Hello. I’m a Tarmogoyf. I am a very expensive piece of cardboard. In fact, I cost around $3000 an ounce which is more then twice the price of gold.

We all have cards in our decks that are pricy, some more then others. When I first started playing during Fallen Empires, you could easily make a competitive deck using your $5 weekly allowance. Times, as well as card count and strategy of the game has changed.

Many players, including myself enjoy making decks, play testing, then making changes as you learn how the deck runs. Often, this begins as a basic budget version rough draft, playable but very casual, then fine tuned with small purchases as you go. This style of deck building involves playing cheap substitutes for expensive cards,

This is where it gets tricky. For instance, our expensive friend Tarmogoyf is expensive for a reason. There are hardly any cards in the game you can use to substitute for a him and maintain the same power level, He is one of a kind and difficult to imitate with cheaper cards. This never stopped me from trying however.

Tarmogoyf > Skinshifter

In my opinion, Skinshifter is one of the best budget substitutes for Tarmogoyf. Unfortunately for this Nicolas Cage look alike, his pumping up ability involves mana investment, forcing you to not only use mana when you attack but also leaving mana untapped as well during your opponent’s turn to defend from burn and other forms of black removal. This will slow you down in the end. Honorable mention goes to Scute Mob a creature that grows considerably late game.

Dark Confidant > Phyrexian Arena

Dark Confidant is a card drawing master but on his offside you have to cater the spells in your deck for the chunks of life loss his extra draw will bring you. Bring in Phyrexian Arena, the next best thing to Bob. The arena only pings you one point per card, unlike Confidant does however, Arena is not a creature and nets you no attacks or chump blocks. Another card you can put into your deck is the tricky to use Pain Seer.

Thoughtseize > Inquisition of Kozilek

Thoughtseize is an amazing card, there is no debate. On turn one it can turn a players hand into a puddle of jello. There are many different discard cards in the game today to substitute for Thoughtseize but the one I have had the best success with would be Inquisition of Kozilek. For the same casting cost as Thoughtseize you can remove many of the modern staples from a players hand, including game winners like the above mentioned Tarmogoyf and Dark Confidant. Granted, a $5 card isn’t necessarily the best budget option for the king of discard but consider this, Thoughtseize is six times that price. A much cheaper but more limited budget option is Duress.

Hero’s Downfall > Doom Blade

Hero’s Downfall is a great card, mostly for its usage to destroy planeswalkers which over the last few years have become almost a necessity to play competitive magic. Luckily for you planeswalkers can be attacked, and creatures can be killed instead with spells like Doom Blade. Of course, that isn’t the greatest of strategies but lets be honest, neither is playing competitive Magic with a budget deck.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday over the last week and got their fill of turkey. With Christmas coming up, now is the best time to buy cards in bulk either for yourself or gifts for others. Currently, Walgreens is having a BOGO sale on booster packs. I have spoken briefly about how purchasing booster packs should never be a budget option. However, when getting together with friends, playing drafts formats with 50% off booster packs are a good way to pick up some key rares in drafting or trading afterwards cheaply. Walgreens usually does not keep a large selection but Walmart does, and if you bring the Walgreens advertisement, they will honor the price. The sale lasts for at least the rest of the week so pick them up now.

Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TheAiokii or join in the conversation on Magic on a budget at http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetdecks/

Have fun with your games and see you all again next week!

*edit on the Walgreens Advertisement*

Originally went to Walgreens and picked up 10 packs (all they had) and kept the receipt. They also have starter theme decks there if you are interested in picking up a few of them. I then went to Walmart to see if they price matched. The first woman I talked to was the salesperson that monitors the self checkouts. She stated that because the original ad only states “buy one get one free” there was no actual price listed and said they would not honor that price. I asked her if I could talk to a manager so I could understand the policy better and she referred me to the managers desk. While there I asked them if the Walgreens receipt was good enough for for info on the actual sales price, showing how much they would be per individual pack. They then honored the BOGO price on boosters only. One in line for the purchase the cashier was very hesitant in honoring the price, (looked over the ad and receipt multiple times, contacted multiple managers and asked me if there was a limit allowed in the ad) but eventually did. Spent about 10 minutes in line in total after the cashier had to manually input each booster pack’s price. Purchased 35 packs in total today for just $70. http://i.imgur.com/HMDVUBc.jpg A few things of note that you should all know before going into Walmart. Please be friendly. I made sure to smile at everyone I was passed off to during my encounters. Don’t ask someone at the checkout. Go immediately to the customer service desk or managers counter. The two checkout people I encountered seemed only concerned about having a manager’s OK and had no information on if the sale could be honored. If you are immediately denied by the floor managers, ask to have the ad and Walmart policy clarified by their managers and so on and so on. Don’t immediately ask to see their manager, it sounds confrontational. I was quickly denied by floor staff but asked to have the policy clarified by their supervisors. It was only then the sale was honored. The more people you get passed to and the more friendly you act the more likely someone will cave in and honor your sale. Good luck!