Is "Power Level" Essentially Meaningless?

GwennieMacrae

Well-known member
I consistently found that power level is so open to personal interpretation that it doesn't really mean anything.

What might be casual to one player might absolutely infuriate another player who considers the same deck "cEDH". Even a precon can open with a Sol Ring and a 2cc mana rock and be accused of being cEDH. Every deck is a 7 so, is 7 casual or is casual below 7? Is power level 9 cEDH? What does "high power casual" mean? Is that another word for 7? Is it casual at all if it's also high power? Why do some people say stuff like "power level 9 but no cEDH is THAT "high power casual"?

People don't like mass land destruction, but realistically you don't really often see stuff like Armageddon and Cataclysm in decks that might be called cEDH. Like the Kenrith decks or various partner decks that usually win with Thoracle or some sort of infinite combo they draw into with Ad Nauseam. Does that mean Armageddon is technically "casual"? If not is it PL 7, 8, 9 maybe?

Right now I see a game titled "Level 8 lobby, meaning your deck usually can win turn 5+" I've heard others say it's cEDH if you can win that fast. Another says "Casual game, 6-7 power level, no fast mana (sol ring okay)", yet another says "Casual, no cEDH, low power 3-4". Is anything between 1 and 7 casual? Whats the diff between level 4 casual and level 6 casual?

I've asked a bunch of players what they would consider casual and what they would consider cEDH and there was absolutely ZERO consistency in their answers. Literally every person had a different interpretation of what they meant. Some people said casual means you're playing "just to have fun" and you're not trying to win. Others said casual is "not cEDH" some said casual is level 7. I've heard people say that there's only casual OR cEDH and no in between.

And wizards silly attempt to break the actual cards themselves into tiers seems even more silly and pointless than attempting to attach power levels to the actual decks. Why couldn't a casual theme deck run Vampiric Tutor and other strong tutors to add to it's consistency while still being some silly deck based around a movie the person likes or whatever? Whats even the point of trying to put the cards themselves into tiers?

I get that people often say something like "It gives a general idea of the power level of the game" but I guess my point is that its kinda TOO general to really mean anything at all.

How would YOU define casual VS how you would define cEDH?
 
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