The new Wizards Rules committee has come out with a new Bracket system to help players find more games that will be evenly matched.
The Game Changer cards referenced are here:
Full artical: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/introducing-commander-brackets-beta
So what does this mean for most commanders players… nothing. For most people, they will continue playing with their friends using their own power assessments to try and play games with decks they are familiar with.
However, this will help with the MagicCon problem of asking “What level is your deck?” and almost universally getting a response of “7” usually with some kind of qualifier of what kind of 7 the deck is.
Looking at my own personal decks I am seeing that it is clear which are 1s and 2s and which are 4s. I do not really think I have any CEDH decks. My main concern here is the bracket 3 decks. Looking at the Game Changers list and many of my own decks, I have noticed that in this system many decks that I would consider the similar power level are now in different brackets. For instance my Eriette deck and my Heiko deck would now be considered bracket 3 where as my Lumra deck is considered a two. They are all solid decks, but they are not designed to close out a game fast, I usually describe them as being tuned decks. I would feel comfortable playing them all against the old 6s or 7s or even 8s. That said, they are not looking to close out a game until later turns, 6 or later at least. Right now, the only thing putting Eriette and Heiko in a category in 3 category is that they each have one “Game Changer” with Serra Sanctum and Jeska’s Will respectively, where Lumra does not. With the current system adding this game changer “mechanic” to the ranking system I think players will put too much emphasis on those cards. While I do think that list will be expanded as this system is tested, I think it is better to use the Game Changer cards as a guide, similar to their reference to mass land denial. Saying a 3 can have up to 3 game changers almost gamifies the process of deck building. While my Heiko deck has won against fine tuned decks, and I would consider it a 3 or 4, by the current system I could take out one card, Jeska’s Will, and easily claim it as a 2. Now, I would not do this as I understand the spirt of the rule and have a long tenure of assessing power levels, but I can certainly see how the addition of game changers could confuse new players.
Well that turned out to be more negative than I meant. I will certainly be trying this during MagicCon Chicago and we shall see if my concerns are warrented or not. In the end this is a beta, so testing and failing is part of the process. I appreciate Wizards making an effort to help the community find well balanced games.
Osogladiator 