Hello and welcome to the Casual Chat!

Today I wanted to talk about something that has recently released in a beta form, and that is Wizards of the Coast releasing their Commander Brackets system. If you want to take a look at the article by Gavin Verhey, you can read it here.

I wanted to discuss what I think of the overall concept, what the system intends to do, and what I think can be improved.

What is it?

For those unaware, the Commander Brackets system is a way to gauge a Commander deck via what the deck is trying to accomplish, while also factoring in certain cards and play styles.

The cards that they view to be powerful, but can also warp games in a significant way are called Game Changers. These cards are not necessarily up for being banned, its that in order to facilitate a healthier game style for lower brackets, players are restricted in how many of these Game Changers can be played in that bracket.

A couple examples of cards that are Game Changers are Rhystic Study and Smothering Tithe, which are powerful cards but they completely change the pace of the game with the consistent “do you pay the X?” questions and can drastically swing advantage of the game to a single player.

This isn’t the end all be all way of playing Commander, its more for people going to new game stores or conventions to help get games going faster. If you an established play group already, you can opt to not play with the brackets.

Brackets in Brief

To get an idea of how the brackets are divided, I’ll go over each bracket in what they intend to do, as well as what limitations they have.

Bracket One is called Exhibition, and the goal of the bracket is to facilitate an extremely casual or jank playstyle. This is where goofy themes tend to go or just a very low powered deck that doesn’t win until turn 14 plus. The restrictions are that there are no cards from the Game Changers list in the deck, no intentional two card infinite combos, as well as no mass land denial or extra turn card, and very few tutors.

Bracket Two is called Core, and the goal of this bracket is to set the base of the average preconstructed deck. The deck is more consistent and can potentially win the game on turn 9 or later. The restrictions are still no cards from the Game Changer list, no intentional two card infinite combos or mass land denial. Extra turn spells are fewer and aren’t looped or chained and you can still run a couple tutors.

Bracket Three is called Upgraded, and the goal of this bracket is to get decks that are stronger, and is the first one to allow some number of Game Changers. The decks are more consistent and the game should start approaching quickly with big plays at around turn 6. The restrictions are up to three Game Changers cards, no intentional early two card infinite combos, no extra turn loops. and no mass land denial.

Bracket Four is called Optimized, and the goal of this bracket is to have decks that are much more consistent in winning the game. This is where you can play a ton of tutors, mass land denial, and Game Changers cards to get to your win condition. The only restrictions in this bracket is the ban list.

Bracket Five is called CEDH, and the goal of this bracket is to establish the most competitive decks and a meta focused mindset. What differentiates this from bracket four, which has the same restrictions, is that these decks are dedicated to winning the game in a tournament setting, not just strong decks you play with friends or at a convention. You have a game plan, ways to make sure you can deal with interaction, and stopping others from winning before you do.

Strong Start, Minor Tweaks

Overall I think that this is a good start for the bracket system that they mentioned they were going to do when Wizards of the Coast initially took over the format.

It is a clearer way of describing decks in their intentions than the ambiguous 1-10 power scale list that people were using before. It decreases the scale to five option and gives certain parameters and definitions for deckbuilding for each of their brackets.

I also like the idea of the Game Changers, since while I personally don’t mind playing against any cards, Commander is a social game and a majority of players hate certain cards more than others. Rather than doing a sweep of bans, having certain cards be restricted to certain brackets can help ultra casual or new players ease their way into the game, while still letting people play their powerful cards.

Now Wizards even admits that this isn’t a perfect system, and can’t prevent bad actors from taking the most advantage of each bracket or outright lying about their decks.

Another issue is that while the article that accompanies the Commander Bracket system is well written, most players have only seen the graphic and have joked and made serious inquiries on the difference between bracket four and five. Rachel Weeks provided a better version of a quick glance division of the brackets, which I’ll link to here.

While players will complain about brackets not being used in their store or how certain cards should or should not be Game Changers, I do think that this is a strong start.

There can always be improvement, but I do think that this is going to be a lot easier to understand than people are making it out to be. I have seen a lot of bad faith criticism by people who just want to find something to complain about, but this is still something that’s in beta.

Problems will occur, Wizards will take feedback, and the bracket system will improve over time. Maybe clearer definitions will come out, the brackets become more refined, or cards come and go from the Game Changers list. I think that when they announce the next Commander Ban List is where we’ll see the real test.

In Conclusion

Overall I have no issues with the Commander Bracket system and see it as a strong start. I do know that people are still reticent in Wizards having control of the format, and I have my reservations too, but intentionally finding issues will not make things better.

Genuine criticism and feedback are necessary, but endless nitpicking will not. I do believe that the brackets could be more defined and the there should be more cards in the Game Changers list, but those are my personal issues with the current system.

If you have major issues with the system, let me know, I would love to hear it.

Thank you for reading, see you next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

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