The 11 Best Starter Decks Ranked and How to Upgrade Them

Last updated on June 19, 2026

Start from Scratch | Illustration by Bayard Wu

There’s no better way to start MTG than buying a new MTG pre-constructed deck, or precon. All the cards are there for a reason, and you experience many new discoveries relative to the cards, how they play together, and how they fare against other precons. You’ll naturally jump to conclusions as to which cards are better, reach a page like this online and boom – you're hooked into the game.

So let’s dive into those starter decks. There’s a bunch of them, and each year there are new and better starter decks, with shiny new cards. Which ones should you get, and are they worth it? Let’s find out.

For digital battles on MTG Arena we also have an article covering MTGA starter decks that you may be interested in, so please check that out.

What Is a Starter Deck?

Start Your Engines | Illustration by Darek Zabrocki

Starter decks are usually the first decks you get in a Local Game Store (LGS). People often first play Magic: The Gathering via starter decks, either out of the box and at a friends’ house or after buying a couple starter decks to fight each other. WotC does an excellent job at designing these decks both for beginner players and for advanced players looking for specific cards.

Many things have changed in MTG design and philosophy in recent years, including new player acquisition and reacquisition. Commander, or EDH, is the most played format, not only in casual environments but also in competitive ones. As such, each year WotC releases a ton of new Commander precons, usually 2-4 per main set. The very nature of the Commander format makes it so that starter decks are really playable out of the box without the need for many upgrades, and they're easily upgradable.

Other interesting products are the Starter Kits, where you have two decks designed to battle against each other, and the Challenger Decks, which are meant to be playable at the FNM (Friday Night Magic) leve

#11. Reap the Tides EDH Precon

Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait | Illustration by Viktor Titov

One of the few Simic () precons in this list, Reap the Tides favors going big, and that’s a near-and-dear theme for Commander players – especially new ones. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait does what you expect from blue and green. You’ll play more lands than your opponents and draw cards while at it. Then, proceed to take over the game with expensive and impactful spells. While your commander is alive, you’ll draw cards needed to win the game later, and since you’re playing that much land, if your commander is removed, you’ll easily cast it the next turn to keep the train going.

Add More Late Game Power

Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, and Cultivator Colossus are big beefy creatures that can close out a game. Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty is a creature that gives other big spells you cast cascade, including your commander. Finally, The Goose Mother is a nice X spell that gives you a big creature and Food.

To make room for these changes, remove Peel from Reality, Sharktocrab, and Meteor Golem. They’re in the Limited power territory, and you’re not in need of artifacts or ETB effects. Verdant Sun's Avatar and Simic Sky Swallower aren’t the beefy cards you’re looking for.

Add More Benefits for Playing Lands

Tatyova, Benthic Druid is a Simic classic, and adds redundancy to the deck. Lotus Cobra and Scute Swarm are ways to benefit from playing so much land. Finally, Azusa, Lost but Seeking turbos out those synergies. To make room, cut Fathom Mage, which is very slow in a deck like this where you’ll usually want proliferate or more +1/+1 counter synergy. I’m also cutting Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer and Stormtide Leviathan.

Changes to the Mana Base

Usually a 2-color mana base in an EDH precon doesn’t need that much work. Here, it’s important to play fetch lands because you’ll draw extra cards with your commander. That’s why I’m adding Brokers Hideout, Fabled Passage, and Myriad Landscape.

You can also upgrade your blue-green lands with Restless Vinestalk, Tangled Islet, and Temple of Mystery because they add some extra utility on top of the mana fixing. The first lands to cut for these upgrades are Vivid Grove, Vivid Creek, Simic Guildgate, and Thornwood Falls. You can also shave one of each basic Forest and Island.

#10. Party Time EDH Precon

Nalia de'Arnise | Illustration by John Stanko

Party Time is an EDH Precon deck built around the party mechanic. A party is a group of creatures that are clerics, wizards, warriors, or rogues, and the more of these you have in play, the closer to a full party you’ll get. Nalia de'Arnise is a rogue commander that lets you play creatures from the top of your deck if they’re eligible party members. On top of that, you’ll get a huge benefit if you have a full party. You’ll want to have all four creature types on the battlefield at all times to maximize your commander’s second ability, while casting party members from the top of your deck.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This deck is already a very serviceable Orzhov () EDH deck, with a strong commander. You’ll frequently be able to cast spells from the top of your deck and attack with a full party. The upgrades I propose focus on trimming rogues and expensive cards and adding more creatures of the needed types so that you can get something like 20-22 wizards, warriors, and clerics, and thus reliably get a full party. You don’t want that many rogues in this deck, since your commander is already a rogue.

Removal Options

Interesting additions for removal are Fiend Hunter, Banisher Priest, and Shrouded Shepherd. To make room, take out non-creatures like Despark, Crib Swap, and Dusk.

Additional Wizards and Warriors

Vexilus Praetor and Oketra's Monument are nice options for warriors, replacing Butcher of Malakir and Mardu Strike Leader. To replace wizards, you can put in Gandalf, White Rider and Dreamstealer, while taking out Corpse Augur and Calculating Lich.

Cut Some Rogues

Shaile, Dean of Radiance and Tenacious Underdog are nice additions to this deck, while removing rogues like Zulaport Cutthroat and Gonti, Lord of Luxury to make room for them.

Mana Base Changes

The deck's already got nice mana fixing. Caves of Koilos and Fetid Heath can replace worse options like a basic Plains and a basic Swamp. If your budget allows, you can invest in better lands like Godless Shrine, Shattered Sanctum, and Vault of Champions. Take out Snowfield Sinkhole, Mortuary Mire, and Myriad Landscape.

#9. Elven Empire EDH Precon

Lathril, Blade of the Elves | Illustration by Caroline Gariba

Elven Empire is a typal elf deck which relies on elf numbers to do strong stuff. That's very reminiscent of when I was playing the game in the ‘90s with Llanowar Elves and Quirion Elves. Lathril, Blade of the Elves is the commander, and it makes an Elf token for each point of combat damage it deals. That means you'll want to buff Lathril and your elves, typically with anthem effects. Also, it's got the tap ability to make each player lose 10 life, and in most cases activating this ability converts to a win.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This deck’s strength is the sheer elvish numbers you can make. Unfortunately, these decks are weak to sweepers, so the best way to improve this is by adding cards like Heroic Intervention to protect your guys. You’ll instead rely on speed to take out opponents before that happens, and cards that protect your board are usually on the expensive side. The cheapest and quickest way to improve this deck is to upgrade the quality of the cards. This deck has a built-in sacrifice component, but it doesn’t need it. You want sheer elf numbers to strike hard.

Add Some Staple Elves

Llanowar Elves, Elvish Warmaster, and Elvish Visionary are staple, cheap elves that see play in various formats. Let’s take out Jaspera Sentinel, Elvish Rejuvenator, and Voice of the Woods.

Good Elvish Cards

To strengthen the typal component of your deck, add Priest of Titania, Leaf-Crowned Visionary, Galadhrim Ambush, and Realmwalker. Galadhrim Ambush is awesome because it makes elves and protects you at the same time. These elves are on the weak side and are cuttable: Springbloom Druid, Lys Alana Scarblade, Farhaven Elf, and Elderfang Ritualist.

Power and Card Advantage

Tyvar Kell and Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury are planeswalkers that slowly add more elves to the board. Shamanic Revelation can be a big card advantage spell in this deck as well. To make room, let’s release Ambition's Cost, Twinblade Assassins, and Eyeblight Cullers from duty.

Extra Staples

Beast Within and Skullclamp are very nice in these kinds of decks. Skullclamp turns your elves into cards, while Beast Within solves problems. Tergrid's Shadow and Eyeblight Massacre are the next ones to go.

Mana Base Changes

Here are a few black and green lands to improve the mana base. Restless Cottage, Llanowar Wastes, Temple of Malady, and Woodland Cemetery all add something to your deck. Rogue's Passage is interesting to give evasion to Lathril. Take off the worst lands in your deck: Golgari Guildgate, Myriad Landscape, Foul Orchard, Jungle Hollow, and a basic Forest.

#8. Azorius Spirits 2021 Challenger Deck

This deck is very similar to an already top-tier deck in Pioneer: mono-blue or Azorius () spirits. This deck attacks with fliers to win, and it has a typal spirit theme going. This is a Pioneer Challenger deck from 2021, so there are better card options, but overall the deck plays fine.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The core of the deck is here, mostly good and cheap spirits, and interaction in the form of counterspells. This deck also has flying matters themes in cards like Watcher of the Spheres. You’ll want as many spirits and spirits-matter cards as you can get, so I’m going to replace some of the flying matters cards. The mana base could be more reliable, as this isn’t a mono-blue deck.

Mana Base Changes

Add two Hallowed Fountain, two Glacial Fortress, and four Seachrome Coast, while taking out five Plains and two Temple of Enlightenment. This helps to solidify the mana base. If you can, get some Hengegate Pathways, Floodfarm Verges, or Deserted Beachs as well.

Interaction

Two March of Swirling Mist and one Invasion of Gobakhan are nice cards to disrupt your opponents and protect your spirits. I’d take out three Empyrean Eagle. Let’s also add a Dovin's Veto and two Geistlight Snares to the sideboard, taking out two Isolate and Silkwrap.

Curious Obsession and Core Spirits

Curious Obsession makes this deck absolutely tick. Let’s add four and take out Spectral Sailor, a Brazen Borrower, and two Watcher of the Spheres. Let’s also cut the two Remorseful Cleric and the last two Watcher of the Spheres, then replace them with two Mausoleum Wanderer and two Spell Queller.

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#7. Duskmourn EDH Miracle Worker

Aminatou, Veil Piercer | Illustration by David Palumbo

Duskmourn was a very popular set, and the Duskmourn precons were equally great, including the notable and still affordable Miracle Worker deck. It’s aimed at making the most of expensive enchantments, given the miracle ability on the lead commander. Enchantments in general are a key part of many EDH decks, and there are some good staples in this deck that will fit in other decks if you ever decide to take this one apart. It also has a great new card, Metamorphosis Fanatic, which is proving popular in multiple formats. The Archenemy cards are another great inclusion. While you won’t use these in a lot of games, they’re fun when you do get a chance to use them!

Decks themed around a single card type can find themselves weak to hate for that card type, so look out for an opponent dropping something like Bane of Progress!

Upgrades

Here are a few key changes to make if you want to upgrade the Miracle Worker precon, generally looking at removing some low power cards for key enchantment cards that are missing.

Cut:

• Court of Vantress
• Starfield of Nyx
• Hallowed Haunting

Add:

• Brainstone
• Cast Out
• Commander's Sphere

#6. Izzet Phoenix 2022 Challenger Deck

This is also a deck that’s pretty competitive in Pioneer. The core of this 2022 Challenger Deck is Arclight Phoenix, a 3/2 haste flier that you can take out of your graveyard just by casting three instants or sorceries. Naturally, you’ll want a lot of draw and discard, as well as good instants and sorceries in blue and red. Especially interesting is all the ways you can put your phoenix in the graveyard, with cards like Chart a Course, Consider, Izzet Charm, and Lightning Axe.

Strengths and Weaknesses

It’s a deck that’s going in the right direction, having cards that benefit from spells like Arclight Phoenix, Thing in the Ice, and Crackling Drake, and it’s got a nice mana base and spells. It usually folds to graveyard hate and exile-based removal.

Card Swaps

You can’t play Expressive Iteration since it’s banned. Abrade is a nice removal spell that gets artifacts and creatures. Arclight Phoenix is the main card in this deck, so you’ll want all four. You can take out a Pieces of the Puzzle and an Izzet Charm for them.

I’d swap two Crackling Drakes for Ledger Shredder. They are very expensive, but they're fantastic with Phoenixes and serve as back-up win conditions.

Spell Changes

Add a main deck Beacon Bolt, Brotherhood's End, and two Fiery Impulses, taking out two Flame-Blessed Bolt, a Chart a Course, and an Opt.

Mana Base Changes

I’d add a Steam Vents and two more Sulfur Falls, taking off one Island and two Mountains. If possible, get two Spirebluff Canals. This deck has a functional mana base already with so much drawing and discarding.

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#5. Vampiric Bloodlust EDH Precon

Edgar Markov | Illustration by Volkan Baga

This Commander 2017 EDH precon has Edgar Markov in the lead. Edgar Markov is a Mardu commander that has the eminence ability. This always triggers when you cast a vampire, no matter if your commander is in the command zone or on the battlefield, and many people consider it a design mistake since it’s all upside. Either way, having so many Vampire tokens can lead to a vampire go-wide strategy, sacrificing vampires for profit. Cards that buff your vampires or your tokens are extra good here, and you won’t have a shortage of creatures. Edgar is quite competitive at the high levels of Commander play, but here I’m aiming to leave the power level lower on the spectrum, as a slightly upgraded precon deck.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This deck’s strength lies in the fact that you’ll always have some vampires laying around, and you don’t need to keep your commander around or recast it from the command zone that much. It’s very straight-forward in how it plays: You cast vampires, buff them, attack, and build a small army. When Edgar Markov comes into play, it can attack right away and pump your whole team. As for weaknesses, you have some do-nothing cards that cost a lot of mana and don’t contribute directly to the theme of playing vampires to the board, so you’ll take those out when upgrading the deck.

Change Some Vampires Around

I’m add Cordial Vampire, Welcoming Vampire, and Legion Lieutenant. These are all cheap vampires that work very well with more vampires. Legion Lieutenant buffs them, while Welcoming Vampire gives you extra cards here and there. These are also cheap vampires, and this deck can have a curve problem sometimes. Let’s take out Skeletal Vampire, Licia, Sanguine Tribune, and Bloodsworn Steward.

Sacrifice Theme

Mirkwood Bats is nuts in a deck that creates or sacrifices so many tokens. Cruel Celebrant is also a nice card to keep draining your opponents. Why not add both? Cut Consuming Vapors and Underworld Connections to make space.

Strength in Numbers

Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Sanctum Seeker, and Champion of Dusk are vampires that benefit from having lots of vampires around. Be sure to include those three staples, replacing Vein Drinker, Crimson Honor Guard, and Bloodhusk Ritualist.

Typal Artifact Support

Obelisk of Urd and Vanquisher's Banner are strong artifacts to have around, since you’ll buff your vampires and draw some cards. Cut Curse of Disturbance and Curse of Vitality to add these two

Mana Base Changes

Add these lands: Voldaren Estate, Secluded Courtyard, Dragonskull Summit, Unclaimed Territory, and Isolated Chapel. These are nice lands that provide you with mana fixing and come into play untapped most of the time. In decks with lots of vampires, three of these can generate the color of mana you’ll need anyway. Take out weaker lands like Rakdos Guildgate, Boros Guildgate, Orzhov Guildgate, Stone Quarry, and Forsaken Sanctuary.

#4. Exit From Exile EDH Precon

Exit from Exile is a very straightforward EDH precon. It wants you to cast spells from exile, and by doing that you’ll make a 2/2 Wolf token. Gather enough wolves and swing for the win. But how exactly do you cast spells from exile? Well, red’s been getting a lot of the famous impulse draw ability, so cards like Wrenn's Resolve do it, as does Escape to the Wilds. It’s a very powerful deck straight from the box, and it’s fun and synergistic.

Strengths and Weakness

This deck is a little tricky to run, especially for newer players. It’s a competitive deck right out of the box though. There’s so much card advantage and resource advantage to be obtained once the exile train gets running. This deck can be weak to fliers though, so reach creatures are very interesting. Outside of something like Hornet Queen, the deck lacks interaction for fliers.

Wolves-Matter

I wouldn’t say that this deck is a typal wolf deck, but adding these two cards makes a difference. Tovolar, Dire Overlord and Nightpack Ambusher are nice additions, and I’d shave off a Forest and Izzet Chemister for them.

Adding Good Cards

Chaos Warp is a staple red removal spell for EDH. Goblin Anarchomancer is at home in a red and green deck that wants to cast many spells. I’m cutting cards like Managorger Hydra and Terramorph to make room for them.

Good Cards That Care About Exile

Questing Druid, Valakut Exploration, Visions of Phyrexia, and Invasion of Kaldheim are all strong cards that exile cards from your library for you to be able to cast. I’m taking off creatures that have exile-related mechanics, notably mechanics like suspend or adventure, but that are better in 60-card Constructed decks than in Commander. These are Bonecrusher Giant, Sweet-Gum Recluse, Greater Gargadon, and Primeval Bounty.

Mana Base Changes

Hidden Volcano and Hidden Nursery are very nice additions, and they replace a Mountain and a Forest. You can also add cards like Rockfall Vale and Rootbound Crag, replacing worse land cards like Highland Forest and Myriad Landscape.

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#3. Planar Portal EDH Precon

Planar Portal is very famous because of its commander. Prosper, Tome-Bound is one Commander deck frequently played at the highest levels of competitive EDH. Each time you play a spell from exile, you’ll get a Treasure to play your next spells, and on your end step you’ll exile a card for free. These abilities feed into themselves wonderfully, and Prosper becomes really good when you have access to more impulse draw like Wrenn's Resolve and cards like Outpost Siege. Furthermore, you’ll make and sacrifice a lot of Treasure, which has its own synergies in this deck.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Prosper, Tome-Bound is a strong commander, and if your opponents let it live, you’re having a good time. Just getting card advantage and mana advantage every turn is strong, and if Prosper dies you’ll probably have enough mana to cast it again thanks to all the Treasure. This deck has a lot of themes going on, so I opted to solidify the exile card/Treasure production dynamic. There are some cards that make rats and benefit from them that look very out of place.

Impulse Draw

Wrenn's Resolve, Reckless Impulse, Outpost Siege, Decadent Dragon, and Laelia, the Blade Reforged are all nice cards that help you to exile more cards, which maximize Prosper’s abilities. You’ll also just get a lot of card advantage this way. Let’s take out cards that don’t do much in this deck, like Ogre Slumlord, Piper of the Swarm, Chittering Witch, and Dark-Dweller Oracle.

Treasure Synergy

Mayhem Devil, Disciple of the Vault, Deadly Dispute, and Revel in Riches all shine when you’re producing and sacrificing a lot of Treasure. If you have a higher budget, I’d add Goldspan Dragon too. To make room for these, let’s take out Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant, Shiny Impetus, Loyal Apprentice, and Death Tyrant.

Changes to the Mana Base

Hidden Volcano is a no-brainer here, as it can discover a spell directly from exile. Other nice investments are Cori Mountain Monastery, Haunted Ridge, and Treasure Vault. Let’s take out Zhalfirin Void, Spinerock Knoll, Mortuary Mire, and a basic Swamp.

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#2. Explorers of the Deep EDH Precon

Strengths and Weaknesses

Explorers of the Deep, helmed by Hakbal of the Surging Soul, is a merfolk typal deck that focuses on flooding the board with merfolk, then exploring every turn for card advantage and to buff your critters. It’s a pretty aggressive deck that exploits the best merfolk commander.

This deck has great card quality and most of the merfolk you’d need for a deck like this, including the good merfolk lords and a smattering of non-specific typal support like Kindred Discovery and Reflections of Littjara. Really, the only things it’s missing are newer merfolk (this deck came out in 2023) and better +1/+1 counter support.

Additional Typal Support

You can’t fault a deck for lacking cards that came out 2+ years after its release, but they should certainly be added. Namor the Sub-Mariner and Namor, Scourge of the Seas are awesome merfolk lords that make lots of tokens and grant evasion, respectively. Summon: Leviathan isn’t a merfolk, but a board wipe is great that ignores your board, then delivers card draw puts you way ahead. Mindspring Merfolk can’t be forgotten as a killer draw spell/lord that provides the perfect buff to your creatures.

To make room for these, cut the weaker creatures: Coralhelm Commander, Merfolk Skydiver, Metallic Mimic, and Thassa, God of the Sea.

More +1/+1 Counter Synergy

Hakbal’s consistent explore trigger means your creatures almost always have counters on them, so more ways to utilize them gives the deck extra oomph. Kodama of the West Tree provides ramp, and Silkguard protection. Bred from the Hunt synergizes with evasion to generate card advantage while Sphere Grid pushes more and more damage between trample and additional counters. Innkeeper's Talent rounds you off with a cheap source of counters that grows into a potent counter doubler. These are great replacements for some of the less synergistic cards, including Tatyova, Benthic Druid, Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood, Curse of the Swine, Ruinous Intrusion, and Commit // Memory.

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#1. Food and Fellowship EDH Precon

Food and Fellowship is an Abzan () deck centered around two partners: Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit and Sam, Loyal Attendant. This is a token-themed deck with lots of lifegain components, and in the middle of these two concepts there are Food tokens, which are very relevant to the hobbits from Lord of the Rings. This is one of the strongest precons available.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The theme of the deck is very linear. You’ll make lots of Food tokens, sacrifice them to gain life, and reap the rewards of gaining life, whether through the EDH staple Sanguine Bond or with cards like Gwaihir, Greatest of the Eagles. There’s also lots of cards that care about Food, both creating and sacrificing it. There’s no shortage of Food whatsoever. There’s no real weaknesses to this deck, but you can make it better by changing some cards that don’t really belong here.

Additional Food Cards

Cards like Greta, Sweettooth Scourge, Night of the Sweets' Revenge, and Tough Cookie are ways to get the most out of your Food tokens. Academy Manufactor fits insanely well here. Let’s take cards that are slow or not at their best in this deck like Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant, Call for Unity, Trading Post, and Harmonize.

Lifegain Payoffs

Add Mortality Spear, Gumdrop Poisoner, and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose. Those are very efficient cards if you’re gaining life constantly. Crypt Incursion, Pristine Talisman, and Orchard Strider are easy cuts.

Expensive Upgrades

Mondrak, Glory Dominus and The One Ring are excellent in this deck. These are very, very expensive cards though, since they’re staples in EDH. Fell the Mighty and Mentor of the Meek are easy swaps in this case.

Mana Base Upgrades

Restless Cottage, Caves of Koilos, and Llanowar Wastes are easy inclusions. Let’s take out Shineshadow Snarl, Necroblossom Snarl, and Fortified Village.

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Are MTG Starter Decks Worth It?

They are. Not only in the quality of the cards, but most of them are very well designed and ready to battle. Most starter decks give you a higher value than if you buy singles, unless you need only a specific card or two. And if you’re starting a MTG collection, it’s all upside.

Are Starter Decks the Same as Welcome Decks?

Welcome decks are a type of deck supplied to stores to give out to new players free of charge. The idea behind these is to give new players a very simple deck to get involved in the game, but they probably aren’t ready to be taken to FNM. Starter decks are different, and offer a more complete beginner's experience beyond just being used to learn the rules of the game.

Wrap Up

Sam, Loyal Attendant | Illustration by Campbell White

I’d say the strategy WotC is employing these days to acquire new players goes through mainly the Commander precon decks, MTG Arena Starter decks, and Starter Kits that also offer digital versions of the same decks. These starter decks are all tabletop, paper decks, but we also have an article covering MTGA starter decks that you may be interested in, so please check that out. 

What are your favorite precons that didn’t make the list? Have you had the chance to play with one of them? Let me know in the comments section below or leave a tweet on Draftsim's Twitter.

I hope I’ve helped you in your initial steps to become an MTG player, and thanks for reading.

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