Foil

Instant

You may discard an Island card and another card rather than pay Foil's mana cost.

Counter target spell.

Discussion (51)

Dredge4life on Cheapskate Talrand (Competitive, Budget $75)

2 days ago

If the plan is to Polymorph, I would cut the Deadeye/Drake package, and just run Oracle/Leveler. I think the better plan is to always know that Talrand is lethal if Mass Polymorph resolves. Other than that, I would probably try and lower the curve a little. Cut some of the more expensive countermagic and run things like Winds of Change and Chain of Vapor. Dispel and Miscast should also be in here, and maybe even Foil for another free hard counter. It’s bad, but we don’t have access to Force, and losing three cards is better than losing the game.

Let’s cut some of the other expensive win cons like Sphinx-Bone Wand to run a few more mana rocks, like Coldsteel Heart and Sky Diamond. We only have one primary win condition now, but it’s much more effective and resilient, and we can keep our combat damage backup plan. If we really wanted to, we could play Proteus Staff to try and stack our deck in the event we draw both combo pieces/have had them killed, but I think that’s just super greedy and going to be a liability most of the time.

Amass the Components could be See Beyond. That way, we could keep the escape option if we accidentally draw our wincons, but we lower the cost by two. We could also shave Distant Melody and replace it with Chart a Course. It might be less cards total, but it’s half the price, and is always letting us see two cards. Careful Study could be in here too.

That’s all I can think of for now, but I really like this concept. Mostly, we just really need to bring down this curve. Best of luck!

Copied from my response on reddit.

Bahoola on Kalamax - Instant Speed Tribal Primer

1 month ago

1. Force of Negation

=> Let's make a "free Counterspell" budget.. wow.. ehm, yes, no!

Foil?

Artatras on The Many-Faced God - [Primer]

1 month ago

Providing budget alternatives is not that simple because the deck is balanced as is and changing any single card would alter its equilibrium. I will try my best, but do keep in mind that with the following changes you will need to play the deck a lot slower than before. Without free counterspells you will need to wait for when you can leave mana open, and so on and so forth. Hopefully, the fact that all the decks in the tournament follow the same budget restrictions can make up for this. Here are my budget changes:

Mana Crypt and Mox Amber: any two-mana rock, like Arcane Signet and Mind Stone.

Force of Will and Fierce Guardianship: a copy of Foil and Dispel. Depending on your specific meta, you could consider Mental Misstep.

Mana Drain: any two-mana counterspell. My choice would be Countersquall.

Ancient Tomb: a basic Island.

Cyclonic Rift: Echoing Truth. This can bounce a single permanent or an army of tokens, which seems particularly useful in your case.

Damnation and Toxic Deluge: your choice of Languish, Whelming Wave, Evacuation or AEtherize.

Dark Confidant: I once used Disciple of Deceit, which was suboptimal. Alternatively, Looter il-Kor or any draw spell.

Intuition, Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor: Diabolic Tutor, Forbidden Alchemy and Beseech the Queen are okayish.

Training Grounds: Heartstone is the closest comparison, but do keep in mind it works for your opponents as well.

These are all direct substitutions. I took the cards you mentioned and replaced them with their budget counterparts. If you think some of them aren't good enough (and in most cases they are not), then you can consider including something completely different instead. I'm thinking about cards like Propaganda, Torpor Orb, more removal, more card draw, more ramp. You have the privilege of knowing the decks you will be facing, so you can tweak the deck according to your matchups.

If you want to be prepared against a token deck, try shaving some single target removals or counterspells for a few extra board wipes. Just be extra careful against Meren because they tend to play a lot of Fleshbag Marauder-like effects, which is something this deck really struggles with. Make use of your haste enablers to kill your opponent during the very first turn you play Lazav, before he or she has the opportunity to play those cards.

I wish you good luck for your tournament, and let me know about your results!

Bahoola on Kalamax Nittpicking 50$

2 months ago

Nitpicking - IN! (41 cards) Goblin Electromancer God-Eternal Kefnet Guttersnipe Niv-Mizzet, Parun Wavebreak Hippocamp Ral, Storm Conduit Ancient Grudge Arcane Denial Commit / Memory Conqueror's Galleon  ^Flip Cultivator's Caravan Electrodominance Expansion / Explosion Expedite Fact or Fiction Fire / Ice Foil Fury Storm Impulse Krosan Grip Mizzix's Mastery Mystic Confluence Nature's Claim Peek Primal Amulet  ^Flip Radical Idea Rapid Hybridization Snap Springleaf Drum Stubborn Denial Thaumatic Compass  ^Flip Thousand-Year Storm Game Trail Holdout Settlement Mountain Valley Reliquary Tower Rogue's Passage Sheltered Thicket Survivors' Encampment Temple of Abandon Temple of Mystery

imoutogetyou on Gadwicks Tricks | Budget Gadwick EDH

2 months ago

Heeeeeeeeeey Buddy, its Jens. Add: Ghostly Flicker, Mystic Sanctuary, Halimar Depths, Drift of Phantasms, Mnemonic Wall, Foil, Brineborn Cutthroat, Faerie Vandal, Stinging Lionfish, Omen of the Sea, Mantle of Tides, Transmogrifying Wand, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Chaos Wand

Cut: 1x Island, Herald's Horn, Foresight, Thassa's Oracle, Sea Gate Oracle, Riverwise Augur, Trophy Mage (not enough targets), Quench, Power Sink, Negate

Azeworai on

4 months ago

Welp. Due to the essence of this being churlish and competitive, I shall aid you as such.

A stack package is oft a requisite for decks such as this. Urza, Lord High Artificer, Winter Orb, Static Orb, Smokestack, and Tangle Wire beseem this.

Swan Song, Foil, Daze, and Force of Negation are all of note.

Soothly, Isochron Scepter and Dramatic Reversal spell only doom.

May woe betide your foes.

Izzy- on RNG-sus Take The Wheel (Coins are a wheel right?)

5 months ago

Overall I have some comments and some questions.

Deprive seems a little rough to run in this deck personally, I would maybe consider just a plain old Counterspell at least since its the same but no potential downside. The same can be said for Foil, Thwart, where I'm not sure what is making you value off of bouncing your lands. There are equally cheap and powerful counterspells without hurting your boardstate. Arcane Denial, Memory Lapse, simply for example.

If the deck is mainly budget then the landbase is fine, but even cards that provide some color-fixing would help the deck. From Evolving Wilds to Command Tower to provide some consistency.

Possibility Storm here seems less like it interacts well with the deck, and more disruptive and prone to create chaos. Which again if that is what you want, then it fits well. However, depending on your meta, your playgroup may not enjoy pure chaos too much. So ultimately what do you want from this deck. I understand its coin flipping based, but do you wish to kill with commander damage? Inflict chaos on the table?

Honestly I could come up with other cards and suggestions, but I don't know enough about the deck and if you are constrained by a budget.

Pervavita on Best Counterspells in Commander?

5 months ago

Foil is another free counterspell