Top 5 Best MTG: Arena Beginner Decks (MTG: Arena Best Starter Decks): Page 4 of 5

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The best beginner decks for you to play with!


2. Orzhov Syndicate

Teysa Karlov overseeing her branch of the IRS.

The Orzhov Syndicate earns their #2 spot with a winrate of 50.59%.

What enables this deck to do so well is a combination of mass fliers, lots of hard removal, and an Aristocrats style of gameplay.

What is great about this deck

  • You can gain a lot of life with this deck, which slows down aggro and is a nuisance for control
  • This deck has hard removal and a board wipe, so you have plenty of panic buttons to press in case of danger
  • Once you have your sacrifice and life loss/gain engines, this deck can grind a win pretty easily
  • This deck can make a decent number of 1/1 fliers which can be hard to deal with for some decks

How This Deck is Played

  • Your earliest play will be on Turn 2. Any creature will do if you want a board presence, but the best creature to play here is Orzhov Enforcer since a 1 / 2 Deathtouch is a strong deterrent against most of the creatures in the game.

    • Cruel Celebrant can also work since she can stop any 1/1s from swinging through and sets up the Aristocrats plan
        
  • Turn 3, you’re going to want to set up your side of the board more. I recommend playing any creature with Afterlife on this turn, but if you have a strong suspicion that your opponent may have a large Turn 3 play, you can also save your mana to play Mortify.

    • Don’t play Plaguecrafter into this situation. Ideally, you want to use Plaguecrafter to sacrifice your own creatures to make fliers, trigger your on-death effects, and get rid of problem creatures from your opponent’s side of the board
        
  • Turns 4 and 5, you want to continue building up your board. Once you have Vindictive Vampire and Cruel Celebrant, you should start sacrificing creatures to trigger their effects and create 1/1 fliers. This advice goes double if you control Teysa Karlov since she will double all of the death triggers.
  • Remember, you can also declare blocks with your creatures and then sacrifice them for more effects. For example, you can declare blocks with MInistrant of Obligation and Imperious Oligarch, then tap Priest of the Forgotten Gods to sacrifice them both. This way you can block damage and get more effects.   
  • Once you’ve built up enough fliers, play Ethereal Absolution or Revenge to ensure the game swings heavily in your favor. 

Cards

Creatures (24):

2 Plaguecrafter
2 Ministrant of Obligation
2 Orzhov Enforcer
1 Priest of Forgotten Gods
1 Vindictive Vampire
2 Basilica Bell-Haunt
2 Grasping Thrull
2 Imperious Oligarch
3 Pitiless Pontiff
1 Seraph of the Scales
1 Teysa Karlov
2 Sunblade Angel
3 Cruel Celebrant

Non-creature Spells (11):

1 Ethereal Absolution
1 Kaya's Wrath
3 Mortify
2 Consecrate // Consume
1 Revival // Revenge
1 Unlikely Aid
2 Despark

Lands (25):

1 Godless Shrine
4 Orzhov Guildgate
10 Plains
10 Swamp

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As a coffee-powered typist, Chris is an expert at playing through caffeine-powered binges and writing about what happens during those binges.
Gamer Since: 1995
Favorite Genre: FPS
Currently Playing: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Top 3 Favorite Games:Titanfall, Mass Effect 3, Megaman Legacy Collection


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