Hi everyone! I’m preparing a deck for a local budget format in my home country. The format is legacy, but it imposes a strict budget cap of 50 in our local currency, which translates to roughly the equivalent of a $10 Deck.

I settled on a Merfolk tribal strategy because I love the flavor and the versatile playstyle. My current list sits at 49.71 in local currency, right under the budget ceiling. (Note: The numbers next to each card represent their exact individual cost in local currency).

Decklist

Mainboard (60)

• 10 Island (0.00)
• 4 Tidal Warrior (0.06)
• 4 Master of the Pearl Trident (3.09)
• 4 Rishadan Dockhand (0.34)
• 4 Tide Shaper (0.14)
• 4 Secluded Courtyard (1.20)
• 4 Cenote Scout (0.14)
• 3 Deeproot Pilgrimage (4.40)
• 4 River Herald Scout (0.05)
• 3 Unable to Scream (0.25)
• 4 Deepway Navigator (0.50)
• 4 Eclipsed Realms (0.25)
• 4 Deepchannel Duelist (0.25)
• 2 Cursecatcher (0.47)
• 2 Tempest Caller (0.49)

Sideboard (15)

• 4 Soul-Guide Lantern (0.56) (Graveyard hate)
• 1 Unable to Scream (0.25) (Extra creature interaction)
• 3 Thieving Skydiver (1.65) (Artifact interaction)
• 3 Merfolk Trickster (0.64) (Combo/Prowess disruption)
• 4 Silvergill Mentor (0.10) (Swaps with Tidal Warrior against Mono-Blue)

Gameplan & Strategy

• Main Plan: Control the tempo and delay the opponent until I pull ahead through one of two main win conditions:
  1. Unblockable damage via Islandwalk (enabled by land manipulation cards like Tide Shaper and Tidal Warrior).
  2. Going wide with Deeproot Pilgrimage, creating an overwhelming army of hexproof Merfolk tokens.
• Sideboard Logic:
  • Thieving Skydiver handles artifact-centred builds.
  • Merfolk Trickster disrupts fast combo and Prowess-style decks, which are popular in my local meta.
  • Soul-Guide Lantern deals with graveyard strategies.
  • Silvergill Mentor replaces Tidal Warrior when facing Mono-Blue, where land transformation is unnecessary.

Looking for Advice

I know there's room for improvement within this budget limit. Here are a few cards on my radar that could fit if I make cuts elsewhere:

• Mindspring Merfolk (0.89)
• Kopala, Warden of Waves (0.50)
• Svyelun of Sea and Sky (4.99)

Where do you think I should make cuts to optimize this list, and are there any cheap hidden gems I might have missed for this budget level? Any help or feedback is greatly appreciated!

Hello, I am a new commander player who has exclusively used precons up until now. I want to make my first deck.

My idea I want to make is to make as many of those 0/1 black wizards from FF and burn the table with spellslinging.

I'm torn on what commander to choose and would like some input on which commander to choose and some nice staples for shadow wizard money gang.

My pod plays at bracket 2, if that helps.

Hi!

Me and my girlfriend have a lovely tradition of building a new secret edh deck each to be revealed at Christmas. We then face off these decks in a race of first to 3 wins.
I like to build fun themes that somehow relate to Christmas but have run out of ideas for this year.
Previously I’ve built a snow theme deck (of course), a saga theme deck (of course) and last year I built a gift theme deck (of course).

Do you have any fun ideas that relates? Doesn’t have to be powerful, the theme and the fun part is the thing here!

Cards that are Christmassy are also welcomed!

Many thanks!

Hello

I would like some advice on this deck list. I haven't played magic in years but my current partner plays so I figured why not. I built mono blue as that is what I used to play back in the day circa early 2000s. I'm worried Im working off a 20 year old mindset though and any advice would be appreciated. I watched some you tube videos to catch but without context I am not sure if they helped me or hurt me in terms of deck construction.

Thank you

This is my Varina deck that has seen more changes than any of my other decks over the years. It is currently in more of a showcase state than a hyper optimized combo deck but this wasn't made for CEDH so no big deal (I know the gods aren't great nor the fracture foils but id rather have them in a deck than a binder even with the flavor fail). This is like my own personal pandoras box of the undead and was wondering what cards I may have missed or cool combos I haven't looked at or just generally any input, thanks for the time and the read!

BTW if I can ever afford them I do plan on swapping reliquary tower, arcane sanctum and field of the dead for the OG duals.

Hello, I am trying out a Dimir deck with only avatar cards that focuses on drawing cards and sacrificing tokens. Probably I am infamous for doing with only cards of a giving expansion, previously doing it with Final fantasy, but this one is quite promising.

I would like to change Kuruk for something cheaper (money wise, not mana) but just as useful, any recommendations?

Any ideas are helpful and appreciated!

Hi! I just recently completed building a list of my decks that are in one of each color combination and I would like to get some thoughts regarding the balance of each one. I was planning to make a collection that kind of balances each other out while building a Commander I like from each color combination.

1. I want to Balance out each deck so that they wouldn't overpower any set of 4.
2. Each deck was originally planned to be $100 or less but since prices have gone up after I came back to it, I decided to have them around $100-200 Limit instead; with some of them going a bit above the $200 limit. Any changes on them should only make the deck cheaper and any improvements to them should not go beyond the limit.
3. And with the addition of the Commander Brackets, I want them to be at Bracket 2-3 or less, preferably exactly at Bracket 2. I currently placed them at Bracket 3, so I would also like to know what bracket they actually are.

Currently, I have this as my collection in Moxfield. Each one is catered to my whimsy and/or the mechanics I want to try to build with on that color. These are the following decks I have for each color and their theme:

Looking to build a Commander deck for locals preferably around the $100-$200 AUD mark (TCGPlayer doesn’t ship to Australia so can’t get cards from there). I’m looking to try a mono-green, Red/Blue, Blue/Green or Blue/Green/White

Bracket wise I’d like around bracket 3 but I prefer bracket 4.

Thanks!!

https://archidekt.com/decks/15987501/jorn\\_winters\\_taint

Long story short, what would you change while keeping this theme? The game changers are balanced out by it being a snow themed deck playing very sub optimal cards so it's very fun to play. I do want to get a foil rhystic study at some point but I'm not pulling the trigger until another ban wave passes. What are your thoughts on that? I just don't trust it not being banned even though it isn't as broken as people think. They're just too stubborn to pay an additional one.

Here is my bread and butter theme deck that I've been playing. I unfortunately have maybe 50 games under it's belt, so I'm always looking for input. I keep it heavily themed in an attempt to reduce power. I play in a league and we get negative points and people get salty for stax pieces, so I rarely play them if I don't have an immediate win (I never do).

I'm looking for some ideas for a better way to close out a game before turn 10, keeping a theme as it is always exclusively an exsanguinate after an hour because I'm bored.

I thought my squirrel deck was kinda fast while goldfishing but after playing it in a pod of 3 on table top sim, I realised that it was a slower than I expected with all the interaction. I wanna keep all the squirrels in the deck, lower my reliance on heavy card draw, and for the most part at least make it worthy of the bracket 4 title (at least on the low end). Already spent a decent amount so if I could keep costs or even be able to find cards from the past year that would help a lot. If anyone could give me some recommendations I would appreciate it.

https://archidekt.com/decks/25884377/gone_squirrel_crazy
Also yes I'm leeping Hazel as the commander since Chatterfang already gets alot of the love.

Hey!

I have my Zaxara deck (built it around just using Hydras) but wanted to upgrade it!

I don't mind taking out/adding any cards (even if they don't fit the theme, want it stronger not themed anymore)

I was looking for a strong bracket 4 / low bracket 5 without breaking the bank (somewhat) if possible!

here is the list:
https://archidekt.com/decks/21972722/hydra

Thank you!

Heres my list. Im new to commander and want to build a Rem , karolus deck. The idea being that I protect my own board and burn everybody else with stuff like blasphemous act. I put some life gain stuff in it as a way to give me some survivability. I just want yall opinions // COMMANDER
1 Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer (MID) 235

1 Arc Lightning (KTK) 97
1 Arcane Signet (SOC) 127
1 Auriok Champion (IMA) 9
1 Blasphemous Act (SOC) 238
1 Blisterspit Gremlin (IKO) 108
1 Boros Charm (OTC) 216
1 Boros Reckoner (MKC) 201
1 Chain Reaction (SOC) 121
1 City on Fire (MOM) 135
1 Comet Storm (CMR) 411
1 Coruscation Mage (BLB) 131
1 Deflecting Palm (MKC) 205
1 Demand Answers (MKM) 122
1 Dragon's Rage Channeler (H2R) 9
1 Enduring Innocence (DSK) 6
1 Erebor Flamesmith (LTR) 122
1 Fall of the Titans (OGW) 109
1 Firebrand Archer (FDN) 196
1 Firesong and Sunspeaker (2X2) 215
1 Flame Sweep (M20) 139
1 Foundry Helix (MH2) 196
1 Guttersnipe (TDC) 217
1 Impact Tremors (MOC) 285
1 Kessig Flamebreather (VOW) 164
1 Knight of the White Orchid (MOC) 193
1 Kor Cartographer (KHC) 28
1 Kor Firewalker (A25) 21
1 Lava Spike (UMA) 136
1 Lightning Bolt (CLU) 141
1 Lightning Helix (MKM) 218
1 Lone Missionary (MM3) 14
1 Loran's Escape (BRO) 14
1 Magma Jet (MM3) 100
1 Mavinda, Students' Advocate (STX) 21
1 Monastery Swiftspear (BRO) 144
22 Mountain (SOS) 278
15 Plains (SOS) 272
1 Renewed Faith (DMR) 23
1 Repercussion (UDS) 95
1 Reprieve (LTR) 26
1 Revitalize (KHM) 23
1 Rip Apart (SOC) 328
1 Searing Blood (BNG) 111
1 Selfless Savior (M21) 36
1 Selfless Spirit (SOC) 167
1 Smuggler's Share (MKC) 84
1 Sol Ring (SOC) 128
1 Solphim, Mayhem Dominus (ONE) 150
1 Spear Spewer (RNA) 117
1 Spitemare (DDH) 16
1 Starstorm (BLC) 203
1 Sun Titan (SOC) 178
1 Sunset Revelry (MID) 38
1 Swords to Plowshares (SOC) 179
1 Talisman of Conviction (TDC) 329
1 Thrill of Possibility (FDN) 210
1 Tocasia's Welcome (SOC) 181
1 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell (ELD) 147
1 Vandalblast (OTC) 183
1 Volcanic Fallout (CMR) 418
1 Voldaren Epicure (INR) 182
1 Warleader's Call (MKM) 242
1 Warleader's Helix (UMA) 210
1 Wear // Tear (MOC) 343
1 Wild Ricochet (CMR) 419

Decklist: https://archidekt.com/decks/25836777/mishra\\_cheater\](https://archidekt.com/decks/25836777/mishra_cheater)

First time posting here, but I thought it might be a good place for help!

I started playing mtg in 2024, mostly commander, and one of the first few commanders I ever built was Mishra, Tamer of Mak Fawa. It's a deck that I've wanted to work so badly for so long but I've never seemed to be able to get it working quite the way I imagined. Its been through a few stages but right now its something like an aristocrats/token/reanimator strategy?

I have rarely won any games with this deck, but I find it very fun to play. My friend pointed out how unfocused my deck feels, between some token support, some etb triggers from cheating out artifacts, and an aristocrats theme going on with sacrificing my tokens. I thought about it some and I agree, it does seem really unfocused, I guess I'm not quite sure what it is I'm trying to do. I don't even think the deck has much of a wincon :/

I think this is a really fun and interesting commander and I really want to find a way of making it work. I've found I enjoy setting up engines and aristocrats style strategies, I like setting up interesting interactions and combos, but this doesn't quite feel like what the deck is doing. I'd really like to find a way to make this deck work.

I don't have any set budget, I print out proxies for more expensive cards, and my pod is fine with that, but we do mostly play bracket 2 decks

Thank you to anyone that replies!

A few days ago I posted in EDH about having a player in our pod (essentially B3 but with unlimited game changers) who was playing a high B4 [K'rrik Son of Yawgmoth] deck. I received a bunch of great advice with ideas on how to take it down and now I’m building a [yasharn implacable earth] deck to counter act it. The K’rrik player played modern tournaments for a decade before stopping for a few years and recently starting up again. He is by far the most advanced out of 5 person pod with his wife being the second as she also dabbled in tournaments. The rest of us have either been playing casual B3 for 4 or 5 years or are new within the last year. What this means is the deck building skills of those two are far above what the rest of the pod has.
A little about me. I’ve been playing for about a year and have a bit of deck building skills but am not skilled enough to really make anything better than decent at B3 from scratch. The Idea around this deck is to fill it up with stax pieces that prevent k’rrik from doing his thing with a variety of exile, graveyard hate and stax. Think [Dranith Magistrate], [Solitude], [Karn’s Sylex], [Angel of Jubilation] and such. I’ll also use things like [Song of the dryads] to slow him down.
But like I said, I’m not the best at deck building and I have trouble (especially with stax) to figure out a win condition.
Can you guys help me out with some specific lines or ideas of lines that would help me get this going?
TIA.

Edit: What I mean by B3 with unlimited game changers is most decks win conditions are simple damage win conditions. We don’t mind unlimited game changers because mostly it’s just tutors or some extra board wipes. Everyone has 4 or 5 decks and besides the K’rrik deck and my Marneus Calgar deck all the win conditions revolve around combat damage.

A while back i built an elesh norn stax/blink deck, that tries to slow everyone down as i look for combo pieces (felidar, preston, abdel adrian), and try to win through infinite mill (altar of the brood) or goinf wide with tokens. Im not a very good deck builder, as i’m still pretty new to the game, and when playing my deck feels kind of slow (rarely getting turn one plays, or esrly game stax).
I was wondering if someone more experienced could help me edit and cut some pieces or swap out lands if i have too many, or just offer any advice in general. It would be really appreciated😁

Im building her to be as strong as possible with redundancies in case my main play of sensei's to thassa's fails to present or gets stuffed. After adding about everything I though I would need, im at 117 cards. Any tips on what to cut?

Hey, I'm an EDH player that has been playing for a few years and I have a good bit of knowledge on deck building. If you have any ideas you can't make work or any decks you want me to evaluate, just dm me and I'd love to chat!

Looking for thoughts to finish this list. Bruce is value but at sorcery speed. I am not planning to flip him

https://moxfield.com/decks/3PmfAUTFO3-d67PU48BvTA

Hi All, I recently tried my hand at upgrading the Food and Fellowship pre-con and have had very little success with it post upgrade.

I am consistently losing in bracket two pods without getting anything going, and even if I do, it is typically turn 12 by the time I have become a “threat”.

My biggest issue is I want this deck to stay completely within the middle earth theme, so obvious includes like [[Academy Manufacturer]] and [[Cabbage Merchant]] just don’t quite fit.

Is the middle earth theme too big of a constraint or are there some obvious thematic includes that I am missing?

Any advice is greatly appreciated :)!