Pioneer: 10 Best Cards of 2024 for the format

The end of 2024 is approaching, and with it, we begin our retrospective on how this year was for Magic: The Gathering. In addition to the changes that occurred in the game, we can also evaluate which were the most important cards that the new releases brought to each competitive format.

Today we will talk about Pioneer, the format that went through turbulent times during this year until finding its balance with the banning of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Amalia Benavides Aguirre, and which today faces a diverse and healthy Metagame, but with the risk of declining in popularity with the absence of the RCQ season next year.

10 - Mockingbird

Mockingbird is the best Clone effect that Pioneer has ever had. Cheap, flexible, with inherent qualities such as evasion and without the weaknesses that would perhaps make other options like Phantasmal Image not as successful.

In addition to being a viable option for any blue deck in case the Metagame demands these effects, Mockingbird has become a staple of the new Azorius versions of Humans, in addition to being one of the pillars that popularized Dimir Ninjas as a viable archetype.

9 - No More Lies

No More Lies is the closest thing to Mana Leak that we've had in Pioneer. Its mana cost makes it more restrictive than options like Make Disappear, but the exile clause made a big difference for decks like Azorius Control, in addition to becoming a staple in Spirits, which gained a dozen new tools this year.

8 - Sheltered by Ghosts

Sheltered by Ghosts was, unintentionally, the answer Pioneer needed to the addition of Aggro to the format with the rise of Prowess strategies. Since then, it has become a staple of Spirits, appeared in the Humans' Sideboard, in some Selesnya Company lists and also in archetypes like Boros Prowess, in addition to giving a brief revitalization to Selesnya Auras.

7 - Enduring Innocence

Enduring Innocence has bolstered the viability of go-wide Aggro in Pioneer this year. It significantly expanded the popularity of Selesnya Company, became an important sideboard piece for Humans and Spirits, and has the potential to motivate other creature-based strategies in the future without being punished by too many removals.

6 - Ygra, Eater of All

Ygra, Eater of All gave Witch’s Oven decks a new combo-kill alongside Cauldron Familiar, where two copies of Familiar and Ygra allow for an infinite damage loop.

Its release alongside Scavenger’s Talent changed the way Food was played in Pioneer, and gave it a way to close out games faster, an essential factor for competitive tournaments and ranked play on Magic Arena.

5 - Unstoppable Slasher

Unstoppable Slasher enabled a new combo deck in Pioneer with Bloodletter of Aclazotz, whose structure put the spotlight on Unholy Annex and gave rise to the Demon archetypes that became the standard for Midranges last quarter.

Slasher also became a staple of Rakdos Midrange and other similar archetypes, where in addition to offering a relevant clock (after all, each combat damage from it means half the opponent's life), it is also difficult to remove and was another motivator for Torch the Tower and other cards that exile creatures to gain more maindeck slots this year.

4 - Verge Lands

The Verge Lands were important enough to permeate several two-color decks in the format due to their interaction with Shock Lands, in addition to becoming important pieces in the four- and five-color decks of the format due to their interaction with Triomes, which facilitate the casting of Leyline Binding on the third turn.

3 - Unholy Annex

Unholy Annex was the best card advantage engine for Pioneer this year and greatly changed the way Rakdos Midrange is built. If before, Archfiend of the Dross was a two-of or a creature for the combo with Metamorphic Alteration, now it is a staple that generates absurd value with Unholy Annex, and if the enchantment was not good enough as a Phyrexian Arena, it also offers a 6/6 body with evasion on the board in the same slot.

Annex was the card that turned Blade of the Oni into a playable staple in Rakdos, made the combo of Unstoppable Slasher with Bloodletter of Aclazotz competitively viable, and should remain a mainstay of the black midranges for a while next year.

2 - Artist’s Talent

Artist’s Talent became a Pioneer staple and was the main addition of the year to Izzet Phoenix. Its interaction with Proft’s Eidetic Memory and cheap cantrips makes any creature a threat, and the looting trigger makes it easy to put any number of Arclight Phoenix into the graveyard early, as well as speeding up the casting of Treasure Cruise.

The enchantment replaced the interaction between Temporal Trespass and Galvanic Iteration, and in some cases began to replace some copies of Ledger Shredder.

Another place where Artist’s Talent stood out was in Lotus Combo, which gave up four-color variants for an Izzet version after the Expedition Map reprint. With it, you can “cycle” your entire deck by casting spell after spell, culminating in searching for Thassa’s Oracle to win the game, or repeating casts of Lightning Strike to make your own version of Storm.

1 - Emberheart Challenger

Slickshot Show-Off was the card that boosted Red Aggro in Standard and Pioneer, but the true focus of the archetype is found in the Bloomburrow Mice package, led by Emberheart Challenger.

Challenger does a bit of everything an Aggro wants: it has immediate impact, Prowess to grow with damage or pump spells, and a triggered ability that grants card advantage by doing what strategies that run it already do normally.

Along with Heartfire Hero and Manifold Mouse, it laid the foundation for what is now Rakdos Prowess, which was the biggest highlight of the year among the new archetypes in Pioneer 2024, and also motivated the creation of similar strategies with other colors.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!