Mission Statement

The purpose of this thread is to help guide new players, especially free-to-play players, on ideas about deck builds using what is available to them at the start of the game. If you are new to Magic Duels, you should know that there are a group of cards you receive for free as part of the game, and you unlock more of these free cards by finishing the campaign storylines. Since the storylines also give you some gold and some even give card packs, it's a good idea as a new player to finish these, as well as the skill tutorial quests (more can be found under the Help / Options menu, each skill quest is worth 10 gold). The free cards I am referring to have an expansion symbol on the card that says "D" as in Duels. These cards shall hereafter be referred to as D cards.

Most of the posts in this thread will be decks composed of D cards, as starting point examples for new players to build from. The decks I list will mostly be focused on fighting the AI, not players. If I post a D card deck capable of making its way up the player-ranked ladder some distance, I will give that deck a note next to its name that says (PVP). Any other deck in this list you may try against players if you wish, but I do not guarantee their success.

Beyond just offering up a newbie decklist, I will give advice for each deck as a short snippet about how to expand and improve the deck based on the card expansions you own / are working on. There will be a subheading for each expansion and some brief notes about which cards in that expansion may help improve the example deck. If you are new and wondering why I would focus so much on particular expansions, let's talk purchase strategy for a moment.


Strategy with Your Gold Purchases

You should focus your purchases into a single expansion when you begin the game. The reason why is because of card synergy. Cards from within a particular expansion tend to work well together, while cards from across the expansions may have little to do with one another and don't help you build a cohesive deck. When you can afford more expansions, you will discover some cross-expansion synergizing cards, but trying to achieve this randomly will only hurt you. Each expansion has some gems that tend to work well in any deck that can support the card's color(s), and to help you decide what expansion to focus on I have provided a brief synopsis of some of the mechanics and best utility cards from each expansion below.

Origins

This set started off Magic Duels, and it was the last of the "core sets." This means that a lot of the cards are simple, open-ended, easy to use, and tend to work well in a variety of decks. It is less focused on synergy and more focused on providing you with the tools to build any deck. I can definitely recommend Origins as the first set to focus on as a new player, and despite this open-ended design it has some particular strategies that work well within the set.

Aggressive White Creatures: Some of the best staples of the Human deck, or even White aggro in general, can be found in Origins: Kytheon, Hero of Akros, Knight of the White Orchid, Consul's Lieutenant and Topan Freeblade are highlights. For Origins specifically, you could pursue a deck focused on the Renown mechanic (possibly including Red or Green cards), and decide later if you want to shift away from it as a central theme.

Aura/Enchantment Deck Support: This is not an easy path to pursue due to the card disadvantage of using auras (you can lose two cards, your creature and your aura, if an opponent kills it with a removal spell). Some highlights of auras from Origins: Grasp of the Hieromancer, Angelic Destiny, Call of the Full Moon and Infectious Bloodlust, the best of these sidestep some of the problems of losing an aura. While I cannot recommend it, there is support for an enchantment deck using Sigil of the Empty Throne as well as cards like Blessed Spirits and Blood-Cursed Knight, but with only 2 copies of Sigil available due to rarity restrictions this may be a trap. On the subject of enchantments, some of the best / most fun build-around enchantments come from Origins: Sphinx's Tutelage, Thopter Spy Network, Molten Vortex, Flameshadow Conjuring, Evolutionary Leap and Zendikar's Roil.

Phenomenal Cosmic Power: A few cards stand out as getting better with age rather than worse. 3 of the 5 "flip-walkers" i.e. the transforming planeswalkers are some of the best cards in Duels: Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Liliana, Heretical Healer and Nissa, Vastwood Seer are all great value creatures on their own, and they aren't too difficult to flip into planeswalkers that have the potential to win you the game. The other two flip-walkers are fine too, but they require a bit more deck support to flip. Gaea's Revenge continues to be one of the most troublesome ramp/reanimator finishers to deal with. Woodland Bellower continues to age well as new targets arrive; even a simple Reclamation Sage is often good enough to pair with it. Goblin Glory Chaser is a staple of quick red decks. Languish and Tragic Arrogance continue to be relevant tools to control decks who need to sweep the board, with the latter being particularly good against Superfriends decks that use a lot of planeswalkers. Disciple of the Ring is an amazing control deck finisher. Whirler Rogue is great in a variety of decks and just has rock-solid value.

Thopters: One of the best decks from Origins is the thopter deck, and it has revitalized with Kaladesh and Aether Revolt. Cards like Whirler Rogue, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Thopter Spy Network, Thopter Engineer, Ghirapur Aether Grid, Reclusive Artificer and Chief of the Foundry make the deck tick. Some of these cards will continue to work well for you if you pursue Kaladesh / Aether Revolt.

Suicide Black: Essentially a black aggro deck that has a low mana curve, and is not afraid to spend resources such as cards or life total. A few key cards come from Origins: Thornbow Archer, Despoiler of Souls and Shambling Ghoul. You will eventually replace the D card Bone Splinters with something better, but it may stay in the deck build for a while. Unfortunately, to really bring this deck to completion it requires black cards from across a number of sets, but some of the basic shell is there if you want to get a taste.

Aristocrats: This deck is all about sacrificing your own creatures to some positive benefit (such as a lethal Nantuko Husk or fueling Evolutionary Leap), bringing them back from the graveyard, and it could possibly sacrifice other player's creatures by stealing them in some builds. Some core cards are from Origins: Fleshbag Marauder, Nantuko Husk, Priest of the Blood Rite, Evolutionary Leap and Elvish Visionary will put you in the direction of a Green/Black build. If you go red, Blazing Hellhound and spells that steal creatures temporarily can ruin the opponent's day from out of nowhere.

Elves: The tribe of elves gains some benefits from Origins, with cards like Dwynen's Elite, Elvish Visionary, Nissa, Vastwood Seer, Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen, Gilt-Leaf Winnower and others. You already have some decent elves in the D cards, notably Lys Alana Huntmaster, but take care with Sunblade Elf, because splashing White here to make a 3-color deck is not necessarily a great choice (it's a trap!).

Other Decks: Ramp (building up your mana and early defense to cast huge creatures and spells mid- to late game), midrange (putting down good solid threats in the 2 - 6 mana range to trump aggro and apply pressure) and tempo (tap and bounce your opponent's creatures, effectively dealing with them to get your attacks through even though they're not completely gone) all get some nice tools from Origins. Rather than spell out everything, I think I'll let you discover some of that. One last note: I am a fan of Conclave Naturalists in our artifact-heavy Aether Revolt metagame, and they also deal with problematic enchantments that come up. As long as you are getting this extra value from them they are fantastic, and this is likely to happen against the AI computer opponent.

Battle for Zendikar

While this set has powerful tools within it, it also may have disappointments and pitfalls for a new player. The creature tribe of Allies was one of the central themes of Battle for Zendikar, and in my comments about the deck archetype below I'll get into some of the problems. Another mechanic was Awaken, turning lands into creatures with +1/+1 counters on them. A few of the spells with this effect are fine, but usually only if they stand well on their own, without the extra mana for awaken. Landfall is a mechanic that triggers some benefit when you play a land, for most of the colors it just feels like a random benefit tacked onto a card rather than something to build a deck around, although if you are playing Green the landfall theme can be expanded to an entire deck. Converge makes cards better the more colors of mana you use to cast them, and some specific converge cards are very powerful in a 3 - 5 color deck. On top of all this, we have the eldrazi processors, that are simultaneously trying to exile some of your opponents cards (using Ingest, they can exile cards from the library on combat damage), and then put those exiled cards into the opponent's graveyard with a "processor" to gain some benefit, such as killing a creature or gaining life. If it sounds complicated and fiddly, it is. There are also the themes of "colorless-matters," "lifegain/lifedrain," eldrazi scions (1/1 creatures that can sacrifice to make colorless mana), and of course giant horrible eldrazi creatures. There is a lot going on here, and a lot of cards may not fit into your typical deck archetypes. I'll try to hit the highlights though.

Allies: Oh, allies. Unlike some creature tribes like humans, elves, goblins, vampires and merfolk, allies are special to the Zendikar setting and are not casually reprinted into other sets. This means the best ally deck you can ever make comes from owning Battle for Zendikar + Oath of the Gatewatch. Unfortunately, we don't get all of the cards from paper Magic, and this means that the Ally tribe was gutted quite a bit. You can still make a lifegain/lifedrain themed deck with them, but it requires going all-in on these 2 sets with no further support coming. You may end up in 3 colors to find enough of the best allies to try to make the deck work. Key cards include: Serene Steward, Lantern Scout, Unified Front, Kalastria Healer, Bloodbond Vampire, Firemantle Mage, Drana's Emissary and Munda, Ambush Leader. This is a parasitic mechanic (one which keeps requiring more of itself to be good) that has limited support and is specific to a setting. In other words: this gets worse with time until we visit Zendikar again.

Landfall: Green can pull this off. As new sets come out there tend to be a few new ways to fetch up lands and put them into play, so this mechanic isn't completely without support outside Zendikar. The key cards are kinda stuck for the moment though. Some key cards are: Scythe Leopard, Jaddi Offshoot, Snapping Gnarlid, Retreat to Kazandu and Murasa Ranger. Don't forget you possess Explosive Vegetation from the D cards.

Eldrazi Processors: The problems I mentioned for allies flare up here: a parasitic mechanic that gets little support outside of the setting it appears in. The one saving grace of the processor deck is that there are other ways to exile things aside from using creatures with ingest. That deck might be possible to build, but not for a new player (I'm talking about pulling in cards from across all the sets that can exile cards). If you are set on trying it though, key cards include: Horribly Awry, Spell Shrivel, Ulamog's Reclaimer, Wasteland Strangler, Complete Disregard, Ulamog's Nullifier and some of the D cards you already have like Mist Intruder, Benthic Infiltrator or Murk Strider. There are a few options if you would rather go red, but blue/black seems strongest.

Aristocrats: Not everything in Battle for Zendikar has to be a parasitic mechanic, and the Aristocrats deck I mentioned in Origins gets some tools here. Key cards include: Vampiric Rites, Carrier Thrall, Smothering Abomination, Blisterpod and Rot Shambler.

Phenomenal Cosmic Power: Every expansion is going to have some of this, and Battle for Zendikar is not short on it. That's part of what makes this decision difficult: there are plenty of good individual cards, but for a new player all of the common and uncommon cards matter a great deal more. Some highlights: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is one of the best cards we have, period. Planar Outburst is a nice board sweeper for control decks that could also leave you with a creature to attack with, but Radiant Flames may be even better in our aggro-happy metagame. Scatter to the Winds is potentially the best counterspell available. Drowner of Hope is a nasty threat that is not to be underestimated. Ob Nixilis Reignited may not be Gideon, but he's still potent. Woodland Wanderer is one of the kings of midrange drops. From Beyond is great on its own, and it can fetch up Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Greenwarden of Murasa keeps getting better with age, and Omnath, Locus of Rage has got to be among the best ramp targets. If you do run ramp, you should probably fit in a copy of Oblivion Sower as well.

Blue Control: If you enjoy countering spells and waiting to act at instant speed at the end of your opponent's turn, there were some nice additions made here. Highlights include: Dispel, Horribly Awry, Scatter to the Winds and Spell Shrivel. Guardian of Tazeem and Drowner of Hope make for solid finishers. The big eldrazi might be too pricey except for the most patient of control players, or those sporting a bit of mana acceleration.

Ramp: Alright, the big finale. Despite everything else I have said about this set and how it might not be great for a new player, if you love ramping up your mana to cast a gigantic game-ending threat, this is the set for you to invest in. As far as actually accelerating to get up to that mana, lean heavily on some of your D cards like Explosive Vegetation or even Lifespring Druid, you will need all of that mana. Some key cards are: Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Omnath, Locus of Rage, From Beyond, Oblivion Sower, Plated Crusher, Jaddi Offshoot, Natural Connection and Rolling Thunder. The cool thing is, there are many more options beyond this while you are unlocking cards. You might run Breaker of Armies, Desolation Twin or Eldrazi Devastator while you are waiting for better cards.

Oath of the Gatewatch

So, the elephant in this particular room is colorless-only mana. That's right: cards which require colorless mana to use or even cast them (the grey diamond mana symbol). In their defense, the best cards of this ilk continue to be some of the very strongest available. However, we are not awash in lands that let us easily splash in colorless. The effort it takes to add "colorless-only" to a deck is about as difficult as adding an extra color, which greatly complicates their value. That's not to say you can't do it, and you will catch someone off-guard when you drop a Thought-Knot Seer these days.

But there are other cards and themes in Oath of the Gatewatch, of course. We have allies, and they have returned to us even worse than before with the cohort mechanic: it basically requires tapping two allies to produce an effect: the card with cohort, and any other ally you control. While the effects can be powerful, it puts your ally deck into a defensive posture where you want to be tapping down your creatures at the end of the opponent's turn. The support mechanic also fell flat (allows you to put a +1/+1 counter on a number of creatures), and we didn't really get any cards that pushed it competitively. Surge was better: your spell got cheaper if you or a teammate cast a spell already this turn, and some of the surge cards are worth using (take a look at the D cards Jwar Isle Avenger or Boulder Salvo for examples of surge).

Despite some of these shortcomings, this expansion is full of powerful cards... too full really. Seed Guardian is a great card for instance, but it was hardly noticed in the shadow of so many other powerful cards. I might go so far as to say that if you prefer a "goodstuff" deck to a deck that has synergy and cohesion, Oath of the Gatewatch might be for you. Finally, as a minor point to new players, this expansion pushed the idea of a planeswalker deck and gave mechanical support for doing so (the Oath enchantments, Call the Gatewatch, etc.). That doesn't mean you will have enough planeswalkers to build such a deck with just this expansion though, and you won't for a long, long while yet. Anyway, here are some deck archetypes and their key cards:

Allies: An Oath-of-the-Gatewatch-only ally deck would be a strange beast indeed. Make good use of your Makindi Patrols here, vigilance could help you attack and later still use cohort abilities. Some key cards are: General Tazri, Vampire Envoy, Drana's Chosen, Malakir Soothsayer, Zada's Commando, Sylvan Advocate and Cliffhaven Vampire.

White Aggro: If you aren't going after allies, these are slim pickings and kind of terrible. One card shines here as a neat combat trick: Make a Stand. I put one copy into every aggressive white deck I make, and when I draw it it never disappoints me (you attack with everything, the computer makes a bunch of carefully calculated blocks, and then you decimate the opponent with a surprise Make a Stand). Linvala, the Preserver is a great card but wrong for your deck at 6 mana.

Blue-Red Prowess: This deck is not my style, but it gets some very important tools from Oath of the Gatewatch that start to make it possible. The idea here is to use creatures with prowess (+1/+1 until end of turn for each noncreature spell you cast) along with a bunch of cheap efficient spell support to clear the way, win the damage race and get past blockers. The deck has serious issues dealing with creature removal, but it can take a quick win against a slower midrange or ramp deck and has some tools to race aggro. Some key cards are: Stormchaser Mage, Slip Through Space, Umara Entangler, Expedite and Brute Strength. In the D cards, you might consider Telling Time, Grip of the Roil, Twin Bolt and Boulder Salvo, even Reckless Racer until something better comes along. BONUS: Adding Origins cards makes a huge difference here, with such gems as Fiery Impulse, Titan's Strength, Abbot of Keral Keep and Mage-Ring Bully to help form the core of the deck, you could even try Disperse and Anchor to the Aether while you're filling the deck out.

Suicide Black: This is a hard archetype to pull off as a new player, but it got some useful tools in OotG. Some key cards are: Reaver Drone, Grasp of Darkness, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Sifter of Skulls. I should note that these last two are not easy to open, and they also sit at the top of your mana curve (you don't want to go above 4 mana, and you don't want too many cards at 4 mana either). However, in my experience they are both very, very good and will be worthwhile inclusions into suicide black as curve-toppers.

Aristocrats: Speaking of those black rares and mythic... they also do good work in 'crats, and if you can spare the colorless mana Bearer of Silence is a nice card to recycle from the graveyard. Pulse of Murasa and Seed Guardian also have their uses, though I wouldn't overload on Pulse (it makes a nice trick once in a while, but too many will slow you down). Baloth Null will be good for you early on. Sometime down the road when your deck gets a bit more trim, you will end up taking them out.

Phenomenal Cosmic Power: There's plenty to go around this time, but some of it you have to jump through hoops to get working. For starters, we have the planeswalkers Chandra, Flamecaller and Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, and they are both pretty phenomenal in the right deck. Eldrazi Displacer offers you shenanigans (your creatures that have an enter-the-battlefield trigger suddenly get a lot more interesting). Linvala, the Preserver is one heck of a haymaker if you are behind and need to catch up, and still okay even if not. Grasp of Darkness is fantastic removal. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is almost unfairly good. Kozilek's Return is a solid aggro sweeper that, in the right deck, can also turn into a midrange sweeper. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim and Sylvan Advocate are two of the best 2-drops in the game, and I am convinced that Weapons Trainer can be as well if you can just get the numbers right. Reflector Mage is one of the best 3-drops in the game. In the colorless-only cards, we have the unholy trinity of Matter Reshaper, Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher near the top end for efficiency and value in their respective midrange slots.

Red-Green Landfall: I doubt any of the veterans here will remember this set for landfall, but you have the makings of a very solid midrange deck here. Some key cards are: Mina and Denn, Wildborn, Embodiment of Insight, Sylvan Advocate, Ruin in Their Wake, Embodiment of Fury and Devour in Flames. Depending on how high you want to take the mana curve, you might use Renegade Map over Explosive Vegetation from the D cards (while the latter is more powerful, it might use up all your mana and the new lands come in tapped, unable to attack from your landfall triggers; this is up to you). Use your Kird Chieftain here, and maybe even Ember Beast.

The Colorless-Only Deck: This set is your one shot at building this deck, so you might as well. The key cards should become fairly obvious or have already been mentioned. Special mention for Eldrazi Mimic, Warping Wail,Walker of the Wastes and Endbringer.

Other Decks: Oath of the Gatewatch has a whole slew of good cards in it, and it has enduring value for veterans who play Superfriends (planeswalker) decks. The surge cards are good in two-headed giant, and in particular I should mention Roiling Waters as a great two-headed giant card. If you are playing this game with a buddy and you're not sure what sort of effects go well in two-headed giant, you could hardly go wrong by throwing some of those and Comparative Analysis into a friendly blue deck with 24 to 26 lands (if you don't have Comparative Analysis yet, Inspiration from the D cards works just fine). That way, you can ensure that whoever needs to be drawing cards can be moving forward with their game plan, and the double-creature-bounce can stabilize the board. As for other decks, there's a little bit of vampire tribal support, elf support, human support, ramp targets, and Stoneforge Masterwork makes any creature tribal deck look a little better.

Shadows over Innistrad

Reserved for later post.

Eldritch Moon

Reserved for later post.

Kaladesh

Reserved for later post.

Aether Revolt

Reserved for later post.

Example Deck #1: Life Auras

I just took this deck to 4 / 5 wins against the AI, and I'm not convinced I should have lost the one time (I forgot my opponent's Yahenni could sacrifice a blocker to keep me from gaining life; I definitely could have survived for longer, and done the combat math better). This is my take on the old traditional RW Auras deck... but wait! Could it be? Has the deck gained a third color? Why yes, black is back, say hello to...

Life Auras

Creatures (18):
3 x Indulgent Aristocrat
4 x Child of Night
4 x Heliod's Pilgrim
3 x Flaring Flame-Kin
4 x Champion of Arashin


Noncreatures (19):
4 x Nimbus Wings
4 x Inferno Fist
3 x Siege Modification
4 x Siegecraft
4 x Suppression Bonds


Lands (23):
2 x Plains
1 x Swamp
2 x Mountain
2 x Clifftop Retreat
2 x Isolated Chapel
2 x Dragonskull Summit
4 x Forsaken Sanctuary
4 x Stone Quarry
4 x Cinder Barrens



So, some of the old simple principle of the deck hasn't changed: slap a Nimbus Wings onto Flaring Flame-Kin and fly over the opponent's forces with a ferocious firebreathing trampler. If you are new, don't forget to put any red mana you don't need into Flaring Flame-Kin's power pumping - we call that firebreathing. This deck has a new twist to it though: dropping an early lifelink creature and flying over the opponent's forces to gain a bunch of life when you attack. The lifelink creatures can turn an unwinnable damage race against the AI suddenly very winnable. In the 5 games I played, I had some ridiculous creatures on the board, such as a 7/10 Champion of Arashin wearing not one, but two Siegecraft. It seems like the Aether Revolt AI is not consistently running good creature removal, which allows this deck to shine.

Also, you shouldn't give up when things look bleak, this deck can turn things around with a lucky topdeck (card draw) from out of nowhere. In one game, I had my opponent's planeswalker and huge flying demon both locked down safely with a pair of Suppression Bonds. The Inferno Fist aura is frequently better to get rid of the opponent's annoying small creatures than to use as a creature boost, but it can serve both purposes.

As for ways to change or improve the deck: you already have access to Solemn Offering in the D cards, and some number of them might be a good choice to fight the AI during the Aether Revolt season. Boonweaver Giant is another option you have, although I prefer to keep the deck in a more "midrange" mana curve. Twin Bolt is a good red removal spell you might be able to drop a couple of auras to make room for. To give you a few ideas about what cards you might find for this deck in the set you are unlocking, I've listed some suggestions below. Once you've unlocked more than one set, some of these suggestions will be moot points as you are flooded with better options.


Origins: Topan Freeblade is a nice aggressive common creature with vigilance built in. Blood-Cursed Knight is perfect for your deck, as is Angelic Destiny if you are lucky enough to open it. Blightcaster is a build-around uncommon that is tricky to get working, but if you manage it you'll be getting extra value from your auras by killing annoying little creatures. Red has the auras Call of the Full Moon and Infectious Bloodlust to consider.

Battle for Zendikar: Serene Steward could take your deck further in the lifegain direction with a reward of +1/+1 counters when you have spare mana. Bloodbond Vampire might be even better, and pushes you further towards a vampire tribe. Goblin War Paint is a solid aura from Red, if you need more cheap auras.

Oath of the Gatewatch: Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is on-theme and good, but hard to get. Cliffhaven Vampire is excellent here, and if you get a copy or two of Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim she is quite good as well. Untamed Hunger isn't very good, but it could get at least one surprise lifelink attack through. Put it on a flying lifelinker, and it becomes increasingly difficult for the AI to chump block your assault with thopters. I wouldn't go for 4 copies, but at least one copy to tutor up might be interesting.

Shadows over Innistrad: Try one copy of Nahiri's Machinations in the deck and see if it works for you. Declaration in Stone is still great removal, not quite as good in this artifact environment, but don't let that stop you from using it; Anguished Unmaking is also excellent removal. Always Watching is fantastic, even though the WW mana cost is tricky. Archangel Avacyn is game-winning if you can get her. Consider adding one copy of Dead Weight to tutor up with your Heliod's Pilgrim. Farbog Revenant could be an option for more lifelink. Lightning Axe is powerful removal, but it costs you a card most of the time. You can try out Senseless Rage if you need another cheap aura. One copy of Stensia Masquerade might go well in here, you even have a few vampires.

Eldritch Moon: Two words: Lone Rider. This card is practically begging to be put into this deck, it even works well with a simple Inferno Fist a lot of the time. Once it has flipped into It That Rides as One still wearing an aura, the opponent *must* deal with it almost immediately or lose the game. Lunarch Mantle is not as good as what you've already got, but if you want more cheap auras you could use one or two. Thalia, Heretic Cathar is just good, use her. Gisela, the Broken Blade will also turn your deck up to 11 if you are lucky enough to open her. Faith Unbroken might do some good work for you. Faithbearer Paladin offers more lifelink, but Markov Crusader has lifelink AND fits your deck better with the vampire theme. Murder is solid removal, but Ride Down might be even better for you. You might put in one copy of Boon of Emrakul to use as tutorable removal, and on some very rare occasion might use it on one of your own creatures. Hanweir Garrison would be scary indeed with a big aura to keep it going. You could try one copy of Blood Mist and see if it works out.

Kaladesh: Fragmentize is decent removal for the current Aether Revolt format, but that may change; Skywhaler's Shot, Essence Extraction and Unlicensed Disintegration are solid removal in general, and you might try a couple copies of Revoke Privileges. One copy of Captured by the Consulate might also be useful to tutor up. Angel of Invention is great if you can get it, Noxious Gearhulk is also in this category. Giant Spectacle is just flat better than Untamed Hunger from Oath of the Gatewatch, and it still requires consideration of if you want it.

Aether Revolt: Sram, Senior Edificer is amazing for you; so amazing, in fact, that you should include 2 copies if you can even though he is legendary. Conviction is a common, and it pairs up perfectly with Sram; you might just completely replace Siegecraft with a full 4 copies. Thopter Arrest, Daring Demolition and Hungry Flames are solid removal, Fatal Push and Shock are even better, Caught in the Brights is less solid but tutorable. Aerial Modification costs too much for what you need it for, but you might include one copy if you really need more flying auras. Gifted Aetherborn is perfect, but the BB cost means you may not be able to cast it on turn 2 or 3 unless you drop red from the deck. Glint-Sleeve Siphoner might be good for you despite your lack of energy, just based on her own ability to power herself. Kari Zev, Skyship Raider also makes a great target for an aura, whether or not the monkey can get though.


Final Thoughts: Origins, Eldritch Moon and Aether Revolt look like the strongest choices to advance this deck if you fall in love with it. However, any set can help you to some extent, even if you aren't focused on making this deck the best it can be. This deck will end up being far better vs. the AI than vs. players, since players usually have plenty of effective instant speed removal.

To welcome new players into MtG I made a deck made entirely from D cards. Its a farming deck. Tried it against AI and won 5/5. Had a problem once with mana but Reckless Racer helped fix that. Ladies and gents I present to you:

D Team!

Creatures
3 x Expedition Envoy (deals damage early can trade with opponent creature and enable revolt)
3 x Suntail Hawk (Cheap creature, can evade blockers due to flying)
3 x Countless Gears Renegade (Play this one after damage exchanges, if one of your creatures died, revolt get activated)
3 x Skyhunter Skirmisher (Target for Siege Modification or Inferno Fist due to double damage)
1 x Heliod's Pilgrim (Helps fish for needed Aura)
3 x Flaring Flame-kin (Target for Aura)
3 x Reckless Racer (Helps in getting better draws by discarding and drawing whenever it attacks)
3 x Renegade Wheelsmith (Good body stops one target creature from blocking when it attacks)
1 x Ondu Champion (Good body and triggers trample effect whenever allies enter the battlefield like Expedition Envoy)

Auras
4 x Nimbus Wings (provides evasion)
4 x Inferno Fist (Adds 2 damage, ability can be used to deal that extra 2 damage to ping opponent)
3 x Siege Modification (First strike)

Other Spells
2 x Reprisal
1 x Traitorous Instinct (Takes one potential blocker away from enemy as well as adding that as an attacker for you)

Lands
10 x Plains
9 x Mountains
2 x Clifftop Retreat
2 x Stone Quarry

This is a fast deck. It aims to attack every turn whenever possible. Add as much creature on the battlefield and attack before the opponent can stabilize the board.

Deck list?

Sorry, submitted it before i finished the list. There you go. I'll try and make some more D decks to assist new players. Who knows we might get a couple of extra faces here. Also dont know how to link images for them

I'm new here guys I truly appreciate the new deck suggestions. I started playing MtG-DotP and ran some multiplayer late night battles with a Total Control deck - deck was absolutely amazing! Thank you!

Again- this has a lot of great information on this site! Thanks to the Admins for making it so great and informational

Can you make similar Total Control for Origins in Magic Duels or is there another deck that would be better suited?

I'll try out the deck Butete09 and I'll let you know how I fair. Thanks again!

Cya in the threads

Another note on Origins: Citadel Castellan is one of the best 3-drops in the game, period.

^I can't even

That's because it's a 3 drop.

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I was thinking about starting a D-card deckbuilding contest. Bet it would generate a lot of good ideas for this thread. Here is one I built at the beginning of KLD season when I first started collecting on iOS. It performed so well that I kept a D-card only copy even after unlocking cards that would improve it. It isn't the most beginner friendly build tho, and the games can be sort of grindy, but I don't think I've lost to AI aside from severe flood/screw type hands.

Sultai in D
4 * Vessel of Nascency
4 * Moldgraf Scavenger
3 * Telling Time

3 * Kindly Stranger
3 * Reclamation Sage
3 * Foul Emissary
2 * Bottle Gnomes
3 * Wildsize

4 * Bitter Revelations
3 * Ballista Charger

4 * Wretched Gryff
3 * Drowned Behemoth

2 * Island
3 * Swamp
5 * Forest
2 * Woodland Cemetery
2 * Drowned Catacomb
2 * Hinterland Harbor
2 * Foul Orchard
2 * Woodland Stream
2 * Submerged Boneyard

It combines delirium and emerge mechanics with control and a lot of filtering which help it to stay consistent. Rec Sage is the ultimate value drop, usually taking out a high power threat and then feeding an emerge creep. Looking at AER D-cards, Unbridled Growth and Renegade Map both look good for fixing color and enabling delirium. Lifecraft Cavalry looks like a decent fatty, especially with the above cards to support revolt. Not sure what I'd cut, tho. Prolly Gnomes, Revelations first and then Telling Time for the Growth and Map and maybe one Behemoth and one Scavenger for 2 Cavalry.

SOI and EMN obviously have the most supporting cards for delirium and emerge not to mention all around awesome cardpools. ORI also has some great cards for this kind of deck like Languish and Evolving Wilds.

Great idea for a contest! Lifecraft Cavalry is one of best D creatures cards available. They can replace wretched gryff and drowned behemoth.

Bump for Berlibee