From the Brim to the Trim - Sneaky Budgets and Conspiring Opponents

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Meteor Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Meteor Swarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://www.olivierbernard-art.com/">Olivier Bernard</a></h6>
<h1>Brewing Xcitement</h1>
<p>Hello fellow brewer, and welcome back to <em>Brew for your Buck</em>, where we swap out the top 10 most expensive cards in a deck with 10 budget cards that add a unique twist. This time, I want to take a look at a deck I was toying around with last year but haven't pulled the trigger to build just yet. Gruul is a tough color combination for me to get excited about. Looking at the most popular themes for the color pair, none inspire me much besides <em>Landfall</em>, but I've already sold my soul to the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Gitrog Monster" href="#" target="_blank">almighty amphibian</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I finally found some inspiration though when looking for a non-Izzet spellslinging commander:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wort, the Raidmother"></div></div>
<p>Wort asks for a deck with a balance of creatures and spells (not unlike our <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/brew-for-your-buck-tap-down-flashback/">Katilda and Lier deck</a>), which can be difficult to do. Fortunately, her average list is filled with a bunch of spells that make creatures à la <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dragon Fodder" href="#" target="_blank">Dragon Fodder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Because of this, we see a lot of token payoff with her, but yet another token deck is not very inspiring (at least not to me). The inspiring part is what those tokens do with Wort on the battlefield: copying our spells with <em>Conspire.</em> There are plenty of generically powerful spells to copy in the deck already, but this is <em>Brew for your Buck</em>! We want a <strong><em>theme</em></strong>, which you may have already guessed from my not-so-subtle title.</p>
<p>That's right, we're copying X spells. There are a few sprinkled in already, but we're going to really lean into them today. Once the X spell is on the stack, copying it means whatever the value of X is, essentially doubling your invested mana. Another bonus with this deck is that the original list only costs $151, so we have an excellent chance of getting it below $100.</p>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Purphoros, God of the Forge" href="#" target="_blank">Purphoros, God of the Forge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($19.26)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jeska&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Jeska&#039;s Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($12.54)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Awaken the Woods" href="#" target="_blank">Awaken the Woods</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($11.71)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cryptolith Rite" href="#" target="_blank">Cryptolith Rite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($9.93)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Primal Amulet" href="#" target="_blank">Primal Amulet</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($8.79)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urabrask" href="#" target="_blank">Urabrask</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($8.38)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Second Harvest" href="#" target="_blank">Second Harvest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($6.10)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vexing Shusher" href="#" target="_blank">Vexing Shusher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($4.68)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Storm-Kiln Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Storm-Kiln Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($4.06)</li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krenko, Mob Boss" href="#" target="_blank">Krenko, Mob Boss</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($4.00)</li>
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</ol>
<p style="padding-left: 200px; text-align: left;"><strong>Total Value of Cuts: $89.45</strong></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stomping Ground" href="#" target="_blank">Stomping Ground</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the only land that would make this list, so swapping that out (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dwarven Mine" href="#" target="_blank">Dwarven Mine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.23) is a great option since it usually comes with a creature) brings our total savings to <strong>$98.66</strong>.</p>
<h2>Additions</h2>
<p>There are plenty of X spells in the game to add, and we've seen recent inklings of more support for the archetype outside of just <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rosheen Meanderer" href="#" target="_blank">Rosheen Meanderer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<h3>Xtreme Weather</h3>
<p>One thing I quickly noticed about these X spells is that many of them depict natural disasters if not a full on e(x)tinction level event. We already have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Comet Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Comet Storm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, so let's add its friends <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Meteor Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Meteor Swarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.09) and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Meteor Blast" href="#" target="_blank">Meteor Blast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.28). Copying either with even a little bit invested into the X should kill pretty much any creatures or planeswalkers you need, and the latter can even hit players. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hurricane" href="#" target="_blank">Hurricane</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.20) is a classic, and cheesing out a win with a green burn spell (that you can copy) is even more hilarious. It won't hit any of our creatures or tokens since none of them have flying, but it <em>will</em> hit our life total, so pick your timing carefully unless you want to draw the game.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Meteor Swarm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Meteor Blast"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hurricane"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Xtra Value</h3>
<p>This deck e(x)cels at trading up on resources, generating effective card advantage by copying spells with many targets. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="By Force" href="#" target="_blank">By Force</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.56) is my favorite budget replacement for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vandalblast" href="#" target="_blank">Vandalblast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and it gets even better here. There are always artifacts lying around, and picking off the critical ones can go along way to furthering your gameplan or currying some political favor with the rest of the table. Besides <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Regrowth" href="#" target="_blank">Regrowth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, this deck has basically no recursion, something I always want more of in my decks. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reap the Past" href="#" target="_blank">Reap the Past</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.34) is not ideal for grabbing something specific out of your graveyard, but once copied it does a pretty good impression of drawing you a fresh hand.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="By Force"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reap the Past"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Xponential Tokens</strong></h3>
<p>While we're focused on X spells for our budget package, we can't ignore the fact that our token generation is also integral to the deck's plan. We already have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arasta of the Endless Web" href="#" target="_blank">Arasta</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, so we can add essentially another copy with our "not exactly budget" card: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dragonlair Spider" href="#" target="_blank">Dragonlair Spider</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($3.04). Why make tokens ourselves when our opponents can do the work for us? The Spider is a red AND green creature, which are high value since they don't limit spells we can <em>Conspire</em>. We also get <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tears of Rage" href="#" target="_blank">Tears of Rage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.14), a relatively unknown instant that screams alpha strike. Swing with all but two of your creatures, cast and copy it, and kill the table before the end step trigger even happens. It also has an X in the rules text so it kind of counts for the theme.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dragonlair Spider"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tears of Rage"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Mana Xcceleration</strong></h3>
<p>We'll wrap up with some ways to generate more mana. After all, we have a six mana commander and we want to dump as much value into the X on all of these spells as possible. An obvious addition is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nexos" href="#" target="_blank">Nexos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($0.33), a creature from the <em>Warhammer 40k</em> decks that goes well with our mana base full of basic lands. In the same vein, Elementalist's Palette ($1.61) is another obvious inclusion here, helping us amplify successive X spells in later turns. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animist&#039;s Awakening" href="#" target="_blank">Animist&#039;s Awakening</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> ($1.14) goes perfectly here too, dumping a ton of lands onto the battlefield, and with so many instants and sorceries in the deck, we'll easily turn on <em>Spell Mastery</em> and get to untap them as well.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nexos"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elementalist&#039;s Palette"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Animist&#039;s Awakening"></div></div>
<h3></h3>
<h2>Wrap Up and Savings</h2>
<p>Let's e(x)amine what we saved:</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Picture1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-101450 aligncenter" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Picture1.png" alt="" width="413" height="305" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Picture1.png 355w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Picture1-300x221.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 413px) 100vw, 413px" /></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>As e(x)pected, we dropped the deck down to way under $100. One gameplay note: copying the spells with <em>Conspire</em> doesn't cast them, so your <em>Storm</em> cards are not going to get better the more spells you copy in a turn. However, if you use <em>Conspire</em> to copy the original <em>Storm</em> spell, that will work the way you want it to, essentially doubling the <em>Storm</em> count without having to cast anything.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="X Gonna Give it to Ya" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Wort, the Raidmother
[/Commander]
[Sorceries]
*1 Animist&#039;s Awakening
*1 By Force
*1 Cathartic Reunion
*1 Chatterstorm
*1 Cultivate
*1 Dragon Fodder
*1 Empty the Warrens
*1 Escape to the Wilds
*1 Harmonize
*1 Harvest Season
*1 Hordeling Outburst
*1 Hurricane
*1 Jaya&#039;s Immolating Inferno
*1 Kodama&#039;s Reach
*1 Krenko&#039;s Command
*1 Mana Geyser
*1 Meteor Blast
*1 Meteor Swarm
*1 Nature&#039;s Lore
*1 Open the Way
*1 Ral&#039;s Reinforcements
*1 Rampant Growth
*1 Reap the Past
*1 Regrowth
*1 Seize the Spoils
*1 Shamanic Revelation
*1 Titania&#039;s Command
*1 Tormenting Voice
*1 Wrenn&#039;s Resolve
[/Sorceries]
[Creatures]
*1 Arasta of the Endless Web
*1 Avenger of Zendikar
*1 Dragonlair Spider
*1 Dualcaster Mage
*1 Elvish Mystic
*1 Fyndhorn Elves
*1 Goblin Anarchomancer
*1 Guttersnipe
*1 Llanowar Elves
*1 Nexos
*1 Siege-Gang Commander
*1 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Elementalist&#039;s Palette
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Twinning Staff
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Artifact Mutation
*1 Battle Hymn
*1 Beast Within
*1 Big Score
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Comet Storm
*1 Display of Power
*1 Harrow
*1 Increasing Vengeance
*1 Manamorphose
*1 Reverberate
*1 Seething Song
*1 Tears of Rage
*1 Thrill of Possibility
*1 Unexpected Windfall
*1 You See a Pair of Goblins
[/Instants]
[Enchantments]
*1 City on Fire
*1 Double Vision
*1 Impact Tremors
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Xenagos, the Reveler
[/Planeswalkers]
[Lands]
*1 Cinder Glade
*1 Command Tower
*9 Forest
*1 Gruul Turf
*1 Khalni Garden
*14 Mountain
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rockfall Vale
*1 Rootbound Crag
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Temple of Abandon
*1 Wooded Ridgeline
[/Lands]"></span></div>


<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I'd love to hear from you about the deck! Are there any cool X spells I missed? Should we build a deck based around natural disasters? Any secret spell copying tech we should add? Let me know in the comments, and I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck!</p>
<p>Follow me on Twitter @BrewForYourBuck</p>
<p><em>Please note: card prices listed in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but prices can vary over time and between locations.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


conspire

From the Brim to the Trim - Sneaky Budgets and Conspiring Opponents

Brew For Your Buck - X Gonna Give it to Ya