Hello all! I hope your day is going safe and well. In that order!

Commander can be an odd fellow! A card like Sol Ring? Four dollars. A card like Mana Crypt? One-hundred forty dollars! One of those has a level of affordability that the other cannot break. And that's just not mana rocks that tap for two colorless mana either!

Sword of Fire and Ice? $80 despite many printings during the years! Sword of Sinew and Steel? $8 despite mythic status in a single printing! Much different!

This land of haves and have-nots is where my Budget Commander series enters. Too many Commander decklists on line (including my own) may easily have $1000 (or more) worth of cards. But the massive reprinting from Commander each year of staples also leads to a lot of powerful reprints that have dropped the value of the key cards in question. A lot of "budget" brews do the same! They will have decklists that easily hit a hundred or more dollars. As someone who lived without a job for a while, I know that's way beyond the budget of most people. Therefore, my job is to come under the budget price of the previous edition of this series!

What was last article's budget? $32.33!

That means today's article must come in lower on the coolstuffinc.com list. I use the near mint prices for CSI cards, and the cheapest available. That's how I do my budget. Only basic lands are not included.

Now what hot Commander 2020 leader inspired today's brew?

Akim, the Soaring Wind did! Most token decks out there are looking at the power of Green to make those tokens. But not this, and that's a deck-building challenge that I enjoy! Ready for the Jeskai face punchery?

The problem with Akim is the starting price of $2.99 which is around 10% of my budget taken up by the leader.

Let's look at the deck!

The first place I dug into were fellow flyers of the air like Birds. I really wanted to push into this archetype and the first card I added after adding in my mana base was Battle Screech. It's exactly where I want to be as it'll make dorks twice and thus potentially get you two dorks not one for your trouble! And do both if you have the mana! I also tossed in things like Migratory Route into the build as well.

Next?

After makers of flyers I moved to Red and its massive makers of dorks on arrival. These are also use sacrifices of their respective type, and while they are here predominately for the making of Goblins and Thopters, I can also sacrifice things for the cause should I want to. And these are not the only Goblins and Artifact dork makers in my build. You'll find cards like Mogg War Marshal and Maverick Thopterist here as well. The War Marshal is great as it'll potentially net you two dorks via your leader (one when it arrives and the other on a future turn if or when it dies.)

Next?

Don't forget to dive into the power of Ikoria! Here you can see a pair of cooly high harmony heralds of tokenage. The first, Skycat Sovereign can produce flyers and the latter will really reward a going wide deck like ours with the goods. Don't forget to draw those cards! These are not the only two cards in here either! (Cough... Inspired Ulmatium ...cough)

Populate is a brilliant way to produce the best creature token you have too! Sure! It may be a flyer like the ones granted by Eyes in the Skies and Scion of Vitu-Ghazi. Or it could be something a little beefier. Both of these provides bodies, dorks, and gas. You'll also note that most of the White populate cards from the Selesnya guild are making an appearance below, headlined by the powerful Rootborn Defenses.

Next?

Let's add in ways to make the occasional dork. By spreading out your dorks into other turns you increase the Bird making dorkery of your leader as well! That gives these sort of cards mad synergy with Akim, the Soaring Wind. I also spread them out on various places to make it harder to answer.

I then moved to wrap up my deck in a few ways, like adding in card drawing such as Fact or Fiction, removal like Crush Contraband, and a few more dorks that made creatures on arrival to play into my themes. Irregular Cohort is a great common that plays very nicely and is cheap too boot. I also like Alirios, Enraptured in here and what it brings.

Speaking of card drawing, check out Windreader Sphinx! This may not be a flying matters build, but I have enough flyers from Cloudblazer to Emeria Angel to make this work! Draw cards when you swing with your air force!

In other news, Crafty Cutpurse spells synergy. You can flash it and steal other tokens. When you do? Make a token should you control your Akim. Nice! You are the only one allowed to run those tokens!

Finally...a quick shout out to Song of the Worldsoul. Populate away my friends, populate away!

And that's it!

Want to see the decklist?

BC #54 - Budgeting with Akim | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Akim, the Soaring Wind

• Creatures (30)
• 1 Alirios, Enraptured
• 1 Anointer Priest
• 1 Aven Wind Guide
• 1 Beetleback Chief
• 1 Blaring Recruiter
• 1 Cloudblazer
• 1 Cloudgoat Ranger
• 1 Crafty Cutpurse
• 1 Emeria Angel
• 1 Faerie Formation
• 1 Force of Nature
• 1 Irregular Cohort
• 1 Master Splicer
• 1 Maverick Thopterist
• 1 Mentor of the Meek
• 1 Mogg War Marshal
• 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Precursor Golem
• 1 Reverent Hoplite
• 1 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi
• 1 Seller of Songbirds
• 1 Siege-Gang Commander
• 1 Skycat Sovereign
• 1 Thopter Engineer
• 1 Warden of the Eye
• 1 Wild-Field Scarecrow
• 1 Windreader Sphinx
• 1 Wing Splicer
• 1 Wingmate Roc

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

• Instants (9)
• 1 Chemister's Insight
• 1 Crib Swap
• 1 Crush Contraband
• 1 Eyes in the Skies
• 1 Fact or Fiction
• 1 Into the Core
• 1 Jeskai Charm
• 1 Rootborn Defenses
• 1 Trostani's Judgment

• Sorceries (14)
• 1 Airborne Aid
• 1 Battle Screech
• 1 Concentrate
• 1 Decree of Justice
• 1 Deep Analysis
• 1 Empty the Warrens
• 1 Heroic Reinforcements
• 1 Hordeling Outburst
• 1 Hour of Reckoning
• 1 Inspired Ultimatum
• 1 Migratory Route
• 1 Ordered Migration
• 1 Tidings
• 1 Winged Words

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Dictate of Heliod
• 1 Intangible Virtue
• 1 Mobilization
• 1 Reconnaissance Mission
• 1 Song of the Worldsoul

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Firemind Vessel
• 1 Jeskai Banner
• 1 Mana Geode

• Lands (36)
• 9 Island
• 9 Mountain
• 9 Plains
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Azorius Guildgate
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Boros Guildgate
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Izzet Boilerworks
• 1 Izzet Guildgate
• 1 Mystic Monastery
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

Buy This Deck Export text format

And we are! Where did I wind up? $32.27! Awesome!

Now please note that the price of any card can fluctuate from when I wrote this last week to when it was published to when you read it. But the point stands. Budget brews like this that only allow cheaper commons, uncommons, bulk rares and bulk mythics are possible for cheap.

You could add in cards like Boros Charm, Kykar, Wind's Fury, Mulldrifter, Solemn Simulacrum, Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer, Generous Gift, Chaos Warp, Harmonius Archon, Cathars' Crusade, or Divine Visitation. Don't forget the many colors and styles of planeswalkers that make dorks with their first or second ability as well!

Appendix

If you enjoyed today's gonzo counters/Wizards/saboteur/enchantments Simic deck, great! Here are the first 53 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. 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...
51. Want a Naya Gold deck? Literally? Built around the multicolored loving Rienne, Angel of Rebirth. It clocks it at $32.39. I know you want to find out how I ever could do that! Check it out!
52. I built a fun +1/+1 counter and enchantment-matters build around Eutropia the Twice-Favored for $32.33. Don't you wanna check it out?
53. I took the Skirmish deck I designed, Defy Death, and turned it into a Commander deck featuring Tariel, Reckoner of Souls for $32.28. Take a look and see what you think!
54. That's this article you silly goose; it ain't here yet!