Why no Inkmoth Nexus. Why not Blinkmoth Nexus. Why Paradise Mantle instead of Springleaf Drum, why no Etched Champion, why no Arcbound Ravager aka the card that makes the deck stand up to removal, why no Glimmervoid for the mana base.

I have four Etched Champion on me right now. It's going in the deck, I was just testing Frogmite Champion to see if it is better and faster, and in some cases it is. If I am against removal, then I would run Etched Champion. The reason for no inkmoth and blinkmoth is because this is budget. I dont have the money to spend 25 dollars a piece on land. I have the paradise mantle in there because Springleaf Drum costs one mana and paradise mantle costs 0, but does the same thing for one. It again, makes the deck faster.

This is a budget modern affinity deck, I'm not looking to go to a Grand Prix with this. The most expensive thing is the Mox Opal and that's the last very expensive card im getting for this deck XD Archbound Ravager is an amazing card, but I dont have the money to drop 100 more dollars on an already 300 dollar deck :/

Ensoul Artifact is great in affinity and is relatively cheap if you need strong budget cards. It works best if your running blinkmoth and inkmoth but is still strong without it. you could probably drop a copy of Etched Champion, Master of Etherium, and maybe Steel Overseer for 2-3 copies of it. Also Springleaf Drum is strictly better than Paradise Mantle as you have to spend 1 mana to equip paradise mantle to a creature giving it the same cmc cost while limiting your choice of target while spring leaf drum can be used by tapping any creature you control.

I guess that is true. Springleaf Drum is better in that sense; I had the paradise mantle in there for more 0 cost artifacts I could potentially get out early for a Thoughtcast, and as well getting my Mox Opal going. I see how Springleaf Drum is much more effective though!

I like Ensoul Artifact! It is definitely something I am going to look into and test with :)

Thank you OtakulordAndrew for understanding my mistake with that! I'm still fairly new to the game and learning, but I'm trying my best! I don't want to just copy a deck and use it, I want to actually understand why people make decisions when it comes to using certain cards over others, so that's why I tried to have a little bit of a twist with this here.

You need blink moth nexus at least. The deck can't truly function without it.

And at that, blink moth is less expensive than watery grave. So you should opt to attain its playset.

No glimmer void ?

You could play City of Brass to make the sb white card viable.

I have watery grave in there because I've already got a playset D:

I'll put those in though. Thank you

I mean I really get that you guys are trying to help me make this deck the best it can be, but 400 dollars is kind of ridiculous for me to pay. I just dont have that money. I was comfortable up to 250, and even if I have some of the cards in here, Im already spending 325-330 for them, so at this point it's not worth it for me. I really appreciate all of the help though.

As I said, this was supposed to be a budget FNM deck, not Grand Prix

Yes, I see, but had you wanted to truly save money you'd have played the Etherium Sculptor build.

You also would not have Mox Opal.

:P

Anyway, Blinkmoth nexus can be purchased for 5 dollars a pop.

Inkmoth nexus is disgusting and you should never play it :P

tbh it should be banned #downwithinfect

I suppose a budget land base that would be better than what you have would be using painlands.

Or City of Brass if you weren't running Opal.

4x Blinkmoth Nexus

4x Darksteel Citadel

4x Island

4x Underground River

4x Signal Pest

4x Memnite

4x Ornithopter

4x Vault Skirge

3x Steel Overseer

1x Etherium Sculptor

1x Master of Etherium

3x Etched Champion

Then the rest of the deck as you will. But you already bought the opals. :/ waiiiiii I know it's good but you don't truly need it :P and it ate all your budget

Well, the meta around my area is all fast aggro decks or really strong midrange; Im willing to spend up to 300 max with opals, so like another 150 D: I haven't bought any of these cards yet. So I will take any advice I can, however the opals stay because I really like that playstyle :)

Thank you for the help on it :P - just because I'm very curious, why is running one of etherium sculptor good? I get that it makes my artifacts one less to cast, however one is really inconsistent and I feel because of the inconsistency it wouldn't be worth it. Wouldn't it just be better to run two or three? And then one Master of Etherium?

Trust me, you don't need opal. Or well at least, Trust me, try out this alternate build.

I'm a budget fuccboi as well, I know the desire to save money.

You can make a better deck for half as much!

So, playsets of Memnite, Ornithopter, Vault Skirge and Signal Pest, then 3x Steel Overseer and 2x Master of Etherium and Three Etched Champions.

That's Twenty-four creatures. For our lands we'll do sixteen as you previously have in order to make space for the needed draw and artifact cards. Playsets of Blinkmoth Nexus (mispriced on this site), Three Shivan Reef and a single Island allows you to fix U/R if you don't own Steam Vents, Darksteel Citadel and City of Brass will make you able to poop out mana of any color, for as low as 43 dollars, doing the same job as Mox Opal.

Twenty more. Four of which are gonna be Thoughtcast. One mana draw two is quite good. Playsets of Cranial Plating, Springleaf Drum and Welding jar will help consistency. A single Tormod's Crypt main deck will let you dismantle graveyard-based strategies. Three copies of Galvanic Blast will allow you to take care of some threats that would have otherwise ended you.

Four Ensoul Artifact allow you to turn your Citadels into evil flying indestructible death machines.

And that's a budget deck. It also works because I have a friend who plays it.

I've upvoted btw. I love your devotion.

Alrighty :) I'll do some testing on that. I really appreciate the help!

I was talking to a buddy and he has a playset of Mox Opals he would be willing to sell/trade with me.

If I like the playstyle of the deck you listed above, then I'll pass up the offer. However, the way I have this deck configured right now I really, really like. It's super fast, consistent, and deadly. So if I like this configuration more I can get the playset of opals for 80 (he's gonna give em for 20 bucks a piece) and the rest is about 100 dollars, so I can really keep within my budget for it.

Do you think with this current configuration I could go to some FNMs and stomp face? :P

Yes you could. Affinity is tier 1 for a reason.

How good is Distress in the SB? I feel like might be a little hard on the mana base. Might something like Duress be better, even though it doesn't hit creatures?

Thrifty Affinity - $30 Budget thats my budget affinity build. like the price tag?

I personally like distress in the sideboard. Even if I cant get a turn one distress, which is very possible with mox opal and a swamp. Even if it is turn two though, there is a valuable amount of information to be taken from their hand.

Yeah, I like the price tag on your affinity deck DBCooper, however it's not fast. It will do for casual play, but for FNMs, probably not so much. Just because it doesn't have Arcbound Ravager and how slow it is, it will lose to burn every time. But because I can get a lot one on turn one and turn two, I'll generally be somewhat okay versus burn, even without the Arcbound Ravager.

+1 because I like budget decks and the price is almost PI

It seems you've chosen to play Mox Opal.

That being the case, I still recommend you play +4 city of Brass instead of Swamp, then, 3x Island and 1x Swamp.

Well, as of right now with the deck, I really like the configuration with it :) I just bought it, so I'm not looking to put in any other cards right now because of money. But maybe when I get some money.

kk <3 good luck!

Thanks!

Very nice deck. :) personally, found it just the tiniest bit short on mana sometimes, if I gotta be picky about it, but very nice budget deck.