Sultai Deck – Budget Brewing with Bruce

Being a budget brewer is usually a tough proposition.  The mana base for most decks is usually so prohibitively expensive that it is very difficult to make a deck for a reasonable cost. However, the beauty part with Khans of Tarkir is the inclusion of the Refuge Lands. These inexpensive, common lands are super important to helping to keep the cost of your deck in line.  Since they are also in all 10 colour pairs, it makes for an opportunity to really build some interesting decks without breaking the bank.

One of the most interesting mechanics that came out of Khans has been Delve.  It has allowed Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time to see play in virtually every format because the reduction in cost created by the Delve mechanic is hilarious and disgusting all at once.  I wanted to take my own stab at a Sultai deck powered by Delve and the common cycle of Refuge lands to provide a budget conscious deck that is capable of some ridiculous game states and power.  Let’s see what I’ve got cooking.

Sultai Deck list – Standard on a budget

The lands

The lands cover off your bases as well as possible.  Opulent Palace ensures access to all three colours and run about a $1 a card.  The other Refuge lands are all pretty inexpensive additions as well and the basics fill out the land requirements for this deck relatively effectively and cheaply.  Nice deal.  This land base runs you under $10 bucks but still gives you access to the colours you need!

Creatures

The creature package isn’t as large as I usually run, but the ones that I do run are important.

Let’s start with the 3 Satyr Wayfinders in this list.  These little guys are ridiculously useful because they fill your yard for your Delve spells and fetch you land.  The best part with the Wayfinder is that if you hit ANY land card you can pick it, not just basics.  In a deck running so few basics and so many dual and tri coloured land that distinction is huge. At roughly a dime a card these are cheap, effective, and very useful.

Nyx Weaver is a vital part of the deck because it also helps to fill your yard, and by consequence power out those Delve spells even faster.  However, sac this little guy and regrow that important resource you just milled away.  Nothing is funnier than recasting that Villainous Wealth you just burned, getting your Kiora or Jace back, or finding that blocker you need to try and stem the tide. Also, at a mere $0.40 a card they are a bargain for something so useful.

Sagu Mauler: Why not?  He’s huge, hard to handle, and requires an immediate answer or you die to the ridiculous 6/6 trampler with Hexproof.  Also, at $0.50 a card he’s a steal.

Chasm Skulker:  This is legitimately an experiment.  I feel like this card could be very good, particularly with the amount of cards I can draw off things like Treasure Cruise, Dig and Interpret the Signs.  He produces value if he gets killed and is otherwise just a growing bomb to dismantle your opponent.  He’s also very cheap, meaning he also helps keep the cost of the deck down.

Rakshasa Vizier: Honestly, a pair of feels fine in this deck to reap the ridiculous benefits of Delving away loads of cards and making a huge behemoth.  Also, a 4/4 for 5 is just fine base stats anyway.  Oh, and it’s cheap…so…Budget Brew away.

Necropolis Fiend:  This is the big finisher in this deck.  A 4/5 with Flying is pretty awesome…but the ability to repeatedly take care of creatures with its tap ability is huge. The casting cost has no real bearing because of the ridiculous Delve potential with this deck meaning it can hit the table without much trouble and at $0.30 a card you can’t go wrong.

Spells  

With all the budget cards we’ve played in the lands and creatures there is lots of room to splash around with fancy spells.

Jace, the Living Guildpact:  Did anyone notice that Jace’s new first ability jives with Delve incredibly well?  I haven’t seen him in any lists at all so far and I’m wondering why not? His second ability is very relevant as well and totally protects you or him if used properly.  Yes, his ultimate might curtail your plan somewhat, but wrecking your opponent’s hand and you drawing 7 is ridiculous.  This could be the best $4 card in the deck.

Kiora, The Crashing Wave: Wow, has the value of Kiora plummeted recently.  What was once a $20 card is now $8.50…and she’s amazing for this deck.  Her first ability is very useful because she nullifies their best creature every turn. The second ability is amazing to draw yet MORE cards and then dump extra land to ramp to Dig, Villainous Wealth, or Necropolis Fiend.  Her ultimate is an inevitable win condition.  She’s pretty sweet.

Villainous Wealth:  I want a full playset of these guys because I think this card could be the real deal. It’s an absolute game breaking spell.  Yes, it’s greedy, yes it’s expensive…but you only need to hit one and the game just about ends on the spot because it attacks them on an axis that they likely aren’t expecting. Look at the deck…it looks like it wants to beat down with the Vizier, the Mauler, or the Fiends, but one of these for 6 or 7 totally changes the perception of the game.  Add in the fact that it is about $0.50 a card as well and you have a budget all-star.

Throttle:  Cheapest removal going.  Murderous Cut would be better…but there are only so many cards in the yard to Delve away…so Throttle seems just fine in the interim.

Dig Through Time:  Well, this let’s you assemble EXACTLY that piece you were missing.  What more needs to be said.  It is an awesome card.  It is not cheap at $7.50 to $15 a card…but it is well worth it.

Treasure Cruise:  Don’t have a Dig but need to refill your grip of cards?  Yup.  Lean on everyone’s favorite busted Blue common.  Need I really say more?

Interpret the Signs: I have to admit, I stumbled across this and love it.  With all the very high casting costs in this deck you can hit this for 6, 7, 8 or even 9 cards without much trouble!  That’s bonkers.  And at a mere $0.15 a card is just perfect mass card draw for this sort of deck.

Sultai Charm:  Ummm…Removal.  Nuff said.

Scout the Borders:  This acts as card filtering AND as a ritual type effect because it dumps itself and 4 more cards in your yard…meaning that you are most of the way to casting Treasure Cruise by turn 3 and turning things up to high gear. You don’t need too many of them, but a pair seems like the right number.

Substitutions

If you are really keen on playing this deck it would be mighty easy to get a few more pricey treats for this deck. Currently the price tag for this deck is running somewhere shy of $75…but there are lots of pricey treats to sub in that will drive the price tag way up.

The obvious place to start is with 4 Polluted Delta. That’s $80 in Delta’s.  Sure, they thin your deck, feed your Delve and are generally pretty useful, they are hardly key lynch pins in the strategy.  That said, I would love to have a playset of these guys to rock in the deck.

Yavimaya Coast and some more Scry Temples might also be considerations for this deck help improve the mana situation.  I’m less convinced on these guys, but the added value of the free scry or more untapped lands might be really helpful.

I would be prepared to entertain a discussion about NOT running the Dig Through Time, not because it is a bad card, but because Interpret the Signs might be the better spell.  This deck is usually looking for just mass card draw and Interpret the Signs is a sleeper pickup that could be insane.  I would need to test both options.

I could TOTALLY make a case to sub out the Viziers for a pair of Sidisi…and with her bring in a couple of Whip of Erebos as well and emulate the Sidisi Whip decks out there.  There is no doubt that it would be a powered down version, because it lacks the Hornet Queen or the Soul of Innistrad, but it could be pretty potent.

What Fate Reforged Offers this deck

There are a number of treats from Fate Reforged that I might be prepared to try out in this deck but there aren’t an over-abundance of them.  I would be willing to splash around with Temporal Trespass because any time you can grab an extra turn it seems busted.  Also, Torrent Elemental can totally be game breaking because of its ridiculous ability AND the fact that it can be cast from exile if you Delved it away.  While the rest of the Sultai cards look interesting they don’t really do what this deck wants to do and so these will be about the only things I would be looking to experiment with.

Playing the deck

 You can’t afford to be too cautious with this deck.  As much as this deck wants to get to the later stages of the game to try and use more of its resources, you are in a race, not with your opponent, but with yourself.  The fact remains that you could be in real danger of decking yourself without much effort, so once you get a foothold and can leverage out some heavy hitters you need to make good and close out the game.  Your graveyard is absolutely a resource that is there to be utilized so don’t hesitate, but you need to be mindful of how quickly you burn through your cards.  Otherwise, the deck is super fun and able to do some truly ridiculous things and accelerate to get to some mighty powerful spells.

So, if you are looking for something pretty fringe to try at a FNM, or just kicking around with your buddies around the Kitchen table, this sort of Budget Sultai brew might be right down your alley.

Thanks for reading…and as always keep it fun, keep it safe…keep it casual.