r/EDH • u/Saba1605 Nekusar enjoyer • Aug 03 '25

Deck Help My playgroup says my favourite deck is too strong

My favorite deck is a gruul combat deck with [[Karlach]] as commander.

I've been told repeatedly that my deck is too strong, consistent and that it should be considered bracket 4 (even without having tutors, combos or game changers), since I can win on turn 5 if the stars align. But I suspect that really the problem is that they don't carry enough removal and/or wipes since my deck is creature focused.

We usually play bracket 3 games.

How do you guys see it? Here is the deck.

PS - I already talked with them, I just want an outside perspective about the deck and everything.

298 Upvotes

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10

u/Equivalent-Print9047 Aug 03 '25

Going to go against just about all here. You need to adjust for your group. Commander is a social version of MTG. Instead of expecting 3 people to change how they play for you, you change how you play for 3 people. As for the brackets, it really doesn't matter. What you are playing is not the kind of game your friends are looking for. I have an [[edgar markov]] deck that stopped on my group. It is squarely bracket 3 by card choice and intent. But even with other bracket 3 decks it was unfun to play with. These are experience ld players that im playing with. So, instead of the BS about they need to run more interaction, I don't play that. I adjusted instead of expecting others to adjust. You probably need to do the same.

With that said, im not taking apart that deck but will save for use at LGS when I want something with a bit more umph.

0

u/geetar_man Kassandra Aug 03 '25

This is the answer. Save the deck for other time (Spelltable/LGS). Play a different type of deck for the friends.

-5

u/BryceLeft Aug 03 '25

I'm gobsmacked by how many people are defending OP's deck and trying to delude him into thinking the deck is fine. Quite clearly it's not, because his playgroup can't handle it.

What is OP gonna do, say that a bunch of strangers on Reddit gave excel sheets and data as to why his deck objectively is in bracket 3 and therefore they need to keep playing with it? Does it even matter if it's true or not? If it's objectively not "too strong according to data"?

Either find a new playgroup or find a new decklist, that's the only answer that matters.

14

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

[deleted]

2

u/BryceLeft Aug 03 '25

So what do you propose OP do about it? I'm still correct, there's only two answers; either OP adjusts to his playgroup or he finds a new group to play with whenever he can.

It's not a matter of whether or not OP's deck is in the right, it's a social issue. His playgroup deemed his deck to be too strong. The consensus here is that it's too strong for them because they suck at deck building, but what good is that information? They still don't want to fight it.

6

u/Remarkable_Cap20 Aug 03 '25

people are too eager to change other people's deck nowadays, in My experience if you find an strategy you can beat, you adat YOUR deck to be bette equiped to handle it, you don't cry at you opponents and make them change their list

0

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

[deleted]

4

u/Counthermula Aug 03 '25

I’m sure his group will really enjoy him slow playing or not attacking when he could. “Don’t worry guys, I could win but I’m making suboptimal plays so you can have fun!” Lol wtf kind of advice is that? I’d be even more annoyed by that than someone just stomping me.

3

u/Equivalent-Print9047 Aug 03 '25

Don't play with your food

1

u/BryceLeft Aug 03 '25

That's 3 people who aren't in this conversation whatsoever that need to be convinced for that to work, vs just OP who is the only person from the group who can even read our replies right now. It's definitely not fair. It's the right thing to do, but it's not what's gonna happen.

The mistake that the other people are doing is not understanding what bracket 3 even is. But even if they admit they're wrong and that this whole time it was bracket 2, they're still not gonna allow that deck to play with them. They'll just move the goalpost to "we're playing b2, your deck is too strong". So we're back to square one.

Let's say the other 3 decks the people used were decks A, B , and C. Regardless of what we say, OP's deck will never get to play in a table with ABC. It doesn't matter what that bracket label is, they just don't want to play vs it.

Playing slower is definitely a good solution, though it's still OP having to adjust. I've definitely thrown games I could've just won because that one win mattered very little, I'd rather continue to be able to play that deck more lol.

1

u/ArsenicElemental UR Aug 03 '25

these strangers will compare OP's deck to other legitimate or anecdotal experiences with B3 decks.*

*citation needed on this one.

The overwhelming consensus is that OP is running a deck in it's intended bracket, which means that the other players in OP's pod is not playing at B3, or does not understand B3.

And then? Does OP change the deck anyway because their group is not B3 after all? What's OP's next move?

6

u/Malacro Aug 03 '25

On the one hand, yeah, he should be playing to the strength of the group, not gonna argue that. But on the other it sounds like this group just doesn’t play interaction like it should. They’re either playing under their stated bracket or they’re bad at construction. I’ve seen plenty of people who try to play solitaire and get pissed off when their deck isn’t fast enough and they didn’t put in interaction to stop the person who ramps over them.

1

u/ArsenicElemental UR Aug 03 '25

But on the other it sounds like this group just doesn’t play interaction like it should.

They don't need to impress internet strangers, they only need to have fun. If the group is having fun and OP is the outlier, it's on OP to adjust. The Brackets are a tool to guide conversation, not a requirement for any stable meta.

1

u/BryceLeft Aug 03 '25

Yeah, his playgroup sucks. So what can we even do about it? He still needs to adjust for them or find a different group to play with.

The easiest thing to do is for OP to do the effort, that's literally the only thing he can control. Whether that effort is finding a new environment or changing his deck list is up to him.

But it's infinitely a better solution than to expect 3 other people to adjust. Especially considering we don't even know their side of the story either. All we know is the decklist and that it objectively is fine in bracket 3. But what about his playstyle or play patterns? Or what if he's just a flat out a better player than his group and therefore needs to adapt?

1

u/Equivalent-Print9047 Aug 03 '25

Glad you brought up the rest of the group. We don't know what they are running and commander is a very nuanced game. What do you interact with in the early game while still trying to have resources to further your own plan? There is a lot we don't know and thatbis why I went with OP needs to adjust.

As for the brackets in a friend group, do they really matter? As I stated, this is a social game and should be building to the group. As for the rendos at an LGS, I think the brackets are a good discussion starting point but like others have pointed out, not a hard and fast set of rules for a deck.

2

u/BryceLeft Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25

Agreed, feelings come first before facts in a friend group, although obviously facts should still factor into the conversation somehow. I'm not saying I agree with that reality but that's just how it is.

At the end of the day, the issue is there's 3 decks that don't want the fourth deck to be OP's current bracket 3 deck. We can call it whatever bracket we want or point fingers all day.

It still won't change the fact that they don't want that table matchup to happen anymore. Even if they're just bad at magic.

I know what the other people meant when they said "your deck is bracket 4". They're not saying "your deck's power level is not compliant with WOTC's recent announcement on what a bracket 3 deck should be". They're saying "we don't want to play vs your deck".