Pioneer has certainly had its critics over the years. One of the biggest complaints players have had regarding the format is that it had been relatively stale for quite a while. Mono-green Devotion and Rakdos midrange sat atop the totem pole, and it didn’t seem like much was going to change.
Since the release of Wilds of Eldraine and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, however, there have been some noticeable metagame shifts. Decks like Boros Convoke burst onto the scene and grew in popularity even further. Izzet Phoenix also grew in popularity, while a unique Grixis version of the Phoenix archetype emerged thanks to the printing of
Bitter Triumph
Bitter Triumph
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card or pay 3 life.
Destroy target creature or planeswalker.
.
Not only did new printings make specific archetypes more (or less) popular, but the banning of
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
Geological Appraiser
Geological Appraiser
When this creature enters, if you cast it, discover 3. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 3 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
also greatly affected the Pioneer metagame. This weekend, we got to see how these bans would affect things in a highly competitive environment. The Pioneer Regional Championship in Atlanta is underway with over 1300 players, and there’s a lot of information to take away from the metagame of the event.
Day 1 Metagame Breakdown
Just by looking at the graphic of the day one metagame breakdown for the Pioneer Regional Championship in Atlanta, we can get a glimpse of some major changes to the Pioneer metagame. First of all, Rakdos midrange was registered by the most players by a pretty big margin. There was a period of time this year where Rakdos midrange appeared to be on the downswing. However, a few key factors have changed that put Rakdos in a much better spot.
One of the decks that has helped keep Rakdos in check to an extent has been mono-green Devotion. Cards like
Old-Growth Troll
Old-Growth Troll
Trample
When Old-Growth Troll dies, if it was a creature, return it to the battlefield. It's an Aura enchantment with enchant Forest you control and "Enchanted Forest has '{T}: Add {G}{G}' and '{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this land: Create a tapped 4/4 green Troll Warrior creature token with trample.'"
and
Cavalier of Thorns
Cavalier of Thorns
Reach
When this creature enters, reveal the top five cards of your library. Put a land card from among them onto the battlefield and the rest into your graveyard.
When this creature dies, you may exile it. If you do, put another target card from your graveyard on top of your library.
were not ideal threats to kill with typical removal. Meanwhile, both Karn, the Great Creator and
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.)
threatened to generate a lot of value. With Karn out of the picture, though, mono-green Devotion fell off the map in a huge way. Discover combo decks using
Quintorius Kand
Quintorius Kand
Whenever you cast a spell from exile, Quintorius Kand deals 2 damage to each opponent and you gain 2 life.
+1: Create a 3/2 red and white Spirit creature token.
−3: Discover 4.
−6: Exile any number of target cards from your graveyard. Add {R} for each card exiled this way. You may play those cards this turn.
were also played in minimal numbers, further boosting Rakdos’s position in the metagame.
Next in line, we have Izzet Phoenix as the only other deck with a 10%+ metagame share. Izzet Phoenix is quite a strong deck, maximizing the power of
Treasure Cruise
Treasure Cruise
Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.)
Draw three cards.
, one of the best cards in the format. Ever since
Sleight of Hand
Sleight of Hand
Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the other on the bottom of your library.
was added to Pioneer in Wilds of Eldraine, the deck has increased in popularity a great deal. From the look of things, it doesn’t seem like the deck is going anywhere.
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Day 2 Conversion Information
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from this major Pioneer tournament is just how dominant the Abzan
Amalia Benavides Aguirre
Amalia Benavides Aguirre
Ward—Pay 3 life.
Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
combo deck has become. Despite being the third most played deck in day one with a metagame share of under 10%, it was the most played deck in day two. Both Rakdos Midrange and Izzet Phoenix had just under 50% win rates throughout the tournament. Considering how many players were playing these two decks, this is quite reasonable.
Amalia combo wasn’t too far behind in popularity, though, and saw a win rate of over 55%. This was the highest win rate of any of the 10 most-played decks from day one. Azorius control saw a win rate of just below 55%, showcasing its excellent overall performance in the tournament, too.
Temporary Lockdown
Temporary Lockdown
When this enchantment enters, exile each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
is exceptionally well positioned considering how many players are playing Abzan Amalia combo and Boros Convoke, so this definitely makes some sense.
On the flip side, there were a couple notable decks that had rather poor win rates. Among decks that showcased at least 10 players using the deck, Abzan Greasefang was the only deck with a win rate below 40%. This is likely attributed to the fact that players were packing graveyard hate for decks like Phoenix, so Abzan Greasefang got all of the splash hate.
Interestingly, Azorius
Lotus Field
Lotus Field
Hexproof
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, sacrifice two lands.
{T}: Add three mana of any one color.
also saw a very poor win rate of just over 40%. If anything, this showcased just how much stronger traditional Azorius control performed.
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An Uninteresting Top 8
Sometimes, despite dominant performances by tier one strategies, unique breakout decks or lower tier archetypes sneak their way into top 8. At this tournament, though, this was not the case. In fact, the top 8 specifically featured only the top four decks of the tournament: Rakdos midrange, Izzet Phoenix, Abzan Amalia combo, and Azorius control.
That said, the newer iteration of Rakdos Midrange featuring
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Whenever you attack, you may discard a card. When you do, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature. It gains trample until end of turn.
Whenever you discard one or more cards, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card until your next end step.
and Smuggler’s Copter did make a top eight appearance. This deck features a more aggressive take on the Rakdos Midrange strategy, using Inti to establish a quicker clock and generate a ton of advantage.
Not only that, but each of these decks showcase exactly two copies in top 8. It’ll be interesting to see how the top eight unfolds.
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A Unique Build Barely Misses the Cut
Another intriguing aspect of this tournament was where
Smuggler’s Copter
Smuggler’s Copter
Flying
Whenever this Vehicle attacks or blocks, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
Crew 1 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
was primarily utilized. When the card was unbanned, there was hope that this would give rise to more aggressive Creature decks. Instead, the card helped make Rakdos midrange even stronger, while decks with lots of small Creatures either saw minimal play or didn’t implement the card in general.
That being said, there was one deck that is worth mentioning that makes great use of the powerful Artifact. With a record of 11-3, mono-black aggro just barely missed the cut, finishing at 13th place. This deck is somewhat reminiscent of the mono-black aggro decks that thrived back when
Inverter of Truth
Inverter of Truth
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Flying
When this creature enters, exile all cards from your library face down, then shuffle all cards from your graveyard into your library.
was still legal. However, there are a ton of cool inclusions in this particular build.
Deep-Cavern Bat
Deep-Cavern Bat
Flying, lifelink
When this creature enters, look at target opponent's hand. You may exile a nonland card from it until this creature leaves the battlefield.
in conjunction with Thoughtseize give this deck a lot of disruption against opposing combo decks.
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 a great card to pair with Smuggler’s Copter, given its ability to repeatedly come back from the graveyard and Crew Copter itself. These cheap Creatures also make
Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to one of your opponents, its controller may pay 1 life. If they do, they draw a card.
{4}{B}{B}{B}, Discard X cards: Exile the top X cards of target opponent's library. You may play lands and cast spells from among cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
a nice source of card advantage, something this deck was lacking.
Add in some specific hate pieces, such as
Knight of Dusk’s Shadow
Knight of Dusk’s Shadow
Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
Your opponents can't gain life.
{1}{B}: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
out of the sideboard against Abzan Amalia combo, and you’ve got a gameplan. This archetype is definitely worth monitoring in the coming weeks, as a fantastic performance like this can’t go ignored.
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