Warehouse TabbyWarehouse Tabby | Art by Steve Prescott

Hello fellow combo crazies! Last week, we at EDHREC took some time to celebrate a huge milestone for Commander Spellbook, our partner website that documents combos in the format. The team over there has now logged over 100,000 combos! Quite the feat. There are plenty of combo-related articles to check out, but here we like to focus on budget cards. Many combo pieces are expensive because they are combo pieces, but not all! Let's take a look at some you can slot into your decks.

Screaming Cat ($0.48)

The best part about this article is the goofy names I'm going to give each entry, but this one I've written about before.

I love this as a budget combo because it's all in one color, so any deck playing black can theoretically run it. Though adding more colors means more support. White is probably the best, since cards like Heliod's PilgrimHeliod's Pilgrim, Open the ArmoryOpen the Armory, and Recruiter of the GuardRecruiter of the Guard can help find the combo pieces. Knight of DovesKnight of Doves can also be a backup Warehouse TabbyWarehouse Tabby so you get some redundancy to the deck as well.

In my article, I threw it into a Lagomos, Hand of HatredLagomos, Hand of Hatred deck since the commander will automatically generate the one-toughness creature you need to kick things off, and he also searches up the pieces.

Honestly, you could make a deck that has no rares or mythics and still combo off fairly easily. The recent precon reprint of Screams from WithinScreams from Within dropped the price to under a dollar, so pick these up and make your opponents scream.

Lizard Gizzard ($0.55)

If you're not sure what a gizzard is, I encourage you to look that up. It's a delicacy.

Again we get a two-card combo with non-rare cards, and can get infinite colorless mana as early as turn three. Of course, that doesn't really do much if you can't spend it, but it's also important to note that you'll have an infinitely large, not summoning-sick Basking BroodscaleBasking Broodscale as well. Who cares about infinite mana when your Lizard attained its aspirations of being an Eldrazi titan and smashes someone for lethal before they can untap their mana rock?

Selesnya () is a good home for the combo, with plenty of creature tutors to help find the two pieces. I used to have a Food combo deck, headed by Frodo and Sam, that this would slot into perfectly (for function and flavor) alongside more expensive combos like these two:

Riders on the Storm ($0.58)

This is just one example of all the nonsense you can get up to with Koll, the ForgemasterKoll, the Forgemaster.

Again, you can build this combo out of all non-rare cards, and having your main combo engine in the command zone means you've always got access to one of the pieces. Being in Boros () is the best place for Equipment-based combos, with plenty of redundant pieces and ways to find them. Heck, there's even Axgard ArmoryAxgard Armory, which is a tutor on a land!

Koll has even broken into the cEDH sphere, so you can easily bring this deck all the way up into Bracket 5. As usual, I'd be interested in seeing how I could build this without any rares or mythics, or even under a certain budget threshold and still be able to hang with powerful decks. Check out all the other Koll combos here.

Whalelix ($0.55)

Alright, blue players. I guess I'll put one in for you.

For the purposes of our budget discussion, we'll use Bone SawBone Saw as our zero-mana artifact of choice, since it's the cheapest one I can find, but the classic OrnithopterOrnithopter is only $0.20 more expensive. This combo fits into any blue-based deck, though artifact decks will have an easier time finding the pieces and using them outside of the combo.

Blue decks, by their nature, are usually good at protecting their combos too, able to hold up mana for countermagic in case an opponent tries to interrupt anything. This combo in particular can get down to the low cost of , depending on how many artifacts you have on the battlefield already, so you can do it all in the same turn with some protection handy.

Ratadrabik's Rings ($1.05)

If you've followed my articles for a while, you probably saw this one coming.

Ratadrabik of UrborgRatadrabik of Urborg is my favorite commander, in part because of the ring tempt combos that we got from Lord of the Rings. Again we have a cheap, easily-assembled infinite combo that can win the game. Check out this article all about the combos, or if you want to take a look at my personal list (Bracket 3/4ish) you can see it here.

The three ring tempt creatures I run all have uses outside of the combo. Boromir, Warden of the TowerBoromir, Warden of the Tower protects my board and deals with free spells. Samwise the StoutheartedSamwise the Stouthearted can recur something I sacrificed or an opponent killed. Gollum, Patient PlotterGollum, Patient Plotter can be a sac outlet from the graveyard, and he recurs himself.

There are plenty more combos to highlight; the above ones were just some of my favorites. Before I take off, I want to look at some budget substitutes for some of the most expensive combo pieces out there, and include some examples of combos that the budget card will work in just as well.

Dargopod ($0.63)

I wouldn't necessarily want a guy named "the Shipwrecker" at the helm of anything, including a Commander deck, but we can make an exception here because of the combo potential. Also, a Giant probably weighs a lot, which really messes with ship stability and likely its hydrodynamic performance through the water, especially if it's powered by sails. I think this is the first time in three years of writing that I got to bring my naval architecture degree to the discussion. But I digress.

What I really want to highlight is that ThermopodThermopod is a perfect replacement for Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar in decks that need it to generate red mana. So not only is this particular combo under a dollar, but if you don't want to spend the money on the artifact, a much cheaper option exists to be used instead.

Baloths of Ivy Lane ($0.51)

I knew about Ivy Lane DenizenIvy Lane Denizen's combo with Scurry OakScurry Oak, but unless you really want the Squirrels, Herd BalothHerd Baloth just gives you 4/4s instead.

Plus, Scurry OakScurry Oak is up to almost $2, presumably because all of those Squirrel fans out there are snapping them up. I do find it strange that Modern Horizons 2 has two uncommons in the same color that basically do the same thing.

I suppose you can pick your combo piece from either of these based on if you want the small or large creatures, though you'll have infinite power on the battlefield regardless. Or, just have both for redundancy.

Biorite ($0.75)

All of the other combos I listed are fantastic, but usually need another card or an attack step to win the game outright. This one gets straight to the point.

A format classic, a huge mana requirement, and a goofy alternate win condition. What more could you ask for in a Commander combo? Simic () is even the perfect home for this, with ramp, card draw, and counterspells to make sure you make it to your end step for the six BiovisionaryBiovisionary triggers to get on the stack.

I hinted that I usually want my combo cards to be relevant outside of the combo, and while Rite of Replication has a bunch of uses, Biovisionary certainly does not. I'd keep it safe in your hand until you're close to doing the thing, otherwise it becomes a lightning rod for opposing removal spells.

That's all for now! Congratulations again to the team over at Commander Spellbook for reaching this awesome milestone! Check out the rest of our combo themed articles, and deck techs for newly previewed cards coming up soon. If you have a combo you want to mention or want to drop me a note about the ones that I did, drop it in the comments below, and I'll see you next time!