The new Commander Bracket system is the latest hot topic in Magic The Gathering (aside from the Sponge Bob slander, which we’ll tackle another time). While most players I’ve spoken to at my weekly games are aware of it, they are generally indifferent to it and aren’t enforcing the criteria during their games.

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To a table full of MTG Commander players, I had an impromptu focus session.

There were no outright rejections of the beta system (although I think it’s unfair to mono red players, that post HERE).

And the biggest take away was that the system was not “rigid”. Meaning that there was a lot of interpretations that could be taken from the requirement of each bracket. No one had encountered anyone taking the bracket system into consideration before choosing their decks ahead of a game.

Many of the players are continuing playing Commander like they always have.

And the big word here is interpretation. The reason why no one is using the Commander bracket system is because players continue to define the power of their own deck. Many disputes don’t arise until the middle of the game or after the game is already completed.

Then there are the polite players that put etiquette first and will just stay silent when a player misrepresents their decks.

All of this isn’t necessarily a problem, but if they’re trying to better Commander then it’s also not a solution.

And you can’t get too deep with the requirements because you end up talking about individual cards. And that turns into a ban list.

To end things on a happy note, that table had a great afternoon of games.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

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