$30 Color Pair Challenge

Recently, I challenged myself to create ten lists for each of the color pairs with a budget of ~$30. I would say that these are firmly Bracket 2 decks, but, having play-tested them against some Bracket 3 opponents, I think they could keep up with a few improvements. If any of you have recommendations for specific decks, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Here are the lists:

Azorius Blink - Plagon, Lord of the Beach

This deck is all about blinking Plagon to draw an insane amount of cards. It sometimes struggles to close out games but is loads of fun.

Boros Voltron - Wyleth, Soul of Steel

Load up Wyleth with equipment and swing for the win. I went back and forth on multiple Boros commanders but ultimately chose Wyleth for the draw power in Boros.

Dimir Reanimator - Mirko, Obsessive Theorist

I had always wanted to put together a list for this commander and this challenge provided me an excellent opportunity. I included as much surveil as I could squeeze in, but I haven’t refined the ratios as this is one of the decks I have not had the chance to play-test.

Golgari Landfall - The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride

This is an incredibly fun commander that can get off to explosive starts when the stars align. Get a high power creature on the board, play your commander, and jump way ahead of the table in one turn.

Gruul Stompy - Ruby, Daring Tracker

This deck follows the “commander as mana dork” philosophy with a strict game plan for the early turns. Play Ruby on 2, one of the 15 4-mana ramp spells on 3, and cast a 7-drop as early as turn 4.

Izzet Artifacts - Jhoira, Ageless Innovator

This deck is very reliant on Jhoira to function. The plan is to keep her alive and try to use her activated ability multiple times a turn. Once again, the ratios of protection/untappers/artifacts still need to be refined, but it is a very fun deck to play when left unchecked.

Orzhov Vehicles - Greasefang, Okiba Boss

Orzhov is probably my least favorite color pair, so I struggled to find a commander I wanted to build. I looked at various aristocrat decks, but I’m not confident enough in my deck-building to make a competitive list. Greasefang offered a unique alternative and it’s a great home for vehicles that otherwise would never see play.

Rakdos Burn - Kuta, Genome Sorcerer

I pulled Kuja from a pack and knew I had to build him. This deck aims to burn the table out with instants, sorceries, and wizard tokens. Burn is a tough archetype to build in commander, but this deck is great for those who enjoy spell-slinging.

Selesnya Tokens - Bess, Soul Nourisher

This deck’s goal is to flood the board with 1/1s and pump them with Bess. It can be a little slow to get going but I’ve had some strong finishes once a board presence is established. This deck would definitely benefit from a higher budget and access to token doublers/more efficient finishers.

Simic Pod - Prime Speaker Vannifar

This deck definitely surprised me with how fun it is to play. I tried to build it as a toolbox deck, with creatures evenly balanced along the mana curve so there is always something to grab with Vannifar’s ability. The untappers can get you to a 6-drop fairly early, but there are no dedicated combos in the deck.