Budget Standard 2022 Decks and Upgrade Guides for Beginners

This guide has been superseded by the full Standard budget decks below. All decks here will work – we will return this guide for Standard 2023!

MTG Arena Budget Standard and Alchemy Decks for Beginners

Hello everyone! Standard 2022 has been an absolute blast to play, but admittedly, it’s not the easiest on the wildcards. It’s much better than any other constructed format, but for those who don’t have large collections, it could still be a struggle.

Well fret not! I spent hours upon hours making a large amount of budget decks that can be easily made no matter your collection size and the most competitive version of the deck you can make as well!

If you need any help, you can always join the MTG Arena Zone Discord server, leave a question in the comments, or follow the site’s Twitter to catch up on any updates!

---

Budget Deck Aims

Here’s a set of parameters we build our budget Standard decks around, to ensure they’re at their most useful to you:

• The base deck will aim to have as few rares as possible, but if one or two different cards are exceptionally important to the archetype and there’s no easy replacement, then you might see them. For each deck, we provide pathways or a link to upgrade into more competitive versions. Upgrades depend on your collection and Wildcard availability, so we’ll provide different options to tailor to your specific needs!
• Each deck is geared towards best-of-one, and players can now have up to seven cards in their sideboard. This makes the new Learn mechanic and Lesson cards quite powerful – include them where you can!
• Here are the sets in Standard right now, which all these cards come from:
  • Arena Base Set
  • Zendikar Rising
  • Kaldheim
  • Strixhaven: School of Mages
  • Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

---

HOW DO I DECIDE WHAT TO CRAFT?

This is a great question that doesn’t have a concrete answer, but I believe there’s an order you should upgrade your decks in. In totality, you should look to craft the most ubiquitous cards first and then keep going until you’re crafting highly specific cards to finish your particular deck. With that in mind, we can go even more specific.

1. LANDS

Lands should always be your first priority as those are generally going to be the most ubiquitous cards in Standard. The Pathways are all excellent and invaluable moving forward as is Faceless Haven so crafting 4 of each is an extremely safe craft.

The new creatures lands from AFR do see play, but in much lower amounts compared to the Pathways. With that, they’re really good crafts as even having one copy of each can be optimal for most of the lists you could build.

The last in the lands are the Snarls which unfortunately are pretty weak. For the most part you can avoid crafting these entirely for now as they see play in so few decks, but making a specific Snarl to make your deck run a bit more smoothly is perfectly fine as well.

2. UBIQUITOUS RARES

This is a pretty general category, but what I mean here is to next craft Rares you see in multiple decklists. Examples of this could include Esika's Chariot or Luminarch Aspirant as they see play in functionally any deck that can cast them. Furthermore you want to start with Rares as Mythics are going to be much harder to stockpile.

3. UBIQUITOUS MYTHICS

Although you generally want to avoid crafting Mythics if you’re just upgrading budget decks, there are plenty of Mythics that see so much play they are very safe crafts. The most popular ones that come to mind are something like Alrund's Epiphany or Goldspan Dragon cards that have literally no replacement.

4. SPECIFIC RARES

These are Rares that may see minimal play or some small amounts of play, but are really just for the deck you are making such as Werewolf Pack Leader or Orcus, Prince of Undeath.

5. SPECIFIC MYTHICS

These are mythics that see minimal or small amounts of play. These are definitely the last thing you want to craft if you’re on a budget as these will be hard to use in other strategies like Galazeth Prismari or Turntimber Symbiosis.

This is more or less the strategy to go by. If you’re unsure where something lies, you can check out lists here to get an idea of what cards see the most play, but I’ll also give you my opinions as well. With that, let’s get into the decks.

---

Budget Standard 2022 Decks

---

MONO WHITE AGGRO

Mono White is one of the cornerstones of the format and even without the rares you can still make a really powerful deck. Use your small creatures to curve out and quickly overrun the opponent. If you’re looking to make upgrades to this deck, you can check out the 2022 article on Mono White Aggro here for inspiration.

Reidane, God of the Worthy – Specific Rare

Luminarch Aspirant – Ubiquitous Rare

MONO BLACK AGGRO

Although less popular than the other aggro options, Mono Black can still pack a punch with it’s combination of a quick clock with solid interaction. If you’re looking to upgrade this deck, you can look to build toward this version.

Skyclave Shade – Specific Rare

Nighthawk Scavenger – Specific Rare

Wight – Specific Rare

Ebondeath, Dracolich – Specific Mythic

Agadeem’s Awakening – Ubiquitous Mythic

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic for 2022, Specific Mythic otherwise

MONO BLACK CONTROL

Black based Control has been quickly gaining popularity in 2022 and you can start with this base for the most simple form of it. Control the opponent’s board, hand, and kill them with Dogged Pursuit. If you’re looking to upgrade, you can go for my build of Mono Black Discard.

Tergrid, God of Fright – Specific Rare

Nighthawk Scavenger – Specific Rare

Ebondeath, Dracolich – Specific Mythic

Agadeem’s Awakening – Ubiquitous Mythic

Soul Shatter – Specific Rare

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic in 2022, Specific otherwise

MONO RED AGGRO

Like Mono Black, Mono Red has mostly been outshined by it’s White and Green counterpart. Nevertheless, the deck is still relatively solid if you really enjoy playing Red aggro. If you’re looking to upgrade, I would look towards building Goblins.

Hobgoblin Bandit Lord – Very Specific Rare

Goblin Trashmaster – Very Specific Rare

Rally the Ranks – Specific Rare

Showdown of the Skalds – Ubiquitous Rare

MONO RED BOMBARDMENT

Similar to the previous list, Mono Red Bombardment takes advantage of the powerful Raid Bombardment to quickly overrun the opponent. Also like the other Mono Red list, if you want to make this as competitive as possible I would look towards building Goblins.

MONO GREEN AGGRO

Mono Green Aggro is one of the best decks in 2022 and even completely budget versions of it can still be potent. If you’re looking to make this as competitive as possible, you can check out the 2022 guide on Mono Green Aggro.

Kazandu Mammoth – Ubiquitous Rare

Swarm Shambler – Specific Rare

Werewolf Pack Leader – Very Specific Rare

Old-Growth Troll – Very Specific Rare

Gnarled Professor – Specific Rare

Esika’s Chariot – Ubiquitous Rare

Ranger Class – Ubiquitous Rare

Basic Conjuration – Specific Rare

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic for 2022, otherwise Specific

SELESNYA MAGECRAFT

One of my favorite 2022 decks, Magecraft is both powerful and extremely budget friendly, even for the most competitive version of the deck! If you’re looking to make this entirely competitive, you can check out the article on 2022 Selesnya Magecraft.

Leonin Lightscribe – Specific Rare

Dragonsguard Elite – Specific Rare

Mavinda, Students’ Advocate – Specific Mythic

Hall of Oracles – Specific Rare

Academic Probation – Specific Rare

Basic Conjuration – Specific Rare

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic for 2022, otherwise Specific

BOROS WARRIORS

A tribe always close to breaking out, Warriors has a lot going for it and just needs a little push to vault it into prevalence. The competitive deck does use a lot of Rares and Mythics, but you can definitely get a solid base starting from just commons and uncommons. If you wan tto upgrade it, you can reference the list below.

Kargan Intimidator – Specific Rare

Resplendent Marshal – Specific Mythic

Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant – Specific Mythic

Legion Angel – Ubiquitous Rare in 2022, Specific otherwise

Shatterskull Smashing – Ubiquitous Mythic

Maul of the Skyclaves – Specific Rare

Rally the Ranks – Specific Rare

RAKDOS SACRIFICE

Rakdos Sacrifice has been a popular choice in many Standard formats and this is no exception. You have a lot of early game and plenty of late game to grind through any opponent. If you’re looking to upgrade this deck, you can check out the 2022 guide on Rakdos Midrange or go for a more Sacrifice themed deck like the one below.

Extus, Oriq Overlord – Specific Mythic

Lolth, Spider Queen – Specific Mythic

Professor Onyx – Specific Mythic

Valki, God of Lies – Specific Mythic

Orcus, Prince of Undeath – Specific Rare

Goldspan Dragon – Ubiquitous Mythic

Shatterskull Smashing – Ubiquitous Mythic

Showdown of the Skalds – Ubiquitous Rare

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic for 2022, Specific otherwise

GOLGARI PESTS

Rakdos isn’t the only deck that can be a sacrifice deck! Golgari has plenty of tools to work with as well to make a deck capable of grinding through many of the format’s top decks. Furthermore, the competitive version of this is easily one of the most budget friendly decks out there! If you’re looking to upgrade this, I would check out uebelster’s version.

Sedgemoor Witch – Specific Rare

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic in 2022, otherwise Specific

DIMIR CONTROL

Another staple in Standard 2022, Dimir has been one of the top contenders since the format’s inception. Although the most competitive version is very Wildcard intensive, the budget version still packs most of the same interaction with just worse win conditions. If you are looking to upgrade this deck, you can check out the Standard 2022 guide on Dimir Control.

Professor Onyx – Specific Mythic

Iymirth, Desert Doom – Specific Mythic

Soul Shatter – Specific Rare

Crippling Fear – Specific Rare

Shadows’ Verdict – Specific Rare

Crawling Barrens – Specific Rare

IZZET SPELLS

Izzet is one of the most popular guilds and for good reason, it can be fast, disruptive, and extremely proactive. Although it’s not a direct port, Izzet Dragons is the closest to this deck and also one of the best decks in 2022 as well. If you want to upgrade this deck, you can check out the Standard 2022 guide on Izzet Dragons.

Galazeth Prismari – Specific Mythic

Goldspan Dragon – Specific Mythic

Shatterskull Smashing – Ubiquitous Mythic

Prismari Command – Specific Rare

Alrund’s Epiphany – Ubiquitous Mythic

SIMIC RAMP

There aren’t many Ramp decks represented in 2022, but Simic is likely the best of them. With a combination of solid ramp, good late game, and interaction, this deck is a force to be reckoned with. If you’re looking to upgrade this deck, the most competitive version would likely look something like the list below.

Cyclone Summoner – Specific Rare

Koma, Cosmos Serpent – Specific Mythic

Turntimber Symbiosis – Specific Mythic

Alrund’s Epiphany – Ubiquitous Mythic

Mascot Summoning – Ubiquitous Mythic in 2022, otherwise Specific

GRUUL AGGRO

The final deck for this list, Gruul aggro looks to capitalize on the power of the Red and Green creatures. With a fast curve and really solid interaction, this deck is looking to under the competition. Although there isn’t currently a tier Gruul deck, if you’re looking to upgrade, it would look something like the list below.

Kazandu Mammoth – Ubiquitous Rare

Dragonkin Berserker – Specific Rare

Magda, Brazen Outlaw – Specific Rare

Gnarled Professor – Specific Rare

Goldspan Dragon – Ubiquitous Mythic

Shatterskull Smashing – Ubiquitous Mythic

Esika’s Chariot – Ubiquitous Rare

Ranger’s Class – Ubiquitous Rare

Mascot Exhibition – Ubiquitous Mythic in 2022, otherwise Specific

Thank you for reading! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.