The Bracket system is a new(-ish) way for Commander players to ensure that they're sitting down for the kind of game that they want to play. It helps casual players, competitive players, and everyone in between find Commander pods that most closely match their desires.

When Wizards of the Coast took over the Commander format in 2024, they promised players a deck categorization system to allow for easier pre-game conversations. This system helps facilitate those conversations, and lets Commander players find like-minded people to play games with.

There are five different Commander Brackets. From most casual to most competitive, they are: Exhibition (1), Core (2), Upgraded (3), Optimized (4), and cEDH (5).

This can be a little difficult to understand, so let's take a look at a super helpful graphic created by Rachel Weeks of The Command Zone.

A graphic describing the different Commander brackets, from least to most competitive. Graphic by Rachel Weeks.

This graphic shows some of the differences between the Brackets. The lower Brackets include less powerful cards, fewer combos, and are often simply not trying as hard to win the game as higher Brackets.

Lower bracket decks are often more closely associated with a theme, too. You're significantly more likely to find a deck based on art containing armored horses in Bracket 1 than you are anywhere else, for example. And, you're much more likely to find meta-adherent, efficient wins with Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach, Lion's Eye DiamondLion's Eye Diamond and Brain FreezeBrain Freeze in Bracket 5 than you are anywhere else.

Of course, there's a significant amount of space between art-themed decks and hardcore competitive decks, so let's explore the Bracket system a bit more.

We'll be building a deck centered around the same commander for all five brackets, so the differences between all of the deck lists are readily apparent. Let's focus on Lumra, Bellow of the WoodsLumra, Bellow of the Woods, a super powerful six-mana commander from Bloomburrow.

Lumra's an extremely powerful card, letting us do some land-based shenanigans and pull off some awesome combo wins. But, she's also a Bear, which should let us do some interesting things at the lower brackets.

Decks prioritize theme over function. They often have a goal outside of winning: anything from showcasing an under-supported mechanic to a favorite artist.

Rules:

• No Game Changers
• No mass land denial
• No extra turns
• No two-card combos
• Few tutors

Our Bracket 1 Lumra deck is all-in on Bears. Every card in the deck either is a Bear, has a bear in its art, or mentions the word "bear" somewhere in its rules text.

There are a few individually strong cards in this deck, like Ayula, Queen Among BearsAyula, Queen Among Bears, Argoth, Sanctum of NatureArgoth, Sanctum of Nature, and Surrak and GoreclawSurrak and Goreclaw. But, to be clear, those cards are here because of their Bear status. We've got no way to tutor for those strong game pieces, and very few ways to draw more cards for a higher chance of seeing them.

This Bracket 1 deck puts its theme above all else, and would only sneak away with a victory in a pod full of other Bracket 1 decks.

For our ramp, we've got cards like WerebearWerebear and Kolvori, God of KinshipKolvori, God of Kinship. For removal, we've got Predatory UrgePredatory Urge and Stormkeld VanguardStormkeld Vanguard.

Lastly, for card advantage, we've got... well we haven't really got much at all. This is, almost certainly, suboptimal. But we're focused on Bears, not winning games. This version of Lumra is focused on fun, above all else.

Decks are focused and functional, but contain sub-optimal cards and strategies. Comparable to an average modern precon. Wins are often telegraphed or incremental.

Rules:

• No Game Changers
• No mass land denial
• No extra turns
• No two-card combos
• Few tutors

Our Bracket 2 version of Lumra isn't too different. We cut about 20 cards to make room for more efficient, and stronger, game pieces. We're still sticking with our Bear-typal theme, but we're embellishing it with higher quality creatures, graveyard synergies, and even a few tutors.

Most importantly, we've added a small package of cards that work well with our commander. It's still the same, durdly deck at its core, but it's been streamlined to let it actually get some momentum going once in a while.

The deck is now pulled in two different directions. While a real strategy is forming, efficient green spells paired with a monster of a commander to tie it all together, we're still a thematic deck centered on Bears.

But, only a few of our best Bears remain. Instead of including all available Grizzly BearsGrizzly Bears variants, we're down to just 15 Bears and a few changelings. And, most of the cards that were included simply for having a bear or two in their art have been removed.

In their place, we've got strong ways to dump our library into our graveyard (like World ShaperWorld Shaper), a few second-rate tutors (like Vivien, Monsters' AdvocateVivien, Monsters' Advocate), and even a new piece of bear-themed removal (Ulvenwald TrackerUlvenwald Tracker).

While this version of Lumra is still trying to get a bunch of Bears onto the battlefield, it's not as committed to that low-power game plan as its Bracket 1 predecessor. We're actually trying to win some games here, we're just aiming to do it with a board full of our favorite creature type.

Decks are thoughfully designed, powered up by synergy and additional card quality. Players may expect the game to end out of nowhere with powerful spells and some combos.

Rules:

• Up to three Game Changers
• No mass land denial
• No chaining extra turns

Here we'll abandon our focus on Bears pretty much entirely. It's sad, I know, but it needs to be done for the deck to improve. The core of our deck is now self-mill and land recursion, rather than Bears.

We'll double down on Lumra's strengths, and try to make this a relatively well-optimized lands deck. This is probably the most drastic change we'll see between any two adjacent brackets, and that's very much intentional. I view the jump from Bracket 2 to Bracket 3 as quite significant, as it represents a fundamental change in deckbuilding mindset.

We're willing to use some of the strongest cards available to push towards victory, but we won't necessarily be investing in free spells or busted one-off includes. Instead of holding on to vestiges of a theme that won't net us many victories, we're adhering to a tried-and-true Commander strategy.

First up, let's talk about our new and improved land suite. We've included a huge number of utility lands, including a few that can sacrifice themselves. This will let us loop them back to the battlefield with our commander, and other land recursion effects, for maximum value. Because we're playing a full 46 lands (27 basics) we likely won't need to worry about not having enough pips on hand.

Among these nonbasic lands, my favorites are WastelandWasteland, Shifting WoodlandShifting Woodland, and (the best one of them all) Eden, Seat of the SanctumEden, Seat of the Sanctum. These lands, in concert with the dozens of others we've got, should lend us a decent amount of board control and value for very little deckbuilding cost.

Decisions like this are what elevate a deck from Bracket 2 to Bracket 3!

We've also got a lot of land-based ramp now. From Entish RestorationEntish Restoration to Azusa, Lost but SeekingAzusa, Lost but Seeking, we're making sure to include some of the best ways to dump lands on the battlefield and into the graveyard.

We've also got better graveyard synergies, with cards like Ancient GreenwardenAncient Greenwarden and BrawnBrawn here. I think the inclusion of Brawn is notable, and emblematic of what a Bracket 3 deck is trying to do. This Incarnation certainly isn't the best creature we could have included, but it's fun to mill over and can provide us with a moderate advantage as the game drags on.

Bracket 3 decks don't always need to play all of the best cards that are available, but a cohesive game plan should be apparent as large groups of cards are considered together.

Lastly, overall card quality has gone up. We get access to three Game Changers in this list, and I've chosen Worldly TutorWorldly Tutor, Crop RotationCrop Rotation, and Ancient TombAncient Tomb. For a mono-color list focused on lands, mana, and powerful creatures, these are solid choices.

Paired with additional tutors like Archdruid's CharmArchdruid's Charm and standalone threats like Mossborn HydraMossborn Hydra, it's clear this deck has a defined path to victory.

Turbo-charged with the most powerful cards in the format, these decks seek to optimize any and all strategies with synergy and speed. Ready to play against anything!

No restrictions other than the banned list.

This is where we get to kick it up a notch. We'll be trimming some of the fat from our Bracket 3 deck, and ensuring that this deck can compete at the highest level casual EDH tables. We're not quite in cEDH territory yet, but we're certainly going to optimize our 99.

We're also going to account for our opponents' game plans here. That means playing around countermagic, including more tutors, and even a few of the game's most efficient cards. Sadly, this means that some of our pet cards (like BrawnBrawn) have got to go. There's just no space for us to mess around much in Bracket 4!

This is fundamentally the same deck that we had in Bracket 3, just supercharged. We've got some of Commander's most powerful cards, like Gaea's CradleGaea's Cradle and EnduranceEndurance, and even more ways to fetch them, like Elvish ReclaimerElvish Reclaimer and Chord of CallingChord of Calling.

We now have more consistent access to more efficient effects. Instead of paying for our removal spells, we can just pitch a card with Force of VigorForce of Vigor. Instead of hoping to naturally draw into a combo piece, we can tutor it straight to the board with Natural OrderNatural Order.

We're still playing "fair Magic" in this Bracket, we're just pushing this deck as far as it can go within those bounds.

This deck will, for the most part, win in the same way that our Bracket 3 variant does. We'll swing in for lethal with a huge Mossborn HydraMossborn Hydra or make a creature massive with Will of the SultaiWill of the Sultai, turning a board full of lands into a win. But, now that we're in Bracket 4, we've got access to a few combos too.

By leveraging Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko, Lotus CobraLotus Cobra, and a man-land, we can create infinite landfall triggers and infinite tapped land tokens. There's lots of other combos too, letting us gain infinite life, make infinite mana, and even make infinite creature tokens.

The combos are overlapping and contain very few dead cards. There's a full 21 combos available with this deck list, according to Commander Spellbook, so we'll often look to assemble a combo win with this list.

While there's a relatively high amount of shared cards between this deck and our previous list, there's certainly been a deckbuilding mentality shift. We've focused narrowly on the best standalone threats that this strategy has to offer, and will aim for victory with a combo frequently.

Decks are designed to battle in a specific competitive meta, using only the most powerful and efficient commanders, strategies, disruption and win conditions.

No restrictions other than the banned list.

Finally, we come to the apex of Commander gameplay: cEDH. While Lumra is a relative newcomer to the Bracket 5 landscape, she's certainly earned a spot in the meta.

In the interest of full transparency, I'll be borrowing my Bracket 5 deck from divinerage01 and knickknack's spot on the cEDH Decklist Database. I give full credit to them, and the rest of the Lumra community, for crafting such a well-tuned list.

For the most part, we're not interacting with our opponents on the stack, which may be puzzling for players who typically play in lower brackets. Instead, we'll aim to either "turbo" (push through quickly) a win on turn two or three with some combos, or "stax out" (slow down using pieces like Vexing BaubleVexing Bauble) the table until we can secure a well-protected win on turn five or six.

The deck is a far cry from traditional meta staples like Blue Farm (which has Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver and Kraum, Ludevic's OpusKraum, Ludevic's Opus as its leaders), but it's a fun way to challenge the meta with some cards that most pilots would never dream of playing in cEDH (looking at you, Mouth of RonomMouth of Ronom).

This deck has a full 29 combos available in it, once again according to Commander Spellbook, and many of these combos also include overlapping pieces. That means that the 15 tutors available in this list can provide a quick combo victory in several ways.

Many of these combos are also easily able to protect themselves with Sylvan SafekeeperSylvan Safekeeper or hate pieces like Vexing BaubleVexing Bauble, shutting down opponents' interaction while leaving our combo untouched. There's so many cool tools available to pilots at this level of play, and so much room for skill expression.

How can you not love cEDH, where decks that can win with MirrorpoolMirrorpool can outrace Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle decks on a regular basis?

All that said, here's our final deck list for today.

After reading this article, you might be wondering what Commander Bracket you want to play in. While that's a question only you can answer, I'd point most players towards Bracket 2 or Bracket 3 to start. There's a lot of room for creative expression in deckbuilding and social fun here, without the pressure to always make the most optimal play.

Plus, it's easy to get started with just a store-bought precon, or some cards from your personal collection, and jump right into a pod at this level.

For those of you looking for a solid Bracket 2 deck with an upgrade path to Bracket 3, I'd recommend checking out the Peace Offering precon from Bloomburrow. That deck has the potential to be quite formidable, and we've got an upgrade guide available for those of you interested in making it just a bit stronger.

This is a common problem. The answer doesn't lie in any Commander infographic you'll find online, though. It lies in your heart. The difference between Brackets comes down to deckbuilding intent. If you've built a Bracket 1 deck that's themed around art with hands in it and included Mystical TutorMystical Tutor (a Game Changer) in your 99, it's probably still ok for most Bracket 1 pods! Just make sure to discuss it with the other players first.

The Bracket System is meant to guide pre-game discussions, not act as the gospel. It's ok to deviate from the system, just make sure you're having honest discussions with your friends before you accidentally foul up a nice game of Commander!