u/Way2Competitive

My friends and I regularly play Bracket 3 Commander; decks are powerful but not necessarily optimised, lists have multiple game changers in them and most games usually end around turns 8-10.

However, after 19 games, my Bant Flicker deck currently sits at 15 wins and 4 losses; a roughly 79% winrate. My friends regularly argue that the deck is Bracket 4 (it's not), and that they don't know how to beat it.

So, in an effort to make my friends not hate the deck, I want to try and power it down whilst still maintaining its identity; assemble value engines and use toolbox creatures to slow my opponents whilst still advancing my board.

Whilst I could remove a bunch of the tutors, replace them with generic card draw and call it a day, I feel like I would enjoy the deck so much less than way.

[[Birthing Pod]] chains, [[Spellseeker]] searching for [[Ephemerate]], [[Transit Mage]] finding [[Conjurer's Closet]] are some of the value engines that I really enjoy, as they continue to accrue more and more card advantage with each turn.

The other option I considered is one that I have already done to a small degree. You may notice the lack of [[Felidar Guardian]] in the list, and this is because it was a 2 card combo with [[Preston, the Vanisher]] that I kept finding myself searching for and ending games prematurely.

The current list has 2 combo finishes:

• A 3+ mana dork like [[Bloom Tender]] + [[Derevi, Empyrial Tactician]] + [[Emiel, the Blessed]] + a trigger doubler like [[Panharmonicon]]. This generates infinite mana, and by using excess mana to flicker my commander, draws my deck and makes infinitely large creatures.

• [[Agatha's Soul Cauldron]] with [[Crystalline Crawler]] underneath it + [[Shalai, Voice of Plenty]] + at least 7 creatures total (or 4 total with something like [[Hardened Scales]]. This allows you to pay 6 mana to add at least 7 +1/+1 counters, remove 6 of them to add 6 mana (as each creature with a +1/+1 counter has the Crystalline Crawlers abilities) and repeat this for infinite mana and infinitely large creatures.

As you may notice, both of these combos require 3+ pieces to pull off. So they usually take multiple turns of setup to put together. Whilst I'm not completely against removing these combos, the fact that every piece is synergistic with the deck, rather than just being put in for the sake of the combo, means I'm skeptical to remove them, especially as I don't even know if they are the problem.

So my question is; how do you identify the aspect of your deck that is too powerful for your pod, and how do you find suitable replacements without losing your own personal enjoyment?