Valduk, Keeper of the Flame | EDH Budget Deck Tech $25 | Aggro | Magic the Gathering | Commander

[@sadboi6668]

Someone in my play group killed all of us in a 6 man pod by turn 8 using Valduk. This commander is no joke.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

That can definitely happen! He is quite quick

[@larsandersland851]

I wouldn't dare play in a 6-pod, that game would last forever!

[@Jonathan-qk5ed]

@@larsandersland851 If you think a 6-pod is bad then I'll have to tell you about the time I was playing my Kruphix deck in a 13-pod. I swear the game took FOREVER!!!

[@adrianocarrasco5286]

I have spent last two weeks building this deck, nice to see you dropping this video when I'm already about to finish AHHAHAHAHA

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Haha nice!

[@fearanarchy]

Built mine prob 8 months ago. Man did Skullclamp rise in price. Seize the Day came down with that reprint. Now I can add it.

[@TehSeksyManz]

Why did it take 2 weeks? You must spend more time than I do D:

[@adrianocarrasco5286]

@@TehSeksyManz I usually take smth close to 1 week to build one, but then it takes one more week to check if what I did is gonna work as I thought... Besides that, halfway through the deck I started paying more attention to Varchild and Grenzo, which distracted me hahahaha

[@nolanhilterbrand4028]

I run Blinkmoth Urn in my Valduk, that extra mana comes in nicely when you need to mass equip

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Absolutely! Defintiely one I considered as well!

[@amc6169]

@@TheCommandersQuarters What do you think of Shalai, voice of plenty as a commander? I opened one and i think it might be good.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

A Mc could be an interesting one to build around!

[@oom-3262]

Omg, please staph, no really, I already have 25 decks, jesus christ, you sound too convincing. I'M NOT BUILDING THIS. NO. YOU CANNOT FORCE ME. _DANGIT I BUILT IT_

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Haha my bad

[@jimmykeffer7401]

Valduk was one of my first legendaries, I always wanted to make an EDH with him lol

[@syaoran5476]

Valuk was the commander I chose for my playgroups budget commander! I love him, he can get out of hand so quickly. I think my average mana curve is 2.45 thank you for the new ideas!

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Nice!

[@johan7414]

Honestly, I feel that more colorless lands would be a huge improvement for this deck. If have played many many games with thi deck, and since artifacts are the most important, I am adding to my deck more lands like Rogue's Passage. Just colorless lands with a small but nice addition to it instead of just a mountain.

[@christophwehrmann892]

Im still building this deck. Started 2 weeks ago xD. I didn't know which equipment and Enchantment to build in but now I know!

[@tylerzilkie6339]

Chaos Warp should be the first thing anyone upgrades in this deck. It's shut down hard by white enchantment removal. One solemnity or Darksteel Mutation will destroy this deck.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

I agree! I wish it was a bit more budget, but since it is such a mono red staple I can see why its price keeps increasing

[@tylerzilkie6339]

@@TheCommandersQuarters it's a shame colorless removal like Meteor Golem, Spine of Ishsah, and Universal Solvent are too mana intensive as counters, because they'd be affordable alternatives.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

@@tylerzilkie6339 Agreed!

[@big53mac]

@@tylerzilkie6339 to be fair they kinda have 2 be cuz if they were efficent colarless removal spells every deck would run them and then they would be expensive.

[@tylerzilkie6339]

@@big53mac oh I totally get the reasoning for why they're so expensive. It's just reds weakness to o-ring effects that's all, and there's no real way around it.

[@fearanarchy]

*Small update for more refined meta:* Run Red Elemental Blast, Burnout and Pyroblast tp answer Aetherize, Cyclonic Rift, etc

[@trinir2581]

Nice now i can play my equipment cards!, i might need more mountains 🤔

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Awesome! And everyone needs more mountains in their lives haha

[@trinir2581]

@@TheCommandersQuarters i mostly play grixis/bolas colors so red feels right at home

[@oom-3262]

I'm legit running out of basic lands, that is something I would have never expected

[@jevry4307]

10 bucks says you aren't even going to build it you commandophobe!

[@trinir2581]

@@jevry4307 not on paper, maybe on cockatrice

[@LDIndustries]

damn dude, this deck, the Zada deck, and the Krenko deck all made me realize how much I like mono red decks and how much I've been missing out on the sweet aggro.

[@Jrocknrolla]

Jason you and me both!!! My group is sick of it. Lol

[@IllegalXeno]

A good addition is Golem Skin Gauntlets at 73 cents. CMC 2 with Equip cost of 1. Equipped Creature gets +1/+0 for each equipment attached to it

[@koblfricker278]

You got it backwards, cmc 1 with equip 2. DUMMY good in any equipment deck though!!!

[@IllegalXeno]

Well shit, gotta commit seppuku now.

[@thra-x1855]

kazuu'l toll collector and a blinding powder suddenly dropping onto a field of equipmen. you aught to try it; it's a hoot!

[@crovax1375]

Two cards that I like to play in a Valduk deck is Trailblazer's Boots, which can almost always get him through unblocked and Bravado to squeeze a little extra value out of those elemental tokens

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Indeed if you are going the Voltron build those are great!

[@Aratovi]

Valduk is my duke to go for! Thanks for doing this Commander so far after Dominaria was released!

[@asimpletrashgoblin8109]

Thanks! Imve had Valduk on my nightstand since Dominaria came out, but I’m too stubborn to buy all the Swords

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Who needs swords when you have Shuko! haha

[@garrettmartin4589]

But seriously... buy the swords... I cannot express how good feast and famine is...

[@asimpletrashgoblin8109]

Garrett Martin I totally would. My buddy likes to beat me about the head and neck with that one specifically. But I don’t have the cash or trade stock to get any.

[@MrTylerMatyas]

Y'all I made a $100 version of this deck and routinely have my entire 5 person pod down to half life by turn 5 if I go off. This commander is a fucking powerhouse.

[@friedpinnapple]

Heres something interesting about vulduk and divine visitation (if your in boros) vulduk doesn’t give his tokens haste they just naturally have it which actually makes him a no-go with visitation as he would make a ton of 4/4 angles that couldn’t attack and would then be exiled

[@cereal2373]

I'd love to see your take on Mathas, the Fiend Seeker. Edit: I think it'd be interesting to build a taxlike deck for him with control and politics games.

[@logancarras1154]

Man, I've always wanted to build a commander deck around this guy.... i think i just might now. I've always wondered though: What is the cheapest focused commander deck you can make? We've all seen what you can do with only $25, and I for one would love to see an even cheaper deck and see what you can do with it.

[@LDIndustries]

Check out his $15 series. He's got an equally good (in my opinion) mono red deck around Zada, Hedron Grinder that's just as aggro.

[@hottdaddy69]

I just joined your channel and have been going through my collection and the commander bug bit me. I was just looking at this guy a few nights and ago. So happy to see this deck. I Have a lot of cards cheap and not so cheap so making this deck should be easy.

[@Jonzin4BeatzNYC]

You have convinced me that I need this deck in my budget collection. Stop making awesome decks lol

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Haha my bad!

[@rasmusludwigson6710]

I would love to see you make a Lovisa Coldeye deck. It's my favorit card but I have not been able to make a good Lovisa deck yet.

[@rionnachelliot8951]

I like this deck a lot. Its super similar to my Valduk deck. Champion of the flame and Brass Squire both are powerhouses in this kind of deck.

[@malign3158]

Add the $13 Hammer of Nazahn for indestructible and free equips when your equipment enter the battlefield. Easily one of the most powerful equipment cards in the game, similar to puresteel paladin

[@joranmoore5663]

Hey Mitch. I know it isn't out yet but is it possible to build a budget deck for Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves? (Possible new deck tech video for you?)

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Absolutely! I don't have a deck tech built for it yet since it is so new, but I can tell you that a new kind of episode will be releasing today (that might include him) and I hope you enjoy it!

[@phyrexian_dude4645]

I'm surprised not to see Goblin Bombardment here as a reasonable upgrade, that enchantment should be in anything.

[@ZtgWolf1354]

That would trigger the other enchantments too. That's nice!

[@Volvary]

Here's a card I love in Valduk: Dragon Throne of Tarkir. Gives you +1 elemental and also allows you to pump all your elems with a creature you already wouldn't have attacked with anyways.

[@brian_sipe]

I already had a Valduk deck built, but this gave me some good ideas. Surprised to see Brass Squire wasn't in there.

[@samouflage99]

This isn't a major upgrade but it's a pretty good one in my opinion: Sword of the Animist in for Explorer's Scope. It's guaranteed land fetching when you swing and gives an additional +1/+1 to the creature equipped.

[@gavincameron5143]

Please consider a remake of this one with all the new equipment out on a 100$ budget please

[@nelsonsalvador7311]

Great tech deck. Been putting this commander off for a while. Thank you. Would love to see a Mairsil deck in the future.

[@MagorianAx]

This looks fun! I think Coat of Arms could be a reasonable upgrade.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Could be! Just gotta be careful if you are playing against any other tribal synergies. I would recommend Shared Animosity instead

[@oom-3262]

yep, coat of arms backfires too often. I'd only run it with obscene tribal commanders like krenko.

[@MagorianAx]

@@TheCommandersQuarters I wasn't aware of that one! Thanks for the suggestion.

[@MagorianAx]

@@oom-3262 Perhaps Slimefoot, depending on the build.

[@oom-3262]

Yes, but also no. The thing with coat of arms is that it's a symmetrical effect. If you are using it, you should be using it to take the most advantage possible, so your deck must always have the widest possible board: that's why it's usually ran with Krenko and to a lesser extent, Edgar. If you cannot use it as board presence reinforcement, then it's a really expensive pump spell that can backfire on your face. That doesn't mean it shoudn't be ran inside Valduk or The Locust god, but it means that you _need to kill_ the player _inmediatly_ when the artifact drops down. This is specially true for Valduk, since the tokens usually fade away at the end of turn, and leave you completely open to your pumped enemies. About Slimefoot, he is usually built to take advantage on having a medium sized token board and taxing everyone for killing it until they die to the tokens or the taxing, or just combo. There are better repeatable saproling pump spells, like Nemata, who takes advantage on the "on death" triggers from slimefoot while also being a cheaper saproling producer and pumper. Or you could just run triumph of the hordes. Or the old boring Craterhoof. Or the new end raze boars. Green has a lot of ways to pump boards.

[@NerdySatyr]

Can't wait to Dragon Throne with Valduk! Wish me luck :D

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Luck!!!

[@big53mac]

Hammer of nazan seems preety good here.

[@jimmykeffer7401]

Super good; doesn’t fit in the budget tho

[@dreddbolt]

Don't forget Carnage Altar. Also, don't forget Barrage of Expendables and Goblin Bombardment to blast fools if you're losing the elementals anyway. Run Crystal Chimes if you're running a more enchantment heavy Valduk build. I still have plenty of equipment, so I run Buried Ruin.

[@danieljones8191]

This Commander is so much fun! Thanks for the deck tech!

[@randomusername1735]

I think this is the one I'll build. I was always a bit scared of playing 1 color because of Iona, but my playgroup banned her. However, I think this deck needs a bit more defense (crawlspace for example) because when you can kill everyone easily but can be killed easily you will be the focus.

[@Cole444Train]

Another great upgrade to consider is Experimental Frenzy. Happened to have one laying around and it’s a great source of “card draw” Not sure if that card was out when this deck tech was made but I think it was?

[@somedudeontheinterwebs45]

It was. Strange that it wasn’t included considering that it’s mono Red. Hmm.

[@KRYvideos]

Great tech. Unfortunately the budget doesn't cover the rubber ducks required to use as Valduk's token army.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Haha need to buy those in bulk!

[@heathbasner5727]

That's what dice are for and your common d6 or normal six-sided die you can find in bulk packs at like Walmart or even certain dollar stores

[@heathbasner5727]

That's what I use for my wife's goblin sac deck

[@KRYvideos]

@@heathbasner5727 I think you may have missed the joke.

[@heathbasner5727]

@@KRYvideos I did

[@kaliworks4374]

I also am intending to put Elemental mastery in this deck, as when i first thought of it, the idea was to impact tremors to kill with him... that idea was also a 60 card deck idea. However i do run Penon Blade (sp?) because the +1/+1 for each creature i control has let me kite sail over one opponent's head to commander damage them, as the elementals killed another. Also with dragon throne and penon blade, it's scary...

[@autotronreviews911]

Ooo! Make a budget EDH deck for the new Fblthp! Draw triggers, value, and ETB triggers!

[@floridaman6982]

Seems better as a two headed, you bring the combat pressure and ur bud plays a control pillow fort and supports your plays with auras and enchantments

[@nathanielpittman722]

After you said culling dais I got the song amadeus stuck in my head

[@nicholassalamone770]

I've been excited about this deck since Dominaria. 😁

[@Beaudunk]

So I built this deck with the upgrades then improved it further putting it at around 70$ total and while it is fun and neat in theory. In practice, the deck is easily shut down even when put up against very weak decks for the format. Its a bit slow off the ground due to basically no ramp, which is to be expected. Even then, if you start to build a foundation and the gears start turning in unison, it's always too far behind the others. Since the deck leans entirely on the one strategy basically; and is restricted to mono red, it's stopped dead in its tracks with no way to respond when faced with the common artifact and / or enchantment hate cards like Bane of Progress, Vandalblast and Shattering Spree etc. Furthermore, anything that disrupts or disables activated abilities basically halts the swarm strategy of the deck and you then are also unable to grow the commander into a voltron as a backup, because equipping the equipment is an activated ability. In my personal experience over the past week at 3 different LGS, with a variety of rotating people and playgroups. Even at the lowest level, the deck seems unable to stack up unless it's left entirely uncontested by the other players. I was eager to build this deck and hope to make changes to combat the difficulties it faces, if anyone has suggestions for covering these bases - please comment and share ideas.

[@somedudeontheinterwebs45]

The deck needs to be extremely optimized to even compete in medium power EDH. I’m talking mana crypt+the fast mana rocks, only equip 0 or 1 (equip 2 at most)OR 1cmc auras, mana-accelerating lands, etc. Even then you’re literally playing voltron and might as well play another deck. But I’m building this extremely optimized to see if this could work in mid power EDH.

[@t4rv0r60]

the part that i love about this deck is that you dont need to attack with valduk

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Agreed!

[@zachball1552]

Should make a ruric thar deck. Probably one of my favorite commanders and color combos.

[@marshallwestford3649]

Lol was working on this deck. Got some good ideas, also think I can justify helm of host with the sac ramp I forgot about. Thanks

[@alexwilder806]

You should make a Blind Seer deck it seems pretty easy to make budget since most color-targeted spells are cheap

[@Sycord]

I love your Deck Techs and I love the your Teysa Deck I recently built. Thank you so much :) Can you maybe do a Kess, Dissident Mage Spellslinger deck?

[@brandonteppelin6353]

Kemba's godson in Red, except he's not as patient as her, but his critters are dangerous. I've got a deck with him at the helm, with ogre battledriver and Hellrider to make combat as painful as possible and goblin war drums to give menace. Its not a pretty sight.

[@fatbosa]

this deck is awesome and hilarious to play but MY BOY, it is vulnerable if you attack with your commander you're just wide open and boom get focused

[@Scheuersicle]

I was hoping for Goblin Wardrums. Very nice! :)

[@BozzLightyr]

Wow you have done it again

[@luke7120]

Garruk APex Predator Next? would love to see a commander deck devoted to killing planeswalkers and creating an army

[@davidatchley3031]

Love the videos. Please make deck tech video with Torban, Thane of Red Fell.

[@gormold4163]

I sat here wondering if he was ever going to mention the dragon throne. It was literally the first equipment I was hoping to see.

[@simelot4522]

Ohhhh sweet I have a valduk deck and maybe it gets now better

[@airkami]

Go ahead and destroy all my artifacts I just have more coming! hahahaha

[@Rheneas]

Question: anyone think adding in a couple of the sac creature for equip cost equipment and blade of the bloodchief is a good idea? I like the grafted wargear and mortarpod. Then you get around anyone putting an enchantment on your guy because you can sac him. You can also equip wargear to valduk over and over to sac all the elementals for blades effect.

[@addambarcelos]

awesome! valduk can be insane

[@highintlowwis6580]

Sundial of the infinite sounds good, however Valduk says "exile the tokens at the beginning of the next end step", not "your next end step", so you'll still lose them during the next player's turn..

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Actually it depends on when you use it. Check out this discussion here: www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/796197-sundial-of-the-infinite-and-valduk

[@highintlowwis6580]

@@TheCommandersQuarters That's really cool thank you for the info!

[@johnnymathews9589]

I love that you added the recommended to put in and take out i was wondering do u have a deck that a nykthos would be good to add bc i own one and cant figure out a deck for it.... Also idc what deck it is i watch all your deck tech's just because your awesome

[@foerender1624]

Goblin bombardment seems good here .

[@ryanbeck1922]

I never thought about using improvise. I wonder about penion blade and elemental mastery.

[@dunne4f]

I think goblin bombardment could work great in the deck too.

[@jonatanjacob877]

Excelente comandante! Gracias por hacerle un video!

[@salamadestron]

Really surprised you didn't include purphurose in the upgrades section. 2 damage to each opponent for each token entering really upgrades the ping.

[@thektorMK1]

I don’t remember seeing goblin bombardment either

[@garrettmartin4589]

That commander is gonna be wearing lots of rings, holding lots of weapons, and a fucking utility belt....

[@AgentGreen13]

I may be mistaken, but Sundial of the Infinites does nothing for this deck. Our Commander reads "exile at beginning of next end step", not on OUR next end step. It's just paying Mana to keep tapped elementals that should have been fed to an Altar of Dementia before our opponent drew.

[@Thomeyis]

The trick is you activate the Sundial when the exile trigger goes onto the stack. Ending the turn exiles all the triggers and you keep your army.

[@risetogether5455]

Wait... If you put Vorrac Battlehorns on a creature with Menace, does that make it unblockable?

[@jacobwestfahl1510]

Yes it does

[@MechbossBoogie]

This just sounds like too much fun to pass on. I'm going to need a set of sleeves to put this in, though.

[@jacebelerin7699]

Gitrog Monster

[@leyasu888]

Hi, Love your channel. Would like to ask you what new cards that have been printed in the past 2 years since this video would you suggest as upgrades to the deck? I am currently making a valduk EDH deck and your video has given me alot of inspiration. Thank you

[@movingtriangle8527]

Honestly I think staying with the theme of Cost 1: Equip 1 or Cost 2: Equip 1

[@PizzilicchioAndros]

Would you consider making a 100$ upgrade to this list?

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Maybe in the future!

[@Remdog44]

Am I crazy to think Crystal Vein and Dwarven Ruins could potentially earn a spot here. With the cmc so low, I feel like these could create an explosive turn early in the game. Am I crazy for thinking this?

[@danalinchristania5163]

Awesome deck again!

[@Mtglilypads]

YES YOU DID IT IVE BEEN WAITING. I NEW YOUD DO IT

[@baihai]

Mich, break the bank for Valduk, we need some ideas.

[@Slip-]

Would sundial work? It sais that you get rid of them at the next end step. Does that mean it looks, sees yours ia the next end step, and gets rid of them then? Or does it just mean the next end step that happens.

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

It does if you do it right! www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/796197-sundial-of-the-infinite-and-valduk

[@Slip-]

@@TheCommandersQuarters Thats a really cool interaction! Thanks

[@asuma7846]

So I may have a stupid question: Do the elementals get exiled at the end of the Combat phase or in the End phase before my opponents turn?

[@andrewvirtue5048]

Im curious to see what you could do with a 25$ budget on MTGO.

[@spektralus6229]

I wish you could make an Aryel Knight of Windgrace edh deck

[@revelmonger]

I have a copy of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx a freind gave me to start me off in commander. Would that work in this deck? By that question I also wanna know if colorless counts?

[@thektorMK1]

AceDMan16 Gaming colorless won’t count toward devotion, it’s usually good in mono color but not great here

[@dreddbolt]

Add in Crystal Chimes, Buried Ruin, and Elixir of Immortality, so you can make the deck more enchantment focused. A more enchantment focused Valduk deck should make Nykthos much more viable.

[@safertobeanonymous2224]

Made a variation of this deck in a “no rares” format. Least amount of defence I’ve ever played

[@fmg5110]

Please make a video for lord windgrace

[@memelorddavid2938]

ooouuu i like this deck! .....yeeeeeep ima build it! lol

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Awesome!

[@architectq9798]

Would Sundial of the Infinite really work that well here? Sure, you could keep your Elementals beyond your own end step but wouldn't they just get exiled by your opponent's next end step? Valduk says: "...Exile those tokens at the beginning of THE next end step." Also the rulings on Sundial on the Gatherer Website give a clue: "If Sundial of the Infinite’s ability is activated before the end step, any “at the beginning of the end step”-triggered abilities won’t get the chance to trigger that turn because the end step is skipped. Those abilities will trigger at the beginning of the end step of the next turn. The same is true of abilities that trigger at the beginning of other phases or steps (except upkeep)."

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

If you do it the right way! www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/796197-sundial-of-the-infinite-and-valduk

[@architectq9798]

@@TheCommandersQuarters - Oooh I get it now! The trigger gets exiled and doesn't trigger again! It even says in another Ruling point "All spells and abilities on the stack are exiled." Lesson learned: Reading the rulings explains the rulings. xD

[@samniemann6890]

Do you think it would be worth it to run Brass Squire? Or is it too slow?

[@kaapokivinen4087]

Do gwafa edh plz

[@felixrivera895]

Wooh!

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

Indeed!

[@connorharrison7160]

Sylvok Lifestaffseems bad, considering you don't tend to want to let your Commander go to the graveyard

[@TheCommandersQuarters]

It's effect isn't what matters in my opinion. You just want as many equipment that are cheap to cast and equip, and it is both.

[@moritzk4795]

I´d rather use the staff to get a huge amount of life. Since we run the Snail which lets you sacrifice creatures for {R}. We only need to invest 1 mana to equip it once and we get at the end of our turn X (value of creatures we want to sacrifice) x 3. With this synergy we can easily run a Aetherflux reservoir WHICH is a strong synergy with our cheap artifacts. You can win with lifegain in Mono R. IMO the lifestaff is one MVP in this deck. *flies away*

[@chadsamuels6512]

Purpheros as a reasonable upgrade?

[@wallbant928]

SkullClamp anyday

[@Soupbatt]

Please do lathliss as the next commander

[@drewswanberg6722]

Actually i believe u could use the resonator more than once (across more than two turns) if you had more permanents as targets

[@Nrdyco]

32 mountains.. so 33 lands... Why? Isn't the sweet number 35-37?

[@shyumby]

no skullclamp ?