At what point does it stop being a budget deck?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 22, 2015, 6:15 p.m. by freakman13
I have my main deck (I don't think I can link to it in this forum) up on here as a budget deck, and I feel it is, but on tumblr recently I saw someone say a budget Commander deck was sub $100. This seems absurd to me since my deck is half the cost or less than 75% of the decks where I play. So where do you draw the line? To me a budget deck is anything sub $500.
canterlotguardian says... #3
Commander is a format that can really get out of hand price-wise, but doesn't really have to. I think $100 to $150 is a good budget range, and anything beyond that can't qualify as budget.
May 22, 2015 6:17 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #4
Yeah, anything over 2-3$ a card seems to be where most people draw the budget line, which comes out to about $150-200 (basic lands don't count)
May 22, 2015 6:20 p.m.
Wherever you feel like because budget is relative?
Under $500 is budget to me but under $1000 is 'cheap'.
May 22, 2015 6:20 p.m. Edited.
Epochalyptik says... #6
Budget is a relative term. It means something different to everyone. Some people play on their allowance or on very little income, so $100 is their ceiling. Others have plenty of money and think $200 or $500 is still budget.
May 22, 2015 6:24 p.m.
Depends on your budget. At $500, you are looking at a $5 ave, which would be budget cards. Now having cards that are generally not considered budget, would make the whole deck no longer a buget deck. Cards such as ABUR duals would not belong in a budget deck no matter the cost of the entire deck.
May 22, 2015 6:24 p.m.
Unless $100 a card isn't a lot of money for you, in which case it would be a budget deck as far as your are concerned.
May 22, 2015 6:28 p.m.
oh jeez, i really don't think its all relative. or at least that makes the conversation pretty not useful. sure, incomes are different but the spirit of budget, in and of itself, simply can't include all cards just because someone has astronomical wealth. that isn't the definition of budgeting.
i think of it as more of a mentality, where you could use one card but you opt for another. or you take a concept and then see how far you can go with it on some budget that you assign.
May 22, 2015 6:29 p.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #10
freakman13 you got all three of the admins to comment on your post. Congratulations, all the goat-sacking you must've done finally summoned them all.
Also, Chief, what are you doing in the Commander forum?
May 22, 2015 6:33 p.m.
I think low budget is always useful because it applies to all people. As budget becomes higher it becomes less useful because it applies to fewer people. There are people with astronomical wealth who consider ABUR duals pretty cheap but going by their metric is useless for 99%. So I do think budget is entirely relative but you should apply the measure to whatever seems sensible to the majority of people.
I am a commander.
Of my own destiny.
May 22, 2015 6:36 p.m.
freakman13 says... #14
Holy crap, this is a huge response. So if all the cards are sub $5 the deck is generally seen as budget, but if it is in that same price range, but I have multiple bulk cards and a couple $20 cards it isn't? So it is more the spirit of using cheap cards vs the actual price of the deck in your opinions?
May 22, 2015 6:44 p.m.
i think its just the spirit of making budgetary decisions based on the available options. you can explain what those budget decisions were, i think its just another fun aspect/step of theorycrafting for those who decide they want to.
some don't. some make make temporary budget decisions but are trying to max out.
May 22, 2015 6:47 p.m. Edited.
Honestly, I think it really depends on the individual. Some people may prefer a generally cheap deck that splashes out on just a few big money cards, whereas someone else might be more comfortable with something where every card is slightly more expensive on its own but not a single one is particularly pricy.
There is no rulebook so it's individual opinion.
The spirit of budget is about working with limitations to some degree. What your limitations are is a personal thing.
May 22, 2015 6:48 p.m.
freakman13 says... #17
But it was said earlier that no matter the circumstance an ABUR dual makes it not budget. I got a damaged Badlands for $20 that is still playable (it has a minor crease that looks like a wear mark) and that is the only reason I have it. To me, that seems like a great budget card for my deck since is was the same price as a Blood Crypt at the time. I traded $3 for my It That Betrays since it is walking the line between damaged and HP. Does that still fall into the "spirit" of budget?
May 22, 2015 7:09 p.m.
i was gonna say damaged cards kinda breaks reproducability by others, but hell, there's probably lots of damaged cards floating around. but let's say someone gives you a badlands. well i dunno, i think its a little tenuous to suggest you're really playing a budget deck.
May 22, 2015 7:17 p.m.
jandrobard says... #19
I think it's somewhat relative, but a good rule of thumb is if you'd buy the deck without worrying about the strain on your budget or you spending too much money on MTG, then it's definitely budget for you.
May 22, 2015 7:20 p.m.
freakman13 says... #20
I have a ton of playable damaged / HP cards in my deck that made it significantly cheaper to build for me, but since it would be so hard to reproduce for others it isn't budget. That makes sense actually, because while I only have like $200-$225 in it, it still has trade value of almost $500. Thank you for the insight into how the community views budget, and how it ties into reproducibility and value of cards individually, not just as a whole (since the deck averages less than $5 a card on here, and that doesn't factor in condition). It sounds like I should remove The Demons of EDH from the budget category, do you agree with this summation?
May 22, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #21
I use budget as a term that describes how much I have spent on the decks to build them specifically. My 2 main decks prob have 60-75 bucks in them. My other decks I consider budget. I spent 25-30 on a few of them. 10 on 2, 5 on 2, 1.25 on one of em, and 0(just stuff I have) on another.
May 23, 2015 1:33 a.m.
freakman13 says... #22
Well, in that regard how do you factor in trading Didgeridooda? Like I just traded some stuff today and added $30 to the value of my deck without spending a penny.
May 23, 2015 1:50 a.m.
Clearly anything above $20 no longer counts as a budget deck.
May 23, 2015 7:38 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #24
I traded for a good bit of Feelin' Triskey , and You will Roon the day! is the other that I built with 25-30 bucks. I still think of them as my budget decks.
May 23, 2015 10:59 a.m.
freakman13 says... #25
I really like your lists, I commented on both. I would consider them both decently budget as well.
May 23, 2015 2:15 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #26
Thank you. I build most of my stuff on a budget. If you want to take a look at my other ones, I have quite a few lower budget things I have built. I am always looking for another set of eyes on them.
May 23, 2015 2:49 p.m.
For those who didn't understand my comment was tongue-in-cheek (probably nobody), I was referring to my $20 budget EDH deck.
Mikaeus, Extreme Sub $20 Budget EDH
Honestly I consider any deck below $300 as budget. You can still run a few fetches or shocks and still be budget, a non budget deck has a majority (or all) of the best cards for their deck, like a full set of on color fetches, all the best in color tutors, etc.
A new player that happens to own a single Ugin and has traded away all the fetches he opened for 4-5 random planeswalkers/mythics and runs them all would still be a budget player even though his deck is probably over $150.
May 23, 2015 5:31 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #28
I got it Sleazebag, that deck has taken quite a hit recently. Mike has shot up so high. You should build a new one Talrand is pretty good, and should make a nice one.
May 23, 2015 6:35 p.m.
Didgeridooda: Haha yeah, I did however fix the deck to Mikaeus' new price! It is still sub $20.
If you proxy the Mikaeus, it's as little as $8 :)
But you are probably right in that Talrand is probably a better option now, it's usually him I recommend if someone wants a budget 1v1 list! When I first started building this deck, Mikaeus was only $3!
May 23, 2015 6:40 p.m.
I just realized all of my decks are budget decks. None of them cost over $250, and the ones that even slightly push pass the $100 mark are because of one or two $50 cards.
Most expensive deck $232.
Oh boy... not that I spend anywhere NEAR that on any of them. Between prices going up, trades from standard stuff I do not play/use, and the stray gift or two, I've maybe paid full price for two of my six.
Guess I'mma go mark them as budget, now!
May 24, 2015 6:25 p.m.
Jimmy_Chinchila says... #31
I think it's a deck that someone could easily scrap together, and utilizes cards that may not be premium but have a similar function (ie Evolving Wilds over Arid Mesa).
May 24, 2015 6:51 p.m.
freakman13 says... #32
Woot, go DudelRok! I really enjoy playing against your decks too. iStoleACooki almost marked Reaper King as budget for the lawls.
Arvail says... #2
Budget is rather relative. I'd say $250 at most.
May 22, 2015 6:17 p.m.