Walk This Way (EDH / Commander)

Gate decks can be fun, but there's only about a half-deck's worth of effort to make. Shrines are fun, but a top-notch manabase is way too expensive. What if we put them together, add the 5C protagonist from the first non-YA fantasy novel I had ever read, and try to keep things kind of cheap minus a few cards I already own? Guess this is what I end up with.

This deck is, in a lot of ways, a method of reconciling with all of the changes that have happened with the game, worlds, and hobby of Magic lately. I've included a lot of newer mechanics and themes I dislike and disagree with, have decided to try out some alternate frames I'm not as fond of, and tried for a decent mix of older and newer cards that fit within the confines of a deck that's trying to do two things at once badly. In the same way, I tried to also include a handful of cards (old and new) that vividly remind me of the best times I've had in my almost thirty years of playing this game. It feels weird just saying that; I started playing Magic before I went to kindergarten, for goodness' sake, with Sengir Vampires and Drudge Skeletons.

This is me, building a deck to explore two "for-fun" mechanics that were introduced to (or updated with) the game during periods where my playing was more sporadic. Despite my disillusionment with the experience of Magic as it is currently being produced, I even now can't help but admit that there's a fantastic game and community within it, and that is (God willing) not going away any time soon whether I'm a part of it or not. I want to keep this deck around to remind me of that, and let me squeeze in a friendly, low-stakes game of Commander if asked.

Having said all of that, if you have some cost-effective recommendations, I'm happy to hear them but will acknowledge that some of my choices were made intentionally poorly for one or more of the reasons above. As such, no guarantees that I'll take those recommendations to task. Thanks for reading, and I hope your games this week, month, or year, are great fun and among friends.