A note about cEDH (Bracket 5): cEDH is not easily determined by card choices alone. Players often self-select into this bracket. For this reason, the calculator will not intentionally put a deck in bracket 5. It will, however, also rate your deck on 1-10. Bracket 5 cEDH decks often land in the 8.5-10 territory.
How This Calculator Decides Your Bracket
Our commander power level calculator provides a quick and accurate bracket determination by weighing a few factors all at once:
- Evaluates the raw number of game-changer cards.
- 0 game changers: Bracket 2
- 1-3: Bracket 3
- 4+: Bracket 4
- Number of two-card combos (powered by Commander Spellbook with some weighting on speed)
- Early, fast combos that can be assembled before turn 4: Bracket 4
- Mid/late-game combos (turn 5 or later): Bracket 3
- Difficult combos that often require multiple cards and don't work until the late-game: Bracket 2
- Any mass land denial? Bracket 4.
- Extra-turn cards
- A few (1-3): Bracket 2 (no bump)
- Looped or infinite turns: Bracket 4
How the Commander Bracket System Works
Bracket 1: Exhibition / Unfocused Tier
Power levels 1 and 2 fall into the Unfocused tier. This is where decks without a very clear wincon tend to end up. These decks can be a result of poor deck construction, but they can also be intentionally bad/funny EDH decks that are simply trying to pull off one very convoluted series of events.
Bracket 2: Core / Focused Tier
Power levels 3 and 4 make up the Focused tier. These decks have a clearer goal for winning the game, but they still aren’t all that strong. These are very casual decks and where a lot of budget decks and Commander precons fall.
Bracket 3: Upgraded / Tuned Tier
Power levels 5 and 6 are in the Tuned tier. This is a tier for decks that are still more casual but have a good amount of synergy and a consistent land base with an appropriate number of lands. You’ll see upgraded precons fall into this category a lot, especially if players just upgrade the land base to be a bit quicker.
Bracket 4: Optimized / Powerful Tier
Power levels 7 and 8 are considered the most powerful decks that are still meant for casual rather than competitive play. These decks run maybe one or two miscellaneous pet cards just for fun, but they’re pretty well-tuned for what they want to do. They’re slightly less efficient than the highest tier decks either because of budgetary restrictions or because their game plan takes a little longer to win.
Bracket 5: Competitive / cEDH
Power levels 9 and 10 are the Competitive tier or what players refer to as cEDH decks. These decks have no room for a card that doesn’t help them win or even a less efficient version of one. These decks tend to be very expensive because they require perfectly tuned mana bases and the most efficient card for any given effect.