Increasing Devotion | Art by Daniel Ljunggren

Flashback Fun

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. The last few articles in the series focused on some commanders that have been around for a while, so I wanted to go with something new to get a bit experimental. Newer commanders have way less data on EDHREC to inform deckbuilding decisions, but maybe we can find some cutting edge tech for our March of the Machine (MOM) team-up:

These two lead us to an interesting balancing act for building the deck. On one hand, we want Humans to enable Katilda and Lier's trigger, and on the other we want instants and sorceries to target with said trigger. I'm sure it would take some playtesting to figure out the perfect ratio between the two, but for now we'll try to keep the balance. This deck also reminds me of the sea monster flash deck that we looked at a while ago, with flash-enablers to let us cast our Humans at instant speed. There's plenty of expensive cards in the deck too, with the total price coming in at $412.39.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Rhystic Study ($38.67)
            2. Cyclonic Rift ($37.88)
            3. Esper Sentinel ($27.14)
            4. Heroic Intervention ($16.87)
            5. Snapcaster Mage ($14.84)
            6. Noble Hierarch ($10.37)
            7. Eladamri's Call ($9.40)
            8. Chulane, Teller of Tales ($8.78)
            9. Clever Concealment ($7.08)
            10. Three Visits ($6.95)

Total Value of Cuts: $177.98

This time, our mana base makes up a huge portion of the total cost of the deck, which is to be expected given it's a three-color deck. Swapping any lands that are pricier than Three Visits in the list above would bring our total savings to $317.22.

Additions

One thing that's certain (no matter how you build this deck) is that it will be mana-hangry. Not only do you need mana to cast the Humans, but you also need even more mana to cast the flashback spells. My first thought was "free Humans!", but believe it or not, there isn't a single one in the game. There are plenty of free spells, but most of those cost way more than what we would consider for a budget option. But what if there was a way to reduce the cost of our Humans AND spells, and sometimes even make them free? What if that way just got a bunch of new cards, also from March of the Machine? That's right, it's Convoke!

Convoking Humans

Let's start by looking at Humans that benefit or enable Convoke. First up, one that I really like is Fallaji Wayfarer ($0.24). The Wayfarer is an awesome cost-reducer for 12 of our spells in the final list, including our commander, and that first line of really weird text allows it to tap itself for pay any of the colored pips in those mana costs. The next entry in the "X-Y-of-Eos" saga is Knight-Errant of Eos ($1.77), which can draw us up to two more Humans when cheated onto the battlefield with its inherent Convoke. Of note, our creature curve tops out at five with Kyler, so we should be able to grab every creature in the deck if the Knight-Errant is fully Convoked.

Our next two Humans don't reference Convoke specifically, but definitely help us use the ability. Each time we cast one of those instants and sorceries from our graveyard, Thalia's Geistcaller ($0.09) will make us a Spirit to help Convoke out the next thing we cast. Making a Mox Pearl that can also attack or block each time we cast a spell seems like a good deal to me. Since we have his newer card in the list already, Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage ($0.15) is another way to let us cast our 16 Historic spells at instant speed, and he taps for two different colors of mana for Convoke. Finally, we're going to be spending a lot of time tapping our creatures, so let's add some ways to untap them. Preferably Human ways, like Village Bell-Ringer ($0.11).

Convoking Spells

Now let's look at the noncreature spells. First on our list is another new MOM card that seems perfect for this deck: Complete the Circuit ($0.11) not only copies the next spell we cast, but more importantly allows us to cast every sorcery during the turn at instant speed. All of a sudden, we can go off right before we untap and get ready for a lethal turn. Return to the Ranks ($1.39) adds some more recursion to the deck, and it can bring 13 of our creatures (all Humans) back to the battlefield in one shot.

But what if our spells don't have Convoke? Well, a new entry in the line of sweet three-mana mana rocks is Wand of the Worldsoul ($2.24). I'll admit it's a bit slow, but after you untap with it, you can give any spell you want Convoke, from your Humans to spells; heck, even your other artifacts. We can also add an untapper here, this time an instant, so we can flash it back to squeeze even more mana out of our creatures. There are a lot of these, but we'll go with To Arms! ($1.92) since it's cheap, draws us a card, and has an exclamation point in the card name.

Casting from the 'yard

There is one really sweet interaction I want to point out with a small subset of cards like Sevinne's Reclamation. K&L's ability grants the targeted card flashback, but for its normal mana cost, so we can take advantage of the "cast from a graveyard" bonus without paying an even more expensive flashback cost, a trick I use with Increasing Ambition in my Oskar deck. Since Sevinne's Reclamation is already in the list, I thought we could finalize our budget package with the white card from the "Increasing" cycle, Increasing Devotion ($0.08). Ten Humans for five mana? Yes, please!

Wrap Up and Savings

Before we get into the savings with our specific choices, I want to mention that there are a zillion ways to take this theme even further. You could lean harder into multicolored cards to help enable Convoke, like Hero of Precinct One, Knight of New Alara, and Glass of the Guildpact. I also looked at Vitalize as a utility untapper, which can act as a crazy ritual in conjunction with Convoke. And finally, there are a bunch of serviceable Convoke spells, like Sundering Vitae and Nissa's Expedition, that could potentially be cast for free from your hand and from the graveyard. This one really got the brewing juices flowing! Anyways, on to the savings:

Dang! This is the largest savings by % in the whole series so far. We've brought a $400+ deck down to just over $100 by removing ten cards and assuming you're swapping the expensive lands.

What else would you have added to go with the Convoke theme? What do you think the right ratio of Humans to spells is? Let me know in the comments below! My next article is a special one, so be on the look out for it in two weeks 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.