Banned, Restricted, and Changed.

Upkeep

Can you believe the next set is Final Fantasy? The release date is June 13, which means that spoiler season is going to start up very, very shortly. Personally, I’ve only played FFX, which means that there is going to be a small selection of cards from this set that are nostalgic for me and a whole bunch that are totally new.

I’m still pretty cagey on Universes Beyond sets, although the saga creatures they’ve designed to represent “summons” in Final Fantasy are looking very, very cool. That said, the prices we’re seeing for preorders are making me think there’s almost no way I’ll be buying any of this, which is a bummer. It doesn’t seem sustainable, and yet every expensive thing WotC puts out gets bought out faster than you can say, “Nee!”

Still, there are sure to be some cool cards, and there’s always the Secret Lair: Epson Edition versions. Those are cheap!

Draw

Need some gas to get you through the day? Check out the links below for the latest and greatest in the world of Commander.

Changing the Changers. What a game!

The hot tea is the new modifications to the Game Changers list and the Bracket System. If you didn’t catch the news through another outlet, check out the link below to see the official post.

How do I feel? I’m so glad you asked, dear reader.

Generally speaking, my experience with the new Bracket System has been positive, once I came to a specific realization.

I really like Bracket 2.

You see, before the Bracket System was implemented, I, like most commander players, used the “power level” system.

The power level system was generally based on the speed at which your deck would win. Power level one decks might not even be ABLE to win. Power level ten? We’re looking at turn one to turn three kills. The general population?

“Well, it’s about a seven…”

What’s a seven? Well it turns out, a “seven” was a very wide range of decks that included (but was not limited to); upgraded precons, kindred decks, optimized casual decks, mild stax decks, powerful tutors, and the general consensus that we wanted a game to last anywhere between 60 and 150 minutes.

Yeah, pretty broad.

Once the Game Changers list and the Bracket System came out, it seemed like the general consensus was that Bracket 3 was the new “Power Level 7”. A catch-all for the most general and broad power level of commander gameplay. Yet somehow, playing in Bracket 3 always felt like punching up! "I know I’m allowed three Game Changers, but I just don’t like playing generically powerful cards!” I used to say.

That’s when I realized…

…I’m a Bracket 2 kind of player.

You see, in Bracket 2, you don’t have to worry about the bogeymen of commander. No Smothering Tithe, no Rhystic Study, and certainly no Cyclonic Rift (internal shudder). Just good old fashioned honest Magic, with some very interesting and diverse strategies enabled by the limitations put in place by the Bracket System.

Are there games with very powerful Bracket 2 decks that have the upper hand from Turn 1? Yes. But they’re few and far between in my experience. Overall, I continue to find that my games in Bracket 2 tend to last about 60 minutes, with balanced power (excepting the Turn 1 Sol Rings, ew) and a diverse pool of interesting commanders and cards. I do not find myself missing ANY of the Game Changers, and have zero interest including them in my decks.

So, that’s my spiel. Now that the Game Changers list has expanded to 61 cards, I’ll be curious to see if that affects us down here in Bracket 2. I know I need to take Deflecting Swat out of a deck, but other than that, I don’t think I was even running any of the new additions.

End Step

What about you? Are you still playing in Bracket 3? Fighting your way through tax and stax to make your plays? Have you dipped your toes into the Game Changer-less realm of Bracket 2 or 1? If so, let us know how it’s going!