by Joseph Watson

Created on: July 11, 2008   Last Updated: April 03, 2012

Budget Elemental Cards in Standard

Hi again, after posting my first article on Elementals in Standard earlier this week I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some good budget Elementals that aren't being used so much in Constructed play.
Firstly though I'd like to show you the alternative Elemental deck that I mentioned in my previous article:

Ajani's Elementals

4 Adarkar Wastes
12 Plains
8 Island

4 Mangara of Corondor
2 Wispmare
3 Reveillark
4 Nevermaker
3 Meadowboon
2 Ajani Goldmane
4 Mulldrifter

4 Momentary Blink
4 Ponder
4 Graceful Reprieve
2 Teferi's Moat

This deck utilises the synergy between Momentary Blink and Evoke creatures; for example, evoke Mulldrifter; play Momentary Blink on it and hey presto! You keep a 2/2 flyer and draw four cards, that's a pretty good deal.
Mangara of Corondor was added for the same reason; Momentary Blink protects her when you use her ability but the target still gets removed so she is set up for the following turn thanks to Momentary Blinks Flashback ability.
With combos like this it is obvious the deck was going to be defensive (I'm using Blue/White for goodness sake!) so I reinforced this aspect with cards like Teferi's Moat. If you wondering, yes Saffi Erriksdotter can be used on Evoke creatures just like Momentary Blink but it was difficult to splash Green just for her, so I opted her out.

The "big finishers" in this deck would be the spirit avatar that Ajani can summon and Reveillark packs quite a bunch but out of the two I'd say the deck focuses more on Ajani's summoned avatar to end the match.

Feel free to try other ideas out in your Elemental creations and any other decks you make and tell me how you got on at gemini.nightwish@live.co.uk if I have the time I will add them to my articles, particularly if they are relevant to what decks I am writing about.

Budget Rares: Elementals

Ok I thought I'd focus on rares seeing as most commons are cheap to obtain, as are most uncommon (not including Shriekmaw).

Spawnwrithe: If there was any of these rares that I was surprised was being underused it was this one. A 2/2 trampler for three mana might not seem the best of deals but when duplicated it can become quite a handful. Why stop the duplicating there? Add cards such as Clone and Vensuvan Shapeshifter and the copying continues. On the other hand if you're finding it hard for Spawnwrithe to get his damage through kinds like Whispersilk Cloak and Power of Fire can deal with that. Finally, Spawnwrithe copies are fantastic sacrificial

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