Bracket 1: Exhibition
Experience: Throw down with your ultra-casual Commander deck!
Winning is not the primary goal here, as it's more about showing off something unusual you've made. Villains yelling in the art? Everything has the number four? Oops, all Horses? Those are all fair game! The games here are likely to go long and end slowly.
Just focus on having fun and enjoying what the table has brought!
Deck Building: No cards from the Game Changers list. No intentional two-card infinite combos, mass land denial, or extra-turn cards. Tutors should be sparse.
Bracket 2: Core
Experience: The easiest reference point is that the average current preconstructed deck is at a Core (Bracket 2) level.
While Bracket 2 decks may not have every perfect card, they have the potential for big, splashy turns, strong engines, and are built in a way that works toward winning the game. While the game is unlikely to end out of nowhere and generally goes nine or more turns, you can expect big swings. The deck usually has some cards that aren't perfect from a gameplay perspective but are there for flavor reasons, or just because they bring a smile to your face.
Deck Building: No cards from the Game Changers list. No intentional two-card infinite combos or mass land denial. Extra-turn cards should only appear in low quantities and are not intended to be chained in succession or looped. Tutors should be sparse.
Bracket 3: Upgraded
Experience: These decks are souped up and ready to play beyond the strength of an average preconstructed deck.
They are full of carefully selected cards, with work having gone into figuring out the best card for each slot. The games tend to be a little faster as well, ending a turn or two sooner than your Core (Bracket 2) decks. This also is where players can begin playing up to three cards from the Game Changers list, amping up the decks further. Of course, it doesn't have to have any Game Changers to be a Bracket 3 deck: many decks are more powerful than a preconstructed deck, even without them!
These decks should generally not have any two-card infinite combos that can happen cheaply and in about the first six or so turns of the game, but it's possible the long game could end with one being deployed, even out of nowhere.
Deck Building: Up to three cards from the Game Changers list. No intentional early-game two-card infinite combos. Extra-turn cards should only appear in low quantities and are not intended to be chained in succession or looped. No mass land denial.
Bracket 4: Optimized
Experience: It's time to go wild!
Bring out your strongest decks and cards. You can expect to see explosive starts, strong tutors, cheap combos that end games, mass land destruction, or a deck full of cards off the Game Changers list. This is high-powered Commander, and games have the potential to end quickly.
The focus here is on bringing the best version of the deck you want to play, but not one built around a tournament metagame. It's about shuffling up your strong and fully optimized deck, whatever it may be, and seeing how it fares. For most Commander players, these are the highest-power Commander decks you will interact with.
Deck Building: There are no restrictions (other than the banned list).
Bracket 5: cEDH
Experience: This is high power with a very competitive and metagame-focused mindset.
"Mindset" is a key part of that description: Much of it is in how you approach the format and deck building. It's not just no holds barred, where you play your most powerful cards like in Bracket 4. It requires careful planning: There is care paid into following and paying attention to a metagame and tournament structure, and no sacrifices are made in deck building as you try to be the one to win the pod. Additionally, there is special care and attention paid to behavior and tableside negotiation (such as not making spite plays or concessions) that play into the tournament structure.
cEDH, or "competitive Commander" and similar names, is where winning matters more than self-expression. You might not be playing your favorite cards or commanders, as pet cards are usually replaced with cards needed in the meta, but you're playing what you think will be most likely to win.
Deck Building: There are no restrictions (other than the banned list).
