I was gonna have Raised by Wolves in this deck. I Really wanted to have Raised by Wolves in this deck, even though it wasn't any good. I'm really sad that none of these teaching decks play Raised by Wolves, it's just one of those sweet and splashy cards that I wanted to use.
Anywho, So this is a project I wanted to engage in- To make a set of 10+ super-budget 60-card decks that are simple, relatively easy to play, relatively easy to understand, and bring across the fundamentals of how Magic Works. We've since gone way past 10, with tons more in the works, and I've really enjoyed the challenge of trying to make these decks easy to play and understand, fun, and all under a $15 budget, sideboard included.
The main goal here is that you could easily build these deck for a low cost and use them as an easy introduction to how magic works, to teach a group of new players both how to play, and give them a sense of Why, a sense of what fun things they're getting into. These decks aren't gonna be particularly good, or even legal in any particular format if it stops me from including a card I think is good for the deck, but they should be fun and interesting without being too hard to get into. They should be an easily-accessible example of how fun Magic: The Gathering can be.
As for budget: Maindeck cost is currently at ~$10.80 (according to the middle blue numbers on this very site under estimated value), sideboard at about ~$4.10, so we slide it at (by my math, at time of writing) 6 cents under-budget. I always enjoy when I get it just barely, even though I probably shouldn't.
So mostly this section is going to be notes on why I think these are good cards to learn from:
Brazen Scourge is a haste 3/3 for 3. Simple, brutal and effective. Good way to start the show with a deck like this. Khenra Charioteer has the same statline and cmc, but also brings to the table trample for the whole gang, which is fun. And Boon Satyr is one of the cards where I choose to lets it be a bit complicated, but he's a solid enough body as a 3-drop (and that flash is nice), and he's even sweeter as an enchantment on turn 5. Needs to be used carefully with the sideboard though, as the only creature in the deck that dies to pyroclasm.
At 4, Gorehorn Minotaurs can often be a 5/5 for 4, which is sweet, Gor-clan rampager is simple and powerful, and can be used for bloodrush as a combat trick if need be, and Polis Crusher is a solid beating with a late-game mana sink. A lot of this section is just big beaters.
At the top of the curve, we've got Outland Colossus, big powerful creature with great trample synergy, if Khenra Charioteer is out, that feels great in the hands of a new player- it's a giant beater that you use to go face. Simple, Powerful, effective. And the lesson that it's not actually an amazing creature despite its stats is a useful one for new players to learn.
For spells- Ground Assault is fun removal in a midrange list, Searing Spear and Pit Fight are removal classics that keep the complexity manageable and work well in this list, and Mouth to Feed is a sweet way to get card advantage in a deck like this, that I've been using in a bunch of these decks. Front half is another 3/3 for 3, which is perfectly fair in this deck, while the back half will draw you a card for every creature on your board, which is pretty nice.
Manabase is meant to be a touch lacking, but also super-budget. I'll be doing the same for all of them.
As for the sideboard, this IS supposed to be a sideboard they learn how to use, to make their deck perform better in the right matchups, or just in general to customize their decks within constraints.
Pyroclasm is a solid board-in against aggressive decks, as is Sheltering Word, which can be used for lifegain, or boarded in against more removal-heavy decks for hexproof.
Destructive Revelry is solid Enchantment and Artifact hate, and plummet is great against fliers. There will be times when they wish I'd used Tears of Valakut instead, mainly to kill the Glyph Keepers I keep putting in the blue control decks, but Pummet is sweet.
Pit Fight and Searing Spear are extra removal if you want it, and Life's Legacy I thought was an interesting way to give the deck more card advantage- Minimum gain is a 2-cards-for-3 trade, at the expense of a fair amount of tempo, but if you use it on a Gorehorn Minotaurs, it's sick value.