Deck Strategies
Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient
An artifact-centric deck focused on activating and copying artifact abilities to generate charge counters and proliferate, enabling powerful board control and big artifact creatures like Golems.
Kruphix, God of Horizons
A Simic ramp and card draw deck that maximizes land plays, creature recursion, and mana generation to outvalue opponents over time.
Melek, Izzet Paragon
A spell-copying deck that casts instants and sorceries off the top of the library, doubling their effects to create storm-like turns and overwhelming spell combos.
Tibor and Lumia
Likely an aggressive or combo-oriented deck leveraging synergy and efficient threats, complementing the multiplayer dynamic by applying pressure and capitalizing on interactions.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Kurkesh’s ability to copy artifact activated abilities creates exponential value, especially when combined with charge counter synergies and proliferate effects.
- 2
Melek’s spell-copying ability enables explosive turns by doubling the impact of instants and sorceries cast from the top of the library, which can quickly shift board advantage.
- 3
Kruphix's focus on ramp and card draw through lands and creatures provides a strong late-game foundation but requires careful timing to counter faster combos.
- 4
Budget constraints encourage creative deckbuilding, showing that effective synergies and combos can be assembled without high-cost staples.
Notable Cards

Lux Cannon

Contagion Engine

Titan Forge

Serum Tank

Mind's Desire

Spellweaver Volute

Past in Flames
Summary
The game featured four budget-friendly Commander decks led by Tibor and Lumia, Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient, Melek, Izzet Paragon, and Kruphix, God of Horizons. Early in the game, Kurkesh focused on leveraging artifact synergies, using cards like Lux Cannon and Contagion Engine to build charge counters and proliferate, disrupting opponents' board states and preparing for powerful artifact activations. Meanwhile, Kruphix's deck emphasized ramping with extra land plays and drawing cards through enter-the-battlefield effects and recursion, aiming to generate massive mana and card advantage over time.
Melek's deck centered on spell copying and storm-like strategies, taking advantage of casting instants and sorceries from the top of the library and doubling their effects with cards like Mind’s Desire and Spellweaver Volute. This allowed for explosive turns with multiple spell casts amplified by Melek's ability. Tibor and Lumia, while less detailed in the discussion, likely contributed aggressive or combo elements typical of their character. The game saw key turning points when Kurkesh's artifact interactions and proliferate triggers began to overwhelm opponents and Melek started copying high-impact spells, both accelerating their paths to victory. Kruphix’s steady ramp and card draw kept the game balanced, but the pressure from artifact and spellstorm combos pushed the pace.
Ultimately, the game highlighted the viability of budget decks by showcasing efficient synergies and interactions within strict cost limits, with Kurkesh’s artifact duplication and Melek’s spell-copying proving particularly impactful. The multiplayer dynamic involved managing threats while maximizing each deck's unique advantage, culminating in an intense battle of artifacts, spells, and mana acceleration.
Description
Don’t have a ton of cash but love Commander? We’ve got you covered as the guys revisit a favorite theme: Budget! With a budget of $100, can the guys stay competitive and on top of their game? There’s plenty of spells to copy and plenty of mana to play with in this week’s Commander Vs!
Decklists here: articles.starcitygames.com/premium/commander-vs-budget-brews
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Star City Games is the world’s premier TCG retailer & event organizer.
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