My day job involves a lot of work in Excel. While some of you have been surprised to meet me an discover that, no, my life isn't all Magic and I don't make a sick living off Magic-related typing, the fact is that my life is pretty boring and mundane.

Clearly, I have to spend an unusual amount of time gathering price data and putting it into a spreadsheet.

Last week's poll was an interesting example in why polls can be misleading: The question was, "How much should Adam spend on staples for his Commander deck?" with a variety of options, ranging from around 5 tickets up to some amount over 20. The runaway winner was this "over 20" option, an option that makes a lot of sense for a deep card pool format that happens to have staples that overlap with those of other, more competitive formats.

That "over 20" option wasn't part of the draft I sent to Trick. [Trick: Yep, I screwed this up. I owe Adam a steak dinner it seems.]

While it's a perfectly sensible option, dropping more than what was put into the deck initially seems a little counterproductive to exploring Magic Online on a budget: The budget is removed.

Whoops.

But instead of unilaterally going "That option many of you voted for doesn't count, sorry," I decided to break things up into two parts. Today, I review a whole bevy of cards, costs, and ideas to put somewhere between 10 to 15 tickets more into the deck. Next week, I'll take that amount and probably at least double it.

You're getting the best of both worlds—budget and baller. I promise both will be informative.

Table Dropping

Making changes in your decks should always be predicated on getting more of what you want out of it. Whether it's competitive performance, consistent action, or pulling off the combo you wanted, optimization should be geared toward your desires.

I like creatures, mana-ramping, and busting faces. And, fortunately for me, all three work together in a wonderful confluence. In the tables ahead, I add a "Weight" to each card, implying how much I believe the card would impact the deck, from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

Let's start with some staple creatures I don't currently have:

When I was poking around online last week, I used up a fractional ticket credit I had to pick up an Ant Queen. She's a gorgeous type of powerful, mana-sinking card that makes a lot of sense in Commander. She's in for sure.

The question becomes, what else is a sensible addition?

We can break things down into three tiers:

True Budget

• Cloudthresher
• Fierce Empath
• Oracle of Mul Daya
• Verdant Force

These guys summed together total under 2 tickets, and each serves a unique purpose:

• Cloudthresher helps fight tokens (namely the flying varieties) and eats most Dragons, all at instant speed
• Fierce Empath is a tutor. (And, as Zac Hill understated, "Tutors are powerful.")
• Oracle of Mul Daya is a machine at beefing up mana while simultaneously digging down to live spells faster.
• Verdant Force is the original Ant Queen, with no additional mana investment required.

All four of these spells are actually very strong, each feeding into my Overrun-on-a-stick strategy behind Kamahl, Fist of Krosa thanks to each being creatures in addition to their normal benefits.

For the next two tiers, I'll sum up the reasoning as I list them.

Reasonably Priced:

• Eternal Witness is the poster child for Green creature efficiency, adding a 2/1 body to Regrowth for just more.
• Multani, Maro-Sorcerer grows stronger as your opponents draw bigger hands, with Shroud keeping greedy Control Magic effects away.
• Omnath, Locus of Mana is a common Commander in its own right, serving as a Green mana battery for powerful alpha strikes.
• Woodfall Primus is the top of the pile for destroying annoying noncreature permanents, and does it twice, thanks to Persist.
• Yavimaya Elder draws two basic lands and a card, the perfect type of reload for my deck.

It's worth noting that, as I write this, Urza's Destiny isn't yet released online, and copies from the Prerelease events haven't populated at dealer bots. Once triple drafts start firing, the market should flood some of them out, greatly opening up accessibility for it, as it was only released online in Duel Decks: Garruk vs. Liliana.

More important, however, it's at this tier that some decisions appear regarding incremental benefit the cards will provide over other options. Omnath is powerful, but a glass cannon. If I'm charging him up to absurd levels, I should be probably be doing something else with the mana anyway.

Eternal Witness is an epic staple, getting graveyard recursion built into a creature, and Woodfall Primus is the same idea in a narrower scope. It's Multani that makes me pause. He's a solid weapon and avoids most of the dangerous effects that steal him away, but he otherwise does little. While he can certainly make a strong case for a Commander, I'm hesitant to add him in here.

Budget-Busters

• Avenger of Zendikar is a token machine upon entry and functions much like a heavily kicked Wolfbriar Elemental.
• Primeval Titan is one of the faces of modern creatures, and carries the price tag of competitive staples; two extra lands a turn is absolutely absurd.
• Regal Force is a piece of the powerful Elf combo deck in Legacy, and happens to be just as powerful in casual contexts.

Each of these reach into numbers of tickets I'm not as happy about parting with. Primeval Titan alone is my entire deck, plus 50% more! Regal Force is best in a deck that will always have a blast of creatures present (like a Rhys the Redeemed deck); my deck should be attacking rather than drawing deeper any time I get multiple creatures out.

That said, Avenger of Zendikar is a very attractive addition under any budget, effectively creating a two-card combo with my Commander. Make tokens, make Overruns, and stomp.

Let's look at noncreatures now:

True Budget

• Abundance acts as a filter to always hit either a land or nonland card for the draw step, not unlike a highly refined form of Scry.
• Chord of Calling is an instant that tutors almost any creature in the deck onto the battlefield—awesome.
• Genesis Wave powerfully plops of ton of stuff onto a battlefield; it's usually the perfect way to reload after a Wrath of God effect.
• Krosan Grip is Naturalize with Split Second. (It also kills Sensei's Divining Tops dead.)
• Mana Reflection doubles the mana your lands produce, putting you into absurd territory.
• Praetor's Counsel is the ultimate way to recur your graveyard and is almost as impressive as dropping a Genesis Wave for some large number .
• Vernal Bloom makes basic Forest cards produce extra mana; the effect is shared, however.
• Wild Pair lets you stream an extra dude into play almost any time you play one; a less-explosive but more refined Lurking Predators.

There's an argument to be made for many of these options, but one I'd like to key into specifically is the idea of a Genesis Wave deck in Commander. It's appealing, provocative, and slightly more restrictive to build around.

It's also a fantastic way to put a bull's-eye right on your head.

This doesn't mean going all-in on Genesis Wave is always a bad idea, just that I've seen just as many Waves result in amazing sweeps as lackluster boards. I'm interested in getting my deck more creature-centric; extending that to permanents in general isn't very difficult, particularly when making as many changes as I plan.

Chord of Calling has been in and out of competitive decks for some time. I think as budget as it is here means it's high time to get this game-breaker into my deck.

I've also played the Mana Reflection game before and I've found that Vernal Bloom is often just better. Getting it out faster and potentially netting another player or two who won't actively destroy it instantly often pays off as a gamble.

I don't need to say much about Krosan Grip; it just works. Wild Pair, however, is a little more interesting. If, hypothetically, I go in on a Genesis Wave plan, this is another way to leverage using more creatures advantageously. Additionally, as an enchantment, the Wave can put the Pair out there for me. It's an intriguing thought.

Reasonably Priced

• Earthcraft untaps basic lands with creatures; combos with Vernal Bloom–type effects.
• Garruk Wildspeaker is the original Green planeswalker, and every ability is in line with deck goals.
• Worldly Tutor is our Sylvan Tutor as an instant, or, rather, Sylvan Tutor is the sorcery Worldly Tutor.

Garruk seems to have ticked up a bit in price since I last checked; however, he's probably the poster child for this type of Green deck. Mana-ramp with Overrun the next turn seems quite handy and, from paper experiences, is worth the risk of playing a Planeswalker at all.

Earthcraft is more cute than sturdy, but functions very similarly to Citanul Hierophants that dodges the "summoning sickness" issue of creatures. Perhaps I should look a little closer here? However, Worldly Tutor is a phenomenal card for Green Commander decks. Tutors are powerful, etc.

Budget-Busters

• Natural Order is one of the most powerful tutors in the game, namely because when you can drop Progenitus, the game usually ends afterward; it's less powerful here, but still amazing.
• Survival of the Fittest turns a creature-heavy Highlander deck into a well-oiled synergy machine. The price of admission has been worth it in paper.

Let's be clear: We're not a combo deck looking to close the game out on the spot. Natural Order is pretty low in terms of actual power in our case here. Survival, however, could become an even greater engine given a buy-in for Genesis Wave. Guess what a Wave would definitely drop into play anytime we hit it when we play it?

Ah. I see.

Colorless creatures are used here due to an Eldrazi. Generally speaking, colorless means artifacts and, occasionally, lands.

True Budget

• Artisan of Kozilek is reanimation on a fatty. Hawt.
• Steel Hellkite may seem strange here, but with plenty of mana (like in a Green deck) it can help solve a lot of annoy problems (like Planeswalkers and artifact armies).

Either option here is probably okay, but I really like the game potential of the Hellkite. Green needs all the destructive effects it can get its hands on.

Reasonably Priced

• Duplicant is pure removal. Green wants this bad.
• Solemn Simulacrum ramps like a Green creature and draws a card upon death like a Green creature; what's not to love?
• Wurmcoil Engine is a solid body that provides resilience against Wrath of God effects.

Duplicant is a card that should absolutely make any mono-Green Commander deck. True removal is at a premium, and this one happens to exile instead of destroy. Damn awesome, and I'd be a damned fool if I didn't budget for this.

Solemn Simulacrum, however, does what plenty of other creatures do. While it's still a fantastic card, one that I happen to be very partial to, this isn't as critical to our overall plan. Also, bonus points if you Genesis Wave this into play!

Wurmcoil Engine's power is undeniable, and I love to shoehorn powerful creatures into Commander decks. From a staple standpoint, all colorless cards can fit into any Commander deck. This one in particular fits into just about every Commander deck regardless. Like Solemn Simulacrum, there's a lot going for this card, but how much weight should we put to universal staples as compared to Green ones?

Budget-Busters

Ha! The creatures are all nice! The noncreatures, however, are much more problematic.

True Budget

• Expedition Map is a colorless Sylvan Scrying, a card I'm not running here.
• Extraplanar Lens, the mana-ramp card of choice for any monocolored deck.
• Gauntlet of Power is a feeder like Extraplanar Lens, but boosts all critters of a color as well.
• Helm of Possession means stealing isn't just for Blue.
• Mimic Vat is always full of shenanigans.
• Relic of Progenitus fights graveyard abuse while drawing a card.
• Skullclamp is surprisingly cheap for such a busted card.

Instead of pounding each option, the real key players here are Extraplanar Lens and Gauntlet of Power. These are pure mana-accelerants that can put a game away before opponents truly realize it. It's hard to fight back from being that far behind in development, and playing either card puts huge target out there.

It's almost always still worth it, though.

Mimic Vat and Helm of Possession provide interesting options as well, particularly Mimic Vat, which can lock away a creature from a Reanimator deck. And, hey, a bonus Yavimaya Elder every turn? Why not! There's also an argument to be made for Skullclamp, but I generally avoid it as a measure of meekness. I'd rather be targeted for actually being able to make mana rather than the potential to just draw cards like silly.

Reasonably Priced

• Lightning Greaves is the absolute bee's knees with creature decks, protecting Kamahl on play as well!
• Mana Vault makes lots of mana, and probably dishes some damage along the way as well where the starting 40 life makes it a fairly negligible drawback.
• Memory Jar is an easy way to get a full hand to work with when you're running depleted, but can provide filler for your opponents as well.
• Nevinyrral's Disk is the original way for decks without any White to Wrath the board; almost a necessity even with Oblivion Stone in the deck already.
• Sensei's Divining Top is absolutely annoying, but obviously beneficial to smoothing out any deck.
• Sol Ring is almost unfair to play on the first turn. (In fact, it's damned absurd 90% of the time.)
• Umezawa's Jitte can help a Green deck kill things and pump for battle; a fine equipment for any attack-based deck.
• Vedalken Orrery helps an otherwise straightforward deck do really silly things, and makes a mighty fine combo with Seedborn Muse.

Similarly, I'll just cut to the chase: Sensei's Divining Top, Lightning Greaves, and Sol Ring are considered automatic includes for any Commander deck. It's hard to find genuine arguments against this principle, particularly when they are fairly reasonable to obtain.

Nevinyrral's Disk is a lot lower on the priority queue for many Commander decks, but this card is an almost automatic include given Green's lack of mass removal. I'd like to budget for everything, but obviously, if you're capping, lines will have to be drawn somewhere.

Finally, Umezawa's Jitte is a way to increase the power level of equipment in a deck full of things ready to swing. While something like Strata Scythe will create more direct power, the flexibility in options on Umezawa's Jitte speaks to its continued presence in Legacy.

Budget-Busters

The only cards that tip the scales significantly are the best trio of swords in Magic: Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Sword of Feast and Famine. I left Sword of Body and Mind off this list, as filling a graveyard is usually an invitation to disaster, with graveyard manipulation being commonplace.

The problem with the Swords is simply the cost. Acquiring a mirrored threesome to match my paper copies is just shy of a staggering 50 tickets straight-up. While the costs can be rationalized or justified, I will point out that Sword of Light and Shadow is my personal favorite, as it's often slightly underrated but does some really savage things in conjunction with creature-based strategies.

I am never unhappy to draw it in real life and usually like it more than the more expensive Sword options, as my graveyard usually gets stocked with value critters as the game goes on. Ever recur a Woodfall Primus they thought they'd Wrathed away for good? How about netting Deadwood Treefolk for another go around?

Yeah, it's pretty sweet.

Two Cases, One Deck

So what does this all mean? Well, assuming that I have upwards of 15 tickets, it means that I have a lot of options available. Let's look at two cases and see what I came up with.

This option looks at maximizing the value of 15 tickets across filling the potholes identified previously. Mana-acceleration, tutoring, mana-sinks, and recursion all get a significant boost. These cards would replace or update existing cards in the deck (that is, Sensei's Divining Top can replace Crystal Ball, etc.).

Most of these options are great for our specific mono-Green Commander deck, with only Lightning Greaves and Sensei's Divining Top being true staples for any Commander of our choice. The second case focuses on maximizing the total value of 15 tickets.

This option focuses exclusively on colorless options that provide significant value in nearly any Commander deck. Sol Ring in particular is a powerful example of a card you'd want to pick up as soon as possible. Duplicant, Solemn Simulacrum, and all of the other cards here will be an investment in your long-term future for Commander play.

But, obviously, I won't be constrained by just 15 tickets. You demanded it and you shall receive: Next week is where I make a case for making 15 tickets look anemic.

Bonus: The Genesis Wave Chart

Some food for thought: If we wanted to go into a Genesis Wave (or "as many permanents as possible") deck, is there room for increasing our redundancy by using creatures?

Aside from Mold Shambler (as it requires a kicker cost for the effect), all of these bodies come with bonuses. While using all of them seems a little foolish, a good cross-section of them replacing similar spells would not only make Waves hit harder but also provide bonus bodies for Kamahl to Overrun with.

I'm not going to judge how "good" this type of deck would be, but I do know that it would be hilariously fun to play with when tuned up with Mimic Vat and other recursion effects. As these entire spread of creatures here is a meager 1 ticket (and change), you can imagine how easy opting into the Wave deck can be! And with enough artifact hate packed inside, Liquimetal Coating could actually become synergistic enough to work!

Just another angle to consider in the myriad of ways to approach the greatest format there is!