How We Score

EDHcheck uses a two-track scoring system: the official WotC Bracket (1–5) for hard-limit rules compliance, and a granular Power Score (0–10) for nuanced comparison.

WotC Brackets

Exhibition

Fully casual decks. No Game Changers, no fast mana, no extra turns, no mass land denial, no two-card infinite combos. Wins expected after turn 9.

Core

Precon-power decks. Up to 3 extra turn spells allowed. Sol Ring and basic Arcane Signet are fine. Still no Game Changers.

Upgraded

Tuned decks. Up to 3 Game Changers permitted. Late-game combos allowed. No Mana Crypt-tier fast mana. Wins expected turns 7–9.

Optimized

Highly tuned lists. 3+ Game Changers. Fast mana (Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond) fully present. Early combo wins expected turns 5–8.

cEDH

Competitive EDH. Hyper-efficient curves, maximum tutor density, known cEDH win conditions (e.g. Thassa's Oracle + Consultation). Wins expected turns 2–5.

Power Score Formula

The 0–10 score is a weighted blend of seven metrics, all calculated from the decklist and Scryfall card data:

Metric	Weight	What it measures
Mana Curve	20%	Lower average CMC = higher score (fast decks win faster)
Ramp Density	15%	% of deck dedicated to mana acceleration
Card Draw	15%	% of deck with draw engines
Combo Presence	15%	Number of known 2-card infinite combos detected
Tutor Count	15%	Number of tutor effects in the deck
Removal	10%	% of deck with interaction/removal
Salt Score	10%	Avg EDHREC salt rating of included cards (proxy for raw power)

Sub-scores for Speed, Consistency, and Saltiness are derived from subsets of the same metrics and displayed as independent meters on the results page.

Combo Detection

EDHcheck maintains a curated database of ~30 known 2-card infinite win conditions (e.g. Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation, Kiki-Jiki + Pestermite). The engine checks whether every card in a combo appears in the decklist. Detected combos are displayed in the Breakdown panel and heavily influence the Power Score and Bracket assignment.

Data Sources

Scryfall API — Card images, Oracle text, mana costs, and USD prices.
EDHREC Salt Data — Community salt scores for the top ~200 most-played annoying cards.
Moxfield / Archidekt / TappedOut — Deck imports via their public JSON export endpoints.