Your deck's power level can be determined by two factors:
1) The turn your deck Aims to Win defined as: The earliest turn your deck can reasonably (more than 10% of the time), if met with no opposition, fulfill one of the following conditions:
2) The restrictions on each power level. (Thoroughly defined in the "Glossary")
Your deck's power level is the lowest that it meets BOTH the aims to win limit AND the restrictions of that power level.
For example if a deck aims to win turn 8 (typical for Low Power) but it runs Drannith Magistrate the deck is High Power because it violates the STAX restrictions for Low and Mid Power.
Power level scale:
Competitive aka CEDH(9-10): Decks in this category must be capable of very consistently threatening a win or preventing a player from winning via STAX or instant speed responses by turn 3 at the latest.
- ONE FREE MULLIGAN
- ONLY PLAY AGAINST DECKS IN THIS TIER
- IGNORE TABLE ETIQUETTE
High Power(8): No holds barred. Aims to win turn 4-5
- ONE FREE MULLIGAN
- ONLY PLAY AGAINST DECKS IN THIS TIER OR HIGHER
- Anything that isn't competitive (see above) but would make you feel bad to play at a normal table or would lose you friends is at home here.
- No card or mechanic is off limits here but you should still abide by table etiquette.
Mid Power(7): Average power for constructed. Aims to win turn 6-7
- STAX only to propel yourself to victory, not to shut down opponents.
- MLD only as a game ender. If it doesn’t immediately establish a win don’t play it.
- Infinites / Win Combos must have multiple non-commander pieces.
- Moderate removal and counterspells expected.
Low Power(6): Slower than average. Aims to win turn 8+
- STAX only to propel yourself to victory, not to shut down opponents.
- MLD only as a game ender. If it doesn’t immediately establish a win don’t play it.
- Infinites / Win Combos must have multiple non-commander pieces and the deck can't reliably search them.
- Some removal and counterspells expected.
Very Low Power(1-5): These decks are rarely seen in the wild, mostly played by small groups of friends.
- Playgroups in very low power usually have their own specific restrictions. Eg. No fast mana, limited card pools, no infinites, no tutors, etc.
Table Etiquette:
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Your deck must have a wincon that the rest of the deck helps to execute.
(no pure grouphug decks)(no pure STAX decks)
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Be mindful of your opponent's time. Cards and mechanics that take a long time to execute should be used swiftly or sparingly outside of wincons. Eg. Cards like Thieves' Auction and Mechanics like Extra turns, Cascade, and "Restart the game" effects.
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Two free mulligans unless otherwise stated.
Glossary:
Aims to Win: The earliest turn your deck can reasonably (more than 10% of the time), if met with no opposition, fulfill one of the following conditions:
Wincon: Short for win condition. Refers to the combo or board state your deck hopes to achieve to win the game. Control without combos or player damage isn’t a wincon unless it is a complete lockdown.
MLD: Mass Land Destruction.
"MLD only as a game ender" refers to combos like Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Jokulhaups.
STAX: Refers to a playstyle revolving around preventing opponents from playing their decks as intended.
Examples of STAX include but are not limited to:
"STAX only to propel yourself to victory, not to shut down opponents":
As a general rule of thumb the STAX card should be one of the best or only cards that do whatever is "propelling yourself to victory" ignoring entirely the effect on your opponents.
You should also switch decks if your deck revolves around a STAX piece that shuts down an opponent's deck entirely.
Eg. You shouldn't play a Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider deck against a planeswalker deck.
Examples of allowed cards:
Examples of forbidden cards:
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger. Even in a big mana deck there are numerous cheaper and/or better options for mana doubling that don't include STAX.
- Cards with Annihilator. If your goal is combat damage many cheaper and better cards exist.
- Gilded Drake. It may be the best card at what it does but 2 mana to steal a commander is too strong below High Power.
Why this scale?
This scale was built to differentiate mid to high power as specifically and non-subjectively as possible. This allows for fun, consistently paced games and diverse deck building options.
Other Power Level scales have inherent flaws like:
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Equating the cost of a deck to it's Power Level.
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Equating the power of the individual cards to the power of a deck.
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Equating the average length of a game to Power Level.
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Using vague or subjective terms to describe Power Levels resulting in situations where one deck could be reasonably argued to fit into multiple categories.
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Grouping multiple Power Levels together.
Why NOT this scale?
- If your playgroup is particularly tolerant of a mechanic restricted in Low-Mid Power like STAX or Mass Land Destruction. The turn a deck full of these mechanics "Aims to win" will be significantly skewed and can lead to very high power decks in relatively low power games.
