We’re in a very fun time for Magic: the Gathering. We have the return of the Pro Tour, and a sweet Digital Play path to the Pro Tour as well! What those two things have in common though is the hype around Pioneer. It’s the format for the first Pro Tour, and Magic Arena is basically getting Pioneer soon with it’s new Explorer format.
Well a great place to check for competitive deck ideas is on Magic Online. We’ve seen some really spicy lists take top spots in some recent Pioneer Challenges, and it’s making the format super interesting!
The Tech and the Gnar
As noted to us by the true legend, @Fireshoes over on twitter, there were some REALLY sick decks that took 2nd – 4th in the last Pioneer Challenge.
So looking at these lists, the 2nd place list is a 5 color Izzet Golos Fires deck, 3rd place is Mono Black Devotion, and 5th place is Mono White Golos Devotion. Let’s take a peek at what makes these lists so sick, and if we can port these lists to Explorer.
5 Color Izzet Golos Fires
The base of this deck is a Mono Red Golos deck. That version of the deck aims to leverage
Karn, the Great Creator
Karn, the Great Creator
Activated abilities of artifacts your opponents control can't be activated.
+1: Until your next turn, up to one target noncreature artifact becomes an artifact creature with power and toughness each equal to its mana value.
−2: You may reveal an artifact card you own from outside the game or choose a face-up artifact card you own in exile. Put that card into your hand.
and
Fires of Invention
Fires of Invention
You can cast spells only during your turn and you can cast no more than two spells each turn.
You may cast spells with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control without paying their mana costs.
to play a very strong midrange game plan. In this version, we ditch Karn and some of the weaker red cards in favor of some more valuable cards.
Looking at these cards, it seems that we have some pretty standard “control” fare, but then we see
The Kami War
The Kami War
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — Exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls.
II — Return up to one other target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. Then each opponent discards a card.
III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.
. Now you may be thinking that in a primarily red deck, casting the Kami war might be impossible, but when you consider we play Fires of Invention, it’s a lot more reasonable. Of note, we don’t really have a mega bomb hit off Golos’s activated ability, we’re playing value a major value game.
Mono Black Devotion
Mono Black Devotion is a blast from the past. This deck was a big player in the original Theros days, and while Mono Black Aggro is a strong deck in Pioneer, we haven’t really seen a devotion deck quite like this in a long time! What’s spicy here is a very cool combo that we can include that’s a big benefit to our game plan.
That combo is
Peer into the Abyss
Peer into the Abyss
Target player draws cards equal to half the number of cards in their library and loses half their life. Round up each time.
and
Underworld Dreams
Underworld Dreams
Whenever an opponent draws a card, this enchantment deals 1 damage to that player.
. With Underworld Dreams in play, we cast Peer into the Abyss targeting our opponent, and they lose on the spot. They draw half of their deck and take 1 damage for each card they draw.
Outside of that, we have the standard “Devotion” closer in
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
When this creature enters, each opponent loses X life, where X is your devotion to black. You gain life equal to the life lost this way. (Each {B} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)
. One of these often swings the game heavily in our favor, and 2 can end it outright.
READ MORE: Best New Capenna Cards For Pioneer
Mono White Golos Devotion
If you look at popular devotion decks in the past, Mono White Devotion really isn’t a deck you think about. Now with this deck, we’re looking at a Mono White Aggro deck, but this deck is also playing another combo.
Now this combo may seem familiar if you played Standard late last year.
The Book of Exalted Deeds
The Book of Exalted Deeds
At the beginning of your end step, if you gained 3 or more life this turn, create a 3/3 white Angel creature token with flying.
{W}{W}{W}, {T}, Exile The Book of Exalted Deeds: Put an enlightened counter on target Angel. It gains "You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game." Activate only as a sorcery.
combined with a
Mutavault
Mutavault
{T}: Add {C}.
{1}: This land becomes a 2/2 creature with all creature types until end of turn. It's still a land.
(or
Faceless Haven
Faceless Haven
{T}: Add {C}.
{S}{S}{S}: This land becomes a 4/3 creature with vigilance and all creature types until end of turn. It's still a land. ({S} can be paid with one mana from a snow source.)
in Standard) results in a near unbreakable game lock where you can’t lose. Outside of this, we have a lone
Emrakul, the Promised End
Emrakul, the Promised End
This spell costs {1} less to cast for each card type among cards in your graveyard.
When you cast this spell, you gain control of target opponent during that player's next turn. After that turn, that player takes an extra turn.
Flying, trample, protection from instants
to hit off Golos, as a way to help put the game away.
READ MORE: MTG Early Access Streams Return – Experience New Capenna Before Release
Porting to Explorer
With these sweet decks popping up for this increasingly popular format, we have to ask, how easily can we port this to Explorer? Explorer doesn’t have the full card pool that Pioneer has at the moment, so we’re more than likely going to have to make some alterations to the lists to port them over cleanly. Let’s take a look at some updated lists for these decks with the Explorer card pool in mind.
—
For our Golos Fires deck, there’s only 1 card that we need to change out, which is
Darksteel Citadel
Darksteel Citadel
Indestructible
{T}: Add {C}.
. The deck only plays 1 so that’s not a huge deal to change, but there aren’t any other indestructible lands on MTG Arena outside of
Cascading Cataracts
Cascading Cataracts
Indestructible
{T}: Add {C}.
{5}, {T}: Add five mana in any combination of colors.
. I just added another
Stormcarved Coast
Stormcarved Coast
This land enters tapped unless you control two or more other lands.
{T}: Add {U} or {R}.
to the deck.
—
For Mono Black Devotion, there’s 2 cards we need to change out here. We don’t have
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
{T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Choose a color. Add an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.)
and
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Each land is a Swamp in addition to its other land types.
on Arena yet. These are pretty crucial lands as they allow us to generate a LOT of mana very quickly to execute our plays. We have an option to replace them in
Cabal Stronghold
Cabal Stronghold
{T}: Add {C}.
{3}, {T}: Add {B} for each basic Swamp you control.
, so I added 3 more swamps to compensate.
—
Mono White Golos Devotion definitely required the most overhauling to make work. We ended up having to replace a few cards here. Emrakul got replaced by
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
When you cast this spell, exile two target permanents.
Indestructible
Whenever Ulamog attacks, defending player exiles the top twenty cards of their library.
as our closer threat. Additionally we swapped
Thalia’s Lancers
Thalia’s Lancers
First strike
When this creature enters, you may search your library for a legendary card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
for
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
First strike
Noncreature spells cost {1} more to cast.
, and
Stasis Snare
Stasis Snare
Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
When this enchantment enters, exile target creature an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
for
Seal Away
Seal Away
Flash
When this enchantment enters, exile target tapped creature an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
. Thalia’s Lancers does play a very important role in this deck as a tutor for Golos, and sadly we don’t have a way to really mimic that effectively.
As for the lands, we have to once again replace Nykthos, which is a killer because we don’t have an effective replacement land. Additionally, we switch out Mutavault with Faceless Haven, and the Plains with Snow-Covered Plains.
READ MORE: Top 10 Cards That We Want to See in MTG Arena Explorer’s First Drop
These decks are really cool and it gives me hope that the Pioneer will bring some viewership back to the Pro Tour, and hopefully bring some players back to Arena! Also, if you play Pioneer in paper, then there’s some more fun and cool decks to try!