Not Everything is a Seven

    Two players walk into a local game store for a game of Commander. For the sake of the story, let’s call them Jack and Jill. They are paired up in a pod together and as a rule zero discussion they ask that all too familiar question, “On a scale of one to ten, what power level is your deck at?” Jack bought a pre-constructed Eowyn, Shieldmaiden commander deck and researched upgrades on EDHrec. He’s put some time into testing and feels like a six is not quite justified considering the amount of research he has put into the deck so he says that his deck is a seven out of ten. Jill plays in a cEDH pod once per week and is accustomed to that meta. Jill has a Brago, King Eternal deck that runs a few combos to speed up the win conditions, but generally enjoys blink effects in EDH. Knowing that her deck is not able to compete with her cEDH meta, and also has some pet cards, she says that her deck is also a seven, two levels down from Competitive EDH meta decks.

    The game goes exactly as you would expect. The Brago deck gets a couple of removal spells on board and gets a stranglehold on the game. Two turns later, Jill was able to secure one of her combos and secured the victory around turn six or seven. Jack is upset that Jill brought an overpowered deck to a level seven game. Jill is annoyed that Jack brought an underpowered deck against a level seven game and is upset when he got blown out of the water. So the question becomes who is right?

    Before I answer that, we first need to answer what the heck a level seven is. Let’s take a look at the chart below. This is the most generally used chart in terms of power level due to its simplicity.

    So, if we look at the chart, an updated pre-con would be classified as a 5. In Jack’s eyes, Jill’s deck is an 8 or even a 9 being he doesn’t know a lot about cEDH decks. In Jill’s mind, Jack’s deck is a 5 because, while the deck did add a good number of staples, it is still using a large percentage of cards from the pre-constructed list.

    The issue is that, in Commander, we don’t have a formula that is universally known and understood and that can mathematically prove what a definitive power level is. If you don’t believe me, go visit a random local game store you have never been to and test out this experiment. Odds are that your idea of what a powerful deck is will look drastically different from theirs. This is especially true if you are going from a city to a small town or vice versa. Power levels are more art than science.

    We all have a general feel on what an updated pre-constructed deck looks like in commander, but depending on the player’s experiences, they may rate that higher or lower. This can cause these unbalanced games. It isn’t anyone’s fault. Nobody is the bad guy in this context as it is a miscommunication. So who was right or wrong between Jack and Jill? It depends on who you hear the story from. If you ask Jack, Jill is just some pub stomper that brings cEDH decks to casual pods. If you ask Jill, Jack is a hyper casual player that overestimates his deck’s ability and who acts very salty when he loses. Both sides are only going to give you half of the truth. The problem is that we are trying to assign numbers to very subjective things.

    My advice would be to use art to measure art.  Instead of asking the table, “what power level are we playing?” I have begun asking, “What is the vibe of the game we are looking to play?” Is this a relaxed game where we're just talking and sending random attacks at each other? I probably should keep the control deck out of this one. Are we playing at a higher power? This might not be the best time to test out the new Owl Tribal I have brewing. If you know the expectation of the game, it is a lot earlier to accommodate or even know if that is a pod you would like to be a part of.

    You can also learn about what types of strategies people do not want to play against at that time. For example, most decks I have contain a plan B in the event that plan A doesn’t work. Sometimes that is a combo, sometimes that is an alternative win condition like Approach the Second Sun. Because some people find games that end with combos anticlimactic, I have decks that don't run them for those pods. By getting an understanding of what type of game people are looking to get into, it can reduce the likelihood of miscommunication that can often happen. 

    Yes, there will still be some unbalanced games, but try to not let them ruin your whole evening.  At the end of the day, we all just want to play this game that we love and feel like we have a chance to win or at least be relevant in the pods we play in. Try to accommodate as best as you can and speak up about any concerns you might have. Most commander players are willing to be flexible for the sake of the game. I hope this helps, and remember, not everything is a seven.

Thank you for reading!

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