In a recent podcast recording, the Thought Vessel crew and I were talking about the different power brackets and cards that can push a deck into the next bracket without actually being on the game changer list. In this conversation, the MDFC lands were brought up as a tool that can push them to that next level. This initially had some pushback, but the more we dove into it, it really made sense. Allow me to explain.

There are two ways to improve the power level of a deck. One way is by raising the ceiling, or increasing the power potential of a deck, though it may not be consistent. An example of this might be a precon that puts Expropriate in their deck. Most of the time, you're playing against a precon, but in those games in which Expropriate comes up, it is going to feel significantly stronger than that. The other way is by raising the floor of the deck by eliminating situations in which a deck underperforms. The most common example we see of this is when someone takes a precon and simply swaps out the tapped lands for land that will come in untapped. It doesn't feel like much, but the deck will run smoothly much more consistently.

High Ceiling cards are cards that are incredibly powerful in specific situations. A perfect example of this would be Craterhoof Behemoth. This card is a game ender if you have enough creatures on board and no one has a Cyclonic Rift, Teferi's Protections, or Fog effect. Though this card has the potential to give out lethal damage, there are many times in a game that Craterhoof would be a bad card in hand. Though in this context, the risk is relatively low, but the card has the highest ceiling possible since the card can win the game on the spot. Another card might be something like Doubling Season. On its own, this card does nothing and very well could be a dud in a lot of the game. But in the right context in which it can be followed up with a planeswalker that can now use their ultimate ability, it can win the game.

We also have the high floor cards. These are cards that aren't particularly powerful on their own, but there are very few situations in which they are a "dead card" or not useful at all in the game. The best example I can think of for this would be Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs and the other MDCF cards. With the exception of maybe Sea Gate Restoration, most of these cards are pretty simple in design. You have some removal spells, maybe some ramp or protection. These are cards that you wouldn't particularly play in a deck if there wasn't a spell attached to the back of it. But in the worst-case scenario, you can simply play the spell as your land drops and move along with your game. Having the option to either hit your land drop or have another spell you can play if nothing else is going on can really keep you in the game because there will never be a game in which you get one of these cards off the top of the deck and have no use for it at all.

We see this concept in removal as well. A high ceiling removal spell would be something like Deadly Rollick, since it is a creature removal spell that can be cast for free and catch people off guard, while the high floor card might be something like Beast Within. Beast Within would require you to hold up three mana over possibly multiple turns, but no matter what problematic permanent your opponent plays from Oko, Thief of Crowns, Glacial Chasm, or Even Winter Orb, Beast Within has the ability to take care of the problem with spot removal. That is the trade off in cards oll the time. A well-designed Magic: The Gathering will reward specificity with efficiency while more versatile cards that are useful in more situations are hindered by being less efficient.

It is important to have both in order to diversify your deck and mitigate your risk. You don't normally want to go into a game of commander with a bunch of powerful cards that only work in weird situations, but you also don't want to be in a game where you can't turn the corner and go for the win because the deck doesn't have any high potential cards in it. By adding a combination of the two, you can both keep cards that can be played regardless of if you are ahead or behind in the game, and you can also run over the table with your bombs later on.

By combining these high floor cards and high ceiling cards, you will ultimately be prepared for not only anything, but YOUR thing when the time comes. As always, if you are looking to pick up some new high floor or high ceiling cards for your decks, you can find them here at Coolstuffinc. Until next time, happy gaming!