By Frank Karsten

For the upcoming Players Tour events in Nagoya, Brussels, and Phoenix, skilled competitors will bring their best Pioneer decks. Pioneer is a new, nonrotating format featuring cards fromReturn to Ravnicaand forward, and the Players Tour will be the first premier event after the initial wave of bans and the release of Theros Beyond Death. Ahead of the next two weekends of events, let's take a broad look at what you can expect from the Pioneer metagame at the Players Tour.

Overall, I expect a lot of diversity. In published Magic Online decklists, Pioneer Leagues regularly showcase over 50 different 5-0 decks, suggesting a healthy metagame with many viable strategies. What's more, in Preliminary and Challenge events, the top finishers generally play a wide variety of decks.

Nevertheless, some decks appear more often than others. For our purposes I selected ten of the most popular archetypes based on published decklists and what I have faced in Leagues, with a representative decklist for each. I grouped the decks into five categories (Aggro decks, Midrange decks, Control decks, Engine decks, and Combo decks) with two decks each. Join me on a journey through the Pioneer landscape!

Aggro Decks

I consider a deck an aggro deck when it has a low mana curve and multiple one-drops that are best at attacking. Aggro decks may contain disruptive elements, and this is indeed the case for both Mono-Black Aggro and Azorius Spirits.

Mono-Black Aggro - Theo_Jung - 1/19 Pioneer Challenge

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (25)

4 Bloodsoaked Champion 4 Dread Wanderer 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion 4 Murderous Rider 3 Rankle, Master of Pranks 4 Scrapheap Scrounger 2 Spawn of Mayhem

Sorcery (4)

4 Thoughtseize

Instant (7)

4 Fatal Push 1 Grasp of Darkness 2 Ultimate Price

Land (24)

4 Castle Locthwain 4 Mutavault 15 Swamp 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

2 Aethersphere Harvester 4 Duress 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet 2 Leyline of the Void 1 Liliana, the Last Hope 4 Self-Inflicted Wound

Deal Another Hand

Mono-Black Aggro exploits the most efficient interactive spells in the format—Fatal Push and Thoughtseize—in a shell that can put a lot of pressure on the opponent. Bloodsoaked Champion and Scrapheap Scrounger aren't made for blocking, after all. If the board stalls out, then impactful fliers like Rankle, Master of Pranks can still swoop in for the kill.

The main reason for staying mono-color is that this allows you to fit 4 Mutavault and 4 Castle Locthwain into the mana base. These lands provide an excellent way to mitigate mana flood and offer some mid-game staying power. I expect that Mono-Black Aggro will be one of the more popular decks at the Players Tour.

Azorius Spirits - DaniMRebel – 1/19 Pioneer Challenge

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (34)

4 Brazen Borrower 4 Empyrean Eagle 4 Mausoleum Wanderer 3 Nebelgast Herald 4 Rattlechains 3 Selfless Spirit 4 Spectral Sailor 4 Spell Queller 4 Supreme Phantom

Enchantment (3)

3 Curious Obsession

Land (23)

4 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 7 Island 1 Mana Confluence 2 Mutavault 3 Plains 2 Port Town

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

2 Declaration in Stone 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Dovin's Veto 3 Mystical Dispute 3 Rest in Peace 3 Settle the Wreckage

Deal Another Hand

Azorius Spirits is fairly similar to the Modern version. The plan is to curve out with fliers, to use Supreme Phantom and Empyrean Eagle (the so-called Spirit "lords") to boost their power, and to race the opponent with evasive creatures. The best card in the deck overall is arguably Spell Queller, as it provides interaction, pressure, and the right creature type all in a single package.

There are Bant versions that splash for Collected Company, but the straight-up Azorius version has better mana, can run a few Mutavaults (which is also a Spirit), and is more popular overall. But both Bant and Azorius Spirits can play a good flash game on their opponent's turns. Opponents will have to commit without knowing whether you are holding Spell Queller, Rattlechains, or Nebelgast Herald, and they could easily play around the wrong cards. After sideboard, when opponents also have to be mindful of Settle the Wreckage, it is even more of a nightmare to play against Spirit decks.

Midrange Decks

Midrange decks can switch into an aggro or control role depending on the matchup. Their mana curves are generally higher than aggro decks, with fewer early drops and more four or five mana creatures.

Big Red - Raptor_Nachos – 1/20 Pioneer League

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (2)

2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Creature (24)

4 Bonecrusher Giant 3 Glorybringer 4 Goblin Chainwhirler 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 3 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider 4 Soul-Scar Mage 2 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

Instant (8)

4 Lightning Strike 4 Wild Slash

Land (26)

2 Castle Embereth 18 Mountain 2 Mutavault 4 Ramunap Ruins

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance 2 Chandra's Defeat 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 2 Fry 2 Lava Coil 1 Roast 3 Tormod's Crypt

Deal Another Hand

Sometimes called "Chonky Red" this deck aims to burn opposing creatures early on, cement a board advantage with something like Goblin Rabblemaster when the time is right, and overpower the opponent with Glorybringer. Personally, I personally like the Goblin Chainwhirler builds like the one above.

Although the deck is capable of aggressive draws, the first red creature often won't appear until turn three. (In about two-thirds of the games there may be an early Soul-Scar Mage or Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, but that's hardly reliable.) So don't mistake this for a fast burn deck that is weak to life gain spells. Instead, I view it as more of a midrange deck.

I expect that Big Red will be one of the more popular decks at the Players Tour. It will surely be one of the decks that everyone will be ready for and will have tested against.

Steel Leaf Stompy - kanister - 1/19 Pioneer Challenge

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (32)

4 Elvish Mystic 3 Ghalta, Primal Hunger 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Lovestruck Beast 2 Rhonas the Indomitable 4 Rotting Regisaur 4 Scrapheap Scrounger 4 Steel Leaf Champion 3 Surrak, the Hunt Caller

Artifact (7)

3 Heart of Kiran 4 The Great Henge

Land (21)

4 Blooming Marsh 9 Forest 4 Llanowar Wastes 4 Overgrown Tomb

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

3 Fatal Push 1 Noxious Grasp 2 Scavenging Ooze 3 Self-Inflicted Wound 2 Shapers' Sanctuary 4 Thoughtseize

Deal Another Hand

Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic are arguably the best one-drop creatures in the format, and this deck uses them to ramp into five-power creatures as early as turn two. The dream is to follow up with Surrak, the Hunt Caller on turn three and to give Ghalta, Primal Hunger haste on turn four. Although the deck is aggressively minded overall, the huge monsters can also play defense if the matchup calls for it.

While some lists stay mono-green with Burning-Tree Emissary and Aspect of Hydra, the above list splashes black. Black provides Rotting Regisaur, which enables a two-mana The Great Henge. Black also provides several interactive sideboard cards. This splash seems worth it to me, as the cost to the mana base is minimal.

Control Decks

One of the defining features of control deck tends to be a reliance on global creature sweepers like Supreme Verdict, along with card advantage spells and a late game that goes over the top of most midrange decks. In this category, two Pioneer decks stand out.

Niv to Light - urlich00 - 1/19 Pioneer Challenge

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (4)

4 Teferi, Time Raveler

Creature (16)

3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn 3 Paradise Druid 3 Siege Rhino 4 Sylvan Caryatid 1 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves 2 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath

Sorcery (9)

4 Bring to Light 1 Cut // Ribbons 1 Discovery // Dispersal 1 Dreadbore 1 Supreme Verdict 1 Unmoored Ego

Instant (4)

2 Abrupt Decay 1 Kolaghan's Command 1 Utter End

Enchantment (1)

1 Oath of Kaya

Land (26)

1 Blood Crypt 2 Botanical Sanctum 1 Breeding Pool 4 Fabled Passage 1 Forest 1 Frontier Bivouac 2 Godless Shrine 1 Island 1 Mountain 1 Nomad Outpost 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Plains 1 Sandsteppe Citadel 1 Stomping Ground 1 Swamp 2 Temple Garden 1 Temple of Deceit 1 Temple of Plenty 2 Watery Grave

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa 2 Infernal Reckoning 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Questing Beast 1 Rakdos's Return 2 Rest in Peace 1 Slaughter Games 1 Solar Blaze 1 Surrak Dragonclaw 1 Thought Distortion 2 Thought Erasure

Deal Another Hand

The namesake cards are Niv-Mizzet Reborn and Bring to Light, both fueled by a five-color mana base. With access to the best cards in every color pair, the dream is to use Sylvan Caryatid to ramp into a turn-four Niv-Mizzet Reborn and to grab, say, Teferi, Time Raveler; Bring to Light; Dreadbore; and Abrupt Decay from your top ten cards. That should be enough to take over the game.

Niv to Light kind of straddles in between midrange and control, as the above list has only a single Supreme Verdict in the main deck. However, I labeled the archetype as a control deck because the card Bring to Light can reliably find the sweeper against aggro decks, because I've seen builds with other sweepers, and because the card Niv-Mizzet Reborn goes over the top of midrange decks like Big Red.

I expect that Niv to Light will be one of the more popular decks at the Players Tour. However, players are discovering effective ways to combat the deck. Attacking their mana base is one of them. For example, Self-Inflicted Wounds from the sideboard are rising in popularity because without Sylvan Caryatid, Niv to Light players may be unable to cast their spells.

Azorius Control - WaToO - 1/19 Pioneer Challenge

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (5)

1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

Sorcery (4)

4 Supreme Verdict

Instant (24)

4 Azorius Charm 3 Censor 2 Dig Through Time 2 Dovin's Veto 3 Glimmer of Genius 4 Opt 4 Sinister Sabotage 1 Sphinx's Revelation 1 Syncopate

Enchantment (1)

1 Cast Out

Land (26)

3 Castle Ardenvale 1 Castle Vantress 3 Field of Ruin 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 3 Irrigated Farmland 6 Island 2 Plains

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

2 Dovin's Veto 3 Aether Gust 1 Aetherling 1 Descend upon the Sinful 3 Dream Trawler 2 Rest in Peace 3 Summary Dismissal

Deal Another Hand

Azorius Control in Pioneer does basically the same as in every other format. It plans to say "no" to spells with Sinister Sabotage, "no" to creatures with Supreme Verdict, and eventually locks up the game with a planeswalker. Once the deck gets to cast Dig Through Time or Sphinx's Revelation on a stable board and/or stick Teferi, Hero of Dominaria for multiple turns, victory ultimately becomes inevitable.

A new addition from Theros Beyond Death is Dream Trawler in the sideboard. As a mix between Baneslayer Angel and Prognostic Sphinx, it is the perfect win condition that control players have been dreaming of.

Engine Decks

The following two decks don't really fit into the classic aggro-midrange-control mold. Instead, they are built around a single key card or a mana ramp plan. I labeled them as "engine decks" for lack of a better term, but you might as well think of them as "other decks".

Golgari Soulflayer - TombSimon – 1/18 Pioneer Preliminary

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (31)

2 Gifted Aetherborn 4 Lotleth Troll 4 Murderous Rider 2 Nullhide Ferox 3 Questing Beast 1 Rankle, Master of Pranks 2 Rhonas the Indomitable 1 Samut, Voice of Dissent 4 Soulflayer 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn

Sorcery (4)

4 Gather the Pack

Instant (5)

1 Grapple with the Past 4 Grisly Salvage

Land (20)

4 Blooming Marsh 1 Forest 3 Llanowar Wastes 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Swamp 2 Temple of Malady 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1 Woodland Cemetery

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Assassin's Trophy 1 Doom Blade 1 Fatal Push 1 Lost Legacy 2 Prowling Serpopard 2 Reclamation Sage 2 Scavenging Ooze 4 Thoughtseize 1 Ultimate Price

Deal Another Hand

The plan of Golgari Soulflayer is to use Gather the Pack or Grisly Salvage to enable a two-mana Soulflayer with a ridiculous set of abilities. By delving Zetalpa, Primal Dawn, Gifted Aetherborn, Sylvan Caryatid, and Questing Beast, you produce a 4/4 with flying, double strike, vigilance, trample, indestructible, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, and lifelink. Such a creature can come down as early as turn three. Good luck beating that.

The deck is weak to cards like Leyline of the Void in post-sideboarded games, but if opponents don't have an answer to the graveyard and don't have a way to counter or discard Soulflayer, then usually they will get flayed.

Mono-Green Ramp (by Granham, 5-0 in a Pioneer League on January 20)

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (4)

4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon