After writing a budget article for last week, I was still in the mood. Let’s do another article, this time highlighting a Commander deck using some good cards that are on the cheaper side of life. Remember, not all good cards for Commander are priced high. I felt a $40 budget would be good. After building the deck, it actually clocked in at $37.71. You can buy all of the cards near mint at CoolStuffInc.com (basic lands not included in the price of the deck). (Please note the price is accurate as of the writing of this article—prices change over time and could massage a little between now and publication. They could change between midnight of publication and twelve hours later by noon. That’s the nature of the business.)

After looking at some cheap legendary creatures, I decided to roll with Brion Stoutarm. He’s 4 mana for a pertinent 4/4 body, he naturally has lifelink, and he can sacrifice dudes for damage to stuff. It’s easy to build around him in red and white; and since he clocks in at half a buck, it leaves me a ton of space to flesh out the deck. Let’s look at the decklist first

"Budget Brion"

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (31)
• 1 Archon of Justice
• 1 Avatar of Fury
• 1 Batterhorn
• 1 Bloodshot Cyclops
• 1 Borderland Behemoth
• 1 Changeling Berserker
• 1 Conquering Manticore
• 1 Desolation Giant
• 1 Flameblast Dragon
• 1 Flayer of the Hatebound
• 1 Glory
• 1 Hamletback Goliath
• 1 Hoarding Dragon
• 1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon
• 1 Inferno Titan
• 1 Keldon Vandals
• 1 Kor Cartographer
• 1 Petradon
• 1 Ridge Rannet
• 1 Serra Avatar
• 1 Stalking Vengeance
• 1 Sunrise Sovereign
• 1 Taj-Nar Swordsmith
• 1 Ulamog's Crusher
• 1 Vengeful Archon
• 1 Wandering Graybeard
• 1 Yoked Plowbeast
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
• 1 Kamahl, Pit Fighter
• 1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

• Spells (32)
• 1 Akroma's Blessing
• 1 Dawn Charm
• 1 Dead // Gone
• 1 Faith's Reward
• 1 Fiery Fall
• 1 Fight to the Death
• 1 Grab the Reins
• 1 Into the Core
• 1 Oblation
• 1 Order // Chaos
• 1 Orim's Thunder
• 1 Radiant's Judgment
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Wild Ricochet
• 1 Wing Shards
• 1 Devil's Play
• 1 Kirtar's Wrath
• 1 Phyrexian Rebirth
• 1 Reforge the Soul
• 1 Rolling Thunder
• 1 Sunblast Angel
• 1 Warstorm Surge
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Boros Signet
• 1 Colfenor's Urn
• 1 Dreamstone Hedron
• 1 Empyrial Plate
• 1 Jar of Eyeballs
• 1 Nim Deathmantle
• 1 Seer's Sundial
• 1 Sunforger

• Lands (36)
• 14 Plains
• 15 Mountain
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Keldon Necropolis

Buy This Deck

I initially was hoping to keep my budget under $30, and if I pulled Inferno Titan, Temple of the False God, Devil's Play, Glory, and maybe another card or two, I could manage it.

Many other cards work with Brion, too. The Conquering Manticore will grab an opposing creature when the Manticore enters play, give its target haste, and force it to smash face, and then, Brion can sacrifice the stolen creature before it would return. Serra Avatar is sick with Brion. Archon of Justice will exile a permanent when it dies. I love the Petradon trick: You play it, exile two opposing lands, and while that ability is on the stack, sacrifice it to Brion to smash someone for 5 damage (and perhaps more if you fire-breathe it), and then when it dies, it triggers the return of the exiled lands. Since they haven’t gone yet, nothing happens, and when they are exiled, they leave the board permanently.

I added a lot of beef that can be good fodder for Brion. Avatar of Fury is dumb and big, as are Hamletback Goliath, Inferno Titan, Sunrise Sovereign, Ulamog's Crusher, Vengeful Archon, Borderland Behemoth, and many others.

The second section was an Equipment section. I tossed in Godo, Bandit Warlord, Hoarding Dragon, and Taj-Nar Swordsmith to grab good Equipment. (You play the H. Dragon, tutor the relic, sacrifice it to Brion, and then you have the Equipment; plus, the lizard can fetch other artifacts, too). In addition to Nim Deathmantle, I added Argentum Armor, Empyrial Plate, and Sunforger. All pump the power a lot, so they can be used to amp damage for Brion.

Once I had my three main themes set, the rest of the deck built around it. I needed mana, so in went Kor Cartographer and Pilgrim's Eye as creatures to find what I needed. They joined the virtually essential Armillary Sphere (in decks outside of green) along with Boros Signet and Dreamstone Hedron. I also was able to squeeze in a few lands for mana. Boros Garrison is an obvious choice, but I also included Temple of the False God and the two common fetch lands.

Warstorm Surge seemed to fit a deck that was rocking this many beaters. You might even want to add Electropotence or Where Ancients Tread. I needed some more creatures, so in went the powerful Glory to hit the ’yard and save my team. Batterhorn and Keldon Vandals both will destroy an artifact when they arrive and can be sacrificed for a large passel of damage. I even managed to squeeze in fun guy Kamahl, Pit Fighter.

I decided to add the small Giant theme after I noticed more and more Giants just making the cut, such as Inferno Titan and Hamletback Goliath. We don’t have too many Giant tribal cards, and not all fit here, but the few we have look nice.

Cards good for this deck that I couldn’t afford but would otherwise consider include Twilight Shepherd, Adarkar Valkyrie, Cauldron of Souls, Skullclamp, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Greaves, Angelic Chorus, Sun Titan, Sneak Attack, Lifeline, Stonehewer Giant, Sol Ring, Solemn Simulacrum, Honor the Fallen, Anger, High Market, good lands, and so forth.

I hope that you enjoyed today’s budget deck.

See you next week,

Abe Sargent