Budget Decks for the New Standard
Hey, guys! It’s been a pretty crazy couple of days! With the news we received yesterday, I wanted to hop online as soon as I could and put up some viable, budget friendly deck lists. Especially now that what Wizards has deemed as the ‘oppressive’ cards have been Summarily Dismissed by Purphoros’ Ban Hammer. A few of these lists have been updated with some new Aether Revolt cards but none will have a sideboard written out for them, as we don’t really know what the meta will be like until after the Pro Tour. Whatever your thoughts are about the bannings, we’re at a place where what’s done is done and we have to prepare for this new era. Budget decks will probably become increasingly popular since we don’t really know if WotC will give lists of potential bannings, so I wanted to get a jump on it. Hope you enjoy some of the craziness and let me know what you think!
First up is one of my personal favorites. Get a Thing in the Ice or a Dynavolt Tower down early and watch the fireworks. By the late game, more often than not, you can meet the requirements to flip the Docent of Perfection in a single turn, almost every time I’ve held up a Negate or a Spell Shrivel to get the final Wizard token while also protecting the Docent. It’s a very fun and interactive control shell that can be both pro- and re-active.
Thing in the Tower
Creatures
3x Thing in the Ice
1x Docent of Perfection
Spells
4x Anticipate
2x Compelling Deterrence
2x Negate
3x Spell Shrivel
3x Tormenting Voice
4x Fiery Temper
4x Harnessed Lightning
4x Glimmer of Genius
1x Pore Over the Pages
1x Rise from the Tides
Artifacts
4x Dynavolt Tower
Lands
7x Mountain
7x Island
1x Highland Lake
4x Aether Hub
1x Drownyard Temple
4x Spirebluff Canal
Next up is another super fun shell that once again revolves around creating energy and abusing Dynavolt Tower. This one ramps ramps ramps into playing multiple high-cost spells each turn and turning that value into taking control of the match. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter is so good in this she almost seems broken. The synergies and value between her and Seasons Past is incredible. Altered Ego is another card that surprised me by how good it was. It gets past all the counters in the meta and quite a bit of the removal (if you can get enough +1/+1 counters on it or ‘mimic’ a metalwork colossus!). The only card from Aether Revolt that I may play in it is Rishkar’s Expertise, and even then only as a 1 of.
Simic Durdle
Spells
4x Attune with Aether
3x Nissa’s Renewal
3x Seasons Past
1x Select for Inspection
4x Glimmer of Genius
1x Confirm Suspicions
3x Spell Shrivel
1x Pore Over the Pages
3x Pulse of Murasa
Artifact
4x Dynavolt Tower
Creatures
4x Servant of the Conduit
2x Altered Ego
3x Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
Land
7x Forest
7x Island
4x Aether Hub
4x Botanical Sanctum
2x Woodland Stream
This next one is a bit of a pet project, I see something in it and I’m on the pursuit! The deck itself is a fused conglomeration between an Aggressive style and a Drain/Gain type backup. You can get an easy flip of the Lone Rider while also having evasion in the air to get in early damage. Then slowly siphon the rest while making calculated blocks and keeping your life total above zero! Also, before you ask, yes. Yes, it has won with Felidar Sovereign before and it’s always fun to do so.
Re-Allocate Yo’ Life
Enchantments
4x Authority of the Consuls
Creatures
3x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
3x Lone Rider
3x Drana’s Emissary
3x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
3x Accursed Witch
3x Cliffhaven Vampire
2x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
1x Felidar Sovereign // Exquisite Archangel
Spells
4x Essence Extraction // Battle at the Bridge
4x Anguished Unmaking
2x Succumb to Temptation
Land
4x Concealed Courtyard
3x Shambling Vent
1x Forsaken Sanctuary
9x Plains
8x Swamp
I am thoroughly surprised I’ve not seen more of Metallurgic Summonings. It already had what it took to compete in a Standard with both Emrakul and Smuggler’s Copter (r.i.p.) so maybe we will see more of it in the future. Curious Homunculus is crazy good in a heavy spells build and I’m almost never sad to see one in the early or late game. I hope we will see more of that little guy coming up too. Your goal here is to keep the board clear and then swing in with your constructs in the late game. Curious Homunculus can attack in the early to mid game and as the board stays clear. The prowess trigger is useful as well as the cost reduction for your spells. I may end up going down a Grasp of Darkness and 2 Murder for 2 Yahenni’s Expertise and a single Baral’s Expertise. Two cast triggers for a Metallurgic Summonings isn’t terrible.
Curious Summonings
Creatures
4x Curious Homunculus
Spells
4x Anticipate
2x Negate
2x Transgress the Mind
4x Grasp of Darkness
4x Spell Shrivel // Metallic Rebuke // Disallow
2x Essence Extraction // Battle at the Bridge
3x Murder
4x Glimmer of Genius
2x Ruinous Path
Enchantments
4x Metallurgic Summonings
Lands
4x Choked Estuary
2x Sunken Hollow
1x Submerged Boneyard
1x Blighted Fen
10x Swamp
7x Island
This last one is just a quick build around the investigate mechanic. The lines are pretty clear in it, make clues and hold off death until you drop a mechanized production. See? Easy. Although I would sideboard some counters for those pesky decks that have enchantment removal. On paper, it looks like it could potentially have the enough clues at the beginning of your turn five or six, but should hold its own enough to last to turns seven or eight consistently.
Blues Clues Wins
Creatures
4x Thraben Inspector
3x Daring Sleuth
4x Erdwal Illuminator
4x Bygone Bishop
Enchantments
3x Trail of Evidence
4x Mechanized Production
Spells
3x Confirm Suspicions
4x Press for Answers
4x Expose Evil
4x Jace’s Scrutiny
Land
9x Island
9x Plains
4x Port Town
2x Prarie Stream
Like I said above, none of these were posted with a sideboard but there will definitely be some things to keep an eye out for. Artifact destruction is still the main priority. Even though Looter Scooter isn’t legal anymore, you still have major combo pieces to look out for. Panharmonicon and Aetherflux Reservoir can finally stretch their legs. Aetherworks Marvel will most likely be experimenting with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and probably some combination of the Kaladesh Gearhulks. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship is still a major threat as well as the new Heart of Kiran.
B/R Aggro will pick up where it left off and hit the ground running and Mono-Red Aggro may now have the breathing room to be a viable threat. Don’t forget about the new Saheeli combo either, and be ready to disrupt it; at least in the first few weeks as people decide if it’s viable or not.
Hopefully, all this jank got the creative juices flowing and you enjoyed some of the possibilities that are open to us now!
If you like the budget decks and want to see more with the new cards just let me know!
Follow me on Twitter @HepTypeC or email me at HepTypeC@gmail.com