Hey! I'm wondering something if you wouldn't mind helping me out. Im trying to build BGW birds with Derevi as the commander, any suggestions on good budget cards for the deck?
Hi, thanks for your question!
Birds as a tribe tend to not be one of the more expensive creature types to build around. Likely the most expensive aspect of the deck will be getting the artifact lords like Metallic Mimic or Adaptive Automaton, since there aren’t very many Bird lords currently. The Mimic is the most expensive of these two at around ten or twelve bucks right now, but they’re both fairly sought after since they offer tribal support to the less established tribes.
While there aren’t a lot of Bird lords, there are a few from older sets. Luckily, none of which should be exceptionally expensive. Aven Brigadier shouldn’t be more than a dollar or so, and Kangee, Aerie Keeper is currently less than two dollars. The oldest one is Soraya the Falconer which has had its text updated to affect the Bird creature type instead of the defunct “Falcon.”
Since the tribe has a decent token subtheme, cards like Emeria Angel, Aven Wind Guide and Battle Screech can be beneficial for your list. Most Birds have small body stats on average, especially for Commander, so you’ll probably want to consider anthem effects such as Cathars’ Crusade and Radiant Destiny that will benefit your board as a whole. You’ll probably also want some card draw options for this list since your mana curve will probably be pretty shallow and you’ll need to restock your hand regularly. Slate of Ancestry is a favorite of mine for creature-centric builds, and Kindred Discovery lets every Bird you play replace itself.
If you’re looking for more ideas past this, the popular Commander card recommendation site EDHREC has a subsection on Derevi devoted entirely to Bird tribal lists. I’ll link it here for you. Good luck with your build! I hope you have a lot of fun with it.