With my last Mythic Championship in the books, all my attention has been redirected to SCG CON Winter this weekend. SCG Tour Invitationals are my favorite tournaments to attend and some of that enjoyment is derived from personal success there. I’m ecstatic that the format was switched from Standard to Pioneer, as it was a bit depressing to think about getting walloped in a subpar format that is ruled by Oko, Thief of Crowns and its assistant, Veil of Summer. Veil of Summer has been the bane of my existence since it was printed, but luckily, I’ve received some reprieve.
The folks at headquarters decided that the card stifled deck choices and gameplay, and ruined the interaction that makes Magic such a great game. The card should never have been printed and I go into some detail in this week’s Fact or Fiction column. Veil of Summer is still lingering around in Standard and Modern, but it is not making an appearance in the first premier Pioneer tournament.
This banning leaves some clues for the future of the other competitive formats. I believe it’s very unlikely that it remains legal in Standard or Modern moving forward. Once the announcement kicks off on Monday, November 18th, I would be floored if it wasn’t erased from existence. Those who made the card, with those who play with the card, all know it was a huge mistake. Now that that the consensus is there, we can get back to casting bad black removal and horrific counterspells against creatures that are ten times more powerful than they should be.
I’m still torn in Modern on what to play this weekend. I’m between a sweet control deck and Simic Whirza. That decision is going to arrive in the eleventh hour, so I wanted to focus on what I know I will play. Welcome to traditional Esper Control in the launch of tabletop Pioneer.
Creatures (2)
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (25)
Spells (26)
I have been looking forward to playing a list like this for a very long time. I knew it was a longshot to cast Dig Through Time off a Torrential Gearhulk, but here we are. The format that allows such an interaction sounds like one control can’t compete in, but that’s not the case. Pioneer is cluttered with a bunch of mana creatures, aggressive strategies, pushover midrange decks, and some ramp decks that can be a bit on the tougher side.
A format where Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic are heavily played prompts me to react with a Supreme Verdict. Unlike in the last few Standards, most creatures played in Pioneer get wiped out by one of the best sweepers of all time. It’s clean, efficient, and ignores pesky tempo decks and their Stubborn Denial response. At the beginning of this experiment, I tested out Languish and it was a complete disaster.
Not being able to counter the sweeper is a vital ability and one that comes up often. Not only that, cards like Siege Rhino, Rhonas the Indomitable, and Lovestruck Beast all chuckle at a -4/-4. There are many other instances that cause Languish to whiff, and each can easily cause a loss. The big issue of Supreme Verdict is the double white commitment and that is where we see some percentage lost.
The manabase has undergone a few changes throughout the last few weeks, mainly to accommodate the heavier inclusion of white. This has moved the mana needle to seventeen blue sources, sixteen black sources, and fourteen white sources. The amount of each is enough, especially with access to Opt, Search for Azcanta, and a single Thought Erasure / Censor to round out the mana hunt. At this point in testing, the mana has been serviceable and Supreme Verdict has been great.
The appeal of Esper Control in Pioneer falls directly on the power of Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, and Liliana, the Last Hope. Thought Erasure, Drown in the Loch, and some decent sideboard options all sweeten the pot, but the first three sell it. With the banning of Veil of Summer, Fatal Push and Thoughtseize can deliver on their full potential.
Thoughtseize is the ageless disruption spell, played in every format it has been legal in since its printing. Taking an opponent’s perfect curve spell for one mana provides a clear edge into the caster in battlefield development. I have a very high win rate with hands that contain a Turn 1 Thoughtseize because the follow-up will have much higher impact. Taking away their next creature on-curve that early in the game, followed by a Teferi, Time Raveler to take care of their first threat, is a recipe for success.
Everyone reading this article knows how good Thoughtseize is but may not be aware how strong Fatal Push and Liliana, the Last Hope are. Fatal Push is the lone standing early removal spell that’s played in every format it’s legal in. There is no Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, or even Condemn to handle a fast enemy creature right out of the gates. Fatal Push is the premier defense spell for control, and it’s even potent in the late-game.
There are very few creatures played in Pioneer at this point that exceed four mana, making Fatal Push live at any point in the game. This is another reason for using four Fabled Passage, because one of those would likely be more helpful as a Drowned Catacomb. Turning on Revolt is tough to do from the control side without fetchlands. Fabled Passage is the best we can do, so we must make the magic happen, and it does a fine job in that role.
Liliana, the Last Hope is the most surprising card of the bunch. It seems weak in a deck like this, but in a world of Elves, Liliana is queen. Being able to pick off mana creatures, shrinking medium-level attackers, returning Torrential Gearhulk (and sideboard creatures) to the owner’s hand, and serving as one of the easiest win conditions to protect are all perks that make it a slam dunk. I had two copies in the sideboard, but it became painfully obvious that this format is going to have a heavy dose of cheap creatures to start off with. Liliana, the Last Hope feasts on small creatures and deserves a maindeck spot for it.
The other black spells in the main have really impressed me so far. I thought that Hero’s Downfall was going to be a huge burden on the deck, being in a contested mana spot and providing a mediocre service for the investment. It turns out that everyone in this format is just as obsessed with planeswalkers as I am, making Hero’s Downfall a necessary evil. Detention Sphere gets floated around; however, it doesn’t work with Torrential Gearhulk and can be destroyed. The sorcery speed of Detention Sphere also makes it a weaker candidate, putting Hero’s Downfall in the starting lineup.
Drown in the Loch is the other black removal spell on the team and that card has been an absolute all-star. I knew it would be good in Modern, but surprisingly it has overperformed in Pioneer. Without fetchlands, Drown in the Loch must patiently wait for cards to fill the opponent’s graveyard, which is a similar issue to its use in Standard. The difference between its playability here is all in the metagame and the predominance of early creatures in Pioneer.
Even if there aren’t a ton of spells hitting graveyards early on, Drown in the Loch manages to find its way to destroy a creature in the first few turns. In those hands with Thoughtseize / Thought Erasure, the stock of Drown in the Loch goes up even higher. Having them floating around the deck with Dig Through Time, providing the user a couple of guaranteed counterspells in the late-game while having the flexibility of removal, makes for an incredible card. Torrential Gearhulk also gives Drown in the Loch a boost, as it comes down in the late-game, looking for removal, card draw, and counterspells to cast again. This checks two of the three boxes.
The rest of the maindeck spells are pieces of the popular Azorius Control deck that I quickly abandoned. Casting Azorius Charm was nostalgic, but also depressing in a way. The card is simply not good, especially when compared to Fatal Push in the early-game. At the very least, I would jump on the Dimir train before sleeving up Azorius.
Dig Through Time is the real champion in the card draw spot and Sphinx’s Revelation can’t play if the former is in town. There’s a real chance that Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are eventually banned and it would be foolish not to utilize them while we can. Sphinx’s Revelation is good but Dig Through Time is broken. Comparing the two isn’t fair to my favorite Azorius spell of all time, so let’s just ignore it until we lose our delve spells.
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Teferi, Time Raveler are still the kings and deserve to be treated as such. Both iterations of the famous planeswalker have taken over the control world and refuse to let go. Both work well with what the deck is trying to accomplish and handle pesky permanents that resolve or dodge early removal. Supreme Verdict is the perfect spell to keep them safe and this type of Magic is starting to remind me why I have loved the game for as long as I have.
Teferi, Time Raveler is somehow the better of the two, coming down on Turn 3 with protection built in. Backed in the previous two turns by a piece or two of disruption, Teferi, Time Raveler prevents opponents from interacting with you on the stack, making it the scariest card to face in blue matchups. Even against aggro, it produces a tempo loss, replaces itself, and gains a little life when they attack it.
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Torrential Gearhulk are the official win conditions of the deck. Liliana, the Last Hope can do it Game 1, but the two blue beasts swoop in to take full control of the battlefield. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is just as good in Pioneer as it was in Standard, producing card advantage and a threatening ultimate right off the bat. I wanted to add a third to the deck but couldn’t figure out what to cut. I went back and forth between a Dig Through Time and a Teferi, Time Raveler; however, I am happy with the list presented before you.
The sideboard is changing constantly as I complete testing sessions online, so feel free to adapt it to your local needs. If you don’t believe your opponents are going to ditch all their removal, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy weakens. There are some metagames that will develop that require no Nyx-Fleece Ram as aggressive strategies diminish due to the power of ramp and midrange.
A lot can change in the upcoming weeks, but the big test is this weekend. Let’s see if Esper Control can spike the first paper Pioneer flag.