[Top 12] MTG Arena Best Historic Decks That Are Powerful (Latest Patch)

Liliana is back for more fun in this Historic list

Updated:

26 Dec 2022

Historic is known to be one of the more stable formats compared to Standard and Sealed. Due to this, the meta game remains practically the same all throughout the season with just a few shakeups here and there. This deck compiles the best decks in the Historic meta right now.

12. Temur Energy

Since its introduction to MTG, Energy has been one of the coolest interactions in the game. By harvesting Energy through your creatures and other spells, you can activate a variety of skills and abilities by paying Energy. Temur is the go-to color ever since this concept was introduced and it is still the go-to color to this day.

What this deck excels in:

Exciting interactions with Energy counters creates for a dynamic gameplay that can help break the monotony of playing the same deck over and over again
It is a deck that is often overlooked since it is not as powerful as it once was but it still packs a punch and it provides an element of surprise
It has a lot of threats and it also has a lot of ways to deal with the opponent’s threats with the number of instants and sorceries that this deck runs

Deck list:

5 Forest
3 Mountain
2 Island
4 Ketria Triome
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Aether Hub
4 Longtusk Stalker
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Whirler Virtuoso
4 Rogue Refiner
4 Bristling Hydra
4 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Confiscation Coupe

11. Golgari Midrange-Control

Imagine running a Golgari deck with only 8 creatures. It may seem impossible but if you look at what this deck runs, you will find out that there is more to Golgari than just creatures. This deck boasts a control lineup with a lot of spells targeted at removing opponent’s threats on the board and capitalizing on the abundance of spells in your graveyard with Tarmogoyf. The only reason why it is not that high into this list is because it may have a hard time against Burn and Control decks that do not necessarily have any permanents on board.

What this deck excels in:

When I say this deck has an abundance of removal, I am not exaggerating. You can already take off any threat that you see on the opponent’s board and not hold back since you have a lot of backup removal spells.
Tarnogoyf is a strong creature and couple it with Lurrus of the Dream-Den, then you will have an abundance of Tarmogoyfs

Deck list:

Companion: Lurrus of the Dream-Den
3 Swamp
1 Forest
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Indatha Triome
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
4 Darkbore Pathway
1 Castle Locthwain
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
1 Lair of the Hydra
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
1 Field of Ruin
3 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Fatal Push
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
1 Cling to Dust
3 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Witherbloom Command
3 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Go Blank
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Extinction Event
3 Invoke Despair
1 March of Wretched Sorrow

10. Wizards

This spell-slinging deck is one of the exciting decks in this list as it gives a sort of Burn/Control type of gameplay. Aside from just slinging burn spells towards your opponent’s face, the creatures in this deck are also very powerful with the center of attraction being Symmetry Sage which makes any of your creatures base power 3. Couple that with the counters of Soul-Scar Mage and you have yourself a giant wizard swinging at you almost every turn.

What this deck excels in:

Soul-Scar Mage is a prime target of Symmetry Sage due to its Prowess ability, making it more powerful the more spells you cast each turn
This deck has a lot of different ways to gain advantage whether it be to burn the opponent’s creatures, counter their spells, or simply just manipulating the deck through card draw

Deck list:

1 Island
1 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Riverglide Pathway
3 Den of the Bugbear
1 Otawara, Soaring City
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Symmetry Sage
3 Harmonic Prodigy
4 Dreadhorde Arcanist
4 Consider
4 Play with Fire
1 Spell Pierce
1 Fading Hope
4 Wizard’s Lightning
2 Crash Through
3 Reckless Charge
4 Expressive Iteration
4 Static Discharge

9. Mono-black Control

Typically, when we see the word ‘control’ any blue-colored deck will automatically spring to mind due to their counterspells and card draw. However, this deck is a different type of control and it does not even have any trace of blue mana on it. Mono-black control uses discard and graveyard control to gain advantage on the opponent. Basically, this deck will try to disrupt the opponent’s plans before they even get the chance to drop them on the battlefield.

What this deck excels in:

Discard interactions removes the opponent’s threats before they even get the chance to cast them
Even if the opponent gets to resolve some of their threats, this deck is also heavy on removal spells that can take down even huge number of creatures with board wipes
Phyrexian Obliterator and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse can easily deal with decks that are heavy on noncreature spells

Deck list:

8 Swamp
3 Castle Locthwain
3 Field of Ruin
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
1 Blast Zone
2 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Gate of the Black Dragon
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
1 Crawling Barrens
2 Evolved Sleeper
3 Swarm Saboteur
1 The Raven Man
2 Murderous Rider
2 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
2 Tergrid, God of Fright
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
2 Hagra Mauling
1 Extinction Event
1 Yahenni’s Expertise
1 Invoke Despair
3 Waste Not
2 Phyrexian Arena
1 Black Market Connections
4 Liliana of the Veil

8. Azorius Control

A more traditional control deck, Azorius Control is a deck that uses only noncreature spells, aside from its Companion. With this deck, you get a hard control that is focused on mass creature removal and board wipe. The win-condition of this deck is through beatdown with tokens from Shark Typhoon or simply by just annoying the hell out of the opponent with the amount of counterspells in the deck

What this deck excels in:

Board wipes galore. This deck has a lot of board wipes that deters the opponent from building a steady board state again and again
Shark Typhoon enables the beat down using this deck with its Cycle function or by simply casting it as an Enchantment
Massive hand advantage brought to you by card draws and counterspells means that you can easily find the right tool against any opponent

Deck list:

Companion: Kaheera, the Orphanguard
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Irrigated Farmland
1 Glacial Fortress
3 Hengegate Pathway
2 Deserted Beach
2 Castle Vantress
2 Hall of Storm Giants
1 Spara’s Headquarters
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
2 Dovin’s Veto
2 Fateful Absence
2 Jwari Disruption
3 Archmage’s Charm
2 Absorb Energy
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Memory Deluge
2 Doomskar
2 Farewell
4 March of Otherworldly Light
2 Rest in Peace
2 Shark Typhoon
1 Chalice of the Void
3 The Wandering Emperor
3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

7. Jund Midrange

Jund was once a force to be reckoned with in the Modern scene. Now that it has taken its time and laid low in Modern, its Historic iteration can now shine. This deck offers a great variety of all archetypes of MTG decks from the aggressive creatures, creature removal spells, and the beat down at the latter stages of the game.

What this deck excels in:

Variety of threats turns offense into great defense. Early game creatures produce late-game monsters which keeps the opponent on the backfoot
Aside from your creatures, you also have ways to disrupt your opponents strategy through discard
If discard still is not enough, you can easily pick off creatures one by one using your targeted removal spells

Deck list:

1 Swamp
1 Mountain
3 Overgrown Tomb
2 Stomping Ground
2 Blood Crypt
3 Darkbore Pathway
3 Blightstep Pathway
3 Cragcrown Pathway
2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
2 Ziatora’s Proving Ground
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
3 Rahilda, Wanted Cutthroat
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Graveyard Trespasser
3 Citywalk Connoisseur
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Bloodchief’s Thirst
2 Molten Impact
1 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

6. Elves

This mean green deck is truly a force that disguises as creatures only used for mana. The mana ramp deck ensures that by Turn 3, you already have an overwhelming board, both in terms of the number of creatures and the power of these creatures. If your opponent fails to contain your first two turns, they will have a hard time dealing with the snowball effect of this deck.

What this deck excels in:

Elves decks are first and foremost ramp-centered decks. These one-drop mana creatures allow you to accelerate your board development to create an overwhelming presence
Multiple lords ensure that no creature gets left behind in terms of power level. This means that as long as you have creatures on board, you can easily threaten lethal damage with just a single cast of any of the creatures that provide +1/+1 to all your Elves

Deck list:

16 Forest
4 Castle Garenbrig
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Allosaurus Shepherd
2 Jasper Sentinel
4 Elvish Warmaster
4 Elvish Clancaller
2 Circle of Dreams Druid
2 Marwyn, the Nurturer
2 Craterhoof Behemoth
2 Freyalise, Skyshroud Partisan
4 Collected Company

5. Azorius Affinity

Artifact decks have been on and off in Historic for the past few metas. There are instances where it was really powerful and it seemed like once they got the engine going they were nearly unstoppable. However, there were also instances where they couldn’t even get the engine going due to removal-heavy decks in the meta. This time, however, Affinity once again makes its comeback as one deck to watch.

What this deck excels in:

Nothing screams synergy louder than Affinity. From token generation to casting huge spells for cheap, this deck knows how to play around Artifacts and the more Artifacts you have, the more powerful this deck gets
Two different Karns in the deck provides more security in the later stages of the game as they complement each other in terms of the advantage that each one of them can bring
Sai, Master Thopterist, can bring the mana cost of most spells in this deck to practically free since it can easily generate artifacts

Deck list:

3 Island
3 Plains
4 Razortide Bridge
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Hengegate Pathway
1 Hallowed FOuntain
1 Deserted Beach
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Otawara, Soaring City
2 Ornithopter
2 Esper Sentinel
4 Ingenious Smith
3 Patchwork Automaton
1 Sai, Master Thopterist
3 Thought Monitor
3 Myr Enforcer
4 Metallic Rebuke
1 Reality Heist
1 Nettlecyst
3 Portable Hole
2 Aether Spellbomb
4 Moonsnare Prototype
3 Karn, Scion of Urza
2 Karn, the Great Creator

4. Merfolk Company

Another deck focused on tribes, Merfolk is one of the powerhouses of MTG, and it is still quite powerful until now. With creatures that have a lot of counters and are unblockable, this deck can sneak in some damage to the opponent if the opponent does not have any board wipes.

What this deck excels in:

All creatures cost 3 mana and below which means that Collected Company will not miss
Islandwalk is a huge problem for blue decks that do not have massive board wipes since it makes creatures practically unblockable
Four sets of creatures provide +1/+1 to all your other merfolk cards which means that damage can easily add up once you get the engine running

Deck list:

8 Island
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Breeding Pool
1 Hinterland Harbor
2 Barkchannel Pathway
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Vineglimmer Snarl
4 Collected Company
1 Benthic Biomancer
3 Kumena’s Speaker
4 Shoreline Scout
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Merfolk Mistbinder
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Vodalian Hexcatcher
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Svyelun of Sea and Sky

3. Humans

Selesnya Humans is a powerful deck that boasts its creature-heavy prowess that can duel with any other creature-heavy deck. With the splash of green in this mono-white deck, Collected Company gets activated, allowing massive board advantage in an instant.

What this deck excels in:

A mono-colored deck that has 32 creatures means that this deck will never run out of gas even at the end-stages of most games
Collected Company opens up a lot of board advantage that you can utilize to either break away from the opponent or to smash the stalemate
This deck also has a way of dealing with other potential threats with cards like Skyclave Apparition and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Deck list:

5 Plains
4 Temple Garden
3 Overgrown Farmland
3 Forsaken Crossroads
2 Cave of the Frost Dragon
4 Branchloft Pathway
1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
4 Collected Company
4 Esper Sentinel
2 Dauntless Bodyguard
3 Thraben Inspector
2 Katilda, Dawnhart Prime
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Ranger-Captain of Eos
4 Skyclave Apparition
3 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
4 Inquisitor Captain

2. Rakdos Goblins

Goblins is one of the decks that are popular in the older formats of MTG. Its rich history is one of the reasons why it is still a powerhouse in the Historic metagame even until now. The synergy between the pieces makes it a great deck to use as each piece plays a significant role in achieving victory with this deck

What this deck excels in:

Great synergy between the pieces means that each piece is expected to contribute to the cause of this deck
Very powerful interactions that can bring in a lot of firepower, quite literally, on the board
Who knew that a deck that does not have any green in the mana pool can have a mana ramp? With Skirk Prospector, you can cast bigger creatures at the early game as it allows you to have more mana than your lands can provide

Deck list:

17 Mountain
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
3 Castle Embereth
4 Skirk Prospector
3 Conspicuous Snoop
4 Wily Goblin
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Hobgoblin Bandit Lord
3 Krenko, Mob Boss
4 Muxus, Goblin Grandee
2 Goblin Ringleader
3 Shutterskull Smashing

1. Red Deck Wins

An aggressive red deck will always be part of any list, whatever the format. The eedy nature of this RDW deck makes it one of the toughest decks since it can exert so much early pressure that it suffocates the opponent into playing super passively, ultimately halting the opponent’s advances.

What this deck excels in:

Cheap mana cost creatures and spells that give a lot of value. When you think of cheap spells, you almost will never think of a card that can outright win the game. But this deck has a lot of those
Torbran is still a very powerful card that enables a lot of the damage output of this deck
Pure aggressiveness ensures that you get to play more games, which means you get to progress through the ranks swiftly

Deck list: