What Do You Consider "Budget"?
Standard forum
Posted on Feb. 19, 2016, 4:35 p.m. by HairyManBack
Of course, that's a relative question. I know a $300 net-deck can usually be considered budget. If altered to around $100. Throwing Evolving Wilds for fetches or the like.
But in a general sense when playing with buddies casually, playing the 'just for fun' format online, etc. I'd like to know some perspectives on a budget price tag.
Lightpulsar9 says... #3
I play edh which is considered a "casual" format. I usually consider $100-$150 to be budget. But some of my friends who also play the format consider $50-$100 to be budget. So yeah, I guess it's pretty relative. But i'd say that its likely around the $100 area is where people consider "budget" to be generally.
February 19, 2016 5:14 p.m.
Fantastic_Mr_King says... #4
I typically try to stay around $50 dollars on paper and 30 tickets online. That budget by BoaB standards. By the way, budget and casual don't always overlap. I've built a lot of competitive budget decks in standard.
February 19, 2016 5:19 p.m.
Though it might be more over time, most of my decks start $20-70 which is average for my casual play group.
February 19, 2016 5:20 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #6
It honestly depends what format. You can make budget Standard decks for around $20. Modern's "budget" build would be closer to $200-300. EDH I think $100 is not a bad spot.
February 19, 2016 5:22 p.m.
For standart I consider up to 50 Euro (about 55-56$) to be budget. That's enough for 2 fetches and multiple 1-2$ rares.
February 19, 2016 5:38 p.m.
When I really want to build something budget, I never use cards that costs more than 5$.
February 19, 2016 5:52 p.m.
HairyManBack says... #11
PartyJ - I called him to ask. But he was in the middle of getting crowned king of all things.
February 19, 2016 8:14 p.m.
I play Commander primarily. I would consider Budget to be each individual card costing $10 or less.
February 19, 2016 8:19 p.m.
Budget to me is what is on hand, or can trade into. Fortunately for me, I have a good size collection. But I would say for casual 60 cards $20-50. For EDH I'd say 75-150. My edh decks range from preconstructs to $700+.
February 19, 2016 8:36 p.m.
PistonGolem says... #14
I only have two decks that I have custom-built. I consider them to both be budget. One of them is twenty dollars, the other I got for 5 dollars.
February 19, 2016 9:01 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #15
For a new Standard deck, I consider $80 or less to be reasonable. I have been competitive with decks valued at as little as $10, got second place at a G.P.T. with a $25 deck and first place at another G.P.T. with a deck that was valued at about $40 at the time and maybe $70 now.
Being that I tend to play a lot of commons, uncommons, and basic lands and the players in my meta pretty much only values mythics, rares, and the occasional uncommon, I do not generally even pay that much for the cards. If I am brewing a new deck, my shop's owner lets me plow through the piles of leftover new "junk" basically for free or very close to free. I pull small stacks of commons and picked-over uncommons out of that shop's paper recycling nearly every time I go there as well. I then have to buy the valuable uncommons and occasional rares I need, though he sometimes gives me junk rares for free as well.
I took second place at Game Day with my latest brew, losing in the final round to Eldrazi Ramp partly because of mistakes I made in game 3.
Here is a link to my latest brew, currently standing at $65.
And here is a link to the super-budget version, currently standing at $14. This version would be suitable for casual, though if you have even 1x of any of the more expensive cards, just put them in.
In Standard, you can currently build cheap BG Elves, White Weenies, and WB Warriors, all suitable for casual.
One advantage I have for decksmithing on a budget is that I have a friend who buys cases, sells off the excess valuable cards, and gets stuck with huge numbers of leftover commons and uncommons. He sells me a playset of each cheaply, though I am usually scrambling to get playsets of key uncommons when new sets come out. It took me a while to get my hands on 4x Spatial Contortion, and I am still short 1x Warping Wail for a playset. After losing to Eldrazi Ramp, a full playset of Warping Wail on my deck's sideboard is critical.
February 19, 2016 9:16 p.m.
HairyManBack says... #16
Sounds like $50ish USD for Standard is the census. Or some 25 tix online. That's a good number, which I had in mind at the time of post.
I've also noticed more original brews with budget to budgetish decks, which I find refreshing. I can't stand net-decks after seeing what Magic has turned into (I'm an old school player). Although I have nothing against others playing them. Particularly money making tournaments.
It's good I gotta better gauge for what the $$$ limit is. This will help me stay in a realm of competitive, yet with more limited selection of cards.
Thanks everyone for your input. Really appreciate it. Cheers!
February 19, 2016 9:59 p.m.
Vortexflame says... #17
Honestly, most casual decks can be made for under 25 dollars. Take this one for example: A Wall by Any Other Name.
February 19, 2016 10:02 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #18
I am currently eyeing Captain's Claws as a dirt-cheap way to give weenies midrange capability in Standard, especially in conjunction with the dash mechanic so that you can keep a hasty solution in your hand in case of sweep.
At the moment, I only have 1x, but more packs will be opened, and people simply do not want that card...
February 19, 2016 10:20 p.m.
HairyManBack says... #19
alanwescoat - I checked out your 2 links. Quite impressed, honestly. Great job making 2 versions. Both seem well done and fun. Not my particular type of deck but I imagine it's great for a lot of players. Keep up the good work.
Yeah, the timmy in me wants to 'abuse' Captain's Claws as much as humanly possible. I versed against an Ally deck toting it. It was annoying when it snapped. I'd like to whip up my own version if I get the chance.
February 19, 2016 10:44 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #20
Thanks, HairyManBack. Whipping up effective budget decks is a specialty.
Vortexflame says... #2
Typically I see 50 dollars as a budget deck for casual play. I've never even considered buying fetches or other special lands for anything outside of Modern.
February 19, 2016 4:45 p.m.