Historic Deck Tech: Budget Airlines

Over the last couple of weeks we have had a lot of fun looking at some of the new and interesting decks for Magic Arena’s Historic format, from hard hitting Mono Black brews to combo decks that infuriate and confound our opponents. However, it occurred to me that a lot of these decks require a fair number of both Rare and Mythic Rare cards to build, and as a result are not the easiest to put together on a budget. After all, Arena’s wildcard systems is far from perfect and as a result if you aren’t grinding away 24-7 or have a trust fund to burn through, you might not have access to all the cards you will need.

So today I thought we would look at a deck that is a little easier on your wallet, in that it requires not a single Rare or Mythic to construct while still been somewhat competitive in ladder play. What’s more, it is a real pain for your opponents to deal with, standing toe to toe with some of the more established architypes in the format. So, let’s not waste any more time and look at a deck I like to call, Budget Airlines.


Budget Airlines is a White/Blue aerial aggro deck with a very simple game plan. Play out a ton of cheap flyers, then buff them up to swing in unopposed at your opponent’s life total. the idea been that most decks in the format focus on playing the long game or swinging in on the ground, leaving them vulnerable to an aerial assault. To achieve this, we are running twenty, one drop flyers and a whole host of anthem effects to push through the damage. What’s more, most of our creatures also have some addition value beyond simple aggro.

Healer’s Hawk life link can be a god send against other aggro decks, buffering our life total in the race to the finish line. Spectral Sailor is a useful source of repeated card draw, while also been able to flash out in our opponents end phase to avoid most removal. Faerie Guidemother gives us a pump spell attached to a 1/1 flyer, while Siren Stormtamer can protect our key pieces should it be required. Finally, Loyal Pegasus gives us raw punching power. Provided of course it has a friend.

For our anthem effects we are running a playset of both Favorable Winds and Empyrean Eagle, as well as two copies of Rally of Wings. These turn what at first appears to be a poultry force (pun very much intended) into a true terror of the skys, and if not dealt with quickly will end the game. The rest of the deck is given over to some additional card draw with a playset of Winged Words, as well as some counter magic with four copies of Lofty Denial. Throw in elven Plains and Islands and we have the Main Deck all sorted.

Creatures (24)
Healer’s Hawk
Spectral Sailor
Faerie Guidemother
Siren Stormtamer
Loyal Pegasus
Empyrean Eagle

Spells (10)
Rally of Wings
Lofty Denial
Winged Words

Enchantments (4)
Favorable Winds
Lands (22)
11 Plains
11 Island

Sideboard (15)
Baffling End
Banishing Light
Disenchant
Negate
Tormod’s Crypt
Deafening Silence
Gods Willing

For a sideboard we want to make sure we cover as many bases as possible. Since we are sticking to no Rares or Mythics, we have to be creative with our card selections. Baffling End and Banishing Light gives us some decent all-round removal options, while Disenchant takes care of Artifacts and Enchantment directly. Negate can be brought in when we are in need for more counter magic, while Tormod’s Crypt stops graveyard-based strategies gaining ground. Lastly, Deafening Silence helps stop combo decks been so annoying, while Gods Willing offers us some addition protection from removal.

If you were wanting to upgrade the deck, the first thing I would recommend is some untapped duel lands to help manage your mana base. Aside from that, there are some decent additions you could make to the list should you wish. Sephara, Sky’s Blade is a great card in this deck, while Dovin, Grand Arbiter can be a useful addition is some circumstances. But even if you don’t want to upgrade the deck, it is still a fun brew that will win you more games than your opponents will want it to.


And that about does it for Budget Airlines for Historic. What do you think about today’s deck? Is this what you want to play, or have you a different brew you want to try out? Please let me know in the comments below, and while you’re there you could like and subscribe to keep up to date with all we do here at Master of Magics.

We also have a Patreon so if you want to support future content for the site consider becoming one of our Patrons. Just a $1 a month would do so much to help us create more of the content you enjoy. If you have any ideas for new and exciting decks you want me to look at you can contact me directly @TenguPlaysGames over on Twitter. But until next time remember no matter the game you play or where you play it, Good Luck and Have Fun.

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