The first set of Pioneer results is upon us. Over 100 lists were published this week from Magic Online to give everyone the first taste of what the brand-new format has to offer. There are decks of every type: ports of previous Standard decks, combo decks, all flavors of aggro decks, and general good-stuff midrange decks. Chances are, if you’ve had a favorite deck within the past five years, there’s something to get your wheels turning to explore yourself or simply a decklist for you to read about and enjoy.
For me, I’ve enjoyed playing various linear aggressive decks. Mono-Red Aggro and Mono-White Humans top the list of decks that I’ve been battling with. There’s an entire world to explore among the Mono-Red decks, from Burn to Goblins to go-wide strategies. I dabbled in Boss Sligh a little last week to see what a Pioneer port would look like, but this time around I want to look at what aggressive white decks look like in Pioneer and how to improve on them.
Thalia’s Lieutenant is the main reason to quantify a deck as “Humans” in the absence of other payoffs like Champion of the Parish. I used to play Mono-White Humans in Shadows over Innistrad Standard with Thalia’s Lieutenant as a way to get paid. Turns out many of the efficient creatures that get printed happen to be Humans. All the Humans lists play it (or at least they should).
Charming Prince is another card I’m interested in adapting into Humans. There are some nice targets to flicker in Thraben Inspector, Knight of the White Orchid, and Thalia’s Lieutenant of course. I’ve always liked my cheap cards to generate value if possible, though in the past there weren’t enough of these creatures and some filler consideration had to be made.
Let’s look at a few Humans decks, starting with the simplest.
Creatures (34)
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 4 Boros Elite
- 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
- 4 Mardu Woe-Reaper
- 2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Benalish Marshal
- 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
Lands (18)
Spells (8)
Creatures (34)
- 2 Knight of the White Orchid
- 4 Boros Elite
- 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
- 4 Mardu Woe-Reaper
- 3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 1 Selfless Spirit
- 4 Benalish Marshal
- 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
Lands (18)
- 18 Plains
Spells (8)
When I talk about cheap cards generating value, this is what I mean. Each of these is more than a Savannah Lions. In Standard, Expedition Envoy and Dragon Hunter had to fill these slots. Mono-White Humans isn’t for the faint of heart, as you’ll need to keep a fair number of one-land hands that simply don’t feel very good if you miss on your second land for a while. Fortunately, once you do hit, Knight of the White Orchid catches you right back up.
The Standard build of Mono-White Humans had room for ten noncreature spells – four Declaration in Stone, four Always Watching, and two Gryff’s Boon. Benalish Marshal acts as the blanket pump spell you needed in addition or Thalia’s Lieutenant to warrant playing so many one-drops. Gryff’s Boon was more for closing out the game than pushing through early damage and Brave the Elements helps fill that role while not overcommitting, although four is a lot of that effect, since converting two drawn Brave the Elements into value is a tall ask. Declaration in Stone was better in Standard than it looks to be in Pioneer since there are more combo and control decks going around, so I’m skeptical if the full four of those are needed as well.
Creatures (30)
- 2 Knight of the White Orchid
- 2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Benalish Marshal
- 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
- 2 Venerated Loxodon
- 4 Venerable Knight
- 4 Worthy Knight
Lands (20)
Spells (10)
The two-of numbers here are much more believable. Erks managed a 5-0 without a sideboard, which is quite a testament to how close to correct this build may be regarding Mono-White Aggro in Pioneer.
Worthy Knight creates Humans, which is great with Thalia’s Lieutenant. It’s a shame that History of Benalia doesn’t trigger it, though.
Mutavault is a Knight, which is useful primarily with History of Benalia but sometimes Venerable Knight. Additional three-drops in History of Benalia require more than eighteen lands, so twenty here looks good.
Assorted recent Standard lands fill the deck out as ways to convert excess mana into late-game value to ensure you have a second or third wave after a sweeper or two.
As for building a sideboard, I’d start with some Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and probably another land, even a basic Plains. Not much is different between the Knight version of Mono-White and the non-Knight as far as sideboard games go, so there’s a good start.
Creatures (26)
- 3 Knight of the White Orchid
- 1 Iroas, God of Victory
- 4 Benalish Marshal
- 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
- 4 Inspiring Veteran
- 2 Venerable Knight
- 4 Worthy Knight
- 4 Fervent Champion
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (21)
Spells (9)
Boros Knights furthers the theme with Fervent Champion and Inspiring Veteran as “Knights matter” cards. We even see a playset of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar as he makes Knight Ally tokens that can be pretty useful.
However, I wouldn’t leave home with the deck unless it packed four Thalia’s Lieutenant, which seems remarkably absent. Cutting the fun-ofs of Godsend and Iroas, God of Victory would be where I’d start, and then I’d end up shaving a Conclave Tribunal and a Knight of the White Orchid to make room for four Thalia’s Lieutenant.
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (18)
Spells (27)
I’ve always been a fan of Heroic in various iterations. Mono-White Heroic has a similar feel to Humans in its monochromatic consistency and also the feel of Selesnya Hexproof.
It’s tough to pass on some of the really good cards of other colors like Ordeal of Thassa, Temur Battle Rage, or Dromoka’s Command. The Auras theme is stronger than it was in Standard Heroic insofar as permanents staying attached rather than being a short burst with the Ordeals.
Creatures (30)
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 3 Reflector Mage
- 2 Bygone Bishop
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 3 Spell Queller
- 3 Selfless Spirit
- 4 Militia Bugler
- 3 Deputy of Detention
- 4 Charming Prince
Lands (22)
Spells (8)
Not a Humans deck properly, but I wanted to address it since it’s not too far off and could possibly benefit from adding Thalia’s Lieutenant anyway. We’re already packing Charming Prince, so it’s not that outrageous. Cards higher in synergy and needing some finesse in timing increase in power when you have Smuggler’s Copter to loot, like extra copies of Okerta’s Monument.
I like a lot of what’s going on here, though there are probably too many three-drops in the deck. I guess the dream is to cast Oketra’s Monument on Turn 3 and follow up with two discounted three-drops on Turn 4.
Creatures (35)
- 4 Cartel Aristocrat
- 4 Xathrid Necromancer
- 4 Bloodsoaked Champion
- 3 Liliana, Heretical Healer
- 2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Zulaport Cutthroat
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 3 Channeler Initiate
- 4 Dauntless Bodyguard
- 3 Plaguecrafter
Lands (21)
Spells (4)
Collected Company into double Thalia’s Lieutenant was a strong combo in the past, enough to break away from many creatures that were individually strong to add a touch of synergy and a higher ceiling of power.
Here we’re putting three -1/-1 counters in service of a Liliana, Heretical Healer. Jeez.
All while getting a Zombie from Xanthid Necromancer and draining them with Zulaport Cutthroat. Double Jeez.
Cartel Aristocrat gives the deck its Aristocratic name. Sacrifice whatever at instant speed and trigger all the things that care about stuff dying. Dauntless Bodyguard looks to be a key piece to this puzzle to both protect combo elements as well as provide another instant-speed sacrifice to, say, transform Liliana, Heretical Healer on command.
I like the Plaguecrafters here as removal spells that can nab planeswalkers sometimes. This Abzan Aristocrats deck is very dense and reliant on assembling your creature engine, so there’s not really room for actual removal spells like Fatal Push or Abrupt Decay.
So basically this Abzan Aristocrats deck slid Thalia’s Lieutenant into a deck that didn’t need it because the juice was worth the squeeze. I’m sure other cards like Priest of Forgotten Gods or Hunted Witness could round out slots, but no need. Thalia’s Lieutenant is just a good Plan B (“B” stands for “Beatdown.”)
Creatures (30)
- 4 Experiment One
- 4 Mantis Rider
- 2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Reflector Mage
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Benalish Marshal
- 4 Charming Prince
Lands (22)
Spells (8)
Four-Color Humans resembles the Modern Humans deck much more closely. It’s missing a lot of key elements, though – no Noble Hierarch, Cavern of Souls, Aether Vial, Ancient Ziggurat, or Horizon Canopy. Curving out Experiment One into Mantis Rider might be tough. I guess Smuggler’s Copter helps fill in the gaps when looking for a smooth draw. What a great card.
This is likely the most powerful of all the Humans lists, but also the most susceptible to mana problems, including taking too much damage from Mana Confluences.
Creatures (30)
- 1 Archangel of Thune
- 1 Bruna, the Fading Light
- 4 Gisela, the Broken Blade
- 4 Lone Rider
- 4 Glory-Bound Initiate
- 1 Lyra Dawnbringer
- 2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
- 4 Resplendent Angel
- 4 Healer's Hawk
- 1 Sephara, Sky's Blade
- 4 Hushbringer
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (3)
Sideboard
Not Humans, but this is a Mono-White beatdown-ish deck. I’ve been known to kick it with the Soul Sisters from time to time.
Hushbringer is pushing out a few sweet creatures that enter the battlefield, like Charming Prince to go in your Lone Rider deck. Hushbringer needs to pull some serious weight in Pioneer to warrant that.
Healer’s Hawk into Glory-Bound Initiate into Resplendent Angel is a heck of a curve that generates a Serra Angel immediately for you.
The first thing I’d do here would be to get four Radiant Fountain in the deck immediately. It transforms Lone Rider from just its own lifegain. It can get you an Angel from Resplendent Angel from just Glory-Bound Initiate (or some combination of gaining three life, like three Healer’s Hawk).
No Ajani’s Pridemate is strange, but I understand there not being much room in the two-drop slot. Ajani, Strength of the Pride is nice, but I’d like to see it complementing the Pridemate rather than being the only source for them.
Mono-White Lifegain looks to be quite difficult to build and quite a metagame call. The lifegain strategies love to prey on aggro decks, which usually take some metagame development to discover.
In the early weeks I’m liking the streamlined Humans decks, specifically Mono-White Knights, the best. After things shake out, I can 100% believe myself picking up some lifegain cards to put the clamps on various Mono-Red and Mono-White Aggro decks.