“Budget” Werewolves

I wanted a werewolf deck. I read the Daily MTG article about it (Building on a Budget) and my first thought about it was:

“This deck is just full of awesome! I usually don’t build decks from scratch, preferring to modify intro decks, but I’ll make an exception this time around. I want to drop pop culture references like ‘It’s morphin’ time!’ and ‘Transform and roll out!’ while playing a match.

I want to have as much fun as I did, back in the day, when I played Scorching Missile and I shouted the card’s name like a typical animé character in the middle a heated battle. I didn’t care if I was winning or losing at that point, I was having a blast and that’s what mattered!”

So there I was, thinking, this couldn’t be any easier. After all:

1. I had a guide, a list of cards to obtain;
2. I had some of the cards to begin with, courtesy of my stockpile and my recent Innistrad purchases; and
3. I knew of a couple of stores within an hour’s ride from my apartment to get the rest of the deck.

I set out to acquire the missing lycanthropes and support cards, thinking I won’t be spending more than what I did purchasing the Carnival of Blood into deck, which was PhP 1,000, tax included. (That’s roughly $22.75 given the exchange rate of US dollars to Philippine pesos at the time of purchase.) I could afford a thousand bucks local, and I won’t splurge like this until the next expansion comes out, so I figured I’d go for it!

What awaited me at the card shop was a cold bucketful of reality, or at least, reality of deck building in the Philippine scene.

Behold this table:

Card Name	Quantity	Cost per card	Total Cost
Daybreak Ranger	4	120	480
Gatstaf Shepherd	4	10	40
Instigator Gang	4	75	300
Kruin Outlaw	3	75	225
Mayor of Avabruck	4	200	800
Reckless Waif	4	50	200
Brimstone Volley	2	20	40
Full Moon's Rise	4	10	40
Incinerate	4	20*	80*
Moonmist	4	1	4
*denotes approximate cost		Grand Total	PhP 2,209

The Daybreak Rangers cost close to half the budget I had in my head. The Mayors of Avabruck will eat up 80% of the budget if I take the full set. This is not including non-basic lands that the deck list online prescribed. Is this the end of my werewolf plans, destined to remain a lunatic dream?

Logic dictated that there were two ways to get a werewolf deck, despite this unexpected development. Option one: increase the budget to accommodate the increased cost. Option two: purchase from collectors and players who hopefully won’t sell them at such exorbitant rates. The problem is, I’m willing to consider increasing my budget to PhP 1,500 (the cost of a Commander boxed set), but the cards still clocked in bigger than that, so I nixed that option. Option two was a no-go either, since I don’t have any reliable card-collecting contacts.

Fortunately, a third option presented itself – deviate from the recipe. The werewolves in the recipe weren’t the only werewolves in the set, and looking at a checklist card I saw that other werewolves existed at the same converted mana cost as the prescribed ones. This was it! I’d get one or two of the pricier werewolves, and substitute cheaper (money-wise) equivalents (mana-wise) for the open slots. I was fired up at this point – I’m going to try and buy cards for my werewolf deck that cost less than PhP 1,000!

Here’s what I actually ended up with:

Card Name	Quantity	Cost per card	What it cost me
Daybreak Ranger	1	120	120
Gatstaf Shepherd	3	10	10
Hanweir Watchkeep	2	7	14
Instigator Gang	1	75	75
Kruin Outlaw	1	75	75
Mayor of Avabruck	2	200	400
Reckless Waif	4	50	200
Tormented Pariah	3	1	3
Village Ironsmith	3	1	3
Villagers of Estwald	3	1	3
Brimstone Volley	2	20	40
Full Moon's Rise	4	10	40
Incinerate	4	20	0
Moonmist	4	1	3
		TOTAL	PhP 986

A few explanations are in order: 

• I already had 2 Gatstaf Shepherds. I bought 2 more to complete the set, but when I worked out the numbers with the help of the other decks I had on hand I decided I only needed 3 in the deck. I can side in the fourth one in place of a Village Ironsmith if I’m not fighting green.

• Speaking of Village Ironsmiths, they’re really placeholders until I can get my other 2 Mayors of Avabruck. Similarly, the Hanweir Watchkeeps, Tormented Pariahs, and Villagers of Estwald are holding spots for more Kruin Outlaws, Instigator Gangs, and Daybreak Rangers.

• Incinerates were free because I had a playset (Magic jargon for a set of 4 cards) courtesy of M12 and 10^th Edition. I feel no shame in admitting I still had my Incinerates from 2007. It pays not to throw old things away sometimes.

• I already had a single Moonmist, courtesy of an Innistrad booster that I purchased. Thus I only needed to purchase 3 more copies.

I did it!

Never mind that the mana base consisted of 9 Forests, a Jungle Shrine, 9 Mountains, and 4 Terramorphic Expanses. Who cares if it’s not Standard legal? I made a werewolf deck within the budget I set for myself, using my hard-earned cash, and I’m having a great time with it!

I had fun finding substitutes for the raw materials, putting the deck together, and playing games with it, whether I won or lost. It’s not over yet, though – I still plan to get more of the rare and uncommon werewolves, and if I can find them, add mana-producing non-basic lands to round out my mana base.

This deck, I feel, will be a keeper. I would so love to play with an initiate to the game and watch his reaction as I pick up my Reckless Waif, pull her out of her sleeve and flip the card to reveal the monster on the other side. “You were wondering where the werewolf is in the card, eh? Well, here it is!”

“Wait, creature cards can do that?”

“Mine can, kid, and yours don’t, unless they’re werewolves too. I tell you, I love this deck, because there’s more than meets the eye.”

Come to think of it, that’s why I love this game.

Howl at the moon!