This is my Budget Mono-Blue Draw-Go Control Teferi, Mage of Zhalfirfoil deck. My pod has been building decks around the below rules.

Budget rules:

  • Commander < $5USD
  • 99 cards < Less than Sol Ring (most common precon @ $1.22USD)
  • Basic lands are free
  • Total < $50USD (TCGPlayer average)

The homies:

Our first year bracket champ:


Mass Land Destruction (on a budget!)

Commander / EDH* BroodmasterChan

SCORE: 6 | 5 COMMENTS | 923 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER


Thank god no more dark ritual (〃 ̄︶ ̄)人( ̄︶ ̄〃):


Budget Braids

Commander / EDH* BroodmasterChan

SCORE: 4 | 1 COMMENT | 287 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER


Best theme ez:


Burb (dollar)

Commander / EDH ssessnsski

29 VIEWS


Demons~:


Demon Storm (dollar)

Commander / EDH ssessnsski

SCORE: 2 | 367 VIEWS


Primary lock: Knowledge Pool + Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir .
Tutors: Vedalken Aethermage, Step Through, Treasure Mage, Drift of Phantasms, and Ethereal Usher secure Knowledge Pool.

With both permanents in play, opponents can no longer cast spells.

Knowledge Pool normally ignores timing restrictions, allowing players to cast any spell it has exiled. However, Teferi adds a restriction the Pool does not ignore. There is a relevant Oracle ruling on Knowledge Pool: "Timing restrictions based on the card’s type are ignored. For example, you can cast an exiled creature card this way. Other restrictions, such as Spinal Embrace’s “Cast Spinal Embrace only during combat” are not ignored."

As the trigger from the pool will always be on the stack while it resolves, and it will always be put onto the stack when an opponent casts a spell, opponents will never be able to cast anything because of the sorcery speed restriction requiring the stack be empty.

Built in the CMU Draw-Go tradition: hold mana, react on opponents’ turns, assemble Teferi + Pool to shut down interaction.

Draw-Go Info


Game Plan

  • Prioritize land drops (aim for Island + Waste).
  • Keep mana untapped for cheap counters (Examples: Annul, Spell Pierce, Essence Scatter).
  • Use small draw/dig (Examples: Impulse, Anticipate, Index) preferably at opponents' end steps.
  • Maintain reactive posture - counter first, draw second.

"Controlling time ensures you need never look impulsive again." - Teferi

Updates

We're dumping a lot of creatures for just better versions. Also our board interaction if we miss a counter was absolute trash, so we're giving a bit more focus here.

First a quick update to match the paper deck. As things go, cards are moved. Then some new cards are on the way:

- Siren Stormtamer
+ Zimone's Hypothesis

Siren Stormtamer feels mostly useless at this point. The only creature I'll have on board before the lock is Fog Bank, and I don't feel too bad if it see's the glory of Nev's Disk (at least it'll stop antagonizing the confused dinosaurs). Zimone's Hypothesis is the next best draw-go sweeper I came across.

- Mindsplice Apparatus
+ Oblivion Stone

This is where it's starting to hurt. Mindsplice Apparatus is fun, but we need the Oblivion Stone for removal which is my main focus with this update. Also, horrible themeing with Phyrexian Oil. I'm down for an expensive Disk that might stick around. Getting this out turn 3 would be interesting, value because we can always wait till endstep. I'm curious to see if it sits there doing nothing most games or not. Also operates as a valid Drift of Phantasms Transmute target, and flexibility feels good.

- Academy Loremaster 
+ Boompile

Academy Loremaster seems like it should feel good, it just never does. I think it's honestly fighting with the general direction of the deck, I had it in here with the intent of the free extra card turn 2+ but it just doesn't fit. It fights with a lot of my value countermagic (turn 2 creature countermagic feels v nice v often). It also offers an edge to the opponent when my lock hits. Why give them extra draw to search for their 3/99 answers? Boompile is a fast Nevinyrral's Disk with RNG. I can't wait to franticly tap it for 4 turns in a row as Timmy murders me.

- Reality Shift
+ Perilous Vault

I've had games go to 9 mana easily, this is just I think more syngergistic removal, if I hit Perilous Vault on curve turn 5 board wipe would feel very nice I imagine. The Reality Shift goes mainly because I don't like targeting, and I'm not really looking to removal a single creature early. That's what the countermagic is supposed to be doing.

- Quick Study
+ Scour for Scrap

This one should be very self-explanatory, Scour for Scrap is perfect for us, also comes in at $0.22USD. Quick Study is good but impulse is our support batch, so I'm willing to make a cut here.

Questions: - whats a reasonable amount of wastes to slot a null elemental blast? pips might work for this?

- Triskaidekaphile
+ Null Elemental Blast
- 8x Island
+ 8x Waste

No reason to let people get away easily with Triskaidekaphile. This should work out to around:

Turn 1 (8 cards seen):
- 10% chance of 0 Islands
- 27% chance of 1 Island
- 34% chance of 2 Islands
- Expected: 2.2 blue pips

Turn 3 (10 cards seen):
- 35% chance of 2 Islands
- 36% chance of 3 Islands
- 20% chance of 4 Islands
- Expected: 2.8 blue pips

Turn 6 (13 cards seen):
- 21% chance of 2 Islands
- 31% chance of 3 Islands
- 28% chance of 4 Islands
- 15% chance of 5 Islands
- Expected: 3.6 blue pips

Turn 10 (17 cards seen):
- 22% chance of 4 Islands
- 26% chance of 5 Islands
- 22% chance of 6 Islands
- Expected: 4.8 blue pips


Waste Curve:
Turn 1 (8 cards seen):
- 43% chance of 0 Wastes
- 38% chance of 1 Waste
- 16% chance of 2 Wastes
- Expected: 0.8 Wastes
- 57% chance of at least 1 Waste in opener

Turn 3 (10 cards seen):
- 35% chance of 0 Wastes
- 39% chance of 1 Waste
- 21% chance of 2 Wastes
- Expected: 1.0 Wastes

Turn 6 (13 cards seen):
- 25% chance of 0 Wastes
- 37% chance of 1 Waste
- 27% chance of 2 Wastes
- Expected: 1.3 Wastes

Turn 10 (17 cards seen):
- 17% chance of 0 Wastes
- 32% chance of 1 Waste
- 31% chance of 2 Wastes
- 16% chance of 3 Wastes
- Expected: 1.7 Wastes

I think this is value? Maybe?

Some big updates. First, we have completed our cost calculation for Sol Ring and the average TCGPlayer cost is $1.44USD which opens the door to three cards I've wanted.

+ Omen Machine this one we'll have to see about, it doesn't feel very good to not be drawing, but it's also a good lock.
+ Eye of the Storm another alternate lock piece with Teferi. This one is conditional as well, but preventing instants and sorceries while copying them is quite nice.
+ Vexing Bauble with the new pieces we are adding a Teferi alternative for {1}. 
- Dispel
- Envelop
- Annul
- Blue Elemental Blast

This is one of two big changes I've made with the deck. I'm cutting more conditional counter magick for hard counters accepting the {1}{U}{U} overlords. Disruption Protocol is one of our best available hard counterspells with a conditional {U}{U} cost.

Current counterspells:

Hard-Counter

16 Total

Soft-Counter

And one final card that actually points to the other key update.

Jwari Disruption  

We have revamped our mana base.

+ Faceless Haven
- Blinkmoth Nexus too expensive.
+ 20 Snow-Covered Island Ice Age for flavor and Faceless Haven
- Command Tower the meme was fun while it lasted.
- 19 Island

Suggestions

Updates Add

Comments

91% Casual

Competitive

Revision 8 See all

(5 months ago)

-1 Annul main
-1 Archmage's Charm main
-1 Blast Zone side
-1 Blinkmoth Nexus main
-1 Blue Elemental Blast main
-1 Buried Ruin side
-1 Cancel main
-1 Command Tower main
+1 Diluvian Primordial main
+1 Disallow main
-1 Dispel main
+1 Disruption Protocol main
+1 Dissolve main
-1 Engulf the Shore main
-1 Envelop main
+1 Eye of the Storm main
-1 Fade Away maybe
-1 Filter Out main
-1 Flow of Ideas main
-1 Flow of Knowledge main
and 41 other change(s)