[Discussion] Best Budget Deck

[nightmaster]

Many people like to play Legacy and be competitive but don't have the money to. To that end, what some of the better budget legacy decks? Maybe not every card in the deck is budget but a deck that most of it can be built without spending a fortune or variations of a deck that is cheaper to build. When you list a deck if you could give us a decklist or a link to a list that would be great.

[kabal]

Vial Affinity is a good budget deck that can perform well. Typically isn't hated because it doesn't have much of a showing. I find it extremely fun to play with the interesting combat tricks you can do, not to mention that it has somewhat of a combo element to it with Atog/Ravager with Fling or the Disciple.

// Lands
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Glimmervoid

// Creatures
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
3 Ornithopter
2 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault

// Spells
2 Fling
3 Thoughtcast

// Artifacts
4 Æther Vial
4 Terrarion
3 Cranial Plating

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Pithing Needle <--- The only real money card
SB: 4 Sphere of Resistance
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt

[emidln]

4 Sulfurous Springs - $3.50
4 Badlands - $20
3 City of Traitors - $4
4 Sandstone Needle - $0.25
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrel Vale - $45

4 Talruum Piper - $0.50
4 Labyrinth Minotaur - $0.25
4 Tahngarth, Talruum Hero - $0.75
4 Anaba Spirit Crafter - $1.25
4 Talruum Champion - $0.25

4 Sneak Attack - $12.50
4 Lotus Petal - $2
4 Didgeridoo - $1
4 Seething Song - $0.25
1 Sword of Light and Shadow - $6
4 Ruby Medallion - $3
4 Chrome Mox - $12.50
4 Desperate Ritual - $0.40

Grand Total = $296.6 for the best deck in Legacy from SCG

Obviously, if you want to foil it out it is slightly more, but you can get started for under $300. Or you could play Goblins I guess...

[MasterBlaster]

Is it really time for a budget deck thread again?

Burn, Fish, and Zoo are pretty common budget decks.

[clavio]

Fluctuator can do well when no one is playing blue. 85% of the cards are nickle bin, so it wins the cheapest deck award.

[wmagzoo7]

How the Hell can zoo be budget I mean its 3 color or should be and is also say umm 12 duals deep usually. Sure it doenst need many expensive creatures but 12 duals is not budget IMO and also fetches are a pretty penny right now. Wouldn't affinity be just your best bet.

[Clark Kant]

I used to think 9 land stompy was a crappy deck that's only still around bc of sentimental value but I've recently put it together seeing as how cheap it was, and it's a very powerful deck. Yes, it's easy to hate out with Chalice at 1 and such, but it has even to good matchups against many of the best decks in the format such as goblins and threshold.

I would recommend checkign out it's thread on the page here.

[MasterBlaster]

How the Hell can zoo be budget I mean its 3 color or should be and is also say umm 12 duals deep usually. Sure it doenst need many expensive creatures but 12 duals is not budget IMO and also fetches are a pretty penny right now. Wouldn't affinity be just your best bet.

I forgot about needing duals. Well lets forget about Zoo.

[Complete_Jank]

Mono Black is pretty cheap, and has always been. People played it in type one with Null Rods.

[jazzykat]

Um forgive me if I sound like a prick but with dual lands in t2 almost as much as real ones, where is there a budget format of any type. Besides 1.5 is where all your cards remain playable unless they become obsolete. To me there is no cheaper format. No power to buy and all the cards you buy are playable for a long time with so little innovation.

[Complete_Jank]

Um forgive me if I sound like a prick but with dual lands in t2 almost as much as real ones, where is there a budget format of any type. Besides 1.5 is where all your cards remain playable unless they become obsolete. To me there is no cheaper format. No power to buy and all the cards you buy are playable for a long time with so little innovation.

In type 2 you need to almost play the new duals to be competitive , in type 1.5 you can make a mono color deck that is competitive because the card selection is greater.

[AnwarA101]

I would actually suggest Spring Tide. Its quite good and even better against aggro than Solidarity. The link is here -

http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2594

The deck also requires nothing really high except a few fetch lands to make Brainstorm a bit better and Force of Will.

[Phantom]

Vial Affinity is a good budget deck that can perform well.

Agreed. Affinity is the only deck listed on here that is firmly tier 2 and you can get everything on his list (except the needles) for cheap as hell.

[syssc9]

Big fun can be had with mono-red for very little. Here’s one possible list:

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning/Thunderbolt
4 Incinerate
4 Magma Jet
4 Raging Goblin
4 Goblin Balloon Brigade
4 Goblin Fanatic
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Mogg Maniac
4 Browbeat
2 Fireblast
18 Mountains

Nothing too hard to come by or expensive here other than the Chain Lightning so I provided an alternate in the cheap and accessible Thunderbolt – see the Burn thread for lots more great ideas. Some people hate Browbeat, but it works great in this sort of deck. Very easy to play. May not win that big tourney, but will give a lot of decks a run for the money.

[Cavius The Great]

4 Sulfurous Springs - $3.50
4 Badlands - $20
3 City of Traitors - $4
4 Sandstone Needle - $0.25
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrel Vale - $45

4 Talruum Piper - $0.50
4 Labyrinth Minotaur - $0.25
4 Tahngarth, Talruum Hero - $0.75
4 Anaba Spirit Crafter - $1.25
4 Talruum Champion - $0.25

4 Sneak Attack - $12.50
4 Lotus Petal - $2
4 Didgeridoo - $1
4 Seething Song - $0.25
1 Sword of Light and Shadow - $6
4 Ruby Medallion - $3
4 Chrome Mox - $12.50
4 Desperate Ritual - $0.40

Grand Total = $296.6 for the best deck in Legacy from SCG

Obviously, if you want to foil it out it is slightly more, but you can get started for under $300. Or you could play Goblins I guess...


Is that a joke?

[Vardaman]

Affinity is a good choice.

Rifter isn't that expensive.

[tivadar]

The best budget decks are Solidarity and Threshold because they win the most consistently and fit within my budget.

Seriously though, you can't talk about "budget" decks without stating your budget... Can you support dual lands? (probably not) Can you support fetches? (probably not) How much money do you have to spend on it. Obviously, the more you're willing to put in, the more you'll get out. Sure, burn is good, but it probably isn't going to T8 without splashing.

[syssc9]

Is that a joke?

A joke? Are you calling the famous Thunderbluff a joke?!

[Cavius The Great]

A joke? Are you calling the famous Thunderbluff a joke?!

LoL, is that Thunderbluff? I heard of the deck but never realized what was in it. Is the deck good? It looks cool.

P.S. - I love the WoW reference.

[Lukas Preuss]

I would actually suggest Spring Tide. Its quite good and even better against aggro than Solidarity. The link is here -

http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2594

The deck also requires nothing really high except a few fetch lands to make Brainstorm a bit better and Force of Will.

Yep, Spring Tide would be my choice, as well. If you're really on a budget, you could just cut the FoWs for Muddle the Mixture or play less then four copies. Sebastian Ofner made day 2 at GP Lille with a budget version of Spring Tide (only 2 FoWs), if I recall correctly.

[nightmaster]

Ok, I have heard about Affinity, Spring Tide, and Burn. My budget is about $40. I can probably trade for some of the more expensive cards in each deck. Which deck could I probably make the best with my very limited budget?

[Watcher487]

Ok, I have heard about Affinity, Spring Tide, and Burn. My budget is about $40. I can probably trade for some of the more expensive cards in each deck. Which deck could I probably make the best with my very limited budget?

Damn that's a low budget... Clavio is right with Fluctuator just look up all of the common cyclers run 1 Swamp 1 Dark Ritual and 1 Haunting Misery and you have yourself a cheap combo deck that is highly disruptable, but can play overload vs counter-control decks.

[troopatroop]

40$ is pushing it on the low spectrum...

12 land stompy or affinity come to mind.

[Mirrislegend]

Out of curiosity, what would the next bracket up be? 60$? 80? What could one do in that kinda budget?

[TheDarkshineKnight]

40$ is pushing it on the low spectrum...

12 land stompy or affinity come to mind.

9 Land Stompy is the offcial cheapest, decent deck to play in Legacy.

[emidln]

9 Land Stompy is the offcial cheapest, decent deck to play in Legacy.

I can't say I agree with that. I heard that 60 Mountains and a Zephyr Falcon was pretty good these days.

[TheDarkshineKnight]

This is the internet. Sarcasm is not allowed.

>_>

[Franz Ferdinand]

9 Land Stompy is the offcial cheapest, decent deck to play in Legacy.

I would say Burn is equally cheap and probably better.

[TheDarkshineKnight]

9 Land Stompy almost made a Top 8 at Duel for Duals or some other large tournament. Burn just sucks.

Oh, and here's the best shell I could come up with for Affinity. The main deck is 56 cards, and the sideboard is 9 cards, so you have room to add four of whatever you want in the main deck and 6 of whatever you want in the sideboard.

// Lands
1 Ancient Den
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Glimmervoid
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

// Creatures
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
3 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Frogmite
2 Ornithopter

// Spells
3 Fling
3 Cranial Plating
4 AEther Vial
4 Terrarion
4 Thoughtcast

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Engineered Plague
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Winter Orb

Edit: I wonder how those Engineered Plagues got into the Maindeck. Meh, it's fixed now.

[Tacosnape]

Meh at 9-Land Stompy and Burn. Just goes to show you how well any deck can do with the right pairings. You'd be better off buying a Rakdos Precon and tossing in Lightning Bolt and Hymn to Tourach.

But seriously, I'd go with Affinity. With full Frogs, Myr Enforcers, and Paradise Mantle over Vial, as Mantle allows for faster Frogs/Enforcers and give you the mana for Fling in a pinch.

Obviously you can't do Pithing Needle in Affinity on a $40 Budget. So go with a sideboard consisting of Tormod's Crypt (4), Engineered Plague (4, don't maindeck them), then some combination of Duress, REB, and Phyrexian Furnace.

[xsockmonkeyx]

Affinity is the easiest to put together given the current market. The most expensive card in the deck, Arcbound Ravager, has fallen off in price dramatically and theres just a ton of them out there that no one really wants.

The artifact lands, Frogmites, Disciples, Enforcers, Atogs....everything but the Ravager, Glimmervoid, Nexus(if you run them) and Aether Vials are all found in the quarter bin. The Ravagers you can pick up for under $20(for 4), Glimmervoid is a couple bucks, and Blinkmoth Nexus and the Vials are like a dollar a piece.

Theres no reason to believe you cant get the whole thing for under $40 with some cash to spare.

This decklist recently made 3rd place at The TML:

4 Aether Vial $4
3 Cranial Plating .60
4 Terrarion .60

Artifact Creatures
4 Arcbound Ravager ~$20 on ebay
4 Arcbound Worker .80
4 Frogmite .80
2 Myr Servitor .40
2 Ornithopter .40

Artifact Lands
1 Darksteel Citadel .20

Creatures
3 Atog .60
4 Disciple Of The Vault .80

Instants
3 Fling $1.50

Lands
2 Blinkmoth Nexus $2

Sorceries
4 Thoughtcast .80

Artifact Lands
2 Ancient Den .40
4 Great Furnace .80
4 Seat Of The Synod .80
4 Vault Of Whispers .80

Lands
2 Glimmervoid 3.50

Total = $38.40

EDIT: Affinity is also a lot of fun to play. Much more so than burn which is perhaps the most boring deck ever IMO.

[overlord95]

9 Land Stompy almost made a Top 8 at Duel for Duals or some other large tournament. Burn just sucks.

Oh, and here's the best shell I could come up with for Affinity. The main deck is 56 cards, and the sideboard is 9 cards, so you have room to add four of whatever you want in the main deck and 6 of whatever you want in the sideboard.

// Lands
1 Ancient Den
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Glimmervoid
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

// Creatures
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
3 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Frogmite
2 Ornithopter

// Spells
3 Fling
3 Cranial Plating
4 AEther Vial
4 Terrarion
4 Thoughtcast
3 Engineered Plague

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Engineered Plague
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Winter Orb
Damn I wish I could play 6 Engineered Plagues.

[TheDarkshineKnight]

Damn I wish I could play 6 Engineered Plagues.

Dude, it's secret tech!

[nupert]

I would play burn. The reason is simple: it's not only cheap, it also plays some cards you can play in other competitive decks. So you can save more money when you build your next deck.

[nightmaster]

Ok I am thinking I am going to go 9 Land Stompy or Burn. Can't decide which though. Which deck is better and can beat most decks or a least put up a fight?

Basically I need to now which of the two decks has the better all round game and can stand up to the most decks whether it is a well known deck like Threshold or a homemade deck someone brings to a tournament.

[nitewolf9]

I'd play stompy. Burn can't beat thresh and stompy doesn't have the same problem of running out of gas extremely quickly (it's threats stick around at least). Stompy can do well if you play it well, whereas burn can just crap out on you or lose to really bad matchups.