Creature (31)
Land (23)
Sideboard
Creature (3)
Enchantment (5)
Maybeboard
Creature (2)
Between Dominaria United and Brothers' War, soldier tribal has gotten a boost. Valiant Veteran, Recruitment Officer, and even Kayla's Reconstruction have given the tribe excellent tools to try to succeed in the Pioneer format. Of course, players also love tribal decks! Unfortunately, the only tribal decks that seem to have real power in the format are Mono-White Humans and a couple of versions of Spirits. Maybe it's time for a new tribe to rise!
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Brutal Cathar is just a very good soldier card-- good stats and acts as removal.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros
is fine, but much better if we actually get to flip the card. As this is a soldier with good stats (2/1) for just , this seems like including a single copy is fine.
Myrel, Shield of Argive has fantastic abilities. The only drawback is that she cannot be put directly onto the battlefield by Preeminent Captain. Indeed, that is the only reason there's only one copy of her in this deck.
Preeminent Captain is solid-- it can actually dump creatures directly to the battlefield, and it has first strike.
Recruitment Officer is the sort of card we don't mind seeing turn 1 or turn 2 because it is a 2/1 for , and we don't mind seeing it later in the game because it can allow us to dig for threats.
Resolute Reinforcements provides two creatures at instant speed. This allows us to rebuild quickly after a board wipe, get chump blockers out at instant speed, and generally allow our board to go wider faster.
Soldier of the Pantheon is a 2/1 for , so we can't really complain. Occasionally its abilities are relevant, so a fine card to have in a soldier deck.
Thalia's Lieutenant is just a fantastic card. Yes, I know, there are non-humans in the deck. Who cares? Most are humans, and look at some of the top decks in the format-- Selesnya Angels plays cards that aren't angels. It's fine-- most of our creatures are humans and this will build up creatures when it enters and get out of control as we play creatures.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is remarkably useful in most matchups. Sure, it makes Kayla's Reconstruction and Brave the Elements cost an extra , but that's a small price to pay to slow down Izzet Phoenix, UW Control, etc...
Valiant Veteran is the lord, giving our soldiers +1/+1. That's a solid reason to include the card, but the ability to put +1/+1 counters on our creatures later in the game from the graveyard is what makes this card good enough to power this tribe.
Brave the Elements allows us to protect our board when blocking and attacking, and we can often push through the necessary damage to finish a game with this card. An absolute must in a deck full of smaller white creatures.
Kayla's Reconstruction is effectively Collected Company at sorcery speed. However, we have a bit more reach with this card because we can put down more than 2 cards if we pay the mana, and if we have a few creatures out and nythos shrine to nyx, we can potentially get a lot of creatures out! We can quickly rebuild after a board wipe, we can build out board more, and we can generally crush the soul of our opponent by quickly getting out absurd creatures.
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire can act as removal. It's surprisingly relevant.
Mutavault is great in tribal decks because it is all creature types. That means we can put +1/+1 counters on it with Thalia's Lieutenant if we make it a creature, and it can benefit from the lord effect of Valiant Veteran.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx can allow for huge plays with Kayla's Reconstruction, or allow us to power out several creatures at once from our hand. This is a powerful card and worth playing a single copy (maybe two, if you have them!).
Shefet Dunes can boost the whole team for that last push of damage needed to end the game.
Sideboard cards:
An additional copy of Brave the Elements is helpful against other go-wide strategies and some hate cards like Anger of the Gods or Brotherhood's End where the card is dealing the damage (read them-- Brave the Elements works against these two cards for that reason!).
Damping Sphere against Lotus Field combo to turn off Lotus Field.
Deafening Silence for Izzet Phoenix and Izzet Prowess, or possibly Lotus Field combo.
Guardian of Faith to fight against UW Control and other board wipes.
Pithing Needle to hate on Karn, the Great Creator in Nykthos Ramp/Mono-Green Devotion decks.
Portable Hole for a variety of matchups, particularly Mono-White Humans and possibly even Selesnya Angels.
Reidane, God of the Worthy
can hate on Lotus Field combo and Nykthos Ramp/Mono-Green Devotion, and the flip side can deal with Humans, Mono-Red, and Rakdos-- particularly the spot removal like Fatal Push.
Rest in Peace is also for Izzet Phoneix and Greasefang decks, but also Rakdos Midrange and Rakdos Sacrifice.
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Preeminent Captain is a great way to dump a card like Myrel, Shield of Argive, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, or Brutal Cathar directly to the battlefield, or even a Thalia's Lieutenant would be great. Oh, and it has first strike as a 2/2, so a good rate with a relevant ability.
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Sure, not all of these soldiers are humans, and that will turn some people off of Thalia's Lieutenant in this build. I'll point out that most Selesnya Angels builds include Skyclave Apparition and Charming Prince and neither of those are angels or clerics. Mono-white humans frequently runs Guardian of Faith in the sideboard and that's not a human.
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I looked seriously at the Azorius builds and I just think mono-white is superior because the 3-drop slot is better with the cards I have chosen as opposed to splashing blue for Skystrike Officer. Yeah, I get it, it poops out soldiers, and colorless ones at that (helps against mono-white humans when they play Brave the Elements). Still, I think Brimaz, King of Oreskos is better-- and he also poops out 1/1 soldiers.
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Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is an interesting innovation in mono-white that can make for some really good castings of Kayla's Reconstruction.
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I'll be honest-- I am not sure that Soldier Tribal quite has the necessary pieces to make it in Pioneer. While there are good synergies and a lord in Valiant Veteran, I think this is actually just a worse version of humans. Still, I might be wrong, and this deck will catch people off guard and win games-- it will likely even win many games without catching people off guard. I'm just not sure that we have the last piece of this tribe yet. I think it's very close, but I don't think it's quite there yet.
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Casual
99% Competitive
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 1 year |
| Last updated | 3 months |
| Legality | This deck is Pioneer legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 3 - 0 Mythic Rares 27 - 7 Rares 12 - 8 Uncommons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.05 |
| Tokens | Day, Night, Soldier, Soldier 1/1 W |
| Folders | Pioneer Decks I Did Not Make |
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