PlayEDH Power Level

Compendium
Introduction

Power Level Basics

Battlecruiser
Low Power
Mid Power
High Power
Maximum Power

Self-Evaluation and Brewing Tools

Deckbuilding Considerations
Battlecruiser
Low Power
Mid Power
High Power
Maximum Power

How Mentors Rate Decks(Coming Soon)

Index of Noteworthy Cards, Synergies, and Combos (Coming Soon)

Introduction
In each of our power levels, in any given pod, with checked decks, you should have
a roughly even chance of winning. By providing you with #deck_checks to help
determine where your list fits in our power levels, we hope to achieve that and
ensure the best curated gameplay experience for EDH on the internet.

Not every deck is immediately suited for these power levels, that is by design.
We may ask you to make adjustments to better fit these power levels. Decks will
often play better when they are built with a specific power level in mind.

These rules are intended as guidelines to be interpreted in the context of the full
deck, and not applied verbatim. If your deck is doing something that violates the
general spirit of one of these power levels while not necessarily breaking a specific
rule, a change may still be required to make the deck fit into a power level.

As it is a scale, we don’t intend for levels to be mixed, decks will fit into a
maximum of one power level. Battlecruiser decks should not be played in Mid, and
High decks should not be played in Battlecruiser. Notably this idea goes both ways,
and being a speedbump is just as bad as pubstomping. Where pubstomping is
taking a deck that cannot be meaningfully interacted with into lower power games,
being a speedbump is taking a deck that cannot interact or pressure in a
meaningful way into a higher powered game. Winning or losing in one power level is
not an indicator to play outside of that power level without adjustment to the deck
itself. No power level is worse than another, and all are valid ways to play the
format.

To access the chats for each power level, go to #role_select and react to the
message to assign the rank you want.

Problematic Cards
The following cards and combinations are banned at the following power levels and
their curated LFG queues:

Gaea’s Cradle - Mid Power, Low Power, Battlecruiser

Mana Crypt - Mid Power, Low Power, Battlecruiser
Thassa’s Oracle + Demonic Consultation and/or Tainted Pact: High Power, Mid
Power, Low Power, Battlecruiser
Negan, the Cold-Blooded: All power levels and all LFG queues.

Power Level Basics

Battlecruiser

Welcome to Battlecruiser. Here, we aim to provide a relaxed play environment for

self-expression through deck deckbuilding, as well as a place to have fun with
precon-level decks. In Battlecruiser, expect to see an emphasis on combat oriented
strategies, developing large boardstates, and less emphasis on highly interactive
games. Removal, in the form of wraths and kill spells are still needed, but due to the
pace of games it is not necessary to run a high density of these effects. While
combat is the most common wincon, it is not the only wincon. Additionally, expect to
find other novel decks focused around more uncommon strategies such as Group
Hug, aesthetic considerations, or other decks where creativity is more important than
efficiency. Players are still expected to play well and aim for wins. Decks should still
function at roughly the same level as a precon, but the “beer & pretzels” mindset is
the focus.
Problematic Cards
In Battlecruiser we do not allow the following cards:
Mana Crypt
Gaea’s Cradle
Other cards can violate the spirit of the Battlecruiser guidelines and are
typically considered problematic or not allowed outside of specific,
unmodified precons that they were included in.

Card Quality vs. Deck Strength

It is acceptable to play with and against powerful and/or expensive cards. However,
taken collectively in a deck, when those cards engineer too much consistency or
speed (Elfball, Slivers, Goblins), it may be worth reevaluating which power level you
aim to play in. While boardstates will from time to time become insurmountable, the
focus on the collective experience of your pod should come first.

Combo in Battlecruiser
Game-ending combos may appear in Battlecruiser, but are exceedingly rare, and
almost always unintentional side-effects of the inclusion of many certain synergistic
cards. They are not efficient, not consistent, and highly prohibitive by card counts
and mana cost. Deliberately brewing a combo deck for Battlecruiser should be
considered against the intention of this power level.

Stax & Hate Pieces in Battlecruiser

Stax decks are not in-line with the expectations our users have for Battlecruiser
games. However, you may encounter certain static hate pieces (Elesh Norn,
Hushbringer, Rule of Law) that may slow the pace of games somewhat. The density
of these cards will be very low or zero in most cases. It is important to still run
removal in the event you encounter these cards.

Mass Land Destruction (MLD) in Battlecruiser

NO!

Removal in Battlecruiser
All decks need to be able to interact with threats other decks present. In
Battlecruiser, the amount of threats that you are expected to encounter in an average
pod should not be overwhelming so you have plenty of space for fun cards.
Preconstructed decks run spot removal and some board wipes, a Battlecruiser deck
is not exempt from this.

You can find examples of approved Battlecruiser decks here.

Low Power

Low Power features decks focused around a defined strategy and win condition. You
should expect games to be played with an eye toward winning the game as opposed
to the more social atmosphere found in Battlecruiser. A variety of archetypes can be
found in Low Power--Infect, Voltron, Aristocrats, Mill, Reanimator, Pillowfort,
Enchantress, Synergetic Tribal, etc. The general pacing tends to be faster than
Battlecruiser, but you should not be rushing toward early wins. Regardless, your
deck will still be expected to use the tools available in your colors to respond to your
opponents’ strategies. The quality of interaction can be on par with or increased from
Battlecruiser. Low Power is the place to play decks that have a cohesive strategy
and focus without speeding to a game ending state like the levels above it.

Problematic Cards
We do not allow the following cards in Low Power:
Mana Crypt
Gaea’s Cradle

Winning in Low Power

You should have a defined strategy to end the game, whether that’s mass combat,
Voltron, or a combo.

Card Quality in Low Power

Decks can include more powerful cards and interactions than in Battlecruiser but will
not meet the same threshold as Mid decks. You will commonly see 2+ CMC rocks
and land sorceries like Kodama’s Reach, but will not typically find “fast mana” like
Chrome Mox, Grim Monolith, and Mana Vault. Fast mana can be played, but not in
significant quantities. The standard for Low Power is a slower pace and decks that
want to move faster should probably tune up to Mid.

Synergy in Low Power

While a degree of synergy is to be expected in Low Power, decks should not typically
be capable of racing to overwhelming value. Effects that “cheat” mana costs
(Omniscience, Cascade) should be occasional and not the entire deck strategy.
Overwhelming mana production (mass mana dorks, numerous mana-doubler
effects) can also potentially be an issue if the deck is propelled forward too quickly
for opponents to manage.

Combo in Low Power

Combos must always require multiple pieces not including the Commander and have
a low barrier to common interaction (creature removal, artifact removal). Infinite
mana should not be paired with Commanders that can serve as an outlet for mana in
this power level, nor with Commanders who can tutor for one. Few tutors should be
found in Low Power and similarly mass draw should be limited in decks with combos.
Combos in general should be slow and easy to interact with; this can be
accomplished by making them cost significant amounts of mana and require multiple
turns and/or pieces to set up.

Stax in Low Power

Stax should generally be soft with more opportunities to play around their effects.
Effects such as mass pillowfort or effects that make permanents enter tapped are
good examples of what can be found in Low. “Harder” stax effects like Winter
Orb/Static Orb/Stasis should be extremely uncommon, and even softer stax effects
should not constitute the main deck strategy.

Mass Land Destruction (MLD) in Low Power

Mass land Destruction should be uncommon in Low but can be allowed as a rare
effect in a deck that can capitalize on MLD without making the effect completely
one-sided. For example, a Voltron deck that uses Armageddon as a way to help
close out the game may be acceptable whereas an ‘Indestructible tribal’ deck
designed specifically to blow up opponents' lands repeatedly would likely be too
oppressive for some decks to deal with.

Interaction in Low Power

Interaction is a requirement; your deck should make good use of the tools available
in its colors. The quality of that interaction does not need to be optimized. For
example, Cancel is a functional counterspell that can potentially work in a Low
Power deck, whereas in Mid Power the average quality for these cards would be
higher. In Low Power you should expect to encounter (and be required to run) cards
like Murder, Putrefy, Unmake, Return to Nature, and so on. Higher quality removal
such as “free” counterspells (Force of Will, Force of Negation, Fierce Guardianship)
etc. are allowed but should be less common. Preconstructed decks typically run
several targeted removal cards and a handful of board wipes; Low decks should
typically improve in both the quantity and quality of interaction from Battlecruiser.

You can find examples of approved Low Power decks here.

Mid Power

Mid Power features highly synergistic strategies, dedicated wincons, efficient

removal and draw, and an emphasis on playing to win against a broad range of
decks. Expect Stax, Combo, Midrange, Control, Aggro, Reanimator, Enchantress,
and just about everything else you can imagine. In Mid, you should anticipate that
your threats will be answered, and be expected to answer threats in kind, leveraging
your deck’s capabilities towards a win. Your deck is expected to make use of the
tools available in your Commander’s colors. Mid is an excellent place to play
powerful, interactive decks, but without the consistency and speed of higher power
levels.

Mid decks must have a way to close out a game. Whether that’s an aggressive
go-wide beatdown plan, a lock, or a game-ending combo, you need a win condition,
as well as a back-up plan in case your main strategy is disrupted.

Problematic Cards
As of now, we do not allow the following cards in Mid Power:
Mana Crypt
Gaea’s Cradle

Winning in Mid Power

Win conditions in Mid should generally be telegraphed over multiple turns, or cost an
excessive amount of mana. Win conditions can be telegraphed in many ways -
requiring more cards, dealing with summoning sickness, mana costs that are
significant enough to split them across multiple turns, conditions that require a
significant board presence to work, like Craterhoof, etc. Ideally, a Mid deck should
not win completely out of nowhere in a single turn unless a large amount of mana
(9+) is spent. This helps ensure that the pacing of Mid decks does not exceed the
density of interaction Mid decks will typically include. For similar reasons, win
conditions that include the Commander receive extra scrutiny in Mid, and a combo
that consists of just one card plus the Commander that will end the game will
typically be too consistent. Similarly, "layered" win conditions with multiple
redundant/resilient pieces, or just a "comboball" of many separate combos will often
be too much for Mid. A Mid deck can set up a value engine quickly, but should not
set up to end the game too quickly.

Card Quality in Mid Power

You can and will encounter some of the most powerful cards in Magic in Mid Power.
Taken individually, these cards are acceptable, but in a deck where they begin to
provide too much advantage against an average pod you may be required by
Mentors or Moderators to make adjustments to help fit our play expectations.
Combo in Mid Power
Combo decks are allowed in Mid, but combo lines should not be as efficient as those
found in higher power levels. A good Mid combo deck should be interactive, risky,
and forecast. The other players at the table should be able to see the combo coming
and have some time to attempt to prepare for it. The combo should have a few
points of failure, whether that be countering a key spell or removing key components.
Additionally, combos should be limited in redundancy. While you should have some
means of attempting your combo again, your combo should not be so low risk that
you can attempt it repeatedly until your opponents cannot answer it.

Mid combos will typically have multiple points of interaction available to stop them.
The more interaction points and the more types of interaction that can stop the
combo, the more likely it is to be acceptable for Mid. For example, a combo that
requires many iterations that each need to wait for the previous iteration to resolve
before the combo can be completed and that consists of creatures and artifacts may
be easier to fit into Mid than a combo that can be reactivated in response to
interaction, completing the combo with the removal still on the stack; or a combo that
can only be stopped by a counterspell.

Stax in Mid Power

Stax decks in Mid are acceptable and have few restrictions, but they need to use
their Stax pieces to propel their own list towards a win, rather than merely slow the
game down for everyone. A typical lock should require significant resource
investment and/or take multiple turns to piece together. Running Zur as the
Commander and popping out a reliably tutorable T3-4 Stasis lock for example would
not typically be acceptable for Mid.

Mass Land Destruction (MLD) in Mid Power

Yes. A game plan oriented around breaking parity is required. Cards like Heroic
Intervention or Boros Charm over an Obliterate, or Armageddon followed up by
Splendid Reclamation should be in mind when including MLD. MLD should not be
used as a way to “restart the game”, it should be a way to attempt to end it.

Interaction in Mid Power

Interaction, in the form of Counterspells, Spot Removal, Graveyard hate, and Wraths
are an absolute necessity. If you think you’re running enough, think again. The
threats you will need to answer in Mid are many, and with each opponent presenting
their own threats the demand for relevant and efficient interaction is paramount. In
Mid, you are expected to use all of the tools available in your colors. For example,
are you running blue? You need multiple counterspells. Additionally, most decks
should have at least one way to remove each type of permanent. Mid decks should
generally have both more and higher quality interaction than an average
preconstructed deck or decks found in Low.
You can find examples of approved Mid Power decks here.
High Power

High Power on PlayEDH aims to accommodate decks that are unable to comfortably
keep up in Maximum power games while still showcasing combos and synergies that
are either too strong or too effective for Mid Power. These decks will focus on
extremely interactive gameplay and feature rapidly-changing game states. All
but some of the most efficient combos and strategies will be seen in High Power. It is
likely to come across lists that are extreme budget versions of Max decks.

Win conditions in High have few restrictions and may not be telegraphed at all.
While a High deck does not need to attempt an early win, High decks will feature
enough efficient interaction to fairly play with combos or other win conditions that can
happen in a single turn. Slower combos or win conditions are still often played in
High, but with a more layered strategy using redundant backups. High decks often
feature more tutors and/or extreme card advantage effects like Necropotence or Ad
Nauseam to increase the consistency of their win conditions (Mid decks will
sometimes contain these cards as well; the delineation is typically whether the deck
is using these cards for "value" as opposed to digging for a win condition). Because
wins can be attempted with so little warning or time to respond, High decks have
more interaction than Mid decks. This tends to focus more on interaction on the
stack than on removal of permanents, though this differs based on the options
available in the deck's colors. Interaction will typically be more efficient than even
Mid; where running all of the free counterspells might happen occasionally in Mid, it's
very common in High. Early impactful plays are expected.

Problematic Cards
Thassa’s Oracle in combination with Demonic Consultation and/or Tainted
Pact
Theros: Beyond Death introduced Thassa’s Oracle, a card that enables incredibly
early and difficult-to-interact-with wins when combined with Demonic Consultation
and/or Tainted Pact. After much deliberation, a decision was made to disallow
playing win lines in High using Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact to exile
your library and then playing Thassa’s Oracle to win the game. Instead, and to
contribute to the health of the power level, users must replace Thassa’s Oracle with
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries or Laboratory Maniac.

Winning in High Power

High decks focus on fast and consistent win conditions, usually with minimal
telegraphing backed up by resilience and interaction. High decks are expected to run
some of the most powerful combos, fast mana, and tutors available to your
commander. With these assumptions in mind and in accordance with maintaining the
above guidelines, all manner of wincons should be anticipated.
Some decks attempt to race to a win as quickly as possible with minimal interaction.
These decks are sometimes referred to as “glass cannons,” as they fold to most
interaction and are often too fast even for High. These decks are better placed in
Max power; while they feature significant weaknesses that Max pods can exploit,
their raw consistent speed places them beyond High power.

Interaction in High Power

High decks will often have more interaction than what you would typically see in Mid
Power decks. This interaction will also be the most efficient interaction possible.
There are some decks that trade resiliency for speed and include minimal
interaction, but the interaction that they do play is still efficient. Mana-efficiency is
often an indicator of a High interaction package. For example, Force of Will and
Fierce Guardianship can and do show up in many decks across all power levels but
High decks will often include all of these cards as well as cards like Mental Misstep.
Many decks, colors permitting, will focus primarily on stack interaction over targeted
removal. When a deck’s colors do not allow for a focus on counter magic, efficient
removal and hate/stax pieces are necessary.

You can find examples of approved High Power decks here.

Maximum Power

This is it. No holds barred. Only the strongest decks will make it.

Decks built for Maximum Power should excel in three categories: Efficiency,
interactivity, and resiliency. These categories can apply in different ways
depending on the overall strategy of the deck (e.g. constructing your interaction suite
more towards protecting your own win than preventing others from winning), but the
card choices in each Maximum Power deck need to suit these goals.

Efficiency/Speed
The level of optimisation in overall card choices and win conditions. Your deck needs
to be optimised in a way that it can keep up in pace with other Maximum Power
decks. Suboptimal card or Commander choices should be avoided at all cost. If you
choose a specific card, Commander or win condition for your deck, you should have
a strong reason to do so.

Interactivity
How well is my deck equipped to interact with other Maximum Power decks, and
which style of interaction best suits my game plan? Simply playing your own game
and hoping nobody will try to interact with your win is unlikely to work at Max Power
under most circumstances. Your deck needs to have the tools to influence the pace
of a game in a way that puts you in a winning position.
Resiliency
How well does my deck handle being interacted with? Your opponents will attempt to
interact with your win attempts. If you fail to close out the game once, your deck
shouldn't be out of options. Remember to have backup plans and/or recovery
options.

Another important criterion is consistency. Your deck won't be evaluated by what it

can do with a perfect opening hand or perfect draws, but rather by what it will be able
to do consistently. Your deck will require consistent strength in all three categories.

When your deck is checked, a Mentor may tell you that it requires more optimisation
in one of these three categories. In this case, we recommend taking the deck to the
#max_deckhelp channel or checking out one of the related deck-specific Discord
servers.

Maximum Power, more than the other power levels, has an established and
evolving Meta-game. Due to that, it's important to build your deck in a way that can
play well into this Meta. We will keep this section of the Power Level Compendium
updated with current meta trends to provide you with a baseline of expectations.

You should expect to encounter:

- Fast Ad Nauseam decks; Kess, Kraum + Tymna, Silas + Rograkh

- Infinite Mana decks; various Thrasios builds, Kinnan, Tasigur
- Stax decks; Tana + Tymna, Tymna + Sakashima, Urza
- Food Chain decks; Cazur + Ukkima, First Sliver
- Other combo-centric decks; Inalla, Najeela, Gitrog, Zur

The most common finishers in these decks include:

- Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact

- Underworld Breach
- Infinite Mana into spell loops

As a result of this, some meta-specific decks will only function well in Maximum
Power if the right conditions are met. When your deck is checked for Maximum
Power, it might be with a caveat that it will require a specific environment to flourish.

Mindset
Having the right mindset is one of the most important things when it comes to
Maximum Power. Maximum players want to find the best builds and play them as
well as possible. When you go into a game, every decision you make should be
made with the intent of winning that game: no spite plays, no nonsense politics.
Consistency
A Maximum Power deck isn't just sometimes good. It doesn't matter whether your
deck can win on turn 1 or 2, it doesn't matter that it can go Mishra's Workshop into
Trinisphere turn 1, what really matters is what it can do consistently. So when
judging whether your own deck is Maximum Power, ask yourself the question: "What
can it do consistently?", and then ask yourself: "Is that powerful enough?"

The "Turn 3" rule

Maximum Power is a very fast environment. Right now, the critical turn on which you
need to be able to either consistently threaten a win or an insurmountable advantage
or have the means to stop others from winning, be it through interaction spells or
static effects, is turn 3.

No intentionally suboptimal choices

Even suboptimal decks can win in Maximum Power, so being able to win a game in a
pod with Maximum decks does not automatically make a deck suitable for Maximum
Power. As noted earlier, the ideal mindset at this level is about trying to make optimal
choices. This does not mean that everyone should only be playing the same proven
decks over and over, but choosing to hamstring yourself when clearly stronger
options exist does not fall within the scope of Maximum Power EDH.

You can find examples of approved Maximum Power decks here.

 Self-Evaluation and Brewing Tools

Deckbuilding Considerations
Some decks are constructed in such a way that they have interactions that over- or
under-perform compared to the rest of the deck. For example, Oona, Queen of the
Fey may be built primarily as a Faerie Tribal deck that could easily fit in Mid, but also
includes Demonic Consultation and Thassa's Oracle, an overperforming combo that
we restrict to Competitive decks only. Additionally, decks that are intended for play in
a certain power level may have the skeleton but lack appropriate wincons,
interaction, and consistency needed to perform at that power level.

Battlecruiser

Q: What do Battlecruiser decks look like?

Other than precons, BC decks usually share similar play patterns. Develop the board
in the first few turns, deploy commander or threat, use combat as the primary means
of interacting with your opponents, occasionally interacting with spot removal,
wraths, and counterspells. Due to the nature of most decks and threats in BC, a high
density of interaction is not essential, but it is still important that you run some. A
good rule of thumb, run as much as a precon. Other decks, like Mill decks, may
sacrifice some of their creature defense against combat strategies with additional
spot removal.

Decks that specifically try to undermine the creature oriented nature of BC can often
create non-games and is generally something that won't get approved for play by
Mentors. Some examples include, but are not limited to: Enchantment Prison, "Turbo
fog", and "Punisher" type decks.

Q: What types of strategies are often too strong for Battlecruiser?

It is difficult to qualify exactly, but in general, strategies that directly attack building
boardstates, preventing creature combat based interactions, and aggressive
resource denial are usually if not always inappropriate for the power level.

Q: Is Battlecruiser Budget decks?

Yes and no. There are more budget lists here than other power levels, but ultimately
you can make incredibly powerful decks on a budget and incredibly weak ones for
hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
Q: Is Battlecruiser bad cards?
Not really. You would expect to see Swords to Plowshare in a competitive-tier deck,
but you also wouldn’t be surprised to see it in a Battlecruiser game.

Q: I upgraded my pre-con. Is it still Battlecruiser?

In most cases, yes. Many precon commanders have easy combo potential, or other
ways in the 99 to enable simple combos. Doing your best to avoid these will help in
your overall upgrades.

Q: Can I play [Specific Commander] in Battlecruiser?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: depends on the deck. There are some
commanders that offer very easy pathways to snowball while requiring very few
deckbuilding drawbacks. Neutering these commanders is possible, but oftentimes
requires a very strong understanding of the power level, or input from a Mentor in
#battlecruiser_deckhelp

Q: Any creature tribal deck is fine, right?

Oftentimes. A few tribes, including, but not limited to, Elves, Goblins, Zombies,
Vampires, Gods, and Dragons, all have either incredibly powerful synergies or card
quality that can make them very difficult to deal with.

Q: My deck isn’t winning in Low. Can I try it out in Battlecruiser?

No.

Q: Can I play Infect in Battlecruiser?

Yes, but don't make it hyper-efficient with lots of proliferate. Remember combat is the
primary form of interaction.

Q: Can I play tutors in Battlecruiser?

Yes, but typically it's best to avoid the most efficient ones (Worldly, Vampiric, etc.).
The pattern of games in BC does not require that you include hyper-efficient tutors to
establish your board.

Q: Can I play Group Hug in Battlecruiser?

Yes. What you cannot do is play for second place. That includes making deck
building considerations that are focused around you running enough interaction not
to accidentally kingmake.

Q: Can I play Chaos in Battlecruiser?

Yes. Do not play a bunch of cards that exist solely to make everyone miserable
because you think it's wacky. Self-expression is important and we don't want people
building decks just to mess up everyone else's experience.
Q: Can I play alternative wincons in Battlecruiser?
Yes, cards like Approach of the Second Sun or attempting to win via high life totals
are fine, but the whole deck should not be full of cards that ensure you need to be
removed from the game before you untap.

Low Power

Q: What do Low Power decks look like?

Low decks generally have a degree of focus around a specific strategy or synergy
and a defined way to close out the game. While the general card quality of ramp and
draw and interaction will on average be lower than what’s found in Mid, some
powerful cards will appear in this level. In general, strategies that tend to be too
overwhelming for Battlecruiser, but which would typically struggle in Mid, should find
a home in Low. As in Mid, early turns are spent developing a board. Interaction
should still be present at this level, but the general pacing of the game is slower,
allowing more time to draw into that interaction.

Q: I upgraded my pre-con. Is it Low?

Very possibly! Most preconstructed Commander decks have a split focus and mixed
card quality. While swapping just a handful of cards won’t consistently move a
pre-con up to Low, in some cases it can. For example, the Kalamax pre-con can very
easily be upgraded to support spell-copy combos that would not be allowed in BC,
while the deck wouldn't need significantly more changes to make it into Mid. This
type of change can easily move a pre-con into Low. Similarly, simply tuning the
pre-con to be more focused on a single strategy or set of synergies, or improving the
card quality like the ramp and manabase can be examples of ways to possibly move
a pre-con into Low.

Q: Can I play [Specific Commander] in low?

Depends on the deck. Not all Commanders are created equal, and some will
automatically generate more value than others. The context of the full deck defines
the power level, and excessive-value Commanders may need additional downgrades
or limitations to keep the overall deck in Low.

Q: Any creature tribal deck is fine, right?

Tribal decks generally require support cards, and some tribes can generate
overwhelming synergistic value. While Low will likely be the appropriate level for
many tribal decks, not all tribal decks will likely fall here.

Q: Can I play tutors in Low?

Yes. Typically the number and/or quality of tutors will be somewhat limited in Low, as
the intent of Low is to provide a slower pace. Decks that are not tutoring for combo
pieces or where combos are more complicated may have additional leeway in the
number and quality of tutors.

Q: Can I play Group Hug in Low?

Yes, but be aware that “Kingmaking,” the practice of intentionally enabling other
players to win rather than enabling yourself to win, is still prohibited. You should
have a plan to take advantage of your group hug effects to “break parity” as
compared to what your opponents receive, and you should have a way to actually
win the game.

Q: Is this a Mid Split?

No. Kind of. No. Low is intended primarily to fill the growing gap between
Battlecruiser and Mid. With the extreme growth of the server over the last ~year, the
number of decks which fell into this gap has been growing significantly. Low is an
attempt to provide a home for these decks, and to avoid the problems of
BC-pubstomping and Mid-speedbumping. The overwhelming majority of
Mid-rated decks are still Mid and should see no change.

Q: Is Low just...Mid but Bad?

Not at all. Low fills the void between Battlecruiser and Mid, which has been shown
to be a growing problem. This new power level allows for a smoother transition as
decks are upgraded, and better options for Mentors to place decks in power levels
that help ensure that games of checked decks played on PlayEDH stay consistently
fun. After all, that’s the entire purpose of the curated experience we strive for here.
“Low” power does not in any way imply that decks in that power level are “bad,”
simply that they play at a slower pace than Mid but have a higher general level of
card quality/focus/synergy than decks that can reasonably play against
preconstructed decks or other Battlecruiser lists.

Q: Why’d you call it Low then?

A lot of names were considered, and Low was the one that stuck around. We didn’t
further want to convolute our system with more ‘special’ or ‘made up’ words, and,
seeing BC, Low, Mid, High, Comp is more clear to new people from the get go.

Mid Power

Q: What do Mid Power decks look like?

Mid decks are focused around one or more specific wincons, and are built to support
their main strategies. Efficient ramp and interaction, strong manabases and fixing,
and powerful individual card quality are all present here. Early turns spent
developing a board, or leaving interaction open are common. While you will usually
not be required to prevent players from winning in early turns, expect your opponents
to be developing towards their focused wins or establishing strong value engines, so
having the ability to interact or apply pressure so the table collectively can manage
itself is important. Your decks need to be able to do those things.

Q: I upgraded my Low deck. Is it Mid?

The path from Low to Mid usually involves more than a few simple card upgrades;
upgrades that change the power level of a deck typically involve changing win
conditions, adding/improving tutors, and associated changes to support those
improvements. Simply upgrading one aspect of a deck will not always make the
entire deck appropriate for a different power level.

Q: Can I play [Specific Commander] in Mid?

Sure, the rest of your deck begins to matter a lot more than just commander
selection here.

Q: Any creature tribal deck is fine, right?

At the end of the day, many tribes will require a lot of support from staple cards to
buoy tribes that do not have as much synergy.

Q: Can I play tutors in Mid?

Yes, and you probably should. Other people will be.

Q: Can I play Group Hug in Mid?

Yes. What you cannot do is play for second place. That includes making deck
building considerations that are focused around you running enough interaction not
to accidentally kingmake. Accelerants need to be leveraged first and foremost by
you, not the player who untaps after you. Consider Group Hug to be like reverse-stax
- the hug deck is altering the resources available in the game, and should be built to
asymmetrically take advantage of those extra resources. Don't accelerate for the
sake of acceleration; your deck should be accelerating faster than everyone else,
and your deck should be prepared to stop your opponents from taking too much
advantage of the extra resources. Amplifying one resource while restricting another
can help accomplish this - for example, providing extra mana but only giving extra
cards to yourself, with a healthy amount of interaction. Hugs let you fly under the
threat radar, but without special care, you'll just give the player in the most
advantageous position fuel to win.

High Power

Q: What do High Power decks look like?

High power decks are decks that are tuned beyond what is appropriate for Mid with
less-telegraphed win conditions, faster mana, more efficient interaction, and more
general focus on more resilient/redundant win conditions. Win conditions are
efficient, protected, less telegraphed, and have solid backup plans. High decks may
feature strategies as compact as a single card that creates a game winning synergy
with their commander.

High decks aren't able to compete with Max Power decks, even when they are fully
optimized themselves. However, these lists can still share many of the same
hyper-efficient cards, accelerations, interactions, and wincons. Assume that players
will be aiming to win, establish some form of lock, or gain momentous advantage
from early points in the game. Players will be playing disruption, removal, and static
hate pieces to try and stop you from winning.

Q: Sounds like it's just Max. What's the difference?

High allows for decks that are too fast or oppressive for Mid, but too slow or
inconsistent for Max. Many play patterns are similar, and there is an emphasis on
justifying card selection. If your deck is a few card choices off from a Max deck, here
on the server, just proxy them up for webcam games and head to Max. High and
Max are separate environments.

Maximum Power
Q: What do Maximum Power decks look like?
Generally speaking, these decks have zero limits in terms of power and budget
(proxies are encouraged), are equipped to interact, disrupt, or race other comp lists,
and are designed to win against decks with the same considerations. Not every fully
optimized deck is automatically Maximum Power, some commanders and strategies
cannot be improved enough to reach Max Power..

Q: Seems daunting, how do I learn about this?

There are many resources on how to begin to understand Max level play and
deckbuilding. Feel free to ask the players for permission to spectate Max games on
the server whenever they fire. Don’t be afraid to ask questions in the Max chat
channels. The people there are eager to help.

No significant budgetary restrictions - PlayEDH encourages the use of proxies.

So even if you can't afford some of the high-end cards that see frequent play at the
highest level, proxying those to bring your deck to full power is a very good thing to
do. Don't let yourself or others be held back by what they are able to spend on
cardboard.
Powerful strategies - Some strategies are better than others, and Maximum is
interested in the best of them. While it's hard to define how good a strategy must be
to be viable at this power level, the other facets should help along with this list of
decks that have proven themselves to be viable for use in Maximum Power:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/public?hub=PlayEDH+-+Maximum
 How Mentors Rate Decks(Coming Soon)

Index of Noteworthy Cards, Synergies, and Combos (Coming

Soon)