Recently, a local store in Las Vegas, Darkside Games, announced a Team Pioneer tournament to help promote this incredible new format. My friends Rob Pisano and Jacob Wilson agreed to team with me for a chance to get some experience for the upcoming Players Tour in Phoenix and maybe win a little cash in the process.
In preparing for this event, we’ve all scoured Pioneer for cards high and low that could give us the edge, and found numerous hidden gems as well as overrated or inefficient sacred cows. There are a lot of cards people aren’t playing, but should, and a lot of cards (and decks) that people are playing, but shouldn’t.
1: Simic Food Is the Best Deck
Gerry Thompson hit the nail on the head with his list of Simic Food last week, the same one that Gal Schlesinger (yamakiller on MTGO) took to first place in the online PTQ the very next day. Despite banning bits and pieces of the deck to chip away at its power (Leyline of Abundance) and consistency (Oath of Nissa, Once Upon a Time), the core of the deck is still powerful. Simply shifting from a full-blown Devotion theme to a midrange-friendly Food-Devotion blended theme was enough to keep opponents from being able to properly sideboard for it and therefore secure wins.
Creatures (27)
- 3 Llanowar Elves
- 2 Scavenging Ooze
- 3 Elvish Mystic
- 3 Walking Ballista
- 4 Jadelight Ranger
- 4 Hydroid Krasis
- 4 Gilded Goose
- 4 Wicked Wolf
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (23)
Spells (2)
Simic Food has few vulnerabilities, mostly in the consistency department (which is understandable, as it can flood on mana creatures or get stuck with a handful of expensive payoffs and no mana). Despite that, it’s making use of the immense mana advantage that the ten mana creatures grant, and leveraging that to hammer powerful threats is the most powerful proactive strategy in Pioneer for that reason alone.
2: Mono-Black Can Still Exist Without Smuggler’s Copter
Smuggler’s Copter was an extremely powerful centerpiece of Pioneer for its short time in the format, without a doubt. It enabled Mono-Black Aggro to basically never flood, it acted as a powerful evasive threat, and it worked miracles with the synergistic Scrapheap Scrounger and Bloodsoaked Champion.
But it was not the only thing that enabled Mono-Black, and an altered form of Mono-Black is still playable without it. Though Smuggler’s Copter was the obvious way that the aggro deck avoided flooding, the secret was in Castle Locthwain and Mutavault.
There are actually two Mono-Black decks that exist right now in Pioneer, and it’s unclear which one of them is going to be the pre-eminent version going forward, Vampires or Zombies.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Death Baron
- 4 Diregraf Ghoul
- 4 Relentless Dead
- 4 Cryptbreaker
- 2 Lord of the Accursed
- 4 Dread Wanderer
- 3 Graveyard Marshal
- 2 Murderous Rider
Lands (23)
Spells (10)
Creatures (21)
- 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
- 2 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
- 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
- 4 Gifted Aetherborn
- 2 Dusk Legion Zealot
- 4 Champion of Dusk
- 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion
- 2 Murderous Rider
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (10)
Vampires benefits from the powerful suite of planeswalkers it can incorporate on three mana, while Zombies gets to utilize Cryptbreaker and Dark Salvation, as well as numerous powerful lords, to build a massive army.
Should Zombies include Liliana’s Mastery? Or perhaps more lifegain to support its Thoughtseizes, Cryptbreakers, and Castle Locthwains? A higher quantity of lords? Lazotep Reaver, to bring two bodies worth of Zombie flesh onto the battlefield in one card? Should Vampires become more devoted to Gray Merchant of Asphodel? These are questions that will be answered with iteration, though it seems clear that Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is a key to keeping the extra life flowing in post-sideboard games.
Additionally, the useful Fourth Bridge Prowler can find a spot in sideboards as long as Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic remain at the top of the format. Prior to Smuggler’s Copter being banned, I was advocating for it to be a maindeck staple, as it crewed Copter just fine and occasionally offered a blowout on Turn 1. Now that there’s less of a use for a random 1/1 body, though, the card is way less desirable. An additional issue is that if an opponent casts Gilded Goose, you end up looking foolish with your Prowler. Hence Disfigure as the supplemental one-mana removal spell of choice at the moment.
But the real appeal here is in the manabase, which is rock-solid, highly consistent, packed with threats and a busted card-draw engine, and free from color issues (outside of occasional unwanted double-Mutavault draws). It outgrinds midrange decks, applies pressure, and includes actual powerful cards. Don’t sleep on Mono-Black.
3: Do Not Play Midrange or Durdly Control
I see too many people playing durdly midrange or control decks with no real way of closing out the game. Sure, your Sultai Midrange deck plays a lot of powerful cards, strong spells like Oko, Thief of Crowns and Abrupt Decay, but it doesn’t actually outgrind Mono-Black Vampires, it’s got a worse manabase, and it doesn’t apply reasonable pressure. You are going to flood, and you are going to get hammered by better end-games.
It doesn’t matter how many extra Clue tokens you’ve made or how many Foods you’re generating; you’re still not beating an Experimental Frenzy, or a Castle Locthwain-fueled aggro deck, or a Lotus Field-fueled combo deck.
You would rather go kill your opponent quickly, or absolutely bury them with an unbeatable late-game. You don’t want to spend time with conditional answers and no clock, or with incremental advantage-generating permanents that are easily eclipsed.
Play Castle Locthwain and Mutavault. Play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Hydroid Krasis. Play Bomat Courier and Experimental Frenzy. Don’t play Abrupt Decay and Tireless Tracker and expect them to beat these other decks consistently. Don’t play Sphinx’s Revelation and Supreme Verdict and expect to beat the power and consistency of these strong decks.
4: Mono-Red Is Being Built Wrong
Do not play Eidolon of the Great Revel in your maindeck. To be frank, the Prowess/Burn version of Mono-Red Aggro is not even the best option at all. There are a couple of different ways to build the archetype, as discussed last week, but it seems like the most powerful option involves Experimental Frenzy.
Aaron Barich had a pretty solid first take on the list, which I’d update to the following:
Creatures (22)
- 4 Monastery Swiftspear
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 4 Soul-Scar Mage
- 3 Goblin Chainwhirler
- 4 Runaway Steam-Kin
- 3 Bonecrusher Giant
Lands (22)
Spells (16)
There’s also the more aggressive version, as follows, but notably lacking the all-out burn element of the more Prowess-heavy list:
Creatures (22)
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 3 Hazoret the Fervent
- 4 Soul-Scar Mage
- 4 Ghitu Lavarunner
- 3 Goblin Chainwhirler
- 4 Bonecrusher Giant
Lands (22)
Spells (16)
Sideboard
The two options here seem to be relying on the Wizard subtheme, with Soul-Scar Mage and Ghitu Lavarunner to enable Wizard’s Lightning, or relying on the Experimental Frenzy and Runaway Steam-Kin to churn through one’s deck and completely overwhelm an opponent.
Monastery Swiftspear, Searing Blood, and Eidolon of the Great Revel are all incredible Modern Burn cards, but they don’t quite stack up as well in Pioneer when the deck isn’t as dense with Lava Spikes. Eidolon, especially, is weak when you’re not an all-Lava Spike deck. Additionally, without taking maximum advantage of the free tacked-on Lava Spike, Searing Blood is just going to be a weaker card than Bonecrusher Giant in the “two-mana Shock with bonus” spot in your deck the vast majority of the time. You’re a midrangey aggro deck, not a burn deck, and Bonecrusher Giant is the card to play to properly embrace that fact.
Why run the Experimental Frenzy version? Frenzy is the only card in the format that red decks can play to outgun Oko, Thief of Crowns and Abrupt Decay from the midrange decks. It’s the single card that makes all their value creatures look silly. The catch? It strongly benefits from association with Runaway Steam-Kin, which is not necessarily the best-positioned card in Pioneer. It dies to Bonecrusher Giant, Walking Ballista, and even Goblin Chainwhirler without sufficient +1/+1 counters, and it dies to Fatal Push at a mana disadvantage. The whole appeal of Mono-Red in this format is that your creatures are all either one mana or come with some type of bonus attached. Runaway Steam-Kin is the card that breaks that mold and forces some awkward play patterns that aren’t quite as efficient. But Frenzy is so strong that perhaps it’s worth the sacrifice.
As for the Wizard version? Wizard’s Lightning is incredible when it’s turned on, as the only Lightning Bolt in the format. It’s possible to blend the two together, like the following, but I’m not convinced yet that you get the best of both worlds:
Creatures (18)
Lands (22)
Spells (20)
The Unchained Berserkers are the flex sideboard slot and could be cut for whatever day-of-tournament hedge we decide to make. (And yes, despite my reservations about it, this is the list I am closest to registering as my team’s red player!)
It’s possible that once you cut Goblin Chainwhirler, you can afford to play a couple of copies of Mutavault over your Ramunap Ruins (which really aren’t even that incredible once you’re a more midrange version of the red deck anyway). Incidentally, with Mutavault’s inclusion, Castle Embereth starts to really pick up in power level. And, interestingly enough, it’s Castle Embereth, along with synergies with Light Up the Stage and Soul-Scar Mage, that makes Forge Devil worth including in our red aggro deck when Fourth Bridge Prowler wasn’t worth including in the black aggro deck.
Without Copter, Prowler is weak in the black deck, but even without Copter, the 1/1 body on Forge Devil is worth something to this red deck. Funny how that works out, and the objectively weaker card ends up being stronger in context.
Now, should the Lotus Field Combo deck or even Simic Nexus become big parts of the metagame going forward, it will be worth it to include Eidolon of the Great Revel and Scab-Clan Berserker in our red sideboards. As it currently stands, Wild Slash and a fast clock are plenty good enough to keep our win percentage respectable against these archetypes, but I’m willing to cede a bit of equity here in the effort to have the right cards against all manner of green and control decks. But the Unchained Berserkers might be a loose inclusion, depending on how many people pick up the much-maligned white cards going forward.
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I’m excited to play a fun team configuration of Mono-Black Aggro, Mono-Red Aggro, and Simic Food with two great players this coming weekend. I’m even more excited because both the black and red decks have multiple ways of building them that all make a lot of theoretical sense. The broad strokes of the format have become fairly clear in the wake of recent bannings. The only way to figure out what’s the best version of these powerful archetypes is good old-fashioned testing.