Generally speaking, there is no way to build a budget version of this deck. The deck functions as a unit, and the expensive lands (Wasteland, Karakas, and Rishadan Port) are as much a part of that as any other facet. The recent reprints of the deck’s staples has helped quite a bit on that front though.  Let’s look at a common opening to see how important these lands are to the functionality of the deck.

This is the classic D&T environment. The taxation started on turn 2 and became much more intensive on turn 3, putting you far ahead in terms of tempo.  There are plenty of variations of this opening, but none of them work unless your lands contribute more than just mana. Your opponent is pinned and being attacked with no immediate way out.  An untapped Karakas means your Thalia is protected from removal, and many more Rishadan Port activations are right around the corner.

 Many new players try to substitute Tectonic Edge and Ghost Quarter for their more expensive counterparts, but there is a key problem with both of those.  Your lands need to prevent your opponent from progressing their primary game plan while you set up *and* disable their ability to easily break free.  Ghost Quarter is always good alongside Leonin Arbiter or Aven Mindcensor, buts its turn one and two applications are borderline non-existent unless your opponent has no basics.  Similarly, Tectonic Edge is only usable in the mid/late game and does nothing to hinder your opponents in the initial turns.  Compare this to Wasteland, which is going to kill any non-basic land without jumping through any hoops, or Rishadan Port, which can even deny mana when your opponent is only playing basics.    

 Without Karakas, many of the legendary creatures like Brimaz, Thalia, and Mangara loose much of their utility and power.  Without Wasteland and Rishadan Port, you do not have strong mana denial. At this point, your deck is missing the “Taxes”. You are just playing White Weenie. If you plan to acquire the deck over a few months, get Rishadan Port, then Wasteland, then Karakas last. If you are playing online, getting Port last and using Ghost Quarter while you save up is acceptable.

Below are the budget versions of “D&T” I played in my first two sanctioned events with the deck.  Yes, I did really play these awful piles of cards.  Yes, I had positive records at both events.  These are included here to show how poor budget versions of the deck are in comparison to the real thing.  The progression from V1 to V2 was the progress I made by spending $135 plus putting in some work on the trade floor over the course of one month.