Welcome back everyone to another discussion in budget Magic! We are going to go back a bit and review some older gems that you might have missed in previous articles that still hold value! To start off here are some cards to consider in your next budget brew!

1. Hateful Eidolon - A 1-drop with useful upside. It has lifelink, it is an enchantment creature, and it offers a trigger that can give us card advantage if we are running auras. No more worrying about losing card advantage if a creature with auras is removed! It will make your opponent think twice before removing the enchanted creature.
2. Conspicuous Snoop - A 2-drop goblin that is being used in every Eternal format currently, and the foils are currently $5.43! Do not be surprised if it continues on an upward trend, as this is a great utility for all goblin decks!
3. Emmara, Soul of the Accord - At only $1.00 for the foil, this one should be considered in any Selesnya (Green/White) build, especially if it is utilizing either elves, tokens, or soldiers! This one has potential for the foils to creep toward the $3.00 - $5.00 range over time if it finds a home!
4. Warkite Marauder - Amazing against decks utilizing big creatures! In Izzet (Blue/Red) decks you can attack, hit a big creature with the trigger, and burn it out before declaring blockers! In Dimir (Black/Blue) we can do the same thing and use a spell giving it -1/-1 until end of turn! Overall it is a great complimentary piece to any deck that wants to stay aggressive in the event they see bigger creature! The current foil price is $2.55 and has been quietly going up over the past couple years.
5. Simic Manipulator - Although a 3-drop creature that is also a 1/1, it has tremendous upside and is a sleeper in today's Magic. Whether in Commander or Pioneer, this can be a great tool in decks utilizing +1/+1 counters and creatures. It would not take long to get enough counters on it to start taking control of your opponent's creatures. I see this being stronger in Pioneer but may have its use elsewhere. The current price is $1.12 for the foils.
6. Immortal Servitude - Great in both Commander and Pioneer formats, and has room to grow monetarily speaking, so it's better now than ever to trade into some foils! The downside is the x cost is the only mana cost we get to recur, but we will know our optimal play prior to casting. Weenie and Aristocrat styled decks in Pioneer benefit the most from this, as we can cast it quicker. The current foil price is $3.82 and looks to be trending up.
7. Citywide Bust - A sideboard and possible main board card in decks utilizing smaller creatures and may have a tough time against decks using large creatures. Another card that can be used in Commander for a budget sweeper if the board gets flooded with big creatures. The current foil price is only $0.73!
8. Prophetic Flamespeaker - A Pionner card and fringe budget Commander card depending on the build. This gives Red decks the opportunity to get card advantage going into our second main phase. If unblocked, we have two cards instead of one at our disposal. The negative side is we lose them if we do not cast them. Seeing as this is a 3-drop, by the time it attacks we should have enough mana to at least play one card if not both. This can also help in getting land draws out of the way! The current foil price is at $3.01!
9. Dreamstealer - This is a card I felt could be great in Golgari (Black/Green) decks. Use buffs to make it not only do more damage, but rid of our opponents plays at a fast rate! The answer to "it dies to removal" is that we can bring it back later! Rather we are recurring due to card play or utilizing its ability to bring it back as a 4/4 creature, this would be a headache for anyone to deal with. It does have some potential in a budget Commander deck if it makes sense to the build. The current foil price is $0.55! Trade some bulk and get yourself a playset of these!
10. Skylasher - I hope some of you listened to me when it was under $1.00 for the foils, as it is now sitting at $5.95 and trending up still! If you have to trade available, I would most certainly consider ridding it to get a playset of foils if you can. Flash, can't be countered, reach, and protection from Blue, what more do I need to say!

Most people get turned off when they see a mana value of five, but I am here to tell you that in Simic () that is nothing. This card can make waves rather quick once it is out. We can start casting sorcery spells big or small at instant speed! I love waiting until my opponent decides to play big creatures, and then I drop a board wipe or a spell like Sleep to tap them all down prior to their combat phase. That gives me two whole turns (if I cast Sleep) to attack how I please! Did I mention we would be only pay three mana to cast!? I mean come on, that is a control players dream! It also has great power and toughness, so we can attack and/or block if necessary. Overall, a very underrated card and one to trade into!

Whether it's Pioneer or Commander, getting rid of hexproof is huge in and of itself. The activated ability being able to not only give them hexproof but make them unblockable gives us an edge. We can just let this baby sit out early game, wait until we are ready to go for the win, pop the activated ability off, and deal lethal damage so long as they do not get rid of a creature or creatures prior to the ability resolving.

I cannot stress enough how much you should trade into these foils as soon as possible. I do not think this will come down in price any time soon, and again looks to be still trending up.

That is all for today and we will be continuing this discussion into the next article. I hope you enjoyed the read and come back for the next one!