[Brainstorming] Designing a Budget Legacy Deck - Part 1

I have a problem. I want to build a winning budget Legacy deck. I want to do well in Legacy without spending thousands on dual lands, Jace, Tarmogoyfs, Wastelands, and Dark Confidants. I want to be a hero and inspire new players to join Legacy with a $100 budget deck.

The problem is, I've not built a budget deck that beats fully-powered Legacy decks yet.

The Harsh Reality of Legacy

The harsh reality is that Legacy is defined by staples which simply trump any other card at the same mana cost but also in pricing. If you have 1g, what would you cast? Tarmogoyf or Werebear? How about 1b? Dark Confidant or Night's Whisper? Budget cards simply can't beat the expensive cards! Get what I mean?

It has been quoted before, but let's hear it again from Drew Levin:

"The problem with budget decks in Legacy is that they often try to be strictly inferior versions of the expensive decks."

If all we're doing when designing a budget Legacy deck is to net-deck and replace the expensive cards with inferior replacements, then we're doing it all wrong. For each Werebear you cast, your opponent will cast an original Tarmogoyf that will beat the crap our of the budget replacement.

So How Do We Build a Winning Budget Deck?

This is the probably the easier part to figure out.

If we know that inferior replacements can never beat the real deal, simply play a deck that doesn't seek to replace expensive cards with cheaper alternatives!

Looking for an example? Look no further than Enchantress and Dredge which I've used to success previously.

Just take a look at those decks and see that they do not seek to be a budget version of some other deck. Legacy Boros is a weaker Zoo, both these decks have the same strategy of playing creatures that smash face and burning the opponent out. Enchantress and Dredge, however, have strategies wildly different from other decks. Which other deck replaces each draw with "drawing" 6 cards into the graveyard? Which other deck makes each removal card a cantrip while building up to a combo finish?

To emphasize further, I didn't use Moat in my Enchantress deck not because I don't have the money for it (true by the way), but because I actively avoid being blown out by a top-decked Qasali Pridemage! Plus, maximizing the number of removals (Journey to NowHere and Oblivion Ring) increases consistency and consistency wins games.

Moral of the Story

If we're using budget options, make sure that there is a point to it! And that point should be based on its effectiveness in winning a game instead of just the price alone.

So what kind of budget decks can we use in Legacy?

Wait till the next article to find out the budget options in Legacy, plus the point of playing them (i.e. why they are simply not worse versions of existing decks).

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