Momo, Friendly Flier EDH | $20 Budget Deck Tech

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Article Index

Commander Overview
Momo, Friendly Flier
How to Play the Deck
Notable Cards
Voidstone Gargoyle
Horn of the Mark
Commander’s Insignia
Archon of Absolution and Windborn Muse
Kinjalli’s Sunwing
Post Game Retrospective
Strengths of the Deck
Weaknesses of the Deck
Conclusion

Commander Overview

My friends and I decided to do a $20 EDH deck challenge recently, and I chose Momo, Friendly Flier as my commander.

A lot of people have used him as a Tempest Hawk commander because his discount is great for spamming hawks, but there’s no way I could build that on a $20 budget.

Instead, I wanted to find some of the wackiest flying creatures in white and bring them all together into one deck.

If you find the cheapest printings of all of these cards, it was sitting at around $20.40 at the time of writing this article.

Mono White Budget Bracket 2

AVG CMC 3.46 CARDS 100

Commander

Momo, Friendly Flier

Legendary Creature - Lemur Bat Ally

1 Momo Friendly Flier
1 Airlift Chaplain
1 Angelic Sell-Sword
1 Archon of Absolution
1 Ardenvale Tactician
1 Astelli Reclaimer
1 Bladegriff Prototype
1 Blazing Archon
1 Boreas Charger
1 Cartographer's Hawk
1 Dragonback Lancer
1 Eagle of Deliverance
1 Emeria Angel
1 Faithbound Judge
1 Flock Impostor
1 Grey Host Reinforcements
1 Healer's Hawk
1 Icingdeath Frost Tyrant
1 Jackdaw Savior
1 Kangee's Lieutenant
1 Keen-Eyed Raven
1 Kinjalli's Sunwing
1 Metropolis Reformer
1 Momo Playful Pet
1 Momo Rambunctious Rascal
1 Ornitharch
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Radiant Serra Archangel
1 Resolute Archangel
1 Riling Dawnbreaker
1 Sandstone Oracle
1 Senu Keen-Eyed Protector
1 Seraph of the Suns
1 Shattered Angel
1 Soaring Lightbringer
1 Soulcatcher
1 Steel-Plume Marshal
1 Tah-Crop Elite
1 Voidstone Gargoyle
1 Windborn Muse
1 Wojek Investigator
1 Airbender's Reversal
1 Airbending Lesson
1 Brave the Elements
1 Condemn
1 Elspeth's Smite
1 Enter the Avatar State
1 Focus Fire
1 Holy Day
1 Kabira Takedown
1 Rally of Wings
1 Stroke of Midnight
1 Zealous Display
1 Collective Effort
1 Cut a Deal
1 Raise the Past
1 Storm Herd
1 Heraldic Banner
1 Horn of the Mark
1 Marble Diamond
1 Mind Stone
1 Smoke Bomb
1 Tome of Legends
1 Commander's Insignia
1 Divine Sacrament
1 Field of Souls
1 Path to Redemption
33 Plains

EDH BRACKET

Exhibition

Core

Upgraded

Optimized

cEDH

Bracket 2 // Core

The average current preconstructed deck.

No Mass Land Denial
No Chaining Extra Turns
No 2-Card Infinite Combos
No Game Changers
Few Tutors

How to Play the Deck

This deck is straightforward, and I was banking on the fact that my friends probably wouldn’t have many reach or flying creatures. Play Momo on turn one, play a small flyer on turn two, and so on and so forth. There really isn’t a big strategy here, it’s just about getting flying creatures out fast.

There is a significant amount of interaction in the deck, and I tried to put in spells that target all permanent types. I also splashed a few artifacts and enchantments to buff fliers, but that’s pretty much it.

After the first few turns, you don’t really need Momo out on the battlefield. He’s a nice discount, but he really only helps us get things out quickly. His ability doesn’t really stack that much into the late game.

Notable Cards

Instead of going into detail about each type of card, I want to highlight some of the cards that were impactful in the games I played.

I ended up losing both games we played because I was paired against Treebeard, Gracious Host, Kotis the Fangkeeper, and Tinybones, Bauble Burglar. By the mid to late game, I often had no cards in my hand, and many of my creatures were attacking me from Kotis’ board!

But, there were a few cards that I really liked while playing, and they are as follows:

Voidstone Gargoyle

Voidstone Gargoyle is a 3/3 for 5 mana with a lot of text, and frankly, he’s pretty mean. When he enters, you can name a card – any card! – and that card can’t be played and if the card is already in play, any of its activated abilities could be used. Pop a piece of removal and then name a commander and you’ve made a serious enemy, right?

There was an instance where the Tinybones player had amassed a significant pile of cards that the Kotis player had discarded, and there was some heat in the pile. Removal, enchantments that locked down creatures, etc. I managed to use Kabira Takedown to kill Tinybones before jamming the Gargoyle, naming Tinybones. It saved the table a bit of trouble down the line.

Horn of the Mark

Both games I played, I was able to get Horn of the Mark out on turn 2 or 3. This card is highly slept on, I think. With 40 creatures in the deck, being able to look at the top five ensures that I almost always come away with a creature to my hand. And since all my creatures are flying, I am almost always able to get a free attack with two creatures.

The Horn was also particularly helpful when I was hellbent from discarding my cards to Tinybones. I’d draw, move to combat, look at the top 5, then play whatever creature after combat.

Commander’s Insignia

Commander's Insignia isn’t super powerful when your commander costs a lot to cast right out the gate. But, when you’re playing a 1-mana lemur, it’s kinda good.

Not only does this card buff the army of flying creatures, it also acts as a passive piece of protection from having Momo removed. You’d rather get rid of the thing that buffs the board than the commander which can come back later, right?

Regardless, this card worked great for me, often giving my team +2 or +3.

Archon of Absolution and Windborn Muse

I mainly threw in Archon of Absolution and Windborn Muse as an extra layer of protection in case I fell behind. But, they ended up being pretty impactful most of the game. The investment of mana to attack me just wasn’t worth it, especially in the early game while people are trying to ramp or get a good board-state.

By the late-game, these two creatures are often the first to get blasted with removal, and understandably so. But, in our games, I was able to survive a long time with a stable life total while my opponents were all sitting at 10-15 from attacking one another.

Kinjalli’s Sunwing

I haven’t seen people play Kinjalli's Sunwing outside of dinosaur decks, but in Momo, it was awesome. Because of the discount, it was just Blind Obedience on a creature with flying. Not only did it slow down the rest of the table, it also gave me a change to build up a board to respond to whatever creatures entered the previous turn.

Post Game Retrospective

Both games we played, the Treebeard player won. He was able to just gain so much life and make Treebeard massive. He also kind of flew under the radar as the Kotis player became a clear threat both games, taking valuable stuff off the top of our libraries.

I was able to survive as long as I did because the high amount of removal in the deck, as well as the stax pieces that made it less economical to attack me.

I think if I were to improve this deck, I’d lean into the stax side of things, with cards like Deafening Silence and Containment Priest.

Strengths of the Deck

High volume of creatures that ensures you’re dropping one every turn.
Momo is a guaranteed turn 1 play.
A full board of flying is tough to deal with.

Weaknesses of the Deck

Card draw is tough, so if you don’t have a way to find creatures or draw cards, you will be hellbent frequently.
Trample damage and other heavy-hitting creatures often wreck our board.

Conclusion

For $20, I think this flying-themed deck is an admirable budget option. It’s fast, and often plays on a consistent curve if you keep the right hand. I think if we had played out another few games, Momo would have come out on top!

Commander Overview

Momo, Friendly Flier

Creature 40

Instant 12

Sorcery 4

Artifact 6

Enchantment 4

Land 33

Tokens Used 12