How many board wipes?
Pioneer forum
Posted on March 31, 2023, 11:44 p.m. by Icbrgr
Is it just me or do Control lists in the Pioneer format NEED to run a seemingly high amount of board wipes in the Main Deck? (Between 4-6 seems to be what I'm seeing as the trend)
Honorable Mentions
I have been tinkering with a Jeskai Control list and I thought splashing for Play with Fire/Lightning Strike would reduce the need for running 4-6 mass removal spells and running typicall Good stuff toolbox spot removal via Fateful Absence/March of Otherworldly Light in combination with a countermagic suite would be enough... but holy cow was I wrong.
I did a lot of playtesting against what I thought to be a simple/straightforward Deck on MTG Top 8 and sheesh... if you dont have a boardwipe you just lose lol
I guess what I'm getting at here from my learning experience is that coming from Modern I felt having 3 Supreme Verdict effects was kinda obnoxious... and seeing decklists in Pioneer with 6 just seemed crazy to me... but yup you just need that many and a way to draw into them as consistently as possible too... aggro is just really strong imo.
To me it's not so much that you need all those board wipes in your actual deck.
It's that you usually Main three of one type of board wipe, then have a fourth available to Side in, along with three different board wipes.
All very meta dependent.
Sideboarding is very precise, in Pioneer.
In my Orzhov Control list I have three Languish Mainboard, a fourth in the Sideboard if I need to ensure I get one to hand early enough, and three Settle the Wreckage, also in the Sideboard.
That way, based on Game 1, I know what will be most effective against my opponent.
April 1, 2023 5:33 a.m.
@Argy so in combination between your main and sideboard you also have a total of 7 board wipes available to you? I'm not really familiar with Orzov control lists but I figured that having access to would give premium instant speed removal so if any list could get away with less mainboard wipes that color combo could.
Daveslab2022 yeah in particular the 1 mana spot removal options in Jeskai are just meh... Portable Hole/Lay Down Arms... Play with Fire/Lightning Axe... not terrible but can feel frustrating at times; especially when wanting instant speed removal.
April 1, 2023 1:13 p.m.
I have four board wipes in another of my Pioneer decks, all in the Sideboard.
Pioneer isn't Modern, so most Instant speed removal will be 2mv or more.
Try to stick to just two colours. You can't afford to wait for three colours with your mana.
Daveslab2022 says... #2
It’s not necessarily that aggro is really strong (which it is, but some form of aggro should be strong in every format). It’s mostly due to the very bad spot removal in pioneer compared to modern.
April 1, 2023 12:46 a.m.