Me and about 7 friends at the college i attend are all making $20 dollar decks to play in FNM this friday, as usually one of us wins to easily. (the competition in town is very low).
The rules are the deck can't exceed $20. (includes shocks/duels but not basics/guildgates) and it must be standard legal.
I was thinking a kind of rakdos beatdown with madcap skills but i feel as if this is an obvious option. So i want to switch it to something more original but i can't think of anything that would be effective and cheap. So if you guys have any ideas just post them please and thank you!
The biggest issue you're going to run into is that if you are including the shock/check lands in that $20 you will already be well over budget just by having a playset of them alone. Even if you went with just the check lands, that could easily be half your budget or more. If you already have the lands and don't need to buy them then they can be excluded from the price, which makes it a bit easier. If you are looking for ideas I suggest checking out the first three threads here in the budget section. They are all stickied and have lots of great ideas and decks on the cheap.
The biggest issue you're going to run into is that if you are including the shock/check lands in that $20 you will already be well over budget just by having a playset of them alone. Even if you went with just the check lands, that could easily be half your budget or more. If you already have the lands and don't need to buy them then they can be excluded from the price, which makes it a bit easier. If you are looking for ideas I suggest checking out the first three threads here in the budget section. They are all stickied and have lots of great ideas and decks on the cheap.
I meant that if i wanted to include duals/shocks their prices would count towards the 20. So i do not plan on playing them. I just wanted to clarify to people that way they could see that it should not be 3 color as i will only be using basic lands/guildgates.
Personally, at a $20 budget, I wouldn't even suggest going two-color. Guildgates and Evolving Wilds are pretty bad, especially when your opponents all have access to good mana.
So, I would suggest going mono-color, and sticking with the most straightforward archetypes in those colors:
- Mono-Red Sligh
- Mono-Green
- White Weenie
- Mono-Black Control
Don't try to run blue, it's better as a support color for three-color control and aggro/control decks.
A base for budget Sligh would be cheap creatures such as:
For Mono-Black Control, you just run a bunch of cheap removal spells and some draw such as Sign in Blood. Your creature package should include Vampire Nighthawk and a finisher, probably a few Desecration Demon as that's only going for $1 or $2.
I'd recommend Mono Black control as the other Mono color decks will cost more than $20 to be effective. The only expensive card in MBC is mutilate at $3 and the rest of the cards being no more than $1.
Here's my decklist, it may exceed $20 slightly but you can always swap mutilate for something else like killing wave or barter in blood but I wouldn't recommend it.
Other cards to consider: Reaper from the Abyss - combo with Desecration Demon Army of the Damned - Instant GG after mutilate Killing Wave- Can be used both early and late, it actually works better early when you use it for 2B most people pay the life and this allows you to catch up on any early game damage that was dealt to you. Even if they don't pay the life you just got a field wipe for 3 mana.
Just some other removal options incase your opponents are running some form of tribal that Victim can't hit.
MGA ( or Mono Green Aggro ) can be a REAL fast deck with staying power into the later turns of a game if built correctly. Usually they run 4 Rancor, but at around $4 ea that would be most of your budget right there.
There's an entire thread of 10 and 15 dollar decks stickied at the top of this forum.
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I recently posted a golgari aggro list on my personal website. While the list exceeds $20, I think you could very easily take a lot of the ideas from it and turn it into Mono-Green Beatdown.
For $20 and less decks only, I think any list with Yeva, Nature's herald and Wolfir Silverheart is just devastating. Flash in Silverheart at EoT, swing for 16.
Don't ever keep a hand with a Thunderous Wrath in it.
Don't keep a hand without 2-3 lands in it.
No rares, risky style, but it is fun.
- rakdos cackler is better than recklesswaif.
- 4 madcap skills is asking to get blow out. play 1-2, they're fun, but usually another creature is just as good, if not better.
- you're right about never keeping a hand with thunderous wrath. that's why you should play less of them.
After typing that out, I realized I'm probably just a more risk averse player. Your deck WILL have more explosive starts than mine would, but it'll also be much less consistent. I suppose it's up to OP.
I feel that ideally Reckless Waif and Volanic Strength are sideboard cards, however, without being able to afford a sideboard, I would actually put them in the maindeck and have him just have a no sideboard natural advantage.
This idea will have him money, and he will always be half-efficient. Against control he will usually get his t1 waif turned on, but he will lose the unblockablility from Volcanic Strength (as well as the +1 power) however, against control, he probably doesn't need unblockability as he will be going under the opponents casts to win.
Against aggro, it will be common to play against red, where Volcanic Strength shines. But this also means it is much less likely Reckless Waif will get turned on. So more often than not, one of the two cards will be useful, and waif can still be activated against aggro if they run out of gas. (Which is possible if they over-extend and he just burns every target off the field.
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The red mage lives by the variance and dies by the variance. May the variance be with you, always.
Don't ever keep a hand with a Thunderous Wrath in it.
Don't keep a hand without 2-3 lands in it.
No rares, risky style, but it is fun.
Risk is good sometimes, but Thunderous Wrath has consistently proven to not be worth the risk. Brimstone Volley is a better choice because it's not dead in your opening hand, and you actually have some control over the 5-damage condition. As much as that "Miracle R" on T-Wrath looks tempting, the low cost is actually not very valuable when you have no control over when you're casting it.
I feel that ideally Reckless Waif and Volanic Strength are sideboard cards, however, without being able to afford a sideboard, I would actually put them in the maindeck and have him just have a no sideboard natural advantage.
Better to have the consistency. Rakdos Cackler is better than Reckless Waif the vast majority of the time. Most red mages aren't even running the Waif in the sideboard, because it gets flipped back over so easily.
Also, it's worth noting that this thread is stale. It was posted almost two weeks ago, and the FNM in question has passed.
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The rules are the deck can't exceed $20. (includes shocks/duels but not basics/guildgates) and it must be standard legal.
I was thinking a kind of rakdos beatdown with madcap skills but i feel as if this is an obvious option. So i want to switch it to something more original but i can't think of anything that would be effective and cheap. So if you guys have any ideas just post them please and thank you!
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.
I meant that if i wanted to include duals/shocks their prices would count towards the 20. So i do not plan on playing them. I just wanted to clarify to people that way they could see that it should not be 3 color as i will only be using basic lands/guildgates.
So, I would suggest going mono-color, and sticking with the most straightforward archetypes in those colors:
- Mono-Red Sligh
- Mono-Green
- White Weenie
- Mono-Black Control
Don't try to run blue, it's better as a support color for three-color control and aggro/control decks.
A base for budget Sligh would be cheap creatures such as:
The burn package can include roughly 8-12 of:
About 20 lands is good, unless you're adding three and four mana creatures.
For Mono-Green I'd suggest a slightly higher curve for slightly bigger creatures:
Some possible White Weenie creatures:
For Mono-Black Control, you just run a bunch of cheap removal spells and some draw such as Sign in Blood. Your creature package should include Vampire Nighthawk and a finisher, probably a few Desecration Demon as that's only going for $1 or $2.
Here's my decklist, it may exceed $20 slightly but you can always swap mutilate for something else like killing wave or barter in blood but I wouldn't recommend it.
4 Desecration Demon
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Victim of Night
4 Sign in Blood
4 Duress
4 Mutilate
2 Staff of Nin
24 Swamp
Other cards to consider:
Reaper from the Abyss - combo with Desecration Demon
Army of the Damned - Instant GG after mutilate
Killing Wave- Can be used both early and late, it actually works better early when you use it for 2B most people pay the life and this allows you to catch up on any early game damage that was dealt to you. Even if they don't pay the life you just got a field wipe for 3 mana.
Just some other removal options incase your opponents are running some form of tribal that Victim can't hit.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.
Wit and wisdom from my four-year-old son. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a good belly laugh.
Mono-Blue Delver with Invisible stalker and equipment sounds awesome.
It was a pretty good deck when Ponder and Phyrexian mana spells were legal and Abrupt Decay wasn't. The deck's really not playable now.
Here's a direct link to the article and full list:
http://mtgonabudget.com/?p=56#more-56
For $20 and less decks only, I think any list with Yeva, Nature's herald and Wolfir Silverheart is just devastating. Flash in Silverheart at EoT, swing for 16.
I would suggest:
4 Reckless Waif
4 Stonewright
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Lightning Mauler
3 Pyreheart Wolf
3 Hound of Grisselbrand
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear
4 Madcap Skills
4 Thunderous Wrath
4 Ghost Quarter
18 Mountains
Don't ever keep a hand with a Thunderous Wrath in it.
Don't keep a hand without 2-3 lands in it.
No rares, risky style, but it is fun.
- rakdos cackler is better than recklesswaif.
- 4 madcap skills is asking to get blow out. play 1-2, they're fun, but usually another creature is just as good, if not better.
- you're right about never keeping a hand with thunderous wrath. that's why you should play less of them.
After typing that out, I realized I'm probably just a more risk averse player. Your deck WILL have more explosive starts than mine would, but it'll also be much less consistent. I suppose it's up to OP.
Perhaps a 2-2 split of Madcap Skills and Volcanic Strength? There are enough decks in the meta atm that it is relevant.
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.
This idea will have him money, and he will always be half-efficient. Against control he will usually get his t1 waif turned on, but he will lose the unblockablility from Volcanic Strength (as well as the +1 power) however, against control, he probably doesn't need unblockability as he will be going under the opponents casts to win.
Against aggro, it will be common to play against red, where Volcanic Strength shines. But this also means it is much less likely Reckless Waif will get turned on. So more often than not, one of the two cards will be useful, and waif can still be activated against aggro if they run out of gas. (Which is possible if they over-extend and he just burns every target off the field.
Risk is good sometimes, but Thunderous Wrath has consistently proven to not be worth the risk. Brimstone Volley is a better choice because it's not dead in your opening hand, and you actually have some control over the 5-damage condition. As much as that "Miracle R" on T-Wrath looks tempting, the low cost is actually not very valuable when you have no control over when you're casting it.
Better to have the consistency. Rakdos Cackler is better than Reckless Waif the vast majority of the time. Most red mages aren't even running the Waif in the sideboard, because it gets flipped back over so easily.
Also, it's worth noting that this thread is stale. It was posted almost two weeks ago, and the FNM in question has passed.