What Is The New Commander Bracket Beta System?

The Commander Bracket System is now in Beta. What is the system? Is it mandatory? Where can you read about it? Kristen has the lowdown.

Gavin Verhey announced today on the DailyMTG Stream that the Commander Bracket System was now in public beta. The stream had a great lowdown of the work that Gavin has been doing with the Commander Format Panel, and I advise you to check it out if you can.

If you’re wanting a quick rundown on the system, though, I’ll do my best to summarize the main takeaways here. Head over to the Wizards article for more information.

THE COMMANDER BRACKET SYSTEM

When the Commander Formant Panel formed, the initial idea of a tier-based system for cards was discussed. Though the idea wasn’t fully fleshed out at the time, it formed the basis for ongoing discussion and refinement.

The endpoint of that discussion is the Commander Bracket System, and the Game Changers list. The system has five brackets:

• Bracket 1: Exhibition
• Bracket 2: Core
• Bracket 3: Upgraded
• Bracket 4: Optimized
• Bracket 5: cEDH

These brackets are designed as a communication tool. They are not replacing pregame conversations, only augmenting them. They are not required in order to play a game of Commander. If your playgroup is doing a great job with communication, then more power to you! You might not need to use such a system.

The Bracket System gives clear indications and parameters for calibrating the Commander experience between players. It gives a foundation for pre-game discussions, and should be especially useful for those in untrusted playgroups like at the LGS or at larger Magic events.

The goal of the system is to help players avoid big mismatches in powerlevel, as best as possible. This system – nor any other – can account for bad actors. As Gavin said:

“If someone wants to lie to you and play mismatched, we can’t prevent that. However, a lot of people just want to earnestly play games with decks similar to theirs, and this aims to help in that regard. There are many ways to game the system. Be honest with yourself and others as you play with them.”

Commander Bracket System Article

So, what do the brackets mean?

THE COMMANDER BRACKETS EXPLAINED

You can look at the brackets as a way to help find a good game.

• Bracket 1: Exhibition – where winning isn’t the primary goal, as it’s more about showing off something cool and unusual you’ve made
• Bracket 2: Core – where decks are at the level of the average current preconstructed deck 

Brackets 1 & 2 feature games with no cards from the Game Changer list. They also have guidance on when and where you should see Extra Turn spells, Two-card infinite combos, and “Mass Land Denial”, a new term that encompasses Mass Land Destruction and various Mana Denial effects.

• Bracket 3: Upgraded – which feature decks with carefully selected cards, with work having gone into figuring out the best card for each slot.
  

Bracket 3: Upgraded features up to three cards from the Game Changer list, and only sparse Extra Turn effects, with no mass land denial and no “early” two-card infinite combos. By early, we’re meaning before turn six or so.

There are two more additional brackets which feature no restriction on the Game Changer list.

• Bracket 4: Optimized – where you can expect to see explosive starts, strong tutors, cheap combos that end games, mass land destruction, or one player’s deck be full of cards off the Game Changer List
  
• Bracket 5: cEDH – all bets are off, this is the highest power Magic, with the intention of playing to an established meta. Card choices are more about teching for the meta than playing pet cards.

One huge takeaway is that you shouldn’t be only picking a bracket for your deck based on how many Game Changer cards are in them. If your deck doesn’t have Game Changers, but you know that it’s a high powered deck, then maybe you should be pitching it at an Upgraded or Optimized level. 

SO WHAT IS THE GAME CHANGERS LIST?

The Game Changers list currently features 40 cards. You can read the ethos behind this list in the article from Gavin. The Game Changers list is not set in stone, but features some of the most impactful cards in the format.

As opposed to the early ideas of what a list of problematic cards might look like, the game changers list is one easy to read list of cards rather than having separate lists or point values.

These aren’t by any means a new banlist – and you don’t have to follow the suggested quantity of cards for each bracket if you are confident you can succeed in matchmaking discussions. They are however a watchlist, and if any cards are banned in the future, they will almost certainly be cards on the Game Changers list. At the same time, if any cards come off the banned list, they might end up on the Game Changers list in the future.

The cards on the Game Changer list are off the table for Exhibition and Core games, and we advise people to use up to three cards from this list at the Upgraded Bracket tier.

The cards on the list are as follows:

Drannith Magistrate
Enlightened Tutor
Serra’s Sanctum
Smothering Tithe
Trouble in Pairs
Cyclonic Rift
Expropriate
Force of Will
Fierce Guardianship
Rhystic Study
Thassa’s Oracle
Urza, Lord High Artificer
Mystical Tutor
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Bolas’s Citadel
Demonic Tutor
Imperial Seal
Opposition Agent
Tergrid, God of Fright
Vampiric Tutor
Ad Nauseam
Jeska’s Will
Underworld Breach
Gaea’s Cradle
Survival of the Fittest
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
The One Ring
Trinisphere
Chrome Mox
Grim Monolith
Lion’s Eye Diamond
Mox Diamond
Mana Vault
Ancient Tomb
Glacial Chasm
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
Yuriko, The Tiger’s Shadow
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

To reiterate, these cards are not in any way banned. But they are cards that the Commander Format Panel, and Wizards, have deemed to be highly impactful on how games are played out. Just like Mass Land Denial, Extra Turns and Tutors have a big impact on power level, these cards do too. 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

If you’re in an established playgroup adept at pregame chats, then not much. The Bracket System is a tool, first and foremost, and while no system can legislate away bad actors, it’s designed to help untrusted play at your LGS or events.

Try out the system, try it with your friends, and figure out what you like about it – and any feedback you might have. This is a Beta, so feedback is welcomed through the correct channels, with the best place being the Official Magic Discord.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Commander Bracket Beta will be tested at MagicCon Chicago, and feedback will be collected in the next couple of months in order to refine the system later this year. Another update is likely in April, Q2 2025, the earliest point at which unbans might happen.

Major deckbuilding sites like Moxfield and Archidekt will roll out tech to flag bracket cards, which is a really cool update.

For clarification and extra info, check the DailyMTG Stream or Gavin’s Article, which contains an FAQ.

If you have some burning questions about the bracket system, I’ll return to the feedback and do a mailbag column in the future.