A single power number is useful shorthand, but the component scores are where your real deck decisions come from. When you run a deck through EDHcheck, you get a 1-10 power score and an assigned WotC bracket — but the underlying metrics for speed, consistency, and salt each tell a different story about what your deck is doing and how to tune it. Understanding each component makes your pre-game communication clearer and your upgrade decisions more targeted.
The Power Score and Bracket Assignment
The overall power score is a weighted composite of all the individual metrics EDHcheck evaluates. It maps roughly to the WotC bracket system: scores in the 1-3 range correspond to Bracket 1-2, scores in the 4-6 range to Bracket 3, and scores in the 7-9 range to Bracket 4. A score of 10 indicates a cEDH-level list.
The WotC bracket assignment applies the official criteria directly:
- Bracket 1 (Exhibition): No fast mana, no tutors, casual-only cardpool
- Bracket 2 (Core): Sol Ring acceptable, limited tutors, no Game Changers
- Bracket 3 (Upgraded): Game Changers acknowledged, some tutors, some fast mana
- Bracket 4 (Optimized): Multiple Game Changers, early combos, dense tutor lines
- Bracket 5 (cEDH): 5+ Game Changers, optimized fast mana package, consistent sub-turn-5 wins
The bracket is determined by the presence of specific flagged cards (WotC Game Changers, fast mana pieces) and the overall card profile, not just the power score. A deck can have a power score of 7 while sitting at Bracket 3 if its metrics come from consistency and removal density rather than from Game Changers and combos.
Speed: What It Tells You About Your Win Timeline
Speed reflects how quickly your deck can present pressure or execute its primary win line. It is calculated from your fast mana count, average converted mana cost, tutor density, and the presence of low-cost combo pieces that close games early.
A high speed score means your deck has the tools to threaten a win or establish dominant board presence by turns 3-5. This is appropriate for Bracket 4 and cEDH play. In a Bracket 2-3 context, a high speed score is a signal that your deck may be faster than your table expects — worth declaring before the game.
A low speed score means your deck develops slowly and wins in the mid-to-late game through value accumulation or attrition. This is expected at Bracket 2 and some Bracket 3 lists. At Bracket 4, a low speed score suggests your win condition may be too slow to matter against faster pods.
How to use speed in table talk: "This deck has a speed score of 4 — it's not going anywhere fast, it tends to win in turns 8-10." This gives opponents useful threat-assessment information without exposing your full line.
How to use speed in tuning: If your speed score is below your bracket target, your fastest routes to increasing it are adding cheap tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor), reducing average CMC (cutting expensive value cards for cheaper equivalents), or including fast mana (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and at Bracket 4, Mana Crypt).
Consistency: What It Tells You About Game-to-Game Reliability
Consistency tracks how reliably your deck does its core thing from game to game. It is derived from your card draw sources, tutor density, redundant copies of key effects, and mana base stability.
A high consistency score means your deck finds its key pieces reliably, refills its hand efficiently, and doesn't depend on drawing specific cards to function. This is the characteristic of well-built lists at any bracket — high consistency is universally desirable.
A low consistency score is the most common performance problem in Commander. Decks with low consistency run out of cards, fail to find their commander, or miss key combo pieces repeatedly. The result is non-games where you develop a board but can't execute your plan. If your deck feels like it "doesn't work" even though the individual cards are powerful, low consistency is almost always the diagnosis.
How to improve consistency: Add draw sources (target 10-13 at Bracket 3, 12-15 at Bracket 4), add tutor redundancy if your bracket allows it, and increase land count or mana quality to reduce color stumbles. The consistency number responds quickly to draw additions — adding two or three draw spells often moves the score noticeably.
Salt Score: A Communication Tool, Not a Moral Judgment
Salt score estimates the frustration potential your deck generates based on card types and mechanics that Commander players commonly find un-fun: mass land destruction, extra turns, infinite combos, powerful stax pieces, and heavy hand disruption.
This is not a moral assessment of your deck. A high salt score does not mean your deck is wrong, unfair, or broken. It means your deck contains categories of effects that tend to generate table-level frustration, which has two practical implications:
Declare high-salt categories in your pre-game discussion. If your deck can execute an extra-turn chain or has mass land denial, say so before the game starts. Players who are surprised by these effects mid-game feel manipulated. Players who knew about them before the game accepted them as part of the pod they joined.
Use salt score to calibrate pod expectations. A salt score above 6 at a Bracket 2-3 table means your deck has cards that will feel bad to play against regardless of your bracket assignment. Consider whether those cards are necessary for your game plan or are holdovers from a different build.
How to reduce salt without reducing power: Many high-salt cards have lower-salt equivalents that accomplish similar things. Cyclonic Rift (high salt) often replaces worse board clears. Armageddon (maximum salt) can be cut in favor of targeted land removal like Strip Mine without significant power loss in most lists. Reducing salt is not the same as reducing power — often, the cleaner version of a game plan is also the less frustrating version for your opponents.
Reading All Three Together
The most useful reading is how speed, consistency, and salt interact:
- High speed, low consistency: Your deck has fast cards but can't find them reliably. Add tutors or draw.
- High consistency, low speed: Your deck draws well but wins slowly. Fine for Bracket 2-3; add fast mana or cheaper win conditions for Bracket 4.
- High salt, matching bracket: Declare the flagged categories before the game. The bracket is correct; the communication is the only adjustment needed.
- High speed and high salt together: You are playing a deck that generates both explosive turns and frustrating mechanics. This combination needs a tuned pod to land well — be honest about bracket when declaring.
Start at EDHcheck and compare your score with WotC bracket guidance. When tuning, the deck builder lets you swap cards and watch all three component scores move in real time. For putting the numbers into words at the table, Rule Zero conversations that actually work has ready-made language for every component.