r/BudgetBrews • u/SonicTheOtter • 1d ago
$50 Brew $50 Commander deck
My playgroup and I have decided to do a $50 budget war. Each of us are doing a strong but non combo focused deck.
For example, one of my friends is building Tifa Lockhart. The deck is really strong but he might be lowering the power level of it a bit to match the rest of us. Another one of us is building a fun bird themed deck with Choco, Seeker of Paradise.
I don't know what I want myself yet. I don't want anything too powerful like a Magda, Zada, or Yuriko that you can build cheaply but powerfully. I want something that can be both fun to play and play against but can compete and interact with the other decks when needed. I'm fine with any color/s or strategy.
If anyone has any fun decks they have in mind, I'd love for you to share them and possibly a list!
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u/Yuli_Mae 1d ago edited 1d ago
I build a handful of budget decks. If you're in green, it's really easy to stay under budget and include some interesting things (Hedge Shredder + Spelunking + Icetill Explorer).
Here's a Mono Black Baron Zemo I recently put together.
I also really like Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy. I ended up building him in all colour combos with a background. My favourites are Azorius Tokens and Dimir Magecraft/Reanimator.
The best advice I can give is get really good at Scryfall and be familiar with its tagger.
ETA another piece of advice: I tend to build budget decks with 102-104 cards out of habit. I proxy now, even budget decks, but when I used to order from TCG Direct, there would always be some amount of cards missing from the order.
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u/Rexbrandt 1d ago
Icetill Explorer in a budget deck?
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u/Yuli_Mae 1d ago
Probably not anymore. It's one of the unfortunate bits about budget decks that a price might double. It was 13 USD when I made it. Since it jumped in price, the 50 USD budget deck is now around 65.
There are quite a few times this has happened and it won't be the last. Since I tend to build enough of these, my budget restriction is based on when I built the deck. I can't be too bothered to go fix them when a price jumps.
But yes, at 26 USD it would be hard (but not impossible) to stick it in a mono green budget deck.
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u/mouthsmasher 1d ago
I never took much of a look at Zemo before, but now I want to try and built him with the goal of casting [[B.F.M. (Big Furry Monster)|UGL|28]] and [[B.F.M. (Big Furry Monster)|UGL|29]] together.
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u/ItsMeDardroth 1d ago
My 2 self brewed Decks
Captain Howler, takes tons of Goldfishing https://moxfield.com/decks/yqDRDsSp6E2NAkTC55jFBg Its a 2nd Draw/Discard Core and uses Howler mainly as Card Draw. With all Instant Draws/Discards its allows to Sabotage enemys turn with buffing Commanders to letal dmg. Looting allows to increase your Hand Quality
And [[Susan Foreman]] + Doctor for Bant, Naya or here Temur. Play Susan into 4 Mana Ramp into big fat dudes turn by turn. Its powerful but wont combo or surprise Kill the Board. https://moxfield.com/decks/8nBh10w6TU-Oq7RAQDOoeA Take the list more like the Base and swap everthing aside of Lands/Ramps. Look Build for big Cards u never play.
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u/KindaIndifferent 1d ago
I have two that I've built as secret Santa gifts. These were $50 when built, not including basic lands, and using cheapest printings.
Loot the Pathfinder and Massacre Girl, Known Killer
Looks like the value of the Massacre Girl deck has gone up quite a bit since I built it.
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u/Acolyte_of_Swole 1d ago
Mono color should be easy to build under budget in general. I would just say find a theme you like the idea of and a playstyle that's fun and go with that.
I'm currently making an Outlaws Grixis deck based around committing crimes.
https://archidekt.com/decks/25783985/marchesas_wild_bunch
It's not under $50 but you can easily just pull any of the more expensive cards out and put in whatever you got. Not saying the deck is strong but it just seemed like a fun idea to me.
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u/username_is_too_shor 1d ago
[[Ruby, daring tracker]] or [[bugenhagen, wise elder]] or [[radha, heir to keld]] + every version of [[explosive vegetation]] and the rest of the deck is whatever bulk 6 drops+ you have lying around.
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u/Ambitious-Site-6356 1d ago
I have a couple non-combo but strong budget decks I recently built. Both can definitely hang in bracket 3.
Azorius Artifact Affinity with [[Mendicant Core]] at the helm: https://moxfield.com/decks/nH7TBquKrkasLkLhNgFkog
Gruul attack triggers with [[Wulfgar]] or you can swap to [[Halana and Elena]] to slightly power-down: https://moxfield.com/decks/EhVFfV0baESNXmlgXHK5xQ
I built them to play against each other so they are at a similar level.
My favorite build recently is right at $50, Boros Heroic Aggro with [[Anax and Cymede]] as commander: https://moxfield.com/decks/JbfIiv7khUqi_QG-0OZQiQ
Definitely doable to have unique commanders be powerful at $50, just takes a bit of work, happy brewing!
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u/CalamityXCam 1d ago
[[Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan]] is my favorite budget commander.
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u/Local-Answer9357 1d ago
Hell yeah, never enough Felothar love in the budget space imho.
You got a decklist i can see? Mine is degenerate Protean Hulk bullshit
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u/descie 1d ago
I've been working on a [[Kroxa & Kunoros]] deck for a while now. The budget is around €30. Easy upgraded would be a more efficient reanimation package like [[Reanimate]], [[Animate Dead]], [[Incarnation Technique]] or any mass reanimation. Also some better creatures like [[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]] and [[Archon of Cruelty]]
Goal of the deck is get cards in the graveyard and reanimate an etb creature and combine it with any creature that makes multiple copies of it.
Reanimating [[Mardu Siegebreaker]] or [[Duke Ulder Ravenguard]] with a [[Karmic Guide]] really propels the gameplan foreward.
The deck finishes with cards like [[Odric, Lunarch Marshal]] or [[Sigarda's Vanguard]] and giving your team Vigilance, Menace, Lifelink from the commander and any other keywords you have lying around.
At €30 it's a deck with some setup, but very explosive and a lot if interaction and interesting lines.
Using [[Wake the Dead]] to reanimate an [[Impulsivity]] can give you an instant speed boardwipe. Add to that a [[Ruthless Technomancer]] and something like [[Ardent Elementalist]] to return Wake the Dead and you can start repeating this every combat on an opponents turn.
Best cards in the deck are: [[Celes, Rune Knight]] to wheel and pump your team.
[[Mardu Siegebreaker]] and friends to abuse etb's.
[[Odric, Lunarch Marshal]] with KnK to spread out some juicy keywords.
[[Shadow of the Goblin]] with a dredge card.
[[Impulsivity]] to steal or reuse the big spells in graveyards. This creature has won me a lot of games.
Here's the decklist:
https://moxfield.com/decks/GyHPoo0BDEWHGvaHyX9NxA
Feel free to ask any questions.
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u/reverendexile 1d ago
[[captain Howler]] get some cheap unblockables and a few wheels some double strike and you're in biz. That being said my howler deck is. Nowhere near as powerful as Tifa. She's a monster, you need to play removal into that
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u/Jongunt 1d ago
Got a couple of what I consider B3 decks (brackets are kind of subjective. They play well and win decent enough against my Pods B3 decks) both around the price of $50 and without being directly combo.
The first and most recent is a Budget Mono Blue Wan Shi Tong based on one Budget Commander built a few months ago with a few cards I liked better swapped in. It's a blink control focused deck that I think plays well. If you don't like some of the jankier cards I've included, but the deck interests you I'd recommend his 45 decks under $45 video to see his build
https://archidekt.com/decks/20783840/wan_shi_tongs_library
My other deck is Rakdos burn with Rowan, Scion of war as the commander. It's a little over $50 now as the costs of the cards have gone up since I built it 2 years ago, but the deck is one where it only needs 1 upkeep with the commander to get rolling. My build is based on the concept of a Build Your own Precon so it also functions well with it's backup commander Judith in charge, but I personally think that's closer to a B2 deck. If you're looking to customize it I'd suggest cutting her and some of the cards specifically for her Blazing Volley, Earthquake, etc and focus the deck more.
https://archidekt.com/decks/12923679/cut_my_life_into_pieces
Hope you enjoy the games no matter which deck you choose from! It looks like you got a ton of great choices here!
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u/Nagaisbae 1d ago
I vote for [[Xyris, the writhing storm]]. Help others play their deck while building yourself a monster board. You have option for win cons as well. You can do just battle damage from all your snakes. You can add infect to your snakes. You can even sneak in commander damage wins.
The main strat is have your opponent draw to of cards and you make ton of snakes off it. How you decide to use the snakes is up to you.
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u/Spirited_Tiger7430 1d ago
For an underrated budget aristocrats build look at [[zahur, glorys past ]]. I built him for $30 and was blown away by how well it performed. It's chock full of evasive 1 drops so you can mulligan for an opening hand that ensures max speed turn 4 every game. No need for ramp, just aristocrats gas with a turbo button in the command zone that lets you see a TON of cars via surveil. Oh and he's a sac outlet?! With $50 you could get even better aristocrats pieces, infinite combos, or just a better land base to make mulligans even easier. https://moxfield.com/decks/LEB-26OHhUikj5SYWJ1Jhg
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u/mattmesh 1d ago
I did this with a group of friends. I made my buddy a Keiga, the Tide Star deck. The entire deck was built around copying keiga and stealing every creature in the game. He apparently has gone bonkers with it before and has since upgraded it some. Did it all for $50 though and was very happy he enjoyed it.
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u/IssueIvan 1d ago
There is a great article made by Tomer about cool cheap decks. He also explains them in a video.
The most competitive answers are always
[[Malcolm keen eyed]]+[[breeches the plunderer]] [[Winita Joiner of forces]] And [[sergeant John benton]]
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u/erik14251 18h ago
I recently built a budget Craig boone deck also for $50 for a similar thing my friends and I are doing when we meet up at magiccon. It's got a small quest counters theme and tries to get attacks in ever turn and take extra combats to get boone to shoot as many times as possible.
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u/Same-Stop-3328 17h ago
I built a Diabolical budget deck with 35 lands 40 cards of low cost mid range removal 10 equipment 15 death touch creatures This was a glissa sunslayer deck
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u/The_Elite_Chief 1d ago
In keeping with the FF trend I see here and cause it's the first thing that came to mind, [[Kuja, Genome Sorcerer]] immediately pops into my head. Keeping to one or two colors is always ideal in budget decks, so rakdos is solid already. With Kuja you just buy all the "make black mage" spell cards, a ton of wheeling cards to refresh your hand and ping, and a spread of removal. You'll need more card draw than you think. Sprinkle in some choice wizards that are low to the ground or can do good damage even without flipped Kuja to double it [[Electrostatic Infantry]] [[Irencrag Pyromancer]]. I would not go suuuper hard on additional ping doublers, if you can get a couple low to the ground sure, but that extra space may want to be dedicated to more instant/sorcery card draw or wizards.
There's something to be said for a big dumb creature enabler as well. I currently have my eye on the new [[Radagast of Rhosgobel]]. I know he himself is not super budget friendly, but he's so flexible I feel that difference could be made up based on the strategy you go with. I'm gravitating towards flashing in annoying blockers or deathtouch fodder to catch and kill big swings your way [[Hornet Queen]]. Then you could cast bigger creatures like [[Ghalta, Primal Hunger]] or [[Bane of Progress]], then flash in a creature like [[Thunderfoot Baloth]] to swing them all in for lethal. You will want a lot of creatures that say something to the extent of "when you cast a creature for the first time this turn, draw a card" or otherwise enchantments that get you cards when you play creatures. You'll also want a lot of cheap protection effects to guard your big bombs.
Finally if you want something that can deal with scary Tifas and birds a little better, [[Vren the Relentless]] has never let me down. Stock this deck with a bunch of recursive card draw, a handful of tribal boosting rats, and a spread of flexible removal, and you're golden. I like finding kill spells like [[Gix's Command]] to not wipe everything off the board but still take out important targets while generating me a massive rat army.