Brawl matchmaking continues to be incredibly frustrating for players who enjoy building thematic, creative decks rather than generic piles of the most powerful cards available.

My decks are generally built around specific themes, mechanics, or strategies. I deliberately avoid filling them with the same high-powered staples, tutors, and generically powerful cards that appear in seemingly every optimized deck.

Yet I'm consistently matched against highly optimized decks that abandon thematic deckbuilding in favor of simply playing the strongest cards available. These matchups frequently put my decks at an extreme disadvantage before the game has even developed.

I suspect part of the problem is how matchmaking weighs player skill. I've reached Platinum/Diamond in ranked Standard and previously achieved Mythic. Wizards has acknowledged that Brawl matchmaking considers player skill across Constructed formats, and I question whether this is causing experienced players with casual decks to be matched against significantly more powerful decks.

Being an experienced player does not mean I want every Brawl game to be a competitive match against optimized goodstuff decks.

There is a fundamental difference between player skill and deck power. A well-played thematic deck should not automatically be treated as equivalent to an optimized deck loaded with tutors, efficient interaction, and powerful generic staples.

The existence of Competitive Brawl makes this even more frustrating. There is already a format specifically intended for competitive deckbuilding.

Please reconsider how player skill influences casual Brawl matchmaking and improve how the system evaluates actual deck construction and power levels. Players shouldn't have to abandon creative deckbuilding just to get reasonably balanced games.

Brawl should reward experimentation and creativity, not continually push everyone toward the same soulless, optimized decks.