(Duke Ulder RavengardDuke Ulder Ravengard | Art by Eric Deschamps)

It's Time to Kick Ass and Chew Bubblegum. And I'm All Out of Gum.

Greetings and salutations from a land currently dripping with rain. I'm Arnaud and I'm thrilled to take you on a journey of uncanny brews, noble smackings and ultimate budget power.

Last time, I left you wonderful brewers with the now usual three choices. It seems these were hardly thrilling to you, as the trio received only 140 votes. I'm not blaming anyone, just taking this as a sign that you were not that enthused.

With 37 votes (26%), third place went to Sheoldred, the ApocalypseSheoldred, the Apocalypse. While building a budget list around this extremely expensive commander seemed fun, I concur: she's not one I'd like to play against.

Second place went to Varolz, the Scar-StripedVarolz, the Scar-Striped, with 44 votes (31%). This one makes me a little sad, as I had high hopes for the scavenging boy.

I might throw him back in the fray some day. The top spot therefore went to Duke Ulder RavengardDuke Ulder Ravengard, with 59 votes (42%). Let's take a closer look.

Coming from a set that didn't received too much love back in the day, the good old Duke is a fun outlet. 5/5 for is not the best value in the world, but giving Myriad and haste to another creature can prove devastating with the right assets.

It also makes sure to cause equal anger around the table, sparking no jealousy. As such, I'm foreseeing a lot of enter-the-battlefield effects, as well as combat damage triggers. I'm curious to see what budget options we have.

For the time being, the full list accounts for 323 cards, prior to any sort of trimming. Let's get to work.

First Trim - The Cardboard Chainsaw Massacre

Newcomers, welcome! Old timers, welcome! Nasty and evil trolls, welcome to you too!

Here, we're all about budget. The final brew shall contain no cards worth more than $1.10 (the 10 cents being there to account for price variations). Everything else must go! *

Before we begin: a suggestion, which I should have made a long time ago. To fully benefit from the methodology walkthrough, I'd advise you to keep a tab open with the last list (in this case for example, the 323 cards) so that you can easily follow the train of thought.

For now, after getting rid of all that's above $2, we're left with 223 cards, 23 of which stand between $1.10 and $2. Also, this time there's no card in the $1-$1.10 bracket, so no regrets. This will be a fully below-$1 list!

A few thoughts on a few of these still budget but too expensive cards:

• Echoing AssaultEchoing Assault: At $1.12, it misses the mark by a smidge. Giving menace to our tokens is nothing to scoff at, and the additional copy is gravy.
• Trumpeting CarnosaurTrumpeting Carnosaur: Despite costing , 7/6 trample for that boy is not bad. And getting two instances of Discovery 5 every turn when attacking is sublime value.
• Conjurer's ClosetConjurer's Closet: Did we mention this deck liked EtBs?
• Sunspine LynxSunspine Lynx: Burning once is fine. Burning multiple times hurt. This is nasty.
• Lae'zel's AcrobaticsLae'zel's Acrobatics: Flicker your army, or blink and then flicker them. All at instant speed. Lovely.
• Ao, the Dawn SkyAo, the Dawn Sky: Another major value engine, with evasion to boot.

And just like that, we already reach our first threshold. 200 cards left exactly. I love these round figures!

Second Trim - Cardward Scissorhands

Before we can get a good look at the fun stuff, we must abide by the veggie rule. This is especially important here given our colors and the sheer cost of our commander.

As things are, we have the following at hand:

As said above, we need a decent amount of ramp, if only to be able to cast our commander. And we need to keep our hand stocked, to keep playing new threats.

I'm aiming at a 14-14 ratio there. I'll keep my removal mostly creature-based, as well as a couple of board wipes. I really want to go a little more all-in here than in previous brews.

Also, I can't help but noticing a lot of the card draw is based on creatures entering the battlefield. While this is all well and good with our commander out, we need some more consistent draw if we're to keep up.

Not mentioning that giving these Myriad with our commander instead of another beefy monster feels a bit underwhelming...

That was a lot of cuts right there. So much so that our work is almost done. After giving the land base a hefty shave, we're down to 124 cards, which is much lower than usual at this point. Not that I'm complaining. Let's move on.

Third Trim - Cutting Off the Rough Edges

Time for the fun part, let's see what this deck has to offer.

There's a lot to unpack here.

• There is a few fun token-makers of various sorts.
• A lot of cards focused on recursion.
• A bunch of protection spells.
• A few beefy beaters/burners.
• Some blink.
• A few cards that steal stuff.

There's not much to say. Most of these make a lot of sense. Others, much less so.

Take the theft package for instance. Sure, it's fun to steal your opponents' creatures. But it's much less so if you can't actually attack with them. Granted, they remove a pesky blocker out of the way, but it feels a bit lackluster.

On the other, hand, there are quite a few outlets I absolutely love in here.

So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to cut deep into the recursion and protection package. I'll keep a few around, but we need our payoffs if we're to make this deck work.

I'm also going to cut a lot of the underwhelming stuff. With that, I have good hopes of reaching our 110 cards objective. Heck, if I get too heavy-handed, maybe we can sneak in a couple hidden gems.

All right, that's quite enough. We're down to 102 cards, and while I have a few more cuts I have in my sights, there are also a few cards I've spotted that are sorely missing.

Let's get to the final stretch.

Final Trim - Heart-Wrenching(ish) Choices

It's been a while since it was so easy to get so low in the list.

We've got a couple more cuts to go, but I'd like to take a gander and include a few fun outlets. Which are:

• Bladegriff PrototypeBladegriff Prototype: This is a too-often overlooked removal outlet. It's a fantastic political tool, and it's really fun if you get multiple triggers out.
• Efreet FlamepainterEfreet Flamepainter: We're currently running 17 instants or sorceries in the deck. That's a lot, and this creature can give them a second life.
• Incinerator of the GuiltyIncinerator of the Guilty: A beefy Dragon with flying AND trample, which can easily wipe a problematic board while making friends. If this isn't a political tool, I don't know what is.
• Rapacious OneRapacious One: If this isn't ramp, I don't know what is. Granted, it comes late. But it can yield a huge load of tokens and a ton of mana all in one.

So, we still have 6 cards to cut to include these goodies. I'll remove the following:

• Assemble the LegionAssemble the Legion: Good in the long run, but simply too slow for my taste.
• Fellwar StoneFellwar Stone: 15 ramp spells is maybe a bit excessive
• Nahiri's ResolveNahiri's Resolve: I really tried to like that card. I love the design. But it has never done what I hoped it would.
• Mentor of the MeekMentor of the Meek: True, there are a few nice token-makers, but I'm not entirely sure we'll get as much card draw as we're expecting.
• Luminate PrimordialLuminate Primordial: While the ability to exile two creatures per attack from each player, the power is a bit lackluster to spend 7 mana on it.
• Hammers of MoradinHammers of Moradin: I like the built-in Myriad, but I'm not 100% sure of this card's actual impact that late in the game.

And without any further flourish, here we are:

Additional Trim - A Look Into the Past

As you're now accustomed to, let's peek at a list from back then.

This time, we're going back into Kaldheim, in the chilly company of Moritte of the FrostMoritte of the Frost.

Frankly, I expected worse.

We have only 4 cards above $1.10:

• Kodama's ReachKodama's Reach: $1.20 (why???)
• Baru, WurmspeakerBaru, Wurmspeaker: $1.45
• Dragon's HoardDragon's Hoard: $1.81
• Hadana's ClimbHadana's Climb: $1.93

Fortunately, these are easy fixes:

• Talisman of CuriosityTalisman of Curiosity and FarseekFarseek will somewhat replace our lost ramp
• Formless GenesisFormless Genesis looks tailor-cut for this deck
• Rooftop StormRooftop Storm is only $0.99 cents now! Thanks Innistrad Remastered!

You can find the updated list here.

Conclusion

Well then, here we are. I hope you enjoyed this brutal take at the Boros Multitude.

As usual, I look forward to hearing from you in the comments. Really. I love chatting with you all and hearing your suggestions, so don't be shy!

See you in two weeks!

Arnaud Gompertz

Arnaud Gompertz has been playing Magic since 4th Edition, back in 1995. He's been an assiduous EDH enthusiast since 2012, with a soft spot for unusual and casual Commanders. He'll always favour spectacular plays against a boring path to victory. Aside from mistreating cardboard, he's a dedicated board games player, loves a challenging video game and occasionally tries to sing with his choir.