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How to Build a Budget Commander Deck

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Commander is Magic: The Gathering's most popular format. While it is easy to go to CoolStuffInc.com and buy a pre-constructed deck, many players enjoy building their own. Players may find building a Commander deck to be cost-prohibitive. Fortunately for them, we've put together a guide to help build an effective Commander deck on a budget.

Step 1: What does your Commander deck do?

Winota, Joiner of Forces

The initial step in building any Commander deck is choosing the card to helm your deck. In this example, we will use Winota, Joiner of Forces as our deck's Commander. Winota, Joiner of Forces is a powerful Boros (wr) card that can cheat creatures onto the board and turn a combat phase into a bloodbath.

Once we've selected our Commander, we will want to help it do its job. For Winota, Joiner of Forces, we will want to have plenty of non-human creatures on the board before she enters. To do this, we will select some low-cost cards that do not look very threatening. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh, and Ornithopter are zero-cost creatures that you can play early while still keeping your mana open for other things. Ornithopter of Paradise is also worth adding as you get the utility of the ability to tap it for mana as well.

Step 2: Paving the path to victory for your Commander deck.

We've chosen our Commander and picked some creatures to make her work. Now we need to select some cards to give us an advantage. Playing Winota, Joiner of Forces is going to make you a target, so you want cards that will make going after her more difficult. There are a lot of options out there, but we are working on a budget, so value and efficiency are a must.

This deck needs to build an advantage early and you'll want to protect yourself from counterspells and removal. We can do this by selecting cards that slow your opponents down. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is a 1w card that will make casting noncreature spells more difficult. Untimely Malfunction is a 1r instant card that will keep a spell or ability away from your commander and in the game.

Step 3: Adding the Commander staples to your deck.

Most of Magic: The Gathering's Commander decks share the same staples and each color really has a full list of ones that should be in each deck. In this example, we will be looking at building this Commander deck with Red, White and Colorless staples.

When you look at Red staples, it should be important to remember that it is very good at removing Artifacts. Because of this, we want to make sure we include Abrade and Vandalblast in the deck. Removal is key for any Commander deck, so including Chaos Warp is absolutely advisable as well as that can remove any permanent from the board.

White has some extremely important interaction pieces you always want to include as well. Swords to Plowshares will keep pesky creatures away, or work to give you life in a pinch. Path to Exile will also handle any individual creature threat and you won't have to worry about that life gain. Just like Red's Chaos Warp, White's Generous Gift is going to take any permanent on the board and get rid of it.

When we look at Colorless Commander staples for a multicolored deck, there are a few quick and easy selections on a budget. Sol Ring is the premiere Artifact card. With a 1 cost and the ability to get you two colorless mana, you already know that's important. Arcane Signet is also going to put in work when you have a multicolored deck. In this case, as our Commander is important to the deck's function, Swiftfoot Boots is also a good idea as you can give Winota, Joiner of Forces hexproof and keep her from being targeted.

Step 4: Adding the knock-out punch to your Commander deck.

Once your Commander deck starts doing what it wants to do, it's going to be the moment you need to capitalize on. Angrath's Marauders would be a great choice to double damage your attackers do and can be cheated out by your Commander. Once you'\ve built a healthy board state, Devilish Valet can be a knockout punch when partnered with a few could Winota, Joiner of Forces triggers. Get a Geist-Honoted Monk onto the field and Devilish Valet will be unstoppable.

Don't be afraid to put a little extra here in this step. Something a little more pricey like Blade Historian will put you in a position to turn even moderately powered creatures into a real threat. Specifically here, try to focus on beneficial cards you can rely on, in this case, make sure they are humans.

Step 5: Filling out your mana base Commander deck.

In your mission to build a budget commander deck, you chose your Commander, added in some ways to get the job done, tossed in some staples and then ways to win. I always recommend between 32-38 lands depending on what your deck will do. When working with a budget, try to stick with basic mana. It's easier to access and cheap to acquire.

Looking at the deck example from FullFatMayo, you will notice that there are a lot more White mana pips than Red ones. Skew the divide in favor of the primary color, so in this case, more Plains than Mountains.

End Step: Play-testing your Budget Commander Deck

Time for the fun part, hopefully! So now you will need to get the deck sleeved up, shuffled up, and out for a few games. Some people may recommend running test hands, which is always a good idea to make sure you have the right amount of mana, but doesn't simulate gameplay well. Nothing will ever beat playing the deck against a full pod, so if you can, that's where you want to try it out at.

Once your budget Commander deck is completed and plays well enough, you can then turn around and start upgrading it if you choose to. Start adding in upgrades to those budget cards. Often, a more expensive card may do the job of two or three cheaper ones. Add some utility lands if you need, there are plenty of great dual lands out there. Finally, get that list together and swing by CoolStuffInc and get that buy list ordered!

Here is a sample budget Commander decklist:

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