Spend Less Playing Commander | Magic: The Gathering On A Budget

[Music] foreign [Music] players asked the question is it possible to build a good commander deck on a budget Commander decks can get pretty very extremely expensive from Dockside extortionist to Crater hoof Behemoth touristic study the list of Commander Staples North of thirty dollars is long if your play group is full of these cards that are outside of what you're comfortable spending on a hobby it can feel like you're losing a game that you have to pay to win but that's not precisely true there's more to Magic than the price of your cards a lot of edges can be gained if you know what you're doing when building a deck this video will cover how to improve your commander deck without spending extra money let's begin by getting an edge in deck construction but first this video is sponsored by the Borg the Borg well that's right the Borger back to assimilate your forces in true sponsor of this video Star Trek Fleet command and go on awesome adventures and Traverse space in this free to play open world MMO game you command a Starbase construct fleets create your ultimate Star Trek team and pursue your goals of exploring strange new worlds this month the Borg begin their process of assimilation and you're the first on their list to become one with the hive join the fan favorite Hue the Borg and help him stop a scientist's quest for revenge against the collective introducing Fleet commanders a new feature to Star Trek Fleet command allowing players to assign well-known Star Trek heroes and villains to oversee strategy from their star bases for increased power and Effectiveness in the game so try Star Trek Fleet command and prevent the board from assimilating important AI technology save your crew from Mutiny and ridge space of the Borg for good so use your mobile device to scan the QR code on the screen or use my link in the description to download Star Trek Fleet command the game is free to play and available on iOS Android and PC thank you Star Trek Fleet command for sponsoring this video part one getting an edge in deck construction a common rule of thumb when it comes to deck building is that there are two pillars you can choose to maximize that of power and that of consistency if you're building a deck on a budget it will be harder to maximize power since so many of Commander's most powerful guards are expensive but that is only half the battle you can make your commander deck Stronger by simply making better deck building decisions than your opponents with their blinged out thousand dollar Commander decks the key is to make your deck more consistent minimize your own deck's fail rate and you'll win much more than if you try to mimic the powerful yet expensive cards that your opponent's deck is full of the number one way you can make your deck more consistent is by putting more lands in your deck simply put the average Commander player does not play enough lands in fact the idea of cutting a land to make room for new cards is so persuasive that it has literally become a meme in the magic community now I understand why players do this spells are fun and lands aren't but you know what else isn't fun having spells in your hand that you can't cast because you don't have enough Mana many Magic the Gathering players claim they can get away with running fewer lands because they play Mana ramp but Mana ramp is only Mana ramp if you're also playing a land on the Turn You cast your ramp spell otherwise you're not ramping you're just playing a land that cost you Mana to cast in that situation you'd have been better off if that ramp spell was a land so you could play it for free and then use your Mana to cast a spell that impacts the game now that's not to say you shouldn't play ramp spells too they just shouldn't come at the expense of your lands in formats that aren't Commander flooding is much more of a concern but in Commander you always have a spell to cast when you're flooding out your commander if you don't believe me take a look at some of these deck lists from standard mid-range archetypes and standard are the kinds of decks with gameplay most similar to what you'd find in a typical commander deck most mid-range decks in standard play 27 lands despite their Mana curves topping out at five Mana value why because with so much card Advantage built into these decks non-land Suite the thing these standard mid-range decks are starving for is Mana to cast all their spells 27 lands in a 60 card deck is equivalent to 44.5 lands and a 99 card deck and in standard they don't have the flood protection that having a commander provides sure sometimes you'll flood but that's true regardless of how many lands you play but if your 50 budget commander deck plays 43 lands you'll virtually never be Mana screwed while in some percentage of the games you play your opponents will be praying to draw two or three lands in a row off the top of their much more expensive deck you can further reduce your flood while simultaneously upping your consistency by including a sufficient number of card draw spells and other Mana sinks in your deck this can take a number of different forms blue and black decks have the easiest time but card Advantage can be found in any color identity white of course has the hardest time without breaking the bank but cards such as secret rendezvous and cut a deal can refill your hand for a modest Mana investment and mentor of the meek Schram senior edificer and Mesa enchantress all provide card Advantage engines that work well with specific kinds of White cards another way to up your consistency is to play multiple copies of cards that do similar things for example including both swords to plowshares and path to Exile in your white commander deck means you're twice as likely to draw an efficient removal spell when you need one kodama's reach and cultivate are both cheap ramp spells that also guarantee your next land drop similarly Lana War elves Elvish Mystic and fintorn elf are all the exact same card just with different names resetting your opponent's boards back to square one is a great way to level the play playing field against more expensive decks wrath of God effects are plentiful and cheap these days in most color identities and many exist that cost less than two dollars mutilate and blood on the snow for black phasing of zulphier and wilming wave in blue cleansing Nova and literal wrath of God and white and of course Blasphemous actin chain reaction in red to name a few green is the only color lacking in Mass removal on the cheap but the color identity makes up for it in its Mana acceleration basically you're less likely to reset the board if you've beaten everyone to the punch in developing your own forces you can also replace more expensive Commander Staples with weaker but similar cards replacing phyrexian arena with underworld connections will give you an imitation of the same effect for just 25 cents in a similar vein miscast is a nice budget replacement for swan song that costs less than a dollar anguished on making is a five dollar card because it's an instant but you can spend 20 cents on vindicate or Legions to ashes and cover similar bases or just replace it with d-spark or utter end deadly Relic is a premier removal spell because it costs you zero Mana but if you replace it with slaughter packed you'll have a similar emergency button to press in a bad situation essentially if there's a card you wish you could put in your deck but the price tag is too high do some research to see if there's a similar card that can reasonably replace it the commander card pool is massive and you might be surprised by the available options for Budget Replacements of well-known Commander Staples in general try to keep your own Mana curve as low as possible so you have plenty of things to do in the early turns and don't get too clogged on high Mana value cards in your hand your early game that is spells that cost one to three Mana should be focused on Mana ramp interactive spells with low Mana costs and card Advantage engines that you can get online early like underworld connections or valakut exploration your mid-game spells that is spells in the four to five Mana range should be catch-up cards like rafts and more expensive card Advantage spells to refill your hand with fresh cards your top end that is six Mana value and up cards can be your finishers and other high impact spells one last note on Deck construction try to make sure all the cards in your deck are fulfilling a specific purpose it is of course totally fine to play Pet cards and other cards you just think are cool after all magic is a game but this video is about making your deck stronger while on a budget as fun as these cards may be be realistic about how they are impacting your deck if your goal is to make your deck stronger it might be time to cut some of those sweet but over costed or underpowered Pet cards but a deck is nothing without a commander so let's discuss picking the right Commander for your budget deck part two picking a smart Commander choosing a commander for your budget conscious deck is key to building a good deck it is inherent to the format your commander is your most important card obviously if you pick a mono colored Commander your deck will be less expensive because your Mana base will be less expensive but that doesn't mean you necessarily have to play a mono colored deck to succeed at the commander table NIV miss it paren tatoyova benthic Druid Sithis harvests hand and taser carlov are all examples of powerful two color commanders who can be built without a massive money investment if you do decide to pick a mono colored Commander your financial life will indeed be a lot easier sir Conrad the Grim atali Primal storm talrand the sky Summoner Finn the Fang Bearer and the aforementioned SRAM senior edificer are examples of strong monocolor commanders that you can build a deck around all these commanders I've mentioned have clear consistent game plans that can be built without spending too much money of course these aren't the only options it's just a few examples in general it's a good idea to stick to commanders that are one or two colors if you're building on a budget otherwise your Mana base will start to become untenable notice that several of the commanders I listed have high Mana values this is often the case with strong commanders and is further evidence that you should be playing more lands in your deck if you cast your commander and it gets removed quickly you're going to need to pay for its Commander tax for the next time you cast it building a Mana base with the plan that you'll always be able to cast your spells is vital to having a good deck on a budget but this next and perhaps most important part is vital to not only any commander deck but especially those trying to build on a budget the Mana base part three building a Mana base bill ing a good Mana based on the cheap can be tricky depending on your budget you'll need to make different decisions about what you can play and what you can't if you're playing a mono color Commander your life will get a lot easier as you can save your entire budget for your non-land cards this will allow you to buy a few slightly more expensive non-land cards than you otherwise would have let's say you want to make your whole Deck cost fifty dollars that comes out to about 50 cents per card if 40 cards out of your 99 or basic lands all of a sudden your average card price nearly doubles if you want to buy a couple cards in the seven to ten dollar range it's a lot easier to make up that budget elsewhere that said it's still possible to build a functional Mana base if you do choose to build a two color Commander you just have to be smart with how you construct it ideally you'll want to play as few tap lands as possible Ravnica bounce Slants are great as they not only fix your Mana but provide you with your next land drop guaranteed similarly the temples and creature lands have some functionality in addition to fixing your Mana and are therefore good budget options Ash Barons is a great Mana fixer since you can work the Basic Land cycling effect into your curve whenever it fits and have the land you search up enter untapped try to avoid playing Guild Gates and game lands if you can help it if you've built your Mana base correctly it's rare that these will ever be better than simply playing another Basic Land don't be afraid to run basics in your deck having the majority of your land Center untapped is important for not falling behind your opponent's more expensive decks certain non-land cards in your deck may encourage you to play specific duels in your deck cards such as far seek and Nature's lore allow you to search for lands with specific Basic Land types but they don't have to be basic lands putting a canopy Vista in your deck with one of these ramp spells means that all of a sudden your Nature's lore finds you a white Source in addition to a green Source the common typed dual lands from dominaria United and the snow duels from caldheim fill a similar role and it's a good idea to play all of these lands if you have far seat type cards in your deck this way you can still fetch a dual land with your first seek even if you've already drawn your battle land now you can make up for a sub-optimal Mana base with your ramp Suite say you're playing 30 basics in your two color deck that doesn't leave you with much Mana fixing in your lands but it does mean your lands will be untapped most of the time make up for the fixing deficit by including cards such as wayfarer's Bobble and ornithopter of paradise these are cheap Mana fixers that any commander deck can play thanks to a lot of recent reprints all 10 signets are currently under two dollars as are seven of the talismans Arcane Signet as well remains under a dollar as it's been given the soul ring treatment when it comes to reprints if you're willing to spend a little extra money the Mana base is a great place to invest that cash the benefits for consistent Mana outstrip the benefits of buying that slightly more expensive non-land card that you might be eyeing check lands pain lands pathway is and slow lands are all huge upgrades over the lands that cost less than a dollar and the more of these lands you can budget for the more consistent your deck will be part 4 buying cards when it comes to building a commander deck on a budget you can get a big boost by keeping track of price trends from historically expensive guards especially when those cards are due for a reprint between double Masters 2022 secret layers jumpstart 2022 dominaria remastered and the various supplemental Commander products released periodically cards that had previously never seen a reprint before are suddenly becoming cheap or at least less expensive the enemy colored fetchlands are as low as they're likely ever going to be thanks to the continued printing of modern Horizons too since modern Horizons 2 was a print-to-demand set and demand for the set is still Sky High these lands will probably remain at this price for at least a little while longer force of negation is sitting around the 25 Mark after spending a year living in the 80 range and the second dominaria remastered hit the shelves cards like enlightened tutor worldly tutor and vampiric tutor took them major price hit but it's worth noting that these cards are highly likely to climb back up in price that being said just because the card is at its floor doesn't mean you should buy that card if you can't afford a card even at its lowest price do not buy it but if you can drop twenty dollars on a card that's normally eighty dollars keeping up to date with when cards hit those floors is a good idea and of course just by following my channel you can always keep up to date on new reprint sets and what cards to keep an eye out for in these sets obviously the best place to buy these cards is at your local game store but if your local game store does not have them or does not have them at reasonable prices you can always look at many online marketplaces card kingdom.com forward TCC sponsor of this channel is one such place to look but there are many others and it's always a good idea to compare prices look for deals and just keep yourself informed about what cards cost if you do want to help out the channel you can visit our affiliate link with card Kingdom but I always advise going down to that local game store first most importantly if your play group doesn't have any qualms about proxies Commander is a casual format so you can always proxy the expensive cards that you need as long as they are legible and easy to read by everyone else in the group there's really nothing wrong with proxying cards and that more than any other method is a way to save a lot of money improving your commander deck one of the many reasons that Commander is such a fun format is that the goal is not explicitly to win even so most Commander players do enjoy winning sometimes and it can be disheartening if you feel outgunned by all the other more expensive decks in your play group but a lot of the ways you can improve your deck don't involve spending more money it costs nothing to make smart deck building decisions following the advice of this video when building your deck and buying new cards will give you a leg up at your next game night and in that sense I hope this video has been of some help to you you can help me out greatly just by remember remembering to subscribe hitting that like button or leaving a comment what are some tips and tricks you've picked up for improving your commander deck without spending a lot of money let me know in the comments below thanks once again to the Borg I mean to Star Trek Fleet command for assimilating I mean sponsoring this video the Borg are back in the world of Star Trek needs you play with your favorite characters from the Star Trek shows and engage in resistance scan the QR code or click the link in the description to start defending the Galaxy thank you Star Trek Fleet command for sponsoring foreign [Music] on shuffle up and play today two Titans of Magic the Gathering commentary coverage the one and only Cedric Phillips the other one and only Patrick Sullivan and you chose the format and the decks and the choice was Modern yes these are our cards these are 100 my cards let's let this be the last friendly exchange of this match perfect deal alright so second main phase do it I'm gonna pass priority to you [Music] Island wonderful of this snow-covered variety why is there snow cover lines in this deck ah because they're cooler they're definitely not okay well I would not play a creature why well like do you have a lightning bolt in your hand or something you don't know the number of personal grievances over the course of 20 years that are being aired out right now in between these communications neither did I we've known each other for a long time it's true

Channel: Tolarian Community College

Views: 184,490

Keywords: magic: the gathering, wizards of the coast, tolarian community college, hasbro, commander, mtg commander, how to play commander, learn to play commander, commander tutorial, best new cards, command zone

Id: _MP9Gdp9rvQ

Length: 19min 26sec (1166 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 25 2023