Hey there, everyone! Joe here, back again with a Daily Arena Deck Tech.

Today I’m taking a look at a Budget Izzet list from Mr_SPARTACVS via Aetherhub. This deck’s default mode is to draw then pass the turn to the opponent, relying on counterspells and instant-speed burn spells to control threats until it can play out cheap finishers.

In the video below, I play the deck while discussing what each card does.

Here’s the deck list:



Mr_SPARTACVS's Budget Izzet

Now, for those of you who like to read, a discussion of the cards.

It turns out that Seeker of Insight is pretty amazing in a “Spells Matter” deck with a lot of instants.

Very often you hold up mana, pass the turn, counter an opponent’s spell or kill a creature, then loot. Being

able to do this every round is huge. It allows you to find lands when you need them, and to trade in lands

for gas when you don’t.







You can often cast Cryptic Serpent on turn 4 or 5 for 4 mana in this deck, which is a great deal for

the stats. Also being able to cast this later in the game for 2 or 3 mana while leaving mana up for your

counterspells and instant speed removal is huge.







Enigma Drake is often just a huge undercosted flyer in this deck, and as a budget finisher is amazing.

It’s cheap enough that you can leave mana up to protect it or to counter or kill and flying blockers your

opponent tries to put in its way.







Opt asks to little of you to play. It’s cheap, it’s instant speed, and it replaces itself. The added

consistency it brings to your deck makes it good in just about any blue deck, and it’s especially good in

this one.







Lightning Strike has been good in every set we’ve seen it in. Instant speed deal three damage to

anything means it can kill threats, get rid of blockers, and even finish off your opponent. If you have

synergies with instants and sorceries, that just makes it all the better.







Abrade‘s burn spell mode is worse than Lightning Strike, as it can’t target our opponent or a

Planeswalker, but the flexibility to hit an artifact when you need to makes it a good idea to include one

of these in your deck.







Supreme Will is a Mana Leak when Mana Leak is good, and becomes an Impulse when

it’s not anymore. The flexibility of this card is great and can help especially when you need to counter

something that Essence Scatter doesn’t hit.







Essence Scatter is a spell you’ll be happy to have in your hand at any point in the game. Even though it’s a little weak to Embalm and Eternalize creatures, it’s so easy to cast and so good against hard-to-deal-with threats like The Scarab God, Hazoret the Fervent and Glorybringer that you will want as many of these in your deck as you can get.







Censor can do good work as a counter at the beginning of the game, and then after the first 5 or 6 turns, when your opponent will easily have mana up to stop this, you can cycle it cheaply to dig toward a more relevant card.







Fling‘s utility in this deck is to a) Allow one of you Enigma Drake‘s or Cryptic Serpent‘s damage to get through (or to kill an opponent’s creature, when necessary), even if your opponent deals with the creature itself; or, b) Act almost as a fifth Enigma Drake or Cryptic Serpent, dealing a ton of damage to your opponent’s face and hopefully finishing them off.







Magma Spray is efficient at 2 damage at instant speed for 1 mana. It has particular upside in the current Magic Arena environment in that it can permanently deal with Embalm and Eternalize creatures, as well as The Scarab God, if you combine it with another damage spell or with combat damage.







Strategic Planning is premium cards selection, and is great in this deck as it can greatly increase your chance of getting the tool you need at any point in the game.







Secrets of the Golden City will help stock you back up when you’re running out of counterspells and burn. Later in the game you can get Ascend just from lands and a creature or two, and when you do, this card is great.







Search for Azcanta basically gives you a free scry at the beginning of each turn, meaning it’s front side alone pays for itself within a few turns, and then when it transforms, you have a draw/selection engine. In a spell-heavy deck this is one of my favorite cards to see.







Highland Lake is the best land-based fixing you’re going to get for this deck, at least until Dominaria drops and we get Sulfur Falls.





And that’s Izzet on a Budget. As always, feel free to direct any questions, comments or criticisms to me here, on Reddit, on Twitter at @DailyArena, or on Facebook via the @DailyArenaMTG page.

Peace.

Joseph Eddy is a Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Software Developer, and Gamer. Magic is his favorite hobby, and he’s looking forward to seeing you all on Arena. He streams Magic Arena on a weekly basis (or more), but currently is unable to keep to a set schedule.