cheapest ultra-competative commander?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on July 14, 2016, 11:53 p.m. by AwesomeOctopus
I like building moderately powerful commander decks that focus mostly on themes and synergies, but I always find myself in games where someone either wins because they have a $1000+ deck or play some tier 1 commander that is impossible to deal with (like prosh, sky-raider of kher). Is there a deck that is tier 1 that I could build that utilizes the same degenerate tricks my opponents use but won't cost me more than say $300? I'm done feeling like playing fair since most people don't anyway and when I do play someone with a fun or original deck I have other decks to play with but I need at least 1 deck for the other games where I need some typical net-decked cheap-ass turn 7 infinite combo deck to be able to compete with theirs.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth came a-knocking!
Mizzix of the Izmagnus is also interested in assisting you in your quest in creating a competitive deck!
(On a more-or-less serious note (haha), Mizzix I have experience with, and she's borderline broken)
July 15, 2016 1 a.m.
AwesomeOctopus says... #5
I have mizzix yeah she can be great when she stays alive. Meren I would say is more broken
July 15, 2016 1:19 a.m.
I've always done well with Prime Speaker Zegana. The best part about her is that she doesn't need to stay in play to use her ability, making removal useless (and even beneficial). Deadeye Navigator bonds with her to provide massive card advantage, and your opponents most likely won't see her as much of a threat until it's too late. To make the deck more combo oriented, Intruder Alarm, Cloudstone Curio, and Equilibrium can all be used to generate infinite mana in various ways, allowing Zegana to draw your deck.
July 15, 2016 2:12 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #7
If they're building full-on competitive stuff... I think your only real option is Yisan, the Wanderer Bard. He runs a toolbox deck that uses him to tutor up value creatures and assemble combos for the win. Check this out, I think you'll find it very interesting.
Nothing else will likely come close on your budget. Note that this is a very challenging deck to play and you will need to practice with it a lot to get good results.
Other than Yisan... just the mana and ramp packages will put you over budget. However, you're talking about turn 7 wins, which is slower than what I'd expect from decks like those. So you might just want something powerful and cost-efficient. Mono-color is easier on the wallet because you don't need pricy non-basics and fetches only provide a very small advantage.
My solution to this problem was a complete accident, but I ended up building Krenko, Mob Boss and realized he could be quite powerful. Many games I play him in end up being archenemy games and I win them anyway... it turns out that there aren't a lot of problems you can't solve with a sufficient (or obscenely excessive) number of goblins. However, the ceiling on Krenko is limited and to work best he needs some pricy fast-mana cards. If you want to see my list (which is approaching optimized) it's Like a Boss!. If it looks appealing to you... I did build it on a budget and can try to describe the process I used to upgrade it.
July 15, 2016 2:30 a.m. Edited.
MagicalHacker says... #8
I think the first place to look is [List - Multiplayer] EDH Generals by Tier, and definitely ask the guys over there. They know what unfair really is, as they swear the best decks consistently combo off before turn 5.
July 15, 2016 4:51 a.m.
Yisan is pretty much it for that price. The ramp packages most multicolored decks need will run you about $300, as previously stated. And the land bases...yeah, mini-colored is the way to go. So, competitively, Azami and Yisan are the main choices, and, of the two, Yisan is stronger.
July 15, 2016 6:27 a.m.
Coinman1863 says... #11
I would actually suggest Prossh simply because I already have a competitive list which is actually quite good, More Tokens? Budget. Also there is a Yisan Primer which helps you build sub $200 Yisan with an upgrade path included.
I am the resident Liaison from the competitive EDH subreddit, so if you have any questions about the competitive side of EDH, Just ask!
July 15, 2016 8:12 a.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #12
If you play online, I have a 5 TIX grenzo combo deck. In paper it's about $90, so ultra cheap. Otherwise, I have a Daretti and Meren list that's under $100.
July 15, 2016 9:56 a.m.
Take a look at some of my commander decks. They generally fall right into the price range you are looking at. They seem to fair pretty well against the dicks in my area. Not sure how super competitive they will be in other areas, but the Selesnya and Mono Green Omnath ones more than hold their own in the events around here for a reasonable price.
July 15, 2016 11:14 a.m.
Sticking with the theme, Narset, Enlightened Master would really like to get to know you.
July 15, 2016 12:16 p.m.
AwesomeOctopus says... #15
these comments are quite helpful. I actually am not sure all of my playgroup is emphasized text_super_emphasized text competitive, eg ive never seen derevi or zur, but loosing because of price tag or simply cheap commanders has always bothered me. perhaps I should just upgrade my mizzix or momir decks (even though they arent really tier 1) to do what i normally consider super cheap combos that i can pull off only when I choose to do so
July 16, 2016 12:01 a.m.
PlattBonnay says... #16
You could try Sidisi ANT. There are a handful of very expensive cards in a properly tuned version, but the deck is playable without them.
July 16, 2016 12:04 a.m.
It's still a work in progess but i have had success playing my Mono White Odric Commander deck, I've also only spent about $60 on cards, which has been super nice. Last Wednesday was the second time I played with it and won a couple games!
July 17, 2016 2:52 p.m.
PookandPie says... #19
Yisan and Arcum are probably going to be your best options, with Zur coming just slightly lower in terms of matching budget concerns (I love Ad Nauseam Zur and consider it the strongest build for Commander. Zur Voltron can beat 1v1 pretty easily even in a budget build, but the weaknesses of the deck are obvious when you play against a whole table, which is why you Ad Nauseam or Doomsday to begin with).
Arcum is my personal favorite. You basically just need to get Arcum out, and then tap him twice in order to win. The expensive cards I'd recommend are: Rings of Brighthearth, Staff of Domination, Sensei's Divining Top, Mycosynth Lattice, Darksteel Forge, and that's it. Unless you absolutely want to run Ensnaring Bridge and Grim Monolith, most of the rest of your deck will be powerful artifacts that won't really find a home anywhere else (Clock of Omens, Thousand-Year Elixir, Voltaic Key, etc.), so the deck is surprisingly cheap outside of the fast mana and Metalworker (most of the artifact creatures you'd run are dirt cheap to around $5, like Myr Sire, Hangarback Walker, etc.). Any artifact creature that costs 2 mana or less that produces mana you will most likely want to run (Silver Myr, Hedron Crawler, Manakin, etc), and ones like Myr Sire, also. After that, though, the sky is the limit.
Stax Arcum is hilarious since you can further your board state without so much as tapping your mana, and locking on the fifth turn is pretty common (a third turn Arcum is commonly a fifth turn lock/win, since I usually tutor Rings of Brighthearth the turn Arcum comes in, then Staff of Domination and Basalt Monolith the following turn, giving infinite mana, card draw, and life gain if that's needed for some reason. Well, it's fifth turn if Arcum has to sit around for a turn while I hold a counter spell, anyway). Spells like Sphere of Resistance, Winter Orb, and even Ward of Bones and the like allow you to further your board state while your opponents get slowed down or halted, which is always nice. Plus, you can run a high variety of silver bullets to beat powerful decks around where you are (Pithing Needle, Torpor Orb, etc.).
Yisan is probably the cheapest overall Commander with powerful abilities at a budget price (you'll notice that most Commanders that tutor are absurdly powerful), since you can make a solid list for only a few hundred bucks, and then add something like Gaea's Cradle later, but an optimized Yisan list is about the same cost as an optimized Arcum, so I think they're comparatively priced enough for me to suggest Arcum if you want to start off in a color other than green. Anyway, if you're wanting to stop some kind of cheapass turn 7 infinite combo, Arcum grabbing silver bullets is probably one of your better options (he can grab Jester's Cap and the like, if they're really hard to deal with combos. Spine of Ish Sah, Null Brooch, etc., are all pretty solid and not extremely expensive either).
July 17, 2016 8:54 p.m.
bensonbledsoe says... #20
Sydri, the galvanic genius is a tier two commander that isn't expensive and can combo out almost with no trouble
September 5, 2016 3:04 p.m.
TheGamerTrainer says... #21
IF anyone wants my opinion.... here they are....
- Anthousa, Setessan Hero is surprisingly decent as she makes her own creatures and there's alot of card draw and cards that target in mono green.
- Ghoulcaller Gisa is amazing at making a butt-load of zombies off of any decently large creatures and there's alot of card draw and killing power in mono black.
- Stitcher Geralf (as I've been advertising him lately) provides 3 things: Counterspells, bouncing and removal and draw spells. Also he personally mills everyone, exiles potential threats and makes your own creature. He's pretty fun and works well with the new stitchwing creatures btw.
- Either of the white Odric cards are indeed powerful and are alot of fun to play with or against.
- Surprisingly I'd have to say duretti and/ or Jaya ballard as they are alot of fun and provide some sweet cards and alot of burn if that's the way you like to play.
Now for 5 color, I'd have to go with hoarde of notions as he is pretty cool, has haste and trample so you could make a decent elemental TRON deck if for a decent budget.
September 6, 2016 1:33 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #22
@TheGamerTrainer: Of those, only Daretti is competitive; and only if you're willing to spend more than the OP's budget.
September 6, 2016 1:38 a.m.
While Sydri loves to combo off and is good at it, esper color mana base and the artifacts needed to really break her are a tad more on the expensive side.
Echoing what others have said, turn 7 is a bit slower than ultra competitive decks. Talrand, Sky Summoner is a great budget commander that can be very controlling. Load it with counters and you'll amass a Drake army in no time. And nobody will want to play against him. You could even go the Polymorph bomb route, tucking a Drake with Proteus Staff for say Guile or Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is priceless (I've made people scoop from that one). You can also include mass bounce spells clearing the board.
He isn't ultra competitive, but competitive enough to draw ire from the table. With a $300 limit you can pack some serious firepower in there. I have a list here: Drakes, Drakes, and Drakes, Oh My! if you want some ideas.
September 6, 2016 2:06 a.m.
I'm pretty sure the cheapest hyper-competitive deck is Grenzo, Dungeon Warden + Doomsday.
All you really need is Grenzo, Doomsday, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Zealous Conscripts, and enough mana rocks to accelerate you to 7. Any other money cards are just gravy. List:
Grenzo's Doomsday Plans
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 20 | 8 COMMENTS | 6898 VIEWS | IN 17 FOLDERS
Teferi Combo Stax can also be done cheaply if you throw out a lot of the really high end stuff. (You don't really need a Timetwister or The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, although Transmute Artifact and Metalworker are kind of important.) It also has the benefit of being mono-colored, so you don't have to drop oodles of money on your landbase. List:
Tefearsome
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 7 | 9 COMMENTS | 2683 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS
While Yisan has been mentioned is definitely relatively cheap, it's important to keep in mind that you really can't do a green deck right without Gaea's Cradle, and that any competitive deck is going to need a Mana Crypt.
(Definitely avoid tri-color decks. The landbases are just way too greedy.)
September 6, 2016 7:36 a.m.
AwesomeOctopus says... #25
Thanks, I've had more luck recently by just tweaking my mizzix and Momir Vig decks to be just competitive enough to be able to have a fair chance of winning, and getting better at the polics part by convincing the other 2 players that really it is Prosh we need to take out first, e.g. honestly, all I really want is a way to have a fighting chance against people who play very spikey, I don't care if I win EVERY time, as long as I am a serious contender. I will definitely consider Talrand, Sky Summoner and Azami, Lady of Scrolls if i need to since I know those can be built dirt cheap but I know a lot of people in my playgroup hate permission.dec
September 6, 2016 10:20 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #26
Azami isn't really that cheap though. She needs a lot of ramp and pricey spells to work. The lands are cheap, at least. Talrand is not competitive; he doesn't have an effective win condition that another commander couldn't do better. 2/2 fliers will not get you there.
September 6, 2016 10:59 p.m.
ComradeJim270, Every hyper-competitive deck needs expensive ramp to work. However, the ramp packages end up costing way less than a tri-color optimized landbase and about as much as optimized dual color landbase, so mono-colored ends up being the way to go when you're trying to save money.
Azami is overall expensive if you have none of the cards to start out with, but the only really expensive cards (>$50) she needs are Mana Drain, Force of Will, Snapcaster Mage, and Cavern of Souls. All four of which are really good investments since the first three go into basically any blue deck, and the last one goes in basically anything.
Flagellum says... #2
Azami, Lady of Scrolls came by, asking for your number. Said she liked what she saw. If ya ask me, I think she likes you!
July 14, 2016 11:59 p.m.