New MTG Arena Precon decks go on sale soon—but they aren’t what we expected

Wizards of the Coast is dropping Standard and Brawl preconstructed decks into MTG Arena on Aug. 13 as an alternative answer for new and casual players seeking to compete in best-of-one modes. 

Preconstructed decks are coming to MTG Arena on Aug. 13, but only for Standard best-of-one and Brawl formats. The goal is to give players a quick way to jump into games through purchasable Precon decks in the shop, according to the MTG Arena Announcements. Full decklists are also available in the Announcements.

Decks range in price from $15 to slightly over $50 when converted from gems to money, and there are five in total. Two are Standard legal, and the other three are Brawl decks. 

• Foundation Standard Dinosaurs deck: Costs 5,310 gems or around $25
• Standard Toxic deck: Costs 11,280 gems over just over $50
• Zada, Hedron Grinder Brawl deck: Costs 2,210 gems or around $15
• Eriette of the Charmed Apple Brawl deck: Costs 4,480 gems or around $22
• A-Raiyuu, Storms Edge Brawl deck: Costs 4,320 gems or around $20

Unlike free-to-play preconstructed decks, these Precon builds were allegedly designed for competitive play. Purchasing the Precon with no cards in your library is cheaper than buying Wildcards to craft the deck. For players who have cards already in their library, the price of the Precon will drop “at a scaling rate based on the rarity of the card,” per WotC. 

Building a deck in MTG Arena is expensive no matter the format, and most players like that WotC has added an alternative option for players who want a deck immediately. There are a few issues, though.

All the Standard decks were designed for best-of-one play only, leaving it up to the player to craft and potentially spend more money for a sideboard if they want to play competitive best-of-three games. The decks themselves aren’t “Pay to Win” by any means, and are behind the times when compared to the Bloomburrow meta. Spending over $50 on a best-of-one Championship Toxic deck that can barely get you out of Gold Rank will feel especially bad. 

The same applies to the Brawl decks. Each has neat synergies, but they were designed to perform weaker than many decks being played in the meta.  

WotC will likely continue to add new Precon decks, and might even rotate out older ones to keep them fresh. Perhaps future decks will have sideboards and contain cards that can legitimately compete within various formats.  Until then, the five new MTG Arena preconstructed decks go on sale on Aug. 13 within the Shop.