New to Pioneer. *HELP*
Pioneer Budget Competitive Control Counterspell Flash Midrange Spirits Tempo WU (Azorius)
Creature (23)
Land (24)
Sideboard
Enchantment (6)
Artifact (3)
Instant (3)
Maybeboard
Land (4)
Enchantment (1)
I’ll dispense with the usual series of bad gaffs and poor puns associated with my descriptions.
I realized I have never built a Pioneer format deck, and I would like to have one available should the situation arise where that’s the format of choice among friends or the LGS. I’ve never played Pioneer, but have a background in Legacy/Vintage/Modern/Pauper and am accustomed to 60 card formats. Learning the cardpool and typical meta builds will take time, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to adjust.
To that end, I’ve cobbled this pile of cards together and am looking for any Pioneer veterans or those with extensive knowledge of the format to critique it and offer suggestions for improvement. Note; I am not looking to radically alter the build. It’s very control heavy and tempo focused and I would prefer to keep that playstyle.
This took some adjustment.
Like going from Public to Private school, I immediately went straight for my good old reliable Fetchlands and was promptly chastised with a ’We don’t do that here.’ Shocklands and basics it is!
•Hallowed Fountain
covers us whichever way we’re lacking, and the 2 point ping shouldn’t prove too problematic as we have a Lifegain outlet.
•Slowly learning the card pool, so I’ve just added Adarkar Wastes and Seachrome Coast thanks to recommendations.
•Cavern of Souls I know all too well from my days playing Modern. It fixes mana when casting ghosties and adds that little extra layer of protection, ensuring they stick the landing when we cast them.
•At roughly even splits of and , 6 of each of basic Islands and basic Plains should be plenty.
Zoinks, Scoob!
This was perhaps the easiest part of the build. I was quite surprised to see just how many Modern legal spirits are also playable in Pioneer. I have currently curated quite the collection of incorporeal combatants; each brings their own unique talent to the battlefield. The trick is knowing how and when to play them and have them feed off each other’s strengths.
•Lunarch Veteran helps offset any incidental life loss incurred through Shocklands or weenie damage, and can be recast once smote.
•Mausoleum Wanderer supplies great utility by growing temporarily stronger when reinforcements arrive, and subsequently being able to fend off nasty spells if he’s powerful enough.
•Rattlechains brings boons, both fading and enduring. Granting everything else Flash proved invaluable in playtesting.
•Selfless Spirit can throw himself on the grenade and spare your whole squad. Bro’s got your back!
•Supreme Phantom rallies the troops and multiple copies stack (and also affect themselves. Sort of. They all affect the other copies of themselves, just not themselves themselves).
•Skyclave Apparition can hit a wide range of otherwise difficult to remove cards. This ghostly lady pulls her weight tenfold.
•Spell Queller, besides boasting some fantastic artwork, is a Pseudo-Path to Exile, but for all spells cmc 4 and under, and in a format where that card isn’t legal. Great stuff this guy, just Flash him in when necessary to banish countless problematic spells.
We’re all about Control and Tempo, and getting acclimated to the Pioneer cardpool was a little tougher here. No Counterspell?! No Mana Leak?! No Remand?! How am I supposed to counter spells, harsh language?
•Spell Pierce is thankfully still useable. Played in the opening couple of turns it’ll pretty much roadblock any artifact, enchantment, instant or sorcery without issue. A true classic.
•Curious Obsession came recommended courtesy of K4nkato, and reinforces one of the deck’s main weaknesses: card advantage. Dirt cheap to cast and with prerequisites easy to fulfill, we’ll be rolling in surplus cardboard rectangles in no time.
•What Disallow lacks in ease of casting it more than makes up for in versatility. Being able to shut down those nasty abilities seems like a good ace to have up one’s sleeve.
•Lofty Denial has migrated from my sideboard to the maindeck. In a shell like this where everything has flying, it’s like a turbocharged Mana Leak in disguise.
This isn’t a brain dead build where one can lapse into a mindless stupor; you’ll need to pay attention. Knowing when to Flash in that spirit or interrupt with a counter is key to retaining control of the boardstate.
•Cast spirits on curve, remaining vigilant as to buffs, deflections and temporary restraining orders.
•Dictate the flow and tempo of the game, locking down threats or closing doors as necessary.
•Whittle down your opponent’s life total over time using powered up spirits. Remember, we are playing the long game. There are no flashy 10+ damage combos or cheap tricks; it’s all about maintaining control.
I have literally no idea what to include. I don’t even know the typical ‘everyone plays this’ type cards in the format. Recommendations are appreciated.
”For the flesh is against the spirit in its desire, and the spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other…”
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Casual
95% Competitive
Revision 5 See all
(13 hours ago)
| -2 | Absorb | main |
| +1 | Adarkar Wastes | main |
| +1 | Cavern of Souls | main |
| +4 | Curious Obsession | main |
| +2 | Damping Sphere | side |
| -2 | Disallow | main |
| +2 | Dovin's Veto | side |
| -2 | Island | main |
| +3 | Lofty Denial | main |
| -1 | Mausoleum Wanderer | main |
| +1 | No More Lies | maybe |
| -2 | Plains | main |
| -5 | Port Town | main |
| +1 | Rattlechains | main |
| +2 | Rest in Peace | side |
| +3 | Seachrome Coast | main |
| -1 | Skyclave Apparition | main |
| -1 | Spell Queller | main |
| -1 | Supreme Phantom | main |
| +2 | Wedding Announcement Flip | side |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 3 days |
| Last updated | 7 hours |
| Legality | This deck is Pioneer legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 2 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 6 Rares 4 - 3 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 1.83 |
| Tokens | Human 1/1 W, Illusion */* U |
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