Need help with a budget deck
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on July 30, 2017, 11:15 a.m. by LJN49
If possible I'd like to stay in the $50 area, but I might be willing to spend a little more for a deck that I really like. I currently have 1 edh deck ($80 Xenagos) and want another one. Wouldn't be for competitive purposes, mostly casual/with friends. Going off to college in a couple weeks so want a second deck to play casually.
Not really a fan of combo decks or gimmicks, and I don't want anything too similar to xenagos. Anything from decklists to just general suggestions are welcome.
I see what you mean. I do have a few in mind, but I guess I should've been more specific, sorry. I was looking at both brago and baral as control would be a nice contrast to xenagos. However, I'm just concerned that those commanders lead to games that aren't fun for most other players. Allies also looked like it could run okay on a budget. I mainly just want a deck that can do what it's trying to well but is still fun to play.
July 30, 2017 11:47 a.m.
Winterblast says... #4
I wouldn't worry about a deck being too strong if your budget is so low. You can't possibly build anything that is remotely oppressive with 50$ so I'd take the meanest option you can find. Maybe you have at least a slight chance of winning then.
July 30, 2017 11:53 a.m.
shaftdiggity says... #5
You could go for a token/lifegain deck based around enchantments and enchantresses with Selvala, Explorer Returned that wouldn't be too expensive and could scale up pretty well with upgrades.
July 30, 2017 12:05 p.m.
Winterblast who do you think I'm playing against that a $50-$100 deck has no chance of winning?
July 30, 2017 12:13 p.m.
Winterblast says... #7
I'm just saying that you can't possibly worry about such a deck being too good or oppressive, especially when you are going into an unknown meta at college.
July 30, 2017 12:29 p.m.
Fair enough but I know there's plenty of people that want to quit as soon as they see islands. Anyway, I know that there cheaper decks can still often punch above their weight.
July 30, 2017 12:43 p.m.
Winterblast says... #9
Well, that's a mentality most players leave behind after the age of 12 or so, lol. I think it's much easier to build a decent aggro deck on a low budget than a good control. People who quit upon seeing Islands probably haven't played against a really fast aggro deck yet. Otherwise they might quit upon seeing a forest.
July 30, 2017 12:54 p.m.
Alright, well do you have any specific aggro Commander suggestions for budget? If you feel that they would be better than a brago or baral control that is.
July 30, 2017 1:21 p.m.
Winterblast says... #11
I think you can get much for little money from goblins, for example in combination with purphoros. Elves are also cheap and can hit hard. Another cheap strategy that is good in commander is infect. You might even have a chance against more expensive decks with infect because you need to deal only 10 dmg, which is easier to manage before someone pulls off a combo.
July 30, 2017 2:03 p.m.
KingMathoro says... #12
If interested you could do Meren of Clan Nel Toth, and Sram, Senior Edificer on budget. I could throw some stuff together for both should this appeal to you.
July 30, 2017 4:03 p.m.
I actually love the idea of meren, except that my friend's main deck is meren. Is there any reanimate/recursion similar to meren? Also, sram does sound cool. Never used equipment or Voltron style deck before.
July 30, 2017 4:11 p.m.
KingMathoro says... #14
For Reanimator style decks that aren't Meren you would probably want to look at The Scarab God and Chainer, Dementia Master as for Sram here is a budget list I made.
July 30, 2017 4:31 p.m.
Just curious, how does sram compare to say, uril or zurgo for budget Voltron?
July 30, 2017 4:48 p.m.
KingMathoro says... #16
Well for starters I will say that I own a Sram, Senior Edificer deck irl and I have beaten Uril and Geist and a few other Voltron builds. And this I would say is especially true when it comes to budget. Uril and Zurgo are both three colors so getting the mana fixing on a budget can be difficult and will usually cost you speed/time which can be game ending. Especially since Sram is Mono White. Now Personally my second choice for Voltron would be Sigarda, Host of Herons. She is great and works well with an echantress style voltron with little to no artifact support. Although I cannot deny that both Zurgo and Uril are amazing at what they do, Sram has always done well for me in many different situations.
July 30, 2017 5:03 p.m.
BlueMageBrandon says... #17
I run an Ezuri, Claw of Progress deck that's really fun and can be built cheaply. Kruphix, God of Horizons is also Blue/Green but with him you'd be saving mana to cast big things like Void Winnower and Desolation Twin (here's my budget list: Kruphix, the Fourth Titan). Those both let you "dip your toes" in blue without being strict control.
Another option is Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. I've always meant to build it but have never got around to it. The main idea is to make a bunch of tokens and gain some life. It can be built cheaply and then be upgraded if you want (although I guess that goes for any deck ). Entreat the Angels, Planeswalkers, and other fun, splashy cards fit really well in here.
I hope I helped a little. Let me know if you have any other questions!
July 30, 2017 5:06 p.m.
KingMathoro fair enough, I guess I'm just wondering if mono white would get a little stale, or just Voltron getting stale fast. But I might be wrong, never personally played Voltron before. I do know that Voltron is one of the better options for budget decks.
July 30, 2017 5:17 p.m.
Also, I think the scarab God looks very cool. That would likely be tribal zombies right?
July 30, 2017 5:27 p.m.
KingMathoro says... #20
I love Voltron but it certainly isn't for everyone. So it'll depend on what type of player you are. And even if it is good for budget style decks you should always build something that you will enjoy.
July 30, 2017 5:28 p.m.
While I love the suggestions so far, any more suggestions as far as deck types/Commanders? I'll add that my Xenagos deck is very linear and lacking interaction in many ways, so I want something to contrast that.
July 30, 2017 6:52 p.m.
BlueMageBrandon says... #23
There's a lot of interaction in all colors but Blue and White have the most. Isperia the Inscrutable could be a fun choice in those colors. Use double strike and Peek effects to guarantee that you guess right and then find big flying creatures. Maybe have a sphinx tribal sub theme and have Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign be your first tutor target.
July 30, 2017 7:21 p.m.
That could be interesting. I think I probably want at least blue or white as one of the colors. However, I also like creatures a lot which are sometimes lacking in u/w.
July 30, 2017 9:51 p.m.
Could sedris work on a $100 budget? Looks like a Commander with a lot of potential for fun. On top of the others of course haha.
July 30, 2017 10:22 p.m.
BlueMageBrandon says... #26
In Isperia, even though you may be running fewer creatures than a green deck, it's like you're drawing one each turn since you're tutoring for them with her. The other two I said also seem like ones you would like since they have the interaction of blue and the creatures of green. As for your question about Sedris, I haven't build it or played against it so personally I don't know but I'm sure it could be done.
MollyMab says... #2
This is a really unhelpful point to go from. Give us a commander THEN we can make suggestions
July 30, 2017 11:32 a.m.