Pauper is a format in MTG that only uses cards of common rarity. This makes the format pretty accessible to people that are looking to enter on a specific budget. MTG Arena also has this type of format known as Artisan. Artisan is a Historic format that uses only commons and uncommons. This is particularly viable in MTGA since rare and mythic wildcards can be hard to come by. Though it is not a format that is widely played, we were still able to compile the best Artisan decks to use in the Arena. 

5. Boros Heroic

The Heroic ability of creatures allows you to mount a surprisingly strong attack from nothing. With the cheap instants and sorceries in this deck, you can trigger Heroic multiple times which makes you attack terrifying especially on an open board

What this deck excels in:

• This deck is highly aggressive and with the Heroic ability, the opponent will be forced to deal with your threats and play defensively instead of building their own board state
• On an empty board, you can take out the opponent in one lethal attack with the amount of pump spells that you can combine with the Heroic ability of your creatures

Deck list:

• 3 Tenth District Legionnaire
• 3 Adanto Vanguard
• 3 Clever Lumimancer
• 4 Illuminator Virtuoso
• 4 Favored Hoplite
• 1 Sejiri Shelter
• 1 Spikefield Hazard
• 2 Invigorated Rampage
• 2 Fight as One
• 3 Defiant Strike
• 4 Gods Willing
• 4 Reckless Rage
• 4 Homestead Courage
• 4 Ancestral Anger
• 4 Wind-Scarred Crag
• 4 Lorehold Campus
• 4 Mountain
• 6 Plains

4. Mono Blue Tempo

Mono Blue Tempo is one of the strongest budget decks in both Standard and Historic. Its power level is slightly diminished due to the absence of one of the key cards, which is Haughty Djinn. Despite this, it is still a great card to play in Artisan since most of the pieces in the usual Tempo deck are still in play here

What this deck excels in:

• Cheap interactions allow you to draw cards, counter the opponent’s spell and cast a creature all in one turn. This piles on for the rest of the game making your lead insurmountable
• Card draw is a huge advantage to have in any deck in this is no different in Artisan. This deck is able to generate a ton of card draw, reducing the chance of you losing momentum in the latter stages of the game
• Because of the abundance of creatures in this deck compared to the usual Tempo deck, you can exert a lot of pressure on the opponent by being aggressive with your attacks

Deck list:

• 4 Spectral Sailor
• 4 Pteramander
• 4 Brineborn Cutthroat
• 4 Siren Stormtamer
• 4 Tolarian Terror
• 3 Essence Capture
• 3 Spell Pierce
• 4 Lofty Denial
• 4 Lookout's Dispersal
• 2 Combat Research
• 4 Curious Obsession
• 20 Island

3. Izzet Spells

The more noncreature spells you cast, the more powerful your attack becomes. This is the mark of a true Izzet deck since it runs a lot of cheap spells which means you can cast multiple instants and sorceries in a single turn, pumping your creatures and creating more tokens in the process

What this deck excels in:

• All creatures in this deck gain advantage as you cast more spells throughout the game. This means that you can have a very large attack before the opponent can even summon blockers
• Couple these creatures with cheap spells, you are most certainly guaranteed a lot of advantages in the game, pressuring the opponent into playing defensively and making them second guess their moves

Deck list:

• 4 Balmor, Battlemage Captain
• 4 Sprite Dragon
• 4 Lightning Stormkin
• 4 Young Pyromancer
• 2 Kazuul's Fury
• 4 Consider
• 4 Slip Out the Back
• 4 Mystical Dispute
• 4 Play with Fire
• 4 Reckless Impulse
• 2 Swiftwater Cliffs
• 2 Ramunap Ruins
• 3 Prismari Campus
• 7 Island
• 8 Mountain

2. Izzet Terror

Tolarian Terror coupled with a boatload of instants and sorceries allows you to cast this card for essentially zero cost. With the amount of card drawn in this deck, you will surely have the card and board advantage even before the opponent makes a move. 

What this deck excels in:

• With the amount of instants and sorceries you have, you can easily cast a Tolarian Terror at the very early stages of the game. This is highly beneficial to you since the opponent may not have the answer for it right away so you can deal a huge chunk of damage early on
• Card draw and targeted removals are abundant in this deck making it a great deck that can generate advantage at any facet of the game

Deck list:

• 4 Tolarian Terror
• 2 Chemister's Insight
• 3 Fires of Victory
• 3 Make Disappear
• 3 Opt
• 3 Abrade
• 4 Consider
• 4 Thirst for Discovery
• 4 Frost Bite
• 4 Ertai's Scorn
• 2 Experimental Overload
• 2 Crush the Weak
• 2 Seize the Storm
• 4 Volatile Fjord
• 5 Snow-Covered Mountain
• 11 Snow-Covered Island

1. Rakdos Sacrifice

This Artisan deck is a cheaper version of the powerful Rakdos Sacrifice in both Historic and Standard. Since most of the key pieces in the deck are actually common and uncommon, this deck did not have to change a lot as it was able to retain most of its power. 

What this deck excels in:

• Annoyingly reliable sources of damage means you can play this and you can easily assemble your damage engine
• This version of the deck has a lot of artifacts that you can sacrifice giving you a constant stream of damage

Deck list:

• 4 Shambling Ghast
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 1 Blood Fountain
• 2 Dragonspark Reactor
• 4 Oni-Cult Anvil
• 4 Experimental Synthesizer
• 2 Reckoner's Bargain
• 2 Abrade
• 4 Fatal Push
• 4 Deadly Dispute
• 4 Voltage Surge
• 2 Feed the Swarm
• 2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
• 1 Cryptic Caves
• 4 Bloodfell Caves
• 4 Tramway Station
• 6 Mountain
• 6 Swamp

You may also be interested in:

• The 10 Best MTG: Arena Decks
• MTG Arena Guide, Tips and Tricks
• MTG Arena Best Packs To Buy – A Guide for Beginners and Intermediate Players
• MTG Arena: Best Ways to Get Cards
• Top 15 Best MTG Arena Mythic Rares
• MTG Arena Ranking System Explained
• The Best Singleton Decks in MTG Arena