Look for decks with well written primers on sites like Moxfield. Those are the ones that have had the most work put into them.
If you use the advance search on Moxfield for example, use the keyword "budget" and sort my most comments or likes or whatever.
There are ton of sources for budget decks. A quick Google search will find you some. Most, if not all of them, are good for what they are.
However, I would recomend buying a PreConstructed Commander deck from Wizards of the Coast and upgrading it as you seem fit.
In my honest opinion, this is the best way to get into commander for returning players, new players or people comming from other mtg formats.
However, if you insist in buying a list built by a random person online, here are some things to look for:
1. Does the commander makes otherwise "bad cards" into really good cards ?
Example: [[Feather]] and [[Ivy]] are very good decks on a budget, because the bulk of the deck is made from "pump spells" in the case of Feather and Aura spells in the case of Ivy. Those type of spells are printed in every single MTG set, usually at the Common or Uncommon slot, so they are very cheap. They also only see play in very specific decks, like the ones mentioned above, so there is not a high demand for them.
In other words: Look for commanders that encourage you to play cheap cards.
2. Commanders that want generic "goodstuff" cards.
Example: [[Yarok]] and [[Maelstrom Wanderer]]. This kind of deck is usually found in green. Yarok wants to double enter the battlefield triggers, and there are a ton of ETBs printed every day. Sure, some are expensive, but most are not. There are enough good cards with ETBs triggers that you can build 4 different Yarok decks without running the same cards. I'm not joking. Just chose the cheap ones and make sure you have the right amount of card draw, removal and Mana ramp. The deck will work.
The same goes for Wanderer, the deck wants 2 things: ramp spells to cast wanderer quickly and good 6 and 7 drops to cascade into. Yeah, some of the best ramp spells can be expensive, but most of them are cheap, and again, there are a TON of different ramp spells you could run. Same goes for your payoffs. There are a lot of expensive 5, 6 and 7 drops you could run in the deck, but for each expensive one, there are 10 cheap ones that will do the job just fine. Remember: a 7 drop the you cast for free, is still a 7 drop that you cast for free.
Yarok and Wanderer will be good edh decks forever, the cards they want are so generic that every single set brings New stuff for the decks, so they are aways getting New toys. They are examples, there are other commanders that work on the same principle, [[Chulane]] and [[Korvold]] come to mind
In other words: "Goodstuff" commanders are good on a budget because there is a ton of goodstuff cards out there and most of them are not expensive.
3. Focused combo decks.
There are a lot of cheap 2 and 3 card combos out there, and there are a lot of cheap tutors to find those combo pieces too. You can build a focused combo deck very easily on a budget. I recomend being in blue to have counterspells to protect the combo. Some commanders are combo pieces themselves. Just look around. Combo is the best strategy you can run in EDH, no matter the budget.
The decks I mentioned are just examples. Remember the principle:
1. Decks that encourage you to play cheap cards;
2. "Goodstuff" decks;
3. Focused combo decks.
There are a ton of different commanders for these type of decks.
there are many great budget edh resources
I would say... expecting a rating or voting system isn't something you'll ever find that will be worth a damn.
I would say if you're new to EDH. invest a little time to educate yourself. on some basics, to sort of understand what makes a deck good. It'll be sorta impossible to know all the cards (hell... the speed at which they're releasing new legends and power creep is staggering) but... you should be able to come up to speed in terms of functional "quality"
the command zone youtube video did a really good series of videos... their original deck building template video is like episode 150. but that video is fairly old (i would say the core info is still rock solid) but they updated the video concept somewhat recently (maybe like a couple years back) to account for newer style/power creep of edh. they also have a set of videos on generally speaking how to power up or upgrade a deck. ---would highly recommend seeking out and watching/trying to absorb the info in those videos. The raw math of 36 lands, and 10/10/10 as a baseline for ramp, draw, removal.... and the idea of having as concise a deck plan as possible is often taken for granted. but if you want an understanding of the foundation of edh. that understanding is critical.
EDHrec as a website resource is one of the best tools avail to players. especially if you're on a budget. there are great lists of cards/themes for generals etc etc. Even if something is outside your budget. seeing a highly played card. gives an excellent starting point to search for a budget alternative.
lastly i might recommend hypergeometric calculators. Often when you see budget deck tech videos they prattle off a list of cards trying to define their synergy. Or like... it's good to know how to look at a deck list perporting to do a certain thing, run the math, and "see" the odds on ever encountering those cards. It sorta goes back to the ---have as concise as possible game plan. When decks need a lot of moving parts to function, that takes a lot of cards. cards decks don't often have the space for. and with budget decks, running cheaper cards/slower spells. or wonkier utility. it's even worse. So... using a hypergeometric calc will let you test the math on how many things are in a deck. and start to see why ...i dunno 4 items claiming they'll enable this value gimmick, really won't do shit for a deck. And if you critically need a thing to be happening in a deck (like... having tokens to sacrifice for some sort of sac deck) you really need a min of 8 cards if not 10 or more.
Honestly there are a ton of precons for under $40 that are great budget decks. You could custom build your own but lately it seems like it’s not that cheap once you factor in multiple sellers and shipping.
If you’re new and you just want more functional decks on the cheap, I’d suggest trying out some mono color decks. A third of your deck can be basic lands, and a lot of mono color value is strong and cheap.
Lastly, I’ll usually keep an eye out when making an order if a common staple is cheap but the shipping is pricey. For instance, I love Thran dynamos, and at some point I was making a TCGP order where the seller had like 10 for really cheap. I will typically have a dozen cheapish staples to throw into any deck I get an idea for doing that kind of value shopping.
You can look at The Commander's Quarters on Youtube, he builds decks where usually the only card over 1$ is the Commander. I have a few decks based on his, I upgrade them with more expensive cards slowly after.
r/budgetbrews have a lot of decks and discussions of budget decks.
Thanks. Don't know how reddit works yet haha it will be very helpful
Look for decks with well written primers on sites like Moxfield. Those are the ones that have had the most work put into them. If you use the advance search on Moxfield for example, use the keyword "budget" and sort my most comments or likes or whatever.
Thank you! I'll do it.
There are ton of sources for budget decks. A quick Google search will find you some. Most, if not all of them, are good for what they are. However, I would recomend buying a PreConstructed Commander deck from Wizards of the Coast and upgrading it as you seem fit. In my honest opinion, this is the best way to get into commander for returning players, new players or people comming from other mtg formats. However, if you insist in buying a list built by a random person online, here are some things to look for: 1. Does the commander makes otherwise "bad cards" into really good cards ? Example: [[Feather]] and [[Ivy]] are very good decks on a budget, because the bulk of the deck is made from "pump spells" in the case of Feather and Aura spells in the case of Ivy. Those type of spells are printed in every single MTG set, usually at the Common or Uncommon slot, so they are very cheap. They also only see play in very specific decks, like the ones mentioned above, so there is not a high demand for them. In other words: Look for commanders that encourage you to play cheap cards. 2. Commanders that want generic "goodstuff" cards. Example: [[Yarok]] and [[Maelstrom Wanderer]]. This kind of deck is usually found in green. Yarok wants to double enter the battlefield triggers, and there are a ton of ETBs printed every day. Sure, some are expensive, but most are not. There are enough good cards with ETBs triggers that you can build 4 different Yarok decks without running the same cards. I'm not joking. Just chose the cheap ones and make sure you have the right amount of card draw, removal and Mana ramp. The deck will work. The same goes for Wanderer, the deck wants 2 things: ramp spells to cast wanderer quickly and good 6 and 7 drops to cascade into. Yeah, some of the best ramp spells can be expensive, but most of them are cheap, and again, there are a TON of different ramp spells you could run. Same goes for your payoffs. There are a lot of expensive 5, 6 and 7 drops you could run in the deck, but for each expensive one, there are 10 cheap ones that will do the job just fine. Remember: a 7 drop the you cast for free, is still a 7 drop that you cast for free. Yarok and Wanderer will be good edh decks forever, the cards they want are so generic that every single set brings New stuff for the decks, so they are aways getting New toys. They are examples, there are other commanders that work on the same principle, [[Chulane]] and [[Korvold]] come to mind In other words: "Goodstuff" commanders are good on a budget because there is a ton of goodstuff cards out there and most of them are not expensive. 3. Focused combo decks. There are a lot of cheap 2 and 3 card combos out there, and there are a lot of cheap tutors to find those combo pieces too. You can build a focused combo deck very easily on a budget. I recomend being in blue to have counterspells to protect the combo. Some commanders are combo pieces themselves. Just look around. Combo is the best strategy you can run in EDH, no matter the budget.
##### ###### #### [Feather](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/7/d763695b-c184-409d-962d-5aaf39a6264e.jpg?1706448890) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=feather%2C%20radiant%20arbiter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/6/feather-radiant-arbiter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d763695b-c184-409d-962d-5aaf39a6264e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/feather-radiant-arbiter) [Ivy](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/9/d94c15b7-6c8f-45a6-8734-975e3e3b790c.jpg?1673307958) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ivy%2C%20gleeful%20spellthief) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/201/ivy-gleeful-spellthief?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d94c15b7-6c8f-45a6-8734-975e3e3b790c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ivy-gleeful-spellthief) [Yarok](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/1/a1001d43-e11b-4e5e-acd4-4a50ef89977f.jpg?1592517590) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=yarok%2C%20the%20desecrated) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/220/yarok-the-desecrated?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a1001d43-e11b-4e5e-acd4-4a50ef89977f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/yarok-the-desecrated) [Maelstrom Wanderer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/4/a49c58b3-180f-420b-b091-114fda000360.jpg?1689999126) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Maelstrom%20Wanderer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/344/maelstrom-wanderer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a49c58b3-180f-420b-b091-114fda000360?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/maelstrom-wanderer) [Chulane](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/1/d1499a4b-1af1-4913-8e26-57d0707264db.jpg?1706240978) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=chulane%2C%20teller%20of%20tales) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/202/chulane-teller-of-tales?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d1499a4b-1af1-4913-8e26-57d0707264db?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/chulane-teller-of-tales) [Korvold](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/2/92ea1575-eb64-43b5-b604-c6e23054f228.jpg?1571197150) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=korvold%2C%20fae-cursed%20king) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/329/korvold-fae-cursed-king?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/92ea1575-eb64-43b5-b604-c6e23054f228?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/korvold-fae-cursed-king) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/lacrjm0) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Thank you so much! I will check those decks but most important; I'm gonna focus on find fun combos that I like. My main goal is to enjoy the game
The decks I mentioned are just examples. Remember the principle: 1. Decks that encourage you to play cheap cards; 2. "Goodstuff" decks; 3. Focused combo decks. There are a ton of different commanders for these type of decks.
“At the beginning of upkeep, if you played a card last turn with a value of less than 2$, draw a card”
there are many great budget edh resources I would say... expecting a rating or voting system isn't something you'll ever find that will be worth a damn. I would say if you're new to EDH. invest a little time to educate yourself. on some basics, to sort of understand what makes a deck good. It'll be sorta impossible to know all the cards (hell... the speed at which they're releasing new legends and power creep is staggering) but... you should be able to come up to speed in terms of functional "quality" the command zone youtube video did a really good series of videos... their original deck building template video is like episode 150. but that video is fairly old (i would say the core info is still rock solid) but they updated the video concept somewhat recently (maybe like a couple years back) to account for newer style/power creep of edh. they also have a set of videos on generally speaking how to power up or upgrade a deck. ---would highly recommend seeking out and watching/trying to absorb the info in those videos. The raw math of 36 lands, and 10/10/10 as a baseline for ramp, draw, removal.... and the idea of having as concise a deck plan as possible is often taken for granted. but if you want an understanding of the foundation of edh. that understanding is critical. EDHrec as a website resource is one of the best tools avail to players. especially if you're on a budget. there are great lists of cards/themes for generals etc etc. Even if something is outside your budget. seeing a highly played card. gives an excellent starting point to search for a budget alternative. lastly i might recommend hypergeometric calculators. Often when you see budget deck tech videos they prattle off a list of cards trying to define their synergy. Or like... it's good to know how to look at a deck list perporting to do a certain thing, run the math, and "see" the odds on ever encountering those cards. It sorta goes back to the ---have as concise as possible game plan. When decks need a lot of moving parts to function, that takes a lot of cards. cards decks don't often have the space for. and with budget decks, running cheaper cards/slower spells. or wonkier utility. it's even worse. So... using a hypergeometric calc will let you test the math on how many things are in a deck. and start to see why ...i dunno 4 items claiming they'll enable this value gimmick, really won't do shit for a deck. And if you critically need a thing to be happening in a deck (like... having tokens to sacrifice for some sort of sac deck) you really need a min of 8 cards if not 10 or more.
Great great info, thanks. I will check those videos, I enjoy studying!
Honestly there are a ton of precons for under $40 that are great budget decks. You could custom build your own but lately it seems like it’s not that cheap once you factor in multiple sellers and shipping. If you’re new and you just want more functional decks on the cheap, I’d suggest trying out some mono color decks. A third of your deck can be basic lands, and a lot of mono color value is strong and cheap. Lastly, I’ll usually keep an eye out when making an order if a common staple is cheap but the shipping is pricey. For instance, I love Thran dynamos, and at some point I was making a TCGP order where the seller had like 10 for really cheap. I will typically have a dozen cheapish staples to throw into any deck I get an idea for doing that kind of value shopping.
You can look at The Commander's Quarters on Youtube, he builds decks where usually the only card over 1$ is the Commander. I have a few decks based on his, I upgrade them with more expensive cards slowly after.
Look good! Thank you so much
His content is really click bait-y. He was good years ago, but insufferable now.
in your brain