Underplayed Equipment for Commander
Welcome to The Jankyard, a place filled with cheap alternatives for expensive staples. Everything here is under $5, and can be just as good, if not better, than their popular expensive counterparts. One of the most popular archetypes in Commander is Voltron, a strategy that predominantly relies on Equipment and Aura spells to build up threats for your opponents to try and play around. So today we’re looking at some cheap and underplayed Equipment for Voltron strategies. They may not be as good as some expensive staples like
Pip-Boy 3000
Versatility is a necessity for any Voltron deck since the strategy is fairly linear. Pip-Boy 3000 is a one-mana equipment with an equip cost of two, making it easy to cast early. The best part of Pip-Boy 3000 is the fact that it triggers on attack and not on combat damage dealt, meaning you can start banking value early with three great options to curve out any issues you may be facing when building your board state.
| Pip-Boy 3000 | ||
| Pip-Boy 3000 (Extended Art) |
The Spear of Leonidas
Just like Pip-Boy 3000, The Spear of Leonidas gives you some versatility whenever the equipped creature attacks. While the casting cost may be higher, your choices are arguably better between a
| The Spear of Leonidas | ||
| The Spear of Leonidas (Foil Etched) | ||
| The Spear of Leonidas (Extended Art) |
Scepter of Celebration
Who said a Voltron deck can’t go wide? Scepter of Celebration capitalizes on your equipped creature already being at a reasonable power by building your board state with 1/1 Citizen tokens equal to combat damage dealt. To make this effect even better, it gives the equipped creature trample, making combat damage that much easier to get through. Even if Scepter of Celebration didn’t add tokens, its addition of trample makes it perfect in any deck that runs green.
| Scepter of Celebration | ||
| Scepter of Celebration (Extended Art) |
Golem-Skin Gauntlets
| Golem-Skin Gauntlets | ||
| Golem-Skin Gauntlets |
Plate Armor
While ward 1 may be as good as dollar store toilet paper, +3/+3 is a strong buff to any creature if you're looking to fill an extra slot with an inexpensive equipment you most likely have lying around. The part that gets missed often on Plate Armor is its equip cost. If you control three or more Equipment, Plate Armor equips for free, making it easy to move from creature to creature to give that added protection. For anyone with an
| Plate Armor | ||
| Plate Armor |
Elbrus, the Binding Blade
A seven-mana equipment that gives +1/+0 to a creature is horrible. The only way Elbrus, the Binding Blade could be playable is if someone stapled a massive 13/13 Demon to the back of it that had flying, intimidate, and trample, and doubled in size when a player lost the game.
While the equipment side of Elbrus may not make your equipped creature an initial threat, the threat of being able to flip into Withengar Unbound will surely catch your opponents’ attention. However, with cost reducers and a little evasion, this is an awesome addition to any Voltron strategy.
| Elbrus, the Binding Blade | ||
| Elbrus, the Binding Blade |
Blinding Powder
Have you ever wanted a one-sided
If you want a similar Equipment to clear out any possible blockers prior to attacking,
| Blinding Powder |
Celestial Armor
Hey look, a cheap
| Celestial Armor | ||
| Celestial Armor (Extended Art) | ||
| Celestial Armor (Borderless) |
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Further Reading:
Kaspar Renken is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University, and has been playing Magic since War of the Spark. He began playing Standard for a short time before finding EDH and the friendships that come from multiplayer formats. When he’s not playing or building decks, he can probably be found working on his Mustang.
