MTG Pioneer: Brazil Regional Championship Recap & Top Decks

Recapping the Regional Championship in Brazil

Explore the top meta decks from the Regional Championship in Brazil. Discover the evolving Pioneer metagame and key strategies in Magic: The Gathering.

As we ramp up for The MTG World Championships, we also have a few major events before. Right now, the biggest events are the Regional Championships, where the format is Pioneer. This past weekend, and this upcoming weekend, we have competitions from Brazil and Washington D.C. Today we will go over the results from the past weekend, and my favorite deck from the event. We have been waiting for events such as this one to see what decks emerge as the best so that we can work closer towards having a "solved" meta both after bans and a new set that came out. The meta from this event was certainly interesting compared to events before bans. I think one of the most noteworthy things was the fact that we didn't see any Phoenix in the top 8, or even the top 16. I will review a few of the top 8 decks for you, and we will have a brief analysis of the finals matchup. Then I'll go over my favorite deck from the top 8.

Top 8 Results

Let's take a good look at the overall breakdown from the top 8 in regards to meta share for each deck. Rakdos Prowess had three decks in the top 16, and it was the most well-represented archetype in the elimination rounds. It also had two decks in the top 4, but they were unable to beat Enigmatic Fires and Azorius Control, who ultimately ended up playing in the finals. Jund Sacrifice also made it into the top 8. That was a result that was expected to a degree. Another deck that is emerging is Rakdos Transmogrify, and that also found its way into the top 8. The deck that I was most happy to see in this top 8 was Rakdos Midrange. It basically is a Mono Black deck that runs Fable and Bloodtithe Harvester.

Something that was really noteworthy is that there was another deck in the top 8 that finished 5th, and the list has somehow been wiped from the internet. I haven't actually seen this before, and I am not sure if it pertains to a disqualification (usually they would still tell you what the deck was), or if somehow they accepted a request to not have this deck listed anywhere. There is conjecture that the deck is definitely spicy, and it was so broken that they didn't want other people to know about it. I've looked far and wide, and I cannot find that deck anywhere. If I do come across it, I'll be sure to share. For now, let's take a look at the finals!

Azorius Control vs Enigmatic Fires

Enigmatic Fires is a deck that is slowly taking over the new meta that we have in Pioneer. It appeared to have finally met its match in Azorius Control in the finals of the RC. The main reason that it is so tough to defeat Azorius is due to the premium removal that the deck has. Enigmatic Fires relies on keeping a lot of enchantments on the board, and the Azorius Deck has so many different ways to either remove these enchantments or counter them. The deck also has plenty of board wipes, and it is able to follow up with multiple points of pressure once the board is clear and the opponent has no cards in hand. I do believe that Fires has the best opportunity to high roll, but if the tempo is stifled, it isn't too difficult for Azorius to stabilize, because Fires doesn't exactly kill the opponent quickly. They are both grindy decks, but it was evident that Azorius was able to win this weekend simply due to having access to the best removal available. Both of these decks have a high power level, and are very capable of top finishes in high-leverage events. I don't want to dwell on them too much, as they are not quite my style - so let's now take a look at another deck from the top 8 that I thoroughly enjoy: Rakdos Midrange.

Total Cards:

Like I stated above, it is basically a Mono Black Midrange deck that adds some good red cards. One of the really fun tricks in this list is being able to copy Archfiend of the Dross with Reflection of Kiki-Jiki in order to have two 6/6 flyers able to swing on one turn. The deck has great access to removal, as it can also deal with artifacts. It does a great job of amassing extra value each turn, and can grind out many of the different decks in the format.

Rakdos Midrange Loss in Quarterfinals

It looks like the deck finally met its match in the quarterfinals against a Rakdos Prowess deck. One of the things that stuck out to me was the fact that the deck does have plenty of removal, but wasn't taking advantage of one of the better red removal spells.

I believe that the deck could have benefited from using more copies of this, because it exiles the Heartfire Hero so that it cannot deal damage equal to its power to face. I think that having two or three copies could have made that a better matchup. Notably, the Rakdos Midrange deck does not run any copies of that in the sideboard, so it likely made it tough in a post-sideboard situation. The aggro deck ended up defeating midrange 2-0 in the quarterfinals, so it unfortunately did not get any better even when on the play. When we are talking about winning games on turn three, it is difficult for anyone to really get set up, and it is likely the reason why these aggro decks had such a strong performance. Both of the decks in this matchup were undefeated in the swiss rounds, so we know that they were both piloted well, and that they got hot at the right times. Even though they both ultimately got defeated in the elimination rounds, making the top 8, however, is nothing to sneeze at, and we love to see a midrange deck represented within that field.

What's the Next Major Event?

Next up we have the Regional Championship in DC on October 5th, and I will be competing in that one! You can expect there to be a very diverse meta, and I personally expect to see Phoenix represented more in this field. We will see how things go, and you can surely expect a recap of that from me as well!

Rate this article

I am a Magic The Gathering competitive player, and streamer. I specialize in homebrew decks. My favorite formats are: Standard, Pioneer (Explorer on Arena), and EDH. I first started playing MTG in 2001, and have played on and off since then.

numb_skull_

Check out more content by Numbskull

Explore the power of Rakdos Dragons in this midrange Magic: The Gathering deck. Unleash combos, removal, and ramp for competitive edge in Standard.

This Deck is Sneaky Good! Get Ready for RAKDOS Dragons!

You didn't think I could only give you one dragon deck, did you? I honestly saw too many fun options to do just Boros, so today I'm bringing you another. This one steers toward the more midrange, good ol' honest Magic side of things. I wanted to center a deck around something that is more consistent with the status quo of dragons: carnage and destruction. We have plenty of removal in this deck, and a creature that doubles as a board wipe when needed. Since we aren't doing a super fancy combo in this deck, I wanted to add element of ramp to get to the higher mana spells that we have in the deck. We will be able to use early creatures to help out with that, and also a new fancy artifact. We will torch the board and force our opponents to be more resilient than we are, while flying over the top of what they might manage to keep on the board. Let's take a look at the deck and then I'll tell you some of my favorite things about it. You can see some of the fun that we will have right off the bat with this deck. We are looking to smash aggro decks, and still punish other decks that don't play to the board. Although this one has fewer dragons on paper, we have a few permanents that can actually turn into them, and this leads to some cheeky interactions. Let's check out some of the new cards from Tarkir Dragonstorm that are in this deck, and then we will go over some fun combos! Key New Cards

It's Time to Mobilize the Aristocrats with Mardu Combo!

There is an ongoing argument in both Standard and Pioneer currently. What color combination is the best for aggressive decks? We have seen people try out Jeskai Aggro to try and incorporate the best of both worlds between Azorius Aggro, and Boros Aggro. Some like to stick with Gruul Aggro because of the high rolls that it allows for, and there is also an argument that sometimes all you need is mono red - and the results have proven as much in major events. There has been a bit of a surge of some Mardu Aristocrat/Sacrifice decks, and today's list will follow that to some degree. We went a little bit more aggro-based, but there is a combo element to it, along with a healthy sideboard that should provide for balanced gameplay. We will look to get a bunch of creatures onto the board, and then create a bunch more based on the amount that we have, while punishing the opponent when they die. If that isn't enough, the go-wide strategy should also allow us to swing for ample damage at an ample pace. A new ability called Mobilize that is being brought to us in Tarkir Dragonstorm is going to allow us to pull off some pretty powerful swings in combat. Mobilize allows us to create a bunch of tapped and attacking 1/1 tokens based on either the number behind it, or circumstances that pertain to "X." Something that is particularly fun is that we can benefit from our creatures dying, because the mobilize ability requires us to sacrifice the creatures that we get from mobilizing at the beginning of our end step. This is yet another deck that can allow us to win on the end step which is always fun. Another fundamental reason why I think the deck is good is because we are rewarded for something that would normally be considered a setback. If you find enough ways to turn negatives into positives, it usually can translate into the small margins that win you a match. Enough of me blabbing. Let's take a look at the cool new cards! Key New Cards

Demons Are Getting New Toys, and This Deck is ROTTEN

We have seen the vast majority of the cards that will be released in Tarkir Dragonstorm, and the excitement is definitely building. Magic players are expecting this to meet the hype that Duskmourn brought us, and hopefully more. We were left a bit underwhelmed with Aetherdrift, but this is proving to be all but a filler set. It's something that is so easy to be excited for. Who doesn't love dragons?! Anyone with an ounce of nerdiness is interested as soon as they hear the word. Although I don't have a dragon deck for you today, I am going to do my obligatory Mono Black Deck for the new set. If you have read my articles in the past, you know that I do one every set - and this one is no different. We finally have enough cards from Tarkir to give me what I needed to make a new-and-improved Demons list for you. We have a new one that will let us pull off some combos on earlier turns, and hopefully have a better body early on to put pressure on aggro decks. I think that should give us a better shot against the meta, since the threat of a 5 damage crackback can definitely give someone extra things to consider in combat phases. He also isn't a bad creature to discard, as he has an ability to activate from the graveyard. This will help us against the bounce/pixie decks. We have ample graveyard hate and removal for the graveyard combo decks, so I like most of our matchups against the current meta. The only thing we will have to see with time is if the meta shifts with this monster of a new set. We really have some fun cards to add here, and we are adding another type of threat to the deck. We have historically not used our graveyard for much, but now we are able to get additional value from it with a new addition. Our sideboard even has a dragon with an adventure that reads like The Meathook Massacre! I've said enough, let's check out these cards. Relevant New Cards

Free Dragons = Turn 4 Wins!

We are officially in the perpetual spoiler season of the MTG year, and Wizards has not been disappointing us. Most people can get behind a set centered largely around dragons, and it definitely helps that the plane itself is one that we have wanted to see them bring back for a long time. Over a decade later, we are going back to Tarkir. I played a good bit of Magic and did a lot of deck building the last time we had some fun dragons on Arena, and I knew that this set was going to call me back to those days. My favorite archetype a couple of years ago was Boros Dragons. I largely played that in the Alchemy format, but I am going to bring you a Boros Dragons Standard Deck today. We are going to take advantage of a combo that is used in Standard currently, but we are going to use a different payoff this time. We are going to cast dragons for FREE and then either they will have the opponent dead just from entering, or we will hopefully have a way to give them all haste! We will take a look at the new cards that are awesome. Then I'll let you know about the combo that will help us get there. We want to keep the board as clear as we can for our dragons and then slam them all on the board at once to clean things up. We also have some smaller creatures that we can use to chump block earlier in the game. When needed, we also have board wipes to deal with other creatures. New Cards from Tarkir Dragonstorm

I See a Monument and I want it Painted Black

It's been a few weeks since Aetherdrift came out, and we are starting to see the cards that are standing out in the meta. We didn't expect the set to change things too much with regard to what we have been seeing. What we did get from it is a nice supplement to many other decks. Although we did not get a ton of format-shaping cards, we have seen a couple that have lit up fringe archetypes. What I've brewed for today plays off of a familiar archetype, and it was one that we kind of already had, but it allows us to pivot in a certain way and get additional value from it that we may not have gotten in the past. One of the biggest things that our deck can do is have plenty of action on the end step/cleanup step. It's an interesting scenario because usually when we think of the cleanup step at the end of each turn, we remove damage, and we discard to hand size. Usually discarding to hand size is pretty much the final step, and there aren't any triggers... until now. We will be using Monument to Endurance to have triggers when we discard to hand size, and get additional value from it. Now we don't care if we end the turn with nine or ten cards in hand, because we are going to benefit from it. This will help us possibly get in some finishing damage against our opponent, or get extra value. It is worth noting that this will cause triggered abilities on the cleanup step, and this is something that our opponents can respond to. This has historically been a point in the turn where no player can respond to actions. We'll take a look at the relevant cards in the deck, and then I'll detail a few fun combos that we may see during gameplay. Relevant Cards

We've had a Couple of Weeks to Try Achievements on MTG Arena, and I have Opinions

The economy on MTG Arena has always been a pain point, and a grand debate over how far a digital version of a card game should go to ensure players feel as if they are getting proper value for their time. Wizards has two different versions of its beloved game on the internet, and they both seem to have their benefits and drawbacks. On February 11, Arena launched the Achievement System to reward players for hitting milestones in-game, and completing specific tasks. While it is always fun to do these kinds of things in each game, something that gamers always do is assess whether the reward for doing so in-game is worth putting forth the extra effort for the task. While there are some things in the achievement tab that I believe to be kind of fun, and certain things that I know people will want, I view the entire thing as largely a waste of time. Today we will look at why the new feature on Arena simply isn't enough for what the game should have, and what it could be. The Good and The Bad There are plenty of things that we love about Arena, with how it is the easiest way to play our favorite decks from Standard, and not spend thousands of dollars in doing so. It is probably the most efficient way to try out decks. We also love the wildcard system. Although it is not the easiest to obtain them, it is great that a rare/mythic wildcard could buy a rare/mythic card that is of any value and it still just costs one wildcard. This was especially helpful in getting a play set of Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. I still don't have a play set in paper simply because I don't want to spend that much money on it, but on Arena it was easy. I had the wildcards to do what I needed. The only part where this may be lacking is the economy itself. What if we could earn wildcards for hitting certain achievements (I.E. the achievement tab giving us wildcards instead of sleeves, etc.)? I believe that the rewards from this new feature being solely cosmetic underscores the ongoing issue of the economy on Arena simply not being enough for us.

This Deck is Sneaky Good! Get Ready for RAKDOS Dragons!