As we make our way into the final installment of the best decks in Pioneer, it’s satisfying to finally arrive at the Tier 1.5 and Tier 1 decks. If you missed our earlier installments where we discussed Rogue decks through Tier 2 be sure to check them out here:
Any deck in the top tier will tend to have good match ups and also relatively close unfavorable matchups, meaning the strategy’s overall equity is high against an expected field of decks. Since the Tier 1.5 and Tier 1 decks have favorable equity against an expected field, they also tend to be the most selected and played decks in the format as well.
After much discussion our team arrived at the conclusion there were five top tier decks and two of the five stood out as the best among top Tier for reasons to be discussed. Nonetheless, the five decks in the Tier 1.5 – Tier 1 are the most popular and format defining strategies in Pioneer’s emergent metagame.
Mono-White Humans is a relative newcomer to the format, but has wasted no time putting up plenty of solid results on MTGO.
It can consistently flood the board with cheap creatures, make them huge with Thalia’s Lieutenant and Luminarch Aspirant, and get through for a lot of damage with Brave the elements.
Due to being just one color, this deck gets a lot of mileage out of its mana base. It has nine whole “action” lands, the best of which is Mutavault by a lot.
You often have spare mana late in the game so Mutavault ends up being essentially a free human that can carry +1/+1 counters very well, preserving vital power through a Wrath effect or other sorcery speed removal.
Mono-White has good matchups against other aggro decks and very importantly Mono-Green Ramp. Getting through the last few points of damage against Mono-Green can be tough for other aggro decks, but Brave the elements makes it trivial.
Mono-White has tough but close matchups vs interactive decks, Wedding Announcement and Extraction Specialist do most of the heavy lifting there. Wedding Announcement is especially impressive, providing an impressive board on its own, and leaving an anthem around for your future plays.
UW control is not flashy. It doesn’t turn heads with card choices. What it does do is win consistently with a streamlined strategy using cards well established in their respective standard formats.
The game plan is simple, remove or counter every spell your opponent throws your way. Do this long enough to cast Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and it will take you to the finish line.
Absorb, Dovin’s Veto, and Censor are the format’s best counterspells while Fateful Absence, Portable Hole, and March of Otherworldly Light pull from a shallow pool of white removal spells to handle whatever slips through.
UW Control started as a Yorion pile, but recently players have favored the 60-card version for card quality and regularity in draws. Doing so means your sideboard cards are drawn at a higher frequency.
While UW Control is undoubtedly one of the best decks in Pioneer, it is only as good as the format allows it to be. As the deck preys on particular metagames, its positioning in tournaments will ebb and flow as different decks fight for their place at the top.
Izzet Phoenix was quickly deemed Pioneer’s best deck by the brightest minds in the game at the beginning of the RCQ season.
Treasure Cruise is powerful enough to be banned in most other formats, but has been allowed to thrive in a world without fetchlands. It’s no longer the best deck, but is capable of taking down a tournament.
If Rakdos Midrange isn’t the deck for you Phoenix is able to play fair games well, too. Thanks to Opt and Consider early turns can be spent sculpting the ideal hand. Many creatures in Pioneer will die to red removal giving Phoenix solid interaction against a majority of the format.
Game one is favorable against most of the field.
Phoenix doesn’t need to interact with every threat because casting spells is building up to the powerful endgame of taking multiple turns with Temporal Trespass.
Pieces of the Puzzle adds enough cards to the graveyard to fuel delve making drawing cards essentially your linear game plan.
Post board games can be tricky as attacking the graveyard is easy thanks to Unlicensed Hearse. This is a setback, but can be adapted to with Abrade and threats that ignore the graveyard such as Crackling Drake and Young Pyromancer.
Izzet Phoenix is a challenging deck to play, but you will be rewarded for your dedication. Each turn has plenty of options as your cantrips turn into random cards. Again, playing with broken cards is rarely a bad choice.
Finally, we arrive at the Tier 1 decks in the Pioneer meta. If you’ve played, or followed, the format you’ll no doubt be familiar with our #2 and #1 selection because they have been running hot online and on the tabletop!
It’s important to note what Tier 1 means as well as what it doesn’t mean. It means a deck tends to be well positioned in the meta relative to the other best available choices and is therefore a strong and popular choice with tournament players. It does not mean it’s inherently ‘better’ or ‘beats lower Tier decks.’ In fact, it’s often the case that lower Tier decks can be favored in match ups against higher seeded decks.
In a format as creature heavy as Pioneer a point-and-click removal deck is a great place to be. In fact, Rakdos Midrange is one of the strongest decks currently available.
Rakdos Midrange catches a lot of flack for being a three-drop tribal deck and it’s not entirely off base. The thing is…. I don’t care what haters have to say. Bonecrusher Giant, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and Graveyard Trespasser are among the strongest three-drops in the format.
The early interaction in Rakdos Midrange also happens to be at a premium in Pioneer. Fatal Push and Thoughtseize are a cut above other interaction spells. Thoughtseize is especially powerful as the format is filled with linear decks because when individual cards are weak it’s valuable to pick an opponent’s plan apart.
Rakdos Midrange is filled with the most individually powerful cards in the format. It may be hard to believe, but Bloodtithe Harvester is one of the strongest two-drops on rate.
It’s tough to justify playing another “good stuff deck” as Rakdos has proven to be the cream of the crop.
A tip with Rakdos is to mulligan clunky hands as it’s filled with two-for-ones. You will be able to recoup the cards quickly once the game plan is executed. Midrange decks need to pick and choose what strategies to fight.
Lotus Field is a deck that is tough to beat even if Damping Sphere is added to the sideboard. Rakdos shines against creature decks which is a great place to be.
Mono Green Devotion is currently the deck to beat, which is why it earns our checkmark for the #1 deck in Pioneer. If you’re playing a Pioneer tournament expect to face it in the winner’s bracket.
Devotion functions similarly to a Ramp deck with a potential combo kill to navigate through clogged board states. The early turns are spent ramping with elves and Wolfwillow Haven to cast Storm the Festival for a big finish.
Not only does Mono Green threaten quick kills when unopposed, it’s also capable of grinding with Old-Growth Troll, Cavalier of Thorns, and Karn, the Great Creator. The opponent is in a bind where they must respect your game plan as it’s fast and powerful, but also generate a quick clock ahead of a Storm the Festival.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx competes alongside Treasure Cruise as the strongest card in the format. It’s never a bad idea to play a deck with banworthy cards if winning is your main objective.
Mono Green is also fun to play. Karn, the Great Creator allows your sideboard to be filled with various combo pieces. You can seamlessly pivot from a value game plan to winning with a powerful effect.
Pioneer has remained a resilient format. While Green Devotion is the deck to beat, strategies such as Boros Heroic and Mono Blue Spirits give it a run for its money.
WHAT WE’RE CURRENTLY PLAYING
It’s a bigtime, telltale sign of a great format that the experienced players (who worked together to make the ranking and Tier list) are playing different decks from across the Tier list:
“I play Rakdos Midrange because it plays Pioneer’s most powerful threats and interaction. In a game as complicated as Magic it’s good when your strategy is simple.” –KYLE BOGGEMES
“As a lover of combat math, I’ve really enjoyed playing Bant Humans in Pioneer. It’s capable of curving out for fast kills, while also having a strong late game. It has quite a few good matchups and its bad matchups can only be so bad when you can just pray for a good Collected Company.” –MAX MCVETY
“My deck of choice in Pioneer is Esper Control. I get to play a fair game plan with powerful, versatile spells creating countless decision points in each match, leading to rewarding gameplay.” –RAJA SULAIMAN
“I play Lotus Field in Pioneer. I get to utilize my skills as a combo player with a deck full of rituals and tutors that’s good against the top Tier meta.” –BRIAN DeMARS
It’s typically a sign of a fun and healthy format when experienced players can agree there’s a best deck, but not by such a wide margin that they have no choice but to play it.
