Magic Duels

Magic Duels

106 ratings
Rank Up: Starter Box Only Decks [KLD Updated]
By Restless
Updated for Kaladesh!

This guide is primarily for players who are just starting out and have little to no cards in their collection. These decks will only use cards from the Starter Box and are aimed at defeating the Hard AI for those players who feel they are not yet ready for, or just not interested in Versus mode. I have personally tested these decks and can confirm they are fully capable of beating the Hard difficulty AI without much trouble. Even for those of you who might be bored of playing with completed collections, these are actually a bunch of fun to play and a refreshing change of pace from your typical deck filled with rares and mythics, so feel free to try them out for a challenge!
   
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**NEW** Mono White Auras (White)
Creatures (21)
  • 3x Expedition Envoy
  • 3x Skyhunter Skirmisher
  • 4x Heliod's Pilgrim
  • 2x Razorfoot Griffin
  • 4x Champion of Arashin
  • 3x Juggernaut
  • 2x Siege Mastodon

Spells (16)
  • 4x Nimbus Wings
  • 3x Reprisal
  • 3x Solemn Offering
  • 2x Siegecraft
  • 4x Suppression Bonds

Lands (23)
  • 23x Plains

Notes
Heliod's Pilgrim helps you find the auras you need. Suppression Bonds shuts down big enemy threats, including Planeswalkers and Vehicles. Nimbus Wings turns Champion of Arashin and Juggernaut into big flying threats. Siegecraft can be put on Razorfoot Griffin or Skyhunter Skirmisher for defense or offense. You have absolutely no means of drawing extra cards with this deck, so it is very important to avoid getting 2-for-1'd, which is difficult with Auras enchanting your creatures. Use Reprisal and Solemn Offering to take care of larger threats, including Vehicles. The board will likely stall out with many creatures on both sides, but you can win through attrition by having the advantage in the skies and using life gain to buy yourself more turns.

Link
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/starter-box-mono-white/
Simic Energy Tempo (Blue/Green)
Creatures (23)
  • 4x Thriving Turtle
  • 4x Aether Theorist
  • 4x Sage of Shaila's Claim
  • 4x Thriving Rhino
  • 3x Empyreal Voyager
  • 4x Riparian Tiger

Spells (13)
  • 3x Primal Bellow
  • 3x Telling Time
  • 3x Grip of the Roil
  • 4x Wildsize

Lands (24)
  • 9x Island
  • 9x Forest
  • 2x Hinterland Harbor
  • 4x Woodland Stream

Notes
With the release of Kaladesh, more cards were added to the Starter Box. Energy is a great mechanic that you can use to your advantage, especially against the unsuspecting AI. All your creatures generate Energy for you, and some of them grow bigger with every attack. Use combat tricks to destroy the opponent's creatures and utilize Scry and Telling Time with your cantrips to help ensure you draw an effective card.

Link
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/starter-box-energy/
Azorius Control (White/Blue)
Creatures (13)
  • 3x Dauntless River Marshal
  • 3x Heliod's Pilgrim
  • 3x Frost Lynx
  • 4x Wretched Gryff

Spells (23)
  • 3x Reprisal
  • 3x Telling Time
  • 3x Grip of the Roil
  • 2x Solemn Offering
  • 4x Suppression Bonds
  • 4x Dehydration
  • 4x Inspiration

Lands (24)
  • 9x Plains
  • 9x Island
  • 2x Glacial Fortress
  • 4x Meandering River

Notes
It is a control deck but there is plenty of beatdown as well because your Dauntless River Marshall will likely be attacking every turn. This deck can completely lock down the AI, even on Hard mode against Planeswalkers. Heliod's Pilgrim fishes out Suppression Bonds for you to lock down big threats. It is especially important to stop the AI from gaining value with cards that generate tokens or give them extra draws. Solemn Offering takes care of pesky Vehicles and even Gearhulks. Wretched Gryff is a great way to get rid of your Heliod's Pilgrim or Frost Lynx after they have served their purpose, and get you a card back for your troubles. Remember that your opponent can crew a vehicle in response to you tapping their creature, so make sure to tap their vehicle when they try to block instead.

Link
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/starter-box-control/
Boros Aggro (White/Red)
Creatures (20)
  • 3x Expedition Envoy
  • 3x Ember Hauler
  • 3x Skyhunter Skirmisher
  • 3x Flaring Flame-kin
  • 4x Ember Beast
  • 3x Juggernaut
  • 1x Boonweaver Giant

Spells (16)
  • 3x Nimbus Wings
  • 3x Inferno Fist
  • 3x Reprisal
  • 4x Twin Bolt
  • 3x Suppression Bonds

Lands (24)
  • 9x Plains
  • 9x Mountains
  • 2x Clifftop Retreat
  • 4x Stone Quarry

Notes
A fairly straightforward aggro deck. A flying Juggernaut or Flaring Flame-kin is usually enough to win games against the AI as they are very difficult for them to deal with. Boonweaver Giant is a late game card, so try not to keep an opening hand with it. Your goal is to get on the board early and finish games quickly. Double Strike on the Skyhunter Skirmisher makes it a great target for Inferno Fist.

Link
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/starter-box-aggro/
Simic Tempo (Blue/Green)
Creatures (24)
  • 4x Mist Intruder
  • 3x Benthic Infiltrator
  • 3x Foul Emissary
  • 4x Murk Strider
  • 3x Enlightened Maniac
  • 2x Ruin Processor
  • 4x Wretched Gryff
  • 1x Drownyard Behemoth

Spells (12)
  • 3x Telling Time
  • 4x Wildsize
  • 2x Dehydration
  • 3x Explosive Vegetation

Land (24)
  • 10x Island
  • 8x Forest
  • 2x Hinterland Harbor
  • 4x Woodland Stream

Notes
Set your opponent back by bouncing his creatures while you get ahead with multiple 3/2 Eldrazi Horror tokens and ramp up your mana. Telling Time sets up your next turn for you while Wildsize will ideally let you kill a creature in combat and still draw a card and maintain card advantage. Use Enlightened Maniac and Foul Emissary to Emerge out your Wretched Gryff while your Mist Intruder and Benthic Infiltrator get in for small damage while setting up your Murk Strider and Ruin Processor.

Link
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/starter-box-tempo/
Rakdos Midrange (Black/Red)
Creatures (24)
  • 4x Goblin Arsonist
  • 3x Ember Hauler
  • 3x Bottle Gnomes
  • 3x Kindly Stranger
  • 4x Bloodflow Connoisseur
  • 4x Crow of Dark Tidings
  • 3x Nightfire Giant

Spells (12)
  • 4x Bone Splinters
  • 4x Twin Bolt
  • 4x Traitorous Instinct

Lands (24)
  • 9x Swamp
  • 9x Mountain
  • 2x Dragonskull Summit
  • 4x Cinder Barrens

Notes
You can steal one of your opponent's creatures with Traitorous Instinct, attack with it, and then sacrifice it to your Bloodflow Connoisseur to make her stronger, or Bone Splinters to essentially kill two enemy creatures! Goblin Arsonist is great for some early damage and when bigger threats start coming out you can sacrifice it to your Bloodflow Connoisseur or just use it to chump block. Use Bottle Gnomes and Crow of Dark Tidings to activate Delirium on Kindly Stranger for even more creature removal. If you can keep the board relatively clear until the midgame, then your Nightfire Giant will keep shooting things down, providing you with great value.

Link
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/starter-box-midrange/
General Tips/FAQs
  • Finish all the campaign modes and skill quests first. Not only do these award gold upon completion, but they also award more cards for your Starter Box! All the campaigns use preconstructed decks, so that is the best place to start when you are completely new. You can access all the skill quests in the Help menu, under the "How to Play" section.

  • The skill quests teach you this, but I'll reiterate it here: Save your combat tricks! Do not always use all your mana in your pre-combat main phase. Do not always use your buffs and tricks immediately when they are available. With clever timing, you can bait the AI into making bad plays and let them fall into your traps.

  • Never mulligan down to 5 cards against AI. If by the time you're down to 6 cards and you still have a poor hand, just restart the game. I would even advise against keeping a 6 card hand because restarting is so fast and simple. If you are about to lose to an AI, you can also restart to face the same AI again, or you can leave and remake the game to face a different deck.

  • There is a daily gold cap of 400 coins earned from solo or versus wins. However, you can get to 395 and then win one Versus/2HG game to get to 425, or you can get win against Hard AI to get to 410. Furthermore, the daily quests, weekly quest, and daily reward for first versus win do not apply to this cap. This means you can earn up to 565 coins per day and unlock 3 packs if you manage to reach the gold cap!

  • If at all possible, try and reroll daily quests that only award 60 gold and only complete the ones that award 80 or 120. Also remember that in order to receive the weekly quest reward, you must actually contribute towards it. Not every quest requires you to actually win games, which can be important for some of the newer quests which must be played in Versus modes. You can even complete some of them by playing 1v1 against a friend.

  • Don't be afraid to play Versus mode, or 2HG. It is worth it to try and get at least one win per day for the bonus gold. Believe me when I say that there are a lot of newer players out there, particularly on the 2HG mode.

  • Origins, BFZ, SOI, and KLD each take 12,000 coins total to finish. OGW and EMN each take 9,600 coins total to finish. This puts the current total at 67,200 coins ($360!!! I do NOT recommend spending money on this...), or roughly 4 months of playing every day til the 565 coin daily maximum, though keep in mind that a new set is also released every 4 months. There are also now purchasable cosmetic items as well and there is a sale for older sets towards the end of every season.

  • Try and finish one card set at a time. I would recommend Origins > KLD > SOI > EMN > OGW = BFZ, but that may change depending on your own color or archetype preferences. You can view all cards available in the game by going to the Card Collection menu and toggling between "View All" and "View Owned".

  • There are a lot of deckbuilding guides out there, but one thing I will say is to keep your deck size at 60 cards! You want to be able to consistently draw the cards you need in order to execute your strategy. Pay attention to the mana curve and try and have a nice balance of early drops while still having mid to late game strength.
Outro
September 7th, 2016 : version 1.00
September 8th, 2016 : version 1.01 (Added links with card images)
October 5th, 2016: version 1.10 (Kaladesh updated)
October 20th, 2016: version 1.11 (Added Mono-White)

Feel free to discuss these decks or the guide in the comments. Post screenshots and share stories of your successes and failures with or against these decks! Suggestions are always welcomed. If you wish to see more guides by me in this format, please rate the guide and share it with your friends. What deck archetypes should I cover next? Let me know in the comments below!
33 Comments
Tom Jackal 3 Dec, 2017 @ 11:20am 
Wow, I actually didn't see the Reprisal in that list. I genuinely thought it wasn't in the deck. My apologies, carry on.
Restless  [author] 3 Dec, 2017 @ 7:28am 
@Arwin Hochauser, When I last updated these guides, the AI was scripted to use lots of artifacts and vehicles. The AI also did use enchantments fairly frequently. I'm not sure what the AI is like nowadays as I haven't played in a while, but I'm guessing that you still need some kind of artifact/enchantment removal. Cards like Aethersphere Harvester or Smuggler's Copter are both immune to Reprisal. Furthermore, every list above that runs Solemn Offering also runs Reprisal, which is an uncommon iirc, so you cannot run a 4th copy.
Tom Jackal 2 Dec, 2017 @ 10:04pm 
Is Solemn Offering really the best choice for the Mono White Aura deck? I feel like having more creature removal (Reprisal) in the deck would be better.
Pork Chop 3 Jun, 2017 @ 8:49pm 
Yep. I realized that. Noobie's syndrome.
fuqifan 1 Jun, 2017 @ 6:19pm 
@Space Gandhi
You need to complete the campaign to receive these card into your starter box.
Pork Chop 28 May, 2017 @ 9:40am 
Great guide, gave me great ideas for decks. However, maybe I'm just an idiot or something, but for each one of your decks I can't seem to find a few cards that you list. Maybe Ammonkhet changed up the starter decks or something. Who knows. Anyway here's some cards that seem to be no longer available or something:

-Champion of Arashin
-Aether Theorist
-Thriving Turtle
-Sage of Shaila's Claim
-Thriving Rhino
-Grip of the Roil
-Wretched Gryff
-Ember Beast
-Benthic Infiltrator
-Foul Emissary
-Enlightened Maniac
-Drownyard Behemoth
-Kindly Stranger
-Crow of Dark Tidings

Just thought I'd let you know. Or maybe you already do and I'm once again an idiot :l
funbobby2001 16 May, 2017 @ 7:46am 
Thanks @Restless!
Askael 25 Apr, 2017 @ 10:35am 
great job!
OvercastRegent 3 Mar, 2017 @ 10:37pm 
I wish you the best Restless, and thank you for the content!
Restless  [author] 27 Feb, 2017 @ 7:12am 
Thank you Sibylline, the support is very much appreciated!