AI Summary
5 min readDon’t Buy Staples. Buy These Cards Instead
Roaming Throne costs $58. Esper Sentinel is $75. Deflecting Swat has hit triple digits. The Command Zone hosts Rachel Weeks and Reggie (Arcade) walk through the most expensive Commander staples and offer cheaper alternatives that do similar work—sometimes with more synergy, sometimes with less raw efficiency, but always at a fraction of the price. The episode is built around a practical premise: expensive cards are expensive for good reasons, but you don't need to buy them to have a functional, powerful deck.
Replacing Trigger Doublers and Generic Value
Roaming Throne's price comes from being colorless and doubling any commander's triggered abilities. But if you know what you're trying to double, cheaper options exist. Anointed Joiner ($3) doubles triggered abilities of legendary creatures you control, making it a direct fit for commander-centric decks. Starfield Vocalist ($2) doubles ETB triggers for one blue mana via its ward ability. For spell-slinger decks, Veyran, Voice of Duality ($16) doubles magecraft triggers. And if you want the most generic version of "all my triggers trigger twice," Mirror Room // Fractured Realm ($4.50) does it for seven mana—clunky but functional.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:08) **Roaming Throne ($58) – Trigger-Doubler Alternatives** - Rachel and Reggie open with Roaming Throne, a $58 colorless card that doubles your commander’s triggered abilities, and argue it is replaceable with cheaper, color-specific options.
- 2 (07:45) **Esper Sentinel ($75) – White Card-Draw Replacements** - Reggie and Rachel tackle the $75 Esper Sentinel, noting white now has many synergistic card-draw options that are fractions of the cost.
- 3 (15:45) **Delighted Halfling ($35) – One-Mana Ramp Alternatives** - The hosts discuss the $35 Delighted Halfling, arguing its main use—ramping on turn one—is easily replicated by many cheap green dorks.
- 4 (18:30) **Heroic Intervention ($15) – Mass and Targeted Protection** - Rachel and Reggie explain that the $15 Heroic Intervention is often overkill, and cheaper, more flexible protection spells exist.
- 5 (24:33) **Deflecting Swat ($100) – Redirect and Copy Spells** - The hosts call the $100 Deflecting Swat “dumb” and offer several cheap redirect spells that mimic its effect.
- 6 (29:54) **Deadly Rollick ($30) – Cheap Black Removal** - Reggie and Rachel argue that $30 for a removal spell in black is absurd, given the plethora of efficient, cheap alternatives.
- 7 (35:14) **The Ozolith ($80) – Counter Storage and Synergy** - The hosts discuss the $80 Ozolith, noting its unique effect is approximated by several cheaper cards that store or reuse counters.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Sick of feeling like you need to take out a loan to afford the fancy staples in Commander? There’s a better way!
This episode, we’re going over some affordable (but still very powerful) alternatives to some of the most expensive staples in the game. With these budget replacements for every color and archetype, you’ll save so much money you can go out and buy—okay, we’ll be realistic—it’s probably more Magic cards. Let’s get started!
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Relevant Links:
Reggie AKA Arcade:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reggiethearcade
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReggieTheArcade
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reggie.aka.arcade
200-Card Decks! | Extra Turns 67:
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