(Satyr Grovedancer | Art By Jason E. Engle)

Is Your Draft Chaff Weighing You Down?

Not anymore!

Hey there, my name is Jordan, and I run the EDH Jank Center on Youtube. Welcome to Finding Homes For Janky Cards, the series where we rifle through that big pile of bulk you've got lying around and find a package of five janky, budget, or under-utilized cards and pair them with a commander that will help them shine. The deck we get out of it might not be the fanciest or most extravagant at the table, but we're still going to build it because every card deserves a loving home!

This week, our warm and ever-welcoming host is Rishkar, Peema Renegade

In keeping with the spirit of the series and channel, we're already off to a good start. Rishkar is a relatively unpopular choice if you're looking for a mono-green commander, boasting only 188 decks to his name at the time of writing this article. I can only assume that most builders look at this card and think it'd be way more viable in the 99, which is mostly correct... but more on that later. Let's take a look at the average Rishkar build.

One glance at the decklist shows us a classic +1/+1 counter beatdown deck with expensive staples like The Ozolith, The Great Henge, and Branching Evolution, but if you know me, my channel, or the first article in this series at all, you know we're about to take this in a very different (and much less expensive) direction!

Do the words "$50 Eldrazi Deck" mean anything to you? Well, if they don't, they're about to! Today, we are taking a Rishkar, Peema Renegade build and turning it into a rampaging ramp machine that slams down Eldrazi to smash face and wreak havoc. How are we going to achieve this? Let's take a look at our janky selections!

Satyr Grovedancer

In 0% of 1,049,231 Decks

Typically, if this card is used at all, it's to place a +1 counter on a creature with some kind of evasion and subsequently start the Proliferate or counter-doubling engine. Stuff like Phantom Warrior or Cold-Eyed Selkie are ideal targets for this.

That's basically all it does, and unless you're running a blink strategy (kind of hard to do in mono-green), cards like Grovedancer really just end up entering the battlefield, putting a counter on something, then just kind of... sitting there.

However, in a deck helmed by Rishkar that's built around spitting Eldrazis out as fast as possible, this card, and others like it, become the all-stars of our build. Cards like Bond Beetle, Pollenbright Druid, and Ainok Guide all enter the battlefield, target themselves with their abilities, and become mana dorks!

With our build today being chock-full of these forgotten draft classics, we now have a super fun, janky, and easy-on-the-wallet suite of mana dorks! Not only that, but if we actually take a closer look at the text on our commander, we discover that we have even more room for unique mana dorks.

Kappa Tech-Wrecker

in 1% of 805,907 Decks

In this series, we're almost always dealing with cards that have a 0% on EDHREC. However, the dope-ness of this card simply cannot be ignored, because repeated removal on a stick is sweet. Combining this with Proliferate effects and counter-doublers nets you a ton of value.

That's not why we're here, though. I mean, removal is all fine and dandy, but remember, Rishkar says that any creature with a counter on it can tap for green. That means we're not limited to just running +1 counter synergies here, and guess what: our little Ninja Turtle enters the battlefield with a deathtouch counter, so, in this build, this card now does even more work that it did before. Not only is it repeatable removal on a stick, but it's also a mana dork that serves our larger strategy. Big win today for Turtle Ninjas! (Wizards, please print more Turtle Ninjas.)

Deepwood Denizen

0% of 998,415 Decks

We're extremely creature-heavy in this build, so finding ways to still run removal and card draw is crucial. In comes this bulk common to save the day for us! Most of our mana dorks and synergies in this deck are still based on +1 counters, so this activated ability will almost never be expensive for us to pay for us. More often than not, we'll just be paying one or two mana to draw a card. While yes, it's not the most efficient way to draw cards, it's way less expensive and much more unique than just slamming in a Toski, Bearer of Secrets and calling it a day, although if you had the money to do just that, I wouldn't blame you.

Deepwood Denizen will net us card draw every single turn and get our engine running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Nothing but the best for our upcoming Eldrazi. By the way, if it comes down to it, a beefed-up 3/2 with vigilance can get the job done in combat as well. Don't sleep on your bulk, kiddos!

Okay, so we've looked at dorks and card draw, now let's take a look at the stars of our show: the budget Eldrazi.

Ulamog's Crusher

1% of 2,273,384 decks

When I first came up with the idea for this deck, I almost gave up immediately because I thought the budget was going to be insurmountable. All I could think of were the pantheon of terrifying Eldrazi that we all know and love fear.

However, to my delighted surprise, there are actually a number of really great budget Eldrazi. Ulamog's Crusher is a big beater that'll come down ideally pretty early, given how much mana we'll be able to generate, and start wreaking absolute havoc on our opponents with that Annihilator ability.

Cards like Deceiver of Form, Breaker of Armies, and Decimator of the Provinces all provide excellent support, whether that be in the form of fun cloning shenanigans or just plain ol' stompy stuff. Imagine turning all of your mana dorks into a Void Winnower! I know having more than one copy would be redundant, but it's fun to rub salt in the wound sometimes, ya know?

Now listen, Eldrazi are pretty scary, and your opponents will try and take good care to make sure they stay off the field, so how can we win if our big boys don't get a chance to shine? Follow me this way, if you would be so kind....

Blossoming Bogbeast

2% of 1,034,044 decks

Forgive me reader, for I have sinned. 

I have chosen a card that is in 2% of decks on EDHREC, rather than 0%. I am a sell out, a heathen, a fool.

Just kidding! I honestly think this card is still slept on enough to talk about. Say hello to the budget version of Craterhoof Behemoth!

I absolutely love Bogbeast. At base level you get an Overrun effect, and if you're running some extra lifegain, you're off to the races. If our Eldrazi get iced, we'll more than likely still have a ton of creatures on board; remember all our little mana dorks? All we gotta do is attack with our Bogbeast and we can finish off our opponents through classic combat!

We also have tons of other ways to win through combat, like Battlefront Krushok, to force one-to-one blocks, as well as Clamavus, for a really fun power buff!

There are even some fun and janky ways to utilize our mana in Hooded Hydra, Serene Sunset, and Winter Blast.

Now, let's take a look at our jankified decklist:

Looks pretty fun if I do say so myself. And obviously, if you have the money, there's plenty of room to upgrade if you'd like to slot in the big bads of the Eldrazi world!

That's it for this installment of Finding Homes for Janky Cards. What cards would you like me to find homes for next? Let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time!

Jordan Iacovella

Jordan is an actor, music producer, and gigantic nerd who runs the EDH Jank Center on Youtube! Through various tier lists, janky deck techs, and budget-friendly guides, the Jank Center hopes to show people that you don't need to be rich to have fun playing this wonderful game. Think outside the box, baby!