The search for a budget deck without equal
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on June 23, 2015, 3:49 p.m. by MundaneScatter
Hello, I made a thread earlier asking for advice on a deck.
There are some interesting comments that basically say "If you try to cheap out you'll just get a worse version of something that already exists".
For example, this: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=82753
The scraps of packs I have are not going to be so useful anymore. There are other tournament decks here, and have identified elements that prevent them from being budget decks.
An aggro deck with multiple colors needs flexible lands that don't come into play tapped. But most of them aren't that cheap and they want 4 each. Control U/W probably always wants Dragonlord Ojutai.
Is there a deck that cannot be improved (more than slightly) by adding such cards?
If it costs between $4-$6, the deck cannot be improved by having more than 3 of a card in this price range.
If it costs between $7-$10, the deck cannot be improved by having more than 2 of a card in this price range.
If it costs between $11-16, the deck cannot be improved by having more than one of a card in this price range.
If it costs > $17, the deck cannot be improved by including any of them.
The total cost of cards from any of the stated categories must not exceed $25.
Consider it a puzzle or a cry for help if you wish. There will be a second post of examples of such cards that are seen in tournaments.
I've always found this one hilarious, and it matches your criteria.
$20 Cycling Deck WINS on turn 3!? (infinite combo) Playtest
Legacy
SCORE: 272 | 88 COMMENTS | 20702 VIEWS
June 23, 2015 5:04 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #4
ROMzombie: This is in the Standard forum, why would you link a Legacy deck?
I would just play mono red goblin aggro. Foundry Street Denizen, Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon Fodder, Hordeling Outburst, Lightning Strike, Wild Slash, Stoke the Flames, etc. I think aggro is the best deck to build on a budget.
June 23, 2015 5:25 p.m. Edited.
MundaneScatter says... #5
That's not the format I'm currently playing at. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that, even if a something like that doesn't require me to know more than my deck. It's pretty interesting, though.
@GorgosaurusrexRed decks in tournaments tend to like several of Eidolon of the Great Revel and Goblin Rabblemaster. The only kind of aggro red I can think of that does not benefit from them is something that tries to kill even faster, like this one:No friends by turn 3, guaranteed!
But it might benefit from Eidolon of the Great Revel, and reading the comments it may have consistency issues. An aggro red might be the closest thing to an answer, though. Or maybe a "white weenie" that someone in a comment in my first deck was talking about.
June 23, 2015 5:48 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #6
Goblin Rabblemaster is more important than Eidolon of the Great Revel, imo. You can get away with only 3 Rabblemaster if you need to.
U/W typically works best as a control deck, and it's really hard to make a control deck with $30. You'll spend your budget on 3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion and won't have any money for Flooded Strand and Temple of Enlightenment.
I suppose you could make a budget U/W control deck that can win games with a little luck. Dissolve, Dissipate, Banishing Light, Valorous Stance, and End Hostilities are all affordable cards. 3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion would be the best win condition as she can protect herself. You can run less expensive lands like Evolving Wilds, Mystic Monastery, and Tranquil Cove for color fixing.
June 23, 2015 5:58 p.m.
Didn't even look at the forum, just saw the thread on the front page.
So, nevermind. :-D
June 23, 2015 7:58 p.m.
MundaneScatter says... #8
Something I've been wondering about:Why are there no mono white or mono blue decks on standard for starcitygames search?
starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/index.php?format_ID=1
Is there some kind of deficiency I am not aware of?
June 25, 2015 5:46 p.m.
nobodygaming says... #9
It might just be that no one is trying mono blue or mono white dekcs in standard. I've been working on budget mono decks in standard that are playable against each other and mono blue has been an insane challenge to make work against Mono Red Aggro because it needs to start responding by turn 2-3 or else it is dead by turn 5. Standard constructed doesn't allow you the wait time to play most blue creatures that you would want to in a mono deck, and without some amazing early board wipe/control in play I've found it impossible to work with.
The lack of mono white is surprising to me. Are white wheenie tokens/creatures just not that playable atm?
MundaneScatter says... #2
Example cards based off of shop.tcgplayer.com:
Don't even think about it:
Only one:
Only two:
Only three:
Note: Any decks that want some expensive lands probably want 4 of them. This is why I'm not too sure about aggro decks that have more than one color, which do show up on the "budget" hub. There also exist decks that are budget but also have a somewhat stronger, not budget version.
June 23, 2015 4:09 p.m.