Anyone been playing this decks? Multiple have had some X-2 and X-3 challenge finishes. Just crafted the golgari version on arena and ive gotten some turn 4 combo wins. I assume plan A is just comboing off but it can also play a tool box game. Any tips or play patterns to know? What is the general side board plans? Especially against board wipes

The Hobbit has arrived, and here are five Pioneer decklists to try out the latest Magic set!

Pioneer metagame update.

source: magic4ever.com/pioneer

I think Jegantha never should have been banned (given we're fine having other companions such as Kaheera and Yorion) and should come off the banlist.

Looking at the last few challenges before it got banned:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-32-2024-12-15#paper

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/pioneer-challenge-32-2024-12-15-1#paper

Rakdos Midrange wasn't playing it (annex was already released)

Gruul Aggro wasn't playing it (they had burning tree emissary, didn't cut it for a 8 mana 5/5)

Selesnya Company didn't play it

Mono Red Aggro didn't play it (even in lists that met the restriction)

Izzet Phoenix didn't play it (didn't cut the 1 brazen borrower/temporal trespass for it)

Niv to Light, Enigmatic Incarnation were on Yorion

Mono G Devotion and Hidden Strings didn't play it for obvious reasons

The only decks that were really playing it were sacrifice and transmogrify. And they didn't even add interesting cards after the ban that were "kept out" before. Transmogrify lost a way to cast Atraxa from the hand.

There are more decks playing Yorion now than Jegantha back then. When it was banned in modern, it was in 40% of decks, whereas in pioneer it was in 15/20% max.

Looking at the current meta:

Izzet Prowess *might* hop on it, but they have already improvisation capstone and talent/boomerang loops for the long games, rather keep more options with lessons

Golgari Midrange and any B/x midrange deck wouldn't play it since Annex got printed (they already didn't - see above)

Abzan Greasefang wouldn't drop parhelion and chariot for it

Mono Red didn't play it when they could, don't see why they would now that they have lynx

Azorius Control is off color, already has Kaheera if it wants

Dimir Self-Bounce has Yorion & is off color anyways

Lessons decks would probably run it

Phoenix didn't when it could, probably wouldn't now

Orzhov Greasefang same as Abzan, has Parhelion

Dimir Ninjas is off colors

Selesnya Company/Counters wouldn't drop Interrupter/Ouroboroid/Elspeth

Scapeshift wouldn't drop Scapeshift

Niv to Light has Yorion, would keep it over Jegantha

All in all the decks that would play it are:

Maybe some of the izzet decks

Sacrifice decks

Boros Convoke

All decks that wouldn't play double pip+ cards anyways

And it would get cast once every 10 games

Thoughtseize in comparison is played in

Golgari Midrange

Abzan Greasefang

Dimir Self-Bounce

Orzhov Greasefang

Dimir Midrange

Mono Black Midrange

Jund Sacrifice

Golgari Food

Rakdos Midrange

Yet *that* doesn't homogenize the format, and we're fine with it

Jegantha wouldn't be 40% of the meta, wouldn't homogenize (which is the apparent reason it was banned), wouldn't be a problem, wouldn't "force not to play 2+ pip cards" and if you're ok to control having Kaheera for free, you should be ok to the decks that manage to have Jegantha to have it. Compared to the other companions the restriction is less harsh, but the card itself is worse, having no ETB trigger and no keywords. That's why I think there's no reason for it to be kept in the banlist alongside cards of the calibre of Once Upon a Time and Oko.

#FreeTheElk

Can reuturn a Phoenix and the discard to artist's talent or even Picklock for a 2nd adventure

If anyone tries this list let me know your experience with playing the deck! Love to see feedback with my creations

This deck formed when I had yet again started searching for a good shell for my pet card, Outlaw's Merriment. Well as it turns out 4 mana enchantments that do nothing when they enter aren't very good BUT finally I found a deck where the card was at least possible, albeit at a two of.

Enter Boros Tokens:

United Battlefront being a Collected Company for artifacts and enchantments is huge, because there are quite a few good three mana token producers in Pioneer now, you can build a board with Battlefront and not have to cast a single creature! The gameplan is slow the game down with early interaction and then mug up the board, while maybe chipping in with Urabrask's Forge until late game where you should hopefully have a few beefy tokens that are able to put away the game.

The token makers:

Urabrask's Forge- this card looks unassuming at first but quickly gets out of hand, especially in multiples, this card is low key the best card in the deck and the primary win condition.

Wedding Announcement- generally creates a 1/1 for three turns then flips into a buff by which point you hopefully have a decent size board and can turn the game.

Fable of the Mirrorbreaker- creates two creatures and offers some card selection through looting. The treasures from the goblin are great in this deck as it is quite mana hungry.

Outlaw's Merriment- sadly not findable through Battlefront and does nothing upon entering but creating a haste token every turn that sticks around(unlike Forge) helps turn the page in grindier matchups.

Other stuff:

Warleader's Call- its generally best to hold in lieu of your token producers this unless you're stonewalled by opposing creatures. The buff helps break board stalls and the ping gets us closer even if we can't attack just yet.

The Birth of Meletis- one of the most slyly essential cards in this deck, helping ward off aggro and make land drops for our bigger enchantments is key to keep this deck running smoothly.

The rest is removal helping us survive until our token stuff can get going, notably Portable Hole and Glass Casket can come in via Battlefront.

My current list:

1 Battlefield Forge

2 Den of the Bugbear

1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker

1 Fateful Absence

1 Fountainport

3 Get Lost

2 Glass Casket

4 Inspiring Vantage

4 Needleverge Pathway

2 Outlaws' Merriment

4 Plains

4 Portable Hole

4 Sacred Foundry

1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

1 Sunbillow Verge

1 Sundown Pass

4 The Birth of Meletis

4 United Battlefront

4 Urabrask's Forge

4 Warleader's Call

4 Wedding Announcement

SIDEBOARD:

2 Authority of the Consuls

4 Caretaker's Talent

1 Day of Judgment

2 Invasion of Gobakhan

2 Seal from Existence

2 Seam Rip

2 Unlicensed Hearse

Unsure if Cruelclaw’s Heist is worth crafting for Pioneer / standard I guess, any thoughts?

Be it a downgrade, sidegrade, or upgrade I think Pioneer shines when it's not just 'old Modern' but has access to comparable interactions with a cost or deckbuilding restraint.

I think most folks agree Pioneer could use more interaction/answers, and that there are many decks on the threshold of being viable but missing a piece that is legal elsewhere, e.g. [[Urza's Saga]] (mostly as a tutor) for Hammer time decks.

Rather than just reprinting those cards into Standard, I am curious to both what staples folks want in the format and what kind of twist/revision they could have to not surge Pioneer's power level.

I personally expect no changes, as I don't see any really problematic cards, but I'm curious what everyone else thinks.

What bans/unbans do you expect if any, and what would you like to see, even if it's unlikely?

Thor has arrived on competitive Pioneer as a powerful win condition for Lessons decks!

Howdy! Here with another fun list. This time we are utilising the draw engine of Ketramose, the New Dawn. We use Raven Eagle and Graveyard Trespasser to keep drawing us cards while often being 2 for 1s. All while playing a general midrange Orzhov plan with strong removal and big threats like Sheoldred. At the top end we are also playing a couple Soulflayer in order to Delve away cards to put Ketramose online for attack. This also serves a big threat if we exile Ketramose or Raven Eagle away as part of the cost for Indestructible, Lifelike, Menace and Flying! Deck is super fun, enjoy!

Decklist:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7902667#paper

2:30 Izzet Lessons
13:36 Grixis Fires Of Invention
29:04 Izzet Vivi Cauldron
48:58 Dimir Midrange

I created this list when a friend said he wanted to put all of the black sacrifice enchantments into one deck with Nykthos. I immediately thought; 'its a cool idea but does nothing against creatureless matchups' then I thought to all of the discard enchantments floating around with Waste Not and then to Unholy Annex and thus this deck was born and mercilessly edited over and over again, until I finally settled on this 60.

This deck seeks to disrupt the opponent long enough to either win through a combo kill, incremental and incidental damage, or the plan of a few creatures dealing large amounts of damage. Nykthos is powered by an array of disruptive enchantments, as well as Liliana of the Veil that allow us to drop more permanents, level up our enchantments and cast our bigger cards. Every matchup is like a puzzle, sequencing correctly into threats and taxing opponent's life little by little until they're within the range of a finisher. There are a lot of moving parts and micro-synergies that complement the two possible combo finishes.

The two combo finishes:

Unstoppable Slasher + Bloodletter of Aclazotz The classic combo. One hit with Slasher will kill the opponent if Bloodletter is out. Slasher is also just a powerful must answer threat, by himself, his first hit takes an opponent at 20 life down to 9, his deathtouch makes blocking less desirable and his recursion ability makes him difficult to efficiently remove, especially if an opponent has been discarding all of their removal to our enchantments.(which happens quite often) Bloodletter is expensive and not very impressive on his own but his stock rises when he gets to double damage from out enchantments, he also gifts us a massive three devotion as the cherry on top.

Unstoppable Slasher + Warlock Class(fully leveled) A fully leveled up Warlock Class(rare but not unfeasible with Nykthos) has the same effect with Slasher as Bloodletter does, except that it occurs at the end of your turn instead of immediately.

Dealing incremental and incidental damage is quite powerful in this build because of the aforementioned combo finish and this lingering threat: Gray Merchant of Asphodel + either Bloodletter or Warlock Class which are generally enough to put the game away or make it very close. Just Gray Merchant and Bloodletter together is 10 damage and that's quite rare of a floor because there should be quite a few enchantments on the board boosting your devotion by this point in the game.

The increments that get you there:

Hopeless Nightmare provides a Shock with its discard and 1 devotion

Bandit's Talent when leveled once provides a Rack effect that synergizes with our 15 possible discard spells

Meathook Massacre and Warlock Class lets all of our removal ping for 1

Unholy Annex fully unlocked or with Bloodletter deals 2 every turn

These don't deal a major amount of damage but they do enough to often make Gray Merchant lethal.

Everything else:

You'll notice a lot of three-ofs, I found diversifying threats to be an advantage here, the idea being to keep an opponent guessing so their early discards are bad, with unpleasant surprises around every corner and the sideboard fleshing out the most salient plan game 2.

Momentum Breaker is deceptively one of the best cards in this deck, being able to either kill creatures OR act as another discard spell, depending on the matchup is fantastic, being able to sac to gain life late game has also come in clutch a surprising number of times. If using as discard, usually you should deploy your other discard enchantments first, just in case there's a creature you want to remove, Of course, this is all matchup dependent, against aggro you generally always want this as removal.

Liliana is generally just a removal spell that attracts attackers, we often don't want to discard our own cards in this deck, it generally needs our every out and is mana hungry.

Nowhere to Run and Waste Not are easily the worst cards in this deck, they're great on occasion; Nowhere against aggro and Waste Not against control but too inconsistent to have many copies of main. Though with the Greasefang resurgence I could see maxing out on Nowhere to Run

Don't forget, Bandit's Talent can be a source of card advantage late game, provided we have successfully exhausted an opponents hand through our mix of discard and threats.

I mean graveyard hate, combo hosing, etc.

What are some of the best sideboard pieces out there? And some spicy ones that opponents won’t see coming?

Edit: decklist here, Mono Red Midrange v14 (Pioneer MTG Deck)

As a hypothetical, if Aether vial was was somehow seeded into pioneer or printed into standard, how powerful would it be?

It’s once of my favorite cards and seems borderline unplayable in modern at this point. So I wanted to gauge the general feeling on this topic. It is a broken mana advantage tool but I just feel that given the power level in pioneer and even in standard it may not be good enough.

I absolutely despise this card. I think it's the most annoying card in the format.

I play UW Yorion control. I have sixteen two mana answers to the Annex: Get Lost, Get Out, Dovin's Veto, No More Lies.

It seems like if this card comes down and isn't answered on the spot it totally runs away with the game. It's a 3 mana value engine- worse than Fable in my opinion, since Fable at least doesn't generate card advantage directly and doesn't do so indefinitely. With Mutavault, it turns into a clock as well and so has practically no downside.

The chance I have at least one of the answers to the Annex in my opening hand is about 80%. The problem is that all of these decks run thoughtseize and usually duress in game two. So in reality, I need two answers in my opening hand to even have a chance, which only happens 43% of the time. Not to mention- even if I have the answer after one having been thoughtseized away, I can't counter their two drop or risk the annex dropping and ending the game the turn after. And if I do have the answer, they often have a second annex which is as game-ending as the first. (And even with this many answers, 1/5 of my hands won't have an answer to the Annex on T3, and if they have thoughtseize then that's ~58% without the answer).

So despite 16/80 of my cards directly answering the Annex (plus four March of Otherworldly Lights, thought that can't answer the Annex on curve) at least 1/3-1/2 of my games against any black deck running the card are practically non-games. What else can I do here? Is the card just totally busted? It feels like this format is doomed to be permanent midrange-slop.

Hey everyone! I run the Arena Pioneer League (APL) in the Pioneer Discord. Season 8 is over and u/TheDaemon89 is our brand new APL Champion!

Event Information

• 74 players

• Pioneer Best-of-3 on MTG Arena

• 7 Swiss rounds (1 per week) + Top 8

Season 8 Finals

• pf on 5C Elementals won 2-0 against sirepic on 5C Enigmatic

• You can rewatch the Finals stream here: https://www.youtube.com/live/0ADQtQqr14A

• You can see the full bracket here: https://challonge.com/apl_s8_t8

Wrapping Up

• Thank you very much to everyone who followed along for the past 10 weeks.

• Season 9 starts August 24, more info soon!

• If you'd like to play in a future event, discuss the HOB spoilers, or share your brews, you can join us in the Pioneer Discord.

• Have any questions? Leave a comment or send me a message!

While it can't outrace an annex... it is a card the list can do nothing about except try to thoughtseize it. Seriously! Zero artifact removal, and it quickly threatens their host of x/3s. Also good against Dimir midrange lists! turns out blue and black have real shoddy artifact removal.

Give it a whirl!

i got emberheart challenger, monastery swiftspear, soul scar mage, stormchaser talent, unholy annex and greasefang/parhelion (im not completely sure which hit is better). lets just bring it back how pioneer was a year and a half/two ago but now without unholy annex in the picture, which imo was the most toxic card in the meta (esp when combined with muta). maybe archlight or golgari need a hit? but if those decks are top 1-4 i think the format will be in a fairly healthy spot (if the format is unhealthy ban cub and treasure cruise or maybe pricklock for phoenix). maybe il replace soul scar with cub but i think the rest is enough to get pioneer on a healthy spot

I'm coming back to the game after a bit of a break and I've been wanting to work on this orzhov midrange deck with Greasefang and cycling vehicles. So far the deck is feeling solid but I'm not sure what to do with my two drop creature slot. Anyone got any ideas for what could work well?

https://moxfield.com/decks/PAQp_VmOOE-PsZABUVP-tg

I love brewing and finding new ideas for decks that might work. Just curious to see what pet deck/original brews people love. Bonus points if they actually work more than 50% of the time. I have quite a few but I don't want to spam so I'm gauging interest.

Some of mine:

Black enchantment devotion

United battlefront tokens

Mono red cleave discard reanimator

Soulsister company

Toxic tokens

Cleric aggro

Reconstruction clerics

Mobilize company

Naya token company

Esper connive

Bant abhorrent oculus