Monkeys of a Feather (EDH / Commander)

Having $30 to work with for a full deck list has a lot of restrictions but has lead to a lot of learning over the several games I've played. A deck list this inexpensive can only do so much so it's been crunched down to just the A and B plan. It's Rakdos colors so the main thing is to do Rakdos things, start playing and dropping life totals quick. A secret benefit of having such a low-power deck at a table is threat assessment, people will rarely think to do much about your board until they realize you have a whole boarding party swinging at their faces.

Mulligan Phase: You genuinely do not need much to get this deck out of dry dock. 2 land to start is more than enough but 3 will work best, more importantly is making sure you have access to a [[Swamp]] or else you're going to be dead in the water. [[Francisco, Fowl Marauder]]'s ability to explore almost every turn is surprisingly effective as a ramp effect and make sure what you want is getting into your hand and there are even some Encore and Flashback cards in the 99 so sending them to Davey Jones might not be a total waste. You also REALLY want is a 1-drop pirate like [[Greedy Freebooter]], [[Impulsive Pilferer]], [[Reckless Lackey]], [[Fanatical Firebrand]], [[Deadeye Tracker]] and [[Rigging Runner]], it might not be a possibility in the mulligan phase to have one but it accelerates you into mid game in a much healthier state so mulliganning down to 5 or even 4 cards for a solid start might be worth it. Aside from your land and 1-drop crewmember, [[Sol Ring]] is always a winner, having a [[Village Rites]], or [[Faithless Looting]] early might also be good to filter out what you don't want in the moment to get to what you need. From there the game plan is very simple.

Turn 1: 1-drop pirate, a few have haste but turn 1 you're not the fastest, but attack if you can, you cannot afford a single extra point of health on any of your opponents. If you don't have it [[Sol Ring]], [[Faithless Looting]], if you've got it and pass.

Turn 2: Ideally you want to drop [[Francisco, Fowl Marauder]] this turn and have a pirate ready to let him explore. If not push him to turn 3, his ability is static, so it's better to play a 2-drop pirate this turn to attack ASAP. You've got less options for 2-drops but [[Kari Zev, Skyship Raider]] is a great option allowing you to peg multiple opponents for one creature. but you also have [[Dire Fleet Daredevil]], [[Dire Fleet Captain]] and [[Fathom Fleet Captain]] all excellent options. [[Dire Fleet Daredevil]] might be better later in the game as a form of graveyard hate but it might be good to stop faster sorcery/instant starts from opponents.

Turn 3: If you haven't already play [[Francisco, Fowl Marauder]] and start exploring, hopefully no one's put up decent enough blockers yet and you can start pegging people for chip damage. Your commander's ability to explore so consistently with smart combat choices really pads your mana base and can easily keep you from flooding or staying dry.

Turn 4-6[/b]: Is where your game plan has to start becoming more reactive, even though [[Breeches, Brazen Plunderer]] is sitting in the Command Zone, it doesn't mean he's necessary for your plan of beating the table down, in fact, I've noticed people will perceive you as a larger threat if he is out, he's a 3/3 with a top-of-deck hate mechanic and when you're capable of spreading it around to each opponent each combat; people don't want to accidentally let you play their [[Mana Vault]] or [[Sol Ring]]. And God forbid it's later or you've managed to get a good amount of mana rocks out on the field early enough where you reveal a [[Demonic Tutor]], [[Rhystic Study]], or another powerful piece that you either play or is just going to get sent to Exile, the table will turn and notice your board state slowly growing. [b]If you are ahead, drop [[Breeches, Brazen Plunderer]] and try to fill your hand with removal. The exception is getting a cards in the Bababooey section these cards all help accelerate or make your creatures hard to block. [[Intimidate]] has put me on the public enemy #1 watch list more than once.

Turn 7-10: Is the late game, at least for this deck. If you have been getting slowed down, plain unlucky, or opponents have managed to wrangle up a decent enough board state to keep the fleet off of their backs, sitting back and just pegging a few points of damage with [[Francisco, Fowl Marauder]] to get your explore triggers to help you draw into [[Intimidate]], [[Goblin War Drums]], [[Rage Reflection]], [[Shared Animosity]], or [[Angrath's Marauders]] to turn the tide and get you back to a point of naval superiority. If you are ahead by this point still your pirates should be pretty threatening, and you should be looting your opponents as frequently as possible, even if you can't play it or it's useless to you, it's nice to keep up deck hate all through the game. You're not going to eve mill anyone out with this deck but the cards not going into the graveyard is especially nice.

The Deck could likely do with some upgrades but upgrades at this price point are hard to come by, if you want to splurge [[Vanquisher's Banner]], [[Metallic Mimic]], [[Isengard Unleashed]], and [[Haunted One]] are all cards that would really increase the over all lethality to your crew. [[Broadside Bombardiers]], [[Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer]], [[Pitiless Plunderer]], and [[Dockside Extortionist]] would all be great additions, it would definitely increase the salt levels of this deck, but would probably need a BIG land upgrade to not seem totally out of place in this pile of penny-worth cardboard. [[Damnation]], [[Patriarch's Bidding]], [[Seize The Day]] Would all be great additions too and help with falling behind.