You could make a nice starter team of 50's and 60's with:
Spirithost in the leader position for her aura and to buff the team's attack power
Kael for the face wrecking
War Maiden for defense debuff on the opposing team and some face wrecking
Apothecary for his speed/turn meter buff + healing support
And if you can manage it try to gear your champions so that Apothecary has the highest speed in the group, with Spirithost the next highest, followed by War Maiden, and with Kael being just behind her. This way Apothecary goes first (assuming your team is faster than the opponent's) and buffs everyone else's speed. Then Spirithost will buff everyone's attack, followed by War Maiden making a nice aoe dent while applying her defense debuff, and Kael laying the smackdown with a high chance (if not 100%) to crit Acid Rain.
Such a team can basically carry you to gold 4 depending on gear. I'm a "pay very little to play" player and I did exactly that except I didn't get an Apothecary till way late and used High Khatun instead once I hit the login day reward for her. I actually still use her over Apothecary in arena today.
The same team can also work for defense as well. It's not the "best" but it can keep your rank relatively steady depending on your gear. The big thing for this team is speed and choosing your targets. If you don't go first you're in for a rough time, and you want to avoid teams that are high hp/defense based or that you know will outspeed you.
For someone without Apothecary I'd suggest farming up a Diabolist to use in his place since she can provide a speed buff to the team and she's farmable. Basically a beginning team with only farmable champions and your starter (Starter/Diabolist/Spirithost/War Maiden). It's almost like that's the intended beginner's/freebie's team ~_^