4 Excellent Bracket 3 Commanders to Try Out Next

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

The Commander Bracket system is a set of deckbuilding standards suggested by the Commander Format Panel (CFP) to help players discuss their Commander decks to find even matchups.

Sitting at the center of the five Brackets is Bracket 3, which includes many decks. Here, Commander players teeter between “look how cool this uncommon is” and “I will win at all costs,” leading to decks that employ plenty of pet cards yet still go for the throat—just not as ruthlessly as, say, a cEDH deck.

Today, I’ve compiled four decklists that show off what you can do in Bracket 3 and what makes a good B3 commander.

What Is Bracket 3 in MTG?

Bracket 3 sits at the center of Wizard’s Bracket scale for Commander decks. Unlike Brackets 1 and 2, players can have up to three Game Changers, the strongest cards in the format. Infinite combos are allowed, though cheap, 2-card combos are discouraged. Extra turn cards are okay, as long as you don’t plan to chain them, and only use a few extra turn cards.

As the power level increases, Bracket 3 decks tend to focus less on pet cards and cute synergies in favor of fleshed out, powerful strategies, though they aren’t turbo decks trying to win as fast as possible like Brackets 4 & 5.

What Makes a Commander Good for Bracket 3?

Basically any commander is viable in Bracket 3. Commanders on the extremes of the unplayable/broken spectrum are tough—for example, The Ur-Dragon does nothing while Winota, Joiner of Forces does too much. But nearly all commanders exist between those examples.

Because of this broadness, a good Bracket 3 EDH deck is about the 99 as much as the legend itself. Commanders that provide critical resources, like card advantage or a mana advantage, commanders with well-supported archetypes like elves and +1/+1 counters, or commanders that can win the game with minimal fuss are all excellent options.

Each commander I picked fell into the above categories. Not all of them are cut out for Bracket 4—Otharri, for example, encourages a fair game plan that might struggle in a combo-heavy Bracket.

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

The Commander: Rashmi, Eternities Crafter

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter works well in Bracket 3 because it offers incredible card advantage when you play at instant speed and cast spells on as many opposing turns as possible.

That card advantage lends itself well to a grindy deck or a combo deck that needs to see lots of cards. This deck falls into the latter category, built to use Rashmi to churn through its library and help to assemble winning combos. Rashmi gives the deck the resources to take its time assembling a win in a combo-control strategy.

The Deck

This deck wins by creating infinite mana, then drawing its deck. It can also mill itself (or its opponents) with Stream of Thought, replicated infinitely. Then you play Laboratory Maniac and draw a card—no Thassa's Oracle, as the Game Changer slots are better filled by tutors.

This deck uses the full three Game Changers. Seedborn Muse could have been designed specifically for Rashmi; it certainly feels that way when you play it. Worldly Tutor and Mystical Tutor help to assemble your combos.

Backing up the combo is a very controlling game plan. Rashmi encourages playing at instant speed, so the deck has lots of creatures with flash and instants to keep your opponents from doing anything frightening.

There’s also a small flicker subtheme that came about due to Ghostly Flicker. It’s why you have creature-based interaction in cards like Kogla, the Titan Ape, Marang River Regent, and Frilled Mystic. The rare fair win involves flickering the first two creatures often and attacking.

Combos and Interactions

The most significant infinite loop is the Peregrine Drake + Ghostly Flicker + Archaeomancer combo. Flicker the two creatures, and Archaeomancer returns Ghostly Flicker to hand. A variant on this combo uses Mystic Sanctuary and Tatyova, Benthic Druid instead of Archaeomancer. The Sanctuary puts Flicker on top of your library, and Tatyova’s landfall trigger draws it.

The other main combo is Displacer Kitten + Tamiyo, Collector of Tales + Lotus Petal. Casting the Petal triggers the Kitten, which flickers Tamiyo. You can then use Tamiyo to return the Petal to your hand and start all over.

A non-infinite but crucial interaction is Archaeomancer (or Eternal Witness) and Ghostly Flicker/Displace. Instead of Peregrine Drake, you can flicker control pieces like Frilled Mystic or Marang River Regent repeatedly to control the game until a win surfaces.

Bracket 4 Upgrades

This is already a combo deck, so it upgrades into Bracket 4 quite easily by tweaking the interaction and combo options.

Bracket 4 allows any number of Game Changers, so Thassa's Oracle provides an immediate upgrade over LabMan. Two-card combos are allowed, so ditch Ghostly Flicker loops for Bloom Tender + Freed from the Real, Devoted Druid + any Magic card ever printed, and Hermit Druid + Thassa's Oracle.

Blue’s premium interaction like Force of Will and Force of Negation must come in, as should other high-powered staples like fast mana and Rhystic Study.

Not only does this make the deck stronger, but it also improves Rashmi; once you add more 0-mana plays, it becomes much easier to trigger it each turn.

Otharri, Suns’ Glory

Otharri, Suns' Glory | Illustration by Marta Nael

The Commander: Otharri, Suns’ Glory

Otharri, Suns' Glory snowballs with experience counters to bring down the pod. It encourages an aggressive strategy that wants the game to end shortly after Otharri comes down. This level of aggression might be a little much for Bracket 2, which makes it a perfect choice for Bracket 3, where a generic beatdown engine is more welcome.

The Deck

This Otharri build employs similar strategies to a Voltron deck, largely because it’s built entirely around Otharri. Most of the 99 supports Otharri with damage and card draw or by protecting Otharri. The primary difference between this and a more traditional Voltron strategy is that the deck doesn’t stack buffs on Otharri.

The general game plan is simple: Play something that rewards you for attacking with Otharri, then play Otharri, preferably with a protection spell up. Then attack relentlessly and grind the table to dust.

Combos and Interactions

A glorious part of aggro is its straightforward nature. That’s not the same as calling it simple; sequencing matters to maximize your potential. But pretty much any player can pick this deck up and start to jam games with a reasonable understanding of its interactions.

The most important thing to consider is how you stack abilities with cards like Norn's Choirmaster and Windcrag Siege. You want to proliferate before you make tokens with Otharri (or Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, which acts as a backup commander).

Bracket 4 Upgrades

Otharri is a tough sell in Bracket 4, but fair decks work there, too. The first step? Upgrade the ramp package with fast mana like Mana Vault, Ancient Tomb, Jeska's Will, Mox Diamond—anything that gets Otharri out fast.

The interaction suite could still use an upgrade, but it looks a little different here than with Rashmi. This deck wants stax pieces and disruptive creatures. Cards like Magus of the Moon, Drannith Magistrate, and High Noon ought to throw enough obstacles at your opponents to buy time for Otharri to attack. Additional protection from countermagic with cards like Deflecting Swat and Redirect Lightning would also be worth considering.

Shalai and Hallar

Shalai and Hallar | Illustration by Mila Pesic

The Commander: Shalai and Hallar

Shalai and Hallar is an excellent commander for Bracket 3 because its archetype, +1/+1 counters, has ample support. +1/+1 counters have gotten so many powerful tools that building it at Bracket 2 would require you to power down the deck deliberately and to avoid its best cards; this deck isn’t interested in that.

The Deck

This deck rivals Otharri, Suns' Glory in terms of straightforwardness: Play creatures, cover them in counters, and pummel your opponents. It’s a good old-fashioned slugfest, a Commander deck that wants to make the numbers go up. Much of its power comes from the deep support +1/+1 counters have; recent additions like Ouroboroid, Court of Garenbrig, and Generous Pup are especially noteworthy.

The deck also has a legendary creature subtheme. A +1/+1 counter deck naturally wants some legends; Kodama of the West Tree, Bristly Bill, and Pir, Imaginative Rascal are archetype staples. The legendary subtheme was inspired by Ultimate Spider-Man. It works very well with Shalai and Hallar’s trigger and took little work to incorporate. Additional payoffs for the high legend count include Captain Sisay and Annie Joins Up.

Combos and Interactions

This deck’s interactions are as straightforward as having a card like Dusk Legion Duelist that rewards you for putting counters on creatures and cards to put counters on it.

Bracket 4 Upgrades

Jumping this deck to Bracket 4 only need a few changes, like Rashmi.

Ditch beating face and the legendary subtheme for combos. The deck already has half of several infinites; toss in The Red Terror or War Elemental, and Shalai and Hallar obliterates the pod. Heliod, Sun-Crowned makes Walking Ballista similarly lethal. These are also the perfect colors to exploit Devoted Druid.

Then upgrade the interaction and fast mana. The deck can’t use free countermagic, but disruptive cards like Drannith Magistrate and Deafening Silence go up in value with higher power levels. There are also more generically powerful Game Changers to add, like The One Ring and Smothering Tithe.

Teval, the Balanced Scale

Teval, the Balanced Scale | Illustration by Chris Rahn

The Commander: Teval, the Balanced Scale

Teval, the Balanced Scale quickly became one of Magic’s most popular commanders. It’s the de facto leader for the archetype that cares about cards leaving your graveyard and a fantastic lands commander.

Much of Teval’s power comes from being a self-fueling engine: Its second ability cares about cards leaving the yard, which the attack triggers does while filling it. Each card that triggers when cards leave the graveyard makes Teval stronger because it’s more likely to create additional triggers just for attacking.

The Deck

This deck focuses on getting cards in and out of the graveyard, with a secondary lands package. The core focuses on that ever-impressive leaves the graveyard package. Teval's Judgment turns it into a long-term advantage, Insidious Roots makes Teval’s tokens tap for mana, and Syr Konrad, the Grim provides a win condition.

Plenty of other additions pull cards from the graveyard, like Six, Icetill Explorer, and Eternal Witness. A handful of cards that you can cast or exile from the graveyard, like Subterfuge and Dread Return, bolster this further.

Teval employs the three Game Changers allowed in Bracket 3 to serve the land package. Two of them, Field of the Dead and Glacial Chasm, practically are the land package, with Crop Rotation to find them—though you have more land tutors in Urza's Cave, Sylvan Scrying, and Expedition Map.

Combos and Interactions

This deck uses the classic Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage combo. With both lands in play, copy Dark Depths with Stage to invoke the legend rule. Keep the copy of Depths and sacrifice the original. After you sacrifice the original, the copy sees it has no counters, and you get a Marit Lage.

Speaking of Teval and lands, the commander combos with Glacial Chasm. You don’t need to worry about the cumulative upkeep with Teval. Simply sacrifice the land, then reanimate it. That provides an extremely powerful land and a resource loop to keep the triggers rolling.

You can establish a similar loop with Life from the Loam and Barren Moor. If you have Loam in your graveyard, you can cycle Barren Moor, then dredge Loam instead of drawing. Loam can then recur Barren Moor. The deck contains many of these little loops.

Bracket 4 Upgrades

Teval isn’t so different from other decks when upgrading for Bracket 4: Get in some combos and busted cards! Notably, this is the first deck that can consider Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact, though those push it towards Bracket 5.

Another path is The Gitrog Monster. Everybody’s favorite legendary frog has a few potent though complex loops that see fringe cEDH play. That package could work with Teval; while you lose the consistency of The Gitrog Monster being in your hand, you get blue interaction plus Thassa's Oracle.

Commanding Conclusion

Sol Ring | Illustration by Mike Bierek

Building a good Bracket 3 deck is tricky. Make the deck too weak, and it can’t hang with the strong ones, but push it too far and you won’t have a satisfying game then, either. Much of that hinges on the commander, but the 99 is just as important.

Which Bracket 3 commanders are your favorite? How do you build them and keep balance? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!