Pioneer: Esper Humans (Yorion) - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Pioneer is a format with a lot of room for development. Although there is a well-established Metagame with decks like Rakdos Demons, Atarka Gruul, Izzet Phoenix, Nykthos Ramp, among others that make up Tier 1, the number of strategies beyond these are countless.

I usually cover decks that have had results in Challenges, but there are times when I choose to build lists and test them in ranked games to see how far I can go, and if the result is good, I can share these lists in articles to seek improvements in them with the hive mind of the format's community - one of these cases is today's deck.

Esper Humans is not necessarily new and has appeared in Pioneer since Extraction Specialist was released in Streets of New Capenna and gave some lines with Pyre of Heroes where we can sacrifice creatures like Thalia's Lieutenant to get the Specialist and reuse its ETB. However, this version never really caught on.

Unlike traditional Humans variants, Pyre of Heroes variants have a value and toolbox theme. We don't try to race and beat the opponent in the fewest turns, but to make efficient combinations that put pressure on them with every card played.

Recently, three factors have led this deck to deserve a new chance: the release of Satoru, the Infiltrator and Enduring Innocence in 2024, and the rise of Bounce decks with Yorion, Sky Nomad, which revitalized the importance of efficient ETBs in the format, and in this article, we try to explore Esper Humans with these new possibilities!

Yes, this is an 80-card Humans deck with Yorion, Sky Nomad. The concept was heavily inspired by the Death & Taxes lists in Legacy that have run 80 cards to expand the amount of answers in the maindeck, and while we don't have Aether Vial and Recruiter of the Guard to take full advantage of the toolbox, Pyre of Heroes does a good job of granting access to any card we need.

Ideally, our plan involves using Satoru, the Infiltrator and Enduring Innocence to generate card advantage with each creature. Cards like Extraction Specialist and Charming Prince allow us to reuse our creatures' ETBs while also triggering our value engines

In an ideal world, we play creature after creature and play the opponent's game in turns enough to put a lot of +1/+1 counters on our humans and look for Blade Historian to grant Double Strike all of our creatures, culminating in a lethal attack, but most games end up consisting of making good trades with the opponent while slowly pressuring, with Thalia's Lieutenant triggers multiplying.

Maindeck

Our engine.

Satoru, the Infiltrator ensures that any creature coming from Pyre of Heroes or interactions with Extraction Specialist or Charming Prince triggers a draw, plus a 2/3 body with Menace is great when we need to pressure the opponent.

Since we don't run Coppercoat Vanguard, all creatures in the deck enter with power two or less, triggering Enduring Innocence for another draw. Although it is not a human, this interaction with our cards is essential to ensure we keep our gas running, in addition to the fact that a 2/1 body with Lifelink that remains on the board when destroyed can hold up a turn against Aggro.

Pyre of Heroes is the Birthing Pod at home and allows us to play with some specific one-ofs or two-ofs. Ideally, it will be used frequently together with Extraction Specialist to recover the first sacrificed creature and, on the following turn, it will be used to find Hostage Taker or Blade Historian.

Mockingbird is also not a human, but it becomes one the moment it copies one of our creatures. Common targets for it are Thalia's Lieutenant, Kitesail Freebooter, Extraction Specialist or Brutal Cathar. We can also copy Charming Prince to blink another creature and trigger Satoru.

Our engine to take advantage of Satoru, the Infiltrator and Enduring Innocence.

Charming Prince does a bit of everything: it can reuse an ETB, filter the top, gain life against Aggro and also grow on the board when Thalia's Lieutenant comes back into play.

Extraction Specialist is a recursion tool which usually returns Thalia's Lieutenant or Jirina, Dauntless General to the battlefield. But we can also return Charming Prince to blink the Specialist and then return another creature.

Our interaction.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben doesn't have an ETB, but making your opponent's spells cost more tends to be enough to slow them down for a few turns.

Jirina, Dauntless General is an effective graveyard hate that also works as protection against sweepers like Deafening Clarion, Path of Peril and Supreme Verdict

Kitesail Freebooter is a proactive play that also grants information on your opponent's resources and a way to make them spend cheap removal on a specific target, only to reuse it with Extraction Specialist the following turn.

The board interaction. Personally, maybe six slots are too few in this deck.

Reflector Mage is a relevant bounce against tokens and Unholy Annex and also against creatures with no immediate impact like Heartfire Hero, while Brutal Cathar is a less temporary removal, but with the risk of returning the creature directly to play in the face of removal.

Hostage Taker is the common target when we sacrifice Extraction Specialist with Pyre of Heroes, and it is not uncommon to have enough mana to cast the exiled card with it in the same turn.

Thalia's Lieutenant is the heart of this deck and all blink, copy and reanimate interactions have it as the main target to pressure the opponent.

Blade Historian is the equivalent of Embercleave in our list. Typically, we want to play it with an established board and enough counters to close out lethal damage.

Since our list is mostly with Humans, having two sets of cards that generate mana of any color for this type is essential.

Esper Humans has heavy mana requirements, so we try to add as many untapped duals to our list that generate more than one color of mana, as well as a full set of Mana Confluence to access all three colors of the deck.

Two Channel Lands help to add a bit more action to the game in longer games, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire is our only way to reuse Blade Historian if it gets destroyed.

Sideboard

There are games where we need cheap and efficient interactions, and Thoughtseize is the best option for games where we need to worry about key cards, or where we need to prevent the opponent's removal or sweepers from ruining our strategy.

Fatal Push and Get Lost are the best options at the moment to deal with games where we must interact more with the board, such as against Prowess and Atarka Gruul with Fatal Push, or to deal with Planeswalkers and unwanted enchantments with Get Lost.

Dawnbringer Cleric is a Pauper staple that has been growing in Pioneer lately due to the rise of Bounce decks and its usefulness in other games. Since it is a human, with a low cost and with an efficient ETB in a Metagame where artifacts are not in high demand, two copies of it and one of Loran of the Third Path seem ideal.

Kambal, Consul of Allocation comes in games where we expect many spells in one turn, such as against Izzet Phoenix, Prowess and Lotus Combo.

Yorion, Sky Nomad is most often cast in this list in games where we can't execute the beatdown plan, forcing us to reuse our ETBs to bury the opponent with card advantage. It has some interactions with Charming Prince, but there are times when it's worth leaving it on the battlefield to be a late-game beater.

Rakdos Demons

IN

OUT

Atarka Gruul

IN

OUT

Rakdos / Gruul Prowess

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Niv-to-Light

IN

OUT

Lotus Combo

IN

OUT

Nykthos Ramp

IN

OUT

Selesnya Company

IN

OUT

Jund Food

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!