(Grothama, All-DevouringGrothama, All-Devouring || art by Mark Behm)

Commander Core Bracket (Bracket 2) Is The Place To Be!

Back in February, Gavin Verhey and the Commander Format Panel (CFP) introduced the beta test for the Commander Bracket system.

I'm going to walk through some of my first impressions, and how I eventually came to better understand what the brackets meant, and how awesome I think the Core Bracket is!

There are five Commander Brackets. Each one is meant to classify a different kind of game experience. Brackets 1, 2, and 3 are different levels of socially focused play.

Brackets 4 and 5 are focused on a higher power or even a competitive experience. I took a quick stroll through the descriptions of each bracket and made some assumptions based on my first impression.

The Exhibition Bracket (1) is described as "your ultra-casual Commander deck." I didn't think any of my decks fell into this category. Next!

The Core Bracket (2) is described as "the average current preconstructed deck." My assumption was that most of my decks were surely more powerful than an average precon deck. Next!

The Upgraded Bracket (3) is described as "beyond the strength of an average precon deck." Okay, my decks are more powerful than an average precon deck and I wouldn't call them "high powered" so this seemed to be where I would fall. Right smack dab in the middle!

The Optimized Bracket (4) is described as "high power Commander; it's time to go wild!" I have a couple decks that I built to be "high powered."

The CEDH Bracket (5) is described as "high power with a very competitive and metagame focused mindset." If I sat down in a pod that wanted to play cEDH, I'd play one of my high powered decks -- Optimized Bracket -- but clearly I'm not plugged into the format enough to know what a "metagame focused mindset" would entail. I'd likely get run over, but maybe I'd still have some fun.

Okay, but there's more descriptions for each bracket to further clarify where you decks should go.

Exhibition Bracket indicates no mass land denial, no extra turns, no 2-card infinite combos, no game changers, and few tutors.

Core Bracket is the same, except it allows extra turns cards but you don't chain them together.

Both of these actually sound exactly the sort of Commander games I prefer to play, though I personally almost never play extra turn cards.

Upgraded Bracket continues with no mass land denial, no chaining extra turns, and is okay with late game 2-card infinite combos and up to three "Game Changers."

I'm beginning to wonder about whether my decks belong in this bracket since I almost never play 2-card infinite combos in my deck, even ones that don't come around until late in the game.

And what are these "game changers" that further definite the third bracket and above?

What Are The Game Changers?

Well, well, well! Isn't this a murderer's row of cards I hate to play against -- and rarely put into my decks! I'll talk more about these cards in detail later on, but for now let's just say that I almost never play any of these cards outside of my higher power decks.

Lightbulb Moment!

So I don't typically play any 2-card infinite combos and I don't typically play game changers outside of my high powered decks. So really, most of my decks don't sit in the third bracket at all!

And then the lightbulb went on -- they described the Core Bracket in terms of the average current preconstructed deck!

See, in the earliest days of Commander preconstructed decks, I used to buy them all, and those decks were very, very unpolished and therefor set my expectations for "precon power level" quite low.

Those decks needed a good amount of card adjustments in order to really hang with most Commander pods.

But in the time since then, two things happened-- first, Wizards of the Coast started printing so many Commander precon decks that I could not financially keep up and just stopped buying them; and second-- the decks got better and more powerful over time.

Since I wasn't buying and playing those precons anymore, that second fact basically flew under my radar until now, though I do recall content creators remarking that the precon decks are much more powerful and competitive right out of the box at most casual tables.

Now, while my typical decks may have some number more powerful cards, and maybe a bit more synergy, the play style is very much aligned with the modern preconstructed deck. No mass land destruction, no chaining extra turns, no 2-card infinite combos, no game changers, and few tutors.

Further Clarification

Not long after the original Commander Bracket system announcement, Commander Format Panelist Rachel Weeks rolled out a graphic that further explained the brackets.

Just look at that Core Bracket description. "I want a relaxed game, with a satisfying ending." Yes! Decks are focused and functional, but contain sub-optimal cards and strategies.

YES! I mean, this sentiment is basically why EDH was invented, for a group of friends to play a casual game together, have some laughs, play wild, expensive cards you don't ever see get played in tournament Magic, and... wins are often telegraphed or incremental. Right? Like combat damage!

There's a reason why EDH appealed to me from the beginning, and why I still like playing that way. When I first started playing Magic, it was with my gaming buddies.

We would play Dungeons & Dragons along with board games like Axis & Allies, Gammarauders, Illuminati, Shogun, and Supremacy.

Magic hit us like a wildfire, it was so very different game to game, and each time a new set was released it reinvented the experience all over again.

Sometimes we'd have six, eight, ten people playing, games would go on for hours and hours, battlefields would be built up and then swept away, people's life totals would be chipped away and, eventually, someone would finally, finally bring it on home.

When Sheldon Menery brought EDH to the masses, it brought the promise of those sorts of games with it. I can remember the early days of the format, and how so many competitive players looked at EDH (later renamed Commander) as a weird side format; some of them even mocked us for playing it. I sometimes chuckle at how many of them are now Commander fans.

As Commander has grown in popularity, the reasons why people play it have gotten more and more varied. Wizards of the Coast has designed cards specifically for Commander, and in many cases those cards are incredibly powerful and can hasten a game to its conclusion far quicker than I enjoy.

Pregame conversations would try to set expectations, and you could choose different decks to play to best align the pod, but as the Commander population got even bigger, it became more common for at least one person in a pod of random people having an unsatisfying time.

I know for me personally, I used to go to a lot of big Magic events and conventions and jam Commander games all weekend, and I tried to be open and flexible in the decks I brought and the game experience I was willing to play in, but I never really enjoyed short Commander games with a flurry of powerful cards that would seal the win in the first four or five turns.

My heart tells me those sort of games are for duel Magic -- Standard, Modern, Legacy, Vintage. And I love competitive Magic! I used to grind competitive tournaments all around Virginia for years, and even won our state championship way, way back in the day.

But my heart wants my EDH/Commander games to be about the chill -- relaxing, vibing, laughing, with a fun and satisfying ending.

And now we have that game experience that I love and crave codified in a simple way -- Core Bracket -- that lets me better find my people so that everyone is happy!

Each game in the Core Bracket lets everyone's deck the opportunity to breathe-- you see more cards from your singleton deck, you get your commander out on the battlefield (not just once but maybe two or three times), you get to see a couple of your pet cards, and maybe you even get to check off one of the mini-quests you built into your deck.

The game ebbs and flows, advantage shifting from player to player with surprises and wild things happening. And finally, there's a conclusion-- sometimes epic, and sometimes a squeaker.

And even though there's technically just one winner, you've all won because everyone had a great time. This isn't to say that people who prefer the other brackets aren't having just as great a time, but for me personally --- and I suspect a lot of others too -- Core Bracket delivers the goods in the most satisfying way.

More On Game Changers

When I first saw the list it made me chuckle just how many of these cards I really hate playing against.

Rhystic StudyRhystic Study and Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe? ExpropriateExpropriate, Vorinclex, Voice of HungerVorinclex, Voice of Hunger? Tergrid, God of FrightTergrid, God of Fright, Grand Arbiter Augustin IVGrand Arbiter Augustin IV, and freaking Drannith MagistrateDrannith Magistrate?

What bothers me about these cards is that they tend to put a huge dent in everyone else's game, so for one happy person you get three unhappy people.

But they're powerful Magic cards, people love playing powerful cards, and especially people who are newer to the format and especially have a competitive mindset, these types of cards are the whole appeal for playing Commander.

I can't begrudge them that joy... so having these brackets helps us better find the sort of play experience we both want to have. You want to play a few of these?

The Upgraded Bracket is for you! You want to play all of these, along with powerhouses like Force of WillForce of Will, Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor, Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach, Gaea's CradleGaea's Cradle, and The One RingThe One Ring? There's the Optimized and cEDH Brackets!

I do find it interesting that green only has three Game Changers on the list: Survival of the FittestSurvival of the Fittest, Vorinclex, and Gaea's CradleGaea's Cradle. All three are incredibly powerful cards and worthy of their place on the list.

I wouldn't be surprised if, once the beta test is over and the Bracket system is formalized in a couple months, we might have a few more green cards added to the list.

I could totally see The Great HengeThe Great Henge added to the list-- it's truly absurd almost every time I play it, usually casting for a significant mana discount, drawing a ton of cards, making each creature card that enters a little bit bigger, and as if that wasn't enough gaining three life each turn.

It would be a big deal for me too, since I have The Great HengeThe Great Henge in a lot of currently Core Bracket decks, but I'd certainly understand it. I'd need to evaluate which decks I would be okay bumping up to Upgraded Bracket, and which decks I would pull The Great HengeThe Great Henge out of.

I also could see a few green cards currently on the ban list coming off it and moving directly to the Game Changers list.

BiorhythmBiorhythm got the ban hammer early on because it represented an abrupt and potentially unsatisfying ending to a game. One person taps out to sweep the battlefield, and then the next person plays a one mana creature and then an eight-mana sorcery to win on the spot.

But I think Commander has come a long way since then-- creatures are more powerful, there are more ways to protect your creatures from removal, and games are often won before someone has enough mana to rely on an eight-mana sorcery for a win.

I doubt it would see much play in the higher power brackets, and could be a swingy way to keep lifegain decks in check in the Upgraded Bracket.

Now I built a Rofellos, Llanowar EmissaryRofellos, Llanowar Emissary deck in the early days of EDH, and it was busted back then-- basically, if you played all forests, your mana curve could start at six and go up from there. It was an interesting deckbuilding exercise, but not all that much fun to play against.

Either you kept killing my Rofellos before I could untap with him on the battlefield, or you prepared to be bombarded by big spells way, way earlier than you should expect.

Not long after I pulled the deck apart it got put on the old "Banned As Commander" list, and then eventually to the totally banned list.

But thinking about Commander today, and seeing that Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy is not banned, I think it's an easy call that Rofellos join Kinnan on the Game Changers list.

Conversely I do not think Primeval TitanPrimeval Titan nor Sylvan PrimordialSylvan Primordial should come off the ban list. Now, I love Titan and have a playset, but when it was legal in Commander it was truly game-warping and not in a good way.

The ability to ramp your mana with the two best lands in your deck is absurd, especially since it triggers when it enters the battlefield and when it attacks. And if you add to the mix extra attacks, or ways to blink it, or ways to clone it, it's truly busted.

Primordial isn't quite as busted, but it offers forest ramp connected with noncreature removal, and since it can target lands if you can blink it with something like Deadeye NavigatorDeadeye Navigator, you can totally put somebody in a mana deficient hole from which they can't ever dig out of. That's just not cool.

What's Your Bracket?

So which bracket do you find your people in? What is the thing you enjoy best about that game experience?

Read more:

Aetherdrift: Start Me Up! Part 3

The 12 Best Cards For Commander You Might Have Missed From 2024

Bennie Smith

Bennie's played Magic since 1994 and has been writing about it nearly as long. Commander is his favorite format, but he's been known to put on his competitive hat to play Standard and Pioneer. Recently he's dabbled in Oathbreaker and Pendragon.