Magic The Gathering: Easy To Build Decks For Beginners

Highlights

• Give newbies a crash course in Magic with beginner-friendly decks like Mono Red Fast Destruction for aggressive gameplay.
• Explore different playstyles like Orzhov Discard-Or-Die for punishing opponents and Mono Blue Shocker for control strategies.
• Experiment with unique themes such as Izzet Spells for spellcasting versatility and Rakdos Party for aggressive strategies.

Since its release in 1993, Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering established itself as a juggernaut in the trading card game scene. As such, players who want to take a break from the adventures in Wizards’ Dungeons & Dragons can dish out cool spells as a Planeswalker in MTG. Unfortunately, people can’t exactly blame newbies for feeling overwhelmed from the get-go. After all, Magic is a game with more than two decades on its belt.

Thankfully, newbies might solve this dilemma by trying to build their own deck. In fact, they might find themselves learning Magic much faster with a deck built for their playstyle. However, newbies might want to try out some recommended decks before venturing into their own deckbuilding styles. Here are some of the bestMagic The Gathering beginner decks for both physical play and MTG: Arena online play.

Updated on July 18, 2024, by Rhenn Taguiam: With Magic: The Gathering having just launched its Assassin’s Creed crossover and teased its anthropomorphic Bloomburrow and modern horror Duskmourn releases, fans of the acclaimed trading card game may be eager to check just how these new sets can affect the current meta of the title. However, for beginners who are still confused as to how exactly they should approach their gameplay, perhaps they should learn the game’s mechanics through beginner-friendly decks that can still help them dominate matches. Among suggestions for easy-to-build newcomer decks include setups where enemies have to constantly discard cards, extremely aggressive Mono Red and Blue builds, a control-oriented Blue setup, and a Blue/Red deck that is just a countdown to the enemy’s destruction.

29 Orzhov Discard-Or-Die

Black, White

Punishing the opponent is the main mechanic surrounding Orzhov Discard-Or-Die, with many of its devastating effects revolving around discarding cards and losing life (Hopeless Nightmare), losing Life while the player gets healed (Okiba Reckoner Raid), exiling opponent cards (Deep-Cavern Bat), or outright creature destruction (Go for the Throat, Tithing Blade).

What makes this deck’s Magic the Gathering gameplay interesting is how it can give players the opportunity to punish opponents repeatedly. Assuming Nurturing Pixie enters the battlefield unharmed, players can give it +1/+1 in exchange for returning a nonland permanent to their hand. For instance, they can use this effect to retrieve Hopeless Nightmare and recast it for that delicious mill and the debilitating 2 Life cost.

28 Mono Red Fast Destruction

Red

Anyone who’s played Magic: The Gathering knows Red decks are built to be extremely aggressive, and Mono Red Fast Destruction encapsulates this playstyle with a speed-oriented destructive build. This particular MTG deck is centered around the Monastery Swiftspear who can attack as soon as it’s summoned (Haste) and get +1/+1 on any turn per noncreature spell cast (Prowess). Slickshot Show-Off has a similar effect, only it’s harder to target as it has both Haste and Flying and a noncreature spell grants it +2/+0. With these frontline Creatures, the rest of the cards in the deck don’t go up three Mana cost, making almost everything spammable by the time turns three onwards come along.

A secondary unit to accompany the Swiftspear is the Cacophony Scamp, whose death can trigger Proliferate to multiple existing counters and can be augmented as its death also deals its power as damage to any target. It’s for this reason that the deck has buffers such as Ancestral Anger, Monstrous Rage (+2/+0), Blazing Crescendo (+3/+1), and Demonic Ruckus (+1/+1 with Menace, Trample).

27 Mono Blue Shocker

Blue

Considering a Blue deck’s reputation for slow-but-sure strategies, seeing Mono Blue Shocker take a more aggressive approach for control-oriented gameplay can be a lesson in creative deck-building for beginners. This MTG deck capitalizes on boosts from cards with the Explore keyword (Map Token via Spyglass Siren, Subterranean Schooner) that either keeps a drawn Land card or reshuffles a nonland back into the deck in exchange for a +1/+1 to any Creature. Thanks to the Ninjutsu Keyword (Moon-Circuit Hacker, Prosperous Thief), players can switch an attacking Creature into another Creature with a special effect.

With boosts and an emergency escape plan in place, this deck now focuses on using other Magic: The Gathering mechanics to stun enemies into submission. Other cards in the deck may tap a target (Network Disruptor, Dreamshackle Geist), Counter the enemy’s spells (Spell Pierce, Disruption Protocol, Make Disappear), force a Creature to lose all Abilities and become a 1/1/ Legitimate Businessperson (Witness Protection), or return a nonland permanent (Machine Over Matter). In addition, considering the fact that 1/1 Gingerbrute can only be blocked by Creatures with Haste, this card can be buffed to a 4/3 juggernaut via Behind the Mask. Alternatively, the latter can be used to turn a powerful enemy Creature into a mere 1/1.

26 Mono Blue Stagger

Blue

Due to Blue cards being built for control-heavy mechanics in Magic: The Gathering, it’s not surprising that the overall setup of Mono Blue Stagger is to hinder the enemy’s movements as often as possible. Cards in this MTG deck heavily rely on Countering spells (Negate, Spell Stutter, Out of Air), with Disdainful Stroke specifically built to Counter opponent heavy-hitters that often cost more than 4 Mana to cast.

A secondary mechanic this deck relies on would be disabling opponent Creatures, be it through Tapping (Weakstone’s Subjugation) or Exiling (Jace Reawakened) them. Harsher endgame options against foes include having their Creature controlled by the player (Invoke the Winds) or having all nonlands in their field shuffled back into their decks (Teferi – Temporal Pilgrim). These mechanics are seemingly built to distract opponents from the fact that the rest of this deck’s cards aim to take little chunks of the enemy’s Life while their countermeasures are constantly delayed.

25 Timed Destruction

Blue, Red

It’s not all the time that players can synergize Blue and Red to create an efficient setup, but this is exactly what Timed Destruction does as a Magic: The Gathering deck. Much of its Blue cards are standard control types, with effects ranging from free draws (Consider, Sleight of Hand) Counters (Negate, Spell Pierce, Syncopate), and Creature returns (Fading Hope). Meanwhile, its Red counterpart are predictably damage-oriented (Lightning Strike, Torch the Tower, Abrade, Frantic Firebolt, Vampires’ Vengeance). As players might notice, the deck only has 12 Creatures – this is by design.

By the time players get to cast any of the Creatures in the deck, there should be a substantial number of Instants and Sorceries in the graveyard. This can facilitate lesser Mana cost for the menacing 4/5 Hearth Elemental that can give free draws, the 5/5 Tolarian Terror that can Counter spells targeting it via Ward, and 4/3 Ojer Pakpatiq – Deepest Epoch that can return to the battlefield post-death after a set number of turns. To make the opponent’s lives much harder, players can use Baral and Kari Zev to either cast their second spell at a lower cost or create a 2/1 Monkey Pirate to build their ranks. Alternatively, they can build up towards an Arcane Proxy that can exile a card from a graveyard and cast it without paying the Mana cost.

24 Buff All The Way: Aggressive Boros

Red/White

Similar to other Boros setups, Aggressive Boros takes advantage of the balanced defense and offense of this deck’s Red/White setup. Important Creatures of consideration include Illuminator Virtuoso which can get +1/1 on Connive if it becomes a spell target, and Baird, Argivian Recruiter summons a 1/1 Soldier at the end step whenever a buffed creature is on the field. Defense-wise, Baird’s Soldiers can become cannon fodder for enemies who try to attack the player in the card game match.

Such a defensive measure is important for the rest of the buffers in this Magic: The Gathering deck. Among the Creatures in the deck, Electrostatic Infantry gets +1/1 per Instant or Sorcery cast by the player, and Monastery Swiftspear gets +1/1 until the end of the turn per Non-Creature cast by the player. Some spells can also offer relevant until-turn-end buffs for devastating damage, such as +1/1 and Vigilance with Flashback (Homestead Courage), Hexproof and Indestructible (Loran’s Escape), +X+1/0 per same-name card in the grave (Ancestral Anger), and +3/1 (Monstrous Rage).

23 Build Up Power: Raging Rakdos

Red/Black

Unlike other Red/Black decks in the acclaimed card game that often balance aggression with sneaky tactics, Raging Rakdos only has the Callous Sell-Sword as its sole Black spell. However, while the Sell-Sword’s +1/1 upon entry per player creature destroyed is a helpful ability, its attached Sorcery Burn Together is more useful as players can sacrifice a Creature and deal its Power as Damage to any target. It’s precisely this building-up of Power that makes Raging Rakdos rather deadly, especially with its selected slate of spells.

Creatures in this deck get +1/1 based on different conditions, such as casting Instants and Sorceries (Electrostatic Infantry) and casting Non-Creatures (Monastery Swiftspear). Other spells also grant an assortment of buffs, such as +3/1 (Monstrous Rage), +4/3 (Antagonize), +3/1 (Blazing Crescendo), distribute three +1/1 (Stolen Goodies via Picnic Ruiner), and +2/1 (Ride the Rails via Minecart Daredevil). With the right setup in this card game, players can repeatedly give Creatures buffs for a fierce finish.

22 A Plan For Every Misstep: Rhythm And Blues

Blue

True to the trend of Mono-Blue decks specializing in various contingencies in both the physical and digital card game, the Rhythm and Blues deck gives players multiple options to deal with whatever threats the enemies try to put their way. Key components to the deck are specific cards that are tailored to a player’s situation, such as the Haughty Djinn which has Power based on Sorceries and Instants in the grave, Otawara, Soaring City that return anything but Sorceries and Instants to owners, March of Swirling Mist that can temporarily “negate” the existence of creatures, and Blue Sun’s Twilight that can either take control or copy a creature

On top of usual spell counters and negations is Chrome Host Seedshark which can create +X+1/1 Tokens per cast of non-creature spells. Moreover, provided it flows into combat uninterrupted, the Filigree Sylex can either destroy all nonland permanents of Mana value equal to its number of Oil Counters or take 10 Oil Counters to inflict 10 Damage to any target.

21 Trampling Haste: Merciless Ruby Ruiner Gruul

Red/Green

Bringing the raging fury of nature’s wrath is the Merciless Ruby Ruiner Gruul, a Red/Green deck in this digital card game that takes advantage of Double Strike, Haste, and Trample effects. The deck is centered around two creatures that gain effects when other 4/4 Creatures attack with them: Ruby, Daring Tracker becomes 3/4 with Haste, whereas 2/2 Picnic Ruiner gains Double Strike.

Trample becomes accessible with special effects with Audacity and Monstrous Rage. Other buffs come in the form of Titanic Growth and Tyvar’s Strand, the latter of which provides Hexproof and Indestructible on top of more buffs per Land tapped. These buffs could be used by creatures such as the Monastery Swiftspear, and the Phoenix Chick that can return to battle with +1/1. The Evolving Adaptive is also a must-have for the aggressive kit, as it gets +1/1 per creature that enters the player’s field. For the kicker, Witchstalker Frenzy costs less per attacker and packs a mean punch with 5 Damage to a target creature.

20 Start With Green: Natural Destruction

Green

Despite the nature of a Green deck in Magic: The Gathering to be all about surviving the harshest of environments, this particular Natural Destruction deck capitalizes on the sheer ability of Green Creatures to rake up intense Power and Toughness numbers to obliterate enemy forces completely, especially if there are plans of using this in the online Magic: The Gathering Arena game. Perhaps the key to this build is the Civic Gardener, which can untap lands or creatures upon attack. Up to four (4) of this in play means players can juggle attacks, which can get deadly if enemies no longer have creatures or spells to protect them.

It doesn’t help opponents that the rest of this Natural Destruction build is comprised of cards that rake up Power depending on certain conditions. Transforming Deathbonnet Sprout into Deathbonnet Hulk can give itself counters when exiling creatures, while “Enters-the-Battlefield” (ETB) effects from cards such as Yavimaya Iconoclast, Jewel Thief, and Elegant Entourage can make for devastating attacks in a single turn.

19 Numbers Don’t Lie: All The Zombies

Black

When one thinks of a mono-Black deck in a game like Magic: The Gathering, one would immediately think of debuffs and other grisly machinations to debilitate the enemy lines. However, with All the Zombies, this mono-Black build capitalizes on overrunning any kind of opponent with too many beefed-up zombies that they’re rather off forfeiting the match, anyway. Key to this All the Zombies build are Lilliana’s Reaver and Grave Titan which, when combined with Buried Alive and Victimize, may unleash not just powerful Creatures by themselves but even get as many as multiple Zombies in play.

Other neat combos are aggressively built Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghoul which help players access more powerful cards much faster. Not only that, but buffs from Death Baron, Undead Warchief, Zombie Master, Cemetery Reaper, and Lord of the Undead can practically outgun stereotypically powerful mono-Reds and usually durable mono-Whites.

18 Simple Offensive: Aggressive Boros

Red/White

Artifacts become the start of the show in the “Kamigawa” expansion of the card game Magic: The Gathering and the straightforward utilization of a Red/White Aggressive Boros build could give players a renewed approach to relentless offense. Key to the play here are Artifacts such as Experimental Synthesizer, High-Speed Hoverbike, and Imperial Recovery Unit, all capable of tapping opponent cards, unleashing Artifact Tokens, and retrieving creatures from the grave.

Thematically, a majority of its other cards are also Artifact-themed, giving players an air of fantasy-cyberpunk while dispatching their opponents, Red Magic: The Gathering deck style. The rest of this Aggressive Boros deck has neat effects, too, such as carrying over counters (Iron Apprentice, Rabbit Battery), punishing blocks (Simian Sling), juggling (Reinforced Ronin), and trading an Artifact for a powerful Construct (Sokenzan Smelter).

17 Budget White: Overrun, Overwhelm

White

Durability is a key component of any mono-White build, but Overrun, Overwhelm turns this on its head by letting players of card games like Magic: The Gathering know that “endless durability” means Creatures fighting for players even as ghosts – quite literally. A lot of cards in this Overrun, Overwhelm deck boasts the Disturb mechanic, where they can be cast from the Graveyard with a special cost (similar to the Flashback mechanic) in a transformed format.

A few examples of such cards are the Chaplain of Alms, which has an innate Ward with a Chapel Shieldgeist alternate form that grants Ward 1 to all other Creatures. Another example is Twinblade Geist with Double Strike, which transforms into Twinblade Invocation which is an Enchantment that grants Double Strike to a target.

These cards complement well with other mono-White cards, such as the buffing Traveling Minister, the anti-Artifact/Enchantment Cathar Commando, and the spammable Fleeting Spirit. Having Chapel Shieldgeist alone adds another layer of protection to all Creatures, giving players room to create an actual army with enough time. What’s better about this deck is that there’s no need for expensive Magic: The Gathering cards to fulfill this deck’s requirements.

16 Dominate Midrange: Azorius Supremacy

White/Blue

Fans of control decks in Magic: The Gathering can capitalize on “Enters-the-Battlefield” (ETB) effects courtesy of this Blue/White Azorius Supremacy deck, which capitalizes on the midrange, mid-game play. At its core, this deck boasts a straightforward loadout that aims to mess with an opponent’s rhythm long enough for players to bring out the big guns without needing extremely expensive Magic: The Gathering pieces.

Key to this build are cards such as Land-grabbing Ambitious Farmhand and draw-spamming Spirited Companion, as well as boosts in Life and extra draws with Circuit Mender. The instant-destruction or instant-invincibility effect of Valorous Stance makes it a neat Instant for protection, whereas exiles from Enchantments such as Circle of Confinement and Touch the Spirit Realm can destabilize most long-term builds. Should players manage to summon Behold the Unspeakable Saga into the field, enemies are in for a rough time with debuffs, multi-draws for the player, and a dangerous Transformation that may unleash a finishing attack.

15 Constant Casting: Alternative Boros Cycling

White/Red

As the name implies, the Boros Cycling deck relies on a keyword ability for its win condition – Cycling. In terms of mechanics, Cycling pertains to cards that require players to discard a card as part of its effect cost. However, most Cycling cards will let players draw a card after the effect resolution. Despite this perceived caveat, the Boros Cycling deck boasts a competitive edge in Standard Play.

The Boros Cycling deck capitalizes on the Lurrus of the Dream-Den as its Companion, a creature with Lifelink and the ability to let players cast one permanent card from the graveyard per turn. Strategies now diverge depending on how players cycle their cards. Whenever players cycle, Flourishing Fox can get stronger, Drannith Healer heals players, Drannith Stinger damages opponents, and Valiant Rescuer can make more tokens.

14 Counter With Mill: Dimir Rogues

Blue/Black

With this Dimir Rogues deck, players can access another Standard mainstay tactic – Rogues, a creature type that provides benefits with more of them cast on the field. Courtesy of Lurrus of the Dream-Den, players also get the opportunity to cast one permanent card from the graveyard per turn. This time around, most creatures in the deck force enemies to mill (or discard) cards from their deck (Merfolk Windrobber, Ruin Crab, Thieves’ Guild Enforcer, Soaring Thought-Thief).

In terms of spells, the Dimir Rogues deck capitalizes on counters-with-mills (Didn’t Say Please), hand-fills (Into the Story, Of One Mind), or outright destroying creatures (Eliminate).

13 Outpace To Submission: Izzet Spells

Blue/Red

Similar to the aggressive mono-red starter deck, this Izzet Spells deck relies on summoning relatively cheap spells and creatures to build up damage and outpace enemies into submission. Creatures such as Heartfire Immolator, Rimrock Knight, Sprite Dragon, and Kinetic Augur can build damage through their effects.

Meanwhile, spells such as Spikefield Hazard, Academic Dispute, Crash Through, Opt, and Shock can either enhance creatures with effects or mess around with the enemy. Thanks to the rather accessible nature of most of Izzet Spells cards, players can get a unique take on red-based destruction without relying too much on minions.

12 Artifact Domination: Phyrexian Assimilation

White

The horrific expansion of New Phyrexia across the Multiverse can be seen firsthand with Phyrexian Assimilation, an Artifact-themed deck that takes full advantage of Artifact Creatures and buffs in the acclaimed card game. Key to this deck are effects triggered when Artifacts enter the field under the player’s control such as +1/1 (Mandible Justicar, Patchwork Automaton), +1/1 with Vigilance (Veil of Assimilation), and even getting +1/1 per Artifact and Enchantment controlled (Michiko’s Reign of Truth).

Working in tandem with these buffs is a constant drawback for enemies. This deck achieves this by being Unblockable and getting Hexproof from a color of choice (Skrelv), Unblockable except against Haste (Gingerbrute), and exiling enemy creatures (Ossification, Glass Casket).

11 Aggression And Safety: Rakdos Party

Red/Black

Beginners can easily recognize that a combat rotation can often leave them vulnerable – or risk performing little to ensure they have defenders on the field. With this deck, players get an exit from this tricky situation. At its core, Rakdos Party utilizes the Zendikar Rising’s “party” mechanic to make synergies and aggression much easier to accomplish. Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats, and Call of the Death-Dweller can easily have players get aggressive and still get cards back to the field.

Its plain aggression mechanic is also impressive. Players get access to creatures that build power (Grotag Bug-Catcher), power gain through life gain (Archfiend’s Vessel), death-based damage (Fireblade Charger, Heartfire Immolator), lifesteal via party presence (Malakir Blood-Priest), and party-based mana build (Ardent Electromancer).

10 Get Aggressive: Mono-Red

Red

Players who want to turn up the heat in battle would want to build a Red-focused deck. Thanks to its aggressive nature, Red-based builds like this Mono-Red deck tend to overwhelm enemies with sheer numbers or sheer power, unleashing devastating combos that end battles quickly. This Mono-Red deck from WItC follows this archetype, albeit built for newbies.

With this Mono-Red deck, players will focus on dealing more damage to the enemy player instead of creatures. However, this deck also slowly introduces card combos and trains players in terms of their timing. This deck introduces players to the idea of exiling cards, as well as Haste, Flying, First Strike, and Double Strike.