JackdawJackdaw | Art by Evan Shipard

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. BFYB is back after almost a three month paternity hiatus. Thank you readers for being patient, I'm happy to report my wife and daughter are both doing great.

Since it's been a while, I want to explain in a little more detail what we do here on this series: The plan is to take an average deck list from a commander's page on EDHREC, and remove only the 10 most expensive nonland cards. This way, you have 90% of the same deck for a fraction of the cost, rather than buying a bunch of budget cards that you'll cut over time and end up paying more as you upgrade.

Then we remove the lands that would have made the top 10 list and replace them with basics (and occasionally some other cool lands) so that we maintain a good land/spell ratio. Clear? Good. Let's get started.

While I was gone, Wizards made the huge announcement allowing legendary Vehicles and Spacecraft with a power and toughness box to be your commander! Of course, this opens up a ton of new deckbuilding space that I wanted to check out immediately! So today, we're looking at...

...JackdawJackdaw, Edward KenwayEdward Kenway's ship from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

Jackdaw has a few things going for it as a commander. First of all, it has the potential for huge amounts of card velocity, which is always powerful to have on your commander. Second, it encourages an artifact-centric build, one of the most popular archetypes in the format.

I've also expressed my love for the Golden Age of Piracy in articles before, so I love the flavor here too. Unsurprisingly, Black Flag is my favorite of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

The community at large has already been brewing with Jackdaw a bit. There are 210 decks on the site at time of writing with an average list price of $366.32. Let's take a look at the top 10 most expensive nonlands and throw them overboard:

Total Value of Cuts: $241.26

Welp, Mox OpalMox Opal alone makes up 40% of the average cost, so we could honestly get quite a discount and basically the same deck just by replacing that. Replacing the expensive lands with basics leads to an additional $54.61 in savings, for a total of $295.87 (with like half of that being Opal).

As I said above, artifact decks are so varied that we can take a lot of different approaches to our build. Breaking down JackdawJackdaw a bit further, we'll focus on the following aspects:

1. It's a Vehicle with crew 3 that costs three mana. That means we want the creatures we cast on turns one, two, and four (assuming we cast Jackdaw on three) to have a total power of three or greater. If those creatures get bonuses from becoming tapped, even better.
2. Its ability scales with the number of artifacts we control, so ways to create a lot of artifacts quickly is key.
3. We'll have a lot of cards going to our graveyard, so we better make the most of it!

Additions for Jackdaw

Part of the Crew, Part of the Ship

First thing I want to add are some low mana value creatures that can crew up Jackdaw. Currently there are only eight creatures we can cast for less than three mana, so adding a few more will increase how consistently we can attack with Jackdaw on turn four.

Magda, Brazen OutlawMagda, Brazen Outlaw ($0.82) is an obvious first choice. Most everyone knows how powerful Treasures are, and they're especially great here because they make us draw more cards and then make the mana to cast them too. Magda makes us a Treasure when we crew, so she kind of pulls double duty, making her one of the best additions for the deck.

Honestly, if you're in any Vehicle deck that touches red, Magda should probably be in there.

Following that logic, Ticket TortoiseTicket Tortoise ($0.04) is also going in the deck. It may not look like much, but it's an artifact that (probably) makes another artifact, and it's also a creature with three power, all for two mana. Just because it has defender doesn't mean it can't crew a Vehicle, and if you draw it when you don't want it, just discard it with Jackdaw to draw something else.

Syr Ginger, the Meal EnderSyr Ginger, the Meal Ender ($0.39) is another two-mana artifact creature that can crew Jackdaw all on its own. Since we're planning to make a lot of Treasures, chances are the Food Knight can grow pretty large. We'll get some additional value from the scrying and randomly hose the Superfriends player at the table.

I've got two more crew members for us. Next up is Reckless VelocitaurReckless Velocitaur ($0.05). Curving Jackdaw into this guy means we'll be attacking with a 6/4 trample on turn four, so we can probably hit at least one opponent to proc Jackdaw's trigger. Spireside InfiltratorSpireside Infiltrator ($0.06) rounds out the new recruits, hitting that critical three-power threshold and pinging for some extra damage.

There's a whole host of other creatures we can add, so if you want to change things around even further you can have a look at these alternates:

• Volatile WanderglyphVolatile Wanderglyph ($0.04) - artifact creature with a "becomes tapped" ability
• ScaretillerScaretiller ($0.08) - artifact creature that gets back lands we discarded when it crews Jackdaw
• Piggy BankPiggy Bank ($0.07) - two mana, three power artifact creature that dies into a Treasure
• Nanoform SentinelNanoform Sentinel ($0.21) - a new card from Edge of Eternities that can be used for some untap shenanigans as well

Artifactory

Good news! A lot of the best artifact generators are in this list already: Mirrodin BesiegedMirrodin Besieged, Third Path IconoclastThird Path Iconoclast, and SaiSai, just to name a few. Mary Read and Anne BonnyMary Read and Anne Bonny, also in the original list, are especially great for Jackdaw, both mechanically and flavorfully.

We'll add to this group starting with Detective's SatchelDetective's Satchel ($0.04), which brings three artifacts for a single card, and can keep pumping out Thopters to maintain a high artifact count.

While planeswalkers tend to be a little underpowered in Commander, Saheeli, Sublime ArtificerSaheeli, Sublime Artificer ($0.15) is a great addition, making Servos with her static ability and and can even "add" an artifact to the board along with whatever other silly effects we get from copying a creature.

Servos, Thopters, and expendable friends can be thrown under the bus if opponents decide to attack her, helping to reduce the downsides of having an attackable permanent on the battlefield.

Finally, Ivora, Insatiable HeirIvora, Insatiable Heir ($1.10) makes Blood tokens upon entering and when she hits an opponent, which Jackdaw makes easier by discarding a bunch of cards so she can grow huge. Huge plus trample means she can hit pretty easily, and opponents will have to deal with Ivora after a couple of turns or risk getting smashed.

The Blood tokens also work with any of the other discard synergy pieces in the list, like Magmakin ArtilleristMagmakin Artillerist or Containment ConstructContainment Construct.

Davy Jones' Locker

Of course, with all of the discarding, we'll want to include some pieces that care about being in the graveyard, or want to see a lot of cards go to the graveyard.

AngerAnger ($1.01) is the cheapest its been in a while, and giving haste to all of our creatures for free is obviously very powerful. If you don't have a copy of it, I'd suggest you pick it up now.

Tying the whole room together is Enterprising ScallywagEnterprising Scallywag ($0.08), a flavorful way to take advantage of the discard and boosting our artifact count in a single card. Like I said above, Treasures are the best artifacts for us to create, and this comes attached to a body that can help crew Jackdaw.

Honorable Mention: Malcolm

Before we wrap up, I did want to mention that with both Magmakin ArtilleristMagmakin Artillerist and Glint-Horn BuccaneerGlint-Horn Buccaneer in the list, you may be interested in adding Malcolm, Keen-Eyed NavigatorMalcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator ($0.13). The Malcolm-Glinthorn combo is notorious for ending games even all the way up to Bracket 5, and having Artillerist, Malcolm, and Jackdaw is going to result in quite a lot of Treasures and card draw before your opponents die.

If you're looking to add a bit more power and infinite combo potential, you can slot in everyone's favorite Siren.

Wrap Up & Savings

Let's see what we saved:

We go from over $350 to under $100 with just swapping ten cards. Granted, Mox OpalMox Opal is a pretty huge chunk of that, but hey, the data is the data. So what do you think? Are you happy about Vehicles as commanders? Is there one you want to try? What did I miss for Jackdaw? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck!

Jackdaw Commander Deck List

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.

More Vehicle Commanders: