Budget Commander Staples: Artifacts

This year, I've spent two months looking at budget Commander staples. Today I look at budget Commander staples for colorless Artifacts, which are extra handy as they can be used in any Commander deck. I focus on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe. And this is budget, so cards cost under $2.

Ramp

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. Two staples here: Arcane Signet and Sol Ring. The former is especially critical if you play two or more colors.

Card draw

The main option here is Arcane Encyclopedia, which gives you an extra card per turn if you have the mana to spend.

Targeted removal

Universal Solvent and Meteor Golem are both nice (if costly) removal spells.

Board wipe 

Artifacts offer a surprising number of board wipe options. Ratchet Bomb can work well against tokens or low-cost permanents, and can even allow you to save your own (if they cost more). Boompile is a funny option and good for those who like the element of chance. Nevenyrral's Disk and Perilous Vault are effective if they can stay on the board long enough to be used.

Hybrid

Commander's Sphere, Solemn Simulacrum, and Mind Stone are both ramp and card draw

Conclusion

Of the 12 cards shown above, I'd recommend at least six be chosen for any Commander deck. 

Condensing Commander Decks

Wan Shi Tong, Librarian card art

I love building Magic decks; it's a huge part of the experience. And I like having a lot of decks on-hand for game night. One challenge is space; the other is cards. As I've blogged about frequently this year, many Commander decks will leverage the same staple cards. And of course every Magic deck needs lands. I recently decided to solve the space and card challenge by condensing some Commander decks; this post explains the concept.

Commander decks are 100 cards; 35-40 of those are lands. I currently use KMC Card Barrier 1000ct boxes as my deck storage method; each can hold 12 Commander decks unsleeved (9 decks sleeved).

I have four such boxes to house my Commander decks, meaning I can store 48 total. Awesome (and more than adequate). But I can store more by condensing.

I condense Commander decks by storing the same color-identity decks together, then extracting the land cards that are common between them to save space, keeping one set of the lands needed and using them for the deck I am playing. 

Example: I have three mono-blue commander decks. Each has at least 35 of the same lands (most of them islands). Previously, I stored these three 100-card decks in a row; 300 cards total. Since they all leverage the same 35 lands, I removed those 35 cards from all decks and kept one set at the end of that row. Now, those decks occupy 65+65+65+35=230 cards in the row. I saved space for 70 cards, which lets me make and store a fourth mono-blue commander deck (65 more cards) in the same space.

The same logic applies for two- and three-color Commander decks. If I have more than one of a given combination, I can determine the land cards common across them, keep one set, and remove the rest for more space. This is also helpful for the rare/expensive lands, as I don't have to buy multiple copies to keep in each deck.

The downsides of this approach:

- if I want to use two of the same-color decks at the same time. Easily remedied by pulling the needed lands from storage, and not a common scenario.

- remembering which cards are common between decks. This can be hard to remember once you shuffle and play. Right now, I'm keeping it to lands for this reason (see next paragraph). 

While the above describes only lands, I could apply the same concept to staple non-land cards. I suspect each of my Commander decks has 50 unique cards, and 15 or so staple cards that will show up in any deck of that color. So I could take it a step further and condense more. I haven't, yet, because it is easier to track and keep lands separate. But it is an option for the future.

The above method is letting me store 14-16 Commander decks per Card Barrier box; that should keep me for now.

Until next time, keep exploring. 

Card Talk 24

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Triskelion—a rare artifact creature from Dominaria Remastered.

Artifact creatures can be targeted by anything that affects either type (artifacts or creatures), making them slightly easier to remove. But their benefit is in their utility (for colorless artifacts, anyway): they can be included in any color deck. That is powerful.

Most artifacts are colorless. All were, in fact, until 2007's Future Sight set, which introduced the first to require colored mana. Shards of Alara (2008) introduced 33 more (of 43 total in that set), and Core Set 2020 developed it further. I still think of the classic artifact as colorless, though.

Triskelion's ability bears mention. It comes into play with three +1/+1 counters on it. You can remove them (one at a time or all at once) to deal damage to any target. That's pretty cool, but it is made better in decks that love adding +1/+1 counters. Commander decks with the "proliferate" mechanic should consider this an auto-include. That mechanic, from the official rules, is:

(Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)

So keep at least +1/+1 counter on this guy and proliferate can make him into a damage machine.

Triskelion has been printed 13 times, the first dating all the way back to 1994's Antiquities set. Three of those printings, though, were in the Dominaria Remastered set. In addition to the one above, they had the regular frame and retro frame printings:

I've blogged a few times about the "frame explosion" in this game. It is both fun and maddening. Personally, I like the full art ones the best, and hope the game trends that way. 

Dominaria Remastered was the third release in that vein, including cards from 27 previous Dominaria-based sets(!). I blog at length on what a Remastered set is here.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 23

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Knight of the White Orchid—a rare creature from Commander 21.

"Ramp"—increasing your access to mana—is important. This card is nice because it has a conditional ramp ability; if an opponent controls more lands than you, you may search your library for a plains and put it on the battlefield. Note two nuances here:

1) not tapped! That is really nice

2) a plains card can be a non-basic lands with plains as one of its types. Like Idyllic Beachfront or Radian Grove below. Note both are a plains (among other things). That is powerful indeed.

Ramp ability aside, Knight of the White Orchid is a 2/2 first strike for two mana. Not bad. That, combined with its ability, is why it is a rare.

This version of the card appeared in Commander 21, which was not a proper expansion but five preconstructed Commander decks in enemy color pairs (W/B, U/R, B/G, R/W, G/U). It was released (appropriately) in 2021, and followed an annual pattern of precons that began eight years prior (with this naming nomenclature) with Commander 13. Commander 21 was the last of that line; though Wizards continues to regularly release preconstructed Commander decks, they now tend to appear as part of larger expansions.

Finally, Knight of the White Orchid has been reprinted 10 times in paper. Its first printing was in Shards of Alara (2008), and 5 of the subsequent printings were for precon Commander decks. Commander is such a fun way to play Magic. I've done a number of posts related to this format this year. It is increasingly my preferred way to play, as its singleton concept (only one copy of a given card is allowed in a deck) is a fun way to explore the game.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 22

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Aurification—a rare enchantment from Onslaught.

This card puts a gold counter on any creature that does damage to you, which makes it a wall (in modern terms, it gives the creature 'defender,' so it cannot attack). If Aurification leaves play, all gold counters are removed. Interesting stuff! This basically lets any creature attack you once but only once. This card would be good in a control deck that looks to keep opponents at bay while you build up to a finishing move. And it is apparently pretty effective—it costs $7.32 as of this writing, putting it in the top 15 cards (value-wise) from the Onslaught set. Speaking of . . .

Onslaught was released in 2002. It is the first (and large) expansion in the Onslaught block (the two subsequent sets were Legions and Scourge). And this is the last block that used the old card frame; starting with Mirrodin in 2003, Magic went to a completely new look.

Onslaught had a tribal theme (which they now call typal . . . or kindred . . . I don't remember). Basically, creature types matter. Birds, Clerics, Soldiers, Wizards, Beasts, Zombies, Goblins, and Elves feature heavily.

Magic has a lot of cards that make counters. This concept of a 'gold counter' shows up on only one other card: Dragon's Hoard, and it means something different there. And don't confuse them with gold tokens, which are referenced on The First Iroan Games card and have since been functionally replaced by treasure tokens (I think).

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Card Talk 21

Cactuar card art

Time for Card Talk! Reminder how this works:

• I go to Scryfall and select 'Random Card'
• I present and blog about the card. I could discuss any aspect: the art, abilities, cost, set, impact on the game, and so on. Stream of consciousness.

Card Talk is a fun, uncurated way to look at Magic's cards, mechanics, history, art, sets, and so on. And of course it exposes some of my own preferences, biases, and memories of the game.

Today's card is . . .

Guardia de patrulla nocturna—a common creature from Salvat 2005.

This one threw me. Salvat 2005 is a reprint-only set that was *not* produced in English, but only Italian, French, and Spanish. The set was released as 10 (or 12, in Italy) theme decks but also packs in a weekly magazine; the link in this paragraph shows the complete set. This MTG Wiki site shows the decklists.

I don't know much about this set, to include why Wizards did it in the first place. A quick web search argues that it was done to expand the game's presence in those European regions; that makes sense, but I'm unclear why they had to create a new set to do so. Anyway, it was reprints only, so I guess that made it easier for them to produce.

The above card is "Nightguard Patrol" in English, and was originally released in the Ravnica set. It has two abilities: first strike and vigilance. First strike means it does its combat damage before the regular damage step; vigilance means it does not tap to attack. Two nice abilities, but with such a low power/toughness and a mana cost of three, this is not a valuable card (you can still get it for pennies).

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Budget Commander Staples: Selesnya

Concluding this month's theme of two-color allied combos [adjacent color pairs], today I look at budget Commander staples in Selesnya colors (green/white). I focus on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe. And this is budget, so cards cost under $2.

Ramp

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. Selesnya does this well. Steward of Valeron and Atzocan Seer generate mana. Murasa Rootgrazer enables extra land play. Safewright Quest can be powerful.

Card draw

The main option here is Camaraderie, which is great if you have a lot of creatures on the board. Sumala Woodshaper isn't technically card draw, but (in a way) better with her search ability.

Targeted removal

Selesnya likes destroying artifacts or enchantments (Sundering Growth, Nature's Chant, Elvish Hexhunter). Dromoka's Command likes doing the same but also gives the 'fight' option, which can be a useful creature removal spell.

Board wipe 

There are no 'total' board wipes in exactly Selesnya colors, though Fracturing Gust can take care of pesky artifacts and enchantments. 

Conclusion

The 11 cards shown above are worth considering for any Selesnya Commander deck.

Budget Commander Staples: Gruul

Continuing this month's theme of two-color allied combos [adjacent color pairs], today I look at budget Commander staples in Gruul colors (red/green). I focus on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe. And this is budget, so cards cost under $2.

Ramp

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. Gruul has two nice options here: Escape to the Wilds and Goblin Anarchomancer (which I count as ramp because it reduces cost).

Card draw

The main option here is Manamorphose, which nets you two mana back (in any color combo!) plus a card; nice.

Targeted removal

This is where Gruul shines. Damage (from Branching Bold and Clan Defiance), taking out creatures (with Pit Fight or Colossal Might), land/artifact destruction (Wreak Havoc), and buffing your creatures with power and haste (Fires of Yavimaya) showcases this color combo's strengths.

Board wipe 

There are no board wipes in exactly Gruul colors. 

Combination

Atarka's Command can be targeted removal, ramp, and/or a buff for your creatures.

Conclusion

The 10 cards shown above are worth considering for any Gruul Commander deck.

Budget Commander Staples: Rakdos

Continue this month's theme of two-color allied combos [adjacent color pairs], today I look at budget Commander staples in Rakdos colors (black/red). I focus on four categories: ramp, card draw, targeted removal, and board wipe. And this is budget, so cards cost under $2.

Ramp

Ramp is about accelerating land deployment and/or mana access. Rakdos has no options here (in exactly two colors).

Card draw

Rakdos has no options here (in exactly two colors).

Targeted removal

This is where Rakdos shines. Damage, discard, and destroying permanents . . . this is a powerful color combo. Kolaghan's Command is a nice option spell at instant speed. Blightning, Rakdos's Return, and Skull Rend do damage and make an opponent discard. Terminate, Bedevil, and Dreadbore are simple removal spells, enabling you to destroy one or more types of permanents. Rakdos Charm gives three options, all of which could be useful. Spiteflame Witch can be fun if you have more life than your opponent. And Angrath's Rampage is helpful when your opponent has few options on the board.

Board wipe 

There are no board wipes in exactly Rakdos colors. 

Conclusion

The 10 cards shown above are worth considering for any Rakdos Commander deck.