[Top 5] MTG Arena Best Starter Decks (Ranked)

Updated:

21 Nov 2023

[Top 5] MTG Arena Best Starter Decks (Ranked)

5. Aerial Domination

Riddlemaster Sphinx, 5/5 Flying Sphinx that bounces a creature to the owner's hand.

Aerial Domination is a Mono-Blue deck that relies on flying threats and controlling spells to go over the top of your opponent. This deck plays true to other Mono-Blue Tempo strategies that have been played in Standard in recent years and is a good starter deck for someone new to Magic the Gathering Arena. Aerial Domination has a slew of flying threats that can close out games quickly, but they’re expensive to cast. In order to get to that point, this deck uses controlling cards that slow down the opponent and limit what they can do as well as drop cheap ground creatures to block and trade with the opponent's ground troops.

The controlling cards this deck uses are Unsummon, Waterknot, and Sleep. At instant speed, Unsummon is a powerful one-mana card that can disrupt opponents' creatures. The best time to cast Unsummon is during an opponent's turn when they try to buff their own creatures, sending the creature back to their hand and causing the buff spell to fizzle out. Unsummon can also be used to protect your own creatures by returning them to your hand when they’ve been targeted by a removal spell. Waterknot locks a threat down by tapping them and preventing them from untapping. Be wary of effects that cause the creature to untap as this will allow the creature affected by Waterknot to function as a creature again.

To keep the pressure on the opponent, this deck refills its hand by drawing a lot of extra cards or scrying to ensure the best draw possible is achieved by way of Wall of Runes, Cloudkin Seer, Winged Words, and Octoprophet. As creatures, Wall of Runes and Octoprophet do a great job of stopping the opponent's aggression with big bodies. Wall of Runes is a 0/4 that will Scry 1 and Octoprophet is a 3/3 that trades well with the opponent after the Scry 2 effect. These creatures let you set up the next draw step by sending the top card to the bottom of your deck if you don’t need it.

Now that the deck has controlled the opponent and drawn cards, it’s time to set up the finish. Warden of Evos Isle will reduce the mana cost of your flying creatures by one and Windstorm Drake will give other flying creature’s an additional +1/0. With all this in play, the big fliers can come down. Soulblade Djinn, Riddlemaster Sphinx, and Windreader Sphinx can fly over the opponent's defenses and close out the game in a couple turns. Soulblade Djinn combos well with your noncreature spells by giving all your creatures an additional +1/+1 until end of turn for every noncreature spell you cast. Riddlemaster Sphinx can send a threat back to the opponent's hand, like a creature with flying or reach that could be in your way. Windreader Sphinx has a huge statline at 3/7, making it difficult to remove and will draw you additional cards for each flying creature that attacks, including your opponents.

This deck embodies the Mono-Blue playstyle, control the opponent, draw cards, elusive creatures
Can clog up the battlefield and slow down opponents aggression, Unsummon and Waterknot are particularly effective against big mana cost creatures
Flying creatures are difficult to deal with, more often than not needed removal spells to eliminate

Deck

Creatures

2 Riddlemaster Sphinx

2 Soulblade Djinn

3 Warden of Evos Isle

2 Wall of Runes

2 Sworn Guardian

3 Waterkin Shaman

3 Cloudkin Seer

2 Octoprophet

2 Windstorm Drake

1 Frilled Sea Serpent

1 Windreader Sphinx

Spells

3 Unsummon

2 Glint

2 Winged Words

1 Sleep

1 Overflowing Insight

Enchantments

3 Waterknot

Lands

25 Island

4. Legions of Phyrexia

Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor, 3/3 Phyrexian Praetor capable of casting spells from the opponents library.

Phyrexian are powerful entities within the Magic the Gathering universe, and the Legions of Phyrexia deck is no different. Black/White decks are incredibly powerful in Standard at the moment, with most of the top decks utilizing one or both of these colors. This starter deck plays the Phyrexian and Incubate theme and has a lot of synergies among its cards.

Some of the synergy pieces this deck runs are Sculpted Perfection, Grafted Butcher, and Phyrexian Awakening. Each of these three cards buff your Phyrexian creatures with additional +1/+1 and keywords. Sculpted Perfection and Phyrexian Awakening both Incubate, creating an Incubator artifact token, and buff all your Phyrexians with Vigilance or +1/+1. This token has a number of counters on it equal to its Incubate effect, and then lets you pay two mana to create a 0/0 Phyrexian creature token and carry over the counters from the Incubator side. Grafted Butcher is a great early game card that can give your Phyrexian creatures an additional +1/+1 and Menace until end of turn. Later, it can come back from the graveyard by sacrificing a creature or artifact and is a great way to close out the game via its Menace effect.

Black/White has powerful removal at its disposal, and this deck runs Ossification, Deadly Derision, and Alabaster Host Intercessor to deal with the opponent's threats. Ossification is a four of card in nearly any deck running White man in Standard. This Enchantment cleans up any creature or Planeswalker threat on the board. Deadly Derision costs a little more but is cast at Instant speed and generates a Treasure token upon successful cast. The Alabaster Host Intercessor is a flexible card with Plainscycling if you need to fix your mana and if not, it will exile any creature until Alabaster Host Intercessor leaves the battlefield.

The rest of the deck is filled with Phyrexian creatures like Progenitor Exarch, who can turn an Incubator token into a creature by tapping. Essence of Orthodoxy can generate multiple Incubate 2 tokens and is a Flying threat to boot. Seedpod Caretaker either buffs an existing creature or turns an Incubate token into a Phyrexian upon entering the battlefield. Finally, Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor can take over a game with its powerful seven mana active ability. This will let you discard cards from your hand to exile the top X cards from an opponent’s library equal to how many cards you discarded, and cast any lands or spells from among them without paying the mana costs. Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor will also help you draw extra cards with its passive ability, fueling your discard options.

Legions of Phyrexia runs a lot of Phyrexian synergy cards that take a few turns to build up, but keeps the game manageable with strong removal spells and good early blocking creatures. The deck generates a lot of Incubate tokens which will always give you something to do with your mana, draws extra cards and returns key cards from the graveyard to help keep your foot on the gas and defeat your opponent.

Phyrexian themed creatures and enchantments build a strong, imposing board state
Excellent removal spell package that deals with opponents key creatures and threats
Multiple ways to generate Incubate tokens and effectively make use of excess mana each turn

Deck

Creatures

2 Phyrexian Missionary

1 Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor

1 Essence of Orthodoxy

1 Progenitor Exarch

1 Bloated Processor

1 Grafted Butcher

2 Norn's Inquisitor

2 Seedpod Caretaker

3 Alabaster Host Intercessor

3 Infected Defector

3 Benalish Sleeper

2 Ichor Drinker

Spells

2 March Toward Perfection

3 Deadly Derision

1 Pile On

Enchantments

2 Sculpted Perfection

1 Phyrexian Arena

2 Ossification

2 Phyrexian Awakening

Lands

1 Caves of Koilos

4 Sunlit Marsh

4 Scoured Barrens

9 Plains

7 Swamp

3. Rebel Armory

Nahiri, Forged in Fury, 5/4 Kor Artificer with Affinity for Equipment.

Next on the list is Rebel Armory, the Red/White Boros Equipment strategy. Equipment strategies got a huge buff with the addition of the For Mirrodin! effect, which lets you play Equipment cards and have them become creatures immediately instead of spending mana to cast them, spending mana to cast a creature, and spending mana to equip them. It was a very slow process before and easily interrupted, but For Mirrodin! Changed that.

Bladehold War-Whip, Hexgold Halberd, Dragonwing Glider are some of the powerful Equipment cards this deck utilizes. Each of these cards will create a 2/2 Rebel creature token and attach the equipment to them. Hexgold Halberd and Barbed Batterfist are both two mana Equipment spells that give you an early board presence in the form of a 2/2 First Strike, Trample Rebel or a 3/1 Rebel. Bladehold War-Whip, at three mana, will create a 2/2 Rebel and attach to it, giving the creature Double Strike. Lastly, Dragonwing Glider gives you a 2/2 Rebel and buffs it with an additional +2/+2, Flying, and Haste, functioning as an excellent game winner late.

With all the Equipment cards this deck runs, the deck has a number of cards that utilize Equipment spells and combo with them. Kemba, Kha Enduring, Rhuk, Hexgold Nabber, Danitha, Benalia’s Hope, and Nahiri, Forged in Fury. At two mana, Kemba, Kha Enduring is a flexible card that can be played early and still offer a lot of utility if drawn later in the game. With the amount of equipment this deck has, Kemba, Kha Enduring will nearly always have Equipment to target. Rhuk, Hexgold Nabber is another flexible card that can be played later or on curve and become a significant threat by attaching multiple Equipment cards to it quickly. At the top end of the deck, Danitha, Benalia’s Hope can return an Equipment card from the graveyard to the battlefield attached to Danitha, Benalia’s Hope or freecast one from your hand. Finally, Nahiri, Forged in Fury gives you a bit of pseudo-card draw with the possibility of freely casting an Equipment spell.

This deck plays hard and fast, using a slew of powerful keyword effects to win in overwhelming fashion. For good measure, this deck runs multiple copies of Planar Disruption, Hurloon Battle Hymn, and Rebel Salvo to clear the way to the finish line if their First Strike, Trampling and Flying creatures couldn’t do it on their own.

Aggressive deck utilizing equipment effects, giving you an outlet for excess mana via Equip keyword
Generates a lot of extra creatures with the For Mirrodin! effect, putting threats on the battlefield with nearly every you cast
Surprising amount of removal spells that’s hard to deal with while generating a large board state

Deck

Creatures

1 Danitha, Benalia's Hope

2 Baird, Argivian Recruiter

1 Nahiri, Forged in Fury

1 Astor, Bearer of Blades

1 Kemba, Kha Enduring

1 Rhuk, Hexgold Nabber

2 Kemba's Outfitter

3 Bladegraft Aspirant

Spells

2 Rebel Salvo

2 Hurloon Battle Hymn

3 Planar Disruption

Equipment

1 Dragonwing Glider

1 Bladehold Cleaver

2 Bladehold War-Whip

2 Hexgold Halberd

2 Hexgold Hoverwings

3 Barbed Batterfist

3 Vulshok Splitter

2 Hexgold Sledge

Lands

1 Battlefield Forge

4 Wind-Scarred Crag

4 Sacred Peaks

10 Mountain

6 Plains

2. Keep the Peace

Leonin Warleader, Cat Soldier that can build a 1/1 white Cat token army.

At number two is Keep the Peace, the Mono-White deck. Mono-White is another powerful strategy in Standard and Keep the Peace is equally as powerful among these fifteen starter decks. The strategy for Mono-White is lifegain and go wide, generating a number of tokens and creatures that benefit from gaining life. Being a singular color, the deck doesn’t have to worry about managing multiple colors of mana.

Lifegain is the first theme of Keep the Peace. Many of the creatures come with Lifelink or gain life upon entering the battlefield. Impassioned Orator is the lifegain engine, gaining one life every time a creature enters the battlefield under your control. Angel Of Vitality will increase the amount of life you gain from all sources by one and grows stronger itself if you stay above 25 life. Charmed Stray buffs existing Charmed Stray’s with +1/+1 counters and they have the Lifelink keyword. Another of the life gaining payoffs are Hallowed Priest, who gain’s +1/+1 counter whenever you gain life.

Later in the game, cards like Leonin Warleader contribute to the lifegain plan by generating 1/1 Cat tokens with Lifelink. Inspiring Commander can take advantage of all the low power creatures entering the battlefield, gaining life and drawing cards to keep the pressure up everytime a two power or less creature enters the fray. Combined with Leonin Warleader, this means gaining two life and drawing two cards every time you attack. With a Leonin Warleader generating an army, Goring Ceratops and Angelic Guardian can power up that army with Double Strike and Indestructible and finish off the opponent.

To keep the opponent under control while generating an army, Keep the Peace runs three copies of Pacifism, four copies of Tactical Advantage, and a single copy of Bond of Discipline and Confront the Assault. Pacifism locks a creature down, preventing it from attacking or blocking, eliminating bigger threats, though it does allow them to use their active abilities so beware. Tactical Advantage can swing an early skirmish in your favor by giving your early game creature a +2/+2 advantage on offense or defense. Confront the Assault generates three 1/1 spirit tokens with Flying during the combat step, giving you a way to defend against flying threats. The final card, Bond of Discipline, doesn’t necessarily stop your opponent from attacking you, but does tap their creatures for a turn and gives all your own creatures Lifelink. This lets you swing in one good time to get a lot of life back through Lifelink, resulting in a significant swing in your favor. For example, hit the opponent for a free ten damage and gain ten life back, a swing of twenty life in your favor.

Keep the Peace has the ability to be aggressive early with low cost, powerful creatures that buff each other through gaining life and go late by building an army and going wide, overwhelming the opponent with one of their late game finishers. While a little low on removal spells, this deck makes up for it by gaining more life then any other Starter deck, making the opponents attacks less effective.

Lifegain effects limits the effectiveness of the opponents attacks, forcing them to win in a large, single attack
Synergies with lifegain makes creatures individually stronger the longer the game lasts
Multiple, top end, late game threats that can close out games

Deck

Creatures

2 Inspiring Commander

2 Leonin Warleader

4 Hallowed Priest

4 Charmed Stray

3 Impassioned Orator

2 Moorland Inquisitor

2 Fencing Ace

2 Angel of Vitality

1 Serra Angel

1 Spiritual Guardian

1 Goring Ceratops

1 Angelic Guardian

Spells

1 Confront the Assault

4 Tactical Advantage

1 Bond of Discipline

Enchantments

1 Angelic Reward

3 Pacifism

Lands

25 Plains

1. Charging Ahead

Surrak and Goreclaw, 6/5 Human Bear creature that grants trample, haste, and +1/+1 counters to other creatures.

The number one starter deck is Charging Ahead, the Green/Red or Gruul deck. This deck is fun to play and really embodies what playing Gruul colors is all about, charge ahead and stomp the opponent.

Many of the creatures in this deck come with the Haste keyword, allowing them to attack or tap on the first turn, avoiding Summoning Sickness. Viashino Branchrider, Feldon, Ronom Excavator, Kolaghan Warmonger, Samut, Vizier of Naktamun, Rampaging Raptor, Volcanic Dragon, and Shivan Branch-Burner all enter the battlefield with the Haste keyword and are spread out from one mana to seven mana. This allows you to be aggressive and keep opponents on the backfoot. If they try to stay back and kill your creatures one by one, you’ll be dropping another haste threat each turn and it’s unlikely they’ll be able to keep up. Each of the above mentioned creatures also have additional effects, like drawing cards, spending mana to grow temporarily stronger, or destroying enchantments to name a few.

To support the hasted boys, the deck uses a total of eight Instant and Sorcery spells. Colossal Growth helps them grow stronger and get just out of range of a removal spell, damaging effect, or combat damage. Cosmic Hunger and Epic Confrontation utilize a fight mechanic to break a hole in the opponent's defenses.

Ogre Battledriver is a creature spell that grants +2/0 and Haste to any creature that enters the battlefield under your control, making every creature a Haste and damaging threat. Ravenous Sailback is a flexible creature that can eliminate an artifact or enchantment or come down with Haste and apply pressure. Likewise, Migloz, Maze Crusher can destroy an artifact or enchantment for three oil counters and is still a 4/4 for three mana on its own with the ability to gain Trample, Vigilance, or +2/+2 for expending oil counters. And lastly, Surrak and Goreclaw, a six mana creature with 6/5 stats, Trample, and gives all your creatures entering the battlefield a +1/+1 counter and Haste until end of turn.

Charging Ahead is true to its name and sends multiple, haste threats into combat and attempts to stomp the opponent out before they know what hit them. With twenty-seven creatures, this deck forces opponents to use their own creatures to block and defend and more often than not, that trade will be in Charging Ahead’s favor. While unable to draw a lot of extra cards, Charging Ahead wins by having a lot of good draws off the top of the library when the game reaches a point where resources have been spent on both sides. Any turn an opponent takes to draw cards or cast an artifact or enchantment that doesn’t directly deal with your creatures is a big win.

Fast, strong, stompy gameplay that is fun
Majority of creatures have Haste and additional effects to keep the deck going
Creatures are large enough to attack each turn and force opponent into unfavorable trades

Deck

Creatures

2 Dragon Whelp

1 Samut, Vizier of Naktamun

1 Feldon, Ronom Excavator

1 Tomakul Phoenix

1 Migloz, Maze Crusher

1 Rampaging Raptor

1 Surrak and Goreclaw

1 Ogre Battledriver

2 Shivan Branch-Burner

3 Ilysian Caryatid