Modern on $100 or less
Modern forum
Posted on March 12, 2016, 2:29 a.m. by alanwescoat
I am hoping to discuss genuine budget Modern decks, ones which can be taken to normal low-level local tournaments and played for enjoyment, the kind of decks which will give truly expensive decks a run for their money, not necessarily winning decks but fun and moderately competitive decks.
When all is said and done, M.T.G. is a game, one that is meant to be enjoyed. The more, the merrier! The ongoing ludicrous price increases for Modern, along with bannings, is eliminating my player base to the point where very few local players can afford to compete. When all is said and done, I would like to play cards, preferably M.T.G. cards rather than something else.
8-Whack apparently has put up good results already, and numerous builds can be found online. I have tried adapting my CONSTRUCTICON MODERN deck for a budget build. That build can be found here. I have also tried putting together a shell based on Theros enchantment creatures (here), but I do not think it turns out to be at all competitive, great for the kitchen table but not good enough to bring to any kind of sanctioned tournament whatsoever, even Modern F.N.M.
Thus, if you have genuine budget builds priced at $100 or less, I would like to know about them.
EDIT:
So far, we have:
Constructicon Modern (budget version) ($68)
Solar Force ($36) Solar Force (as cheap as it gets) ($21)
8-Whack (external link) ($51)
Those Whacky Goblins! (another approach to the 8-Whack idea) ($71)
Cheap Modern Burn ($82)
RG Glass Cannon
Rakdos Glass Cannon ($90)
Eggs Over Easy on the Budget ($100)
After Shock (budget version) by Argeaux ($62)
Liquid Lizardfire by JaceArveduin ($99)
Monowhite Turbo Fog ($86)
Sliver Fateseal by kanokarob can easily be reduced to a very cheap deck simply by adjusting the mana base.
Rainbow Slivers on Sale is a budget version ($99) of Evasive Sliver Beatdown by hazphokksy
Wrath of the Witch-King by Sagarys ($17!)
Magic: The Countering (Replace Breeding Pool with Yavimaya Coast, and drop Thrun, the Last Troll.)
Affinity, Much Budget: Such Affinity by DevoidMage ($71)
Affinity, Robots on Sale! ($39)
Green Stompy Modern by legosare ($85)
Whitejack (shell $11) and Whitejack Human Hordes ($41)
Mono-Red Tron is K by EverythingIsK ($85)
An additional resource here might be The Cheap Deck Club
Would this one work for you?
Some people at my LGS have been successful with Abzan-coloured Ally decks using Collected Company and Rally the Ancestors.
March 12, 2016 3:06 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
This thread was moved to a more appropriate forum(auto-generated comment)
March 12, 2016 3:29 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #5
Epochalyptik, thank you. I have no idea how the thread wound up in the Standard forum.
Jamesfurrow, thank you for the great list of ideas:
RG Glass Cannon
BR Glass Cannon
Eggs
Argeaux, your After Shock deck looks cool! For a moment, I was shocked by the sticker price until I saw that about 70% of it was in the sideboard...L.O.L. At least reasonable budget substitutes are available for the expensive cards.
We are off to a running start here. I would love to hear more from people.
March 12, 2016 4:23 a.m.
JaceArveduin says... #6
The mana base would be absolutely volatile, but Liquid Dragonfire is around 100 if you take out the expensive part of the mana base and replace Chandra with another Stormbreath.
Well, you'd get to choose between slow and volatile. I'm not sure how it'd fare, but lands are something you want to eventually invest into anyway.
March 12, 2016 4:45 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #7
JaceArveduin, I really like your Liquid Dragonfire and am working to acquire the rest of the cards I need for a budget build.
If you have the time and inclination, it would be cool if you could come up with a build which comes below $100 and post it on your profile. I sometimes do that. I come up with a deck I like and post it, then develop a much cheaper version. If you make such a list, I can link it in the subject header.
March 12, 2016 5:12 a.m.
JaceArveduin says... #8
I'll work on it, it'll definitely be time consuming trying to find cards for it though. I'll probably just have to go 4x shivan reef and just surrender the burn matchup.
March 12, 2016 5:39 a.m.
I juiced up my Sideboard to make that deck more competitive.
Do you want me to remake the more budget version of it, to add to your list?
March 12, 2016 6:24 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #10
Argeaux, yes, please. The more actual full decklists which people post that the designers themselves deem to be playable is helpful. Once you post the link, I will replace the one already in the header with the budget version.
March 12, 2016 6:37 a.m.
OK this one should be easier on the budget post-sideboard.
March 12, 2016 7:07 a.m.
Minus the expensive lands which are mostly just there because they can be, its like a $30 deck.
March 12, 2016 7:55 a.m.
This one looks very cool.
March 12, 2016 8:02 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #16
kanokarob and Argeaux, thank you. Both decks have been added. I really need to try Wrath of the Witch-King! $17!
March 12, 2016 8:09 a.m.
I playtested that Witch-King deck quite a bit and it's amazing for more Casual Magic.
I applaud what you are doing. Sometimes copying and playing the pro decks just isn't as fun as experimenting yourself.
March 12, 2016 8:12 a.m.
if you want more budget builds, you should contact Atony1400 and the The Cheap Deck Club.
March 12, 2016 8:18 a.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #19
Would this Magic: The Countering work? Can be reduced to $100 or less by removing shock lands/checklands.
Pretty much it's 
Delver
March 12, 2016 8:52 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #20
CheeseBro, thanks. I have added The Cheap Deck Club to the bottom of the list of resources.
Hallowed_Titan, thank you. Magic: The Countering can easily be modified by replacing Breeding Pool with Yavimaya Coast and dropping the 1x Thrun, the Last Troll. It has been added to the list.
March 12, 2016 9:08 a.m.
Dimir delver and you're not playing Quirion Dryad! Shame!
March 12, 2016 9:31 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #23
I have a $70 Affinity list that I haven't updated in a while, but still seems decent.
March 12, 2016 10:40 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #24
DevoidMage, thank you. Affinity/Robots is an extremely versatile archetype with tons and tons of options. I have added your deck to the list and was inspired to whip up an even cheaper one as well.
To all of those player who think you need Mox Opal, Blinkmoth Nexus, Inkmoth Nexus, and Glimmervoid to play Affinity/Robots, you do not need them. Granted, they make the deck better, but those cards are not what makes the deck playable. Even without them, you can still drop most or even all of your hand on turn 1 and be attacking quite ruthlessly starting on turn 2.
March 12, 2016 11:12 a.m.
That sounds very interesting to me.
I've always wanted to build an Affinity deck, but have been put off by the price.
March 12, 2016 11:27 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #26
Argeaux, I started playing affinity when there was only Mirrodin for it. Even Darksteel had not yet come out. Granted, I had the artifact lands to accelerate the whole thing, but look at what was common then just from the Mirrodin Set:
Welding Jar
Frogmite
Somber Hoverguard
Thoughtcast
Scale of Chiss-Goria
Tooth of Chiss-Goria
Myr Enforcer
Disciple of the Vault
Ancient Den
Seat of the Synod
Vault of Whispers
Great Furnace
*Tree of Tales
Ornithopter
Atog
( Banned in Modern.)
(* Uncommon in Mirrodin but common previously)
This was supplemented later by other great commons:
Darksteel Citadel
Arcbound Worker
Springleaf Drum
Vault Skirge
Bonded Construct
And great uncommons:Signal Pest
Chief of the Foundry
Affinity/Robots is versatile enough that none of it hinges on running playsets of the great rares and mythics. Granted, lots of them are great cards, but if you just have singles or pairs lying around, then great! You can make up the slack elsewhere.
So, you do not have the money for a great card like Steel Overseer. Fine. Check out Ghostfire Blade. It rockes, and it is seriously underrated.
You do not have the money to spring for Mox Opal, which you think you need for the fast aggro. Relax. Use Tomb of the Spirit Dragon to buy yourself a turn or three.
In addition to Robots/Affinity, I strongly advise you to go to my profile and check out all of my CONSTRUCTICON builds. Prices range from a $14 budget Standard version to a $70 budget Modern version all the way up to a $700 Legacy version.
Robots is a cheap and fun archetype!
March 12, 2016 11:50 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #27
Argeaux, I started playing affinity when there was only Mirrodin for it. Even Darksteel had not yet come out. Granted, I had the artifact lands to accelerate the whole thing, but look at what was common then just from the Mirrodin Set:
Welding Jar
Frogmite
Somber Hoverguard
Thoughtcast
Scale of Chiss-Goria
Tooth of Chiss-Goria
Myr Enforcer
Disciple of the Vault
!Ancient Den
!Seat of the Synod
!Vault of Whispers
!Great Furnace
!Tree of Tales
!!Ornithopter
!!Atog
(! Banned in Modern.)
(!! Uncommon in Mirrodin but common previously)
This was supplemented later by other great commons:
Darksteel Citadel
Arcbound Worker
Springleaf Drum
Vault Skirge
Bonded Construct
And great uncommons:
Signal Pest
Chief of the Foundry
Affinity/Robots is versatile enough that none of it hinges on running playsets of the great rares and mythics. Granted, lots of them are great cards, but if you just have singles or pairs lying around, then great! You can make up the slack elsewhere.
So, you do not have the money for a great card like Steel Overseer. Fine. Check out Ghostfire Blade. It rockes, and it is seriously underrated.
You do not have the money to spring for Mox Opal, which you think you need for the fast aggro. Relax. Use Tomb of the Spirit Dragon to buy yourself a turn or three.
In addition to Robots/Affinity, I strongly advise you to go to my profile and check out all of my CONSTRUCTICON builds. Prices range from a $14 budget Standard version to a $70 budget Modern version all the way up to a $700 Legacy version.
Robots is a cheap and fun archetype!
March 12, 2016 11:52 a.m.
So I just traded for everything I was missing for 8-whack on pucatrade in 1 day. I like these budget affinity builds and that wrath of the witch king (haven't checked the rest yet) I see no reason why not to get the witch king deck since I could just go spend some store credit and have the whole deck for nothing...
Now the question is do I actually play these over my top tier decks that I usually win with? It seems hard to put down a ~$100+ deck that gets you results for a pile of "inferior" cardboard :)
It would definitely be more than worth it and hilarious to go crush people (especially the guy who thinks he's the best player in the world with all DCI/foil signed everything, which is totally cool, if he didn't turn into a giant baby when you beat him and not allow you to even cut his deck) Last week I beat him with Kiki-Chord and all he kept saying was your deck is so bad, kiki-chord is such a bad stupid deck, really a pleasant dude overall.
So anyway my shops play top tier decks, but I feel like these are still worth it for fun, and to teach my wife and friend who I have been trying to get into the game forever, but can they really compete at a high level? It's funny that modern is/can be cheaper than standard right now, it will be a welcome change when these fetches get out of standard. Cheers!
March 12, 2016 11:57 a.m.
alanwescoat says... #29
Oh, and I forgot Shrapnel Blast, Chief Engineer, and Ensoul Artifact. It was already clear that the designers were setting up for a brief return of Robots in Standard with M15 reprinting Ornithopter, Shrapnel Blast and Darksteel Citadel and the introduction of Chief Engineer. It really hit home when Ghostfire Blade came out in Khans of Tarkir, and I was busy accumulating all of the relevant cards before Magic Origins was even spoiled. Magic Origins gave us gems like Bonded Construct, Chief of the Foundry, and Hangarback Walker. I won a few small tournaments with my Blue Steel and RUbots decks. People were ill prepared to deal with a turn-2 indestructible 5/5 Darksteel Citadel swinging at them or a 5/5 flying Ornithopter.
March 12, 2016 12:10 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #30
Slowgod, I do not think that the Wrath of the Witch King deck will perform in a top-tier environment, but I could be wrong about that. Some of these decks are likely to work well in a local meta. What we are exploring is options.
The budget options often need to use pain lands for mana fixing, so losing to Burn is basically a given, but...Burn is not terribly popular right now...L.O.L.
Basically, if you can compete and hold your own, and you want to win, then sticking with your best decks is probably the thing to do. However, some of these decks might work in your meta, and nothing says that you cannot put your expensive cards into them. You can!
On the other hand, you might want to consider what you expect to meet in your meta, look at the options, consider how each deck is likely to function in that environment, and then surprise the heck out of someone with a "jank" deck. I spend a great deal of my time doing exactly that. I took first place this past summer at my local G.P.T. running a $35 Standard Robots deck. Previously, I took second place at a Standard G.P.T. running a $25 monored aggro deck. Those were good times!
March 12, 2016 12:18 p.m.
If I can compare this with Standard at the moment, the last two expansions I've run decks that weren't top tier. Just fun things I built and wanted to try.
I'm lucky, though, that my LGS has two options to play FNM. You can sign up for "Serious" or "Casual".
In the Casual pool you face a whole lot of different and interesting decks that you can compete with. The Serious flight is basically all the latest pro decks.
It's a shame that people don't do something similar for Modern. I'd love to play in a pool like the one that's being assembled in this thread.
Maybe you could find other people who just want to play without being in an official tourney? Like most people do with EDH.
March 12, 2016 1:30 p.m.
There is always the mono-green stompy build... Green Stompy Modern is my version of it. The sideboard can be reconfigured to fit the needs of the meta and the mainboard is quite flexible as well.
March 12, 2016 2:27 p.m.
JaceArveduin says... #34
Alright, tinkered abit more with the land-base and with a little help from Alan I've got this Liquid Lizardfire
March 12, 2016 5:17 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #35
legosare, thanks for Green Stomp Modern. That looks like a fabulous learner deck which could be a lot of fun to play.
JaceArveduin, thank you for finishing the job so that I do not have to post the hatchet job I was working on...L.O.L.
Argeaux, it is great that your shop has two tiers of F.N.M. I am the kind of guy who might actually take one of these decks into the serious tier...L.O.L. You might want to ask people if they are interested in such a format for deck testing or just casually pit you "jank" decks against top-tier decks.
I have been thinking that if there were such a format, people could just supply a screenshot of their decklists no more than a week old showing that it is no more than $100 at the time. However, I find real joy in defeating $500 decks with a $50 deck. The point here really is not to even build winning decks but to build decks which can be played and put up a serious threat. That is, they might lose, but they do not get stomped. There is satisfaction simply in putting up a good show, rather than winning. Hence, win or lose, the idea is to satisfy your inner Timmy on a thin budget, and we can be happy that there are a lot of Johnny players here at TappedOut.net who are busy decksmithing for all of us. Even Spike might find something here to be happy about, especially if Spike's wallet is thin. I will not speak for Vorthos or Melvin because I do not understand them too well.
On a meta level, those here who are not decksmiths can take note of something. I will use Affinity/Robots as an example. Maybe you have been gradually accumulating some Affinity/Robots cards but have not been able to copy someone's decklist. That archetype (and others) has a huge tolerance for substitution. Your 1x Hangarback Walker, 1x Steel Overseer, 1x Etched Champion, etc. actually do count for something here. Playsets of those cards can make your deck better, but they do not make the deck. The commons and uncommons make the deck. Frogmite and Myr Enforcer kind of went away for a long time, but they are back now because they are and always have been solid cards.
Beyond that, having a community of friends who are serious about having a good time at events is crucial. When I went to play Legacy for the first time and designed my Constructicon Legacy deck, I did not own any Mutavault or Mishra's Factory, but a friend did. We routinely loan cards to one another. Hence, if I actually needed a playset of Underground Sea for a Legacy tournament, I could potentially borrow them (provided my friend did not plan to use them). Likewise, I have some cards he needs from time to time. Pay attention to what you and your friends actually have.
March 12, 2016 8:24 p.m.
EverythingIsK says... #36
Mono-Red Tron is K
Modern
1 VIEW
For the low low price of $85, you get a jank combo with Tron lands, a Scuttling Doom Engine, and a Fling. Go find that two damage somewhere else. :]
Jamesfurrow says... #2
You can always build green red aggro/ glass cannon for dirt cheap. The list relies on swiftspear and Kiln Fiend with a ton of pump spells when their not blocked to go for super quick kills. I ran a rakdos version that was more control capable and it was well under $100. Also you can make the latest version of eggs for roughly $100. Eggs is a long tedious combo deck that does a ton of deck thinning and generates a giant storm count and a rediculous amount of mana. You can also build infect on a fairly good budget with basically nothing but commons
March 12, 2016 3 a.m.