10 Budget-Friendly Commanders to Build to Give to a New Player.

In the world of $100 pre-constructed decks, the financial barrier to entry is becoming more difficult for new players. As of late, I have found myself going through my collection and building decks out of extra cards that I am not going to be using to simply give to new players that want to give commander a try. Today I am going to go over 10 different commanders that world really well to build at little to no cost.

When I put this list together, I was looking for three different things from these commanders. I wanted the commanders to be built out for a price point lower than a pre-constructed deck and still be able to function efficiently. At the lower price point, I wanted to ensure that they could be easily upgraded and improved to allow the player to change up the deck as they learn more about the game if they choose.  Finally, I wanted the commanders to have enough power that they can hold up in a mid power pod.




Sheoldred, The Whispering One

Probably the most dangerous on this list, Sheoldred is not as popular as she once was. Regardless she is an absolute house when it comes to an affordable graveyard strategy. The longer you can keep her in play and those sacrifice triggers go off on each of your opponents’ upkeeps, the better off you will be. The deck can be built with solid attackers that you can keep returning, zombie tribal, looping a Gray merchant of Asphodel, or even an aristocrat strategy. There really isn’t a way to go wrong. I would recommend running a little extra ramp to ensure Sheoldred can come into play before the usual turn six or seven.








Ezuri, Claw of Progress

Ezuri providing experience counters allows for a virtual “saving point” in the game where if Ezuri gets removed from the game either by spot removal or a board wipe, he can be recast and the strategy can resume. The deck can be built very quickly and cheaply by using low cmc evasive creatures, or you could look for a tribal approach with elves. The blue and green allows for a build with plenty of ramp and card advantage to allow for a game in which the player is never out of options.







Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko Cranks. I’m sure every playgroup in the US of A at this point has a player in their group that either actively plays the mob boss or did for long enough that they eventually got tired of winning quickly all the time. Of course with this list, Krenko is probably the biggest glass cannon as one board wipe sends the poor goblin right back to the stone age. Although ramp and draw for red has improved over the last couple of years, having a mono red deck can still struggle to keep up at times if games run longer. But as far as doing a lot and having synergy, goblins are hard to beat. And besides, of all the tribes, goblins come with the best flavor text.








Bruenor, Battlehammer

Speaking of glass cannons, here comes Bruenor! Now as far as the commander goes, this can be swapped out for basically any boros equipment commander. I personally prefer Bruenor because of the free equip cost and generic attack buff that allows you to focus on equipment that provide useful keywords, evasion, and protection rather than raw stats. Voltron can be a very exciting concept for new players having the biggest and strongest creature on the board. There is enough generic equipment out in the game on the lower side of price that putting this deck together can be done at a very reasonable price point which also allows for ample room for upgrades as the player gets more involved with the commander format.








Tatyova, Benthic Druid

I haven’t quite finished my thesis yet, but I can safely state that it is near impossible to build a bad Tatyova deck. Every land coming into play not only provides card advantage, but also has the sneaky effect of gaining life which allows the new player to stay alive in the game for longer in pods that focus on non-combo win conditions. From Rampant growth, Kodama’s Reach, Cultivate, Migration Path, and many more, there are ample ways of getting land onto the field. From there, either using token makers or creatures with their power equal to your lands as the win condition, you can build a very solid list that can hold its own against more expensive decks.








Meren of Clan Nel Toth

If Sheoldred is a house, Meren is the whole apartment building. Having the ability to consistently bring back your creatures over and over make this deck a very impressive commander. Similar to Ezuri, having the experience counters for the command zone allows for that “saving point” for your commander when she inevitably gets removed. The build of this deck can do in a lot of different ways varying from utility creatures, tribal synergies, aristocrats, or even simply a pile of cards that you enjoy and want to bring back over and over. Any of these decks that allow for additional plays after the “Plan A” doesn’t work out are going to be great for a new player because you don’t want to get to a point where you have nothing to do.








Uril, The Miststalker

We have a Bigfoot sighting! The ultimate Bogle, Uril the Miststalker, is one of the best voltron commanders you can put together on the cheap. Uril doesn’t care what the enchantment is or how expensive it is, he selfishly only cares that it is his. Having the built-in hexproof to protect against getting spot removed is a massive bonus! All you need to do is go through your draft chaff for some auras, throw in some budget staples and you’ll be witnessing Uril KOs before you can say “So Uril has double strike AND Trample???”








Kalain, Reclusive Painter

With the DnD set and New Capenna, we experienced a wave of treasure coming into the format and we will probably continue to see that continue into the future. Kalain is an excellent commander to take care of this in a build that won’t attract too much attention at the start of the game. That excess mana in the colors of power and passion can lead to some explosive plays even from a budget perspective.

Sigarda, Font of Blessing

In true Green/White fashion, Sigarda, Font of Blessings allows you to build up a commanding boardstate and keep it protected. The build I envision is either a human tribal, angel tribal, or a combination of both leaning on those synergies between your cards to build on that value and wipe your opponents off the board. Both angels and humans are very popular tribes that continuously get support from new released sets, so having tribal support for humans and angels at a low price point is a lot easier than one might expect. Would the deck appreciate an Avacyn, Angel of Hope? You bet, but those more expensive cards can be purchased/traded for at a later date. Being able to essentially extend your hand by an extra card too is nothing to turn your nose up at either. Of course if you want to build any other type of strategy that would appreciate not being affected by spot removal, that is also an option.

Satoru Umezawa

And last on our list today, we have Satoru “Everyone’s a Ninja at Heart, Even Blightsteel Colossus” Umezawa. Having card advantage in the command zone is a great asset for a new player as it allows them to continue to have things they can play. Tossing in those low cost evasive creatures that you pick up from random limited and draft events for the early game. From there Satoru comes into play and the Ninjutsu party begins with whatever creatures you want. Personally, I like demons since they usually come with evasion themselves and provide helpful abilities and stats.

Of course there isn’t gospel by any means. There and hundreds of legendary creatures out there that would be excellent for this. The main thing I would suggest is to find out what type of strategies they might enjoy. You could have them borrow decks and try some things out, reflect on previous games they have played and what they enjoyed doing, or you could look at some commander gameplay content online for inspiration. The main takeaway is the best thing we can do for this game is to eliminate as many barriers to entry as we possibly can for our friends so we can share this incredible game with them. The cards you have laying around in boxes or binders that you and I both know probably aren’t going to make their way into a deck would serve much better in a deck for a new player if you would be willing to part with them.