Replacements - Dockside Extortionist

Last time, in my previous article, I chatted about replacing Mana Crypt in your decks. Only a few days later, three pieces of fast mana in Dockside Extortionist, Mana Crypt, and Jeweled Lotus were banned. Today we are going to focus on Dockside. This goblin was introduced in the Commander 2019 pre-constructed decks, and ever since then it has become a cEDH staple. Even in casual tables, the mana it produces on entering can be game breaking.

Spoiler alert. This article will be shorter than usual because there just aren't many replacements for Dockside. It is such a unique card with a uniquely powerful effect!

Why was Dockside Extortionist so expensive?

Imagine it is turn 3, and each of your opponents have played a mana rock and/or a few enchantments. Resolving Dockside may generate 3-4 mana. If you have hit your land drops, that's roughly 5+ mana on turn 3, allowing you to cast a 5 mana value commander or a big bomb ahead of schedule. Combine this with that fact that it has only one (relevant) reprint in Double Masters 2022, and you get a card pushing $100.

In cEDH, it goes infinite with anything that can reliably blink it. Temur Sabertooth and Emiel the Blessed are classic options where for 2 and 3 mana, respectively, you can recast or blink Dockside. If your opponents have 4 artifacts and/or enchantments (in the case of Emiel), or 3 in the case of Temur Sabertooth, congratulations, you have infinite mana! Dockside single-handedly enables certain decks to be viable.

Maybe Dockside would not have been banned had it been easily accessible at $10. Or maybe it still would have been banned due to its game warping ability.

This week, we are going to see if we can replace Dockside Extortionst at a budget level! We are only going to look at cards that meet the following requirements:

• A permanent
• It can generate more mana than it costs
• It is repeatable

The only viable contender

After scouring Scryfall, the only potential 1 for 1 replacement is Ruthless Technomancer.

When it enters the battlefield, you sacrifice another creature to make a number of treasures equal to its power. All you have to do is have a 5+ power creature and you are up mana. If you can blink Ruthless Technomancer, and have another creature on the board, you can do it again. The requirement of having another creature to sacrifice is the limiting factor here.

And that is it! This was the only card, which fulfilled all of the above requirements, that I could find. So instead of cutting this article shorts, let us to see if we can come up with some budget combos that enable a Dockside like infinite treasure loop!

Temur Sabertooth's new friends

First, let us take a look at some creatures that produce mana upon entering.

Kalain, Reclusive Painter, Wily Goblin, and Charming Scoundrel all cost 2 mana and upon entering, make a treasure.

So far, we haven't fulfilled our requirement of generating more mana than it costs. How can we fix that?

Xorn will double those treasures.

Hmm, we are not quite there yet for the combo.

I'm going to cheat a bit because normally, no card in this Replacements series would cost more than $5, but hey, because Dockside is no longer legal, we'll bend the rules for our use case here. Goldspan Dragon is hovering below $10, making him still relatively budget. He will allow our treasures to generate two mana each.

Now, when any of these creatures enter, they will effectively net us 4 mana.

Next, you'll need two untapped lands. Use those to activate Temur Sabertooth's ability, bouncing Kalain, Wily Goblin, or the Charming Scoundrel. Recast them by sacrificing one treasure, generating two more treasures. We will have 1 extra treasure, or 2 mana, upon each iteration of this loop.

2 lands + Temur Sabertooth + Goldspan Dragon + Kalain/Wily Goblin/Charming Scoundrel + Xorn = Infinite mana!

Ok, but how about actually $5 per card

Start off with Chatterfang, Squirrel General and Warren Soultrader on board.

Resolve Prosperous Innkeeper, creating a treasure and a Squirrel.

Sacrifice the squirrel to Warren Soultrader, losing 1 life and making a treasure. Chatterfang will replace this effect with a treasure and a squirrel. Prosperous Innkeeper will gain you the life back upon the squirrel entering. Repeat this loop, making you infinite treasures!

Bonus - Jeweled Lotus

Jeweled Lotus is an even harder card to replace.

What are some cards that

• Generate more mana than it costs to cast
• Gives you that mana on sacrifice that you can use instantly

Diamond Lion costs 2 mana but nets you 3. However, because of the "activate only as an instant" clause, you cannot use this to cast a spell from your hand. Instead, you need to cast another spell first, and then in response to it, crack Diamond Lion, floating 3 mana. Only then can you use it to cast your commander or a spell from your graveyard. Oh, and you'll need to give it haste but...details.

Another Lotus is Lotus Bloom. If you can cascade it out or wait three turns, you have effectively a Jeweled Lotus!

Cleanup

WOTC has openly admitted that these cards should never have been printed. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the banning, it is what it is at this point. There are some bright sides, though!

• If you had these cards in your decks, it opens up a few slots to experiment with, decreasing the homogeneity of deck building.
• You no longer have to even consider spending the money to buy these cards!

Will Wizards print something like Jeweled-er Lotus that has more restrictions to sell future Commander product? Most likely. But at least until then, go out and search Scryfall for new mana accelerates for your decks!