Welcome to the first deckbuilding article on Dollar Commander! With each new article, I’ll be featuring blueprints for brewing a new commander, on a budget. For this deck, we’ll be brewing Tibor and Lumia.
Spellslinging and Fliers
I participated most recently in the r/BudgetBrews Secret Santa, where the goal is to make a full, budget Commander deck to send to a certain someone. I ended up brewing a $30 deck with Tibor and Lumia as the commander.
Tibor and LumiaCBP$0.17
Tibor and Lumia has two abilities which make it quite interesting. The first is a blue spell trigger which gives a creature flying. The second is a red spell trigger that deals 1 damage to each creature without flying.
For this build, we’re going to focus on drawing cards, making fliers, casting as many spells as possible, making instants and sorceries matter, and returning cards from the graveyard when possible.
Game Plan
- Ramp, draw, flood the graveyard
- Get Tibor and Lumia on the board
- Cast spells, re‐cast spells, destroy the board
- Overwhelm opponents with flying creatures
Card and Land Advantage
We’re going to get as much drawing and lands as we can onto the battlefield.
BrainstormCBP$0.55
Frantic SearchCBP$1.05
Faithless LootingCBP$0.53
Desperate RavingsCBP$0.07
Chemister's InsightCBP$0.23
Tolarian WindsCBP$0.26
WindfallCBP$3.02
Treasure CruiseCBP$0.75
Blue and Red don’t have many ways to get lands, but they do have ways to draw into lands. So we’ll be using a plethora of ways to scry and draw cards, almost all of which are under one dollar.
You can never go wrong with Brainstorm as a cheap spell that can smooth our draws. And Frantic Search gets two cards, almost for free. Then we have quite a few cards we can cast twice, as they have flashback, or a variation of it. Faithless Looting is efficient for just one red mana, letting us draw two and discard two. Its counterpart, Desperate Ravings is a similar style card with flashback. Chemister’s Insight is an instant with Jump-Start, netting two cards each time. Tolarian Winds is a solitary Windfall (which we’re also running), but as an instant. And this graveyard‐happy deck will gladly make use of delve in Treasure Cruise.
Mercurial ChemisterCBP$0.19
Nivix GuildmageCBP$0.11
Niv-Mizzet, ParunCBP$1.69
Windreader SphinxCBP$0.20
Some creatures also exist to help us draw cards. Mercurial Chemister somehow lets us draw two cards every turn for one blue mana. Nivix Guildmage loots on command. Niv-Mizzet, Parun helps us draw cards after we play spells and further pushes the direct damage facet of our deck. Windreader Sphinx draws us cards, triggering on each flying creature you’re attacking with… and we’ll have plenty of those.
Dreamscape ArtistCBP$0.19
Witching WellCBP$0.08
Thrill of PossibilityCBP$0.00
The Magic MirrorCBP$2.40
Actually, there is a forgotten card Blue has at its disposal for ramping into land… and that’s Dreamscape Artist. Originally printed in Planar Chaos, this artist lets us turn any card in our hand into a Harrow.
There are three cards from Throne of Eldraine also work well here: Witching Well is a quick way to scry and draw later, Thrill of Possibility is an instant‐speed Tormenting Voice, letting us pitch one card to draw two cards, and The Magic Mirror lets us keep drawing cards over time while giving us no hand size limit.
Lonely SandbarCBP$0.17
Remote IsleCBP$0.42
Forgotten CaveCBP$0.59
Smoldering CraterCBP$0.16
We’ll also run a bunch of cycling lands. Lonely Sandbar, Remote Isle, Forgotten Cave, and Smoldering Crater, as we’ll be including payoff cards in the deck that benefit from drawing extra cards.
Flying Synergy
When Tibor and Lumia is on the field, we want to cast any spells while we can. If our opponents have creatures down, then it’s time to cast red spells and take care of them. Keep in mind that T&L doesn’t have flying, so casting a blue spell first (or at the least, letting a blue spell resolve before a red spell) might actually be a good idea.
Archetype of ImaginationCBP$0.72
Gravitational ShiftCBP$2.20
Stormtide LeviathanCBP$0.48
Favorable WindsCBP$0.26
EarthbindCBP$0.16
WillbreakerCBP$0.50
Since we’re potentially drawing a significant number of cards, Improbable Alliance does an amazing job — create flying faeries that can’t be damaged, and it gives us access to a repeatable (although also expensive) looting ability.
Seeing how flying is rather important, we can run some relevant cards for that. Archetype of Imagination gets our creatures alone in the sky. Gravitational Shift makes our flying creatures bigger while non‐fliers get ever smaller. And Stormtide Leviathan also hates on non‐fliers while providing a big body. Favorable Winds works fine as a team buf inside our budget.
I’m excited in that this deck actually has a home for one very old card: Earthbind. If our opponents have a pesky flier that won’t die by our casting spells, Earthbind will let Tibor and Lumia kill them off, or just let our fliers swing in over the target. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Willbreaker. When you cast a blue spell with Tibor and Lumia on the field, target something someone else controls and give it flying, then take control of it!
Equipment Package
Gorgon's HeadCBP$0.27
Gorgon FlailCBP$0.74
Vial of PoisonCBP$0.05
Runechanter's PikeCBP$0.41
What really makes Tibor and Lumia work well is giving it the gift of deathtouch. We’ll need to rely on cheaper equipment cards, including Gorgon’s Head, Gorgon’s Flail, and Vial of Poison. All we need to do is make sure it has flying, then cast one red spell to destroy most of the board. Runechanter’s Pike makes the deck here as we’ll have loaded up our graveyard with plenty of spells.
Spells Matter
Goblin ElectromancerCBP$0.10
Adeliz, the Cinder WindCBP$0.07
Enigma DrakeCBP$0.22
Spellheart ChimeraCBP$0.10
Crackling DrakeCBP$0.29
Beacon BoltCBP$0.13
Niblis of FrostCBP$0.23
Charmbreaker DevilsCBP$0.28
Firemind's ResearchCBP$0.22
Devious Cover-UpCBP$0.06
Mystic RetrievalCBP$0.09
CommitCBP$1.94
We have quite a few “spells matter” cards with the graveyard. Goblin Electromancer gets us discounts. Adeliz, the Cinder Wind gets bigger when we cast spells. Enigma Drake, Spellheart Chimera, and Crackling Drake are all basically the same card. Beacon Bolt lets us cast it twice to deal with a big threat. And all of these mentioned here are both blue and red, which is really nice for our commander.
Still, there’s more. Niblis of Frost taps down our opponents creatures (and probably the flying ones). Charmbreaker Devils gets bigger and returns a random spell once on each of our turns. Firemind’s Research gives us a way to defer draws and deal damage. Devious Cover‐Up, Bond of Insight, Mystic Retrieval and Mystic Sanctuary all get some spells back, while Commit // Memory gets them all back.
Board Wipes
Polymorphist's JestCBP$0.83
Mass DiminishCBP$0.30
Flood of TearsCBP$0.86
Curse of the SwineCBP$0.65
The big wipes are out of our price range, but we can take advantage of Tibor and Lumia’s pinging with Polymorphist’s Jest and Mass Diminsh, the first being an instant while the second can be cast twice. Flood of Tears is a poor man’s Cyclonic Rift. Curse of the Swine exiles creatures, which is great, leaving 2/2’s that we can probably ping later.
Possible Additions
Mask of AvacynCBP$1.28
Fleetfeather SandalsCBP$0.10
Haze of RageCBP$0.73
Torbran, Thane of Red FellCBP$3.09
The focus on the deck is flying and spells, so I ran fewer equipment pieces than I normally would like. Still, additional equipment would have been nice to have in order to protect our commander. If Swiftfoot Boots can’t be added, Mask of Avacyn is a slightly cheaper alternative. Although most of the creatures in the deck have flying already, Fleetfeather Sandals might actually be good to have in the deck, as Tibor and Lumia really wants to be flying as much as possible.
The deck is a little low on red cards in order to deal damage. Haze of Rage, a card from Future Sight, is a nice red spell with buyback, so we could do more damage later in the game. Torbran, Thane of Red Fell would turn 1 damage into 3 damage each time.
Money Upgrades
CharismaCBP$1.95
Basilisk CollarCBP$6.80
The Locust GodCBP$11.15
RepercussionCBP$11.87
If money were no object, Charisma let’s us control all creatures after casting a red spell. Basilisk Collar would get us deathtouch for cheaper. The Locust God doubles down on our small flier strategy. Repercussion copies all the creature damage to their owner.
Final Thoughts
When I was doing the Secret Santa, my giftee suggested a spellslinger, and when a friend mentioned Tibor and Lumia as an inexpensive commander, I was intrigued. And it turned out it was a very fun brew! There are many enablers and paths to victory that don’t require many money cards. Go big and wide with fliers. Get in with commander damage. Finish off your opponents with direct damage if necessary. Steal your opponents’ stuff. And sometimes, it’s just plain fun to draw an insane amount of cards so you have many options to deal with threats. Draw into a counterspell, copy a wheel card, or discard and delve like there’s no tomorrow. There’s no doubt that Tibor and Lumia makes for a very engaging, interactive commander.
Decklist
Commander (1)
Tibor and LumiaCBP$0.17
Creatures (18)
- 1 Dreamscape Artist
- 1 Ghitu Chronicler
- 1 Goblin Electromancer
- 1 Nivix Guildmage
- 1 Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
- 1 Enigma Drake
- 1 Izzet Chemister
- 1 Spellheart Chimera
- 1 Crackling Drake
- 1 Niblis of Frost
- 1 Mercurial Chemister
- 1 Mnemonic Wall
- 1 Willbreaker
- 1 Archetype of Imagination
- 1 Charmbreaker Devils
- 1 Niv‐Mizzet, Parun
- 1 Windreader Sphinx
- 1 Stormtide Leviathan
Planeswalkers (1)
- 1 Ral, Storm Conduit
Artifacts (8)
- 1 Gorgon’s Head
- 1 Vial of Poison
- 1 Witching Well
- 1 Gorgon Flail
- 1 Izzet Signet
- 1 Runechanter’s Pike
- 1 Talisman of Creativity
- 1 The Magic Mirror
Enchantments (7)
- 1 Earthbind
- 1 Favorable Winds
- 1 Firemind’s Research
- 1 Improbable Alliance
- 1 Ferocity of the Wilds
- 1 Gravitational Shift
- 1 The Mirari Conjecture
Instants (14)
- 1 Brainstorm
- 1 Turn Aside
- 1 Arcane Denial
- 1 Desperate Ravings
- 1 Run Away Together
- 1 Thrill of Possibility
- 1 Tolarian Winds
- 1 Frantic Search
- 1 Geistblast
- 1 Polymorphist’s Jest
- 1 Chemister’s Insight
- 1 Devious Cover‐Up
- 1 Fact or Fiction
- 1 Commit // Memory
Sorceries (14)
- 1 Earthquake
- 1 Faithless Looting
- 1 Curse of the Swine
- 1 Mass Diminish
- 1 Shenanigans
- 1 Beacon Bolt
- 1 Flux
- 1 Role Reversal
- 1 Windfall
- 1 Winged Words
- 1 Bond of Insight
- 1 Mystic Retrieval
- 1 Flood of Tears
- 1 Treasure Cruise
Lands (37)
- 1 Blighted Cataract
- 1 Command Tower
- 1 Desert of the Fervent
- 1 Desert of the Mindful
- 1 Evolving Wilds
- 1 Forgotten Cave
- 1 Highland Lake
- 11 Island
- 1 Izzet Boilerworks
- 1 Izzet Guildgate
- 1 Lonely Sandbar
- 1 Memorial to Genius
- 8 Mountain
- 1 Mystic Sanctuary
- 1 Remote Isle
- 1 Rogue’s Passage
- 1 Sequestered Stash
- 1 Smoldering Crater
- 1 Swiftwater Cliffs
- 1 Terramorphic Expanse