
Deck tech
Pioneer's Metagame: The Most Played Decks
In today's article, I look at Pioneer's current Metagame, explaining how the format's top decks work, and what other lists you can find when playing an online or in-person event!
By Humberto, 10/21/21, translated by Humberto - 0 comments
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Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
.Izzet Phoenix
Key Cards

Izzet Phoenix
, making up about 16% of the Metagame. It's hard to include Izzet Phoenix in a single category, but it works like a Tempo deck, with some โcomboโ elements because of Arclight Phoenix's interaction with its spells, which creates recurring threats. Actually, I like to name Izzet Phoenix aTurbo Xerox
deck, given that it's pretty much a cantrip tribal as most lists use around 19 to 22 card-drawing spells, far more than the usual 12~16 of most other archetypes in this category. And it makes a lot of sense that the deck needs this amount of cantrips, as its game plan involves two distinct strategies that work very well together: The first strategy involves playing a high number of Arclight Phoenix to the graveyard with cards like Chart a Course and Lightning Axe and then use a streak of three spells to bring them back from the graveyard attacking, creating an agile, resilient threat that conventional removals can't permanently handle. The second strategy involves casting Thing in the Ice, performing a streak of four spells to transform it, returning all other creatures to their owner's hands and clearing the board for a 7/8 creature and, preferably, some Arclight Phoenix returning from the graveyard, to attack. And it is with these two different game plans, but that usually work together, that Izzet Phoenix becomes the best deck in the format today, as it has a number of advantages in the composition of its lists, especially its Card Advantage, engine which interact very well with its plethora of cantrips. Treasure Cruise is a card banned from essentially all eternal formats, after all, for a very low cost in game investment, you have an Ancestral Recall that will generally make the deck continue its spell streaks and/or finding more threats. The other card that stands out is Expressive Iteration, one of the most powerful spells released in a Standard set lately, and which often guarantees your land drop and one card in your hand in early-game, while granting two spells to reanimate your Arclight Phoenix in the late-game.Ad
Boros Burn
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Rakdos Pyromancer
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Naya Winota
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Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
, brought powerful updates to the archetype. Kaldheim brought in Jaspera Sentinel as yet another mana dork that can speed up a Winota in turn 3, while increasing the number of creatures that trigger the card, and also brought in the Standard's current staple, Esika's Chariot, which creates two tokens that triggers Winota while also working to accumulate value over the course of the game. Adventures in the Forgotten Realms brought Prosperous Innkeeper as yet another mana dork that triggers Winota's ability while also consistently accelerating the number of times you can cast the deck's main engine on turn 3. And finally, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt brought a mighty package of cards to the archetype in the form of Werewolves, Human-type creatures on the front side that lose this creature type when they transform and since they have an immediate impact on the board, they are great to play with Winota. Brutal Cathar exiles a potential opponent's blocker and provides a good body, while Tovolar's Huntmaster essentially functions as a transformed green Grave Titan, while stacking even more triggers for Winota with the tokens that it generates.Ad
Azorius Control
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Gruul Aggro
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Dimir Control
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Bant Spirits
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Niv-to-Light
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Azorius Ensoul
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Honorable Mentions
very
consistent. Although they are absolutely different archetypes in strategy, I will be categorizing them as โMono-Green Nykthosโ in this article, as they both tries to abuse the land to generate an absurd amount of mana to cast their spells.Ad
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