Hey y'all just following up on the last article where I listed the 6 most played modern archetypes and their average cost to build. This week's article will discuss a few of the more popular budget decks that perform well at local events for those of you looking to play modern locally and not worried about GP level play in that format, but still want to do well.
To start out, one of the more popular local decks, although not necessarily budget, is:
1. American(U/W/R) Control
Lands: 26
3 Arid Mesa
4 Celestial Collonade
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Tectonic Edge
Creatures: 5
1 Keranos, God of Storms
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells: 29
1 Ajani Vengeant
4 Cryptic Command
3 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mana Leak
3 Path to Exile
2 Shadow of Doubt
3 Spell Snare
2 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Think Twice
2 Wrath of God
Total Value: $1,074.01
Like I said, this isn't necessarily a budget deck, but it is a popular archetype and can put up great results when played well. American Control for Modern is actually not terribly expensive, however, compared to some other control decks like G/B Rock.
2. Infect
Lands: 22
4 Cathedral of War
12 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Pendelhaven
Creatures: 12
4 Glistener Elf
4 Ichorclaw Myr
4 Necropede
Spells: 26
4 Apostle's Blessing
2 Dismember
4 Groundswell
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood
Total Value: $92.66
This is possible the cheapest deck you could possibly build in the format with Inkmoth Nexus being the only card worth more than $3.50 in the deck. It's super easy to play, easy to win. If you have a bit more budget, you can upgrade this list with Verdant Catacombs and Dryad Abor but it's not necessary. It does get you around edict effects like Liliana of the Veil's -2 ability and thins your deck so you draw less land throughout the game so nothing to gawk at. Verdant Catacombs will run you about $50 each and Dryad Arbors are about $6 and you probably only need 1.
3. Hate Bears
Lands: 22
1 Forest
2 Gavony Township
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
Creatures: 30
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Restoration Angel
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Spells: 8
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
Total Value: $750.29
Affinity and Tron are a little cheaper than this one, but Hatebears is a pretty fun deck to play if you like a little variance between your games. Aether Vials and Noble Hierarchs are the money cards here but most everything else isn't too bad to acquire and there are plenty of options open in this archetype to experiment with.
4. Living End
Lands: 19
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures: 25
2 Avalanche Riders
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Fulminator Mage
1 Jungle Weaver
4 Monstrous Carabid
3 Pale Recluse
3 Shriekmaw
4 Street Wraith
Spells: 16
4 Beast Within
4 Demonic Dread
4 Living End
4 Violent Outburst
Total Value: $517.84
This is a decently cheap deck to build. Most of the value is in the mana base with Fulminator Mage being the onyl real value card other than that. Living End is an archetype that a lot of decks just aren't equipped to deal with most of the time only devoting 1 or 2 slots in their sideboard for something that could help against this match-up. It's also one of those decks where you generally don't care what your opponent is doing so you can learn to play it by playing by yourself(a.k.a. 'Goldfishing') and figure it out in a few games.
5. Red Deck Wins/Burn
Lands: 19
19 Mountain
Creatures: 14
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Spark Elemental
Spells: 27
4 Flames of the Bloodhand
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
3 Shard Volley
4 Skullcrack
Total Value: $89.04
RDW beats out Infect on price mostly because there are no fetch lands for once! However, that being said, I believe this deck gets better with a few fetches because it thins your deck so you're not drawing lands later in the game which is crucial because you're not drawing extra cards at all so every card has to count. The good part here is that if you want to upgrade with a few fetch lands, Arid Mesa is the cheapest of the 5 Zendikar Fetches at around $44 each.
6. Merfolk
Lands: 20
16 Island
4 Mutavault
Creatures: 23
4 Cursecatcher
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Master of Waves
2 Merrow Reejery
4 Silvergill Adept
Spells: 17
4 Aether Vial
2 Dismember
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
4 Spreading Seas
2 Vapor Snag
Total Value: $419.83
Another fairly cheap deck that puts up great results and is super consistent throughout it's games. There's a few pricey cards here like the Vials and the Mutavaults, but if you're looking for a cheap beatdown deck, this is a good one to start with. Affinity will cost about $100 more if you're interested in playing your entire hand on turn 1 but both are decks that can win by themselves on their speed alone.
I'm sure there's plenty more budget decks out there that crush modern events but these are some of the more popular ones that you're likely to see at your local game store and possibly at a PTQ or GP. They are all great decks and no matter which one you decide to go for, I'm sure you'll enjoy some success with it.
If there are any decks you think I should include, leave a comment and I'll look into making another article for budget modern decks another time!
Thanks for reading guys, see you next time
DannyO
Wizardden.com
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