The Explorer format is fresh and new at this point in time, but it’s going to become Pioneer eventually. We saw
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Winota, Joiner of Forces
Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It gains indestructible until end of turn. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.
banned recently, so the format is deviating for the moment. To bring things back in line and closer to Pioneer, Wizards of the Coast aims to add more cards to the format through various means.
Today, we’re going to talk Explorer, and 23 cards that the Explorer format needs to feel more like Pioneer. Yes, all of these cards will make it eventually, but adding these cards now flushes out a lot of the format, and even could make Winota ok to unban.
The List
If you want to listen to more of my thoughts about each card, check out the video above! There’s 3 cards for each color, with a few more for Multicolored and 3 for lands.
Red
To kick off the red cards,
Monastery Swiftspear
Monastery Swiftspear
Haste
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
and
Eidolon of the Great Revel
Eidolon of the Great Revel
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value 3 or less, this creature deals 2 damage to that player.
are stellar additions to the aggro decks of the format. Right now, we don’t have a straight forward aggro strategy in the format. The current Mono Red and Boros aggro decks are missing these key pieces to help them get off the ground quickly.
Collective Defiance
Collective Defiance
Escalate {1} (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)
Choose one or more —
• Target player discards all the cards in their hand, then draws that many cards.
• Collective Defiance deals 4 damage to target creature.
• Collective Defiance deals 3 damage to target opponent or planeswalker.
is an inclusion in Izzet Phoenix and Control decks. The Izzet decks have been struggling to get off the ground, and have had to retool their cards to make the deck work. It’s become a different deck from what is in Pioneer. This, alongside another card in our list, will help those decks out.
Green
In the Green camp,
Elvish Mystic
Elvish Mystic
{T}: Add {G}.
and
Sylvan Caryatid
Sylvan Caryatid
Defender, hexproof
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
are essential redundant mana creatures that the green decks have been craving.
Gilded Goose
Gilded Goose
Flying
When this creature enters, create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.")
{1}{G}, {T}: Create a Food token.
{T}, Sacrifice a Food: Add one mana of any color.
is ok, but nowhere near as good. Not to mention Sylvan Caryatid is utilized in a few different decks so this is a nice addition to work towards those.
Oath of Nissa
Oath of Nissa
When Oath of Nissa enters, look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal a creature, land, or planeswalker card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast planeswalker spells.
isn’t a huge format staple, but it’s one that’s helping to enable the Mono Green
Storm the Festival
Storm the Festival
Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put up to two permanent cards with mana value 5 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Flashback {7}{G}{G}{G} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Deck. That deck sees a fair bit of play in Pioneer, and it’s close to complete in Explorer, so adding this piece would be nice.
Blue
Speaking of the Izzet decks,
Thing in the Ice
Thing in the Ice
Defender
This creature enters with four ice counters on it.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, remove an ice counter from this creature. Then if it has no ice counters on it, transform it.
is the other card that will help. It’s one of the main win conditions of the deck. It plays similarly to something like
Smoldering Egg
Smoldering Egg
Defender
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, put a number of ember counters on this creature equal to the amount of mana spent to cast that spell. Then if this creature has seven or more ember counters on it, remove them and transform this creature.
, but it’s far more powerful.
Mausoleum Wanderer
Mausoleum Wanderer
Flying
Whenever another Spirit you control enters, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Sacrifice this creature: Counter target instant or sorcery spell unless its controller pays {X}, where X is this creature's power.
is next, and is the sole missing piece from the Mono Blue Tempo / Spirits decks, and is also included in the Bant variants as well. It’s another early game creature to help get the deck going. It also provides a free, and powerful counter spell in a pinch.
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
{T}: Draw a card, then discard a card. If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, exile Jace, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.
is the last card in Blue. While it hasn’t seen a ton of play as of late, it is a fan favorite card from back in the day, and could see play in Historic as well.
Black
As for Black, honestly, the color has a lot of their tools already in the format. There’s just a few things missing.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Lifelink
If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, instead exile that card and create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
{2}{B}, Sacrifice another Vampire or Zombie: Put two +1/+1 counters on Kalitas.
is a premier tool in Pioneer to help deal with creature based strategies, and it’s sorely missing in Explorer.
Bloodsoaked Champion
Bloodsoaked Champion
This creature can't block.
Raid — {1}{B}: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only if you attacked this turn.
is another strong 1 cost creature to help get the Mono Black Aggro decks up off the ground. While we have
Dread Wanderer
Dread Wanderer
This creature enters tapped.
{2}{B}: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only as a sorcery and only if you have one or fewer cards in hand.
, it’s about the critical mass of these cards that helps the deck function properly.
Lastly
Collective Brutality
Collective Brutality
Escalate—Discard a card. (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.)
Choose one or more —
• Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose an instant or sorcery card from it. That player discards that card.
• Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
• Target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
is a card that is a staple in Modern, but has fallen off a bit in Pioneer. It’s been recently picked back up in the various Greasefang decks of the format. All in all, it’s still a versatile and strong card that people like, and so it’d be a great addition to Explorer at this stage.
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White
White has only a few really necessary cards that it needs to bring, as it’s more of a splash color in Pioneer.
Chained to the Rocks
Chained to the Rocks
Enchant Mountain you control
When this Aura enters, exile target creature an opponent controls until this Aura leaves the battlefield. (That creature returns under its owner's control.)
is a very strong removal enchantment, and is the only missing piece from most of the
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.
decks. Though it doesn’t move the needle on the decks power, so there’s no reason to not bring it in.
Favored Hoplite
Favored Hoplite
Heroic — Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature and prevent all damage that would be dealt to it this turn.
, just like Monastery Swiftspear and Bloodsoaked Champion, is another strong 1 cost creature that’s needed in the format. Primarily seeing play in the Boros Aggro decks, it’s adds to the density of early game threats the deck needs to fight in the format.
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.
is a pretty out there pick. Only seeing play in the Mono White Devotion decks, it’s a vital piece for the deck. It helps to search up the decks heavy hitters like
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
When Golos enters, you may search your library for a land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
{2}{W}{U}{B}{R}{G}: Exile the top three cards of your library. You may play them this turn without paying their mana costs.
and Emrakul, the Promsed End.
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Multicolored
We have 6 total cards for our Multicolored section.
Voice of Resurgence
Voice of Resurgence
Whenever an opponent casts a spell during your turn and when this creature dies, create a green and white Elemental creature token with "This token's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control."
is one of the mainstay cards in Winota. Since Winota is banned in Explorer, it’ll be used in a more fair way, but will be there when Winota comes back.
Supreme Verdict
Supreme Verdict
This spell can't be countered.
Destroy all creatures.
is one of the best sweeper in the game, and it’s one of the few missing pieces from Azorius Control.
Reflector Mage
Reflector Mage
When this creature enters, return target creature an opponent controls to its owner's hand. That creature's owner can't cast spells with the same name as that creature until your next turn.
is an interesting one. It sees play in Humans decks, which don’t see a ton of play any more in Pioneer. It’s possible that if this were to be added to the format, we have much of the rest of the deck, so we could see Humans make a showing in Explorer.
Boros Charm
Boros Charm
Choose one —
• Boros Charm deals 4 damage to target player or planeswalker.
• Permanents you control gain indestructible until end of turn.
• Target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
and
Izzet Charm
Izzet Charm
Choose one —
• Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}.
• Izzet Charm deals 2 damage to target creature.
• Draw two cards, then discard two cards.
are very powerful tools for their respective decks, and given that they’re uncommon, they are very easy to include in the grand scheme of Historic Anthology 6.
Lastly,
Spell Queller
Spell Queller
Flash
Flying
When this creature enters, exile target spell with mana value 4 or less.
When this creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card's owner may cast that card without paying its mana cost.
is a key piece of the Bant Spirits deck, which hasn’t seen much play in Pioneer lately. Though it’s still a great pick for a deck to take a random tournament down, or possibly to ladder with!
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Land
We have 3 lands to talk about, starting with
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Each land is a Swamp in addition to its other land types.
. It’s a land that finds homes in many black decks, and while it’s used in small quantities in those decks, it helps smooth the mana out. Same goes for
Mana Confluence
Mana Confluence
{T}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color.
. Both of these lands are fairly low risk additions to the format but will help a lot.
The one high risk pick here though is
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.)
. Generally speaking, the only devotion deck that’s got some fight to it is Mono Green Storm. Though Mono Black devotion and Mono White both have some showings in Pioneer, and this is a big part of making all of these decks work.
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I think that if these cards were to be included, it’s possible that Winota could even be unbanned. We could have a nearly 100% meta functional Pioneer right off the bat. There are a few cards and decks still missing, though those cards total to probably another Anthology’s worth.