Pioneer: The Decks WotC Should Be Showing You

Let's not sugarcoat it: Pioneer is on life support. The last major sanctioned event for the format that was part of Magic's competitive circuit happened in 2024, and there's no sign of anything big for it in 2026 after a nearly blank year in 2025.

In the March 23 Banned and Restricted update, Wizards of the Coast issued a statement on Pioneer saying the format is in a "unique place." They admitted red decks show up more often than expected but argued they're split across different strategies where none stands out enough to warrant intervention. Combined, the "Red Decks"—including Izzet Phoenix—make up 37% of the current Metagame. That's a hefty number, and maybe Cori-Steel Cutter, Monstrous Rage, or Screaming Nemesis are also detrimental to the competitive environment, just like they were in Standard.

The problem was the framing. If you don't want to play red, your other option is Greasefang, Okiba Boss—now split between Orzhov and Abzan builds, representing 22% of the competitive scene. Both versions are a resilient combo with a backup plan, and like Red Aggro, Greasefang is known as a "free win" button that punishes slower, less prepared decks.

I suspect the statement was based on data, especially from MTG Arena. Both strategies are hugely popular on the digital platform and in Magic Online Leagues, as they save time on platforms where success is measured by the number of matches played and won, not by reaching a Top 8. If I can win 10 matches in 40 minutes playing Greasefang in Best-of-One, scoop up daily rewards, and climb the ladder, why spend that same time winning a single match with Azorius Control?

This line of thinking has two fundamental flaws. First, saying the only way to play against red is to "try the other free-win deck" is also saying the format is miserable—and maybe it is when these two together account for 60% of the competitive environment—with no room for anything else. Play fast, or don't play.

Second, Pioneer is more than those two decks. Since Avatar released, we've seen Selesnya Company and Golgari Midrange rise as competitive strategies. Others have tried adapting with Orzhov Midrange. Recently, Niv-to-Light has come back into the spotlight, Azorius Control remains as solid as ever, and strategies like Scapeshift and Selesnya Angels go up and down depending on how well they feed on one of the dominant archetypes.

The statement itself says Challenge results show a more diverse range of archetypes. So why not highlight that diversity instead of just pointing out that the solution to one color's dominance is to play the other dominant strategy?

If there's a signal in this announcement, it's that Wizards of the Coast isn't looking deeply at Pioneer in the Best-of-Three scope or at competitive Magic Online tournaments. They're looking at the Best-of-One environment, where the only rational choices are playing red, Greasefang, or something with enough maindeck hate to handle both.

Heartfire Hero was banned because of Best-of-One results and play patterns. Since then, Cori-Steel Cutter has taken over and keeps growing as players find creative ways to leverage Izzet Prowess. A ban seemed certain in the previous announcement, but it didn't happen. Now it looks like the people in charge of Pioneer are still focused on turning it into a casual MTG Arena format—where it's already one of the least popular ways to play. The future doesn't look promising.

Since Wizards isn't doing the work, it's up to the community that cares about the format to keep it alive. Here are five competitive Pioneer decks that don't rely on red staples or Greasefang, Okiba Boss.

Honestly? I'd recommend giving them a shot.

Golgari Midrange

Badgermole Cub and the general shape of the Metagame pushed black-based Midrange decks to swap red for green, running Golgari with Culling Ritual to capitalize on the sea of cheap permanents Prowess decks throw out. It lets you stay proactive while clearing the opponent's board.

The green splash also opens up a bunch of flexible answers, like Carnage Tyrant for Control matchups, and some lists run Tear Asunder in the sideboard as efficient Greasefang hate that still has value elsewhere.

Selesnya Company

The other archetype that got a boost from Badgermole Cub, Selesnya Company was pushed to Tier 1 when Avatar launched. One reason it's slipped is that Golgari Midrange is a natural predator with its removal suite, but it's still one of the best non-red Aggro decks in the current Metagame.

The strategy is classic: ramp into Collected Company and bury the opponent with powerful ETB effects. With Badgermole Cub, lists started pushing their mana curve a bit higher, including bombs that generate absurd value if they stick around for more than a turn, like Ouroboroid and Elspeth, Storm Slayer.

Niv to Light

Niv to Light resurfaced in the competitive scene in March. It's a five-color goodstuff toolbox running a pile of cards to generate overwhelming value. Bring to Light can grab anything in the list and is ideally used to find Niv-Mizzet Reborn, who usually draws five or more cards off his ETB.

Versatility and card advantage are the heart of this strategy. Your early turns are slow setup with Triomes, but once your mana is flowing, it's incredibly hard for opponents to outpace the value you generate or win the race if you survive the initial pressure.

Azorius Control

Prefer the slow, reactive game where you grind through the opponent's resources while stockpiling cards in hand? Azorius Control is for you.

It's classic Draw-Go in the early turns, answering the opponent's plays with stack interaction or cheap sweepers like Temporary Lockdown as early as turn three. Some builds even run High Noon in the main to punish Prowess decks and other red strategies that want to chain multiple spells in a turn.

Once the early game stabilizes, Planeswalkers like The Wandering Emperor and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria start pulling ahead on cards and applying pressure, building toward an inevitable late-game win.

Sultai Scapeshift

For combo fans, Sultai Scapeshift is the non-Greasefang archetype with the strongest presence in that category. The combo revolves around Spelunking and The Wandering Minstrel with Scapeshift to fetch copies of Lotus Field, then using Lumra, Bellow of the Woods or Aftermath Analyst to bring lands back from the graveyard and repeat the process for huge amounts of mana.

Once the setup is complete, Formidable Speaker finds Morlun, Devourer of Spiders to dump all that extra mana into its ETB and deal lethal damage to the opponent.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!