We are 1 week away from the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons on Magic Arena, which is the new Historic Only set that has over 700 cards and about half of them are new to Arena. We did a list of 5 decks that we’re excited to play with the new set, but that was last week, when we had very little of the set previewed. We now have the whole thing previewed and we can update and add new decks to that list! Here’s 10 new Historic decks to try with the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons.
10. Naya Coco Slivers
—
Our first deck is Coco Slivers. We got a bunch of Sliver support in the set, and the best ones lend themselves to being Naya colored. Most of these are 3 mana or cheaper so
Collected Company
Collected Company
Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with mana value 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
fits right in. Our goal is curve out into our slivers, have them boost each other up, and slam with a wide board. We also get
Sliver Hive
Sliver Hive
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a Sliver spell.
{5}, {T}: Create a 1/1 colorless Sliver creature token. Activate only if you control a Sliver.
which can help fix our mana, but also create a Sliver token to add to our army in the late game.
9. Elves
—
Next up is Coco Elves. This elves deck is pretty typical but if you’ll notice, there’s only 57 cards in this main deck. The missing card is the new planeswalker Freyalise, Skyshroud Partisan.
This new “digital only” planeswalker is the strongest of the 5 and fits really nicely in the elves deck. It can help us find more elf fuel, make some of our creatures bigger, and if we get to her ultimate, we create a
Regal Force
Regal Force
When this creature enters, draw a card for each green creature you control.
. That puts a decent sized body on the board, and hopefully draws us a ton of cards. This may not be necessary but it’s an awesome back up plan
8. Mono Red Hollow One
—
Mono Red
Hollow One
Hollow One
This spell costs {2} less to cast for each card you've cycled or discarded this turn.
Cycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
is a deck that had seen some experimentation with when
Faithless Looting
Faithless Looting
Draw two cards, then discard two cards.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
was released in the Mystical Archives, but it didn’t have everything it needed to be good. With Historic Horizons, we got some great new additions to the deck with
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard.)
Delirium — As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, this creature gets +2/+2, has flying, and attacks each combat if able.
,
Blazing Rootwalla
Blazing Rootwalla
{R}: This creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn. Activate only once each turn.
Madness {0} (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)
,
Insolent Neonate
Insolent Neonate
Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
Discard a card, Sacrifice this creature: Draw a card.
, and
Fiery Temper
Fiery Temper
Fiery Temper deals 3 damage to any target.
Madness {R} (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)
. Our goal is to discard some cards very cheaply, and try to get a Hollow One down really early.
7. Mono White Humans
—
Our first Humans deck of the list, is Mono White humans. This is definitely more of an aggressive style deck that looks to curve out some cheap humans and beat in really quickly. We get a bunch of new amazing additions to the deck from Historic Horizons, namely
Blade Splicer
Blade Splicer
When this creature enters, create a 3/3 colorless Phyrexian Golem artifact creature token.
Golems you control have first strike.
,
Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel
Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays {X}, where X is this creature's power.
, and
Thalia’s Lieutenant
Thalia’s Lieutenant
When this creature enters, put a +1/+1 counter on each other Human you control.
Whenever another Human you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
. We also get one of the best comeback cards for this deck in
Return to the Ranks
Return to the Ranks
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
Return X target creature cards with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
which can help us rebuild from a sweeper.
6. Enchantress
—
One of the decks I’m the most excited to try out is Enchantress. We got some of the powerful Modern Horizons 2 support for the archetype that helped propel this deck into the spotlight in Modern. Our goal is to play a bunch of cheap enchantments, gain some life and draw some cards with
Sythis, Harvest’s Hand
Sythis, Harvest’s Hand
Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, you gain 1 life and draw a card.
and
Enchantress’s Presence
Enchantress’s Presence
Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, draw a card.
, and make some massive land creatures with
Destiny Spinner
Destiny Spinner
Creature and enchantment spells you control can't be countered.
{3}{G}: Target land you control becomes an X/X Elemental creature with trample and haste until end of turn, where X is the number of enchantments you control. It's still a land.
.
5. Tempered Steel
—
Next up is Azorius Tempered Steel. This list is a little different from the one in our last article, but this archetype got some major buffs. Our big 3 new cards are
Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel
Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays {X}, where X is this creature's power.
,
Nettlecyst
Nettlecyst
Living weapon (When this Equipment enters, create a 0/0 black Phyrexian Germ creature token, then attach this to it.)
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment you control.
Equip {2}
, and
Thought Monitor
Thought Monitor
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.)
Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
. This is an artifact based aggro deck that looks to abuse
Tempered Steel
Tempered Steel
Artifact creatures you control get +2/+2.
to buff our creatures, and with our new cards, the deck gains more speed and consistency.
4. 4 Color Humans
—
Our second Humans deck is 4 color humans. This version of the deck is a bit more on the “control” side of things, as we play cards like
Kitesail Freebooter
Kitesail Freebooter
Flying
When this creature enters, target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. Exile that card until this creature leaves the battlefield.
,
Meddling Mage
Meddling Mage
As this creature enters, choose a nonland card name.
Spells with the chosen name can't be cast.
and
Silverquill Silencer
Silverquill Silencer
As this creature enters, choose a nonland card name.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell with the chosen name, they lose 3 life and you draw a card.
. The mana on this is a bit tricky, but
Unclaimed Territory
Unclaimed Territory
As this land enters, choose a creature type.
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a creature spell of the chosen type.
helps smooth that out a bit, though this deck would really benefit from Aether Vial.
READ MORE: Thief Breaks into Green Bay-Based Game Store and Steals Magic: The Gathering Product
3. Merfolk
—
Merfolk has been an archetype that has existed in Historic for a while, and early on in Historic’s life cycle, the deck had some legs. It has since fallen off and despite the inclusion of
Collected Company
Collected Company
Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with mana value 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
, the deck couldn’t come back. In Historic Horizons, we got a couple new powerhouse cards to hopefully boost the deck to prominence again. Master of the Pearl Trident is another 2 mana lord for the deck, and while we can’t take advantage of the Islandwalk as consistently as in Modern, it’s still very strong. We also got
Svyelun of Sea and Sky
Svyelun of Sea and Sky
Svyelun has indestructible as long as you control at least two other Merfolk.
Whenever Svyelun attacks, draw a card.
Other Merfolk you control have ward {1}. (Whenever another Merfolk you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {1}.)
, which helps us draw cards and protect our other Merfolk.
READ MORE: The Best +1/+1 Counter Commander Cards In MTG
2. Izzet Blitz
—
Our penultimate deck is Izzet Blitz. Again this one changed from our last list on this, but our goal with this deck is to go fast. We want to get delirium online as fast as possible, and really take advantage of our aggressive creature base. We’re including
Chromatic Sphere
Chromatic Sphere
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color. Draw a card. (Activate only as an instant.)
in the list as an artifact for delirium, and it can help us with fixing mana where necessary. This is one of the strongest decks in the Modern format, and I expect that some version of this deck will make waves in Historic as well.
READ MORE: 10 Best Cards to Craft From Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
1. Rakdos Lurrus
Our last deck is Rakdos Lurrus. This deck looks to abuse
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Dragon’s Rage Channeler
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard.)
Delirium — As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, this creature gets +2/+2, has flying, and attacks each combat if able.
but we also want to disrupt our opponent’s hand and keep the board clear with removal. This is a really strong deck in the Modern format, and the deck looks really strong and some version of this deck will be a strong contender in Historic.
READ MORE: How to Start Playing Historic on Magic Arena
I am incredibly excited to play with Historic Horizons. I’ll be live over on our Facebook Page on August 12th (release day) playing some of the limited event and some playing some of these decks on the Ladder. Make sure you stop by and catch the action! What decks are you excited to play in the new Historic format? Let us know in the comments!
Jumpstart: Historic Horizons is a Magic Arena only set. The set will be only legal for the Historic Format. It releases on August 12, 2021 on Magic Arena and contains 782 cards, comprised of 31 new Arena Only cards, and 751 reprints from Modern Horizons, Modern Horizons 2 and more. You can check out our preview gallery to stay up to date with all the cards!