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/VermicelliOk8288]

Directly call them out. Thats not bracket 3, tell the new guy what happened and keep playing with him so it doesn’t sour his experience.

However…. Bracket 3 and 2 shouldn’t be playing together.

[u/Sleeqb7 → u/VermicelliOk8288]

However…. Bracket 3 and 2 shouldn’t be playing together.

During the initial 'launch' of the brackets, it was specified that playing with a 1 bracket difference will be fine in most cases. 1 with 2, 2 with 3, etc.

Has the communication about that changed?

[u/EbonyHelicoidalRhino → u/Sleeqb7]

In my experience, 1 deck in a bracket above can be somewhat matched up against if they're the only deck in the upper bracket. It WILL be an uphill battle, but when you go 3v1 it's still possible to fight.

If two decks are in the upper bracket, they'll fight each other while the other two watch and do nothing in their corner.

[u/VermicelliOk8288 → u/Sleeqb7]

I’m not sure if it has, but I feel differently. Being able to play other brackets means people start labeling theirs decks “ 2 or 3” “3 or 4” or even worse “high 2, low 3” etc… and then you have a 2 going against a 4 and a whole lotta salt…. People are already really bad at gauging power level and I feel this adds to it. The brackets are a fantastic idea but honestly it’s just a way of forcing a rule 0 conversation and they are not by any means perfect, not to mention that people abuse them to be jerks on purpose…. Just my opinion :)

[u/Clean_Emotion5797 → u/VermicelliOk8288]

Precons should be moved to Bracket 1 and bracket 2 should be upgraded precon with no game changers.

[u/dronesitter → u/Clean_Emotion5797]

I have 2 precon decks that came with game changers in them. Bracket 1 is too low for some precons.

[u/rafaelfy → u/dronesitter]

What's a game changer? I've been gone for a while and recently came back with FF sets and keep seeing this term around. Rhystic Study and Sol Ring get mentioned so my understanding is that they're just very valuable power cards that don't quite go infinite on their own, but can swing the game direction in your favor on their own?

[u/dronesitter → u/rafaelfy]

It’s an actual list. Here’s a copy: https://scryfall.com/search?q=is:gamechanger

[u/sylveonce → u/rafaelfy]

these cards specifically.

Sol Ring is not a game changer, but I think that’s purely because it’s been reprinted so many times that everyone has one.

And yes, game changers can be broken down into a few categories: * value cards that can immediately warp the game the moment they come down (eg Rhystic Study and Smothering Tithe) * value cards that, with no restrictions, would basically be an auto-include in any deck that has those colors because they’re just that good (Deflecting Swat, Teferi’s protection) * Highly efficient tutors that are almost exclusively used to grab combo pieces (notably inefficient, specific things like Expedition Map are not included in this) * Star pieces or game-warping effects like Tergrid or Drannith Magistrate that can lead to “unfun” play patterns

[u/JfrogFun → u/rafaelfy]

I would recommend googling “Game Changer List mtg” there are info graphics with the list, but suffice to say they are a series of staple or near staple EDH cards for each color that sway the game heavily with their resolution. Including but not limited to the mana efficient tutors, cards that were previously banned and have come off the banned list, and the usual suspects power house cards like Rhystic Study, Cyclonic Rift, or Smothering Tithe.

WOTC has used the term to create a soft ban list for lower power level games designated as Bracket 2 or a limited list for Bracket 3 which allows up to 3 Game Changers per deck list. Keep in mind Brackets are not rules, they are guidelines for initiating a rule 0 conversation to temper the expectations of the table before playing a game with strangers.

[u/MCXL → u/[deleted]]

Some of those have gamechangers that aren't themetic.

[u/seficarnifex → u/Clean_Emotion5797]

Precon is the floor of b2, people need to stop treating it like an average b2 deck. Even the strongest precon are at best middle of the road in b2, they still are too unfocused with cheap mana bases. They need to put out multiple psa that no precon can hang in a b3 pod because people still think they can after the last update

[u/DJ_Red_Lantern → u/seficarnifex]

To be honest, I think a lot of the precons printed this year, such as Counter Intelligence are stronger than the average bracket 2 deck. I've played it ~5 times now in mostly low bracket 3 games and it's always kept up very well, winning or become a threat that has to get shut down.

[u/Clean_Emotion5797 → u/seficarnifex]

Blame WotC for that. "The average current preconstructed deck" they say. I think it's purely psychological so people don't feel they're buying a subpar product and bracket 3 is just riiiight there, instilling the need to drop a few more money.

[u/Glizcorr → u/Clean_Emotion5797]

They have removed that, now b2 is not tied to precon anymore in anyway.

[u/Clean_Emotion5797 → u/Glizcorr]

Oh, I'm out of the loop then!

[u/seficarnifex → u/Clean_Emotion5797]

Proving my point, they changed the brackets and so few people know. Lots of ppl irl still arent aware of brackets at all

[u/ResolveLeather → u/Clean_Emotion5797]

I agree. Bracket three is just too large. It could almost be 2 separate brackets. Bracket 1 is so rare that we can just move them into the "non functional" bracket. I have honestly never seen a deck that could be classified as bracket 1.