5 Budget Commanders You Need To Try! - Ally Colors

Zethi, Arcane Blademaster

| Illustrated by Billy Christian

Bess, Soul Nourisher

| Illustrated by Leonardo Santanna

Hey, nerds! In this week's article, I wanted to showcase five budget commanders you should check out. I'll include some key cards you should check out if you're building these commanders. Unlike my hidden gem list, I ignore popularity for this list. I'll be covering the ally colors in this article, so Azorious, Dimir, Rakdos, Gruul, and Selesynia, but come back next week, where I will go over some enemy-colored commanders. With all of the explanation out of the way, let's get into it! 

Zethi, Arcane Blademaster

If you look on the EDHREC page for Zethi, a lot of the instants listed are already pretty efficient, but I think it makes more sense to add more expensive and impactful instants instead of copying Opt

Don't get me wrong, we do want to copy those spells, but why only cheat out three mana worth of spells when we can instead copy Sublime Epiphany

There are also spells that untap your lands, like Turnabout

Key cards to include: Crypsis

Mirko, Obsessive Theorist

Mirko also lets you cheat on the cost of spells, but instead of instants, it's creatures, and instead of blindly milling yourself, you get to surveil cards into your graveyard. Well, you can blindly mill yourself, but surveilling lets you keep that important spell or land you need on top. Plus, if you're the victim of graveyard hate, you still have a flying vigilant creature that can attack and block like a champ.

The best part of all of this? Of the 115 cards with surveil on them, 112 cost less than $2 at the time of writing. Then just take some of your favorite giant beat sticks, like Grave Titan

Key cards to include: Doom Whisperer

Kardur, Doomscourge

If you're playgroup has a problem with not attacking, do I have the solution for you! Kardur will take any passive playgroup and turn them into a combat machine. You'll have to get creative with how you "blink" Kardur since Rakdos isn't known for their ability to blink creatures; Conjurer's Closet

There are also cheap pseudo reanimation spells, like Supernatural Stamina

There is one more card I want to mention. You should only add this card if you're brave enough, but Eater of Days

Key cards to include: Blood Clock

Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss

When a new player asks what commander they should build, I often point them in the direction of commanders that tell you exactly what to do. In Goreguts' case, you take all of the mana dorks you can find, and throw them in a deck. Well, that's one way of building this beatstick of a commander. I mean, who doesn't want to swing with a 7/7 Birds of Paradise

But what if we could be a bit more creative? It doesn't specify that the creature needs to tap for mana, which means Eldrazi Scion

The last option might be too cute, but if you animate your lands, they are technically creatures with mana abilities. Just be careful with Life and Limb

Key cards to include: Cryptolith Rite

Bess, Soul Nourisher

Reading Bess tells you exactly how you want to build her. She cares about 1/1 creatures and counters. She doesn't exactly seem that intimidating of a commander at first, but trust me, she can threaten kills as early as turn four or five given the right setup. A well-timed Mirror Entity

An Elenda's Hierophant

Bess's ability doesn't care how many enter at a single time, so a card like Scute Swarm

Key cards to include: Deep Forest Hermit

I'd love to hear what some of your favorite budget commanders are and what cards you think I might have missed. Let me know if you'd like to see a dedicated deck for any of these commanders. Make sure to check out last week's article where I take a commander precon and turn it into a Canadian Highlander deck. Alrighty nerds, I'll see you in the next one.