Commander Oracles: Easy on the Wallet
Hey everyone, this is Brandon from Fox MTG. One of my favorite formats of all time is EDH; the amount of customization and flexibility in EDH allows players of all types to come together, eat some snacks, and play long games all night surrounded by friends and family. One of the best reasons to play it is the budget. Yes, you can go all out like any deck and make decks ranging infinite amounts of money; but the best games in my opinions are 200$ and under. We will be playing these games on our new commander nights TBD. But for now, let’s test the water with a top ten most underrated cards under 2$ US in EDH:
Yes, this card does not destroy like Naturalize but sometimes that is much better. Against certain decks like Muldrotha, the Gravetide which can recur permanents from the graveyard, shuffling it into a library just completely frustrates them. Also, with some new commanders like Aminatou, the Fateshifter, shuffling your opponents’ library can completely ruin their strategy. So, for removal and disruption on a cheap green card, this one is amazing.
Tap 1, Scry 2, such good value in decks with no card draw. I play this card in my Sydri, Galvanic Genius Commander deck. The sheer value of Scrying 2 can determine winning or losing a game. It is one of the best end step cards you can activate. I highly recommend this card in any budget EDH deck.
8. Martial Coup
Imagine this, your opponent slams their best card and the blue player is tapped out. You have one final card in hand and 15 mana. Martial Coup is the exact card you want in this instance. Slam it and end the game, overwhelming your opponents with your pumped soldiers after destroying their boards. Because let’s be honest here; if you’re playing white you’ll have enough anthems to host an international hockey league and after this spell, you’ll have more than enough players to win it as well.
7. Aetherspouts
As a blue player, you thrive off of making as many players on the table have a ‘fair’ game. Because order and making deals is what makes your black, bottomless pit… sorry, I meant… your soul dance throughout the multiverse. Now, nothing gives your opponent more joy than replaying the amazing creatures they just cast. Because you are a benevolent god that loves to see their overjoyed face when you ask them the question: “Top or bottom?”
My brother is an avid Naya player. He loves his tokens and ramming 10/10 lifelinkers into me. One of his pet cards usually comes after we wipe the board of his pestering tokens and he gets the smirk. That devious smirk. The smirk that tells you that kicking the hornet’s nest only brings about laughter and panic as it is and always will be a bad decision. I look at the blue player who shrugs, I look at the green player who just pulled out their T-Rex toy and started making dino noises, then I look back at my brother. He places this card on the field and says “Boom!” the multiverse collapses in on itself, we all clutch our decks and everything goes into a single dot. Then we wake up, and all I hear is “You’re finally awake”…. though in all seriousness, this card needs no explanation, just acceptance.
We all know that blue players enjoy seeing order on the field, but their weakness in mono-blue is their lack of absolute spot removal. That is where this card comes in, imagine your Ulamog gets shifted into a 2/2 that actually is a basic forest. That gripping feeling in your heart? It’s called sadness. You place it upon the stack and the blue player taps 3 mana and says counter. Now you feel nothing as you stare at once was.
In a graveyard deck, you like cards that off themselves and take something down with them. This card does that extremely well. Problems with a Planeswalker? Boom! Headshot. Need to create a 20/20 with Dark Depths? Easy. Did they just create a +1/+1 counter monstrosity? My lady says no. You get the idea, with good recursion you’ll keep control of the battlefield no problem.
Eldrazi Titans and Blightsteel Colossus can be a hassle, this card deals with them and gives you some life back. Its really nice when your opponents 2000/2000 Lifelink, Hexproof, Annihilator 2, Trample Uril, the Miststalker comes out and attempts to cuddle. This card is a nice and easy NO. Because it’s a snack that smiles back, rebounding incase Uril did not get the memo.
People say that red is bad. Red is not bad, those people have never been driven to smashville courtesy of the Battledriver after he drops a Deus of Calamity into play with Haste, or an Ilharg, the Raze-Boar with a buddy. This card rampages on so many people’s days. Any big red creature with haste will hurt you. You may cry. It’s ok, we all cry sometimes.
This card is a meme, whoever plays it only plays Magic to ruin someone’s day. He is the buddy of any wheel spell and will make sure only the blue-black player knows card advantage. That being said, this card can win games through the sheer piles of salt your opponents will pour onto the battlefield. That is ok though, you just drew their cards. What are they gonna do? Play spells?
If you enjoyed this please let me know and I will see you next week with more EDH goodness.