B-Tier Tier

Best Cheap Budget Deck Guide

A fully functional deck built entirely from Common and Uncommon cards.

Class: Construct Playstyle: A fully functional Cards: 12

Cheap Budget proves you don't need rare cards to compete in Shadow Realms. This Construct-heavy deck relies on passive Overdrive effects and passive stat accumulation to generate value that rivals expensive decks. The deck's entire card pool costs 0 Essence to upgrade — everything you earn from playing goes straight to your next deck. Perfect for F2P players building toward better cards.

Best for: Players who want maximum power without spending a single Shard on Essence.

Full Decklist

Cheap Budget — 12 Cards

Name	Rarity	Cost	Role	Type
Gear Fragment	common	1	Opener	Construct
Tinker Pup II	common	2	Passive Gain	Construct
Iron Tooth III	common	3	Overdrive Enabler	Construct
Gear Fragment II	common	3	Passive Stacker	Construct
Tinker Pup III	common	4	Overdrive Core	Construct
Iron Forger	uncommon	3	Passive Driver	Construct
Gearwright	uncommon	4	Overdrive Finisher	Construct
Steel Titan	rare	5	Overdrive Amplifier	Construct
Clockwork Overseer	rare	5	Passive Chain	Construct
Gear Fragment XI	common	5	Mid-Game Body	Construct
Tinker Pup XI	common	5	Passive Stack	Construct
Iron Tooth XI	common	5	Overdrive	Construct

How to Play

Mulligan & Game Plan

Mulligan Steps

1. Keep 1-2 cost-1 or cost-2 Construct cards for the opening.
2. Prioritise cards with Overdrive triggers — they're your core value engine.
3. Never keep cards costing more than 4 in your opening hand.
4. A 3-card opening hand with 2 Constructs and 1 Overdrive card is ideal.

Game Plan

1. Flood the board with low-cost Constructs in turns 1-4.
2. Let passive effects accumulate as your Constructs take hits.
3. Deploy Overdrive finishers once enemy HP drops below threshold.
4. In Arena, a full-Construct defense is unpredictable and hard to optimize against.
5. Accumulate Shards from wins to open Featured Packs — the pity timer guarantees value.

Meta Matchups

Matchup Guide vs All Archetypes

Archetype	Result	Notes
Aggro Rush → guide	Unfavoured	Aggro outpaces passive accumulation. Race or lose.
Cheap Budget → guide	Even	Random passive effects create variance.
Midrange Tempo → guide	Unfavoured	Rally outpaces passive stacks in mid-game.

Upgrade Path

Essence Crafting Priority

Gearwright

0 Essence

Already a top-tier budget card — no upgrades needed.

Iron Forger

0 Essence

Stacks passive bonuses quickly.

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