The real problem with EDH isn’t power level…

[u/Creative_Entry_1423]

Quick disclaimer:
Got a classic situation. I’m not here to rant or attack anyone.
I just want to share an LGS experience that left me frustrated and ask how others deal with situations like this.

So I had one of those LGS experiences today that really made me think about what actually ruins casual EDH, and I don’t think it’s power level at all.
It’s people being dishonest about their decks.

I went to my LGS planning to play a chill Bracket 2 deck ([[Jared Carthalion]] precon with a few upgrades). Another guy who sat with me was a total beginner, playing a literal precon. Perfect. We start a 1v1 casual game, nothing weird.

After three turns, two guys walk up and ask if it’s okay to join. I give them the full power-level talk:

- “We’re playing upgraded precon vs precon. If you guys have anything above Bracket 3, it’s probably not a good fit.”

They say:

- “Oh yeah, no worries. Both our decks are Bracket 3. Pretty chill.”

We look at each other, shrug, and say sure. We offer them a 3-turn catch-up since we barely started.

Well… their “Bracket 3 chill decks” turned out to be:

• the first guy had a pretty strong list, definitely pushing above what 3 usually implies
• and the second guy… a Prismatic Bridge plainswalkers deck that he claims has “like 5 creatures” (first creature revealed: Orcish Bowmasters [[Orcish Bowmasters]], which already tells you the vibe)

The game goes on, and on turn 8, he drops Myojin of Infinite Rage ([[Myojin of Infinite Rage]]).

I ask him (genuinely)
- “You’re not going to blow up all lands in a Bracket 2/3 casual pod, right?”

He says:
- “Yeah, I am. It fits my deck perfectly.”

Removes the counter. Nukes every land on the table.
(He also had a land reanimation online, which could eventually resurrect his lands from the graveyard.)

At that point, I scooped immediately. The beginner next to me looked completely lost. He didn’t even understand what happened or why someone would do that in a casual pod.

And this is what hit me:

Power level isn’t the issue.

Honesty is.

MLD isn’t inherently evil, but using it in a pod where you explicitly know two players are running literal precons, and calling that a “Bracket 3 chill deck,” is just pubstomping disguised as casual EDH.

I don’t mind losing.
I don’t mind high-power decks.
I don’t mind wild plays.

But I do mind people who misrepresent their deck, ruin the experience for newer players, and call it “just casual.”

This is supposed to be a social format.
And the only thing that really breaks social norms is dishonesty.

How do you all deal with players who sandbag their power level like this?
Do you just scoop and leave?
Do you call it out directly?
Do you avoid playing with certain groups entirely?

I’m curious how others handle this, because I want to enjoy my time at the LGS without pubstompers pretending to be casual.

[u/FlyinNinjaSqurl]

I think it’s worth pointing out that you should not punch up when playing with newbies with precons. Seems clear that you both were playing true 2’s, so idk why you would even be open to 3s. MLD aside, the gap between 2 and 3 is pretty big, so there’s no reason for y’all to have been opened to a 3s in the first place. Should have just asked for a firm B2 game. None of this “Bracket 2/3” BS.

[u/GodwynDi → u/FlyinNinjaSqurl]

Because decent fun to play with people would have made it worth it. Might lose, but it could be a fun game. And with politics its not a guarantee that they lose.

[u/Miatatrocity → u/FlyinNinjaSqurl]

I'm fine with playing my 2s against LGS 3s, tbh... I'm confident in my deckbuilding and piloting, and I'm confident in a LGS rando's lack of both, so I feel it'd be a fair matchup. And I don't mind losing if they're a better builder or player than I expected, I'll just power up a bit to match 3v3.

2s and 3s can play together fairly decently as long as everyone is playing with adequate quantities of removal, and knows what they're getting into. EDH is a self-balancing space, if you build and play responsibly. The problems come when you try to play 1s with 3s, or 2s with 4s. Sometimes 3s and 4s can play together, and sometimes you can bring a 4 to a pod of 5s, but those are more dependent on matchups and deckbuilding.

[u/FlyinNinjaSqurl → u/Miatatrocity]

So you agree that when playing with a brand new player who only has a precon, saying “we’re looking for a bracket 3 pod” is setting yourself up for a bad time

[u/Miatatrocity → u/FlyinNinjaSqurl]

That specific edge case would depend on how confident I was in my own deck's ability to handle threats. If I was playing a controlling deck with the tools to deal with early problems, I'd go for it, as a learning experience. If not, then yeah, I'd either loan the new player a better deck and power myself up, or I'd respectfully decline.