Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue | Art by Alexander Ostrowski

Hello, fellow brewer, and welcome back to Brew For Your Buck, where we swap out the top 10 most expensive cards in a deck with 10 budget cards that add a unique twist. We're continuing our exploration of the commanders from Tarkir: Dragonstorm. When a new set releases, I usually like to pick the most popular commander according to that set's page on the site. As you can see, Kotis, the FangkeeperKotis, the Fangkeeper currently holds the most popular title, but I've said in the past that I'm not a huge fan of theft-type decks, and hey, it's my article series, so instead we'll look at another Sultai () legend from the set: Teval, Arbiter of VirtueTeval, Arbiter of Virtue.

A graveyard-themed mythic Dragon? Much better. Teval has the potential to be absurdly powerful. Giving all your spells delve basically turns your self-mill cards into rituals, and makes giant X spells trivial to cast. Sure, it comes with the drawback of losing life equal to mana value, but I bet we can find some ways to avoid, or even abuse that.

The Average Teval, Arbiter of Virtue Deck

The average list comes in at $544.52 here on EDHREC, so let's remove the top then and see what we can add for some spice.

As we saw last time with NerivNeriv, the mana bases for these three-color decks tend to be pretty pricey as well. This deck is no exception, with the mana base costing nearly $100 more than those top ten nonlands. Replacing the expensive lands leads to an additional $250.71 in savings, for a total of $403.50.

The remainder of the deck is what you'd expect. Finishers like ExsanguinateExsanguinate, Villainous WealthVillainous Wealth, and my personal favorite: Repay in KindRepay in Kind. Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood is an absurd draw engine and easily ReanimateReanimated. Some great potential, but let's caveat a few things:

1. If you've played with delve in Limited, you'll know that the limiting (pun intended) factor tends to be the number of cards in your graveyard. Since our spells don't actually gain delve until Teval is out, we should try to spend the earlier turns getting cards into the 'yard.
2. We should avoid effects that cost mana greater than or equal to the number of cards they put into the graveyard, since we actually go down on mana with Teval that way.
3. We should also be selective about cards that care about stuff in our graveyard. While we like effects that care about things leaving the 'yard, remember that things aren't going to stay in there for long if we're delving to high heaven.
4. Delve only reduces the generic mana cost of spells, so having access to colored mana is very important in order to chain together spells on a big turn.
5. Delve can be a tricky mechanic to think about, and adding Teval's life loss makes it even trickier. Remember, the mana value of X spells is calculated after you decide what X is, so you need to be careful not to kill yourself with one.

Certainly keep these in mind as you play, but let's also do so when looking for cards to add.

Additions for Budget Teval

Graveyard Fuel

Often, the first few turns in Commander are spent ramping; but we want to mill. How about both? Malevolent RumbleMalevolent Rumble ($0.86) mills us, grabs a key permanent to delve out, and gives us a Spawn token to ramp into Teval. For my Office fans: win, win, win.

I wanted to throw in Drowned SecretsDrowned Secrets, but with blue being the least represented color in the deck, I opted for the new Stillness in MotionStillness in Motion ($0.16) instead. This is our pseudo-replacement for Ripples of UndeathRipples of Undeath, being a two-mana enchantment that mills three per turn. It also gives us a tiny bit of insurance against decking, something we definitely don't mind having access to. But as I said before, don't count on having much left in your graveyard!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Otherworldly GazeOtherworldly Gaze ($0.14) ain't broke. With the Teval glasses on, this is a blue Dark RitualDark Ritual with flashback. Okay, maybe it isn't that good, but you get the point. It also has a lot more flexibility than that, giving you some card selection if you want it, and all at instant speed for one (or two) mana, allowing it to slot in along the curve as needed.

Sultai Colors

We've got our generic mana costs covered for the most part once Teval hits the board, but we need some ways to gain access to colored mana to cast these spells. Sure we can use our lands, but why be so basic (another pun intended)? Newly printed Kheru GoldkeeperKheru Goldkeeper might be the best one, and thankfully is already in the list. It's not as new, but Molt TenderMolt Tender ($0.20) does double duty by helping to fill the graveyard and sort of giving us a once-per-turn-cycle "delve for colored mana."

Insidious RootsInsidious Roots ($2.08) allows any tokens we have to tap for mana, and makes tokens as creatures leave the graveyard. The Plants can be chump blockers or turn into legitimate threats in addition to tapping for mana, so I'm kind of surprised this wasn't in the list already.

Springleaf DrumSpringleaf Drum ($0.85) might seem kinda wild, but with Teval it's basically an Elvish Spirit GuideElvish Spirit Guide. At one generic mana, we can delve just one card to cast it, then tap it and Teval (or any other creature) to add a mana of any color as needed.

Lifegain

We've got some great options to pad our life total already, especially Weather the StormWeather the Storm, which can be used as a massive boost to a combo turn. Here's a few more options to help keep that life total up:

Skola GrovedancerSkola Grovedancer ($0.05) doesn't have that pesky "one or more" clause, so every land that hits the bin will gain you life. This goes great with a card we'll be adding shortly, plus all of the self mill we have running around. If you absolutely have to you, can activate its second ability, but as a rule I'd consider that flavor text.

Tablet of the GuildsTablet of the Guilds ($0.30) actually does some work in this deck. If you choose green and black as the two colors, it has 30 hits to gain one life, and 13 hits to gain two life. It may not seem like much, but if you're going ham with casting those spells with Teval, lessening the life total blow from each can be critical.

The last lifegain card I'm throwing in is because of my personal bias. I love sacrificing lands to my Frog god (this onethis one not that onethat one), so Zuran OrbZuran Orb ($0.32) is a card I'm very familiar with. This free artifact does two great things for us: it puts cards in the graveyard to delve (who needs lands?) and gains a bunch of life should we get low from all the delving.

Backup Teval

Finally, tying the room together is Titans' NestTitans' Nest ($0.37). This card kind of functions like a backup Teval. You're a little bit more restricted on how you can spend the mana, but you don't lose life when you do. The big difference is how the mana is added. With Titan's Nest, you exile the cards one at a time, so unlike delve, you'll trigger all "leave your graveyard" cards like Kheru GoldkeeperKheru Goldkeeper and Dredger's InsightDredger's Insight over and over again.

Wrap Up & Savings

Let's see what we saved:

Pretty good savings for an already expensive deck. Like I said at the top, the mana base is really the most expensive part, so I tweaked that a bit, adding in some lands like Foreboding LandscapeForeboding Landscape, Cephalid ColiseumCephalid Coliseum, and Revitalizing RepastRevitalizing Repast to make up for it. Clearly Teval gives us some really interesting interactions that haven't been possible before, so I'm sure I missed a few. If you have any suggestions or comments on the final list, let me know down in the comments. Otherwise, I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck!

If you want to send your personal deck through the Brew For Your Buck process, send an email to [email protected] with an Archidekt link and a few sentences about what your goals for the deck are, and your deck could be featured in a future article!

Please note: card prices listed in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but prices can vary over time and between locations.