As a wise Batman antagonist once said, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Well, today's deck certainly isn't heroic by any means, so I suppose I've entered my villain arc. Fortunately, I'm able to get there with a card I have an unhealthy nostalgia for prior to its appropriate Standard ban in 2020: Agent of Treachery.
Why is This Card Problematic?
The card Agent of Treachery is a human that can steal any permanent on the battlefield when it enters. There are a number of safeguards that we see on cards like this, but none of them apply to Agent. It could have checked if it had been cast upon entering, it could have not had the card draw stapled to it, or it could at least have limited its targets to nonland permanents. Since none of those are applicable here, if you can get Agent of Treachery onto the battlefield quickly, you can start stealing your opponent's mana base, which limits their resources while ramping you up.
In the past, Agent has been used alongside Transmogrify or Winota, Joiner of Forces to put it onto the field consistently on turn four. For today's deck, though, we have a much more HamHocks-flavored way to do it.
Foundations brought Zombify into Standard again for the first time in decades, but that means it's also legal in Pioneer for the first time. Pioneer has some incredibly efficient ways to fill our graveyard, so Zombify will often be online by turn four.
Bringing the Boys to the Yard (the Graveyard)
As any Arclight Phoenix player will tell you, Lightning Axe is next-level efficiency when it comes to filling your graveyard. Being able to discard a card and destroy most meaningful creatures in the format for a single red mana is a steal. We love the idea so much, we're even willing to pay twice as much for the same effect with Bitter Triumph.
This deck isn't exactly relying on granting our creatures haste since the combat damage we use to win is after we've stripped our opponent of all their vital resources and generally crushed their will to play, but Bitter Reunion has another key detail going for it. Some cards like Big Score or Thrill of Possibility require you to discard the card as part of the casting cost, meaning that you're out a card in your hand even if the spell gets countered. Bitter Reunion, conversely, has you discard the card as part of the trigger upon entering the field. This way, counterspells aren't guaranteed two-for-ones. Granted, if we are trying to discard our Agents, this may be a downside, but it's a minimal one.
Fear of Missing Out has quickly become one of my favorite two-drop creatures in this game. Everything I just said about Bitter Reunion applies here, but it's even better because you can draw a card if your hand is empty since the effect isn't dependent on a card already being in your hand. Additionally, the extra combat phases can be relevant because of another card we haven't discussed just yet, but we'll be getting to that right now.
Dialing Up the Jerk Levels
Calamity, Galloping Inferno is an absolute unit whenever you have a powerful enter-the-battlefield effect. We've seen it do wonderful work with Terror of the Peaks, for example. So, why not let Agent of Treachery saddle 'er up and steal two additional permanents upon attack? You'll also note that the attack trigger can be repeated if you have a Fear of Missing Out and delirium online. If your opponent lets you play out that turn, you'll end up with all their meaningful permanents and a good chunk of their lands. It'll be a rough day for them for sure.
The Pioneer/Explorer Staples
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is possibly the strongest individual card in Pioneer and it does all the things we've discussed above. On a single three-drop, we can fill our yard and make copies of Agent of Treachery. Even decks that don't have such clean synergy run this card due to the amount of generic value you get for such a low investment. It's honestly a home run in any red decks in this format.
Thoughtseize is a critical card for dealing with combo decks like Indomitable Creativity or huge value machines like Bring to Light. This card is likely the sole reason powerhouse combo decks aren't the primary decks being played in the meta right now, and it also has the utility of being a discard outlet in a pinch. Given that our deck doesn't have as much interaction as other midrange decks in the format, this card being able to hit any nonland card for a single black is very important for us to mitigate early setup or huge combo turns.
I can hear you asking already, but where's Fatal Push? In Explorer, it's never a bad idea to include Fatal Push in your builds because the card is such an efficient way to deal with most of the key threats running around in the meta. I opted not to in this deck since it clashes slightly with Lightning Axe, but I might bring it in for future drafts.
Conclusion
This deck is a lot of fun for embracing your inner villain. Agent of Treachery is a famously oppressive card and while it isn't good enough to see meta play, it is powerful enough when supported to tally up some wins. Like many of the decks I brew these days, it is reliant on the key combo pieces showing up in the upper portion of the deck in order to do anything, so variance is a significant factor. If you don't mind some games being decided by Agent of Treachery simply not showing up until it's too late, this deck can be a ton of fun and I highly recommend it if you want to have some fun at your opponent's expense in the Explorer queue.
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