One of the things that bugs me about my playgroup is their complaining about the cost of the format. One player plays a spell-based combo deck, and says he can't afford to play anything else because he's poor (despite having almost built at least 6 other decks before giving up on them after getting 40-60 nonlands for those decks, and selling the cards for food). Other people almost don't want to play with him because they think they need to get things like Force of Will to stop the spell-based combo deck. I want to show both sides up with a classic battlecruiser deck that is as cheap as possible, so I came up with this Jalira deck:
I'm not sure I'm doing all the right things for a budget build, so I would appreciate and criticism and help. I think I may have too many cantrips and not enough card advantage, and there are some exclusions that I would like to discuss. And other than the spell-based combo deck, there's also a Gisela voltron, Ghave tokens, Mono-G Omnath, and Teferi STAX, to worry about in my meta.
Preemptive thanks for any help, and I'll try to keep the list and changes updated in the main post.
Yay for budget decks! Here are some more ways to get fodder without blocking Jalira activations. These all have the advantage of being useful independent of your game plan. Two of them are about $1.50; the rest are bulk.
I'm a big fan of Jalira, and have been playing a deck with her at the helm for the past 9 months or so, and your deck looks like a pretty good start.
One thing I would suggest is to get your fodder a bit cheaper in general. Ideally, I want to be going T1 fodder, T2 mana rock, T3 Jalira, T4 polymorph into a fatty, but at the latest I'd like to be in a position to polymorph on T5. I'll take a 1 mana card over a reusable 5 mana one like Myr Turbine any day, as only one of them lets you reliably get T4 It That Betrays (or your fatty of choice) backed up with blue's countermagic suite. Here's some of the best cards to feed Jalira IMO:
I have had a couple opportunities to play the deck, and results have not been favorable. The deck has been too slow and too soft to spell-based combo. In games without spell-based combo, it seems to do well enough, though it is a little too much on the durdle side of things. Going to make some changes and do more testing.
Yay for budget decks! Here are some more ways to get fodder without blocking Jalira activations. These all have the advantage of being useful independent of your game plan. Two of them are about $1.50; the rest are bulk.
Thanks for the suggestions. Don't know how I overlooked Guardian Idol in my initial list. It's perfect for the deck: it's cheap ramp early game, and fodder for when Jalira needs fodder. Zoetic Cavern, Mishra's Factory, and Faerie Conclave all look like good options for fodder, and I will try to get around to testing each of them.
I'm a big fan of Jalira, and have been playing a deck with her at the helm for the past 9 months or so, and your deck looks like a pretty good start.
One thing I would suggest is to get your fodder a bit cheaper in general. Ideally, I want to be going T1 fodder, T2 mana rock, T3 Jalira, T4 polymorph into a fatty, but at the latest I'd like to be in a position to polymorph on T5. I'll take a 1 mana card over a reusable 5 mana one like Myr Turbine any day, as only one of them lets you reliably get T4 It That Betrays (or your fatty of choice) backed up with blue's countermagic suite. Here's some of the best cards to feed Jalira IMO:
Thanks for suggestions. One of the problems I've had is that the fodder was costing too much, so I am looking to change that. I'm not willing to drop all of the expensive options, though. I need some of the repeatable effects to provide blockers as well as fodder. I am going to be testing with some of these cheaper options.
1 Jalira, Master Polymorphist
Fatties: (9)
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 Scourge of Fleets
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Quicksilver Gargantuan
1 Void Winnower
1 Diluvian Primordial
Fodder: (10)
1 Chimeric Mass
1 Flayer Husk
1 Nuisance Engine
1 Chamber of Manipulation
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Thopter Spy Network
1 Trading Post
1 Skywise Teachings
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Pentavus
Cantrips: (4)
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Impulse
Card Advantage: (10)
1 Mystic Remora
1 Compulsive Research
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Rhystic Study
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Deep Analysis
1 Dragonlord's Prerogative
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Counterspell
1 Arcane Denial
1 Foil
1 Negate
1 Confound
1 Envelop
1 Not of this World
1 Turn Aside
1 Intervene
1 Swan Song
1 Dispel
Removal: (10)
1 Ætherize
1 Ætherspouts
1 Evacuation
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Devastation Tide
1 Reality Shift
1 Pongify
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Capsize
1 Spine of Ish Sah
Ramp: (9)
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Mind Stone
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Star Compass
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Fractured Powerstone
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Guardian Idol
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Polymorph
Lands: (35)
24 Island
1 Bant Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Halimar Depths
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Zoetic Cavern
1 Mishra's Factory
I'm not sure I'm doing all the right things for a budget build, so I would appreciate and criticism and help. I think I may have too many cantrips and not enough card advantage, and there are some exclusions that I would like to discuss. And other than the spell-based combo deck, there's also a Gisela voltron, Ghave tokens, Mono-G Omnath, and Teferi STAX, to worry about in my meta.
Preemptive thanks for any help, and I'll try to keep the list and changes updated in the main post.
U - Jan 9, 2016 - Edited Post; Changes:
Out:
EDH Decks:
G Jugan
U Budget Jalira Battlecruiser
I see your deck and post, and think High Tide, Arcane Laboratory, Polymorphist's Jest, and Sol Ring.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
One thing I would suggest is to get your fodder a bit cheaper in general. Ideally, I want to be going T1 fodder, T2 mana rock, T3 Jalira, T4 polymorph into a fatty, but at the latest I'd like to be in a position to polymorph on T5. I'll take a 1 mana card over a reusable 5 mana one like Myr Turbine any day, as only one of them lets you reliably get T4 It That Betrays (or your fatty of choice) backed up with blue's countermagic suite. Here's some of the best cards to feed Jalira IMO:
Veil of Birds
Veiled Sentry
Flayer Husk
Wind Zendikon
Chimeric Mass
Chimeric Coils
Mortarpod
Dance of Many
I'd also possibly say you're running a couple too many fatties. Maybe cut it down to 8, losing the weakest two. Quality over quantity.
Thanks for the suggestions. Don't know how I overlooked Guardian Idol in my initial list. It's perfect for the deck: it's cheap ramp early game, and fodder for when Jalira needs fodder. Zoetic Cavern, Mishra's Factory, and Faerie Conclave all look like good options for fodder, and I will try to get around to testing each of them.
Thanks for suggestions. One of the problems I've had is that the fodder was costing too much, so I am looking to change that. I'm not willing to drop all of the expensive options, though. I need some of the repeatable effects to provide blockers as well as fodder. I am going to be testing with some of these cheaper options.
EDH Decks:
G Jugan
U Budget Jalira Battlecruiser