Top's down // Bottoms up : Budget Utility Pt.1

It's Thursday again and that means that Johnny C is back from the clutches of the Undercity with a new Top's Down // Bottoms Up piece.

This week I've searched through my playgroups hidden gems to bring you some cheap utility that will hopefully enhance your EDH experience.

So why Budget? Budget cards are for the new and old players alike. Building a new deck is a process that gets better the more you do it, and card choice is key in focusing your deck. You don't always need the biggest, shiniest and most expensive cards to close a game. Sometimes there's treasure in those dollar rare boxes in card shops, so lets take a look at what I have seen and used from this hidden treasure cove.

20$ whole Dollars! Thanks Mister!

~Artifacts~

- Mizzium Transreliquat - Guildpact - This is Copy Artifact or Sculpting Steel on crack, possibly even better. There is always a good artifact or artifact creature hanging around the field, and this guy makes good use of both. For any color you can borrow for a turn, or Red/Blue and one to gain it permanently with options to copy again.

Most of the time you'll want to mainly use the second ability but that doesn't mean the first one is irrelevant. Temporary use of effects may be to your advantage because they're less mana intensive, or you just need something for a specific trigger. Cause it's awesome when you borrow an Eldrazi Monument to block or board wipe. 




- Mimic Vat - Scars of Mirrodin - I'm sure that this little gem has found its way at a table near you. If not, you've missed out. Having an imprinted ETB monster or your opponent's monster can lead to some interesting game-play.  When a creature dies you may imprint it (exile under) unto the artifact then make copies of it for 3.

For token generation decks, or those with Parallel Lives and/or Doubling Season this can go a long way. Making more tokens of ETB badass Avenger of Zendikar? Want  more use out of Evoke creatures like Mulldrifter or Reveillark? This card makes it happen. We can also utilize Populate from Return to Ravnica block and gain the token produced permanently.

Mimic Vat also has a interesting interaction with Commanders themselves. sure you can imprint a General unto it (Most likely will be yours) but if Mimic Vat gets destroyed that general is out of the game COMPLETELY.

- Illusionist's Bracers - Gatecrash - When this card was spoiled i was very excited. Before this there was the lonely old Rings of Brighthearth. While the Bracers won't get you infinite mana, or copy planeswalker abilities, it can still be pretty fun.

Plenty of Generals can make use of this card but who would benefit the most from it? Rhys the Redeemed and his token doubling effect now quadruples your guys. Mayael the Anima digs 2 creatures 5 or greater out now. Double your creature fling with Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord? The list can continue but those are some of the many good use's for this 2 cmc equipment.

In my opinion, this is probably one of the most overlooked cards. Sure you can go for the any ability Rings, but I dare you to spend a buck on this and not have a good time.

- Nim Deathmantle - Scars of Mirrodin - This odd little equipment can serve as a lifeline for your best hitter,
or your voltron general for 4. Having a strategic piece on the field usually inspires your opponent into tossing the metaphorical monkey wrench into your engine. Having a card like this can help prevent such downfalls as watching your well build voltron loose all its equipment then get blown up.

Using this in a Non-voltron style deck is also possible. Many players are fans of reanimation and since this card brings it from your graveyard instead of a pseudo-regeneration effect you can gain lovely ETB (Enter The Battlefield) effects once again.

A strong way of utilizing this effect could be with your Undying creatures or in combination with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. After you've gained the bonus from the undying you can pay 4, and restart the process over again with +2 and Intimidate! Awesome!

~Creatures~

- Reaper from the Abyss - Innistrad - Morbid is a fun mechanic. People are all about the Grave Pact, and I am one of them. If I lost something someone else should lose something. It's childish I know but they still get to choose whom they sacrifice.

With this guy they have no choice, they lose what I want them to. Reaper even goes a step further by being able to trigger at each end phase no matter who lost a creature.

My only problem with this card is the limiting factor of what type i can destroy, granted its a small creature type but sometimes its a demon that's wrecking my life total, Looking at you Kaalia players- put Rakdos away! jk


- Odric, Master Tactician - M13 -
The foreshadowed embodiment of the Battalion mechanic that works so well with Boros in standard these days. While getting three creatures to go along with Odric sounds easy, it's making sure that the three can actually do some damage. Having control over the declare blockers phase is HUGE in EDH, you could take out someones pretty Oracle of Mul Daya that is just sitting alone causing all those tempo problems.

Personally I tried out a Mono white token deck with this guy as the general and I was amazed. with just a small group of 1/1's and 2/2's I was wrecking utility creatures, using Odrics' First Strike to take out the heavy hitters or even some Commanders, and picking away at my opponents without much of a sweat. The main problem that the deck had was due to my high reliance on Odric, once he was gone I lost.

Using this guy as a good utility creature can benefit token generation decks like Ghave, Guru of Spores giving you some major control of end phase shenanigans.

- Ulvenwald Tracker - Avacyn Restored - nicknamed "Fight!" - Having selective battle between two creatures especially if they have protection from a color, deathtouch, Indestructibility, or damage modifiers can be a beating. These benefits can make quick work of utility bench sitters that provide helpful/harmful effects just by existing while giving Sad Robot something to smile about.

Control players love having static effects on creatures that prevent spells from being cast on their turn, or at all. Our little human here can make Teferi and Grand Abolisher no more with '1G' and if you read GG's Dragons Maze three part article, you know the value of '1G'.

Looking at the "Fight" mechanic, It is another strong creature removal for green which was lacking. If you're thinking of Mono-green decks I recommend you look at this mechanic or even better, this creature for your removal or evasion plays because you can do this to a creature being blocked so your beasty gets through unblocked!

- Deadeye Navigator - Avacyn Restored - nicknamed "Shenanigans"- The list of what this guy can do is longer than what he CAN'T DO and for good reason. Creatures that enter the battlefield love him, creatures that need protection love him, and your opponents love to hate him. He is everything to everyone. I wished he was legendary so I could make him my general and do horrible things with him.

6 cmc for a 5/5 is normal for a Blue creature but with the ability he is under-costed for the position he takes on the field. Not horribly under-costed but i'd say just enough for shenanigans to make an impact. Playing this guy at the right time can create the perfect opportunity for a win con, but be careful. Once people know his tricks they tend to save a spell for him.

Something about the "Flicker" ability that people may not realize is that you can get rid of Deadeye fairly easily if you know when to strike. After someone exiles him, when he re-enters the battlefield, you can use a kill spell on him before he has a chance to soulbind to another creature or watching their mana base and see if they get a bit overzealous with him.

Well that does it for this week. Join me next week when I bring you more budget goodies with the other 4 types, Enchantments, Instant, Sorcery, and Land. Till then pilfer the dollar rare box and let me know what's hidden there!

-Johnny Confidant

The Stack #3- Trinkets, Potential Treasure, and Story Time With Grandpa

Happy Weekend Zoners!

So we've got a nice fun "uh-dish" of The Stack for you today. I've been testing this really goofy Mishra deck with no success this week, so I decided to talk Metal. VJ, per suggestion, also did.

And naturally, Grandpa did not.

Which is totally cool, and moderately hilarious. Cause there should be no themes here. This is The Stack. To reinforce this, Boromir would now like to meme us up with his immortal proclamation.

Thanks Boromir. We've got it all cleared up. There will be no order. Just madness.

Alright. Great, well, I'm confused again. Thanks Leonidas. But go home. You're drunk.

GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICKS

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
This is about as exciting as scalable Red removal gets except for maybe Bonfire of the Damned. Points for being instant speed and one-sided, knocks for being expensive and featuring Rosewater's stupid multikicker mechanic.

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Let's be real. Comet Storm is probably the most affordable and playable red card of its kind next to Blasphemous Act or Starstorm, and it outclasses both in different ways. This card loves Wort The Raidmother, Rosheen Meanderer, and other decks with big mana, spells to copy, and no particular place to go. Also, I never heard GG complain about Multikicker any time he kicked his Wolfbriar Elemental.  It's red, so the leash has gotta be a little looser. Goofy mechanically? Sure. Unplayable? No Way.

Venser's Journalist- NOT SURE
With enough mana, this card could be abused to a ridiculous level. Unfortunatley, it looks to be pretty expensive. If you have that much mana to spend, I'd choose a Fireball over this.

Grandpa Growth-THUMBS UP
Top-down designs make for the best flavor. I am not a big flavor fan. I would be a big flavor fan if all of the flavor made sense like this guy does. I am a huge fan of Islamic culture and mythology. This is a useful ability for Red to have; adding power and flexibility to decks instead of just Shattering everything. A good companion for Viashino Heretic. 

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
The Cave of Wonders sometimes yields nice gems. A 1/1 at four CMC scares me a lot, so it'd definitely come close, but I'd be willing to try it. Surprise can be a powerful ally. So can really really bad art.

 Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
It's hard to argue with taking control of artifacts and the mana cost, although high, isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most artifacts that you want to snatch out of your opponent's hand won't show up before turn 4 anyway.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
When I see this card, I like to think of peoples fishing stories. Exaggeration pushes the scales of the catch to impossible proportions. This is a big G-dang. Look at that monster...

Uncle Landdrops-  THUMBS UP
This is one big Gordon's Fish Stick. One thing I do want to mention though- this card gets a serious "GoodStuff" label because everyone wants to slam it in their deck without planning or trying to build around it, and so at the very least, make sure your deck has dudes that fly. Or Islandwalk. Not too much to ask considering the colors. Also relevant for the late-late, after you've cast Thada Adel the 4th time or so. Just think before you dive in. 

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Beautiful, majestic, classic, and terrifying. Every blue EDH deck should have this or something like it. Reminds me of a fishing expedition gone terribly wrong.



VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICKS

Venser's Journalist-  THUMBS UP
Not only do I like life gain, I also like not having important card in my graveyard. Granted the Elixir is not the best way to retrieve cards from your graveyard, it does, however, throw a big middle finger to the guy using Wrexial as his commander or running things like Spelltwine. As a rule, I've begun running Elixir in just about every EDH deck. Great insurance policy!

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS DOWN
I have played this in the past, and for me it seems to flounder. Either I got it too early, and it just sat on the board with nothing to tuck, or I found it the minute after someone Bojuka Bogged me. Maybe you'll have better luck than me with it, but my deck designs are always a little more opportunistic, so when I draw something like this a lot and it isn't effective, I tend to cut it pretty quick and not look back.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
This card saw limited play in the sideboard of Standard control decks. 5 life means a lot less in Commander and there isn't really a pure aggro deck in the format (at least not one that is viable in competitive play). I don't know exactly what you would want this for. It is much cheaper/easier to get cards out of your graveyard than out of your library.

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
If ever there was an artifact that belongs in every EDH deck, Mimc Vat would certainly be on the top ten list! An inescapable fact of Commander is that creatures will die, and some of these creatures who die are really awesome! I'd have Sharuum the Hegemon as my commander just so I could destroy her, then have Sharuum tokens pop out every turn!

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
There's really not a whole lot of bad I can say about this card. Control decks love playing removal and taking your dude. Beatdown decks love having more copies of their own dude once control decks kill that dude. It's really a versatile card that's fun for the whole Magic Family. There's a lot of decks that should be and could be playing this card. I have just as many of this as I do Solemns.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
This is more value than you can shake a stick at. It often acts like a cheap colorless planeswalker; generating incremental returns as the game moves on. Certain choice creatures can also create a soft lock. Acidic Slime on Vat is basically GG and a frustrating way to lose.

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Control has always been a big part of my EDH games (apart from the times I went full tokens), and the Orb certainly locks down the game by preventing two of the biggest strategies: land grab and tutoring. However, this artifact is a bit of a double-edged sword: it's a card that will help screw over your opponents, but unless you don't need to search your library for anything either, you'll be screwing yourself over.

Uncle Landdrops-THUMBS DOWN
I've never been able to find a place for this card so I can't really justify it. And I've tried. It's a pretty rigid card that really only has relevance with Maralen of the Mornsong to me, and if that's the case, I'd rather just play Stranglehold so I can punish my opponents and get value off her. Also really hard to build around, though possible with Fact or Fiction and Lim-Dul's Vault. Maybe it would be good as a way of attrition in a Sen Triplets deck. That's about all I got.

Grandpa Growth-THUMBS UP
I like what this card does. I just don't like the package it comes in. I prefer value-added versions, which is why I support Aven Mindcensor and Shadow of Doubt. Disruption is a necessary tactic against many decks and punishing tutors and mana bases is pretty brutal.




UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICKS

Uncle Landdrops-THUMBS UP
I approve because I want to play this card though I'm not sure how good or annoying this could be. Takin' a dip in the Knowledge Pool makes multiplayer games seem like a whole lot of fun. 1v1 will prolly be a drag. Also, for abusers, there is a Teferi Lock with this card, which seems nice as long as you have instant answers. Dunno if it's Treasure for Treasure Mage though.

Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
This is a fun card, no doubt, but it's also a fairly effective game changer. If your opponent is counting on a countering spells cast after the Knowledge Pool lands, he/she will be in for a frustrating game.

Grandpa Growth-  THUMBS DOWN
The text box is practically overflowing with text that boils down to one thing: this card is unplayable. Except for the aforementioned combo. 

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I'm all in on Grinning Totem. It's funny looking, fun to play, and in triple colored decks like fun Sharuum or the Mishra Deck I'm testing it in it's been pretty cool. Dark Glissa would probably like this card too.

Venser's Journalist-  THUMBS UP
Mind Control effects have always been my standard for taking other players' stuff, but with the Grinning Totem, there's a chance to take out key instants/sorceries and use them to your favor.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I somewhat support this card (and Praetor's Grasp for similar reasons) because they are actually powerful enough to be useful in competitive decks and they actually meet my personal fun criteria. This isn't explosive or flashy, but it can really hang your opponent out to dry if they are depending on a certain kind of card to win. What I like most about this is that it scales to the power level of your opponent's deck while consistently presenting their scariest threat. Probably, better used in sideboarded play or in multiplayer to insure you can actually cast the card. If you don't care, then use the Jester's junk instead.

Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I definitely want to play this card. Like Smiley Totes above, it allows you to interact with your opponent's stuff like P-Dubs or some pesky card type like enchantments, which blue and black both have hard times against. I'm sure it won't be good, but it seems fun if you've got a way to remove it. Also Trinkets for Trinket Mage.

Venser's Journalist- NOT SURE
Avarice Totem looks like a fun enough card for sure, but my personal experience with card exchange is that it always seems to come back around to bite you in the ass. Unless you're in a multiplayer game and have excellent persuasive skills, this may just be a sideboard card.

Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
The only real interesting thing about this card is the old 10 mana switcheroo trick. Let's be honest though. If you're tapping 10 mana at a time, then it should be for something that wins the game.
Well, that's all, folks!

Stay tuned for GG's Super Secret Sunday.

Your Turn.

-UL