Kuja, Genome SorcererKuja, Genome Sorcerer | Art by Joshua Rapaël

Peace is but a shadow of death, desperate to forget its painful past...

Greetings and salutations, from a place where our commander's smoldering power has never felt more adequate. I'm Arnaud and I'm thrilled to take you on a journey of cheap cardboard, roasting Wizards, and spell-slinging galore.

Last time, I left you with the usual three choices, with a twist. If you've been following this series for a while, you may have noticed this is the first time ever I included cards from Universes Beyond. I've never made a secret of my distaste for the direction the game has taken, but I've come to terms with it. After all, this column is for everyone, and I shouldn't let my personal feelings get in the way.

So in the future, I'll probably split the choices between two in-lore commanders and a UB one. I'm looking forward to your opinions on this matter.

With this out of the way, let's take a look at the results. Third place went to the most popular commander among the choices. Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow, earned 27 votes (25%). Not an absolute rejection, but still a clear no to Ninjas. Jenova, Ancient CalamityJenova, Ancient Calamity fared slightly better, with 32 votes (29%). Our winner, by a far margin, is therefore Kuja, Genome SorcererKuja, Genome Sorcerer, with 51 votes (46%).

Kuja is doubly interesting for our purposes. First, it's an interesting design, spewing pinging Wizards at a regular pace. Second, it's still reasonably priced, averaging $1.03 at the time of writing.

Without further ado, let's get to work by getting all the cards in both the normal and budget tabs on the commander's page, and pouring them on Archidekt. This initial plunder nets us 319 cards, a great place to start.

First Trim - The Cardboard Chainsaw Massacre

Cleanup time! Let's discard all those peskily expensive cards and remove all dama... Er sorry, I got sidetracked.

For all newcomers, a warm welcome. These articles all about brewing on a budget, by using only cards worth $1.10 at most.

An initial dusting already clears almost a third of the list, with 224 cards worth $2 or less. Before we part ways with these as well, let's take a look at some potential juicy additions, in case we feel like reasonably oomphing the budget:

• Return the FavorReturn the Favor: Either copy a relevant spell or ability, deflect a threat, or do both!
• Chandra, Torch of DefianceChandra, Torch of Defiance: A classic burner that ramps, provides card avantage and/or burns opponents to char.
• Past in FlamesPast in Flames: Turn our graveyard into a second hand twice? Don't mind if I do.
• Arcane BombardmentArcane Bombardment: This actually casts the exiled cards, so it will trigger all of our pinging Wizards.
• Keen DuelistKeen Duelist: Acts both as a burn spell and a card draw engine.
• Pinnacle MonkPinnacle Monk: While the cost is a bit steep, it's still a nice recursion outlet that takes a land spot. Nice.
• Mana GeyserMana Geyser: Probably the best ritual in red.
• Crimson WispsCrimson Wisps: Classic cantrip in spell-slinging decks.
• Spiked Corridor // Torture PitSpiked Corridor // Torture Pit: While the left side is fun, the right one will end games.
• Torbran, Thane of Red FellTorbran, Thane of Red Fell: Turn each of our Wizards into Lightning BoltLightning Bolters.
• TransposeTranspose: A new card from Final Fantasy, creating another Wizard while providing card selection. It's fine I suppose.

Which leaves us with seven cards in the $1-$1.10 bracket. Let's take a closer look.

• Krark, the ThumblessKrark, the Thumbless: An absolute win-win card in this type of deck, either doubling any spell or giving us the chance to cast them anew. This is very close to card draw, in a way.
• Mizzix's MasteryMizzix's Mastery: Overload this sweet spell to victory!
• Professor OnyxProfessor Onyx: 100% in line with the strategy. I'd play her only for the static ability, despite the mana cost. The rest is pure gravy.
• Kaya's GhostformKaya's Ghostform: A staple to protect our stuff in black.
• Thought VesselThought Vessel: I'm not sure we'll need the infinite hand size, but a two-mana rock is always nice.
• Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots: Another great protection outlet.

This first Trim leads us to a much more reasonable 200 cards. Let's proceed.

Second Trim - Cardward Scissorhands

Before diving into the deck's main theme, let's first address the usual suspects - the ones that keep us fueled, the veggies, the vitamins.

After some sorting out, we reach the following spread:

Yikes. That's more card draw than I've seen in a long time in . And while we're going to retain a lot of these in the final iteration – after all, we care about noncreature spells, and what are these if not precisely that? – some just feel out of place.

Aaaaaah, the air definitely feels cleaner at this point. With all of that out of the way, I feel more confident for the endgame. After adjusting the land base, we're down to 144 cards and counting. On to the fun part.

Third Trim - Cutting Off the Rough Edges

Right, let's see what's left.

When I started dabbling with this list, my first instinct was to shout at the top of my lungs "What in the blazes is this mess?!?" And while I've somewhat calmed down, there are a few things that need addressing.

First, the theme. I get it, brewers like the new Final Fantasy cards, and want to cram as many as they can in there. But let's face it, some of them are decisively bad. Not mediocre or average, just plain bad. Even at our budget level, there are several better options.

Second, the objective. There are some cards that feel simply out of place. Our goal is to repeatedly ping our opponents to death, and killing them through combat damage seems like a dubious plan at best.

With that in mind, let's see what we still have to deal with.

• Isolated pingers: By this I mean creatures that will deal a single point of targeted damage somewhere. That's simply not good enough here. We want to ping everyone, and repeatedly at that. Off with those.
• Burners: This is the meat and bones of this deck, and while some feel marginally less optimal, we're going to keep a good chunk of them.
• Protection spells: While I'm usually a big proponent of those to keep our commander around, the reality is that he's not an essential piece, as we'll be running a slew of other ways to prick our opponent's life.
• Copy spells: There are three of these here, and I'm inclined to keep only Krark, the ThumblessKrark, the Thumbless, as our pingers only care about spells being cast, not copied.
• Recursion: I don't really see what we'd absolutely want to reanimate. Off.

Let's hack this list further down.

And would you look at that! Without even forcing, we're already down to 104 cards. Let's wrap this up.

Final Trim - (Not Really) Heart-Wrenching Choices

Usually at this point of the brew, I cry and whine at how difficult the cuts are, and what will I do, and Oh Woe Is Me and all... Not this time.

This is what I would remove:

• Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena: We want to go fast, and unless we hit this very early in the game, it's unlikely it will net us the amount of cards we expect from it.
• OvermasterOvermaster: Let's get rid of a single cantrip.
• Go for the ThroatGo for the Throat: We have too many removal spells; we can get rid of a couple. Here's the first...
• TerminateTerminate: ...and here's the second.

And without any fuss, I give you:

Kuja, Genome Sorcerer Commander Deck List

Additional Trim - A Look Into the Past

Let's take a look at a past deck iteration, shall we? This time, we're focusing on Elenda and AzorElenda and Azor.

This is a funny one. While there are a few cards that have gained significant value, several are but slightly above our price mark. See:

• Skyclave RelicSkyclave Relic: $1.11
• Decanter of Endless WaterDecanter of Endless Water: : $1.12
• Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat: $1.13
• Wand of the WorldsoulWand of the Worldsoul: $1.15
• Cordial VampireCordial Vampire: $1.27
• Supreme VerdictSupreme Verdict: $1.45
• Knight ExemplarKnight Exemplar: $1.63
• Herald of HoofbeatsHerald of Hoofbeats: $3.50 (!)

Still, quite a few cards to replace. Let's find some suitable alternatives:

• Orzhov SignetOrzhov Signet & Azorius SignetAzorius Signet: Should adequately replace our missing rocks.
• Queza, Augur of AgoniesQueza, Augur of Agonies: We're drawing a lot of cards, so this feels right at home.
• Knowledge Is PowerKnowledge Is Power: In this case, quite literally. This neat outlet could win games.
• Champion of DuskChampion of Dusk: Never underestimate the power of more card draw.
• Olivia's WrathOlivia's Wrath: A unilateral wipe looks like a good replacement for the one we lost.
• Wispdrinker VampireWispdrinker Vampire: A solid pinger. The second ability is anecdotal but could save you in a pinch.
• Valiant KnightValiant Knight: Exemplar it is not, but it will buff our team and potentially take the game away in a deadly swoop.

You can find the updated list here.

Conclusion

An interesting journey, this. Despite the expected hype, I'm overall impressed at how fast a lot of Final Fantasy commanders have grown in the little time they've been out.

But now I'd like to hear from you, dear readers. Any disputable decisions? Any hidden gems I missed? Let me know in the comments, and I'll see you next week with a new concept!

Poll: