Pioneer continues to evolve and I continue to find the format super interesting. I think we're getting a bit of homogenization within the metagame, and I'm curious to see if this keeps up, or if new decks will continue to emerge. Right now, from the most recent Pioneer Challenge that took place on November 25th, we have the following Top 32 decks:

1. Mono-Black Aggro
2. Nexus
3. Mono-Black Aggro
4. Mono-Green Ramp
5. Mono-Red Aggro
6. Mono-Green Devotion
7. Mono-Black Aggro
8. Mono-Black Aggro
9. Field of the Dead
10. Field of the Dead
11. Bant Field of the Dead
12. Field of the Dead
13. Field of the Dead
14. Field of the Dead
15. Mono-Red Aggro
16. Field of the Dead
17. Mono-Black Aggro
18. Mono-Black Aggro
19. Mono-Black Aggro
20. Ensoul Artifact
21. Thicc Bois
22. Field of the Dead
23. Thicc Bois
24. Mono-Green Ramp
25. Control
26. Field of the Dead
27. Mono-Green Devotion
28. Mono-Red Aggro
29. Bant Field of the Dead
30. Bant Collected Company
31. Zombies
32. Mono-Red Aggro

These results are both interesting, and a little troubling - at least to me - and I'd like to give my thoughts on them, along with some of the more powerful cards in the format.

Although I can totally understand why people would think this looks just fine, I personally like a little more variety, and four of a single archetype in the Top 8 always strikes me as a red flag, which is exactly what we have with Mono-Black Aggro (along with three more copies at 17th, 18th, and 19th). Another thing that strikes me as a red flag is having six aggro decks in the Top 8. Another thing is having seven Field of the Dead decks in the Top 16. While I'm eager to let the format grow, these are some of the things I think we should be keeping an eye on.

Field of the Dead

Speaking of Field of the Dead, it had the most showings of any archetype in the event: 10 showings out of 32 decks, which is about 30% of the...uh..."Field." Keep in mind that isn't even taking into account the two copies of Mono-Green Ramp that were each running two copies of the card. Considering that we just had to ban this card in Standard due to how problematic it was, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a little too much to deal with in Pioneer as well; after all, we don't have nearly as many answers or tools in the format as we do in Modern. Unless you're playing either Field of Ruin or Assassin's Trophy, you have basically no competitive way to deal with this card,

This recently-banned Standard card is also one that's proving late games in Pioneer are the real deal, and whoever has the best one is favored to win. Or rather, whoever can get to theirs the fastest. It doesn't seem to be a fluke that so many "ramp" decks are having such solid showings.

I'll go into this a little more below when talking about Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, but my initial impression of the format is that you either need to play a deck that ramps into a huge late game card (or cards), or you need to play an aggressive deck that wins before the opponent can get to their late game. This is a good explanation as to why the Top 8 is comprised of six aggro decks, one ramp deck, and one Nexus deck, the latter of which are both "late game" decks.

I mean, if you really look at the Top 32, it's almost all either aggro decks that curve out at 3 mana, or late game decks, that want to have seven or more lands in play.

Smuggler's Copter

This card was strong enough to be banned in Standard when it was legal, and now every aggro deck worth its salt is running four of them. There were 20 copies of the Looter Scooter in the Top 8 of the Pioneer Challenge, or rather five out of the Top 8 decks were running the full playset. While I don't know if the card needs to be banned, as there are certainly more answers to it in Pioneer, it is worth keeping an eye on, as it's an efficient, evasive threat that gives aggro decks a consistent amount of filtering they shouldn't necessarily have access to.

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Mono-Colored Decks

Nykthos is having quite a time in the new format, and I expect it will only become more of a player once Theros 2.0 (Theros Beyond Death) is released. Unlike some of the other cards on this list, I don't think the Nykthos decks are doing anything broken, and there were only two decks in the Pioneer Challenge utilizing the card. That being said, it's still a very strong land and has a bunch of potential homes.

In fact, Pioneer already has quite a few mono-colored decks, at least one in each color so far. If you recall from the above list, seven of the Top 8 decks were mono-colored! If these particular decks don't really care about devotion, or casting large spells, then they usually eschew using the legendary land, but Nythos has a history of doing powerful things and there's no telling how strong some of the new devotion cards may be.

Nexus of Fate

This card is just plain unfun, and I think it was a mistake. I played against the Reclamation deck a few times now, and I've also beat it a few times now. If the card were to be banned, it isn't because the deck playing it is unbeatable; it's simply because the deck playing it isn't fun. Period.

I remember my opponent taking about 13 turns in a row and eventually killing me by attacking with a single Lumbering Falls, turn after turn after turn. It was excruciating, and not fun to watch from a viewer's perspective. Unlike a deck like Splinter Twin, where if the opponent has it, you both know that they've won, with Nexus of Fate, it usually takes far, far longer for them to actually demonstrate that 1) they aren't going to whiff, and 2) that they actually have a win condition. Similar to Sensei's Divining Top, I wouldn't remove this from the format due to power level, but simply because it sucks the fun out of matches.

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

There's definitely a reason the Green ramp decks were doing so well before the banning, and I'll be honest: I've played against quite a few of them since then, and I still don't have a great record against them. One problem I see is that, unlike Modern where you can usually win a game by turn four or five, Pioneer is a format that encourages you to do more midrange things, often with creatures and enchantments. This being the case, often when an Ugin comes down, there is very little you can do about it after he wipes your entire board away.

If your opponent is able to resolve an Ugin in Modern the game is often over there as well, but the difference is you have the tools to keep them off Tron mana. No one in Modern is simply using ramp spells to get to a natural eight lands, because they would die before then. A typical Modern game involves keeping the opponent off Tron pieces, denying them the ability to ever cast their 7+ mana spells, then winning a few turns later because the format is so powerful. The problem in Pioneer is that in a world of midrange decks, Ugin is king, forcing people to play a lot of the more aggressive strategies you'll see in the Top 8's of these events, in order to go under the ramp decks. It also doesn't help that the format doesn't have a ton of great two-mana counterspells.

These are some of the most powerful cards I've seen being used in the format so far. Some of them I think are safe, others not so much, but a card simply being powerful isn't a good enough reason to be banned. I'd love to hear your take on the format though. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Is the format feeling healthy? Are they cards you'd like to see gone? Cards that seem to powerful?

As always, thank you so much for reading, I love you guys, and use promo code FRANK5 for 5% off your entire purchase! Have a great holiday and I'll catch you all next week!

Frank Lepore

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