The Tens of EDH 3: Budget Building
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miracleHat
11 January 2016
5454 views
11 January 2016
5454 views
The Tens of EDH
Budgeting EDH Decks!
Introduction .1
Hi everyone, and welcome to the third instalment of "The Tens of EDH"
Welcome. As alluded to in the title, this series focuses on the Ten’s of EDH (also known as "Commander"). This is a list based series that examines casual commander decks, and how to build them. I hope that you will enjoy this, however, since opinions and perceptions do differ; this may not be for everybody. Please keep the comments nice and civil and if you disagree with anything, nothing, or all of this, please do let me know in the comments section below.
Introduction .2
Hi everybody! How is the new year going for you? There are many exciting oath to the gatewatch spoilers to talk about— Oh, good job on that article user:chiefbell!
I debated doing a deck tech on any of the new generals from Oath of the Gatewatch, but decided to skip that. Instead: a question that comes up a lot while constructing EDH decks, "How do I keep this within my budget". For this article, I am going to define "budget" as $250, but it does not matter too much what the price tag is because I aim to provide general tips that anyone can use. Most of what is written down below is applicable outside of EDH too, #5 is a great example. In short: I hope you enjoy this article and keep a happily stuffed wallet.
#1
There are 100 cards in an EDH deck; 15 of them, most of the time, are the only cards that the deck really needs. These are the 15 cards that if the deck does not have, the deck will never win. The other 85 are normally filler to make the essentials work. The easiest examples are the combo decks. These decks have their combo, the backup wincons, and the other cards are filler that assist the deck in combo'ing out and winning (think: tutors, ramp, cards like that). Some of these cards are ridiculously expensive: and you do not even really need them outside of tier 1 play (looking at you 3-3-9 lands)! Try to cut down on unnecessary filler and overly generic cards as these can often be expensive. It is important to include a good selection of utility cards, but they do not necessarily have to best examples, so try not to overdo it and do try searching for alternatives. This is what brings me to:
#2
Find budget versions of the cards that can be easily replaced. MTG is an expensive card game (looking at you Force of Will & Tarmogoyf) and EDH can certainly echo this general trend. A simple way to circumvent the expensive cards is to find cards that do the same thing (or at least, roughly the same thing), functionally, but are also cheaper. While some cards are not wholly replaceable, Force of Will can be downgraded to a Pact of Negation, or even cheaper Disrupting Shoal, or the cheapest Foil. Yes, these cards are not technically as good but they still get the job done, and they are cheap. These are perfectly acceptable compromises when designing a deck on a budget. It is also improtant to remember that these cheaper cards can be slowly replaced over time with more expensive alternatives.
#3
(I Get It! Horrible Title) Ebay is a wonderful place to purchase MTG cards. You can, if you are patient enough (patience is a virtue that requires patience to achieve), buy the card that you need for very subsidised prices. This is a really helpful when constructing a deck on a budget, though it might take weeks to finally get the card for an acceptable price. The trick to this method is to set up saved searches and allow Ebay to email you with all new items that fulfil that search criteria. So, for example, if you have "steam vents MTG" as a saved search then Ebay will frequently email you with all the items that match that search. By monitoring these emails it becomes easy to grab a great deal.
#4
There are a lot of different MTG cards, and the more cards that you have in your collection, the more cards you can play with. Having a larger collection means that you do not have to buy so much in the future. Instead you can just pick out the cards that you will need from your stash. Building a collection is a long, tiring, and sometimes boring process; but it can save money in the future. Try to leave any collection you have as intact as possible. Just because you do not play a particular deck anymore does not necessarily mean you should sell it. That Sol Ring may come in handy in a few weeks time, and you would not want to have to buy one again. There is a way to make building a collection fun and interesting (pst. Look below)!
#5
Trading, almost literally, costs you no money. If you set aside $250 for your new ultra awesome EDH deck, and you see that somebody is trading the cards that you need, ex. Azusa, Lost but Seeking, see if you can strike a deal. By doing this you can ignore the "find budget versions" paragraph and not use Gaea's Touch instead. Trading does require you to have some sort of binder / collection, but the more that you play the game, the more cards you get (most of the time). Trading one resource you do not use for a new resource that you will use means that no further monetary investment is necessary. Online trading is a great way to broaden the field for card hunting (shameless plug: my binder). This website, deckbox, and pucatrade all offer online services. When trading online shipping can become an issue, but it is possible to minimise this expense. A padded envelope, tracking, and 3 to 5 day delivery can cost as little as $2.56.
#4
When Blue Moon became a widespread deck for a short time, every major card in that deck became really expensive. If memory serves correctly: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir was $40 at some point during that time. If you are buying the cards for your EDH deck, and you hear that Skred red is becoming a "real" thing and you still need Koth of the Hammer
and Boros Reckoner, it is advisable to get that sh*t as quickly as possible. Trends and fashions for force price spikes, and these spikes do not always dip back down again. Do not wait for the point at which the cards you need to become too expensive. On the flipside, if there is talk about Splinter Twin being banned in modern, then don’t rush to get it for your EDH deck. Wait and if it does get banned, then you could get for a cheaper price. A good knowledge of multiple metagames and trends can be a budget builders best friend.
#3
You are probably reading the title thinking 'how stupid is miracleHat? I already know this!'. Unfortunately, this is a serious problem. I was going to delete this and come up with another idea, but then I saw somebody at the card shop complaining that he did not have enough money to finish his EDH deck (he needed ~14 more cards). Completely made from scratch, there was a judge promo Vendilion Clique, 4 alters, and way too many foils. If you are trying to save money and still have a fun, interesting, and functioning EDH deck, you do not have to go out of your way to get every fancy card that you see. In fact: please don’t. In fact: getting cards that are slightly played or MP can save $30-$50 depending on the cardshop and/or online shop. If you can stand to sacrifice a tiny bit of quality then by all means try buying SP or MP cards.
#2
I personally disapprove of proxies. However, when somebody says 'This deck is expensive enough as it is', or 'I am just testing this deck out to see if I like it', or 'just deal with it', then I find it hard to argue with that person. Proxies are as expensive as the paper / printer ink / toner they require to produce. Proxy-ing the cards is a major thing that people do to save on $$ and it is an easy way to figure out if a card is good for the deck or not. I would also like to point out that if you need a Phantasmal Image in your deck, you can put in a Clone instead and just tell everybody beforehand that it is actually the image (same thing works for fetchlands). Just make sure to tell everybody before you start playing. It is a way of saving a lot of $$. But again; ask your playgroup. Different people have different stances on this proxying and obviously it can be frowned upon by some.
#1
This is going to be the harshest advice, but it is honest. If you want to make an EDH deck, but you can’t make it fit into your budget, scrap it and restart. If you look at an EDH Mono-U Combo Deck, and you cannot get it below your budget of $X, then find something else that is just as cruel or interests you just as much (looking at you Nekusar, the Mindrazer). I am not saying scrap every deck that you build - just if you are trying to build a deck in real life, but you can’t, it is often wise to find something else more obtainable. Be realistic in your budget and your deck design. I have had two friends quit MTG because they couldn’t finish the deck that they wanted. Please don’t quit, do not be those people. Play to your strengths and plan out your build beforehand so you do not end up disappointed.
Conclusion .1
For the obligatory conclusion; thanks for reading this third instalment… I hope that you enjoy it and you continue reading. Please upvote, subscribe, comment and all of that vain fun stuff.
Conclusion .2
Three cheers for conclusions that matter. These ten suggestions and tips are not the only ways to cut down the costs of EDH decks. What methods do you know of and use? What is your normal budget for creating an EDH deck? Final conclusion note: do you disagree with any of the methods up here? If so, please tell me, and everybody who reads the comment, which one and why!
So every article I tell people something about me. For this article: I figured that I would share my love for Guild Wars 2. First computer game I have ever played and if you want to do fractals or dungeons (C.o.F. / H.o.t.W) hit me up. Warning: I only have 31 AR on my Necro. Just remember: Jump with Jaden-- ATOMIC NERD FACTION!!!
And the trivia question: how many Star Trek references are in this article?
Again, assuming that you read this, thanks!
The content featured in this article may not be necessarily the views or beliefs of the author, tappedout.net, or other parties
InfiniteParadoX says... #2
not a fan of this article series, but I seem to always come back. GW2 is a great game though.
January 11, 2016 8:32 p.m.
killroy726 says... #3
I also recommend for budget edh builders to go buy a pre-con deck! for ~$35 USD you get a solid foundation to build off of. You already have access to multiple commanders for your deck and color fixing and the all important Sol Ring's and other staples.
January 11, 2016 9:35 p.m.
miracleHat Misdirection is another worse FoW. Just putting that out there
January 11, 2016 10:16 p.m.
ClockworkSwordfish says... #5
I disagree with anything, nothing, or all of this.
January 12, 2016 1:50 a.m.
I saved money buy buying a play set of a card Sliver Hivelord as soon as it came out because I know that card will slowly increase in price. I actually just traded it for a Kokusho, the Evening Star thus allowing me to use it in my deck.(it would have been a filler card as you put it, not integral to the deck).
To summarize if you know a card will increase in price over time (most good non-basic lands for example) buy it before it has time to inflate
January 12, 2016 2:51 a.m.
Another thing worth mentioning - ramp is an easy way to make budget alternatives playable. Every colour has access to it and with the right ramp package, even seemingly unplayable cards can work in the deck. And what's more, money wise most ramp packages are relatively cheap (with the exception of things like Mana Crypt, Three Visits, etc).
January 13, 2016 3:55 a.m. Edited.
Wee_Dragonaut says... #8
Before building a commander deck, I always sell a valuable card. Although it may seem slightly strange, it always gives me $20-30 dollars to work with my Commander deck.
January 13, 2016 5:22 p.m.
"I am going to define "budget" as $250"... Not much to say after this...
January 14, 2016 1:24 a.m.
ThisIsBullshit says... #11
qweer in competitive 3 color EDH decks, the basis for a successful mana base starts with the 3 ABUR duals in your colors (Volcanic Island and friends), 3 shock lands, (Godless Shrine, etc) and the 9 fetches (Polluted Delta, etc), hence the name "3-3-9".
January 14, 2016 1:26 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #12
Speaking of 3-3-9 lands... A good way to make your decks cheaper is just to... Play less colors! There was a Daxos of Meletis deck that a few months ago you could build online for three (3) tickets. My Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero deck is fairly decent, and costed me like 35 $ to put together (50$ if you include that I already happen to have an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite).
Manabases are expensive. A three color deck with 25 basics in it will have miserable mana. A two color deck with 30 basics will usually be fine and a one color deck with 35 basics still has perfect mana (unless you play a bunch of cards that cost 
I guess). So if you have a money constraint, maybe play Zirilan of the Claw instead of Scion of the Ur-Dragon
January 14, 2016 3:21 p.m.
atomic_moose says... #13
I feel like this is your strongest article.
To those complaining about budget being $250, everyone has different incomes and this is understandable.
You could potentially purchase one of the pre built decks for 30$ and supplement that through trades to get a decent deck.
In more competitive circles, edh decks range much much higher than $250 (think competitive 5 color landbase). This lends credence to the idea that 200-300 dollars can be budget, when some decks have single cards that cost that much.
TLDR "Budget" is opinion based, along with many other factors.
January 14, 2016 6:23 p.m.
The most interesting part is, a EDH deck can be built with no investment at all. I got a Narset, Enlightened Master on a booster then I looked to my box of common cards. So I built a amazing deck using Aqueous Form, runemarks, defenders like Fog Bank and Gomazoa and token makers like Raise the Alarm and Dragon Fodder. Even without fetchies or staples on Voltron decks (colorful Swords, the boots, the Eldrazi-Henshin! enchantment), turned out to be very fun to play.
And I only used cards I already had. If I don't count the money spent to buy the boosters, I didn't spent a dime to build that. Maybe the pink sleeves.
Btw, it's NOT the Narset deck I built in my profile.
Budget is fun. EDH is fun. MTG is really fun.
January 15, 2016 5:02 p.m.
miracleHat says... #15
@Mastertoa: I am aware that Misdirection is worse than Force of Will. It is still a zero-mana counterspell that costs an exiled card.
@user: people talking about $250: I was finding (for lack of a better term) an average $ amount. There are some people who can't spend >$35 on an edh deck and those who are able to and want (!) to spend >$600...
@atomic_moose: why thank you very much...!
@hcaselli: what you did for your narset deck is what I tend to do for making new decks spontaneously for 1 week or so. Also, going back to #4, the larger your collection, the more that you can add and tinker around with (yay!).
January 15, 2016 6:37 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #16
I think he was adding that Misdirection is a card that exists since you didn't mention it at all.
January 15, 2016 6:56 p.m.
miracleHat says... #17
oh, oops :/
Force of Will > Pact of Negation > Disrupting Shoal > Misdirection > Foil
January 15, 2016 9:11 p.m.
veritas723 says... #18
mana bases can always be done cheaper. just won't be as fast or powerful.
duals are expensive. fetches can be pricey depending on the set. shocks aren't really that expensive, but aren't cheap. the tango lands are pretty reasonable, pain lands, check lands, are all pretty cheap. slower lands like life lands, scry lands, bounce lands, or other filter type lands. ...hell even things like the tri-lands from alara/khans ...an amulet of vigor makes even tapped lands ready to go as you play them. can even just use basics, and resign yourself to artifact search or evolving wilds to hit your colors.
I'm a big believer in buying beat up cards. I recently put together a Rafiq voltron-y deck. most of the creatures are support creatures. but stoneforge mystic, avacyn. was looking at some $25 critters. and $20+ a card is about where I start to stop and consider this piece of cardboard being ...way too much damn money.
but... pucatraded, for a pristine copy of my general. found a beat up copy of stoneforge (heavily played, actually turned out to be fine, just had some edge wear) and a foil avacyn from some supplemental product, that was listed not NM and was cheaper. did the same thing with the Swords I was running. and only one of them, actually is beat up.
I find online sites, like TCG are better than Ebay. waiting a week to snipe an auction, vs just paying a fixed cost. If an auction isn't closing in the next 12hrs, or not significantly cheaper. isn't worth the wait imho.
also if you go to GPs or events, where there are vendors. ask them if they have damaged cards. some even have binders of damaged cards. or non-NM cards. can haggle(or like, if the vendor on the opposite side of the event had it cheaper, be like.. that guy's offering it for less). esp if it's a small shop or the owners are there. Or you're willing to buy something else. doesn't hurt to ask. or try. and it's a great way to save money.
I also find pucatrade great for picking up the random EDH cards I need. I mean, something like a cruicible of worlds, you're just going to have to break down and buy someday. but... a coalition relic. easily doable. --or any mana rock staple that's like $5 or so. those can get pricey if you need 3-4 random ones for a deck, but if you like doing the trades on pucatrade. can normally get those things for the cost of a stamp (...also. pucatrade up to 3-4 cards in a top loader in a stock envelope/thank you note envelope --if under an ounce. 1 stamp is all you need[$1.20 stamp for intl]. never had anything get damaged ie: don't waste money on bubble mailers or tracking if not high value)
another option, not mentioned here. ask your friends. if you have access to other people who play magic, I've done a lot of friendly lending to people i know. trades, in beer value. or misc loans, of cards for someone to use in a deck, that I know I'll get back sooner or later.
also. although it's something I don't do regularly but I have a friend who does it a lot. buy premade, or supplemental products. like from the vault sets. or event decks. --get the pricey card or card you need. flip/trade/sell the other things, to mitigate the overall cost. even though you prob had to lay down a lot more money than the single card's price. often times after doing the leg work of reselling, or trading or whatever. you did save money.
as far as what price point is considered pricey. i dunno. it's ridiculous we're paying any money for these cards. when some are a nickle or a quarter, and other's are hundreds or even thousands of dollars. it's insane.
when in doubt, proxy. don't feel bad if you can't afford to buy a card. know that a lot of stores don't like or allow proxies in sanctioned play. but... house games, or casual playing... if you proxy a mana crypt or ... i dunno. an imperial tutor, people normally understand. and is normally acceptable unless you're entire deck is proxied, and a real dick deck anyway.
January 17, 2016 12:28 a.m.
as a budget edh pkayer, i agree with most of this. trading is usually your best resource for getting cards.
January 17, 2016 11:08 a.m.
I proofread this article about a week ago and laughed when you said Splinter Twin might be banned in modern.
January 18, 2016 7:11 a.m.
miracleHat says... #21
Yeah... I don't follow modern that much, but when I hear people at the card shop going 'don't ban Splinter Twin', that means that there is a high chance of it getting banned.
side note: can the deck still exist but with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker?
Gidgetimer says... #1
Why do I always click on these and then get irritated by the formatting. I should remember by now how they are formatted.
January 11, 2016 5:57 p.m.