Cool Birthing Pod-Style Combo Deck Makes Surprise Appearance in Pioneer!

Since the release of Wilds of Eldraine, players in various Constructed formats have been making use of a bunch of new cards. In many cases, these additions have helped improve well-established archetypes and taken them to the next level. In Pioneer, for example, 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. added a bunch of extra consistency to Izzet Phoenix, which has become one of the best and most popular decks over the past few months. Both Boros Convoke and Boros Heroic have seen a big increase in their metagame shares, and the printings of Imodane’s Recruiter Imodane’s Recruiter When this creature enters, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn. and Monstrous Rage Monstrous Rage Target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn. Create a Monster Role token attached to it. (If you control another Role on it, put that one into the graveyard. Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has trample.) have a lot to do with why that’s the case.

Interestingly, though, there are a couple additions that have given rise to new or previously unsuccessful archetypes. In Modern, for instance, Up the Beanstalk Up the Beanstalk When this enchantment enters and whenever you cast a spell with mana value 5 or greater, draw a card. has revolutionized multi-color Leyline Binding Leyline Binding Flash
Domain — This spell costs {1} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. decks, many of which are now Cascading into the elite two-drop Enchantment. While Pioneer has not had the same level of innovative success, last Sunday’s Magic Online Pioneer Challenge featured a really unique combo deck with some much-needed consistency added thanks to a few Wilds of Eldraine inclusions.

This card is none other than Agatha’s Soul Cauldron Agatha’s Soul Cauldron You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to activate abilities of creatures you control.
Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
{T}: Exile target card from a graveyard. When a creature card is exiled this way, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. , which has opened the door for a wide variety of different combos in multiple Constructed formats. Cauldron has slotted nicely into decks like Modern Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Protection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
{B}{B}, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) combo, but has seen minimal Pioneer play. The unique Challenge decklist paired Cauldron with Prime Speaker Vannifar Prime Speaker Vannifar {T}, Sacrifice another creature: Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Activate only as a sorcery. which, despite being hyped up many years ago for its Birthing Pod Birthing Pod ({G/P} can be paid with either {G} or 2 life.)
{1}{G/P}, {T}, Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Activate only as a sorcery. impression, quickly fell by the wayside. Could this be the beginning of the rise of an underrepresented combo deck within the format?

Executing the Combo

To help answer this question, it’s important to first showcase exactly how the combo in question works. The goal is to be able to activate the ability of Prime Speaker Vannifar repeatedly in one turn, eventually ending with a massive attack. The first step is to sacrifice one of your one-drop Creatures to find Corridor Monitor Corridor Monitor When this creature enters, untap target artifact or creature you control. , untapping Prime Speaker Vannifar. From there, you sacrifice Corridor Monitor, searching for Extraction Specialist Extraction Specialist Lifelink
When this creature enters, return target creature card with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature can't attack or block for as long as you control this creature. , returning Corridor Monitor, untapping Prime Speaker Vannifar yet again.

You can repeat this same process to get every copy of Extraction Specialist from your library, then grab every copy of Glasspool Mimic Glasspool Mimic You may have this creature enter as a copy of a creature you control, except it's a Shapeshifter Rogue in addition to its other types. which enter as copies of Extraction Specialist. Once you have a big board of Extraction Specialists built up, sacrifice Corridor Monitor one last time and grab Imodane’s Recruiter Imodane’s Recruiter When this creature enters, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn. , then simply attack for a boatload of damage and win the game!

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What Cauldron Brings to the Table

In previous iterations of Prime Speaker Vannifar combo decks, it was quite difficult to actually pull off the combo. Unlike Birthing Pod, Prime Speaker Vannifar is a Creature affected by Summoning Sickness. This made it vulnerable to basic removal spells. The presence of Cauldron actually helps mitigate this problem. See, if you can get a copy of Prime Speaker Vannifar into your graveyard, you can use Cauldron to give any of your Creatures without Summoning Sickness a +1/+1 counter along with Prime Speaker Vannifar’s abilities, letting you execute the same combo.

This works exceptionally well with Sylvan Caryatid Sylvan Caryatid Defender, hexproof
{T}: Add one mana of any color. . Not only does Sylvan Caryatid help you play Prime Speaker Vannifar naturally on turn three, but as a Creature with Hexproof, it’s the perfect target for Cauldron to put a +1/+1 counter while exiling Prime Speaker Vannifar. Rona, Herald of Invasion Rona, Herald of Invasion Whenever you cast a legendary spell, untap Rona.
{T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
{5}{B/P}: Transform Rona. Activate only as a sorcery. ({B/P} can be paid with either {B} or 2 life.) does a great job digging for your key cards while putting Prime Speaker Vannifar into your graveyard from your hand when you have Cauldron lined up. Cauldron and Recruiter both add nice levels of consistency and resiliency that previous attempts at this style of deck had lacked in the past.

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Role Players

In addition to the general combo pieces this deck utilizes, this archetype makes use of a lot of powerful cards designed to add a bit of redundancy to the deck. Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler You may activate abilities of creatures you control as though those creatures had haste.
+1: Untap up to one target creature.
−2: Mill three cards, then you may return a creature card with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. can return Rona to the battlefield while letting you start looting immediately to fuel Cauldron. Getting to activate Prime Speaker Vannifar as though it had Haste can also be crucial. Another Wilds of Eldraine addition, The Huntsman’s Redemption The Huntsman’s Redemption (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Create a 3/3 green Beast creature token.
II — You may sacrifice a creature. If you do, search your library for a creature or basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
III — Up to two target creatures each get +2/+2 and gain trample until end of turn. , allows you to sacrifice one of your mana dorks to find Prime Speaker Vannifar.

This deck also plays Bring to Light Bring to Light Converge — Search your library for a creature, instant, or sorcery card with mana value less than or equal to the number of colors of mana spent to cast this spell, exile that card, then shuffle. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. , acting as extra virtual copies of Prime Speaker Vannifar, or occasionally Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor When Valki enters, each opponent reveals their hand. For each opponent, exile a creature card they revealed this way until Valki leaves the battlefield.
{X}: Choose a creature card exiled with Valki with mana value X. Valki becomes a copy of that card. or something like Extinction Event Extinction Event Choose odd or even. Exile each creature with mana value of the chosen quality. (Zero is even.) in a pinch. This may seem like a lot of cards to jam into a combo deck, but its more than worth it thanks to the inclusion of Yorion, Sky Nomad as a Companion. Using Yorion to blink Extraction Specialist and 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. on command is hugely beneficial in attrition matchups, such as against Rakdos Midrange.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Overall, this strategy is unlikely to become a dominant tier one archetype. You are somewhat reliant on finding Prime Speaker Vannifar to have success and draws without Cauldron can be broken up by removal spells. Even if you have Tyvar in play and can activate Prime Speaker Vannifar immediately, because you can only activate the ability at Sorcery speed, the opponent can cast cards like Rending Volley in response to the first activation, successfully breaking up the combo. Not to mention, decks like mono-green Devotion that utilize Karn, the Great Creator can search for The Stone Brain and simply remove Prime Speaker Vannifars from your deck.

That being said, the combo is much more resilient than it used to be. The combination of Cauldron, Caryatid, and Prime Speaker Vannifar in your graveyard can be backbreaking for the opponent. Between The Huntsman’s Redemption, Bring to Light, and Fauna Shaman, actually finding Prime Speaker Vannifar is relatively easy. Against decks with lots of removal, this deck can also win grindy games just as a value engine. Extraction Specialist and Yorion give the deck a lot of staying power.

On the flip side, having access to the combo can help you race opposing combo decks. In this sense, this deck does have game against everything, even if your strategy isn’t always the most consistent. With the release of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Pioneer metagame begins to shift even further, but it will be interesting to see if this intriguing combo deck gains additional traction in the format. For those who love creative combo decks, this archetype could be right up your alley.

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