When players talk about “Budget Magic” it usually refers to some under the radar deck that has yet to see competitive play. Realistically, those kinds of decks may win you a small local tournament but just aren’t up to snuff when it comes to playing against the big boys.

For today’s installment of Magic: The Budgeting we’ll talk about decks that can to toe to toe against the well known Modern meta at half the cost of those other expensive decks.

Mono Black Infect $215

Most of you know by now that this is one of my favorite decks in Modern. It plays like a controlling discard deck early and goes into phase two where infect creatures come into play and take advantage of a handless opponent. This deck, in my opinion is the cheapest contender in budget Modern. A full primer for the deck can be seen here.

Soul Sisters $270

Soul Sisters starts slow and builds it’s life total. As a result, creatures contained in the deck build as well and begin to drop a serious beatdown. The deck has never really taken off through the years but continuously gets a bit better year after year as the card pool continues to grow. I look for this deck to be a contender in the near future.

Living End $340

Living End is a sneaky deck. To players that have never seen it, it appears to be a deck that quickly pitches creature cards into it’s graveyard. Then it casts a cascade spell and suddenly, the board is wiped and every creature in your opponent’s graveyard falls back into play thanks to a cheated Living End. The deck plays well but thanks to graveyard hating sideboards, Living End has been stifled from winning major events.

Blue Tron $355

Blue Tron has come and gone over the years. Because of it’s occasional disappearance in the metagame, the prices of the cards stay low. The deck revolves around getting the three Urza’s lands into play and playing brutal, game changing creatures and planeswalkers into play early and maintain control. It’s a tricky deck to work with but rewarding and highly dangerous.

Bogles $415

Anyone that has played against this deck will tell you that it’s not enjoyable to play against. The deck revolves around getting creatures into play that cannot be targeted and building them up into untouchable monstrosities. Bogles plays well against a control favored metagame and can be reduced in price depending on the enchantments and lands you choose to deck build with. Caution: This deck will not make you popular at your local game store.

Burn $475

Burn is a very straightforward deck. Every mana you tap for creature or spell aims for the opponents head. Anything less is unacceptable. Doing damage a.s.a.p. has never been more easy.

Merfolk $500

The Modern Merfolk deck is a fearsome sight. It can be exceptionally quick with the right hand and still is capable of winning a long grinding match. The strength of the deck is it’s ability to gradually build an army of large islandwalking creatures. This deck has grabbed a few events over the years and tends to be Modern’s best kept budget secret.

These are my top picks for cheapest but still competitive decks in Modern. Stay tuned, more to come.

Swing Last,

Aiokii

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