Anticipated since the beginning of the year, Pioneer Masters has finally landed on MTG Arena, and it's now possible to overlap the Explorer and Pioneer formats from a highly competitive perspective.
Yes, because this set did not bring all the missing cards, which would have been too many, but a good part of them, prioritizing all those present in the most competitive lists, so as to make the transition from paper to digital possible without having to give up anything.
From this point of view, Explorer has therefore reached the Pioneer, also filling the last holes of the missing cards, but above all by unlocking the decklists that until yesterday were not buildable on MTG Arena due to the lack of one or more key pieces for the archetype.
But what are these decks? Today we will see what are perhaps the 4 most anticipated and significant, with which Explorer players are not too familiar, having not been able to play them so far, and which they would do well to recover... also in view of the Explorer Metagame Challenge on December 20! Let's dive in!
Niv To Light
The first deck that comes to mind with the arrival of Pioneer on MTG Arena is definitely Niv to Light, which up until now has not been possible to build due to the absence of its namesake card: Bring to Light!
This Simic sorcery is the key card of the deck and the glue that holds it together, acting as a toolbox for a whole series of threats and solutions. Thanks to a pentacolor manabase composed mainly of trilands and shocklands, it's in fact possible to easily access all five colors, so as to make the most of the Converge mechanic of Bring to Light and be able to cast a spell up to mana value 5 from the library.
Niv-Mizzet, Supreme is potentially one of these, whose Jumpstart ability can, among other things, allow us to recast Bring to Light the following turn and continue the value chain. However, more often than not, it will be its other version that will be preferred, Niv-Mizzet Reborn, which, in perfect Atraxa, Grand Unifier style, will draw an immense amount of cards!
The various mono copies belonging to different guilds, in fact, are there to be tutored when needed by both Bring to Light and the Izzet Dragon, and they provide versatility and consistency in the various matchups. Creature decks are not particularly a problem for Bring to Light, which can tutor removals, Deafening Clarion and Sunfall, when needed, while for control decks it has another ace up its sleeve, exiling Valki, God of Lies from the library, even only with Converge 1.
If we do, we can cast that spell directly from exile without paying its mana cost, and we can then choose to play its other half, Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor, thus cheating into play a 7-mana Planeswalker ready to take over the game in no time!
Lotus Field Combo
Lotus Field Combo is another deck that has been completely unlocked by the arrival of Hidden Strings, as well as Dark Petition, and a few utilities in the sideboard, such as Dragonlord Dromoka and Silence.
It's a combo deck and is almost certainly the most complicated deck in the format, with so many lines of play that it really does take a lot of practice to master.
As the name suggests, the key card is the eponymous Lotus Field, a land that adds 3 mana and is therefore particularly advantageous with untap effects, such as those of Vizier of Tumbling Sands, Hidden Strings, and Pore Over the Pages.
Of course, it must have some drawbacks, and in fact it makes us sacrifice 2 lands when it enters, but this is mitigated thanks to the addition of Strict Proctor, which counters its triggered ability, as well as that of Arboreal Grazer in other decklists, which allows us to ramp.
As a fundamental piece, however, it's necessary to see it, and therefore we can tutor it with Sylvan Scrying and Arboreal's Charm, the latter also having many other applications, such as exiling Damping Sphere or tutoring Lier, Disciple of the Drowned or Fae of Wishes.
Thespian's Stage will then have the task of copying the land, so as to have 2 Lotus Fields on the battlefield and accumulate enough mana to cast Emergent Ultimatum and start the combo!
We could make a pile of Omniscience, Dark Petition, and Pore Over the Pages and work our way up from there: racking up mana, drawing cards, and taking advantage until we get to the point where we might have Omniscience in play and/or casting Fae of Wishes to take Approach of the Second Sun straight from the sideboard and go on to win by casting it twice.
Particularly interesting among the single cards is Peer into the Abyss, which, in addition to being a win condition for a possible pile with Emergent Ultimatum (together with Dark Petition and Pore Over the Pages), is also a tech to win through Ashiok, Dream Render, which stops the entire combo by negating the effect of Emergent Ultimatum.
Rona Lukka Combo
If Lotus Field Combo was already known to Explorer players, since it was possible to play it despite the heavy absence of Hidden Strings, there is instead another completely new one, which was made possible with the arrival of a common from Born of the Gods: Retraction Helix!
Although apparently far from being playable, the latter is part of a three-piece combo, with which it's possible to add infinite mana if combined with Rona, Herald of Invasion and Mox Amber.
By casting and resolving Retraction Helix on Rona, Herald of Invasion, in fact, we can tap the latter to return Mox Amber to our hand, so we can replay it. Since it is legendary, it will allow Rona to untap, and it will be possible to repeat the process as many times as we want.
In the meantime, however, Mox Amber will be able to tap for 1 blue mana every loop, which will allow us to cast Granted, the adventure side of Fae of Wishes, to get Aetherflux Reservoir from the sideboard, which will act as a finisher.
This is, however, only one of the possible ways to close the game, since with Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, it's possible to exploit the Mox Amber's Simic mana to activate its ability at will and get to put Atraxa, Grand Unifier or the same Fae of Wishes on the battlefield, which will then be returned to the hand to win as just seen.
Or with Oath of Nissa, using the blue mana to cast Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast, and exploiting the second combo of this deck, that is to exile any creature with mana value 2 to put Atraxa, Grand Unifier from the library directly onto the battlefield.
Finally, as a glue, we have Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler, who, in addition to digging for Rona, Herald of Invasion, allows her and every creature to tap immediately, speeding up the combo and catching the opponent unprepared!
Atarka Red
Pioneer Masters didn't only bring combo and midrange decks, as the arrival of Reckless Bushwhacker opened the way to a new type of aggro, not necessarily tied to one of Monastery Swiftspear, Heartfire Hero, or Slickshot Show-Off.
Reckless Bushwhacker in fact proposes a go-wide strategy, giving its best with many small creatures already in play, as well as Atarka's Command that fulfills the same role.
It's particularly synergistic with Burning-Tree Emissary, which, in addition to putting on the board, gives us 2 mana back, so we can cast Reckless Bushwhacker through its Surge cost even without having the third mana source.
For the rest, there is more than one version of Atarka Red, and the one we see today is quite recent and capitalizes on Leyline Axe, the new equipment that arrived with Foundations.
As with any Leyline, this one can be put directly into play if it is in the opening hand, and it's possible to equip it to Fervent Champion already on the first turn for no mana, thus immediately attacking the opponent.
In the worst-case scenario, it is an artifact that can be sacrificed with Gleeful Demolition or Legion Extruder to put board presence, even if there is no shortage of artillery to sacrifice, between Clockwork Percussionist, Experimental Synthesizer, and Blood tokens from Voldaren Epicure.
That's all for today! These were 4 new decks possible with Pioneer Masters and perhaps the most relevant, but they are certainly not the only ones, and many other brews and less competitive decks are already out there and are just waiting to be imported to MTG Arena!