3 Budget Historic Decks for Players Low on Wildcards

The economy of Magic: the Gathering Arena is brutal. Players aren’t allowed to buy the specific cards they need, but instead they must use the MTGA wildcard system. The wildcards are gained through opening packs, which players need to purchase with in-game gold or real currency. For a lot of Magic players, it just isn’t in their budget to open hundreds of packs in hopes to open the card they need or find enough wildcards to finish a deck.

[Related: What is the Release Date for Jumpstart: Historic Horizons?]

Luckily for players on a budget, there are plenty of decks that are completely fine without needing a bunch of rare or mythic wildcards. Here are just a few options to choose from if players are running low on wildcards.

RG Energy Aggro

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

When it comes to competitive budget decks, players can always rely on some classic red/green beats. Red/green aggressive decks have the potential for extremely explosive starts thanks to Burning-Tree Emissary. Having two BTE in hand can often lead to 6+ power on board as early as turn two. Pair that with powerful two-drops like Longtusk Cub and Voltaic Brawler, and now this RG beatdown deck packs quite the punch.

The neat thing about this version of RG aggro is that players can actually get several of these cards from the free Premier drafts of Kaladesh. Longtusk Cub and Harnessed Lightning are incredibly powerful in limited. Not only are you gaining key cards for Historic, but if you draft red/green in limited, players can earn plenty of packs by powering through the draft queues.

UR Drakes

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

The best budget decks are the ones that can easily be upgraded into the real version. Here we have the budget version of one of the more powerful decks in Historic, UR Phoenix. This variant replaces the recursive Arclight Phoenix with more threats in Enigma Drake and Pteramander. The deck does lose a bit of that “instant-win” power that Arclight Phoenix brings, but it does still have the potential to end games quickly with huge drakes.

The strength of the deck comes through it’s ability to cycle through cards to find the right answer. Even without Memory Lapse and Faithless Looting, UR Drakes should find a way to hang in there with most opponents. This deck does struggle against tougher creatures as the only form of removal is Shock and Pillar of Flame. Luckily having 16 creatures with flying is usually all a player needs to win a game.

Mardu Reanimator

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast