With non-rotating formats, we don't always get a ton of new cards to add to existing archetypes and decklists when a new set comes out, but it is important to find any improvements we can make. I believe that I would be doing the archetype a disservice if I did not at least test out one of the new best uncommons from Bloomburrow in Bandit's Talent. This is another two mana enchantment, so it can appear a little clunky in regards to how we want to sequence our spells. What I've found is that you still always want to ideally go: Turn one, Thoughtseize. Turn two, Waste Not, and then go from there. Ideally on turn three you are resolving a Bandit's Talent, or Go Blank. We do sacrifice having Duress in the main deck from this change, but it allows us to get tons of residual value, and have mana sinks. We'll take a look at some of the changes to the last version of this deck that I made an article for three months ago, and then we will go over some gameplay!
I had to update the sideboard a bit from the last version as well, because there is a lot of graveyard stuff in Explorer right now. We are yet to see if it has also become a thing in Pioneer, so we will consider these updates tentative, and as further testing goes over the next six weeks and after the B&R on the 26th, we will be more certain on the final sideboard.
The New Card
This is the new enchantment that is one of the better spells from Bloomburrow. It allows us to amass ridiculous amounts of residual value, and it is a way better topdeck than Waste Not in the late game. It allows us to put a clock on the opponent. It is not the card that allows us to draw more cards to find a clock - it is the clock. This coupled with Sheoldred, The Apocalypse allows us to have that 8 rack effect that is also played in Modern. We are now able to bring it to Pioneer and Explorer, and cause our opponents to lose 4 life each turn by the time they've drawn a card.
New Sideboard Addition
Right now, everyone is playing a ton of Cat Oven stuff on Arena, so we need to stop them from entering from the grave. The jailer is also a great blocker in the early game and can help us our life total. If the opponent removes it, we don't mind as much because it will allow us to keep our other threats on the board longer. I would like to note that although the deck is listed as something that is played in Explorer on Arena, I also play this deck in Pioneer. The only thing that is missing on Arena is Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. That card does make the mana base better, but it is not imperative. Since this deck is an archetype in the Pioneer meta, I would like to communicate that I do not currently play two Soulless Jailer in the sideboard for Pioneer. I still use the two Feed the Swarm that I had been using. If I start to see a ton of Cat Oven stuff in Pioneer, I would likely make the change to either that or maybe Weathered Runestone. Right now, I like Feed the Swarm for mirror matches, and for decks that like to sideboard in Leyline of Sanctity against us, as that card pretty much shuts down our entire deck.
Gameplay
Check out video content recorded with CardFlow
In the video shown above, we get to play a really fun match against Rakdos Vampires. In game one, we get to live the dream and go turn two Waste Not into turn three Go Blank. From there we just start to gain such an advantage, that on turn four the opponent has seen enough and wants to start sideboarding. I think they realized that pitching two Vein Ripper was a mistake and want to move on. They do manage to take care of business in game two by having some pretty awesome topdecks. In the beginning of that game, it felt like we were off to a pretty good start, but they were able find their combo and beat us. In game three, it turned into a grind fest that came down to the wire. What's interesting and noteworthy is that the original version of the Waste Not deck likely wouldn't have won that match. We were able to do twelve damage to the opponent from Bandit's Talent in the last two turns and that ended up being a faster clock than them attacking in with a Vein Ripper and a Reckoner Bankbuster.
Check out video content recorded with CardFlow
In this second video, we get to see the matchup in action against the new Jund Sacrifice deck that runs Ygra, and the Cat Oven combo. In game one we got incredibly lucky towards the end by topdecking a Go Blank and drawing six cards from it. This allowed us to get Aclazotz on the board and start gaining some life when we were dead the next turn. I also think our opponent got a bit unlucky because they didn't get a lot of opportunities to make the Mayhem Devil go off. The next turn, we had 8 cards in hand and pretty much had everything that we needed to ensure that we couldn't lose. Sideboarding was pretty smooth. We like to board in the graveyard hate, and got to get our new creature that also blocks well. We trip a Go Blank, Bandit's Talent, a Liliana of the Veil, and a Thoughtseize. Game three didn't give us the best hand to start, but we got something worth keeping after a mulligan. Our opponent didn't have a great hand, so it was easy to take the Ob Nixilis with the Thoughtseize. They also didn't have any red mana until turn four, so it made it pretty easy for us to take an advantage before their engines were online. We eventually get a Jailer and Liliana on the board together while the opponent had one card in hand, and they were pretty much cooked after that. We get a Sheoldred on the board on turn five while they have one card in hand, and they simply aren't able to come back.
