Golden Rule
The number one rule of a Hamilton deck concerns the budget. You construct a deck that has a cost of $10 or less (excluding the cost of basic land cards). Our group uses the lowest TCG market price printing for this calculation.
With such a tight budget even a few pennies of fluctuation can put you over the limit. In order to allow for this if your deck fits in the $10 budget at any point between the challenge announcement and event date it is a legal deck. If prices rise between construction and the actual event you do not need to rebuild the deck. If you avoid scheduling an event just after a new set release, where prices may be their most volatile, you usually avoid this issue.
Building a ultra budget deck with a coherent plan actually isn’t nearly as difficult as one may imagine. We had a number of viable and competitive decks in the process. This led to the idea of adding additional constraints on deckbuilding, often with weird rules in the name of fun, but the Golden Rule is always in effect. Hamilton challenges have always surprised me with the ideas players build. Often you are forced to use synergies you may never have noticed, or turn extremely sub par cards into usable resources and the results are always amazing.
These additional rules are limited only by your imagination but to see a list of some of our past challenge ideas and some examples CLICK HERE.
FAQ
Do I need to purchase/use the lowest market value printing of a card?
No. We allow you to use any printing of a card, not just the specific printing that matches your market price. If you want to use your Alpha Healing Salve instead of buying one for a nickel online you are free to use the more expensive printing and quote the lowest market cost. Remember basic land cards are NOT included in the final price.
What if a card suddenly increases in value before we play?
We allow a grace period from when a challenge is officially declared until the event occurs. During this period if you construct a deck costing $10 or under it is legal, even if a card later increases in value and puts you over the mark. We tend to schedule events in between releases which I feel lets prices, especially on new sets, settle down a little.
What are the rules for deck size and sideboard?
Unless a challenge states otherwise follow normal constructed format rules. A minimum of 60 cards, with no more than 4 copies of any non basic land card. You may have a 15 card sideboard but the sideboard must be included in your overall budget (Deck+Sideboard=$10 or less).
A challenge may overrule this so always check there first.
Are these decks any good? Are these challenges even possible?
We have yet to have a failed challenge. This includes some pretty crazy options such as “All Rare” cards and even a commander challenge. The decks may not always be great or efficient but they have always been fun. Lower your standards and dig really deep into the pits of budget cards and you may surprise yourself.