Gilt-Leaf Archdruid | Art by Steve Prescott

This Land is My Land

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. Today is an exciting day for me, since we get to talk about my favorite two-color pair in the game: Golgari. (No I won't say Witherbloom, even if it's fitting.) Dina, Soul Steeper has some great aspects that make a good commander. She's only two mana, making her easily castable, her first ability is a win con and her second is a sac outlet, and, most importantly for today, she's a Druid.

Looking at the average list on EDHREC, the deck clocks in at $168.87, with Exquisite Blood topping the list. That makes sense since it goes infinite with our commander, but we're only interested in budget infinite combos. A few other lifegain/Golgari staples make up the rest. As usual, we'll start by removing the most expensive cards in the deck, then take a look at our budget package, noting that all prices listed below were current at time of writing.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Exquisite Blood ($28.29)
            2. Overgrown Tomb ($12.80)
            3. Alhammarret's Archive ($10.87)
            4. Undergrowth Stadium ($9.33)
            5. Beledros Witherbloom ($8.69)
            6. Veinwitch Coven ($6.01)
            7. Pest Infestation ($5.81)
            8. Assassin's Trophy ($5.78)
            9. Ayara, First of Locthwain ($5.68)
            10. Deathrite Shaman ($5.34)

Total Value of Cuts: $98.60

Additions

Those of you that recognized the art at the top of the article know what's coming already: we're going to build around one of my favorite cards, Gilt-Leaf Archdruid ($1.76). While our primary gameplan is still gain and drain, our package gives us a completely different (and hidden) plan of attack that is absolutely hilarious if we can pull it off. The list already contains six Druids, including Dina, so we can add some more to not only make the Archdruid activation possible, but even less of a magical christmasland scenario.

However, we aren't just adding random Druids for the hell of it. I've done my best to make sure the additions today aren't just dead cards if we don't have the Archdruid. No Maskwood Nexus below!

Whether You Life It or Not

Unsurprisingly, our first three additions are from Strixhaven or Commander 2021. These three Druids also synergize nicely with our lifegain plan, with Ezzaroot Channeler ($0.29) and Accomplished Alchemist ($0.25) giving us some more ramp, and Honor Troll ($0.04) amplifying our lifegain as we go.

Druiding Your Best

Speaking of ramp, this is arguably the thing that Druids are best known for. We already have Llanowar Elves, so we can add Fyndhorn Elves ($0.97) and Elvish Mystic ($0.38) for some more turn-one acceleration. We can also add Seton, Krosan Protector ($1.97) to turn all of our Druids (including Dina) into Llanowar Elves. And yes, we could just put Seton in the command zone, but we lose access to black, the best color in Magic (fact, no personal bias at all), and our opponents will see what's coming!

Druid-tility

To round out our budget package, I wanted to include some druid-tility cards. Nullmage Advocate ($0.15) is a weird one, but besides being repeatable "free" removal, it can be a really great political tool and act as a weird form of graveyard hate in a pinch. Paragon of Eternal Wilds ($0.17) pumps our team and can give Dina trample if we decide to use her second ability to deal a bunch of damage. Finally, while not a Druid or even a creature, I had to include Primal Command ($0.56). It can be slow, but it's really flexible, being a tutor for Gilt-Leaf Archdruid, removal for a problem noncreature card, graveyard hate, and can even dome someone for seven if we have a Sanguine Bond effect out.

Wrap Up and Savings

Let's take a look at what we've saved:

Yet again we dropped the initial list to under $100 by cutting only 10 cards from it. I have my usual problem with the land count, but I'm starting to sound like a broken record, so I'll throw it to you, dear reader. Going forward would you like me to remove only the top 10 nonland cards from the list? This might mean less overall savings but at least we keep these low land counts the same. Or we can keep doing what we're doing, lands be damned!

Brew for Your Buck is a new series, so I'm always glad to hear feedback! Would you have tried something different for the budget package? Is Gilt-Leaf Archdruid your new favorite card? Let me know in the comments below what you think about this deck or about the series as a whole, and I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck.

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.