Earlier this week the usually-nice people in Renton, WA did something indefensibly despicable. They made not a change to Pioneer's Banned List. The gall! No changes at all! So, I suppose those of us who are committed to playing in a few more RCQs before the end of the [obviously Pioneer] summer season have a monochrome wall of Black, err... Black-Red, to look forward to. Sheolded, the Apocalypse each and every round!

Well, not quite.

Personally, I have played against a maximum of one Black-Red midrange deck in every Pioneer RCQ I've played in the last year. I once played against Spirits twice; but one was a very interesting matchup against a Mono-Blue deck, and one was against the more common Azorius one. I even once played Spirits myself! The most common deck I've every played against is Mono-Green, I suppose; and even then I've never played against it more than twice in a single tournament.

People may not love Pioneer but it's not exactly a sea of sameness.

I will concede that Pioneer feels different from other formats when you play it. Even when a lot of the cards are the same, Pioneer matches seem wilder, less strategic. In the same tournament I've both beaten and lost to Spirits; both beaten and lost to Mono-Green. I once beat a Hidden Strings combo to force my way into the elimination rounds... And then lost to the same player in the Top 4. Play / draw and all that.

But again, it's not exactly a sea of sameness.

There are lots and lots of decks that people play (or at least can play) in Pioneer; and many of them are good, if a little bit off the beaten path. If you're looking for something fresh, or different (or at least want to be caught a wee bit less unawares) in the next couple of weeks, I hope you like this article.

Chandra's Mom Has Got it Going On

If you haven't seen Pioneer's answer to Modern Boros Burn, let me introduce you to the format's hottest - and I do mean hottest - new tech:

Boros Burn | Pioneer | Ishan_, 3-1 MTGO Pioneer Preliminary

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival
• 4 Soul-Scar Mage

• Instants (4)
• 4 Play with Fire

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Reckless Impulse
• 4 Wrenn's Resolve

• Enchantments (12)
• 4 Chained to the Rocks
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano
• 4 Showdown of the Skalds

• Lands (20)
• 7 Mountain
• 1 Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Sacred Foundry

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Rest in Peace
• 2 Rending Volley
• 2 Declaration in Stone
• 2 Alpine Moon
• 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
• 3 Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield
• 2 Portable Hole
• 2 Invasion of Gobakhan // Lightshield Array

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My first serious swing at Pioneer was with a Burn deck that tried to leverage Klothys, God of Destiny. I was preparing for an upcoming Pioneer Pro Tour... But the Gruul version just ended up worse than straight Red all things considered.

A big problem was the Pioneer mana base at the time. People all wanted to try Boros (because Inspiring Vantage was legal) but until now there hasn't been quite the spell support. In one fell swoop, Chandra's Mom has not only figured out a way to scratch the Red aggro itch, but essentially spawned a meaningfully fresh archetype.

Pia Nalaar is a 2/3 for two mana; so kinda sorta above rate for a Red creature to begin with. She can rumble with much of the rest of the Pioneer format on the body, and importantly for a beatdown deck, can live through Bonecrusher Giant's "Stomp" side.

But going long Pia gives the deck a richly layered incentive to card advantage. Spells like Wrenn's Resolve and Reckless Impulse have flirted with being good enough in Standard... But Pioneer? Minor sources of card advantage that can keep you from being manascrewed are one thing... But what about when they end up drawing four or more cards? Granted, two of those "cards" are Thopter tokens... But "free" is a hell of a rate.

A mid-game Pia Nalaar is impossible to deal with fairly, given a single turn cycle. You kind of have to kill her on sight or you're going to find yourself buried in haste. Combine this with things like Bonecrusher Giant - itself the best anti-fair card in a Red Deck - being so synergistic and you can surely see how card advantageous this deck can be. It's not that it's the best card drawing deck (though maybe it is). It's that Boros is putting pressure on you from the first turn with premiere beatdown cards and it's maybe the best card drawing deck, constantly applying hasty pressure while accumulating cardboard and dealing damage.

I'm thoroughly excited to try Boros in the next month; that is assuming some deck at the end of this article doesn't derail my meeting up with Chandra's mom.

What do the good people think?

"This deck is real good."

The "Kill On Sight" Club

For one of the true pillars of a format, "Mono" Green Devotion has always had a little give and play to it.

In times past we'd see an Overgrown Tomb for the off chance that you might - gasp - actually cast a Pestilent Cauldron // Restorative Burst. And here Dritte goes the complete opposite direction, playing four copies of Temple Garden:

Mono-Green Devotion | Pioneer | Dritte, 5-0 MTGO Pioneer League 8/7/2023

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Polukranos Reborn // Polukranos, Engine of Ruin
• 2 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
• 4 Cavalier of Thorns
• 4 Elvish Mystic
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Old-Growth Troll

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 4 Karn, the Great Creator
• 4 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Storm the Festival

• Enchantments (8)
• 4 Oath of Nissa
• 4 Wolfwillow Haven

• Lands (21)
• 5 Forest
• 2 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 2 Lair of the Hydra
• 4 Brushland
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Darksteel Citadel
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 1 Tormod's Crypt
• 1 The Chain Veil
• 1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
• 1 Damping Sphere
• 1 Transmogrifying Wand
• 1 Glass Casket
• 1 Pestilent Cauldron
• 1 Portable Hole
• 1 Haywire Mite
• 1 The Stone Brain
• 1 Woodcaller Automaton
• 1 Cityscape Leveler
• 1 The Filigree Sylex

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From some standpoint, it's a wash.

Temple Garden costs you two life coming down (maybe)... But you can get two life points back given the not-so-unusual situation that you have seven actual mana to go Go GO for Polukranos, Engine of Ruin.

Still, four copies of Temple Garden might seem like a lot of investment on a one-of flip for a card that can, you know, flip without any mana investment at all. Dritte gets to play Portable Hole and Glass Casket in the sideboard with this change, though; adding even greater flexibility to the jackhammer-of-all-trades that is Karn, the Great Creator.

But the "real" reason for Temple Garden?

What do the good people think?

Kill this em effer on sight. Have you got a Wizard's Lightning or Lightning Strike? Kill it. Kill it with fire! Kill it dead!

A 3/3 for five mana is not only nothing to write home about; it wouldn't typically make the cut in Limited. But Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves is closer to a 6/6 for five mana, and spread across two bodies. It's kinda sorta a mini Wurmcoil Engine that, you guessed it, costs White mana.

While not insurmountable (even for the good people), that life gain sure can be annoying. And Pioneer is not Modern. When the default burn spell is a Play with Fire instead of a Lightning Bolt variant, 3/3 is a real body... Or in this case two real bodies.

Why do you have to kill it so dead so quickly?

In some sense the damage is done (or rather, preemptively un-done) when Tolsimir triggers the first time. But what can get super annoying is that the second copy of Tolsimir himself is not the "Selesnya" Devotion's only additional source of Wolves. Gross! I know!

A little-known secret ability of Wolfwillow Haven is to actually transform from a kind of postmodern Rampant Growth into a ridiculously overcosted Grizzly Bears in the late game; only this "Grizzly Bears" is in fact a Wolf (which will trigger Tolsimir's hated life gain).

What does Selesnya have to give up to play Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves?

Not that much, it turns out. The Temple Gardens are a bit of a tax, but only in beatdown matchups; and the prospect of paying two to get back three-or-more against a Red Deck ain't too shabby. Many Devotion decks start Cityscape Leveler but Dritte still has access. Selesnya just has to ask Karn first.

Don't Do Us Any Favors

Bogles | Pioneer | Viatt, 5-0 MTGO Pioneer League 8/7/2023

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Gladecover Scout
• 4 Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
• 4 Saiba Cryptomancer

• Enchantments (28)
• 1 Alpha Authority
• 1 Aqueous Form
• 1 Cartouche of Solidarity
• 1 Hammerhand
• 1 Kaya's Ghostform
• 2 Gryff's Boon
• 2 Sentinel's Eyes
• 3 All That Glitters
• 4 Audacity
• 4 Curious Obsession
• 4 Ethereal Armor
• 4 Staggering Insight

• Lands (20)
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Brushland
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 2 Adarkar Wastes
• 2 Temple Garden
• 3 Botanical Sanctum
• 3 Razorverge Thicket
• 3 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Mana Confluence

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Stubborn Denial
• 1 Warbriar Blessing
• 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
• 4 Portable Hole
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 3 Slip Out the Back
• 2 Destroy Evil

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No Rune of Sustenance.

When we last saw this archetype, it very nearly won the first Pro Tour back.

Now armed with Saiba Cryptomancer, the Pioneer answer to Bogles gains multiple points of flexibility.

First, it can simply keep more hands. Previously, you might have to mulligan very, very hard to get a first turn Gladecover Scout. Having "a" creature might not be enough in the face of resistance or removal.

Moreover, Saiba Cryptomancer's combination of flash and backup means that even if your creature is Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice... You get a little extra protection. Not that it will come up that often, but Saiba Cryptomancer can protect the odd Cartouche token or Elemental Elk, too.

What do the good people think?

The Pioneer Bogles has made a token gesture by cutting one Rune of Sustenance in its move toward Bant... But now there now four - count 'em four - copies of Staggering Insight!

Bogles was already a tough deck to interact with due to the combination of hexproof and sheer potential size (ever read All That Glitters?) ... This is no kindness at all. One Rune of Sustenance from the PT build is very nearly insulting.

Don't do us any favors. Bastards.

Four's Company

Angels | Pioneer | MrMarthius, 5-0 MTGO Pioneer League 8/7/2023

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Metropolis Reformer
• 3 Skyclave Apparition
• 4 Bishop of Wings
• 4 Giada, Font of Hope
• 4 Inspiring Overseer
• 4 Resplendent Angel
• 4 Righteous Valkyrie
• 4 Youthful Valkyrie

• Instants (4)
• 4 Collected Company

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Emeria's Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave
• 4 Kayla's Reconstruction

• Lands (21)
• 3 Plains
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Cave of the Frost Dragon
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 3 Branchloft Pathway
• 4 Brushland
• 4 Razorverge Thicket
• 4 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 1 Hallowed Moonlight
• 1 Declaration in Stone
• 3 Damping Sphere
• 1 Skyclave Apparition
• 1 Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield
• 4 Tocasia's Welcome
• 1 Archangel Elspeth

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This Angels deck by MrMarthius is just a cool design. It's entirely White, but for four cards. The mana is so smooth that there is enough support for Green to be the primary color, but MrMarthius uses it here just for Collected Company (and the un-counter-able side of Boseiju that has made that Legendary Land a cross-format All-Star).

Tons of Angels synergies, of course. Bishop of Wings does terrible things. Resplendent Angel is as much a "kill on sight" threat as that damnable wolf-maker (if you're interested in racing or burning or whatnot).

The structure of the deck is quite dense... and makes sense. Any Collected Company is likely to hit two creatures, plus start a domino-flow of triggers. Emeria's Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave, when not tapping for mana, makes Bishop of Wings, Youthful Valkyrie, and Righteous Valkyrie all look super good.

There are some decks that this one will bowl straight over. There are others that will drown in an ocean of not-quite-card advantage.

What do the good people think?

This deck is an absolute disaster. Almost everything is "kill on sight" in one way or another; much worse than that stupid wolf-maker. You Shock Giada? So now what? The next three cards all gain life or ludicrous size as the deck grows both wide and straight up. There is no inferno crimson enough for MrMarthius or whoever designed this Mountains-hating pile.

There are lots of ways you can build your Collected Company deck in Pioneer, of course! Here is a kind of throwback to one of Modern's onetime favorites:

Humans | Pioneer | Jaffer, 5-0 MTGO Pioneer League

• Creatures (32)
• 2 Dauntless Bodyguard
• 2 Dennick, Pious Apprentice // Dennick, Pious Apparition
• 2 Reflector Mage
• 3 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 3 Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute
• 3 Hopeful Initiate
• 3 Mantis Rider
• 3 Recruitment Officer
• 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 4 Coppercoat Vanguard
• 4 Thalia's Lieutenant

• Instants (6)
• 2 Brave the Elements
• 4 Collected Company

• Lands (22)
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 3 Mana Confluence
• 4 Razorverge Thicket
• 4 Secluded Courtyard
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Unclaimed Territory

• Sideboard (14)
• 1 Abzan Falconer
• 2 Reflector Mage
• 2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1 General Kudro of Drannith
• 2 Reidane, God of the Worthy // Valkmira, Protector's Shield
• 4 Portable Hole
• 2 Jirina, Dauntless General

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Of course a card named after a bug is a Human Monk. Of course Mantis Rider is!

For its part, Reflector Mage was once banned in Standard!

This deck's power level is a good deal higher than it probably seems at first glance. It takes a lot of the tribal incentives to a typical Humans White Weenie deck (no matter how bug-named, 100% of the creatures in the main deck work with both Thalia's Lieutenant and Coppercoat Vanguard) and graft on some bounce and haste. Two different versions of Thalia can make for a deceptively disruptive offense against bigger strategies or spell-based control.

What do the good people think?

Not a good look. But I'd rather play this a thousand times than that other Collected Company deck. At least we might get a few Mana Confluence wins. Sad face emoji.

That's One Way to Do It

Mono-Black | Pioneer | rhmaha, 5-0 MTGO Pioneer League

• Creatures (12)
• 2 Gifted Aetherborn
• 2 Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton
• 2 Murderous Rider
• 3 Misery's Shadow
• 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Liliana of the Veil

• Instants (8)
• 2 Heartless Act
• 2 Sheoldred's Edict
• 4 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Duress
• 4 Invoke Despair
• 4 Sign in Blood
• 4 Thoughtseize

• Lands (25)
• 14 Swamp
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 3 Castle Locthwain
• 3 Field of Ruin
• 3 Hive of the Eye Tyrant

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 2 Languish
• 3 Extinction Event
• 3 Duress
• 2 Go Blank
• 2 Ray of Enfeeblement
• 1 Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton
• 1 Unlicensed Hearse

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What do the good people think?

At some point this is getting comical, isn't it?

The Pioneer Pro Tour was won by an Indomitable Creativity combo deck; the first of three different decks that won three different Pro Tours in three different formats behind Fable of the Mirror-Breaker// Reflection of Kiki-Jiki - and we're playing Gifted Aetherborn?

Because 2 + 1 Graveyard Trespassers and a stack of $70-dollar bills with 5 toughness weren't enough? Why not just hard-cast Murderous Rider while we're at it? There is more than enough other point removal for a bunch of one-for-one trips to the graveyard. At least there aren't enough good sideboard cards to really divest all the copies of Thoughtseize that you don't want in sideboard games. Not that rhmaha would actually need to go that deep.

If we're going to beat this deck, we kind of need it to draw the wrong half. Lots of Sign in Blood. No Sheoldreds... Or at least not more than one Sheoldred? So many cards are each worth more than one card. We can beat this deck if we grit our teeth; but we probably can't beat the average draw more than half the time.

We need to believe in the righteousness of our cause! We need them to get a little unlucky.

Scarecrow

I have a couple of Pioneer RCQs coming up at the end of the month. One of them is a two-slotted at a store where I finished in the Top 4 of the last RCQ I played there. The other is a $1k where I won the last RCQ I played there.

Heroes need to pick a Weapon of Choice!

There sure have been a lot of interesting, off-meta, options in just this article.

But then you have people like percussion_mike and _SHATUN_ out there who literally exist to just derail your plans back to the show. You know?

Mono-Red | Pioneer | percussion_mike, 5-0 MTGO Pioneer League

• Creatures (21)
• 3 Bonecrusher Giant
• 3 Furnace Punisher
• 3 Goblin Chainwhirler
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Phoenix Chick
• 4 Soul-Scar Mage

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Chandra, Dressed to Kill

• Instants (4)
• 4 Play with Fire

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 End the Festivities
• 4 Light Up the Stage

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano

• Lands (23)
• 14 Mountain
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 4 Den of the Bugbear
• 4 Ramunap Ruins

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Rending Volley
• 2 Kari Zev's Expertise
• 3 Rampaging Ferocidon
• 1 Ox of Agonas
• 1 Obosh, the Preypiercer
• 1 Chandra, Dressed to Kill
• 3 Nahiri's Warcrafting

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This is very clean; very accessible... A bit like a Standard build, but with Obosh, the Preypiercer access. Love the synergies with End the Festivities; especially against incoming Thopters or over-zealous Humans.

Mono-Red | Pioneer | _Shatun_, 3-1 MTGO Pioneer Preliminary

• Creatures (20)
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Ghitu Lavarunner
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Soul-Scar Mage
• 4 Viashino Pyromancer

• Spells (17)
• 1 Spikefield Hazard
• 4 Play with Fire
• 4 Wizard's Lightning
• 4 Light Up the Stage
• 4 Skewer the Critics

• Lands (23)
• 10 Mountain
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 4 Den of the Bugbear
• 4 Ramunap Ruins
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Rending Volley
• 2 Roast
• 1 Kari Zev's Expertise
• 1 Hazoret the Fervent
• 1 Goblin Chainwhirler
• 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 1 Redcap Melee
• 1 Roiling Vortex
• 1 Burning Hands
• 1 End the Festivities
• 1 Obliterating Bolt

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But here we have very close to my Pioneer first love.

I think this _Shatun_ list is all of one card off of the Top 4 deck I referenced a paragraph or three ago.

Why do these decks exist? To tempt us? To challenge us? Do we have no heart... or no brain?

What do the good people think?

They're singing on the Yellow Brick Road hoping for a diploma is what they're doing.

They're off to see the Wizard! Twelve of them in fact, to support the discount on his Lightning.

Oh dear.

LOVE

MIKE