(Plagon, Lord of the Beach | Art by GOSSAN)

We Ride!

Hello fellow brewer and welcome back to Brew For Your Buck, where we swap out the top 10 most expensive cards in a deck with 10 budget cards that add a unique twist. Winter is upon us, and while I wait for there to be enough snow to go skiing, I'm daydreaming of a day at the beach. Foundations Jumpstart (J25) gives us a cool new commander to help us switch over to island time. Also friend of the series Ryan and I were shooting ideas back and forth for the newest Starfish Wizard:

Plagon makes a great commander with its enter-the-battlefield (ETB) trigger, giving us card velocity from the command zone. That hybrid pip in its second ability means we're in the primary colors for blink decks, giving us a bunch of options to abuse Plagon's first ability to the extreme. Let's take a look at the expensive cards in the average list which comes in at $202.91, not a bad starting point.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Rhystic Study ($38.18)
               2. Delney, Streetwise Lookout ($17.30)
               3. Pollywog Prodigy ($14.68)
               4. Displacer Kitten ($9.60)
               5. Teleportation Circle ($7.40)
               6. Meekstone ($5.19)
               7. Spellskite ($5.15)
               8. Eerie Interlude ($3.69)
               9. Essence Flux ($3.47)
               10. Dovin's Veto ($3.26)

Total Value of Cuts: $107.92

Replacing the expensive lands with basics (and Idyllic Beachfront because of flavor) leads to an additional $45.15 in savings, for a total of $153.07.

Our budget package for Plagon is pretty straightforward; If we want to have creatures with big butts, there is a mechanic that dates back to the first days of magic. We did it once in all five colors, but we're back again! That's right, it's our second ever defender deck here on Brew For Your Buck.

Additions

Where is the defense?

While we have a few cards with defender in the deck, and High Alert which allows them to attack, we definitely need more to help get our aggro on. Wakestone Gargoyle ($0.10) acts as a second High Alert affect, and has the stats to count for Plagon's ETB as well.

Shield-Wall Sentinel ($0.09) goes and finds whatever defender we might need in a pinch, and works awesome with our multitude of blink effects like Ephemerate and Soulherder.

Besides the Gargoyle that helps enable attacks, another good target for the Sentinel is Stalwart Shield-Bearers ($0.97). Being a two-drop means we can have it on the battlefield early (before Plagon enters) so we can draw some extra cards right off the bat. It's also good in the late game, since it acts like a super-anthem for our other defenders once they start attacking with their toughness.

Perimeter Captain ($0.65) adds another cheap creature to come down before Plagon, along with providing some nice incidental lifegain to keep us alive while we grind out all of this blinking value. At first I was going to include this as a bonus card to replace something like Aegis Turtle, but I really want to stress how good it is to have creatures with big butts that come down before Plagon.

Lastly, no defender deck is complete without Slaughter the Strong ($0.07). Depending on our defenders of choice, this card can be close to a Plague Wind for three mana. The fact that your opponents will have to sacrifice their creatures mean we don't need to worry about that pesky indestructible keyword either.

Blinktacular

I mentioned before that Shield-Wall Sentinel would go well with our blink effects, so let's throw in some more defenders that will do the same. We already have Wall of Omens to draw us even more cards, but how about Mnemonic Wall ($0.13) to re-buy any of our blink spells like Ephemerate, a wrath like The Battle of Bywater or a counterspell like... Counterspell.

It's sad that we don't have a defender that blinks a creature when it enters, but we have the next best thing with Jeskai Barricade ($0.41). Having flash is a big deal on this card, as we can use it to protect one of our creatures from removal, or at the very least rebuy an ETB trigger (hello there, Plagon). Then we can continue to blink this to bounce our stuff, replay it, and get some VALUE. Who doesn't love a good slow loop?

Wall of Stolen Identity ($2.78) crosses my self-imposed $2 threshold for card suggestions, but I'll report me to me later, because this is the perfect card for a blinky-defenders deck. The Wall can copy ANY creature on the battlefield, and will keep that thing tapped down until the wall goes away. Copy and turn off an opposing Drakuseth while you do all the swinging and pinging. If something better comes along, we can blink the wall again and get a new toy.

Goats and Crabs

I wanted to include some cool cards that aren't necessarily defender related, but are really good for any Plagon deck. The first is Springjack Shepherd ($0.14), a card that Ryan found when we he was brewing Plagon. Imagine curving this thing into Plagon into Baldin, Century Herdmaster?! Even with only a few white pips in our permanents (yes, Chroma is effectively devotion), we can build a lethal board of Goats pretty fast. Not to mention, you can blink this a bunch of times before you move to end the game and completely muck up the ground.

Speaking of lethal board states, I had to include Scuttletide ($0.04) too. Scuttletide can turn the extra cards we're drawing into Crabs that can ultimately draw you more cards and also beat down your opponents with Baldin, High Alert, and friends. Like it or not, Universes Beyond: Spongebob is on its way, so we're likely going to see a certain Crab lord in the future. With Plagon being a Starfish, we might see some more upgrades to this deck coming soon.

Wrap Up & Savings

Let's see what we saved:

Awesome! We got the deck down to below $60, with a 73% savings. Looking at the list, the average deck is pretty top-heavy, so if you've got more cash to play with, maybe you can keep a few of those in, or spring for some manabase upgrades. Thanks again to Ryan for always brewing up some fun decks with me.

Did you like this cross between blink and defenders? Would you have taken the deck in another direction? Did a miss a sweet card that we definitely should include? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck!

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Please note: card prices listed in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but prices can vary over time and between locations.

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Brian Cain

Brian played Magic intermittently between 2003 and 2017 when he fully embraced his love for Commander. Finding ways to maximize the value of each piece of cardboard in the deck is one of his favorite things to explore, especially if it involves putting lands in the graveyard! Outside of Magic, Brian works as a consultant in the marine industry, turning his passion for boats and ships into a career.