Give me a second, I gotta pay three mana to cast
Necromancy on this thread.
There we go.
I think that this checklist was a step in the right direction. It's moving away from the way to simplistic and opinion based rating system of 1-10. Each category had examples of what a 5 star rating would have, what a 4-star rating would have, etc. I like this, because it gives a reference point, instead of just saying "How many stars out of 5 would you give your mana base?"
I want to build on this. I think that we don't need so many categories to get an idea of how strong the deck is. And as we've seen, not all of the categories are as important for most decks (example: mono-colored decks don't need a fancy land-base, just basics). So let's trim these categories down. I've come up with one so far:
1. What turn do you usually get your commander out by?I've found this to usually be a pretty good indicator of deck strength. Most cEDH decks get their commander out by turn 3 or sooner (partner commanders are the exception) and many strong casual decks will get their commander out a turn or two above curve. If you're casting a 6-mana commander on turn 6, it's an indication of either not enough mana ramp, or a slow gameplan. Possibly both.
So that's one. Another one should be about land bases. Which fortunately was already mentioned in this thread.
2. Does the deck get all of it's colors without using tapped lands?Maybe someone else can word it better, but I think we all understand. If you're using lands that enter tapped, it slows you down. If you're using lands like
Luxury Suite and
Sunpetal Grove that conditionally enter tapped (and usually untapped), then mana shouldn't be a problem. Adding in fetches and ABUR duals does make the deck better, but it's not as significant a
leap as going from tapped lands to untapped lands. Many decks will operate fine without fetches and OG duals.
Last one I can think of:
3. Can you consistently either win a game by turn 4 or consistently stop someone winning by turn 4?Turn 4 is the turn that most cEDH decks try to combo off. So it's no surprise that the other decks will be ready to stop combos by this turn. Stax decks will have slowed the game down, and control decks likely have a removal spell or
counterspell ready. If we want to talk about adding weights to categories, I think this one would have the most weight.
What other criteria do you think can we add?