Welcome back to another article, and I apologize for the extended delay. We are going to get back into the swing of things and talk about more budget-friendly options for Pioneer and/or Commander format. Some have more intrigue than others, but all can be utilized in our collection!

The first card up is Skylasher from Dragon's Maze. Although this set is notorious for being a "terrible" set overall, there are some cards that I feel people overlook. This one is coming in at only $0.46 for the non-foils, and $0.99 for the foil copies (mtgstocks.com). This card to me seems like it should be in most sideboards at the very least. Looking at the current meta of Pioneer, Control makes up 16% alone, Aggro makes up 66%, and Combo makes up 18%. From the control side of things Dimir (Blue/Black) and Azorius (Blue/White) control make up the bulk of decks according to mtgtop8.com. Looking into the Aggro side of things, Spirit Aggro, Phoenix decks, and Ensoul Artifact decks are some of the most-played. Regarding Combo, Jeskai is the most played decks of that section. I'm bringing this up to show that there are a lot of decks utilizing blue spells in the meta.

A card like Skylasher checks all the boxes for an anti-Blue card. It has flash, it can not be countered, it has reach, and it is only a two-drop. This would be a great card to use as a blocker against any Blue creature flying our opponent controls. The downside of course is that it has two toughness, but that should not deter you from utilizing it for the upside. One thing in situations like this that I would look to do is give the creature deathtouch. That way we can not only block, but potentially remove a threat form the board. At its current price it is a bargain to add to your collection!

Next is a card I honestly thought would get abused in Pioneer format, and that card is Sage of Hours. The current price is $3.47 for the non-foils, and $8.73 for the foil copies. Between cards like Hardened Scales and other cards that have proliferate, I figured this would be a tool to use to not only utilize counters but abuse the ability as well. In casual Commander decks, I have personally used this in addition to other cards in my deck for the ability to get extra turns. In Pioneer I feel like this could get abused if utilized correctly. The format is new enough that this can still surprise opponents if it hits the board. Simic, Sultai, or Bant would be the combinations I would use this in, as they all could use a creature like Sage of Hours in it. We don't need this to be the focal point of the deck. But, if we are either using cards that distribute counters or target our creatures, a card like this makes sense to use. With this also being a two-drop, it is a low-risk high reward play. Seeing as of right now there are no other printings, I would suggest trading into a play set of these.

Prophetic Flamespeaker has been a pet card of mine for years, and I hope you decide to get some foils and non-foils after reading this. Its current price is at $0.95 for the non-foils, and $3.36 for the foils on mtgstocks. This is a card I feel can compliment both Gruul and Izzet decks very well. When reading the card at first glance, the ability does not seem like much. The double strike and trample aspect is what makes this an intriguing play. Reason being is if our opponent decides to block with a 1/1 creature, we will still do one damage allowing us to exile the top card of our library. Then the aspect that it goes unblocked, we get to exile two cards instead of one!

The naysayers will want to say "Well, what if I exile a card I do not need right now or can not play?" My answer is this "How many times have you drawn into something you can not play or do not need on any given turn?" This is no exception except you have an opportunity to pilfer through your deck quicker! As long as you win the game why does it matter if you rid of a card you could "technically" use? Every card in our deck should be a card we can utilize! It is just a matter of what cards we acquire along the way. As players we always want to have the home run in our hand so to speak. But, as long as we keep making consistent plays we always have a chance to win!

Another thing to consider with this is buffs. We can make this thing swing for a huge amount of damage playing cards like Titan's Strength and Unleash Fury together. Not only that but being able to scry with Titan's Strength allows us to see what we would be exiling before we deal combat damage! In an optimal situation being able to play two Titans Strength and then Unleash Fury would make Prophetic Flamespeaker potentially hit for 14 damage on turn four if unblocked! For its current value this thing is a must pick up for everyone's trade binder rather it is the foils or non-foils!

Our last card for the day is Polymorphous Rush, coming in at $0.38 for the non-foils and $0.64 for the foils. This card has a mass amount of upside in both Commander and Pioneer formats if utilized properly. In Commander, there are plenty of big creatures out there to target as our initial choice to copy. In Pioneer there is a card that can compliment this in Battlefield Thaumaturge. That would allow us to only have to pay one Blue for each target after the initial one blue and one colorless to activate the spell. In Sultai, a little bit of ramp and dorks to speed up our mana supply, use a creature in Desecration Demon to copy, declare attackers, wait until Desecration Demon triggers entering combat, use Polymorphous Rush, target however many creatures we can, and potentially hit for a bunch.

In Commander there is even better creatures to target and could be completely abused in a multitude of scenarios. One thing that comes to mind is creatures that deal out poison counters. Poison counters are already a headache in of itself. The last thing we would want to see is our opponents ramping up, have a bolster of creatures out, and then pop off something like Polymorphous Rush once blockers are declared with limited blockers available. This would be an optimal scenario of course, but it is a very real situation that can happen. Another thing that comes to mind are Eldrazi creatures. One in Pathrazer of Ulamog that is not a legendary creature. It has annihilator 3, and it has to be blocked by three or more creatures. Polymorphous Rush is an instant spell, this would be a scenario I would use it main phase one. Even being able to make upwards of three copies would be devastating to any opponent's battlefield.

That is all we have today, I hope you enjoyed the read, and come back for the next article!