This Week in Magic: Friday, November 29

Posted on November 29, 2024

Pioneer Masters Previews Begin

On December 10 - less than two weeks away - Pioneer Masters will be coming to MTG Arena and in doing so will finally turn Explorer into the proper Pioneer format. For the leadup to the set's release, Wizards has been trickling through previews for the set across the web, with images showing up here and there. Make sure you check out the card image gallery for all the latest previews!

As a reminder, Arena releases do not impact Pauper legality. (Other than Arena Pauper, when that's happening, of course.) So Pioneer Masters does not impact the Pauper format.

Saw a few people chatting about this, just wanted to clarify for everybody :)
#wotcstaff
— Gavin Verhey (@gavinverhey.bsky.social) November 26, 2024 at 5:49 PM

Additionally, with the reveal of Void Scatter being downshifted to common, Gavin Verhey noted on social media that cards from Pioneer Masters will not be legal in Pauper. This is due to the fact that MTG Arena is a vastly different card pool compared to paper play and MTGO where the format began. Additionally, the Pauper format is officially classified as cards that were printed at common in paper and on Magic Online, barring a couple of outliers. Players will still be able to experience these new downshifts on Arena Pauper when events for the format happen on that client.

Secret Lair 20 Ways to Win Commander Deck Revealed

The latest Secret Lair preconstructed Commander deck is here, this time featuring a sweet new theme: alternate win conditions! The deck, titled 20 Ways to Win, does exactly what it says on the tin and provides you with several ways to win beyond the traditional life loss and mill game plans. Additionally, several cards received all new tanuki themed card art, while several other reprints - particularly enchantments - are being reprinted with minor changes. Everything else will be utilizing the Mystery Booster/The List form of reprints with the planeswalker symbol in the corner.

You can check out all of the details about the deck right here, and catch it on sale on the MTG Secret Lair website this Monday, December 2 to get your hands on a copy.

Get An Exclusive Pin By Supporting Your LGS

Wizards of the Coast announced this week that as a special Black Friday promotion, players can get a cool Magic card back pin. As noted in the image above, the way to do this is to spend $75 at your local game store on MTG products and you'll get the pin. Simple as that! Do a little holiday shopping early, and get a cool bonus thrown in. Check with your local game store for more details, as well as the announcement article here.

Decklist of the Week

Mystic Forge Combo | Legacy | Kelvin Wallace, 2024 North American Legacy Champs

Creatures (4)
4 Glaring Fleshraker

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Karn, the Great Creator

Instants (4)
4 Kozilek's Command

Buy This Deck Export text

This past weekend was Eternal Weekend, and players got up to some good old fashioned nonsense in the formats of Legacy and Vintage. Esper Control won the day in Vintage, while Legacy saw something a bit less conventional in the form of Mystic Forge Combo. This deck utilizes Vexing Bauble to prevent opponents from utilizing their free spells - particularly Force of Will and Force of Negation - and follows it up by making absurd amounts of mana. This is done using lands that tap for multiple mana, artifacts like Candelabra of Tawnos and Grim Monolith to make more mana, and untap artifacts like Voltaic Key and Manifold Key to untap those for further mana. Once you've gone deep enough, you cast a massive Kozilek's Command with Glaring Fleshraker in play to win the game.

Congrats Kelvin on the win, as well as Max Gilmore on the Vintage side of things!

Paige Smith

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