For anyone having a hard time grinding through Magic: The Gathering Arena’s ranked Standard mode, there’s no shame in looking for help to start stacking up the wins. Here we’ll take you through some of the best MTG Arena decks available, as well as what makes them so strong to play with, and difficult to play against.
In MTG Arena, the meta is constantly moving. Fresh brews appear week by week, and the best MTG Arena deck of the moment may soon be surpassed by a new variant. It’s hard to keep up with the MTG 2023 release schedule, even if you’ve perfected how to build an MTG deck, have a great MTG deck builder to help you out, or have all the MTG Arena codes under the sun. To give you a head start we’ve collected five MTG Arena Standard decks that can be ridden all the way to Mythic.
These are best MTG Arena decks in Standard right now:
- Rakdos Midrange
- Esper Midrange
- Mono Black Midrange
- Mono Blue Tempo
- Mono Red Aggro
- Selesnya Enchantments
- Jund Midrange
Rakdos Midrange
Midrange is out of control on MTG Arena right now, with plenty of decks forming a sort of soup of generically powerful cards. Right now Rakdos is on top, relying on some of the best Black cards like Sheoldred and Invoke Despair, combined with another bugbear of Standard: Fable of the Mirrorbreaker. This deck is one of the most likely to be hit by upcoming Standard bans – so enjoy it while it lasts!
Esper Midrange
While it’s since been surpassed by Rakdos, in the post-Dominaria United meta, Esper (White/Blue/Black) was the MTG color combination that cemented itself as king of midrange. The simple reason for that was: it plays great cards from three different colours.
In a world of slow decks playing scary threats, Esper packs some of the scariest. Star of the show is Raffine Scheming Seer, which draws cards and rewards you for building a board. Other key cards are Wedding Announcement and top MTG planeswalkers like The Wandering Emperor, or Kaito Shizuki.
There’s not a ton of synergy to speak of in this MTG Arena deck, it just jams in a bunch of busted cards that generate value, threatening to get out of control quickly. As a result, it packs in the rares. This is one MTG deck that’s going to burn through a lot of wildcards.
Mono Black Midrange
Banning The Meathook Massacre may have given Esper a slight edge, but it wasn’t enough to keep the black decks down. Though one of its key pieces has been relegated to the MTG banlist, this deck archetype is still going strong.
Looking to play a slower, grindy game, this mono black deck relies on the awesome power of Sheoldred, The Apocalypse, powerful removal like Invoke Despair, and one of the best MTG Vehicles, Reckoner Bankbuster, for card draw.
While it leans on the slow side, this MTGA deck has plenty of one-drops that can build up an early lead. That also means Mono Black Midrange can hold aggro decks at bay, stalling them until it can generate a decisive lead.
Mono Blue Tempo
Something of an antidote to all the midrange MTG Arena decks floating around in Standard right now, Mono Blue Tempo relies on tons of cheap blue spells, and just a few potent threats to close out the game.
Using this Standard deck, you’ll frustrate your opponent with counterspells like Spell Piece, bounce their creatures with Fading Hope, and dig for your big threats with Thirst for Discovery. With their resources and patience dwindling, you then slap down a Haughty Djinn or Tolarian Terror (great with all the spells you’ve used), keep it safe with Slip out the Back, and use it to close out the game. Simple!
Selesnya Enchantments
Still kicking around from Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, this synergistic deck does just what it did at the start of the year. It takes advantage of the best MTG enchantments and enchantment payoffs in Standard, piling up +1/+1 counters and throwing big dudes at your enemies.
Cards like Jukai Naturalist, Kami of Transience, and Generous Visitor all work together here to form an aggressive beatdown deck. Your cards all make each other better, and once you get going, it’s hard for an opponent to slow you down without mass removal that can reset the board. That’s why The Meathook Massacre’s banning puts this deck back ahead.
If you’ve taken a break from MTG Arena lately and want a deck that doesn’t use cards from the last few sets but can still win games, we recommend Selesnya Enchantments.
Jund Midrange
Fine, one more midrange deck. The Jund Midrange deck packs the biggest, highest mana cost threats in Standard currently, huge green creatures like Titan of Industry and Workshop Warchief. It gets fantastic use out of these by leveraging one of the best cards of the year, Fable of the Mirror-breaker.
After that, it’s just your Standard midrange deck, playing some of the best cards in three different colours, along with a nice bit of interaction to deal with opposing threats. Blood-Tithe Harvester stands out as a quality two-drop that can perform a number of roles in this MTG Arena deck.
Mono Red Aggro
Okay, that’s enough clever stuff. Here’s a strategy that’s been around in Magic for ages, and always kills when new sets drop, MTG Standard rotation happens, or the meta is a little on the slower side.
Mono Red Aggro looks to punish slow decks by attack, attack, attacking with a load of little one and two drops (Phoenix Chick, Reinforced Ronin) and winning the game before your opponent even knows what’s happened. Burn spells like Lightning Strike can deal with annoying blockers, or finish the game once you’ve got the other player low.
Your aim with Mono Red Aggro decks is to hit your opponent hard and fast, pulling into a commanding lead before they can muster a proper defence or – your worst nightmare – find a board wipe spell.
