Power Level Explained: Casual 5, Tuned 7, cEDH 9–10

"Power level" gets thrown around at every pod as if it's an exact measurement. It isn't — but the rough bands below are a useful shorthand for setting expectations before a game starts.

Casual (1–4)

Precons, upgraded precons, and theme decks built around a joke or a favorite card more than optimal play. Games are slow, removal is light, and combos are rare or accidental. Most new players and "I just want to see my cards do a thing" decks live here.

Focused / mid-power (5–6)

A real game plan with some upgrades over a precon: better mana base, a curve that's been trimmed, a handful of efficient staples. Not tuned for speed — these decks can still lose to a turn-4 combo kill and that's expected. This is the most common "just having fun at a normal pod" band.

Tuned / high-power (7–8)

Every slot is doing work. Efficient removal, a tight curve, a fast mana base, and a real plan to close the game out — often by turn 8–10, sometimes earlier. Decks here can beat a stumbling cEDH deck but will usually lose to one that's firing on all cylinders. This is where most "competitive casual" playgroups land.

cEDH (9–10)

Built around consistently winning as fast as possible, usually via a small number of fast, resilient combos backed by a stack of interaction to protect the combo and stop opponents' combos. Turn 3–5 kills are normal. If you sit a cEDH deck across from a casual 5, the casual deck doesn't get a game — it gets a spectator pass.

Why the number matters less than the description

Two "power level 7" decks can play completely differently — one might be a fast aggro deck, the other a grindy control shell — and be a miserable matchup for each other regardless of the shared number. When you're setting up a pod, it's more useful to describe how your deck wins and how fast than to agree on a single digit.

If you're trying to move a deck up a tier, start with the Deck-Building Fundamentals ratios — tightening the curve and removal count gets you most of the way from a 5 to a 7 before you touch a single expensive card.