Pioneer Meta Inspection 2023/09/18

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Before We Start

Following last week’s Modern meta inspection, this week I’ll try writing one for Pioneer.
The meta data is again mainly from mtggoldfish, since there aren’t many Pioneer weeklies in Taiwan right now anyway :p

Meta Change

As usual, here is the meta table at the time of writing.

Below I’ll discuss each deck separately, focusing only on changes in the environment and not going into too much detail (unless necessary).

Mono-Green Devotion

Our Mono-Green is the same as ever, feasting on Rakdos Midrange / Rakdos Sacrifice / Indomitable Creativity / Greasefang while continuing to climb.
Recently I’ve seen quite a few people main-deck an extra Cityscape Leveler, or play the new WOE card Blossoming Tortoise in hopes of gaining more resources with its ability, which is a pretty interesting idea.

The rest is about the same as the original Mono-Green, but some people are now bringing God-Pharaoh’s Statue back into the sideboard to deal with Phoenix, which is seeing more play (I’ll explain shortly why Phoenix is up).

Izzet Phoenix

Didn’t see that coming, did you? Phoenix has risen from the ashes and climbed back to Tier 1!
…What a coincidence, I didn’t see it coming either, and I was startled when I first opened the meta table.
From a rough look, it seems to be a trend driven by a new WOE card.

The new look-at-two-take-one is quite strong, though it’s a pity it doesn’t put a card into the graveyard (that would be too strong, wait… = =).
But I still don’t think this will return Phoenix to glory, and after a while quite a few people will probably bring Damping Sphere back into the sideboard.

Rakdos Midrange

Finally, a deck I’m familiar with… right?
Okay, let’s set aside the bunch of Rakdos Waste Not lists that appeared out of nowhere. I look at that deck from every angle and still don’t understand why so many people are playing it lately.
Rakdos Midrange now has no cookie-cutter build. Quite a few people have added a fourth Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, maxed out on Graveyard Trespasser, or added the new WOE card Decadent Dragon; in any case, all kinds of builds that differ from before.

The sideboard is like previous Rakdos Midrange lists: everyone brings different things according to their own understanding of the deck and the environment. I covered the sideboard in my previous article, and it’s mostly still generally applicable, but you should still adjust it to your own habits and read of the environment.
Also, if Phoenix keeps running rampant like this, I’d consider swapping the two Invoke Despair for Damping Sphere.

Hidden String/Lotus Field Combo

Lotus Field hasn’t actually changed much, I just want to mention that since MOM was released it has split into two builds:

Only Chandra, Hope’s Beacon as the sole wincon
Both Chandra and the traditional Wish-type wincons

Each has pros and cons. The first is afraid of Chandra getting named and exiled, leaving only the creature-land beatdown plan, the very, very, very, very, very, very worst option, to win with, and if that gets killed you’re done. The upside is that it frees up some slots in the main deck and sideboard for other cards (such as more ramp and sweepers).
The problem with the second is that the main deck gets more cramped, and with fewer smoothing cards you’re more likely to die suddenly to a single removal spell from the opponent.
I’ve seen both lists, with the first slightly more common, but it varies from person to person.

Azorius Spirits

Azorius Spirits also continues to rise ~~and keeps grinding Mono-Green into the dirt~~. There haven’t been many recent changes to the deck, but note that some people have put March of Swirling Mist in the main deck.

Boros Aggro

That’s right, Heroic is back!
Although I don’t understand why it came back, the build is about the same as a year ago when it was going downhill, and you could even say there’s basically no difference (the sideboard is different, of course).
If I had to name something, it’s just one new pump spell, Monstrous Rage.

This pump spell really is strong. What the heck is +3/+1 and trample for one mana@@
But Heroic still hasn’t fixed its weakness: it has no answer to decks with mass removal.
Anyway, just letting you all know Heroic is playable again; if you like it, give it a try.

Gruul Aggro

After Heroic, let’s look at the next deck… Gruul Aggro???????
Is this the Pioneer Renaissance or what? Why are a bunch of decks that were nearly dead on the roadside popping up?
The build is about the same as before: written Gruul, read as a mono-red aggro deck with a bit of green.
However, Gruul got more reinforcements (compared to Heroic): the very strong two-mana mana dork Ruby, Daring Tracker, Samut, Vizier of Naktamun to supply follow-up resources, and the newest removal spell, Witchstalker Frenzy.

The rest is about the same as before, so I won’t elaborate here.

Izzet/Temur Creativity

Creativity is also about the same as previous lists, again split into versions with the Wurm and with Torrential Gearhulk, and the builds are about the same as before.
Recently, though, more and more people are trying to bring other backup options in the sideboard, such as Etali or Atraxa (the original Shark Typhoon and Hullbreaker Horror are still there, of course).

If you’re in a match with open decklists, you may want to watch out for these.

Abzan Greasefang

The Greasefang build is much the same as before, but note that some people have started putting Sheoldred, the Apocalypse in a few flex slots, so be careful.

UWx Lotus Field Control

The Azorius Lotus Field control build is also unchanged, but note that some people bring Dragonlord Dromoka and Thought Distortion in the sideboard.

Boros Convoke

Two very strong new cards.

Convoke has a great many nonland permanents, so it naturally suits Regal Bunnicorn.
And Imodane’s Recruiter replaces Reckless Bushwhacker, since drawing Reckless Bushwhacker alone and being unable to trigger surge is too awkward.

But it still hasn’t fixed the old problem of dying outright to a single sweeper.

4C/5C Enigmatic Fires

The deck I hate most in all of Pioneer, 4C/5C Enigmatic Fires, received an upgrade that’s neither big nor small: Up the Beanstalk.

Compared with Modern’s 4C Elementals, Fires of Invention doesn’t have that many high-cost spells (besides Leyline Binding), and if you have to hard-cast those spells you’re almost certainly losing.
That’s why I say it’s an upgrade that’s neither big nor small.

Jeskai Ascendancy

Finally, let’s talk about Jeskai Ascendancy, which got a major overhaul in the past.
The traditional Jeskai Ascendancy is a deck powered by Sylvan Awakening: once you have four mana and Jeskai Ascendancy is already on the battlefield, you use Sylvan Awakening to turn all your lands into creatures (mana dorks), then use a large number of cheap spells to pile up more than 20 power on board and push it all at the opponent to finish the game.
But it now leans more toward a pure combo deck, using two Mox Amber and Emry, Lurker of the Loch for an infinite combo, or Retraction Helix plus any zero-mana artifact to make an infinite board and finish the game.

Epilogue

This week we reviewed the environment changes after the release of WOE. The meta structure hasn’t changed much; quite a few decks got some reinforcements, but not enough to affect the whole environment.
If you have spare time for practice beyond Modern, try building these decks and testing them out first to lighten next month’s practice load XD.
If there’s anything you’d like to discuss, feel free to leave a comment and share it with us as usual. See you at the Modern tables next week!