[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his Sunday the biggest event on the sporting calendar will take place as millions of people gather up at parties, with fresh brews, and get ready to enjoy the Budget Cup Super Bowl. Five and a half hours before the big game, you’ll have a chance yourself to compete in high stake competition in the second Budget Cup.

If you’re bored of facing off against the same decks in normal constructed tournaments, if you’re on a budget and can’t afford the money cards, if you don’t have the time to take part in the round after round of Swiss competition, if you’re looking for some quick thrills and a fun time at no cost – then the Hex Primal Budget Cup might be for you.

To give you some inspiration, here are some fun deck ideas, all with a bit of NFL flavor to them. After all, someone once referred to American Football as “A game of chess, played by gladiators in suits of armor” and a similar saying could be true for a TCG like Hex.



The Seahawks are known for their nigh impenetrable defense – and make their mark on offense with their Running Back Marshawn Lynch who goes into ‘Beast Mode’ and becomes an unrelenting/unstoppable force capable of running over the entire opposing defense. This following deck takes a similar philosophy to winning the game.

Maindeck: $9.96 Reserves: $ 1.99

D/B Soul Fist

Troops Actions, Artifacts, Constants

4 Crackling Rot

4 Murder

4 Repel

4 Immortal Decree

4 Inner Conflict

4 Inquisition

2 Droo’s Unrelenting Fists

2 Solitary Exile

2 Soul Marble

2 Immortality

1 Life Siphon

1 Pact of Pain Shards

14 Diamond Shard

12 Blood Shard

Reserves

4 Cockatwice (MinD Duty) (MinB Hatred)

4 Killblade of the Milky Eye

4 Sorrow

2 War Bot Dropship

1 Mentor of the Wind 4 Cockatwice (MinD Duty) (MinB Hatred)4 Killblade of the Milky Eye4 Sorrow2 War Bot Dropship1 Mentor of the Wind Champion: Zared Venomscorn



This deck tries to play a Turn 2 Droo’s Unrelenting Fists or Soul Marble and then win the game from there through the wide array of removal at our disposal. 1 copy of Life Siphon gives us reach while Pact of Pain pairs up great with Immortality which we need to buy an extra turn or two in some cases to go lethal with Droo’s Unrelenting Fists. Having no troops maindeck, this deck should render a lot of opposing removal useless but at the same time Spellshield troops are this deck’s biggest weakness for the same reason. In reserves we have some cards to deal with Spellshield like War Bot Dropship against Storm Colossus or Battle Beetle while Killblade of the Milky Eye trades with pesky ground troops. In certain matchups Cockatwice can be sideboarded in as a very lethal finisher paired with the dream Swiftstrike/Rage 1 gems alongside the inherent Lethal ability and becoming a poor budget man’s The Killipede.



The Patriots are the most hated NFL team in the world, sometimes even resorting to dirty tactics like deflating balls. In Hex, a tactic many players like to call ‘dirty’ is mill.

Maindeck: $9.99 Reserves: $ 1.98

Mono Sapphire Budget Mill

Troops

4 Dementia Daisies

4 Buccaneer

4 Spawn of Othuyeg

2 Flock of Seagulls

Actions, Artifacts, Constants

4 Bottled Vitae

4 Countermagic

4 Crackling Wit

4 Murmurs From The Void

3 Chronic Madness

3 Peek Shards

26 Sapphire Shard

Reserves

4 Phoenix Guard Messenger

3 Verdict of the Ancient Kings

2 Flock of Seagulls

2 Polymorph: Dingler

2 Time Ripple

1 Peek

1 Yesterday

Champion: Nin the Shadow



This is a pretty straightforward mill deck that should be able to complete against most decks. A bit light on removal but it does have plenty of utility cards to compensate that should buy you time to mill your opponent. With players not able to slot playsets of their key cards due to budget constraints, this could really help swing some matchup in your favor with timely mills.



The Eagles play a very unorthodox brand of football where their offense tries to get going before the opposing defense has had a chance to set-up. In Hex we call that an aggro deck, and I’ve put together an ultra rush version below.

Maindeck: $9.94 Reserves: $ 0.93

Mono Ruby Orcs

Troops

4 Veteran Gladiator

4 Ridge Raider

4 Savage Raider

3 Unmerciful Tormentor

3 Zoltog

2 Gem-Crazed Berserker (MinR Flames)

2 Goremaster

Actions, Artifacts, Constants

4 Burn

4 Crackling Bolt

3 Crushing Blow

2 Inferno

2 Ruby Aura Shards

23 Ruby Shard

Reserves

4 Boulder Toss

4 Burn to the Ground

3 Arena Regular

2 Gem-Crazed Berserker (MinR Flames)

2 Ruby AuraChampion: Lionel Flynn



This is a very aggressive Ruby deck that tries to do plenty of damage early on. Cards that help you finish the game include Goremaster, Zoltog, Inferno and potentially Gem-Crazed Berserker. Lionel Flynn is great on your Goremaster obviously but also on the Gem-Crazed Berserker. This is quite an easy deck to play – you essentially unload your hand and beat the opponent down.



The Denver Broncos were recently voted America’s favorite team and have one of the strongest on-field combos in Peyton Manning and Demaryius Thomas. Hex’s favorite combo revolves around Replicator’s Gambit and that’s the central theme of this next deck.

Maindeck: $9.98 Reserves: $1.95

W/S Nulzann Gambit

Troops

4 Archon of Nulzann (MajS Subterfuge) (MinS Mischief)

4 Buccaneer

4 Mentor of Oakhenge

4 Mentor of the Song

4 Moon’ariu Sensei

4 Phoenix Guard Messenger

4 Stargazer Actions, Artifacts, Constants

3 Replicator’s Gambit

2 Yesterday

1 Verdict of the Ancient Kings

1 Peek

Shards

13 Sapphire Shard

12 Wild Shard

Reserves

4 Mesmerize

3 Countermagic

3 Peek

1 Time Wave

1 Yesterday

1 Storm Colossus

1 Devoted Emissary

1 Nature ReignsChampion: Warmaster Fuzzuko



Archon of Nulzann and Replicator’s Gambit are the clear win condition here. We have socketed the Archon of Nulzann in a way that we can play it at the end of opponent’s turn and we can mill them for the win on our next main phase without having to attack. The other cards in the deck helps us stall and draw our way into the combo. This is a very satisfying deck to play when it comes together but there will be games when you simply don’t draw the combo and have to try to beat down with a horde of Warmaster Fuzzuko buffed troops.

These are just a few ideas of what you could run this Sunday. There are a ton of options including perhaps a variation of the Mono Blood deck that Desk used to win the first Budget Cup, or the myriad of Spellshield heavy decks that made the top 8, Robot/Dwarves could always be a thing, Goremaster combo decks are bound to appear, as well as Darkspire decks or perhaps maybe even tri-color Humans decks will make an appearance this time around. The field is pretty open so don’t be afraid to experiment.

If you still haven’t signed up for the Budget Cup you have until Saturday evening to do so – more information at this link. Until next time, enjoy the action this Sunday and try not to punt 😉