Modern Budget Replacements - Dark Confidant

I often get the question if it is possible to play Modern on a budget. The MagicGatheringStrat collective have addressed the question several times.

Some competetive modern budget decks: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2014/06/you-too-can-play-modern-10-budget-modern-decks/
Modern decks that cost under $5: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/02/cheap-as-chips-ep-1-fun-modern-lists-for-under-5/

Those two articles addressed the whole deck question, which is probably the way to go. That is not what I will be doing here.

In this series, I will be looking at specific cards and their budget replacements.

Good Modern cards become expensive. What replacements are there are and how well do they compare to the original?

The card we will be trying to replace this week is Dark Confidant.

In Modern, Dark Confidant is played mostly in Jund, but also in other BGx decks and Mardu Harbinger. What replacements are there?

Courser of Kruphix: It may seem strange to suggest a green card instead of a black but this card fills a similar role to Bob. It does provide card advantage but instead of hurting you it actually gains you life. While this all seems stellar the mana cost is steep. Courser sees a lot of play in Modern, particularly in Abzan, RG Breach and Kiki Chord. Courser of Kruphix may serve other purposes as well but I think it is the best budget replacement for Dark Confidant.

Phyrexian Arena: Not having a body is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Creature kill can not destroy the arena, but it also can not win you the game. It costs an extra mana which is a lot in Modern. It also draws cards with a lot less life loss. It sees fringe play in black devotion decks because of its BB mana cost.

Dark Tutelage: This basically has the disadvantages of Phyrexian Arena while costing a lot more life. Avoid it. Dark Tutelage sees very little play in the format.

Pain Seer: This card looks like a Dark Confidant and was the first budget replacement I came to think of for Dark Confidant. Unless you can think of a clever way to untap it Pain Seer has to attack to become a Dark Confidant which is a much bigger disadvantage than it may appear at first. Pain Seer sees no play in Competetive Modern.


If you can think of any other card as a budget replacement for Dark Confidant, please tell me in the comments below.  If there is any other card you want me to suggest budget replacements for, please let me know.