Three Dog actual budget deck

Commander / EDH Budget Enchant Enchantment RW (Boros) Tokens Voltron

TitanWalls

Enchantment (27)

• 1x All That Glitters
• 1x Angelic Gift
• 1x Boon of the Spirit Realm
• 1x Bravado
• 1x Cartouche of Solidarity
• 1x Chains of Custody
• 1x Chosen by Heliod
• 1x Demonic Ruckus
• 1x Dollmaker's Shop / Porcelain Gallery
• 1x Elemental Mastery
• 1x Etali's Favor
• 1x Ethereal Armor
• 1x Feather of Flight
• 1x Galvanic Arc
• 1x Hyena Umbra
• 1x Mantle of the Ancients
• 1x Nurturing Presence
• 1x Reconnaissance
• 1x Rune of Speed
• 1x Rune of Sustenance
• 1x Sheltered by Ghosts
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Spirit Mantle
• 1x Squire's Devotion
• 1x Sticky Fingers
• 1x Timely Ward
• 1x Unquestioned Authority

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Resurgent Belief
• 1x Retether
• 1x Winds of Rath

Creature (24)

• 1x Ajani's Chosen
• 1x Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon
• 1x Archon of Sun's Grace
• 1x Archon of the Wild Rose
• 1x Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Eidolon of Countless Battles
• 1x Enduring Innocence
• 1x Indebted Spirit
• 1x Jacked Rabbit
• 1x Kellan, the Fae-Blooded
• 1x Knight of Doves
• 1x Koll, the Forgemaster
• 1x Kor Spiritdancer
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Loyal Apprentice
• 1x Mesa Enchantress
• 1x Nomad Mythmaker
• 1x Optimistic Scavenger
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Starfield Mystic
• 1x Transcendent Envoy
• 1x Umbra Mystic
• 1x Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

Instant (4)

• 1x Karametra's Blessing
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Stroke of Midnight
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Land (34)

• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Kher Keep
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Needle Spires
• 1x Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip
• 17x Plains
• 1x Restless Bivouac
• 1x Rugged Prairie

Artifact (6)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Idol of Oblivion
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (61)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Battle Mastery
• 1x Benevolent Blessing
• 1x Breath of Fury
• 1x Brilliant Halo
• 1x Call To Serve
• 1x Cathar's Call
• 1x Commanding Presence
• 1x Conclave's Blessing
• 1x Crackling Club
• 1x Daybreak Coronet
• 1x Destructive Urge
• 1x Divine Favor
• 1x Dragon Mantle
• 1x Eland Umbra
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Emblem of the Warmind
• 1x Empyrial Armor
• 1x Faith Unbroken
• 1x Felidar Umbra
• 1x Fencer's Magemark
• 1x Flamespeaker's Will
• 1x Frenzied Rage
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Grasp of the Hieromancer
• 1x Griffin Guide
• 1x Grim Reaper's Sprint
• 1x Gryff's Boon
• 1x Guardian's Magemark
• 1x Hallowed Haunting
• 1x Indestructibility
• 1x Inviolability
• 1x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Luminous Wake
• 1x Madcap Skills
• 1x Michiko's Reign of Truth  ^Flip
• 1x Mortal Obstinacy
• 1x Murder Investigation
• 1x Noble Heritage
• 1x Ordeal of Heliod
• 1x Ordeal of Purphoros
• 1x Pentarch Ward
• 1x Rabble Rousing
• 1x Raffine's Guidance
• 1x Sage's Reverie
• 1x Samite Blessing
• 1x Secret Arcade / Dusty Parlor
• 1x Shielded by Faith
• 1x Shiny Impetus
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1x Songbirds' Blessing
• 1x Spectral Steel
• 1x Spirit Loop
• 1x Squee's Embrace
• 1x The Sound of Drums
• 1x Triclopean Sight
• 1x Unquenchable Fury
• 1x Valor of the Worthy
• 1x Vault 101: Birthday Party
• 1x Vault 75: Middle School
• 1x Veteran Soldier

Creature (29)

• 1x Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 1x Armored Skyhunter
• 1x Champion of the Flame
• 1x Charismatic Conqueror
• 1x Codsworth, Handy Helper
• 1x Combat Celebrant
• 1x Defiler of Faith
• 1x Devilish Valet
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Forgeborn Oreads
• 1x Ghostly Dancers
• 1x Guardian of Faith
• 1x Harnessed Snubhorn
• 1x Heliod's Pilgrim
• 1x Hero of Iroas
• 1x Illustrious Wanderglyph
• 1x Iroas, God of Victory *list*
• 1x Karlach, Fury of Avernus
• 1x Monastery Mentor
• 1x Mondrak, Glory Dominus
• 1x Moon-Blessed Cleric
• 1x Myrel, Shield of Argive
• 1x Otharri, Suns' Glory
• 1x Reyav, Master Smith
• 1x Skyknight Vanguard
• 1x Slumbering Keepguard
• 1x Starnheim Courser
• 1x Thundering Raiju
• 1x Wyleth, Soul of Steel

Instant (10)

• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Clever Concealment
• 1x Deflecting Palm
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Guff Rewrites History
• 1x Inventory Management
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Artifact (7)

• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Glimmer Lens
• 1x Helm of the Gods
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Traveler's Amulet

Land (5)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Elegant Parlor
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Sundown Pass

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Smoke Spirits' Aid
• 1x Winds of Abandon

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EDIT 11.9.2024: I have slightly revised this decklist in response to recent releases of highly synergistic cards, and also to swap cards that have increased in price in order to keep the total cost around 50-60$. Changelist: Gift of Immortality Out >> Sheltered by Ghosts in, Songbirds' Blessing out >> Elemental Mastery in, Codsworth, Handy Helper out (very surprising this jumped to 10$!)>> Dollmaker's Shop / Porcelain Gallery in, Angelic Gift out >> Feather of Flight in, Armored Skyhunter out >> Jacked Rabbit in, Griffin Guide out >> Reconnaissance in (Assassin's Creed reprint dropped prices down to ~2$, which is a steal!).

Preamble: The maybe list here is all the other stuff that's worth considering (it's basically all the other auras in this color combo that weren't just plain bad) as well the cards outside my "budget deck" limitations.

This quirky little deck is a take on the new Three Dog, Galaxy News DJ commander aimed at keeping the total cost around 50 bucks (at the time I'm writing this it is currently sitting at 52-60$ on TCGplayer and could be dropped another ~10$ without losing much power by replacing Songbirds' Blessing and Needleverge Pathway   which only made the cut because I already own them). Three Dog is a pretty natural fit for a budget deck since, firstly most aura-related cards are dirt cheap, and secondly I am of the opinion that this deck is inherently inconsistent, to the extent that even spending ~100-200$ more on it wouldn't make it consistently perform better (maybe dropping ~400$ on it might manage to show results, but for that price you'd be better off piloting a stronger commander). That being said, if you want a less budget-oriented version, I believe the most impactful cards to swap in are Boros Charm, Dolmen Gate and/or Reconnaissance (a very underused card which can be restated as saying "creatures you control have vigilance and you may remove each attacking creature you control with an unfavorable blocker from combat" for 1CMC!). Additionally, Eldrazi Conscription, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Anointed Procession, and Mondrak, Glory Dominus are great additions with the latter two cards being especially good mechanically since both creature tokens and aura tokens get doubled, it can result in 4x effects (e.g. If you have Ajani's Chosen and Anointed Procession in play, and cast Squire's Devotion on your commander, you'll get 2 1/1 vampires and 2 2/2 cats, if you then attack with 3 creatures and sack that aura, you'll create 6 more copies of the aura (two on each of those creatures), which then generates an additional 12 1/1 vampires and 12 2/2 cat tokens. Very impressive, and as a fun fact, this would be enough to give an attacking Devilish Valet +268,435,456 power if he's at base P/T).

As mentioned, decks with this commander have been very hit-or-miss in my playtesting, and even for "usable" starting hands there's roughly a 1/3 chance of nothing coming together and you contributing little for the game, 1/2 chance of having a middling game where things go pretty okay but nothing special, and 1/6 chance that you blow out the game in a huge way sometimes swinging for lethal at the whole board on turn 5 or 6. A good start will rely on having token generators like Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon or Archon of Sun's Grace, and also token-generating auras like Cartouche of Solidarity or Nurturing Presence, then finishing with a big boosting aura like All That Glitters or Eidolon of Countless Battles (Eidolon is especially good in this deck, since its rules state that if its attached creature is removed, Eidolon is not sent to the graveyard but instead it becomes a creature meaning the token copies of it all persist on the board as creature tokens in case of a board wipe. Knight of Doves also provides a great kickstart to your board state in case of a wipe, since aura token copies are still "put into the graveyard" if their attached creature dies). An easily achievable alternative win-con is to get your commander to a state of +20/20 or bigger and then grant him unblockable status with flying or the "protection from" auras and deal lethal commander damage himself.

However, even for games with a great hand, success still depends on having at least one player you can swing at that can't obliterate your attackers and shut down your growth. This means that, depending on your opponents' decks, your game plan can be put down pretty hard and unfortunately you can be completely shut out by things like Lightmine Field/Ensnaring Bridge, or certain tax effects like Propaganda. Adjust as needed to your play group since mine is very light on stax/tax, but I can make a strong recommendation for extra removal cards to people looking for inspiration to make their own decks since this is pretty light on spot removal/wipes.

Date added	9 months
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.55
Tokens	Bird 1/1 W, Cat 2/2 W, Copy Clone, Eldrazi 10/10 C, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Elemental 3/1 R w/ Trample, haste, Gnome 1/1 C, Goblin 1/1 R, Human 1/1 W, Kobolds of Kher Keep 0/1 R, On an Adventure, Pegasus 2/2 W, Plot, Rabbit 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 WB, Thopter 1/1 C, Toy 1/1 C, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance