<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrasios, Triton Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Thrasios, Triton Hero</a> | Art by <a href="https://josuhernaiz.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josu Hernaiz</a>
Take a look at the Commander Bracket system and you'll notice that most of the brackets are pretty clearly differentiable. Whether it's the number of <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changers</a> allowed or the presence of combos, each bracket has its own strategy and niche plainly carved out.
Well, until you get to the upper end, that is.
Bracket 4 and Bracket 5 are, strictly speaking, indistinguishable. Neither bar Game Changers, nor do they place restrictions on the kinds of effects that can be run. Spend enough time playing in dedicated circles of either bracket, however, and you'll quickly realize just how different the two are.
So, just how big of a deal is the cEDH label that Bracket 5 carries, and what makes these two brackets different? Let's dive in.
<h2>The Role of Commanders</h2>
First off, the namesake of the format: commanders.
When it comes to every bracket but 5, commanders serve a central role as the binding force of a deck. Be it a planeswalker, a Vehicle, or just a good ol' legendary creature, commanders are the stars of all but the highest brackets.
They enable potentially broken synergies and serve as the signpost for a deck's game plan.
<h3>Bracket 4</h3>
In Bracket 4 specifically, decks are fine-tuned to maximally capitalize on the commander's resources while simultaneously shoring up its pitfalls.
An excellent example of this is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Ur-Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">The Ur-Dragon</a>, one of Magic's <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most popular commanders</a> ever. This commander is all upside; it may have a prohibitively high cost of , but thanks to its eminence ability you'll be racking in a discount to all of your Dragon spells regardless of whether or not you even cast The Ur-Dragon in the first place.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Ur-Dragon"></div></div>
And, if you do cast it, the reward for such a high investment is a game-ending threat capable of drawing massive amounts of cards, churning out permanents for free, and dealing critical amounts of damage.
Really, all that the Ur-Dragon asks is that the deck it helms be full of Dragons. What's not to love?
<h3>Bracket 5</h3>
Moving to Bracket 5 - cEDH - and the role of a commander changes substantially. No longer is the question "What can my deck do to support my commander?" Instead, cEDH players have to ask themselves "What can my commander do to support my deck?"
There are, of course, some exceptions to this rule - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magda, Brazen Outlaw" href="#" target="_blank">Magda, Brazen Outlaw</a>, for example - but by and large the card pool of hyper-powerful cards and strategies is substantially more limited in comparison to Bracket 4.
In order to fully explain this, it's important to understand the concept of card quality.
Card quality is a way of evaluating the value of a card in a vacuum; that is, without consideration of the commander or any other particular special conditions.
For example, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a> has terrible card quality unless your library is empty; paying for a worse version of scry is a terrible rate.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thassa&#039;s Oracle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Underworld Breach"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Underworld Breach" href="#" target="_blank">Underworld Breach</a>, meanwhile, has much better card quality; paying for a quasi-repeatable <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yawgmoth&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Yawgmoth&#039;s Will</a> is already broken in and of itself, regardless of whether you take a moment to consider the myriad combos it unlocks.
Moving back to commanders, and this card quality notion has substantial impact on the range of possible leaders for decks.
Sure, The Ur-Dragon supports a Dragons deck like no other, but what's the average card quality of a Dragon in a world where decks can win on turn one? Pretty low.
More broadly speaking, any card that's only good because of the commander can be thought of as having a lower card quality, something which can prove to be hugely detrimental to a strategy unless the commander is both readily castable and maximally exploitative of that card (e.g., Magda, which costs and can win nearly out of nowhere).
<h3>Outlets and Engines</h3>
Because of this card quality dilemma, the role of commanders in cEDH has essentially been reduced to that of two options: outlets and engines.
Outlet commanders enable a guaranteed way to win the game, provided the path to get there has been achieved. These are things like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrasios, Triton Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Thrasios, Triton Hero</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Master of Keys" href="#" target="_blank">The Master of Keys</a> - two commanders which both serve as options for infinite mana to be converted directly into a win.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Thrasios, Triton Hero"></div></div>
The second type, engines, is fairly self explanatory. These are the commanders that are essentially unnecessary to the actual victory condition of a deck and instead serve to bolster either of cEDH's two primary resource systems: card advantage and mana advantage.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh" href="#" target="_blank">Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh</a>, for example, is an engine commander. It "unlocks" early-game mana advantage through cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Amber" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Amber</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Infernal Plunge" href="#" target="_blank">Infernal Plunge</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh"></div></div>
Finally, as a bit of a side note, it's also important to point out that some commanders take engine to a more abstract level, instead providing access to colors rather than mana or cards themselves.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept" href="#" target="_blank">Silas Renn, Seeker Adept</a> is the go-to example of this: a commander that essentially is never cast in cEDH, but serves a critical role as a partner commander which broadens the card pool which a deck otherwise wouldn't have access to.
<h2>The Role of the Meta</h2>
So, you've picked a commander and now you want to build a deck. What comes next? Well, for each of the two brackets we're talking about today, the answers to that question are very different.
<h3>Bracket 4</h3>
When it comes to Bracket Four, once you've picked a commander, all you need to do next is build the best version of that Commander deck that you can think of, without any consideration for the other decks you'll be playing against.
Sure, if you're playing mono-red you might throw in a copy of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Moon" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Moon</a> in order to mess with your opponents, but beyond easily abusable lock pieces like this a Bracket 4 deck doesn't really need to pay any attention to other decks (before the game starts, that is).
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Moon"></div></div>
The only thing that matters is maxing out your own strategy
<h3>Bracket 5</h3>
Bracket Five, meanwhile, takes the opposite approach. This is a competitive format after all, so deck construction necessarily implicates an awareness of the other decks you might be playing against.
Additionally, as we saw with the significantly limited number of competitively viable commanders, the number of potential strategies a cEDH deck is going to play against is actually comprehendible. This is a stark contrast to Bracket 4, where the sheer volume of potential opponents makes the notion of fine-tuning against any particular deck or strategy nonsensical.
Looking at recent tournament data, and it's easy to find examples of top-performing decks in cEDH, and as such it's easy to find examples of what to look out for when crafting your own responses.
Importantly, this doesn't mean that decks are full of niche includes which only work against some set of the meta, even if that meta is massive (it feels like every day cEDH gets a new graveyard deck and still <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grafdigger&#039;s Cage" href="#" target="_blank">Grafdigger&#039;s Cage</a> barely sees any play).
Rather, quite like guessing your opponent's next move in a game of rock-paper-scissors, answers tend to come as shifts in play patterns and the density of effects like clones or interaction.
Is the format full of noncreature counterspells? Time to push the envelope by building a deck with barely any instants that wins by casting <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Apex Devastator" href="#" target="_blank">Apex Devastator</a>. Is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> the first card any and everyone tutors up? Time to double down on enchantment clones. Is midrange the go-to strategy? Let's see if we can <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edhrec-guide-to-cedh-turbo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outpace it with Turbo</a>.
<h2>The Pace of Play</h2>
Finally, it's time to talk a bit more about the mantra of cEDH: Play to win.
Bracket 4 is played whenever folks want to let loose with their strongest, favorite deck. Bracket 5 is played in tournaments with a timer, where each round counts and contests are best-of-one. This environmental shift has an indelible effect on the structure of decks; in cEDH, there are no pet cards, no cut corners, no extra allowances.
By sitting down to play the game, you're consenting to a contest where you could lose before your first turn, and that's just that. Bracket 4, meanwhile, has a bit more leeway here.
By playing in Bracket 4, you're necessarily tossing by the wayside the protective guardrails which allow for Commander games to naturally go long. These are the rules that ensure everyone has the greatest likelihood of getting to do "their thing" when they sit down to play.
As you move further and further up the Brackets, this protective system begins to break down, leaving more autonomy to the players.
Sure, when everyone plays on the same Bracket then there undoubtedly exists a greater chance for players to counteract each other in meaningful ways and thus prolong the game of Magic, but the window in which game-ending threats first begin to materialize moves ever closer to the first turn as you approach Commander's highest bracket.
At Bracket 4, players exist on a precipice: You have every tool at your disposal necessary to build a deck that can end the game reliably on turn one. However, since the expressive, casual nature of Commander is still the focus at this point, players are socially incentivized to build decks which take some time to get their threats going.
This doesn't mean turn one is safe - expect plenty of fast mana and threatening engines at this Bracket - but it's all building up for a grander project, something more akin to a board game night.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coalition Victory"></div></div>
At Bracket 4, all bets are off and - from the moment the game starts - everyone is trying to end it. This can be in the slowest fashion possible a la <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/edhrec-guide-to-cedh-stax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stax</a> or the quickest possible a la turbo, but regardless of the game plan everyone still has an immediate goal that's set from the beginning.
Everyone is sitting down to have fun, no doubt, but the fun here is had from the blitz of razor-close games and explosive victories coming out of nowhere.
This difference also has implications for the kinds of social interactions which emerge as part of a cEDH game. Love it or hate it, politics is a key part of Bracket 5 in a way that's wholly unique from the other Brackets.
The rest of Commander is absolutely a social game, full of decisions made by groups and factions, but - given the emphasis on winning - Bracket 5 puts these interactions under a microscope, heightening the importance of strategic deals, information sharing, and more.
Savvy players can snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat by persuasion, a skill that's all the more crucial in a setting where players are fighting for points and prizes.
<h2>Wrap Up</h2>
Brackets 4 and 5 share the same card pool, strategic restrictions, and rules sets. They're the pinnacle of power in Commander. However, that power is used in very different ways across the two Brackets, so much so that entering a game of three decks from one Bracket with a deck from the other is oftentimes an alienating experience.
If you have a pet deck that you want to maximize, then Bracket 4 is for you. Go out there and win your games with the best your commander can be.
If you want to fight for a victory with a honed deck crafted just for the tournament arena, then cEDH is for you.
<h3>Read More:</h3>
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What's the Difference Between Commander Brackets 4 and 5?

Turbo decks are the poster child for power in cEDH. Consistently presenting win attempts on turn two, if not turn one, these decks are the aggressive interaction checkpoints of the format.
Did your opponents mulligan properly so as to have opening hands that can stop you? If not, great! Odds are that you'll be the one walking away from the table victorious, while everyone else shuffles up for another attempt.
For this guide, we'll be showing you the ins and outs of how to play turbo in cEDH. We'll look at top commanders, best cards, and unique win conditions popular across Turbo decks.

Like its name implies, Turbo decks are designed with speed as the foremost value, with resiliency pushed to second place.
If you're piloting a Turbo deck, you're going full throttle from the very first turn, stacking ritual after ritual to accelerate your game plan, immediately tutoring up the most potent cards in the game, and aiming to play them as soon as a window presents itself...usually as soon as you have the mana to do so.
cEDH's other two strategies - Stax and Midrange - both plan on using the first two turns to set up the resources necessary to capitalize on a longer battle. Turbo, meanwhile, attempts to end the game just as the other strategies are setting up.
The cost for this speed is long-term strength; if turbo falls flat in its early-game attempts, then it has a much harder time recovering. It isn't impossible - these decks still run plenty of their own engines - but they're far from the primary plan.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh"></div></div>
If each cEDH strategy were to have a mascot, then turbo's would most definitely be <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh" href="#" target="_blank">Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh</a>. On its own, this card does nothing. It's not an engine, it's not an outlet, it doesn't even serve a real role in combat. Despite all that, this little guy is one of cEDH's strongest commanders, and it all comes down to its synergies with other cards.
With Rograkh, every card in the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a> cycle becomes live from turn one onwards. Similarly, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Amber" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Amber</a> is a guaranteed <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mox Ruby" href="#" target="_blank">Mox Ruby</a>. Both <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Culling the Weak" href="#" target="_blank">Culling the Weak</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Diabolic Intent" href="#" target="_blank">Diabolic Intent</a> have guaranteed sac-fodder. The list goes on.
Plus, it adds red to your color identity - the color of turbo!
Rograkh isn't meant to be a commander that does anything specific. Rather, it's a commander that lets you do everything generically-commander oriented.

<div class="edhrecp__cards side-by-side"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ral, Monsoon Mage"></div></div>
Speaking of red, next up is another cheap red commander, although this one packs so much of a punch that the decks it helms are all-in on supporting it from the 99.
On the front side, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ral, Monsoon Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Ral, Monsoon Mage</a> is a legendary 1/3 Human Wizard creature for which reduces all instant and sorcery spells you cast by .
Additionally, whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell during your turn, you flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Ral deals one damage to you. If you win the flip, you may exile Ral and return him to the battlefield transformed.
Ral's strategy is all based around resolving Ral as soon as possible, casting as many cantrips and rituals in that same turn as you can, and only transforming Ral after the last cast (preferably once you've hit exactly six spells). Why? Because, on his back side, Ral becomes Ral, Leyline Prodigy, a blue-red planeswalker with two starting loyalty counters that enters with an additional loyalty counter for each instant and sorcery spell you cast this turn.
This is where the six instants/sorceries come in - Ral's final loyalty ability costs eight loyalty to use, and when it resolves will cause you to exile the top eight cards of your library. You may cast instant and sorcery spells from among them without paying their mana costs.
From here, you'll just keep churning, casting and recasting Ral, using his final ability time and time again.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vivi Ornitier"></div></div>
Wouldn't you know it, next up on our list is another blue and red commander that tends towards centralizing the strategy of its 99.
At its core, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vivi Ornitier" href="#" target="_blank">Vivi Ornitier</a> is a combo piece that, with any of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Curiosity" href="#" target="_blank">Curiosity</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ophidian Eye" href="#" target="_blank">Ophidian Eye</a>, or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tandem Lookout" href="#" target="_blank">Tandem Lookout</a>, becomes a near-unbeatable value engine, drawing three cards off of every noncreature spell cast, dealing one damage to each opponent, and putting a +1/+1 counter on the base 0/3 Vivi.
These counters feed into Vivi's mana ability, which allow you to pay once per turn (on your turn only) to add X mana in any combination of and/or , where X is Vivi's power.
Vivi's mana cost of give the deck a bit more flexibility, allowing it to play both Midrange and Turbo, depending on the style the pilot is aiming for. But don't mistake this flexibility for a lack of explosivity. Turn-one Vivi isn't too terribly uncommon, and neither is landing a Curiosity on the following turn.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dihada, Binder of Wills"></div></div>
Here comes another planeswalker! <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dihada, Binder of Wills" href="#" target="_blank">Dihada, Binder of Wills</a> is a deck that's all based around the second loyalty ability, so let's dig into it.
For , Dihada, Binder of Wills is a legendary Dihada planeswalker with five starting loyalty. Her second ability costs three loyalty to activate, and causes you to reveal the top four cards of your library. Put any number of legendary cards from among them into your hand, the rest into your graveyard, then create a number of Treasure tokens equal to the number of cards put into the graveyard this way.
Most of the time, Dihada's second loyalty ability functions as essentially "mill four, create four Treasures."
Because of this, Dihada is a combo piece with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flicker" href="#" target="_blank">Flicker</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Underworld Breach" href="#" target="_blank">Underworld Breach</a>, as flickering and reusing Dihada nets infinite Treasure and infinite self-mill.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lumra, Bellow of the Woods"></div></div>
Last but not least, we come to the only true-green deck in the Turbo field, and that's <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lumra, Bellow of the Woods" href="#" target="_blank">Lumra, Bellow of the Woods</a>.
For , Lumra is a legendary Elemental Bear creature with vigilance, reach, and power and toughness each equal to the number of lands you control. Additionally, when Lumra enters, mill four cards, then return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield to tapped.
If Lumra is paired with a land-sacrifice outlet, such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zuran Orb" href="#" target="_blank">Zuran Orb</a>, and a land-untapper, such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Amulet of Vigor" href="#" target="_blank">Amulet of Vigor</a>, then it becomes painfully easy for Lumra to churn through an entire deck. By sacrificing all of your lands in response to casting Lumra, Lumra will die due to having zero toughness (this happens before the enters-trigger resolves), sending it right back to the command zone.
Assuming you mill at least two mana worth of lands as a result of Lumra's trigger, you can immediately repeat the process, as the additional lands will cover the commander tax.
Lumra has a terribly difficult mana cost for a Turbo deck, but thanks to the likes of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elvish Spirit Guide" href="#" target="_blank">Elvish Spirit Guide</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mana Vault" href="#" target="_blank">Mana Vault</a> it's actually deceptively easy in the early turns.
However, unlike most other Turbo decks, Lumra does tend to start casting win attempts from turns three onwards. Despite this, Lumra's ability to force a win attempt consistently and early does make it classically Turbo.

In order for Turbo decks to consistently have the explosive turns which the strategy relies on, each deck has a core ritual package.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dark Ritual"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rite of Flame"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Culling the Weak"></div></div>
These cards are all pretty straightforward: Pay less mana than you get out, preferably with an upfront cost no greater than two mana. On average, these spells net about one mana each, but the best of the best can add an extra two or even three mana if their conditions are met.

Just like with rituals, Turbo decks similarly turn to a critical mass of tutors to increase the consistency of their opening turns.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Diabolic Intent"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beseech the Mirror"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Praetor&#039;s Grasp"></div></div>
This of course means running the best-in-class. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vampiric Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Vampiric Tutor</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a> come to mind here, but this also means scraping the bottom of the barrel. These tutors aren't bad cards by any stretch of the imagination, but they're first on the chopping block for decks which tend to see more cards over the course of a longer game.

Turbo decks take a very proactive approach to interaction, attempting to prevent a stack war from breaking out rather than selectively engaging in it.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Silence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Defense Grid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grand Abolisher"></div></div>
To do so, they run a suite of best-in-class effects such as the classic <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silence" href="#" target="_blank">Silence</a>, along with a broader suite of similar effects, such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mandate of Peace" href="#" target="_blank">Mandate of Peace</a>.

Beyond commander-dependent (such as Vivi-plus-Curiosity) and typical win conditions (such as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Underworld Breach" href="#" target="_blank">Underworld Breach</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thassa&#039;s Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Thassa&#039;s Oracle</a>), Turbo decks are principally defined by the burst draw which assembles to their win packages.
These might not constitute a game-ender in and of themselves, but they might as well.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ad Nauseam"></div></div>
A tried-and-true classic of cEDH, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ad Nauseam" href="#" target="_blank">Ad Nauseam</a> asks a simple question: Can you count to five? Just , that's all it takes. Decks built around Ad Nauseam will often pick up about 25 or so cards upon resolution, a pile that's all but guaranteed to include a Turbo deck's bevy of rituals, tutors, and silences.
By far the easiest burst-draw to resolve, the only difficulty with Ad Nauseam (besides fighting through the counter war) is the toll it takes on the average mana value of spells in your deck.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Necropotence"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necropotence" href="#" target="_blank">Necropotence</a> is a bit trickier of a mass-draw effect to resolve, as it's highly dependent on the mass of flash-enablers in your deck.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Borne Upon a Wind" href="#" target="_blank">Borne Upon a Wind</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valley Floodcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Valley Floodcaller</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Fae Trickster" href="#" target="_blank">High Fae Trickster</a>, etc. - these cards allow the end step resolution of Necropotence activations to effectively transform into the ridiculously broken "Pay one life: Draw a card."
Without these flash enablers, Necropotence is still a busted card, but the mass-draw it affords becomes restricted by harsh timing rules.

<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Peer into the Abyss"></div></div>
Last up is an option that has become a bit less popular in recent years but is nonetheless still a potent spell to resolve: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Peer into the Abyss" href="#" target="_blank">Peer into the Abyss</a>.
For , this sorcery causes target player to lose half their life and draw half their deck, rounded up (for each).
While Peer into the Abyss draws more cards (on average) than Ad Nauseam, it's brought down a peg by its sorcery-speed nature, higher mana cost, and dependence on targeting a player. This all makes it more awkward to cast, but nonetheless ludicrously effective once resolved.

EDHREC Guide to cEDH Turbo

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe|P22|5" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a> | art by <a href="https://aurorefolny.com/">Aurore Folny</a></h6>
In cEDH, mono-white is a color defined by support effects. Preventing your opponents from interacting and gaining gradual advantage: these are the strategies that carve out white's role in the format.
You won't find game-ending spells here; instead, you'll see the cards that help secure your window. So, what are white's five best cards? Let's take a look.
<h2>#5 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grand Abolisher" href="#" target="_blank">Grand Abolisher</a></h2>
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Kicking things off is white's most effective defensive card, and that's Grand Abolisher. For , this 2/2 Human Cleric brings with it an incredibly oppressive barrier to interaction:
"During your turn, your opponents can't cast spells or activate abilities of artifacts, creatures, or enchantments."
In a format defined by the likes of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Borne Upon a Wind" href="#" target="_blank">Borne Upon a Wind</a>, where card advantage piles up whenever interaction hits the stack and when no one moment is truly safe, Grand Abolisher stands alone as the most forceful window-creator in cEDH. The only reason it sits so low on our list, however, is that casting cost.
Outside of low color decks - decks which, aside from <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy" href="#" target="_blank">Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy</a>, are often among cEDH's worse - making two mana of a singular color is surprisingly difficult, especially when that mana isn't something you'd otherwise be stockpiling in order to cast a game ending spell.
Why put a plains into play when you could stockpile just about any other color of mana - colors with spells that easily win games?
Contemporary Magic's answer to this has been <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voice of Victory" href="#" target="_blank">Voice of Victory</a>: a Grand Abolisher look-a-like which forgoes the restriction on activated abilities in exchange for a much easier mana cost of just (among other small changes, like statline adjustments and Mobilize 2).
cEDH has certainly embraced this newer iteration, but usually as a second copy of Grand Abolisher, rather than a replacement.
<h2>#4 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a></h2>
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Next up on our list is an incredibly backbreaking engine, dwarfed only in mana-production capacity by green's very own <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a>, and that card is Smothering Tithe.
For , Smothering Tithe answers just about all of your mana concerns for the rest of the game.
This enchantment has one potent triggered ability, which reads "Whenever an opponent draws a card, that player may pay . If the player doesn't, you create a Treasure token."
As was demonstrated by Grand Abolisher's taxing mana cost, color fixing is a crucial consideration in cEDH's high-color piles, and Smothering Tithe's own minimally restrictive cost is one which has garnered plenty of support in the format.
There's nothing quite like suddenly having access to the critical third black mana necessary to cast a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necropotence" href="#" target="_blank">Necropotence</a>, for example, an a turn with Smothering Tithe will guarantee you get there.
<h2>#3 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silence" href="#" target="_blank">Silence</a></h2>
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Coming in at third place is a classic of white's interaction suite - Silence, the inspiration for Grand Abolisher (and another card later on this list).
For just , this instant prevents your opponents from casting spells until end of turn. As simple as it is effective, Silence benefits from both its accessible mana cost as well as its instant-speed nature to serve as a maximally flexible piece of interaction.
Unlike Grand Abolisher - which is purely supportive of your own schemes - Silence can put a stop to your opponents' plans, whenever they should chose to strike. Did an opposing <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Underworld Breach" href="#" target="_blank">Underworld Breach</a> hit the stack?
Follow it up with a Silence before it resolves, preventing the Breach player from following up and forcing them to watch as their Underworld Breach gets sacrificed at the end of their otherwise uneventful turn.
Trying to go for your own win but wary of interaction? Bate out the turn by starting things off with a main phase Silence.
<h2>#2 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ranger-Captain of Eos" href="#" target="_blank">Ranger-Captain of Eos</a></h2>
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Rounding out our interaction package is second place's Ranger-Captain of Eos, a surprisingly flexible tutor that also brings with it the interactive flexibility of Silence's instant-speed nature.
For , Ranger-Captain of Eos is a 3/3 Human Soldier which allows you to tutor for a creature with mana value one or less when it enters, then put that card into your hand.
Additionally, you can sacrifice Ranger-Captain of Eos in order to prevent your opponents from casting noncreature spells until end of turn.
Three mana, two of which being white, is definitely a lot to ask for in cEDH. However, between the tutor ability - one which can hit some of the format's strongest creatures, as we'll see in the moment - and the flexibility to effectively resolve a nearly-uncounterable Silence at a moment's notice, Ranger-Captain of Eos certainly puts all that mana to work.
<h2>#1 - <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Esper Sentinel" href="#" target="_blank">Esper Sentinel</a></h2>
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Alrighty folks, here we are, the strongest card in white. Drumroll, please, as we evaluate Ranger-Captain of Eos' very best friend, a white creature that costs just a single mana, Esper Sentinel.
For , Esper Sentinel is cEDH's most initially-unassuming card advantage engine...until you play against it a handful of times. A 1/1 Human Soldier artifact creature, Esper Sentinel's only text reads, "Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays , where X is Esper Sentinel's power."
I can't remember the last time I saw an Esper Sentinel with a power greater than one, but as anyone who has ever played against Rhystic Study will tell you, a tax of just is often substantial enough for players to steamroll full-speed ahead, ignoring their dues and letting the Rhystic player (or, in this case, the Esper Sentinel player) draw a ridiculous amount of cards.
Valuable at just about every point in the game, difficult to counter thanks to being a creature, and readily affordable from turn one onwards, Esper Sentinel continues to be a dominating force across any deck that can run it.
<h2>Wrap Up</h2>
White might not <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a>, or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seedborn Muse" href="#" target="_blank">Seedborn Muse</a>, or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a>, but that doesn't mean it's without card draw, ramp, and interaction. In fact, many of the format's strongest decks rely on white to push them through the slog of the midgame and into a comfortable, protected, resource-fueled end state.
You might not die to a white spell the likes of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ad Nauseam" href="#" target="_blank">Ad Nauseam</a>, but the reason that Ad Nauseam resolved might very well be white.

bracket 5

What's the Difference Between Commander Brackets 4 and 5?

EDHREC Guide to cEDH Turbo

The Top Five White Cards for cEDH