MTG Salvation

So, after taking a 3 or so year long break from mtg, I've found a new play group and they mostly do commander. Not having a large collection or amount of money to spend on a deck I've been trying to find budget deck ideas. Sadly, I haven't really come across anything yet that sparks my interest. In the past I haven't really stuck to a play style such as aggro or control so I'm open to just about anything. I also don't have a large knowledge of cards, synergy, combos, etc. so please don't use lots of slang for play styles and stuff like that. So to sum things up:
1) Trying to make a budget deck.
2) Something that will be fun to play with and against so my friends don't hate me.
3) Just about any idea I'm willing to look into since I don't really have a play style so suggest any theme of deck.

make something off-beat. thats the best way to not make people annoyed.

I have a rakdos the defiler suicide BR deck that is super hard to play, and plays differently each time. a typical game goes like this:

t1 - urborg, tomb of yawgmoth, demonic consultation, naming mana vault. about 2/3 of the library exiled
(people around the table take notice, and say things like "i've never seen an EDH deck ever get decked")
t2 - mountain, mana vault, anger
(table continues to ridicule the deck)
t3 - take one from mana vault, mountain, dark ritual, burnt offering, hellcarver demon, attack a guy, cast whatever pops up off the top of the deck.

...and usually proceed to lose soon after. But whatevs, its hilarious, and usually ends up scaring the table off their nuts, or fills them with laughter/pity. its what i'd categorise as an extreme musket deck (i.e. takes a while to reload, but once you get a shot off, it's super loud, and scares the crap out of the table).

some fun synergies are:
your life total + cruel bargain/pain's reward/infernal contract (who says black can't do card draw?)
Abhorrent Overlord + Breath of Fury (who doesn't like tonnes of attack steps?)
urborg, tomb of yawgmoth + bubbling muck (a black high tide? yes spree!)
pox/rakdos the defiler + it that betrays
To be honest, I'm discovering new synergies that range from silly to scary every time i play the deck.

An actually good combo is:
lich/treasonous ogre/kuro, pitlord + repay in kind. especially off a hellcarver demon attack trigger. you can stack the deck with insidious dreams i suppose, but its more awesome to stack the deck with doomsday.

Anyways, the deck technically is a demon-theme deck. Its definitely my favourite to play, and to play against (according to my mates). its super unpredictable and you're more liable to make yourself lose than win. but hey, its definitely within the rakdos theme!

I'd advise you to include a max of 2 colors, if G is involved more colors are easier to handle, even on a budget. While mono comes with a cheaper mana base, some of the "must haves" might be more expensive - yet you don't actually need any of them to build a viable deck.
An alternative approach would be building a tribal deck. As the creatures might not be destined to slot in other decks naturally, you should be able to get most of them on the cheap. Elves and Goblins aren't too expensive and i'm sure there are several other tribes that can be built on a cheap that can carry their own weight.
Last but not least, buying a precon and upgrading it over time is a great way to play out of the box and upgrade it whenever you have money to spend.

Some possible commanders:

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - Her restriction isn't too harsh, so you should be able to build her on the cheap easily.
Animar, Soul of Elements - Not cheap himself, but even a deck with him and bulkish fatties is really strong.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - WotC totally overprinted Wizards as a creature type and she's a fierce draw engine.
Baral, Chief of Compliance - No need to run expensive Counterspells, as there are enough viable ones.
Brago, King Eternal - Exploits anything.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon - Discount on Voltron stuff combined with a solid keyword cluster.
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - Just flood the board with cheap evasive creatures and start your shenanigans.
Edgar Markov - Solid precon that can easily overtake casual tables with low curve Vampires.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Profits from cheap weenies even better than Derevi, Empyrial Tactician but might draw hate if combined with extra turns.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader - The Elf guy.
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden - Combo-ish alternative to Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and considerably cheap to put together.
Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Hilarious commander for an aggressive build. Goblins!?
Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge - Scales with the instants and sorceries you run. Can be anything from casual good stuff to disgustingly good.
Kemba, Kha Regent - Goes wide and big at the same time.
Krenko, Mob Boss - Goblins & Combos.
Maelstrom Wanderer - Not cheap himself, either. Yet, another commander with enough freedom to build around.
Marchesa, the Black Rose - Very durdly and hard to stop if she gets going.
Mina and Denn, Wildborn - Easy, aggressive and cheap deck tech.
Neheb, the Eternal - Brutal and hilarious.
Omnath, Locus of Rage - Cheap, strong, fast. One of my first thoughts when it comes to budget commanders.
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Etb-alternative to Brago, King Eternal.
Saffi Eriksdotter - Never realized how good she can be until i faced her.
Samut, Voice of Dissent - So many roads to go.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest - Spellslinging Voltron.
Sram, Senior Edificer - Yup, mono-W Voltron with card draw from the command zone.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Fatso tribal.
Talrand, Sky Summoner - As long as you keep the curve low you can't build him poorly. Trust me.
Tatyova, Benthic Druid - Easy to build, requires a win con though.
Tishana, Voice of Thunder - Mana dorks into her and keep rolling.
Wort, the Raidmother - Doubles instants and sorceries. So good and fun.
Yeva, Nature's Herald - Still one of my favorite commanders to play against. Great entertainment.
Zada, Hedron Grinder - Feeds of bulk creatures and spells. A little shaky, but insane fun and brutal if she goes off.

Quote from Ayish »

Not having a large collection or amount of money to spend on a deck I've been trying to find budget deck ideas.

Quote from schweinefett »

I have a rakdos the defiler suicide BR deck that is super hard to play, and plays differently each time.

Anyways, the deck technically is a demon-theme deck. Its definitely my favourite to play, and to play against (according to my mates). its super unpredictable and you're more liable to make yourself lose than win. but hey, its definitely within the rakdos theme!

Let's see:

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth ~23,00$ (min.)
Mana Vault ~24,00$
Cruel Bargain ~8,50$
Pain's Reward ~3,50$
Pox ~3,00$
It That Betrays ~6,50$
Lich ~50,00$
Insidious Dreams ~3,00$
Doomsday ~2,00$
__________________________________________________
~100,50$ for 9/99. Such budgety build, much wow.

All that for what appears to be a fun glass cannon.

p.s. No one says B can't do card draw.

Budget MTG is a Youtube channel with over three dozen Budget commander primer videos for just about any deck type and colour combination. The lists have been built according to the rule that any card other than the commander cost $1 or less on TCGPlayer mid at the time to recording. That means that any deck on the channel can generally be built for anywhere between $30 and $50.

One of my favorite budget decks is Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker / Kraum, Ludevic's Opus. It is 'tribal' flyers, and has a ton of fun play value.
Plus, it lends itself well to using cheap dumb cards and then replacing them with improved ones as time goes on.

Tribal themes usually end up being on the more casual and inexpensive spectrum, not always, but often. I have gained a lot of enjoyment from going with tribal builds because they can often scale up or down in power simply by doing more or less of what you're already aiming for, including creatures of a specific type. Granted, if you want to increase how competitive the deck is by getting the best creatures of that type it's going to cost more $ but you could hardly be blamed for doing so as it's within the spirit of the deck theme.

Tribal deck ideas I've had a great time with:

Demon tribal - was Ob Nixilis, unshackled but is now Demonlord Belzenlok. Not sure I like the change tbh.
Wizard tribal/Mono-blue auras/voltron/self mill - Hakim, Loreweaver
Cleric tribal - Ravos, Soultender & Tymna the Weaver

just some ideas, GL!

I built a budget Nissa, Vastwood Seer deck for around $150 total. The idea is to exploit ETB effects, control the board, and have an explosive strategy at almost a moments notice at any given point. Its strength is that most of the cards in the deck synergize with most other cards, so it's pretty rare that you're without some form of interaction to exploit. It's lots of fun under a commander that doesn't see a lot of play.