Building your first Commander deck on a budget
Last updated: August 13, 2026
Commander (also called EDH) is the most popular way to play Magic: The Gathering — casual, social, 100-card singleton decks led by a legendary creature. It's also one of the friendliest formats for a budget, because you only need one copy of each card and most of a solid deck can be built from commons and uncommons. Here's how to start without overspending.
The rules that shape the deck
A Commander deck is exactly 100 cards: one legendary creature as your commander, plus 99 others, with no duplicates except basic lands. Your commander's colours set your deck's colour identity — you can only include cards that fit within those colours. That singleton rule is what makes Commander budget-friendly: you never buy four copies of anything.
A simple budget skeleton
A reliable first deck is roughly 37 lands, 10–12 ramp and mana pieces, 8–10 card-draw sources, 5–8 removal spells, and the rest creatures and payoffs that support your commander's plan. Hit those counts and the deck will function even when the individual cards are cheap.
Cheap staples worth owning
A handful of inexpensive cards turn up in almost every Commander deck: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet and the colour Signets, Command Tower, Evolving Wilds, and cheap removal like Swords to Plowshares or Beast Within. Most are commons and uncommons that cost very little — browse our singles under $5 to fill out the deck cheaply.
Where to start
The easiest on-ramp is a pre-constructed Commander deck (a "precon") — a ready-to-play 100-card deck for a fixed price — then upgrade it a few cards at a time as you play. If you're building from a decklist instead, our Deck Builder lets you paste the whole list, prices it against our live stock, and adds everything to your cart at once.
When you're ready, browse our Commander singles, or read the condition grading guide so you know exactly what you're buying.