(Ever After | Art by Ryan Alexander Lee)

A Deck Built For Love

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. We've taken some pretty interesting routes to come up with budget packages so far. Whether it be focusing on specific mechanics, infinite combos, or hiding a limited deck inside a Commander deck, they've all focused on gameplay. One of the best things about Commander is that we can brew decks based on something we love and adore. Or rather someone we love and adore. I'm so excited to say that by the time you read this article, I'll have taken the biggest step of my life thus far: I've gotten married to a wonderful girl named - you guessed it - Olivia.

When Olivia, Crimson Bride was revealed, I hadn't proposed yet. My Olivia was so happy that even Magic was telling me to get things moving. Little did she know, the plans were already in motion. A few months later she said "yes", and I put a ring on her finger (a real one, not the card). I've been saving this article until the big day came and I want to dedicate it to my amazing wife who is the biggest supporter of my writing and Magic as my addiction hobby.

So today, we're leaning way into the theme and building a wedding deck. Thanks to Innistrad: Crimson Vow, we have a lot of flavorful options to choose from, but you'll see that we have some goodies from other sets as well. For the original decklist, I'm using the poster child of the mistake that is Eminence for the sake of color identity, but let's hope your playgroup will let you rule-zero Edgar, Charmed Groom and Olivia, Crimson Bride as partners. Or, I guess you could pretend the Vampire tokens from Edgar Markov's ability are each guest's plus one? We'll also subtract Edgar's price tag from the initial deck price, bringing us to an initial price of $557.03.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Anointed Procession ($42.27)
            2. Demonic Tutor ($37.13)
            3. Vampiric Tutor ($30.01)
            4. Exquisite Blood ($29.09)
            5. Teferi's Protection ($23.04)
            6. Black Market Connections ($22.91)
            7. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord ($16.95)
            8. Door of Destinies ($15.64)
            9. Twilight Prophet ($11.29)
            10. Elenda, the Dusk Rose ($10.48)

Total Value of Cuts: $235.41

Like last time, our three color deck comes with a very expensive mana base. Swapping the big ticket lands out with budget options brings our total savings to $413.96.

Additions

Of course, the first addition is Olivia ($6.57). Not exactly budget, but this article would be a bit pointless without her. Remember, we're using her as a "partner with" Edgar, Charmed Groom so we have our happy couple, which is the most important thing, but not the only thing we need for a great wedding!

The Wedding Party

Where would a bride be without her maid of honor? Well, given her title, maybe Olivia would be better off without Anje, Maid of Dishonor ($0.19), but our deck wouldn't be! Anje's first ability will provide us with a steady stream of Blood tokens, which we can use to rummage away a Vampire for Olivia to bring back, or sacrifice to her second ability for some drain and gain when we need it. To go along with Anje, the rest of the bridesmaids fit right into this strategy! Olivia's Attendants ($0.21) really amp up the Blood production and make a great reanimation target for their bride. I'm noticing that there are no cards to represent groomsmen from Crimson Vow. I guess Mrs. Voldaren-Markov had a really specific vision for her wedding. I consider my groomsmen the most loyal friends I have, so we'll slot in Legion Loyalty ($2.99) to give them a shout out and also be a great top-end finisher for this deck.

The Guest List

The day wouldn't be complete without all of our wonderful guests. Some might say it's more about them than it is about the bride and groom. First up, we need to invite the family, so pretty quickly we need to Call the Bloodline ($0.15) and Rally the Ranks ($0.17). Both enchantments can come down early, with Call fueling discard synergies and adding to the board, while Rally can pump up those tokens and the 38 other Vampires in the deck. Finally, Scion of Opulence ($0.11) is our judgmental aunt, who will give us a bunch of great gifts in the form of Treasures and cards, but also a bunch of passive aggressive comments about how the ceremony could have been more elegant.

Everyone only cares about the reception

For starters, we'll definitely need an open bar. The guests can fill up their glasses at any of the conveniently placed Blood Fountains ($0.29), which also offers some recursion for our deck and adding to the Blood theme. With the open bar, I would expect more than one Gluttonous Guest ($0.03) despite the singleton rule of the format. With all of the Blood everyone's drinking, she'll bring some good synergy with Vito and Sanguine Bond. Stensia Masquerade ($0.16) adds a fun theme to the reception, and also helps the attacking Vampires brought back by my bride to win combat against all but the biggest creatures. This is especially sweet to Madness into play with all of the Blood tokens, giving your attackers first strike after blocks are declared but before damage.

More Wedding Flavor!

Remember, since we used an Edgar Markov list as the original deck, and we want to put Edgar, Charmed Groom and Olivia in the command zone, we actually need to add one more card! Here's a giant list of cards (and their wedding flavor) that could go in for the eleventh bonus card, assuming your playgroup allows the rule-zero. If not, Isshin, Two Heavens as One ($0.20) or Licia, Sanguine Tribune ($2.97) are good substitutes for a Mardu commander.

• Bride's Gown ($0.01), Groom's Finery ($0.02), Wedding Invitation ($0.11), Honeymoon Hearse ($0.02) - fairly obvious I think.
• Wedding Ring ($17.50) and Wedding Announcement ($11.64) - not budget but on theme. Come to think of it, maybe "not budget" is on theme for a wedding...
• Belligerent Guest ($0.02) - likely to happen if our Gluttonous Guest is over-served.
• Falkenrath Celebrants ($0.02) - some people just can't resist the dance floor.
• Bartered Cow ($0.03) - discard it to a Blood token to get your steak entrée.
• Sizzling Soloist ($0.01) - the band member that really gets your dance floor moving.
• Spellbinding Soprano ($0.09) - and other Bards can make up the rest of the band.
• Disrupt Decorum ($0.95) - someone brought up politics (there's always one).
• Generous Gift ($1.34) - some people like to ignore the registry and get you something a bit more unique.
• True Love's Kiss ($0.05) - you may now kiss the Zombie!
• Ever After ($0.20) - there is a word missing here...

Wrap-Up and Savings

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking it out through the mushiness. Here's what we saved:

We're just shy of saving 3/4 of the original deck's price, not bad if you want to build a Commander deck and pay for a wedding at the same time (trust me). Here's our new list, but keep in mind that I left Edgar Markov at the top so Archidekt would allow a legal deck:

I hope you enjoyed a bit more of a goofy theme this week! Thanks again to my lovely wife for all her support! Let me know what you think and if you want to see some more flavor-oriented budget packages in the future. I'll see you next time when we Brew for your Buck!

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

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.