You may be wondering which legendary creatures fit into each category of Magic: The Gathering's bracket. Decks in the third bracket are generally stronger than your average pre-engineered Commander deck, but not fully optimized for playing at maximum power.
While theoretically all commanders can be placed in any console, some are clearly more powerful than others and can push the boundaries of what is expected. If you're looking for some new inspiration for your decks, we've got you covered.
As a quick refresher, a Bracket 3 Commander deck can contain up to three Game Changer cards, has no early-game infinite two-card combos, no 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 draw a card, so why not be rewarded for doing so? With Queza, Augur, or Agonies, you can gain a life when you draw a card and one of your opponents loses a life.
You don't need a lot of Game Changer cards to help win with this deck, just some protection for Queza, lots of card draw effects, and some counterspells to keep the game in your favor. Not to mention, there are tons of other effects in Magic that hurt your opponents just for drawing cards, so you can double or even triple Queza's effect.
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9
Nahiri, Forged In Fury
Never leave home without a sword
There's an argument to be made that equipment-based decks are all but settled in Magic, with the core suite of equipment being fairly ubiquitous. But that doesn't mean this deck archetype isn't good, especially with Nahiri, Forged in Fury leading the charge.
As it stands, there is no equipment on the Game Changers list, and red is the color with the fewest cards on the list, so you're open to using plenty of other options when building your deck. The nice thing about this Nahiri is that even her commander tax is affected by her gear skill interest, so with enough gear you don't need to pay extra mana to recast her.
8
Arahbo, Roar Of The World
PSPPSPPSP
Related decks are often a fun choice for players looking for something a little more casual while still being very effective and synergistic. Arahbo, Roar of the World, is the perfect option for players who want to play a fun cat game that can absolutely smash your opponent's face turn after turn.
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The beauty of 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 family cards, leaving you to use the three slots available to you to slot in cards like The One Ring for some protection and card draw.
7
Zimone and Dina
So much potential
Another draw-based commander, Zimone and Dina are a bit slower to build than Queza, but come with a few more abilities to make them more appealing. Drawing a second card each turn allows you to drain an opponent of two life.
Built into the duo creature is a push 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 country threshold, you can do it again. Picking your Game Changers will be difficult, especially given the number of blue and black cards 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 puts a very big target on your back, but the beauty of him is that you don't need a lot of Game Changers to make him good.
Since he effectively cascades legendary spells, you can double up on every spell you cast, keep your board full, and get 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, Voice of the Emperor
You can see their aura
Aurors are the name of the game with Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice, and this mono-white commander is very good at using them. Whenever an aura comes into play under your control, for as long as you discard it, you may search your deck for another aura and attach it to Light-Paws.
It takes very little effort to keep auras on Light-Paws, and there are plenty of auras with totem armor or that are indestructible, so you can keep them safe to start pumping out commander damage right in your opponent's face.
4
Wow, Jaws of the Conclave
A unique family
Not quite an Elf deck, and not quite a Wolf deck, Voja, Jaws of the Conclave dominates the battlefield with a variety of ways to dish out tons of damage. Attacking with Voja allows you to 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 even have a few elves, you can still pump your team to massive 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 many ways to use tokens in Magic, and Baylen, the Haymaker, does an exceptional job with them, no matter what kind of tokens you're making. Baylen comes loaded with three abilities: you can tap two tokens to make a mana of any color, tap three tokens to draw a card, or tap four to put three +1/+1 counters on Baylen and give him trample for luck.
Since you can do all of these at instant speed, you can wait until 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
Cheek, Bonder Prodigy
A rarity among commanders
One of only a few commanders that are considered Game Changers in their own right, Kinnan Bonder Prodigy is a powerful card that is easily hampered by any number of tax effects that can make him slightly weaker compared to other competitive commanders.
Besides that, if your opponents don't have early game removal, Kinnan can get out of hand pretty quickly because he doubles up all your mana production and gives you a way to cheat out creatures early in the game.
1
The first chip
All others are secondary
Slivers have long been a strong, if somewhat stagnant, family deck in Magic, but there's no denying how powerful these creatures are. As Magic has focused on making great clan-based cards, the deck is still climbing in power and optimization year after year.
The First Sliver cascades all your Sliver spells, which is incredibly important given your need to pump out as many Slivers as possible as fast as you can. While you have to be careful with your choice of Game Changer, you often don't need them, as the overwhelming power of the Sliver archetype can quickly overwhelm many decks.
- Franchise
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Magic: The Gathering
- Original release date
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August 5, 1993
- Number of players
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2+
- Age recommendation
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13+
- Length per game
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Variable
