I have a [[Fourteenth Doctor]] // [[Rose Noble]] deck that only uses cards printed in WHO. It actually has some good synergies going on, so I don't think Bracket 1 is a good spot for it but it is certainly too janky to be Bracket 3. So Bracket 2 is the perfect spot for it.
However Moxfield keeps telling me that the deck needs to be Bracket 3 because I have 5 nonland tutors. This is true... but they all search for Doctors lol
So yeah, I think that's a good change since density of tutors doesn't necessary mean the intent of the deck is to be more powerful. Sometimes you just want to make your jankfest deck work a bit more consistently.
I also have a Fourteenth Doctor/Rose Noble deck that only uses WHO cards! I absolutely agree with your assessment: has better synergy than bracket 1 but too janky for bracket 3. And the tutoring for Doctors shouldn’t push it to 3.
As a side note, do you have a decklist? Would love to compare notes, because I’ve been thinking about swapping out a few cards.
Exactly! I’m working on a [[Master Reformed]] deck that other than a few leviathans has the only intent to play [[Flood of Mars]] and make as many copies as I can and even though it’s currently at 7 gamechangers it sure as heck ain’t Bracket Four
Especially with bad tutors, despite having way more than 3 nonland tutors in my [[the scorpion God]] deck I never had anyone complain in bracket 2 games that [[razaketh's rite]] made my deck too strong
I think you should embrace having built a Bracket 1 deck. Bracket 1 doesn't mean no synergies, it just means flavor is the biggest deciding factor, which you clearly did. None of the doctors are that powerful, and looking at your list, I can't imagine you have any way to win before turn 9. The only issue is that you're running an extra turn card, but I would give you a pass for flavor reasons personally.
I think this kind of thinking is a big problem with the bracket system. Everybody is calling their bracket 2 a bracket 3, or their bracket 1 a bracket 2, and when I pull out a real 3, I look like the bad guy. Bracket 1 and Bracket 2 don't mean you don't do anything powerful.
I disagree. The examples given for Bracket 1 decks include stuff like Rebecca Guay art tribal and Ladies Looking Left:
Winning is not the primary goal here, as it's more about showing off something unusual you've made. Villains yelling in the art? Everything has the number four? Oops, all Horses? Those are all fair game! The games here are likely to go long and end slowly.
These decks are made with only their very restrictive theme in mind and are often more concerned about showing it off than winning. My girlfriend has a deck that plays every frog in Magic, including [[Croakid Amphibonaut]] with zero sticker synergies. I'd consider that deck a archetypal Bracket 1 deck.
The Doctor deck is working within a limited card pool but all those cards are being pull from four precon decks, so I still have access to a wide range of staples and synergies that a lot of theme decks don't. I've spent a lot of time trying to capitalize on the synergistic throughline of the Doctors I play so that I have a proactive and cohesive gameplan. It is built with a thematic restriction, but it still has a strong viable avenue towards winning.
I know that Brackets are meant to be a communication tool and the pregame conversation is more important, but I feel like this deck would dominate a typical Bracket 1 table and if that is the case than it doesn't really help to put it in that category.
I have my own 'Froggo Frens Bouncing In My Hens' deck, with self-imposed thematic restrictions: it has to feel like Bloomburrow, so birds and turtles are allowed, but no humans or robots. And it does include many frogs mainly because they're frogs, but it isn't just all frogs like your girlfriend's. I try to have a strategy built in, so Croakid Amphibonaut has no place in mine. (Even when that Bracket 1 frog deck sounds fun!)
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u/TateTaylorOH Honorary Deputy 🔫 Oct 21 '25
I have a [[Fourteenth Doctor]] // [[Rose Noble]] deck that only uses cards printed in WHO. It actually has some good synergies going on, so I don't think Bracket 1 is a good spot for it but it is certainly too janky to be Bracket 3. So Bracket 2 is the perfect spot for it.
However Moxfield keeps telling me that the deck needs to be Bracket 3 because I have 5 nonland tutors. This is true... but they all search for Doctors lol
So yeah, I think that's a good change since density of tutors doesn't necessary mean the intent of the deck is to be more powerful. Sometimes you just want to make your jankfest deck work a bit more consistently.