Are there tiers for multiplayer?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on June 18, 2018, 2:58 p.m. by Stellar_Cartographer
I know it often comes down to deck construction, but are their competitiveness /difficulty tiers for casual/multiplayer Commander? I want to get a good feel for how different decks/archetypes stack up so that I don't end up bringing an over/underpowered deck to a friendly game. Is there analysis or conventional wisdom on this? what do you think?
As a general guide, you can use this: [List - Multiplayer] EDH Generals by Tier. However, that is really more of an overall guideline, and should not be taken as Gospel.
Frankly, I think budget is a more important factor than the competitiveness of the Commander or the deck archetype. For ease of reference, I split Commander into three basic tiers defined by their optimization. Personally, I think the fastest, most recognizable way to recognize these "tiers" is looking at the lands.
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The most optimized decks will use the Alpha duel lands. These tend to be finely tuned, perfected decks, full of expensive cards like Imperial Seal.
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Mid-range decks tend to use a couple fetch/shock lands, as well as other lands in the 5-10 dollar range (like check lands). These might have some midrange, expensive cards, but are unlikely to have more than one or two $60+ cards. These decks can sometimes keep up with a tier 1 deck, but it depends on the player/matchup/meta.
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Lower end decks rely on lands that enter the battlefield tapped. Due to their slower mana, they tend to have difficulties competing with tier 1 or 2 decks.
Beyond that, much of Commander is politics and meta. A strictly better deck is not always the winner--the larger threat might be destroyed before it can really take off by a coalition of "worse" decks. So long as your deck falls in the general range of other players, you should be fine.
June 18, 2018 3:31 p.m.
Questonderer says... #4
I think it lies in deck construction more than commander choice, as well as play style.
June 18, 2018 8:43 p.m.
SteelSentry says... #5
cdkime is pretty spot on with the tier measurements. The commander isn't exactly the best measurement (I have a Jund deck that would probably be the center of attention with Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, but I use Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper and fly under the radar), but it can definitely be used as a baseline. It's a little difficult if it's a one-off game, but if you play with the same playgroup or the same LGS you can get a feel for the general power level of the group, if not each person individually.
hecklefeckle says... #2
[List - Multiplayer] EDH Generals by Tier
June 18, 2018 3:24 p.m.