Budget Competitive Decks
Challenges and Articles forum
Posted on March 6, 2012, 10:32 a.m. by burkek
Budget Competitive Decks
I thought I would compile a list of cheaper decks to help those trying out a new format. I probably missed a few since I did this based off what I knew was cheap rather than researching to find more cheap decks that I didn't know about. I hope some of you might find this useful.
Standard:
Burn
No matter what standard it is, a mono red burn deck is a safe bet. Actually, in general burn is a cheap deck that can win tournaments. I would definitely put this on the list of easy entrance decks into standard; its current iteration is called red deck wins (RDW).
Stromkirk Noble is the general 1 drop of choice. He is a threat that will dominate the game if left unchecked.
Chandra's Phoenix is one of the best cards in the deck because this burn deck relies on consistent damage instead of burst damage. An extra shock a turn is very good in this deck.
Shrine of Burning Rage is the best card in your deck. It is how this deck wins control match-ups and adds that finishing touch that makes this deck so good.
As a rule of thumb, look for a mono colored deck that do not rely on swords for standard.
Modern:
Here the decks actually matter a bit more because you actually get to use the deck you made for more than a year. There are a few cheap options for modern, and I will look at a few that I consider the best.
Martyr Proc
these decks focus on life gain and white weenie aggro. The best way to summarize them is Martyr of Sands + Serra Ascendant + Proclamation of Rebirth.
Most of the pieces of this deck are pretty cheap, but you might incur some expenses with Proclamation of Rebirth, Figure of Destiny, and any planeswalker or other card you might want to fill out your deck.
Burn
these exist and they are cheap. However, with so many martyr decks and so many main deck kitchen finks, the use of burn is quite limited right now. In general, your list should be trying to play 40 lightning bolts with various spells like Lava Spike and Goblin Guide.
Rogue Deck:
This term refers to a brew you make yourself. Since modern is still a new format, there are plenty of unexplored strategies that you can try. Generally, play test against all the major decks in the format, figure out how you need to sideboard against them, look at how often you win, and do a lot of research and work before you try this option. It can be rewarding, but only if you put the time into making it.
Legacy
Elves:
This is a tried, proven, and powerful strategy. It is a combo/beat-down deck that is famous for its ability to play its entire deck, ending with emrakul being hard cast, in a single turn. The basics of this deck are play mana producers, use them to play a huge number of elves, swing into the red zone. Also, the other plan is to use glimpse of nature, heritage druid, and nettle sentinel. The combo works as follows:
play Heritage Druid
play 2 Nettle Sentinel (it is ok to only play 1 and find the second while comboing)
tap 3 elves for mana, play Glimpse of Nature, untap Nettle Sentinel, play elves, draw, untap, tap for mana, repeat.
It is a powerful deck, and relatively cheap. It is a great starting deck for entrance into legacy that you can continue using for as long as you want, because it is powerful enough to win.
Burn
This deck costs about $110 and has recently been tearing up the SCG Legacy 2k tournaments. The deck is easy to use and consistently a turn 4 win. It is a great entry deck and a good overall choice for starting into competitive magic. Granted, since it composed 15% of the Meta at SCG Tampa, it might be the wrong time to start playing it. It is going to have a lot of hate right now.
Dredge
This deck is relatively cheap (in the versions that dont use Lion's Eye Diamond). It is very powerful and fast. It is also incredibly consistent. Dredge is a graveyard based strategy that is one of the most hated decks in legacy and has the highest game 1 win percentage of any deck. The catch is that it is fairly complex to play and might be better for a more experienced player than someone just looking to get started into the format, but it is definitely a viable option for a tournament competitive deck that wins legacy events. If you want to think about playing this deck go read a primer on how the deck works first, it will be very helpful when trying to learn the deck.
March 6, 2012 12:31 p.m.
No I was mostly talking about decks that have already been proven to work. I can understand if you think your deck is good, but until it posts some actual results (FNM doesn't count) I can't really put it in a list of established tournament decks.
March 6, 2012 2:55 p.m.
That being the case, you are going to struggle to add to your list of competitive budget decks that win recognised tournaments.
They simply don't.
Decks that can be built on a budget and that are competitive, however...
March 7, 2012 4:33 a.m.
Burn has won 2k several times in a row at SCG tournaments recently in legacy. It costs 110 dollars. Most legacy decks are over 1k.
March 7, 2012 10:17 a.m.
ravengamer93 says... #7
deck:fun-staller-deck almost every card in this is 10-25 cents
No says... #2
Cheap Vampires does the job for under $60.
The free advertising segment over, I'm glad that someone else is looking to make affordable decks.
I daren't remember the amount of times I'm left bemused at the sight of Sword of War and Peace
and Mox Opal
randomly thrown in to decks 'just because'.
March 6, 2012 12:31 p.m.