Top 6 MTG Arena Best Red Decks

Updated:

11 Dec 2023

What are some of the best red decks in Magic: the Gathering Arena?

Everyone has their favorite color of mana in Magic: the Gathering, but it’s hard to deny that red cards are some of the most exciting. Red mana represents strength, fire, and ferocity, and players that like to hit their enemies hard and fast gravitate towards it. Listed here are some of the best decks that use red mana, and how to play them.

6. Mardu Hero

I need a hero: With cards like Tajic, Legion's Edge you can buff your other cards.

This deck is an improvement of an old red-black-white aggro deck called Mardu Aggro, but this one adds the card Hero of Precinct One. The deck builds around Hero of Precinct One’s ability to create token creatures whenever you cast a multicolored spell with a deck full of multicolored spells and non-basic lands. This acts like many aggro decks, dealing damage early on with creatures that scale using the mentor ability and versatile removal cards.

Why it’s so great:

Hero of Precinct One supplements an already good deck with free 1/1 token creatures.

Creatures with mentor can buff smaller creatures into threats that opponents cannot ignore early in the game.

Contains a wider variety of removal cards than your standard red aggro deck. You can actually deal with spells other than creatures.

Cards:

Godless Shrine x4
Isolated Chapel x4
Blood Crypt x4
Dragonskull Summit x4
Clifftop Retreat x4
Sacred Foundry x4
Footlight Fiend x3
Boros Challenger x4
Hero of Precinct One x4
Swiftblade Vindicator x4
Judith, the Scourge Diva x4
Tajic, Legion’s End x3
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice x2
Theater of Horrors x2
Carnival // Carnage x2
Bedeck // Bedazzle x1
Mortify x2
Revival // Revenge x1
Heroic Reinforcements x4

How to use this deck:

Play Hero of Precinct One early to establish a better board control.

When your mentor abilities trigger, you get the most value by putting the +1/+1 tokens on Swiftblade Vindicator. It’s Double Strike, Vigilance, and Trample abilities become exponentially more valuable the larger it is.

Be sure to manage your lands carefully. The fact that all of the land in this deck comes into play tapped unless certain conditions are met can severely limit the effectiveness of what is supposed to be a fast-paced aggro deck if you aren’t careful.

Rating: 68/100

5. Gruul Midrange

They do move in herds: Crush your enemies with the power of the Jurassic period.

The Gruul are known for their ferocity and strength, and this deck does not disappoint. It is a midrange deck with some mana-producing creatures designed to get some powerful dinosaurs onto the field as quickly as possible. Once you have more than one of your endgame cards on the battlefield, it will take a miracle for your opponents to avoid being crushed.

Why it’s so great:

Contains cards that boost your mana scaling to get bigger creatures out earlier.

Has a variety of low-cost creatures that have the potential to become medium-sized creatures, either through exploring or the presence of other cards in play.

Has many powerful creatures that let you crush your opponents by mid-game.

Cards:

Mountain x6
Forest x13
Rootbound Crag x4
Llanowar Elves x4
Lava Coil x3
Drover of the Mighty x2
Merfolk Branchwalker x4
Wildgrowth Walker x4
Legion Warboss x3
Jadelight Ranger x4
Rekindling Phoenix x2
Vivian Reid x2
Regisaur Alpha x4
Carnage Tyrant x3
Ghalta, Primal Hunger x2

How to use this deck:

Play Llanowar Elves and Drover of the Mighty early to get extra mana spending power. Prioritize other creatures for blocking, because these can’t provide mana for your big dinos if they’re dead.

Use explore cards to either draw mana more quickly (to play those big dinos) or get bigger creatures early on (to gain more control of the board).

Use Vivian Reid to gain more lands as well, then buff all of your creatures permanently.

Play your big creatures and win. That’s it.

Rating: 74/100

4. Boros Angels

Holy zeal: If your main complaint about Magic is that there's not enough smiting, this deck might be for you.

The Boros Legion is a group of holy warriors led by resplendent angels, so it makes sense that the best red-white Boros deck would have angels at the center. Other than the obvious advantage that strong creatures with flying give a deck overall, this deck has a good combination of cards that prevent opponents from gaining a strong presence on the board until you can get out your big guns.

Why it’s so great:

Tocatli Honor Guard prevents opponents from controlling the board by preventing abilities from triggering when a creature enters the battlefield.

Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and Lyra Dawnbreaker help other creatures scale well into mid- and late-game.

If you maintain decent control of the board into mid-game, powerful fliers will secure your victory by bypassing opponent’s defenses.

Cards:

Plains x8
Boros Guildgate x3
Clifftop Retreat x4
Mountain x5
Sacred Foundry x4
Field of Ruin x1
Adanto Vanguard x4
Tocatli Honor Guard x4
Lava Coil x4
Justice Strike x3
History of Benalia x4
Resplendent Angel x4
Ixalan’s Binding x2
Rekindling Phoenix x4
Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice x3
Lyra Dawnbreaker x3

How to use this deck:

Use Ixalan’s Binding wisely. Since it not only exiles a permanentcard, but prevents opponents from playing any copies of that card, use it on cards that are important in the current meta.

History of Benalia can be used to gain control of the board, since the third step in the saga will not only buff the soldiers that the saga itself created, but also the lower cost creatures you have already played, since they are all soldiers as well.

Use powerful fliers to pass your opponent’s blockers and finish them off in mid-game.

Play Tocatli Honor Guard early to deny maximum utility, especially against explore decks or powerful enchantments like Ajani’s Welcome

Rating: 80/100

3. Gates Nexus

Gates Scott: Use the power of time travel to pull off some devastating combos.

All of the previous decks have been relatively simple, efficient decks, but here is where the really fun combos start coming out. This is a 4-color deck, but red mana still plays a big role in keeping the combos going. The deck centers around a card called Nexus of Fate, and a special type of land called Gates.

Why it’s so good:

Lets you get and play Gate lands quickly, giving you mana for high value cards.

Lets you untap lands and take extra turns, increasing the amount of land you have available and the number of cards you can play before your opponent can play.

Allows you to play high damage, high cost spells to destroy your opponents.

Cards:

Forest x1
Island x1
Azorius Guildgate x4
Gruul Guildgate x4
Izzet Guildgate x4
Plaza of Harmony x4
Selesnya Guildgate x4
Simic Guildgate x4
Growth Spiral x4
Hydroid Krasis x4
Deafening Clarion x2
Guild Summit x4
Gates Ablaze x4
Circuitous Route x4
Wilderness Reclamation x4
Expansion // Explosion x4
Nexus of Fate x4

How to use this deck:

Use Circuitous Route and Growth Spiral to play lands at a faster rate than the standard one per turn.

Use Deafening Clarion or Gates Ablaze as relatively cheap board wipes, capitalizing on the fact that you have relatively few creatures.

Play Wilderness Reclamation to get free mana for instant-speed spells during your opponent’s turn. Then, play Nexus of Fate during their turn to gain extra turns after.

Spend your increased mana pool on spells with an X cost and get the most value from the card.

Use expansion to double the effect of high-value sorceries or instants, including Nexus of Fate, which allows you to get yet another extra turn.

Although Nexus of Fate is banned in some game modes, you can replace it with Gatebreaker Ram for more board control but less combo potential.

Rating: 83/100

2. UR Drakes

Creature combos: The creatures you play get stronger the more sorceries and instants you play.

Both blue and red decks often rely heavily on instants and sorceries, with blue spells providing a wide variety of utility and red ones basically just hurting things. If you’re going to have instants and sorceries in your red-blue deck anyway, why not add a few other cards that reward you for using them?

Why it’s so great:

Has a variety of instants and sorceries to prevent opponents from playing cards and to eliminate creatures in the early game.

Has many options to draw cards for small mana costs, which allows players to have more options opponents.

Mid-game cards increase in value with the number of instant and sorcery cards in the graveyard.

Cards:

Island x8
Dragonskull Summit x1
Mountain x4
Steam Vents x4
Sulfur Falls x4
Dive Down x3
Opt x4
Pteramander x4
Spell Pierce x3
Shock x4
Chart a Course x4
Lava Coil x4
Beacon Bolt x1
Enigma Drake x4
Crackling Drake x4
Discovery // Dispersal x4

How to use this deck:

Counter your opponent’s important non-creature cards early.

Destroy your opponent’s weak creatures with your red spells early.

Leave mana open for your instant-speed spells if you think your opponent can play something important.

Scry and draw whenever you can, as long as you can still deal with threats your opponent plays.

Play Enigma Drake and Crackling Drake once you’ve played at least a couple instants or sorceries.

Rating: 89/100

1. Mono-Red Aggro

Need for speed: Cards like Goblin Chainwhirler let you get free damage on your opponent as early and often as possible.

The Mono-Red Aggro deck is one of the simplest on this list, but its simplicity is why it is so effective. It’s like a good burger: cheap, fast, and flame-broiled.

Why it’s so great:

Made up of cheap, common cards.

Contains many early ways to deal with threats.

Allows you to eliminate your opponent before they can establish a presence on the board.

One of the best decks in the current meta.

Cards: