Best Bracket 3 Commanders In MTG

Summary

• Decks in bracket 3 of MTG are stronger, limited to three Game Changer cards.
• Queza’s deck relies on card draw for life gain, minimal Game Changers.
• Nahiri’s equipment deck is versatile, aided by absence on the Game Changers list.

You might be wondering which legendary creatures fit into each category of Magic: The Gathering‘s brackets. Decks in the third bracket are generally stronger than your average preconstructed deck, but not completely optimized to play at maximum power.

While theoretically, any commander can slot into any bracket, some are clearly more powerful than others and can push the boundaries of what to expect. If you’re looking for some new inspiration for your decks, we have you covered.

As a quick refresher, a Bracket 3 Commander deck can include up to three Game Changer cards, has no early-game two-card infinite combos, few extra turn cards, and no mass land destruction.

10

Queza, Augur Of Agonies

Sit Back And Win

One of the most natural things you can do in a Magic game is drawing a card, so why not get rewarded for doing so? With Queza, Augur or Agonies out, you can gain a life when you draw a card, and one of your opponents loses a life.

You don’t need many Game Changer cards to help win with this deck, just a little bit of protection for Queza, plenty of card draw effects, and some counterspells to keep the game in your favor. Not to mention, there are plenty of other effects in Magic that damage your opponents just for drawing cards, so you can double or even triple up on Queza’s effect.

9

Nahiri, Forged In Fury

Never Leave Home Without A Sword

There is an argument that equipment-based decks are all but solved in Magic, with the core suite of equipment being fairly ubiquitous. But that doesn’t mean that this deck archetype isn’t good, especially with Nahiri, Forged in Fury leading the charge.

As it stands, there are no pieces of equipment on the Game Changers list, and red is the color with the least amount of cards on the list, so you’re open to using tons of other options when building your deck. The nice thing with this Nahiri is that even her commander tax is influenced by her affinity for equipment ability, so with enough equipment out, you won’t have to pay extra mana to recast her.

8

Arahbo, Roar Of The World

PSPPSPPSP

Kindred decks are often a very fun choice for players looking to play something a bit more casual while still very efficient and synergistic. Arahbo, Roar of the World is the perfect option for players looking to play a fun Cat deck that can absolutely smash your opponent’s face turn after turn.

The nice thing with Arahbo is that its Eminence ability activates from the command zone, giving one of your kitties a pretty powerful +3/+3 boost to its stats. There are no Game Changer kindred cards, letting you use those three slots available to you to slot in cards like The One Ring for a little protection and card draw.

7

Zimone And Dina

So Much Potential

Another commander based around drawing cards, Zimone and Dina is a bit more of a slow build than Queza, but comes with a few more abilities to make them more appealing. Drawing a second card on each turn lets you drain an opponent of two life.

Built into the duo creature is a tap effect that lets you sacrifice a creature to draw a card and then put a land from your hand into play. Once you reach the eight land threshold, you can do it again. Picking your Game Changers will be difficult, especially considering the number of blue and black cards available to choose from, but Rhystic Study and some hard tutors are a good choice.

6

Jodah, The Unifier

The Legendary King

The rare five color commander, Jodah, the Unifier is a bit of a boogeyman in Commander. Playing him paints a very big target on your back, but the nice thing with him is that you don’t need many Game Changers to make him good.

Since he effectively gives you cascade for legendary spells, you can double up on every spell you cast, keeping your board full and putting you ahead of your opponents in no time. Jodah is a very good Commander whose deck practically builds itself once you start adding legendary cards to it.

5

Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice

You Can See Their Aura

Auras are the name of the game with Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice, and this mono-white commander is very good at with them. Any time an aura comes into play under your control, so long as you cast it, you get to search your deck for another aura and attach it to Light-Paws.

It takes very little effort to keep stocking up auras on Light-Paws, and there are plenty of auras with totem armor or that grant indestructibility so you can keep them safe to start pumping out commander damage straight to your opponent’s face.

4

Voja, Jaws Of The Conclave

A Unique Kindred

Not quite an Elf deck, and not quite a Wolf deck, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave dominates the battlefield with a multitude of ways to push tons of damage. Attacking with Voja lets you put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, equal to the number of Elves you control. Then you get to draw a card for each Wolf you control.

Even if Voja is your only Wolf, you get to draw a card each combat step. And if you have even a few Elves, you can still pump your team to huge heights. While Voja suffers from much of the same weakness of overcommitting to the board that many creature-based decks have, the sheer amount of power you can amass in just a few turns makes the risk worth it.

3

Baylen, The Haymaker

Tokens Galore

There are plenty of ways to make use of tokens in Magic and Baylen, the Haymaker does some exceptional work with them, no matter what type of tokens you’re making. Baylen comes loaded with three abilities, you can tap two tokens to make one mana of any color, tap three tokens to draw a card, or tap four to put three +1/+1 counter on Baylen and give him trample for the turn.

Since you can do all these at instant speed, you can wait until it’s right before your turn to tap all your available tokens to either draw a bunch of cards or pump up Baylen, and have them all untapped and ready to be used again on your turn.

2

Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

A Rarity Among Commanders

One of only a few commanders that are considered Game Changers on their own, Kinnan Bonder Prodigy is a powerful card that is somewhat easily hamstrung by any number of taxing effects that can make him somewhat weaker compared to other competitive commanders.

Other than that, if your opponents don’t have some early-game removal, Kinnan can spiral out of control rather quickly since he doubles up all your mana production and provides you a way to cheat out creatures early in the game.

1

The First Sliver

All Others Are Secondary

Slivers have long been a strong if not somewhat stagnant kindred deck in Magic, but there’s no denying how powerful these creatures are. Since Magic has focused on making great kindred-based cards, the deck still climbs in power and optimization year after year.

The First Sliver gives all your Sliver spells cascade, which is incredibly important given your need to pump out as many Slivers as possible as quickly as you can. Though you need to be careful with your Game Changer selection, you often won’t need them as the overwhelming power of the Sliver archetype can quickly overcome many decks.