MTG Arena Budget Standard Decks for Beginners

If you’re new to MTG Arena, building a cheap budget competitive deck can be challenging, especially if you’re looking to spend as little real-world gold as you can! Magic’s myriad different cards can be overwhelming, and Wildcards are a precious resource that you can’t always afford to waste on the wrong decks, no matter how enticing! Placing small bets on crafting and gradually opening cards until you find an expensive deck you’re sure you’ll love is the best way to go, at least while your resources are so limited.

Dominaria United Standard post-rotation has been an absolute blast to play, but admittedly, it’s not the easiest on the Wildcards. It’s much better than previous Standard environments in my opinion, 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!

In this guide, you’ll find our exclusive curated list of some fantastic budget Standard decks from various archetypes, with a brief explanation of the deck, an upgrade guide, and sample decklists for each one. Visit our Standard deck page if you’d like to see what some of the finished products look like. You can also go straight to the Budget deck section itself for the complete list, and for more ideas, be sure to visit our Standard Artisan section (a format where you are only allowed commons and uncommons).

Historic and Explorer is a format where your cards never rotate out, but has a much wider card pool and can be intimidating for players that wish to start out. Click here for our dedicated guide to Historic Budget decks and Explorer decks!

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!

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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. For best-of-three, do check out our budget sideboard guide at the end to help you build a sideboard.
• Here are the sets in Standard right now, which all these cards come from:
  • Innistrad: Midnight Hunt (MID)
  • Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
  • Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO)
  • Streets of New Capenna (SNC)
  • Dominaria United (DMU)

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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. For a full breakdown on Dominaria United, check out my crafting guide:

Dominaria United Standard Wildcard Crafting Guide – The Best Cards To Craft On A Budget

1. Lands

Lands should always be your first priority as those are generally going to be the most ubiquitous cards in Standard.

The Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty channel lands, the Innistrad duals, and the new 3 color lands are also extremely safe crafts, and the Painlands. However, these don’t always need 4 depending on what deck you’re building, so keep that in mind.

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 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or Wedding Announcement 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 Mythic Rares

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 The Meathook Massacre or The Wandering Emperor as they’re cards that have literally no replacement.

4. Specific Rares

These are Rares that may see minimal play or only see play in one to two strategies. They can be good cards, just narrow, such as Halana and Alena, Partners or Edgar, Charmed Groom.

5. Specific Mythic Rares

These are Mythics that see minimal or small amounts of play. These are definitely the last thing you want to craft as these will be hard to use in other strategies with cards like Spectral Adversary or Elspeth Resplendent.

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.

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Budget Standard 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 list below.

• Wedding Announcement – Ubiquitous Rare
• Hopeful Initiate – Specific Rare
• Intrepid Adversary – Specific Mythic
• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben – Specific Rare
• Guardian of New Benalia – Specific Rare
• Brutal Cathar – Specific Rare
• Adeline, Resplendent Cathar – Specific Rare
• Anointed Peacekeeper – Specific Rare
• Serra Paragon – Specific Mythic

Mono Blue Tempo

This deck is already quite budget and competitive so it’s a great choice if you enjoy tempo decks!

Haughty Djinn – Specific Rare

Mono Black Aggro

One of the best aggro decks around right now, Mono Black packs a punch with its combination of a quick clock and strong interaction.

• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Evolved Sleeper – Specific Rare
• Tainted Adversary – Specific Mythic
• Tenacious Underdog – Ubiquitous Rare
• Graveyard Trespasser – Ubiquitous Rare
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse – Ubiquitous Mythic

Mono Black Midrange

Black based Control has been a mainstay in Standard and you can start with this base for the most simple form of it. Control the opponent’s board, hand, and kill them with whatever creatures you have left over. If you’re looking to upgrade, you can go for my build below.

• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Sorin the Mirthless – Specific Mythic
• Evolved Sleeper – Specific Rare
• Concealing Curtains – Specific Rare
• Tenacious Underdog – Ubiquitous Rare
• Graveyard Trespasser – Ubiquitous Rare
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Invoke Despair – Specific Rare
• Reckoner Bankbuster – Specific Rare
• The Meathook Massacre – Ubiquitous Mythic

Mono Red Aggro

With an amazing curve and cheap Burn, Mono Red Aggro can pack a serious punch on a budget. If you’re looking to upgrade, I would look towards my build below.

• Shivan Devastator – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Radha's Firebrand – Specific Rare
• Bloodthirsty Adversary – Specific Mythic
• Reckless Stormseeker – Specific Rare
• Squee, Dubious Monarch – Specific Rare
• Thundering Raiju – Specific Rare

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 list below.

• Ascendant Packleader – Specific Rare
• Quirion Beastcaller – Specific Rare
• Llanowar Loamspeaker – Specific Rare
• Briarbridge Tracker – Specific Rare
• Cemetery Prowler – Specific Mythic
• Ulvenwald Oddity – Specific Rare
• Defiler of Vigor – Ubiquitous Rare
• Avabruck Caretaker – Specific Mythic

Azorius Midrange

Azorius is looking to take advantage of all the ETB creatures in those colors to produce an extremely satisfying midrange deck. Although not the perfect analog, I would say that Esper Midrange is the best deck that’s the closest to this game plan.

• Kaito Shizuki – Specific Mythic
• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• The Wandering Emperor – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Tenacious Underdog – Ubiquitous Rare
• Dennick, Pious Apprentice – Specific Rare
• Raffine, Scheming Seer – Specific Mythic
• Obscura Interceptor – Specific Rare
• Ao, the Dawn Sky – Specific Mythic
• Wedding Announcement – Ubiquitous Rare

Boros Artifact Aggro

Utilizing the many new Artifact creatures from Kamigawa and a few powerful payoffs, this aggro deck is both punishing and synergistic. Right now there are no competitive Boros options, so I would opt to Mono Red.

• Shivan Devastator – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Radha's Firebrand – Specific Rare
• Bloodthirsty Adversary – Specific Mythic
• Reckless Stormseeker – Specific Rare
• Squee, Dubious Monarch – Specific Rare
• Thundering Raiju – Specific Rare

Dimir Control

Dimir Control is one of the most classical Control archetypes around. You can get started with this version for those who like to grind opponents into the dirt, or you can look more towards a tempo oriented game plan. While there isn’t a competitive Dimir deck, the closest you’ll likely find is Esper Midrange.

• Kaito Shizuki – Specific Mythic
• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• The Wandering Emperor – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Tenacious Underdog – Ubiquitous Rare
• Dennick, Pious Apprentice – Specific Rare
• Raffine, Scheming Seer – Specific Mythic
• Obscura Interceptor – Specific Rare
• Ao, the Dawn Sky – Specific Mythic
• Wedding Announcement – Ubiquitous Rare

Dimir Ninjas

With cheap threats and disruption, Dimir Ninjas looks to tempo out the opposition! Once again, there are unfortunately no competitive Ninja decks, so I would once again opt for Esper Midrange as the closest analog.

• Kaito Shizuki – Specific Mythic
• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• The Wandering Emperor – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Tenacious Underdog – Ubiquitous Rare
• Dennick, Pious Apprentice – Specific Rare
• Raffine, Scheming Seer – Specific Mythic
• Obscura Interceptor – Specific Rare
• Ao, the Dawn Sky – Specific Mythic
• Wedding Announcement – Ubiquitous Rare

Gruul Aggro

If you like to go fast, 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. If you’re looking to upgrade, it would look something like the list below.

• Ascendant Packleader – Specific Rare
• Quirion Beastcaller – Specific Rare
• Radha's Firebrand – Specific Rare
• Reckless Stormseeker – Specific Rare
• Squee, Dubious Monarch – Specific Rare
• Thundering Raiju – Specific Rare
• Halana and Alena, Partners – Specific Rare

Izzet Delver

Izzet is one of the most popular guilds and for good reason, it can be fast, disruptive, and extremely proactive. If you want to upgrade this deck, I would opt for Mono Blue Tempo which is a similar playstyle, and in itself, is a relatively budget deck already!.

• Haughty Djinn – Specific Rare

Orzhov Sacrifice

Orzhov Sacrifice is a less typical take on the classic sacrifice shell. Instead of the typical Red, we use the White here to have more sacrifice outlets to get more value out of your cards! If you’re looking to upgrade this deck, you can check out the list below which takes the more midrange approach.

• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• The Wandering Emperor – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Sorin the Mirthless – Specific Mythic
• Tenacious Underdog – Ubiquitous Rare
• Extraction Specialist – Specific Rare
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Edgar, Charmed Groom – Specific Rare
• Liesa, Forgotten Archangel – Specific Rare
• The Meathook Massacre – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Wedding Announcement – Ubiquitous Rare

Rakdos Anvil

Using the new Oni-Cult Anvil and the many Blood producers, you have a powerful and grindy midrange deck. If you want to upgrade this deck to it’s full potential, check out the list below.

• Liliana of the Veil – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Ob Nixilis, the Adversary – Specific Mythic
• The Meathook Massacre – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Fable of the Mirror-Breaker – Ubiquitous Rare

Selesnya Enchantments

One of the newest decks in Standard, Enchantments utilizes the many Enchantment payoffs from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty for a powerful and synergistic deck. If you want to make this as competitive as possible, the list below is a great base.

• Kami of Transience – Specific Rare
• Weaver of Harmony – Specific Rare
• Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr – Specific Rare
• Wedding Announcement – Specific Rare

Simic Ramp

There aren’t many Ramp decks represented in Standard, 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.

• Tamiyo, Compleated Sage – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Wrenn and Seven – Ubiquitous Mythic
• Llanowar Loamspeaker – Specific Rare
• Shigeki, Jukai Visionary – Specific Rare
• Topiary Stomper – Specific Rare
• Workshop Warchief – Specific Rare
• Tovolar's Huntmaster – Specific Rare
• Titan of Industry – Specific Mythic

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Decklists in this Article