Explorer: 5 Decks to Start Playing this Format in 2024

Explorer is an exclusive Magic Arena format that simulates tabletop Pioneer, created to soon become Pioneer in Arena. As it is a digital format, Explorer is an entryway for anyone who wants to start playing MTG or wants to invest in Pioneer in a nearby future, and it introduces it to a broader public.

There are advantages and disadvantages to playing Explorer in Magic Arena. Maybe, for players that are Pioneer veterans, it may not be that interesting to play an incomplete version of this format, but for those who just want to have fun or don't know anything about Pioneer, Explorer is an excellent option to get familiar with this format and get a good grasp of the essentials before buying a deck.

Due to the recent addition of Khans of Tarkir in Arena, Explorer is even closer to fully becoming Pioneer. In this article, I'll present to you five lists for those who want to start playing this format in 2024.

Mono-Red Aggro

Mono-Red is still one of the best options in this format when the matter is Aggro decks. The idea with this version is to deal a lot of damage to the opponent and extract as much value as possible from your spells through the synergy with creatures like Monastery Swiftspear and Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might.

Ojer Axonil offers this deck an extremely efficient attack line, maximizing the damage dealt by many sources and allowing you to close out games much easier. A play line that can really sum up this creature's power in this list is Chandra's +1 using the red mana to cast Play With Fire, dealing eight damage to the opponent without even going into combat.

Azorius Control

Azorius Control is the type of deck that hardly ever leaves this format, and can have good games against most of the metagame. This strategy focuses on preventing your opponent from doing anything, be it by removing their creatures or countering their spells, to completely control the game and then finish it with Shark Typhoon's tokens or one of the powerful planeswalkers in this deck.

There are a few different versions of Azorius Control in this format, but I really enjoy the version with Kaheera, the Orphanguard. This companion offers a different game plan post-side against several decks and can work well as an extra win condition in the main deck. Considering we still don't have Brimaz, King of Oreskos in Arena, I chose to use Leonin Warleader in this slot, and I feel it works well enough with Regal Caracal.

This list is well-equipped to deal with most of this format's threats, and it is a deck that will hardly ever stop being meta. It is an excellent option to start playing this format if you enjoy a game style that is more reactive.

Izzet Phoenix

Due to the arrival of Khans of Tarkir in Arena, we can finally enjoy Izzet right. Treasure Cruise is, without a question, a fundamental piece in this deck, and this addition brought it to the metagame, easily making it one of the best decks in this format nowadays.

The idea behind this deck is playing your Phoenixes in the graveyard so you can put them in play for free and strike the opponent through the air. Like so, this deck has several cantrips and low-cost spells to trigger the Phoenixes, and ways of placing them in the graveyard, be it by discarding cards, with Lightning Axe, for instance, or by self-milling, with Ledger Shredder and Picklock Prankster.

This deck plays efficiently and rapidly, and can, many times, end the game in one or two turns once its main game plan is set in motion.

Rakdos Midrange

Mana Thoughtseize is one of the most iconic play lines in this format. It is a pleasure for those who play it, and almost always frustrating for those on the other side of the table. Combine this with other powerful cards, like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and you have one of the most powerful decks in this format.

Rakdos Midrange is precisely what it seems like: a mixture of great cards that together make each other even greater. With this deck, you'll have an excellent package of removals + discard tools to prepare the way for this deck's creatures to work.

Your opponents' resources in their hands, battlefields and graveyards will never be safe from you - and if that's your game style, then Rakdos is the perfect deck to venture into Explorer.

Amalia Combo

This is the trendy combo in Pioneer right now. This deck's strategy focuses on Amalia Benavides Aguirre and Wildgrowth Walker. Amalia Explores any time you gain life points, allowing you to look at the top card in your deck, place it in your hand if it is a land, or place a counter on it if it is a non-land card, and play this card on the graveyard; if Amalia's power is exactly 20, destroy all other creatures. With Walker on the board, all you need to do is Explore once to trigger a loop with Amalia, clear the board and then attack the opponent dealing lethal damage.

This deck has already shown it is dangerous and can oppress any opponent that can't interact with your combo efficiently. Even if the combo isn't active, this deck can still behave as a regular Aggro deck and win the game conventionally.

Explorer is one of the reasons I still play Arena to this day, and it is the future of Pioneer in this platform. All lists shown in this article are high-level competitive lists, and can easily be adapted to tabletop Pioneer's metagame. They are also excellent options for anyone who intends to start playing these formats.

One more article finished; I hope you liked it. Leave your questions, suggestions, and feedback in the comment section, and I will try to answer all. See you next time.