Last week, some big news came with a powerhouse Banned and Restricted update: we've got a brand new format called Pioneer. In case you've been living under a rock for the last week, let me get you up to speed. The format is going to consist of every Standard-legal set from Return to Ravnica onward. The ban list is only five cards as well: the Khans of Tarkir fetch lands. That's it. That means there are some really crazy decks out there to be built, but that we're also truly living in a brewer's paradise for the time being.

When I heard the news about the format, my mind began racing. I had so many ideas for things that could be done now and I raced home after my work day was over so that I could get brewing. While I haven't personally brewed too many decks just yet, I did go hard on my brand and jumped on the opportunity to try making Elves work.

Here's how my first draft sans sideboard came out:

Elves Rough Draft | Pioneer | Kendra Smith

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1 Tajuru Warcaller
• 2 Elvish Visionary
• 3 Sylvan Messenger
• 4 Dwynen's Elite
• 4 Elvish Clancaller
• 4 Elvish Mystic
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Shaman of the Pack
• 4 Steel Leaf Champion

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

• Instants (6)
• 2 Chord of Calling
• 4 Collected Company

• Lands (20)
• 6 Forest
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Westvale Abbey
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Overgrown Tomb

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The thing I most noticed about this deck was it's kind of disjointed. It feels like part of it wants to be an aggro deck and the other part wants to combo off. It was a less than ideal build so I moved around a lot of cards and started to try a more dedicated combo build involving Cryptolith Rite.

Elfball | Pioneer | Kendra Smith

• Creatures (28)
• 1 End-Raze Forerunners
• 3 Sylvan Messenger
• 4 Beast Whisperer
• 4 Dwynen's Elite
• 4 Elvish Mystic
• 4 Elvish Visionary
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Shaman of the Pack

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Samut, Tyrant Smasher

• Instants (4)
• 4 Collected Company

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Finale of Devastation

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Cryptolith Rite

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Paradox Engine

• Lands (18)
• 6 Forest
• 2 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

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My findings in solitairing this list (I haven't been able to get cards to play it online) was that if uninterrupted it could kill in 5-6 turns depending on how good your hands look. The problem I found, however, was that you rarely ever went too deep with it before you found Shaman of the Pack and wiped them out. This list also had curve problems I didn't see when I first drew it up on Magic Online so I once again went back to the drawing board to go all in on a highly aggressive deck.

Aggro Elves | Pioneer | Kendra Smith

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Elvish Visionary
• 3 Paradise Druid
• 4 Dwynen's Elite
• 4 Elvish Clancaller
• 4 Elvish Mystic
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Shaman of the Pack
• 4 Steel Leaf Champion

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

• Instants (8)
• 4 Chord of Calling
• 4 Collected Company

• Lands (20)
• 7 Forest
• 2 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Reclamation Sage
• 2 Sorcerous Spyglass
• 3 Life Goes On
• 4 Heroic Intervention
• 4 Thoughtseize

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This list actually felt great. It's not hard to take out an opponent super fast with this list so hopefully something sticks. Even if it doesn't quite, it'll still be a fun option and one that can still probably hold its own in this realm of early degenerate lists and will get even better once the bans start rolling out. I'll be playing this to start, which is why this list has an actual sideboard. I'll be back with more Pioneer Elves findings in a few weeks so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Now while Elves always excite me, one particular creature caught my eye as I was going through the entire pool of elf creatures: Gladecover Scout. I suddenly remembered Bassara Tower Archer from Theros block Hexproof decks and the many sweet auras we had and it clicked. Hexproof was absolutely possible in this format and I was going to build it.

Here's my initial list I'll be trying. A few things were tweaked based on some community feedback, such as the inclusion of Adanto Vanguard and Once Upon a Time.

Selesnya Hexproof | Pioneer | Kendra Smith

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Adanto Vanguard
• 4 Bassara Tower Archer
• 4 Gladecover Scout

• Instants (4)
• 4 Once Upon a Time

• Soceries (3)
• 3 Commune with the Gods

• Enchantments (22)
• 1 Cartouche of Strength
• 1 On Serra's Wings
• 1 Sentinel's Mark
• 3 Gryff's Boon
• 4 All That Glitters
• 4 Cartouche of Solidarity
• 4 Ethereal Armor
• 4 Unflinching Courage

• Lands (21)
• 3 Forest
• 3 Plains
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 2 Scattered Groves
• 4 Fortified Village
• 4 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Temple Garden

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While that's all I've had time to personally brew this week, a few other archetypes have been buzzing in my head. These include Izzet Spells (Thing in the Ice and Young Pyromancer), Mono-Red Goblins, Mono-Black Zombies, Mono-Black Devotion, Heroic, and more. There was, however, a tribal deck I felt had tons of potential: humans.

All it took was for me to think about the combination of Thalia's Lieutenant and Charming Prince to be sold on the idea. Thankfully when I was talking Elves on Discord, a user by the name of Naixin dropped this sweet Humans list that's playable in the format:

Humans | Pioneer | Naixin

• Creatures (30)
• 4 Charming Prince
• 4 Experiment One
• 4 Mantis Rider
• 4 Reflector Mage
• 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
• 4 Thraben Inspector
• 4 Tithe Taker
• 2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar

• Instantd (4)
• 4 Collected Company

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Smuggler's Copter

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 3 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Mana Confluence
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Unclaimed Territory

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Aegis of the Gods
• 3 Knight of Autumn
• 3 Rest In Peace
• 3 Scab-Clan Berserker
• 4 Deputy of Detention

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There's a handful of things I might consider working on, like running Aether Hub. I do wish we had Kessig Malcontents for this deck. Oh well, maybe one day!

Last but not least is this sweet Aetherflux Reservoir combo deck I watched Kenji Egashira - better known as NumotTheNummy - play. If you know me, you'll know I love combo decks. I love to play Combo Elf variants and High Tide is a constant favorite in Legacy. So when I realized Reservoir was legal just after having seen a build of the deck in Standard a little over a year ago, I knew I wanted to play it. Here's Kenji's list. I'll definitely be trying this in the coming weeks.

Aetherflux Combo | Pioneer | Kenji Egashira

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Ornithopter
• 4 Sai, Master Thopterist

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

• Instants (6)
• 2 Commit // Memory
• 4 Paradoxical Outcome

• Artifacts (26)
• 1 Prophetic Prism
• 2 Mox Amber
• 3 Aetherflux Reservoir
• 4 Briber's Purse
• 4 Golden Egg
• 4 Inspiring Statuary
• 4 Renegade Map
• 4 Witching Well

• Lands (18)
• 11 Island
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 2 Inventors' Fair
• 3 Zhalfirin Void

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
• 2 Baral's Expertise
• 3 Metallic Rebuke
• 3 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 3 Negate
• 3 Pithing Needle

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So as you can tell, there's lots of wild decks that are exciting to see in this new format. I absolutely can't wait to dive right on in and bring you all tons more great Pioneer content going forward.

Kendra Smith

Twitter: @TheMaverickGal

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