Commanders you can build on a budget in Duel Commander

Duel commander is an awesome format but also one of the most expensive ones to get into. Most decks will cost you more than 1000€ and some people really don't want to or can't spend that much money on a single deck. In this article I will showcase some of the more cheaper commanders that can still help you win your local tournament...

Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice

If you are a fan of combo decks, Light-Paws is probably the best budget commander for you. It has been a great addition to many aura decks in many formats and duel commander is no different. You can build the most competitive version of the deck for around 300€. It's even a mono-colored deck so you don't have to worry that much about the manabase outside of some utility lands.

The goal of the deck is to stack as many auras on Light-Paws or any other creature as possible. You will need to protect your creatures with cards like Loran's Escape, Giver of Runes or the many auras the deck contains. Once your creatures are stacked with auras and have a ton of effects, you can attack for some massive damage...

Core cards: Kor Spiritdancer, All That Glitters, Surge of Salvation

Gut, True Soul Zealot (+ white)

For the boros fans out there is Gut, True Soul Zealot. This little goblin is all about aggression and sacrifice. The deck will cost you around 500€ for a pretty competitive version and a good mana base. The boros mana base is definitely one of the cheaper ones and you probably don't need some of the really expensive lands to make the deck work. 

The core of the deck consists of cards that make tokens which can then be sacrificed and replaced by 4/1 skeletons with menace by our commander. The rest of the deck includes the best aggro threats in these colors and you may even have a lot of them if you played any other aggro deck. To finish the game you can use some of the amazing burns spells that boros has access to. 

There are some more expensive cards in the deck like Stoneforge Mystic, Seasoned Pyromancer and some more but these are definitely worth getting as they are played in many decks and formats.

Core cards: Loyal Apprentice, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Boros Charm

Sai, Master Thopterist

Sai, Master Thopterist is probably the best choice for the blue players on a budget. You could build a pretty good version of the deck for around 400€ but if you want the best version it can cost you up to a 1000€, it all depends on which cards you want to run in the deck or how competitive you want the deck to be. The only really expensive cards in the deck are City of Traitors, The One Ring and the Servant/Grindstone combo. Excluding these cards will pretty much cut the price by nearly 500€.

The deck contains the best artifacts and the best payoffs you can find. The rest of the deck contains counterspells and other ways to disrupt your opponent. You can get some pretty explosive starts as most of the deck is very cheap in terms of mana or gets discounted thanks to affinity. If you like these kinds of decks or you simply like playing mono blue, you can certainly give Sai, Master Thopterist a try.

                                                    Core cards: Kappa Cannoneer, Retrofitter Foundry, Urza, Lord High Artificer

Feldon, Rotom Excavator

Of course, I had to mention mono-red, it's probably the cheapest and most competitive deck f among these. The entire deck will only cost you between 200-300€. Feldon is one of the most popular commanders in the metagame right now and the deck is really strong even on a budget and can easily help you win your local tournament.

The entire deck consists of cheap aggressive creatures to pressure your opponent and burn spells to help end the game. You don't even need to worry that much about the mana base but getting some utility lands like Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance or fetch lands is good. The is very few expensive cards in the deck (The only ones being Fury and Bloodmoon) so this is probably the best deck to build if you want the cheapest and most powerful budget deck.

Core cards: Bomat Courier, Bloodthirsty Adversary, Ramunap Ruins

Author: Tomas Solovic

Prices are from the 25.7. 2023