Pioneer: 5 Decks with Duskmourn to try out!

Duskmourn is approaching, and with it, the hype for testing the expansion's new cards grows among players as lists emerge from early access on MTGArena and Magic Online!

While the set's true potential in the competitive scene is still unclear, several content creators are already looking for the best ways to take advantage of the main cards and find under-the-radar means to use them.

In this article, we present five Pioneer decklists with the new Magic: The Gathering set, taking advantage of Leyline of Mutation in Mono Green Devotion, and making the most of some of the new artifacts with Ensoul Artifact or looking for a list capable of running Abhorrent Oculus and Treasure Cruise together!

Super Mono Green Devotion

The Super Mono Green Devotion (as in Super Kami Guru) aims to maximize the ability to generate devotion to green on turn 0 with a set of Leyline of the Guildpact and Leyline of Mutation. With so much devotion, we can generate seven mana on the second turn with Llanowar Elves plus Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and up to 14 on the third turn with Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner - this mana is then used to cast the Eldrazi titans Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger and Emrakul, the Promised End.

To take advantage of the new green Leyline, we have Cascading Cataracts and some Shock Lands along with the new Overlord of the Hauntwoods, which adds two devotion on the second turn, puts a land of any type into play, and turns into a 6/5 as the game progresses. Since we are more dependent on explosive plays with Nykthos, Archdruid’s Charm helps us find the land or search for one of the Eldrazi to win the game.

Selesnya Auras

Selesnya Auras disappeared from Pioneer after Benton Madsen reached the Pro Tour Phyrexia finals with the archetype, and Duskmourn brought a powerful interaction piece to Auras: Sheltered by Ghosts not only deals with any nonland permanent in play, but also protects the enchanted creature and gives it Lifelink - essential for a Metagame where Rakdos Aggro is the best deck.

Shardmage’s Rescue is another important addition, which allows us to focus multiple enchantments on a single creature as the game goes on, nullifying the opponent’s removals and opening up more space for lethal damage in a turn.

Selesnya Scales

Hardened Scales hasn't made it into Pioneer yet, and Reluctant Role Model is the latest addition that basically gives all your creatures an updated version of Modular, transferring counters between them as they leave the battlefield.

Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, Ornery Tumblewagg and Innkeeper's Talent were other important additions to the archetype in recent sets, and perhaps a splash into red with Voldaren Thrillseeker will help create even more interactions in the archetype.

Izzet Ensoul

Izzet Ensoul gained two potential additions with Duskmourn: Clockwork Percussionist was highly speculated on Pauper due to its interactions with Kuldotha Rebirth and similar cards, and we can see the same potential of the new creature together with Shrapnel Blast and even Gleeful Demolition, in addition to it becoming a 5/5 with Haste if enchanted by Ensoul Artifact, generating an immediate impact on the board.

Chainsaw is another card with some potential. Despite its high Equip cost, it is an artifact that doubles as removal in a more aggressive Metagame like the one we have today, being possible to sacrifice it later with Shrapnel Blast, enchant it with Ensoul Artifact or let it gain counters to perform a lethal combo with Shadowspear and any other creature in play.

Azorius Oculus

Not much different from Monastery Mentor, Abhorrent Oculus becomes even more absurd when we cheat on its mana cost and play it with Helping Hand. From the moment it enters the battlefield, the opponent has the obligation to deal with it at any cost - if they can't, it will grow your board every turn cycle.

An Azorius Tempo shell that already takes advantage of Monastery Mentor seems like the ideal home for it in the first week, where we can replace Haughty Djinn and still take advantage of the absurd amount of value that Treasure Cruise has to offer alongside cheap cantrips and Picklock Prankster.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!