To all the "looking for a cheap/budget modern deck" topics
Modern forum
Posted on Oct. 18, 2013, 12:28 p.m. by DeletedNow4ever
Budget, for the definition of the word anyway, is not the way you wanna go into modern. The best way of doing things is looking for decks that aren't budget, but aren't expensive. There is a distinct difference between these types of decks. Budget implies you do not have the funds to build the deck you want, and may be looking for replacement cards...this is a no no.
Now for a list of decks that aren't too bad on the wallet.
Affinity, and Living End: Two great decks with two playstyles. Affinity can constantly be found in top 8s of dailies and tournaments, Living End isn't played as much as Affinity but can be a blast to play and can win small and big tournaments in the right pilot's hands. These two decks can be built for anywhere between $200-$300 dollars. Here is a sample of a Living End deck, Living End of your life V2.0, Here is an example of an Affinity deck, Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto.
Next level down we have a bunch of playable decks; Soul Sisters, Merfolk, WW Hatebears, and Mono U Tron are all decks that can be had for around or under $200. Any of these decks can be a tournament winner or an FNM standout if played right utilizing the right sideboard.
After that we come to the end of the road for what I would call the consistent wallet friendly decks. I know people will comment and talk about infect decks, but the best infect deck you can run is kind of expensive. The other ones are good, but if you don't win by turn 3 you are probably dead. With that said, I would like to explore two decks which can be played to very effective use, they have a common card among them which greatly affects most other decks in a devastatingly negative way, Blood Moon . These two decks are Restore Balance and RDW. RDW is a bit more expensive, and can be put together a ton of different ways, but the version I'm talking about uses the newly released Theros card Fanatic of Mogis . This cards just simply gets there. If it sticks, it can be a ton of damage on turn 4 before you even take your attack step. Using hasty guys with lots of red in their casting cost before he comes down will ensure big damage and a fast clock. Blood Moon in the main deck hitting on turn 3 can be an instant win by itself. This deck and archetype was on the fringe for a while and merely needed something to put it over the top, Fanatic of Mogis has really done this in a huge way. You can build this deck for around $115 and under. The other deck I want to mention is a deck that doesn't see much play but really should be on the radar of those that do not have a ton of extra money to throw around. I'm talking about the Restore Balance deck. Balance has been banned in so many formats because it is one of the best spells ever printed. It's a tax on everything your opponent has if you can manage to make sure you have less or none of the resources your opponent has at the time it is cast. Well if you combine the cascade effect with Restore Balance , you now have an instant way of doing the same thing without having to wait on suspend. Combine this with the borderpost cards and you now have mana resources where your opponent does not. Letting you work on killing your opponent while they are left digging for land just to get back into the game. This deck has answers to a ton of cards and can be put together for less than $100. Not using replacements, but using the actual cards that make it good. Idyllic Tutor lets you grab a Blood Moon if you need it, lets you tutor for a cascade enchantment if needed, and lets you grab one of your win cons in March of the Machines when you are ready to beat down. Here is an example of a RDW using the power of Fanatic of Mogis , Red Devotion Wins (RDW), and here is an example of a Restore balance combo deck, The Scales of Justice.
I hope this helps out a few people who think that you have to break the wallet to do anything in a modern environment. You need to study the MUs and get experience with your chosen deck, trying to find the playstyle that maximizes your potential for victory.
Good piece of writing, and very true - budget brews often get destroyed, in my experience. Don't get my wrong; most people are proud of their little wins against FNM players using top decks, but the tourney scene is different.
I have success with Scapeshift, which would be expensive, but I had the bulk of the money cards at the time. I recommend a deck for which you have cards. If you don't, you might want to consider spending money. Modern is usually played as a competitive format, and the competition at my store isn't light. I'm pretty budget, but dudes in my playgroup just buy Tarmogoyfs. If money and competition aren't your thing, you might be in the wrong playgroup at the wrong time.
October 18, 2013 12:50 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #4
I would suggest Mono Red Burn and Infect as well.
October 18, 2013 12:52 p.m.
Ohthenoises says... #5
For the most part KevinBasham that's true but there are some decks that are just naturally budget. Affinity, U Tron, and a select other few do win a lot of tournament play and are quite budget. I think the best thing is to look for decks that are good performers and are naturally budget. I mean the reason why Affinity is so cheap is because it's filled with Ornithopter s and Memnite s. Hell, the legacy versions are just as budget because the only REAL difference is the artifact lands like Vault of Whispers .
The best resource that I have at my disposal is MTGTop8.com where you can search for decks that fit your style of play and it even has a built in card by card price checker.
October 18, 2013 1:01 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #6
May I point out that a majority of your deck price comes from lands? Fetches, shocks, checks ... they all cost a tonne of money all because you NEED them, all of them, in your multi-coloured deck. Try and build a deck that is mono-coloured, that will reduce your price of the deck by a lot. RDW, and infect are your greatest examples. My kor tribal deck Kor Legions has a large portion of it's upvotes coming from the fact that it is around $150, and that price is because it is mono-coloured. While neither this nor my deck Stolen Grimoires may be tournament ready for anything more than a local tournament, they are excellent examples on how one can focus on the more expensive cards for a better play when they don't need to focus on the lands.
October 20, 2013 4:10 a.m.
Newtownhswag1 says... #7
I can't make up my mind I got a $200 budget I love affinity but I only got $200
October 26, 2014 9:30 p.m.
Dalektable says... #8
May I add that U/R Delver is fairly budget friendly as well. I am soon building the core of the deck for about 200 dollars. Later I'm making additions like Snappy and Fetches to complete the deck, but it functions just fine without them. Plus, it's awesome.
October 26, 2014 10:12 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #9
To be honest, if you're not spending at least $250 on Soul Sisters, Merfolk, or Living End you may want to rethink your deck. White has a lot of necessary hate, like RIP, or Leyline of Sanctity , and these are really important to have. I would definitely not run a white deck without it in the 'board.
If someone wants a not expensive deck, RDW is pretty cheap, and is also successful, HOWEVER, the sideboarded Blood Moon s are 100% necessary, and your deck will not be near as good as it could be.
Magic costs money, so don't expect to win anywhere except FNM and only spend $100.
October 27, 2014 4:47 a.m.
I think that U/G Infect can still be viable on a "budget" of around 200$. My old deck did really well for me pre-Khans. And since the green fetchlands are easy to pick up, I now play 8 of them in my deck with a Dryad Arbor as well.
I feel like playing a budget deck is not really that big of a problem for U/G Infect. But rather gives you a solid playable base that will do well at FNM and local shop events. And you can later upgrade the deck as you go along making it more powerful in steps. For me that has been adding KtK fetches and the arbor, my next step is to buy 4 Noble Hierarch
s but I'll be waiting for that until Ascendancy combo is banned and hopefully MM2 comes out next summer. I'm in no hurry to perfect my deck since I'm not looking to play any Modern GP/PT level events. And until then my deck works very well as is.
For reference G/U Infect ends up being 189.31$ on TCG right now. Adding Fetchlands and the Dryad Arbor bumps that up to 270, but is not super important for the playability of the deck, and it's something you can do with store credit from FNMs or by trading at the lgs now that fetchlands are in standard, thats what I have been doing so there has been no real money spent on the upgrades.
October 27, 2014 6:12 a.m.
Necrotesque says... #11
Building Affinity for 200$ is impossible since just the playset of Mox Opal is 224$ on TCG. Yes it is more budget friendly than other Tier 1 deck since there's no fetches or goyfs, but it is still a lot of money/trade value to complete the deck.
Ohthenoises says... #2
U Tron is actually an established deck that can win tournaments. Just pointing that out. It's also frequently found for $100-200. I Fight For the Users! as reference.
October 18, 2013 12:43 p.m.