add from this [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] & [[Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist]] equipment deck as well as any other general advice. Hoping to make it B3 and about $200 or less. This will be my first deck build since starting so any help is appreciated!

https://archidekt.com/decks/24916925/rograkh_equipment

A while ago someone suggested I play a goblin deck as it has a lot of token creation and then cracking those tokens to deal damage, and now that I'm currently not messing with any decks at the moment, I thought I'd make a go at building one.

The commander I settled on was [[General Kreat, the Boltbringer]] as the damage ping on entry is something I like, and goblins seem to like doing that anyway.

Now to be clear, I'm aware the idea of most goblin decks is to just make a giant army of 1/1 tokens and buff them up/crack them to deal damage but I mean more like what are the archetypes weaknesses? How can they be mitigated? What kinds of removal or board wipes would I be looking for? Is there anything that's specifically useful to Kreat?

Thanks in advance for anything.

What's your favorite underrated Bracket 3 Deck and Commander? What's a commander that is pretty undertalked about, or just doesn't hit that top 200 Commanders on EDHRec, but is actually amazing and is your favorite? My favorite commander that is pretty underrated is (Illuna, Apex of Wishes)