Spencerbot15: Strange, Mikaeus shows up as $7.78 and Blasting Station at $1.89 for me. But yes, those two cards alone are over half the decks value. Blasting Station can be cut. Unfortunately Mikaeus can't.

Sooner or later, Mikaeus himself will pass the $20 threshold unless he sees a reprint. That will be a sad day.

If you are using the TCG Optimizer that might be the problem. It takes buying from the same store and condition into account (unless you specify it doesn't take anything worse than moderate play into account).

I just thought of a funny idea. Maybe should have the deck maximum budget go up with the inflation rate

I got the entire deck for just about 59$ but that was because I had to even the different stores out to at least a dollar each, but while i was testing out the deck I noticed that you don't always run into green and white decks, so I replaced dystopia with a whip of erebos so when you have one of the creatures with insanely huge attack you gain as much as it's hitting for even if it's blocked.

Sleazebag, I noticed that the description needs some major updating. Sol Ring, Nevinyrral's Disk, Praetor's Grasp, Mind Stone, Lightning Greaves, and Greed are still in the want section when they are in the deck. The cards I used to run section is probably outdated and has Promise of Power in it. In the Sac Outlet section, it still has Carrion Feeder and Vampire Aristocrat. Hero's Demise, Murder, Engineered Plague, and Deathgrip are all in the Disruption and Removal Section. Also, Black Sun's Zenith is only $0.75 now!!!!

Thanks,

Spencerbot15

Spencerbot15: Thanks for going through the list for me and spotting the outdated parts, I've fixed them now.

What do you think of fate reforged. If it is cheap enough, Palace Siege could replace Strands of Night. Manifest sounds interesting, but the good cards have non- black abilities...

Sleazebag, Could you remove Mikeaus as a creature

Spencerbot15: Nope, it just readds itself whenever I try to remove it. Same for all my other decks all of a sudden. Really annoying, but oh well.

As for the Palace Siege, it will probably be more expensive than Strands of Night, and it doesn't put the creature straight into play like Strands does, so it's not as good.

Say if somebody gave you an Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath Commander deck as a present for Christmas, what cards would you add to the deck?

Getting back into magic and being introduced to commander, I have only recently learned of these infinite strategy commander decks. This guide has helped me greatly in understanding the mechanics and combo-pieces used by most competitive and semi-competitive commander decks to go infinite. With a shallow wallet and a strong dislike for all things U/W control, I appreciate the lengths you have gone to create a highly affordable and competitive commander deck.

Sleazebag: +1 for this awesome Decklist!

EDH Budgetdecks which cost $50 are definitely affordable.

Great deck! I finally sent out my order to make this deck and am excited to be able to play it. I am going with the Altar of Dementia you mentioned in your comments as well as Altar of the Brood which basically does the same thing. I was going to ask if switching out Murder for Vendetta makes this struggle with other black decks since you also run Doom Blade and Victim of Night. +1

hosshughes: There aren't really that many black creatures I need to kill ASAP (No black voltron in my meta) but if someone at my LGS was playing Mimeoplasm or something similar then I'd probably add some more removal that can handle black.

Usually you just outright win before black creatures become a threat, as they mostly deal with reanimation, lifeloss, lifegain, gravepact effects etc, what you want to kill are those pesky white creatures that stop you from doing stuff and huge creatures that threaten to beat you to death.

Reeses146: Awh, Esper control (Black White Blue) is so much fun! Don't hate it before you give it a try.As for cards I'd add to your deck, try looking at my improvement list. Then ignore the ones based around my deck going infinite, the rest are really good (cards like the boardwipes, the artifacts, tutors etc), although I'd definitely try to run Mikaeus himself in your deck, as he works really well with pretty much all other creatures.

What do you think of Altar of Dementia? It is only $0.50 and can kill entire decks. If you are worried about the eldrazi, an eldrazi can not kill a player in one turn. Even Emrakul, the Aeons Torn can't kill a player in one turn. Also, Black Sun's Zenith is only $0.75 now.

Spencerbot15: I think you misunderstand why Eldrazi are good against mill. It's not that you can't race them, it's that you CAN'T mill a player with an Eldrazi in his deck without exiling it or stifling the ability. The Eldrazi shuffles your entire library into your deck. Infinite mill just causes him to shuffle his library an infinite amount of times.

As I have said before, if your meta doesn't run Eldrazi, then those cards are a must. Unfortunately my playgroup runs one in every deck so I can't.

I see your point. What is the deck price right now?

I just made a new deck, A poor man's reanimator deck. What do you think? Also, I think you are avoiding answering my question because the deck is way over budget.

Spencerbot15: I didn't see the point in answering as I haven't made any changes to the deck since the last time I updated the price only 3 weeks ago. It's in the description in easy to spot bold and bright red text.

I don't see how your deck is budget when it runs 3 Entomb though. Why not use Reanimate then? And why play Boseiju, Who Shelters All when most of your spells don't have any colorless in their costs? You also need some way to deal with graveyard hate. I'd also suggest running one Griselbrand or Iona, Shield of Emeria as they improve the deck vastly at the cost increase of $20 (which when the deck is already $100 isn't that much).

Sorry to sound so harsh Sleazebag. I didn't realize you had updated it recently. On your point about my deck, you probably should have posted that in the deck's comments. Entomb is $17 and is the best card in the deck after Dark Ritual. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is very similar to Griselbrand and is cheaper. Also, he eliminates all opponent's hand. Entomb is one of the only ways to get the powerhouses in the graveyard. We already have plenty of reanimation spells that are cheaper and work almost as well. I would love to run Iona, Shield of Emeria but is sadly too expensive. Thanks for the feedback.

Hey Sleazebag, thanks for coming up with this list! I've just built the deck for myself, with a couple of slightly more expensive improvements, like Puppeteer Clique and Graveborn Muse.

I've been testing it out against the other people in my playgroup, and a problem I find is that Mikaeus almost always gets countered/exiled/destroyed in response to me doing anything (we have a Teysa player who always makes life difficult). Cheap animate spells like Animate Dead and Corpse Dance go a long way in bringing him back, especially if I can't draw Strands of Night.

Also, it's unfortunate that you can't get Caged Sun into the list somehow, because it recently came out in the Commander 2014 decks, and it's price has plummeted to something extremely affordable (I got mine for $0.50).

In answer to a question from a long time ago, Yes! I'd love it if you could come up with something for Talrand, or other extremely cheap decks!

pinnacle55: A bit late a reply, but it's important to modify the deck according to your local meta. Especially when we don't have the luxury of brute forcing your way to victory with expensive value cards.

The easiest example of this would have to be Grinding Station and Altar of the Brood which are just as good win conditions as Blasting Station but don't work in my meta due to Eldrazi titans. If they aren't run in your meta, then these are instant additions. If removal is commonplace, consider adding more hexproof equipment, if counters are a big problem then either add more threats or build a slower deck with more focus on recursion like you apparently have done.

(Another trick you can use is to always sit down to the right-hand side of the control player. That way you make sure he has two other players he has to risk tapping out for to give you your chance at victory. A bit sneaky perhaps, but they do say Commander is a game of politics and tricks!)

I noticed Sol Ring and Nevinyrral's Disk are over $1. Black Sun's Zenith is only $0.75

Finally was able to play this deck IRL against an Arcum Dagsson deck that is super fast (I run the altars in your maybeboard in mine as alternate win cons):

Turn 1: Land, Altar of the Brood

Turn 2: Land, Spincrusher

Turn 3: Land, Phyrexian Ghoul

Turn 4: Land, Diabolic Tutor to get Sol Ring

Turn 5: Land, Sol Ring, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed...mill win since he had a chump blocker

Awesome deck man! If you have a minute, I'd love any advice you have on my decks The Wheels on the Bus, Beyond The Sea or I Put A Spell On You. They are all budget decks though obviously nowhere the budget of yours. Thanks again for the deck!

This deck is amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing.

hosshughes: Awesome. Don't expect them to let you do that again though. I can't cast diabolic tutor without the entire table focusing absolutely all their hate on me as they KNOW I have an infinite combo ready as a result. You need to take it slowly, pretend you are mana screwed / draw only one part of your combo until people tap out then blow them away. In 1v1 you just go gung-ho and drop all pretense.

toxicliam: Thanks!