Budget Commander #51 -Naya Gold

Hello! I hope your day is going well! If you are reading this on the week of November 10th, I won't be here. I'm about halfway through a vacation in Iceland.

Because I'm writing this article around a month ahead of time, I wanted to write an article that isn't tethered to anything in the gaming world, or any new releases.

This is a perfect place to grab and run another Budget Commander for y'all.

I've made no secret about the fact that I have been angling to build a budget deck around Rienne, Angel of Rebirth. I've really been looking forward to this, but I've been waiting on her secondary market price to drop. And it has! Right now, she's just $3.49 here at coolstuffinc.com. That means we should be able to grab her and have enough of a budget left for the deck.

Now, before I jump in, let's remind you of my budget series.

A lot of Commander staples can be pretty high on the secondary market. They can easily go for more than the take-home pay for an employee for an entire day of work! I get around $110.00 to take home each work day, so a card that goes for around that price is rough to stomach. And cards can move and shift in value, so investing in a card's secondary market price can be rough, especially when Wizards of the Coast often prints cards in things like the Masters series with the intention of cutting or dropping the price of those cards.

Take Greater Auramancy as a good example. It's a $30.00 card these days, but it's never been reprinted. If it were reprinted in a Masters set, it's price could easily halve. I understand the issue with investing in pricey cards. That's where this series steps in. Each deck must come in under the budget of the previous one (basic lands being our only exception).

What was my budget in #50? $32.45. That means this entire deck at retail value of cards must slide in under it! Everything from mana lands to Gold stuff counts.

Ready?

Let's get our Naya Gold on!

Civic Saber

Glass of the Guildpact

Tome of the Guildpact

Knight of New Alara

Many cards that play into these themes are cheap. Like Vivid Revival, a rare that's down to a quarter here on CSI. These four cards are the key place I started with as all four are cheap and play well with this build, particularly the Knight of New Alara. The two Guildpact cards are great and cheap, and you can find cards like Civic Saber that also doesn't suck. Tome is strong at introducing some fun card drawing to the build. Note that it's a cast trigger that cards about the colors, so something like Naya Charm will draw you a card when you cast it.

Tablet of the Guilds may not seem obvious at first. But if you choose Green and White, then you will always gain a life as you cast a spell, and you could gain two. Only Pyroconvergence, or artifacts, won't count. Everything else is two, three, or mono-White (Brace for Impact) and Mono-Green (Skyshroud Elves).

One of the key combos in this deck are Hero of Precinct One and Pyroconvergence. The former will make 1/1 dorks as you cast multicolored spells, and the latter will let you Shock something for two damage as well. These are two major concepts we are leaning into.

In order to make cards like these, or Tome of the Guildpact work, I'm even running multicolored spells like the multicolored mana rocks from Alara Reborn. Do you have at least two colors? Then step right in!

Most of my support cards play into similar space, like we are running Destructive Revelry instead of something like Krosan Grip and Wreak Havoc instead of Chaos Warp. You get the idea. Now I do have some mono-colored support in a few places, but very few. Mainly my land fetching. There just aren't many, cheap, ways to get a land, and a three color deck like this that leans hard into difficult casting costs needs to push into mana helping. You see cards in here like Peregrination and Grow from the Ashes that will assist with that...

As well as things like...

Faeburrow Elder! This obvious addition from Throne of Eldraine says hello! It'll always be a fun 2/2 and could be a 3/3 very easily, and it taps for a whole passel of mana. I also tossed in Skyshroud Elf to help out with mana as it's brilliant here! You can tap for a Green and you can wash all of your mana into either Red or White in any amount. As long as you control it, getting those two colors is a breeze!

Don't forget that Rienne will put a dying multicolored dork back into your hand at the end of the turn, she doesn't just pump up their power....

I wanted to play heavily in gold dorks that sacrifice for powerful effects. Because Rienne will send dying gold dorks back to your hand, these are great ways to expand the power of Rienne! As they will return and be recast over and over again, you'll also collect triggers off your other things, like the Hero of Precinct One's token making extravaganza or your growing Gloryscale Viashino. From the destruction of Qasali Pridemage to your Shock-damaging Goblin Legionnaire, you've got this covered!

It's a sad thing that Sakura-Tribe Elder isn't two colors.

Brion Stoutarm can fling your guys and then you can reload get it back for more fling-age. He's on curve as a 4/4 with lifelink for four mana, and thus his sacrifice and Fling ability will also gain you life as well, which is really cool! (I also may have slipped in Barrage of Expendables to assist with this line of thought...)

Think about Fleetfoot Panther. Death Kitty has returned! (That's an Equinaut reference, in case you care) Nothing in your deck isn't one of those two colors. It's Mono-White, Mono-Green, or Gruul, Boros, or Selesnya, so it works! Shivan Wurm is the same, only the Hero can't be self-bounced, it'll beat for a powerful body, and bounce and keep your team going.

Radiant Kavu may not jump out at you, but take another look-see. This bulk rare from way-back is coo because it triggers everything you need. Did you note that it'll be +3/+3 with Knight of New Alara or get a big boost from stuff like Civic Saber? It will also prevent combat damage from the other two colors, and even if something is just part, the damage is prevented. You can swing and still have the shields up, and you can prevent it across multiple waves of attacks. I enjoy it.

Now I did make one change late. I was originally running Dragon Arch for my build, and I am sure you can see why. Who wouldn't want to drop a dork for free? It's never been reprinted, and thus has a pretty sizable cost, but I felt it was on theme and useful. However, I decided to slide into the similarly priced Saffi Eriksdotter. I felt that Saffi was more on theme. With Rienne on the battlefield, when you sacrifice her to save another dying dork, Saffi will head back to your hand at the end of your turn, so you can use her over and over again. Also, the Dragon Arch won't trigger cast-triggers like Hero of Precinct One, Pyroconvergence, or others, so it has less synergy. For those reasons I pulled it out for Saffi, who's more synergetic with this build. You could certainly add in the Arch later.

All right, enough flirting. Ready for the deck list and budget?

Great!

Naya Gold | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Rienne, Angel of Rebirth

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Brion Stoutarm
• 1 Dauntless Escort
• 1 Deadshot Minotaur
• 1 Draconic Disciple
• 1 Elvish Hexhunter
• 1 Enlisted Wurm
• 1 Faeburrow Elder
• 1 Fleetfoot Panther
• 1 Gloryscale Viashino
• 1 Goblin Legionnaire
• 1 Hero of Precinct One
• 1 Juniper Order Ranger
• 1 Khenra Charioteer
• 1 Knight of New Alara
• 1 Knotvine Mystic
• 1 Leonin Armorguard
• 1 Loxodon Hierarch
• 1 Naya Hushblade
• 1 Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner
• 1 Qasali Pridemage
• 1 Radiant Kavu
• 1 Ravager Wurm
• 1 Rith, the Awakener
• 1 Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1 Samut, Voice of Dissent
• 1 Shivan Wurm
• 1 Skyshroud Elf
• 1 Sumala Woodshaper
• 1 Thornscape Familiar
• 1 Tolsimir Wolfblood
• 1 Vithian Renegades
• 1 Woolly Thoctar

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Ajani, the Greathearted
• 1 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
• 1 Samut, Tyrant Smasher

• Instants (9)
• 1 Brace for Impact
• 1 Collision // Colossus
• 1 Destructive Revelry
• 1 Join Shields
• 1 Naya Charm
• 1 Ride Down
• 1 Rith's Charm
• 1 Selesnya Charm
• 1 Sylvan Reclamation

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Beneath the Sands
• 1 Decimate
• 1 Escape to the Wilds
• 1 Exploding Borders
• 1 Grow from the Ashes
• 1 Heroic Reinforcements
• 1 Peregrination
• 1 Reborn Hope
• 1 Vivid Revival
• 1 Wreak Havoc

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Barrage of Expendables
• 1 Glare of Subdual
• 1 Pyroconvergence

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Behemoth Sledge
• 1 Civic Saber
• 1 Firewild Borderpost
• 1 Glass of the Guildpact
• 1 Obelisk of Naya
• 1 Tablet of the Guilds
• 1 Tome of the Guildpact
• 1 Wildfield Borderpost

• Lands (34)
• 8 Forest
• 8 Mountain
• 8 Plains
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Gateway Plaza
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Guildmages' Forum
• 1 Jungle Shrine
• 1 Naya Panorama
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Transguild Promenade

Buy This Deck Export text format

As a reminder, my target was $32.45. Where did I come down?$32.39, six cents cheaper!

Please note that the values of cards on the secondary market are always in flux. You may have to

There are a number of cards out there you could dip into should you care to do so. Conqueror's Flail is great and you have stuff like Bloom Tender, Urza's Filter, Dragon Arch, the three Lieges like Boartusk Liege, or Wilt-Leaf Liege, Eladamri's Call, Altar of Bone, Aura Shards, Godsire, Privileged Position and many more fun cards await!

What did you think of my deck? Anything in here I missed or you liked? Just let me know!!!

APPENDIX

If you enjoyed today's Five Color Warrior Madness deck, great! Here are the first 49 Budget Commander Options for your wallet-friendly happiness and joy:

1. We kicked things off with Brion Stoutarm came in at $37.71
2. Next up was Ghave, Guru of Spores, with a budget of $36.48, is a lot of fun!
3. Talrand, Sky Summoner - $49.37. I increased the budget for this project due to the nature of the challenge, and it's the only entry in the series where the cost is increased rather than decreased.
4. Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius is the next for our list rocking that $36.37 pricetag.
5. Princess Lucrezia and Riven Turnbull feature in this fun throwback Commander deck that is just $35.68.
6. Roon of the Hidden Realm demonstrates one of the Commander 2013 dorks in a $35.29 shell.
7. Vhati il-Dal runs the table for just $35.17. It's also one of the more unique entries in this project.
8. With all of the latest draconic lovin', Bladewing the Risen comes just a few cents less at $35.13. http://www.gatheringmagic.com/abesargent-042114-budget-commander-8-budget-bladewing/
9. Lu Xun, Scholar General may not be a powerhouse, but there's enough utility under here to spark a very interesting EDH deck for just $35.07.
10. Bosh, Iron Golem was a fun mono-red artifact centric deck that hits $35.06. That's right, one cent cheaper! It's a fun and different take on artifacts than good ol' Brago will be next.
11. Brago, King Eternal is featured with a different artifact theme and a $35.04 budget.
12. Let's finally get below that $35 mark with Lin Sivvi and her rebel horde! $34.98 for the witness.
13. Wedges are cool. So is Teneb, the Harvester! $34.94 gets us a deck that wins and has fun.
14. Who likes Surrak Dragonclaw? Who likes making a face-smashing deck for just $34.83? This guy!
15. Tolsimir Wolfblood? $34.73? Selesnya aggro? We've got it in spades!
16. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death is ready to bring some serious recursion, beats, and a modest budget to boot at $34.62.
17. Want to Dragon up your deck? Why not roll with Dragonlord Kolaghan for $34.47.
18. Who's thumping those mono-green beats with the Yeva, Nature's Herald stylings? Who clocks in at just $34.39? This article!
19. Want to donate some stuff, play some politics, and draw a ton of cards? Then check out this Zedruu the Greathearted deck that came in at $34.29.
20. I have a notion that a Five Color deck would be a fun budget challenge. Horde of Notions is a blast of Elemental fun that clocks in at $34.17. Check it out!
21. Five color doesn't have to end with tribes. There are so many options that this Five Color Cromat deck with a bit of a smash-y board presence is ready to introduce itself to the red zone, and to winning. It also is just $34.20.
22. Sometimes it's really nice to see how far we can push a popular commander with a cheaper budget. That's where this Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck comes in, clocking in at $34.03
23. With a budget of just $33.98, this Daxos of Meletis deck is pretty cool without being too expensive. Check it out!
24. We have a Snake flavored Kaseto, Orochi Archmage deck with a lot of fun, Snakes, and budget goodness at $33.91.
25. Nahiri, the Lithomancer is calling for an equipment and Solider focused mono-white build that's just $33.85.
26. Who's Born to be Wild? Mina and Denn are! Check out this Gruul Smash deck with lands and fun for just $33.75.
27. Gods are cool, especially when they make you berries, fruits, and tasty veggies. Karametra, God of Harvests might fetch you a lot of lands and good times, but she won't set back your wallet. Check out her budget build, clocking in at $33.74
28. She beats with auras and fun, sailing over her foes. It's Bruna, Light of Alabaster! She's bringing a strong game at a cheap $33.69.
29. Rosheen Meanderer at $33.63 clocks in with a bunch of X spells and activations with a different take on the classic Elf-Ball deck.
30. We take a look at a very old school sort of guy, Boris Devilboon, from the original Legends set, and then build a $33.58 deck around our good demonic friends.
31. It's time for a bit of an Orzhov Control loving, built around Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts and featuring a ton of removal, control, and more, all for the low, low price of $33.56.
32. Captain Sisay leads a fun, legendary infused deck that has a lot of great cards and synergy, but a light price, checking in at $33.46.
33. Ertai, the Corrupted sacrifices creatures and enchantments to counter spells. For $33.35, we have a great control-esque deck with some groovy sacrificing love.
34. With a modest budget of $33.32, Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis have a fun event and morph focused theme, without running a bunch of cards from their Commander 2016 Appearance. Check them out!
35. Built around the Old-School combo of Prodigal Sorcerer and Fungusaur, this Commander deck features a number of cards that deal damage to your own creatures so they get better. It clocks in at a humble $33.26.
36. With a Golgari Toughness-Matters theme, this Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper deck won't hurt your budget, but will do some damage for $33.15.
37. Grenzo, Dungeon Warden goes all crazy with graveyard and deck restocking shenanigans for a cheap $33.12. We even have an infinite combo in here!
38. Commander 2017 brings some powerful new options for Commander players everywhere. I put together a multiplayer-friendly control deck around Mathas, Fiend Seeker for just $33.10.
39. Don't you love the Izzet madness of Arjun, the Shifting Flame? No deck has more card drawing, or card drawing triggers, than this one! It clocks in at $33.04.
40. It doesn't have to be Halloween for you to enjoy the Monster Mash. Here we have a Grusilda, Monster Mash deck that enjoys mashing your dorks together, but not mashing your budget. It clocks in at $32.98
41. Don't Shatter your Budget with this build of the Shattergang Brothers, who's sacrificial ways won't sacrifice wallet, and just cost $32.94.
42. I saw Muldrotha, the Gravetide and I just fell in love with that face. Who wouldn't? Here's a graveyard abuse deck that won't break your bank, just your battlefield. And maybe some friendships. It was $32.89.
43. Who likes some Saprolings and having Fungal Fun? I do! Slimefoot, the Stowaway leads this cheap, flavorful deck that clocks in at $32.80. Every addition to the deck has to support the flavor of the Fungal concepts!
44. Who wants to untap and en-creature Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle? Who wants a fun budget build that's just $32.77? ME!
45. Next up is a budget build of Emmara, Soul of the Accord which is cheap and clocks in at $32.77. Check out it's token majesty!
46. I randomly selected Kefnet the Mindful for a random Commander challenge, and was inspired to combine my two series and build a Budget Commander deck around card-drawing and fun times with Kefnet! Check it out and it's $32.73 glory.
47. Let's build a fun graveyard and mono-Green build around my second Portal: Three Kingdoms leader - Hua Tuo, Honored Physician. I really like this build, and for just $32.65, I hope you will too!
48. I built a fun budget Burn and Life gain deck around Firesong and Sunspeaker for a price tag of only $32.57! Want to check it out?
49. I built a fun deck around the partners Gorm the Great and Virtus the Veiled. This deck ran some cool cards, including the old school Basilisk and Lure combos. But it only cost $32.51. Don't you wanna check it out? Of course ya do!
50. That's this article dummy. It's not here yet!
51. For my 50th Budget Commander article, I decide to do something crazy! Let's build a Warrior themed deck around a very expensive Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, rather than my normal way of a budget leader. We come in at $42.45. You know you want to read it...
52. That's this article you silly goose; it ain't here yet!