These days we're enjoying the latest newcomer, Pioneer Masters, which added nearly 400 cards to MTG Arena and finally brought competitive Explorer to the same level as Pioneer.
As we dig deeper into the set, however, we are increasingly noticing cards that were missing and that we expected to be there. It’s true; fortunately, they are no longer key pieces for the best decks that we can now safely netdeck, but often they are still iconic cards that have seen play in the past and that many would like to see on the platform.
From the perhaps hundreds of missing cards, I have selected some of the most requested and those I believe are the most important in order to improve variance and give birth to or strengthen new archetypes.
In particular, here are 10 new archetypes that would be enabled or strengthened with the still missing Pioneer cards on MTG Arena!
1. Eldrazi
When Pioneer Masters dropped, the immediate absence of all the major Eldrazi was noticeable, which took away any chance for what was the strongest Modern archetype in the winter of 2016.
Explorer Anthology 2 had already broken the ice by bringing to the platform a first part of them, such as Thought-Knot Seer, Matter Reshaper, and World Breaker, just as Modern Horizons 3 continued to do, introducing new ones, such as Nulldrifter, Devourer of Destiny, and Ulamog, the Defiler, in addition to an excellent enabler like Ugin's Labyrinth.
However, some iconic components are still missing from the appeal, above all Eldrazi Mimic and Reality Smasher, as well as many others that have seen play in the past, such as Endbringer, Endless One, Eldrazi Obligator, and Drowner of Hope.
For 2025 I expect a new Eldrazi pack to arrive (perhaps a classic Anthology), bringing with it, in addition to the cards mentioned, Eldrazi Temple, which, while not legal in Pioneer/Explorer, is certainly a sweet addition to the Historic format!
2. Hatebears
Even though Wasteland Strangler is an Eldrazi, I didn't put it in the Eldrazi category because its usage instead follows the Hatebears archetype!
It can kill a creature by moving an opposing card from exile to the graveyard, and therefore it becomes interesting if you build a synergistic deck around it, getting in some cases good 2-for-1s!
For example, you can send an opposing creature to the graveyard after it has been blinked with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or eliminate every trace of the threat eaten by Skyclave Apparition, Brutal Cathar, or Aven Interrupter, thus eliminating any drawback.
However, the easiest way to enable it is by exiling random cards from the graveyard, like with Emperor of Bones, Graveyard Trespasser, or Rest in Peace, while the most efficient is certainly by removing a card exiled by the opponent himself, like in the case of Mosswood Dreadknight's Adventure or Slickshot Show-Off's Plot.
Let's just hope that together with Wasteland Strangler they give us Aether Vial to play them together in Historic!
3. Goblins
I knew it! Pioneer Masters brought us Goblin Rabblemaster again, who was already included a month earlier in Foundations Jumpstart, and completely forgot about perhaps the most iconic of all Goblins!
Although a bit outdated, Goblin Piledriver is still slightly played in Pioneer and gives its best in the aggressive Goblin versions, where the opponent is forced to trade blocks and spend removal in the early turns, thus sometimes leaving themselves exposed to the assault of the most offensive Goblin ever!
Furthermore, Goblin Piledriver makes a synergistic curve together with the new arrivals Legion Loyalist and Goblin Rabblemaster, thus getting two creatures with enormous attack power, to which is added trample to hit the opponent and first strike to make them survive in combat.
4. Metalwork Colossus
Another big miss, perhaps the biggest of all, is that of Sanctum of Ugin, which sees play in Metalwork Colossus and is currently fully competitive in Pioneer!
The archetype has been revived since OTJ and BIG, with the arrival of Simulacrum Synthesizer and Assimilation Aegis, although it has only recently come back into vogue thanks to the printing of Leyline Axe in Foundations.
All of them discount the cost of Metalwork Colossus, which has “affinity with noncreature artifacts” and which can now arrive on the battlefield rather quickly, attacking equipped with the new colorless Embercleave, namely Leyline Axe.
However, Sanctum of Ugin is a free include (it's not even a legendary land) that adds further solidity to the deck, allowing it to be sacrificed following the cast of Metalwork Colossus to tutor a second copy of it and cast it in that same turn, most of the time.
5. Cheerios
With the release of the disappointing Explorer Anthology 3, Accorder's Shield was hands down the most criticized card, because it took up a precious slot where there could have been something so much better.
WotC seems to have suffered from the complaints, because in Pioneer Masters it did not include either Cathar's Shield or Spidersilk Net, which would have started to lay the foundation for a potential future Cheerios deck.
For those who have never heard of it, it is an old Modern deck and is based on Sram, Senior Edificer (and Puresteel Paladin, not present on MTG Arena) and a lot of zero-cost equipment.
For each of them cast, we draw a card, and, when we have finished them, we return them all to our hand with a bounce spell like Paradoxical Outcome or Displacement Wave (another missing Pioneer card), not having the Modern tools available: Retract and Hurkyl's Recall, to replay them again.
At this point all you need is a way to win, and, while in the old format Mox Opal and Grapeshot were used, in Pioneer you could use Nettle Drone and Molten Nursery while waiting to find better finishers.
6. Possibility Storm
Possibility Storm was introduced to MTG Arena via “The List” from Murders at Karlov Manor, and it has been sitting there silently waiting for the other pieces for the combo in Pioneer.
Now we finally have Enter the Infinite, but unfortunately we are only able to assemble 59 of the 60 cards needed, because unfortunately they forgot to add Borborygmos Enraged, which we needed even if in a single copy!
For those who don't know the deck in its most popular version, after casting Possibility Storm, you have to cast a sorcery in the form of an Adventure, as in the case of Heart's Desire or Seasonal Ritual, to tutor and cast Enter the Infinite directly from the library.
At this point we draw the entire deck and put Borborygmos Enraged on top of it. We cast Stonecoil Serpent, or any creature with mana value 0, and put Borborygmos Enraged into play, whose activated ability will allow us to win the game with a lot of Lightning Bolts directed at the opponent's face!
7. Mono Black Discards
Shrieking Affliction might seem like an anonymous uncommon to newer players, but, along with The Rack, it was played in Mono Black Discards even in Modern.
Today this strategy in Pioneer is best represented by Waste Not, which in the meantime has acquired many excellent cards to choose from and which, in almost all cases, exclude Shrieking Affliction.
It remains a great option for the Discards archetype, budget and efficient, which should also be accessible in Explorer and which would enable an all-in card discard plan, combined with Bandit's Talent and Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage... moreover, all uncommons in favor of the Artisan format too!
8. Knightfall
Speaking of old Modern uncommons, Retreat to Coralhelm is also missing! Wait, why is this card good? Well, actually it's not, and the only reason it was considered is because of its combo with Knight of the Reliquary!
The Human Knight sacrifices a Forest or Plains to put any land from the library onto the battlefield. Retreat to Coralhelm untaps it, and you can repeat the process. With 18 lands in the graveyard, Knight of the Reliquary is a 20/20 and can attack for lethal damage.
However, one of the problems is that in Historic fetchlands are not legal, and this makes the combo much less powerful and fragile, because the remaining lands in the deck might not be enough to make our attacker big enough to win that turn.
A problem that we do not have in Timeless, true, but where this deck almost certainly would not be enough and would remain relegated to for fun, despite it being able to actually win on turn 3, with the help of any mana dork.
9. Madcap Experiment
After Possibility Storm, they missed another opportunity to give us a very unique deck by not adding Madcap Experiment in Pioneer Masters.
It's a one-card combo, as you can cast it by itself to bring Platinum Emperion into play directly from the library. The best part? Since the Golem doesn't allow you to change your life, Madcap Experiment doesn't deal any damage to you in the process, regardless of the position of the card found!
Unfortunately, Platinum Emperion is not on MTG Arena either, and in that case you would have had to use Platinum Angel, which, even if it makes us take damage, at least doesn't make us lose the game.
As for a legal version of it in Pioneer, however, the best alternative is almost certainly Portal to Phyrexia, which for only 4 mana really seems to be a fantastic deal... as long as you also think of something that mitigates the damage taken by the red sorcery!
10. Dimir Mill
With Glimpse the Unthinkable, Ruin Crab, Mesmeric Orb, and Archive Trap not being legal in Pioneer, one of the few alternatives for the Mill archetype is Breaking // Entering, which sadly they didn't add.
For the same mana cost, it's 2 fewer cards than Glimpse the Unthinkable, which is not great, but given that the format is slightly lower in power than Historic, it might still be considered acceptable.
And yes, in case you were wondering, Breaking can also be cast with the first chapter of Founding the Third Path, even though the card's mana value is 8 and not 2.
Bonus Sheet: Utilities
Even if they don't make the archetype, let's finally see a series of uncommons that surprisingly haven't been included and that I expect they will add to the Explorer as soon as possible:
- Speaking of Mill, Elixir of Immortality is a versatile option for both the aforementioned matchup and Burn.
- Warping Wail is the Eldrazi Charm and allows for ramping, as well as occasional countering and removal.
- Roast has recently been power crept by Scorching Shot, but it's still a solid option when double red mana can be a problem.
- Rakdos Charm has become super popular again in the last few weeks in Modern due to the unban of Splinter Twin, dealing a lot of direct damage to the opponent in case of many creatures. Regardless, it's a very versatile piece that breaks artifacts and removes graveyards when needed, in addition to being along with Dimir Charm, one of the last two missing Ravnica Charms on MTG Arena.
- Hidden Herbalists is a worse Burning-Tree Emissary because it requires Revolt (and there are no fetchlands in Pioneer or Historic) in addition to providing a less useful double green. It's still a good budget option and a nice-to-have utility.
- Gainsay is another relic from the past, but one that could still be useful today in case of a very specific metagame/matchup. It was basically a better Counterspell against Merfolk!
That's all for today! These were just some of the cards that are still missing in Explorer despite the arrival of Pioneer Masters, but, as you have seen, in most cases they are just side cards, since the format is now almost completely overlapping with its older brother, Pioneer.
Moreover, I expect a good part of these to be added during the course of 2025, so rest assured that MTG Arena will continue to become better and better, as usual, even in the new year!