Armed with your game-sense and decision-making skills, coupled with a bit of luck, you can dominate the rankings in MTG Arena. However, even the most highly-skilled player can falter without a properly constructed deck.

Deck construction is as huge a part of MTG as the game itself. Here, you can combine your favorite cards, exploiting broken combos and mechanics, to construct a deck that will bring you to victory. This 60-card masterpiece (sometimes 80), should have the right balance of cards that can answer any threat on the board. Here is a list of the current top 5 constructed decks in both Historic and Standard.

5. Sacrifice - Historic

You need to make a few sacrifices in order to win

What’s good about this deck?

• You don’t have to worry about attacking or blocking with your creatures
  • The gameplay of this deck is not reliant on how strong your attack is since you will sacrifice your creatures anyway.
  • It is also great against decks with targeted removal since you can extract value from your pieces before they get removed from the board.
• Deadly in the late-game but is also a nightmare against aggressive decks.
  • Since aggressive one-drops are still a thing in Historic, having Claim the Firstborn can help address issues against these types of enemies.

How to play this deck effectively

• Stringing together lethal amounts of ping can be quite tricky as you need to sequence your spells in the proper way to extract the most value.
  • Hitting your opponent with one damage per turn is not an effective way to play this deck, that's why you need to plan ahead on how you are going to string together multiple hits.
  • Simple things such as knowing when to get back a Cauldron Familiar from the graveyard can help you get those few extra points of damage.
• Collected Company is a game-changer for Sacrifice decks as you can bring out your key pieces during crucial times.
  • Of course, casting Collected Company is still hit or miss but with a deck where all creatures cost 3 mana and below, you are more than likely to hit rather than miss.
  • Having a Collected Company is really great since you can bring out a Mayhem Devil or a Priest on your opponent’s end step. Doing so can give you the chance to attack using the Devil, or to activate the ability of the Priest immediately during your turn. 

Decklist

• 4 Cauldron Familiar
• 4 Priest of the Forgotten Gods
• 4 Dreadhorde Butcher
• 4 Mayhem Devil
• 4 Woe Strider
• 3 Midnight Reaper
• 2 Bonecrusher Giant
• 2 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
• 3 Collected Company
• 3 Claim the Firstborn
• 4 Witch’s Oven
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Dragonskull Summit
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 2 Rootbound Crag
• 2 Woodland Cemetery
• 1 Phyrexian Tower
• 2 Swamp

4. Doom Yorion - Standard

When this card enters the battlefield, automatically reach for the concede button

What’s good about this deck?

• It has a very wide range, and it can deal with almost any threat on the board
  • One weakness of this deck is Ulamog ramp decks. It can still hold its own, though, since you can outdraw the opponent before they cast their heavy hitters.
  • It can also deal with aggressive decks which are very abundant in the ranked ladder.
• The ETB effects are pretty brutal especially with cards such as Elspeth Conquers Death.
  • Playing with enchantments that have ETB effects is really great especially with Yorion as your commander since you can bring it in to flash in your Elspeth Conquers Death to remove another threat on the board. The Omens are also very great in this deck. 

How to play this deck effectively

• You will encounter a lot of mirror matches with this deck since that’s the way MTGA works.
  • Against mirrors, the one with the best draw and best curve always wins. With that in mind, the early game is focused solely on creating that opportunity where you can get ahead of your opponent for even just a bit.
  • Early game Omen of the Sea or Omen of the Sun can help give you a slight advantage against your opponent. This advantage will carry over to the later games when both of your strategies materialize.
• Against other matchups, this deck can handle any type of threat from aggressive goblins to control-type decks.
  • When up against aggressive decks, having one or two removals is the key. Timing when you use the removals, especially board wipes such as Extinction Event, can completely derail the opponent’s strategy.
  • For control matchups, your card draw advantage will be the key. You can also cast Elspeth’s Nightmare in the early game to take advantage of its card disruption ability.

Decklist

Yorion, Sky Nomad - companion

• 2 Yorion, Sky Nomad
• 4 Skyclave Apparition
• 4 Emeria’s Call
• 3 Extinction Event
• 3 Dance of the Manse
• 2 Eliminate
• 2 Heartless Act
• 3 Golden Egg
• 2 Glass Casket
• 1 Banishing Light
• 4 Doom Foretold
• 4 Elspeth Conquers Death
• 4 Omen of the Sea
• 3 Omen of the Sun
• 4 Elspeth’s Nightmare
• 3 Treacherous Blessing
• 4 Clearwater Pathway
• 4 Brightclimb Pathway
• 4 Temple of Enlightenment
• 3 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 4 Fabled Passage
• 3 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 4 Island

3. Gruul Adventure - Standard

Don't be fooled by the art, this card is still nasty in the format. 

What’s good about this deck?

• It is basically an Aggro deck hiding behind the disguise of Adventure 
  • With cheap creatures threatening to deal lethal damage in the early game, having an adventure mechanic added into the mix can help break mirror matches, giving you a much-needed advantage.
• You have answers against any of the popular decks in the format. A very balanced deck indeed.
  • You can cast Scavenging Ooze against graveyard-reliant decks. You also have cards that are really good against control matchups and mirror matches against other aggressive archetypes. 

How to play this deck effectively

• With cheap creatures, you can start the beatdown really early.
  • You can start hitting with a Scavenging Ooze or a Brushfire Elemental to pressure your opponent’s life total early on.
  • You can utilize the Landfall ability of Brushfire Elemental by dropping and sacrificing a Fabled Passage during your turn to trigger the ability twice.
• Putting in the Edgewall Innkeeper at the later stage of the game can be more beneficial compared to dropping it early on.
  • Let your opponent cast removals on your cheaper creatures in the early game so that you can maximize the Adventure cards in the later stage of the game where card advantage is very much the key to winning.

Decklist

• 4 Edgewall Innkeeper
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Lovestruck Beast
• 4 Brushfire Elemental
• 3 Scavenging Ooze
• 2 Questing Beast
• 4 Kazandu Mammoth
• 3 Embercleave
• 2 The Great Henge
• 1 Primal Might
• 3 Shatterskull Smashing
• 2 The Akroan War
• 2 Scorching Dragonfire
• 4 Cragcrown Pathway
• 4 Fabled Passage
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 9 Forest
• 3 Mountain

2. Bant Uro - Historic

You just can't contain Nature's Wrath. 

What’s good about this deck?

• Ramp decks are still pretty overpowered in Historic
  • Even if you don’t get a Turn 5 Ulamog, you are still way ahead of your opponent in terms of mana advantage and this is very important.
• It doubles as an Approach of the Second Sun deck.
  • Casting an Approach of the Second Sun in the very early game is just as good as getting an Ulamog. Your opponent will have a very limited clock to work with before they catch the L when you cast your second copy of the Approach.

How to play this deck effectively

• Maximize your mana advantage especially in the early game.
  • Players often tend to hold back on their spells during the early game and it hinders them from maximizing their advantage. Make sure that you play your spells early on.
  • The goal is to tap out on each of your early turns because it will give you the most chances to become ahead of your opponent.
• Play to the strengths of your current deck.
  • Often, players try their hardest to exploit the weaknesses of their opponents. This is a very good strategy however, you must also stick to what your deck is good at. This means that your focus should be geared towards getting your big creatures to stick in the early game. Playing an early Hydroid Krasis on an empty board may be tempting since you can pressure your opponent immediately but holding on to it as a mana sink can be more beneficial to you. 

Decklist

• 3 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• 1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
• 1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
• 2 Hydroid Krasis
• 2 Approach of the Second Sun
• 2 Wrath of God
• 2 Shatter the Sky
• 4 Explore
• 4 Growth Spiral
• 3 Censor
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Hinterland Harbor
• 3 Temple Garden
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 2 Sunpetal Grove
• 2 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Blast Zone
• 1 Irrigated Farmland
• 1 Arch of Orazca
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 2 Island
• 2 Forest

1. Dimir Rogues - Standard

The good thing about Rogues is that you know they're there, but you never know when you're going to get hit. 

What’s good about this deck?

• Tried and tested strategy that can threaten the opponent in many different ways.
  • Dimir Rogues has been one of the meta decks since the start of the rotation which means it has already faced a lot of adversity when it comes to stopping it. Since it is still here, we can confidently say that the meta still has no solid counter for this strategy.
  • Many decks came and went but knowing that this deck is still thriving in its original form is very reassuring.
• You have a lot of cheap cards to play both in terms of mana cost and in terms of rarity.
  • You always want to get the most bang for your buck in whatever you do. This deck is very cheap but also very powerful, giving you the balance that you are looking for.

How to play this deck effectively

• There are many versions of this deck but the most successful one is the beatdown version.
  • Just as the name suggests, you just aim to swing your creatures for lethal.
  • With Zareth San in your deck, you can sneak in extra damage with its ability. 
• You can also play a mill-centric style since 
  • You can utilize the abilities of Thieves’ Guild Enforcer and Soaring Thought-Thief to mill your opponent since your creatures benefit greatly with your opponent having a lot of cards in the graveyard.

Decklist

• 4 Thieves’ Guild Enforcer
• 4 Soaring Thought-Thief
• 3 Brazen Borrower
• 3 Zareth San, the Trickster
• 4 Drown in the Loch
• 2 Heartless Act
• 2 Cling to Dust
• 2 Eliminate
• 3 Didn’t Say Please
• 2 Jwari Disruption
• 3 Into the Story
• 2 Bloodchief’s Thirst
• 2 Shark Typhoon
• 4 Zagoth Triome
• 4 Clearwater Pathway
• 4 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Castle Locthwain
• 4 Fabled Passage
• 3 Swamp
• 3 Island

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