Magic: The Gathering has always been pretty expensive to get into, especially if you want to be competitive. But that cost might be prohibitive for some, since it is just a hobby after all. This is why budget decks are a thing. A lot of people will shrug at the thought of a budget deck, assuming that they're weaker than more expensive decks just because they don't contain ten mythic rares and 20 rares.

However, that is not always the case. Matchups are not dictated just by the price of your deck. Even the cheapest aggro deck can overrun an opponent before they can do anything about it. So, permit us to show you some budget Standard decks that you should keep an eye out for, if you're interested in playing Standard but have a limited budget.

4 Boros Burn

chandra, dressed to kill

This deck has four mythics, nine rares, 35 uncommons, and 15 commons. Eight of those rares are lands, though, which can easily be replaced with basic lands.

A classic deck archetype that budget players love, Boros Burn is a red/white deck that focuses on burning your opponent down with the help of instants and sorceries. It only plays two creatures, Kessig Flamebreather and Thermo-Alchemist, alongside plenty of cheap burn spells, such as Play with Fire, Sacred Fire, and Magic Missile. You also have four copies of Chandra, Dressed to Kill, that will help you generate extra mana each turn to cast even more spells.

The main combo of the deck revolves around getting either of your creatures on the board, preferably both. Then, your main focus becomes casting as many burn spells targeting your opponent or any of his pesky creatures, making sure that you deal one damage with your creatures after every spell you cast. As an added bonus, some of your spells have the learn ability. This allows you to get some Lesson cards from your sideboard, such as Reduce to Memory for those big threats, or Introduction to Prophecy when you're running out of steam. All in all, this is a pretty good deck that can slowly wither down its opponents, albeit somewhat slower than you would expect from a Burn deck.

3 Weaver Of Harmony Enchantments

weaver of harmony

This deck has 15 rares, 35 uncommons, and 17 commons. Keep in mind that seven of those rares are lands that you can replace with basic lands in order to save up on wildcards.

This is a green/white deck that revolves around cheap creatures, that are either themselves enchantments or offer various buffs that are dependent on playing enchantment cards. Generous Visitor puts +1/+1 counters on any creature whenever you play an enchantment, Jukai Naturalist makes your enchantments cheaper, and Kami of Transcience buffs itself with a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast an enchantment spell. Weaver of Harmony is also a powerful creature that buffs other enchantment creatures, while also allowing you to copy activated or triggered abilities from an enchantment source you control.

Helping you along in finding the right cards is Commune with Spirits, which interacts perfectly with all the enchantments in this deck. In order to protect your big threats, you Snakeskin Veil and Sejiri Shelter will help immensely against removal-heavy decks. And when it comes to actual enchantments, Rune of Might and Rune of Sustenance are cheap ways of adding some more value to your board while also enabling your other enchantment focused cards. Michiko's Reign of Truth can be an extremely powerful card in the late game, since it will likely flip into a pretty large creature. And since you also need some form of removal, Borrowed Time is there to fill the gap.

2 Disturbed Spirits

Brinebound Comber

This deck has four mythics, 11 rares, 26 uncommons, and 17 commons. Three of those rares are lands that can be swapped for basic lands.

Spirit decks are nothing new, with multiple iterations coming out over the years and some even having competitive success. While this is definitely not a top tier deck, it can still pose a problem for plenty of other decks. Its main focus is to play creatures such as Lantern Bearer, Brine Comber, or Dorothea, Vengeful Victim — all of which have the Disturb ability. These creatures have a flip side that can be played for their Disturb cost from your graveyard, turning them into enchantment cards that give various bonuses. The main puzzle piece is Hallowed Haunting, which creates Spirit tokens whenever you play an enchantment, and that have power and toughness equal to the number of Spirits that you control.

The basic idea of the deck is to play any creature you come across, and start piling up damage on your opponent. You don't really care if any of them die, since they can still be useful under the Disturb effect. Geistlight Snare can counter dangerous spells, Circle of Confinement and Borrowed Time are good for removal, and Cradle of Safety will protect your most important creatures. It can be quite the annoying deck, especially against control decks that focus heavily on removal — since you can quickly overwhelm them with the help of Hallowed Haunting.

1 Skeleton Tribal

mtg shambling ghast full card and art background

This deck has one mythic, 14 rares, 31 uncommons, and 29 commons. Eight of its rares are lands that can be easily swapped for basic lands.

This is a decent aggro deck focused on a few Skeleton creatures, as well as creating Skeleton tokens that get buffed by other creatures. Your bread-and-butter is Death-Priest of Myrkul, which creates 1/1 Skeleton tokens at the end of a turn if any creature died that particular turn, while also buffing all Skeletons +1/+1. Moss-Pit Skeleton is your main threat, since you can play it with kicker to turn it into a 5/5. Plus, there's the added bonus of bringing him back from your graveyard whenever you put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control.

This deck also runs Binding the Old Gods as a form of removal and mana ramp, with the added benefit of getting a turn to attack where all your creatures have deathtouch. This won't do a lot against a control deck, but any aggro or midrange deck will have a hard time figuring out how to block. Your second enchantment is Skeletal Swarming, which further allows you to create Skeleton tokens at the end of every turn, and also buffs all your Skeletons immensely. The only real downside when Skeletal Swarming is in play is the fact that you have to attack every turn with your Skeletons. This is why this deck also plays creatures like Eyetwitch, Tangled Florahedron, or Shambling Ghast, to ensure that you still have some blockers left.

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