by Johnny Cycles, June 21st, 2024

Hello! Welcome to the very first edition of Pioneer Curious!

Unsurprisingly, for my first Pioneer deck, I’m playing Gruul Dragons. Will it be as competitive in Pioneer as in Modern (cough, 2-3, cough)? Or will it break the format (unlikely)? Either way, I’m sure it’ll be fun, so let’s find out!

Decklist – Gruul Dragons

by Johnny Cycles
Format: Pioneer

Creatures (22)

4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Questing Beast
3 Stingerback Terror
4 Glorybringer
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Planeswalkers (8)

4 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
4 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

Spells (4)

4 Play with Fire

Battles (3)

3 Invasion of Tarkir

Lands (23)

1 Boseiju, Who Endures
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Copperline Gorge
2 Cragcrown Pathway
3 Forest
2 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
5 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground

Sideboard (15)

3 Chandra’s Defeat
4 Pick Your Poison
2 Rending Volley
2 Unlicensed Hearse
1 Klothys, God of Destiny
3 Rampaging Ferocidon

I played Pioneer when it first became a format in 2019, but I lost interest after a few months. I mostly tried out old Standard decks that I had enjoyed playing in the past like Golgari Delirium, Bant Coco, and Rakdos Dragons. 5 years and 15 free spells in Modern later and my curiosity about Pioneer has returned. Does it resemble a powered-down Modern circa 2016? Do Midrange creature strategies of yore have a home here instead of Modern, where Midrange features creatures of the 1- and 2-mana variety more than the 5- and 6? I’m very curious!

Primary Game Plan

For those familiar with my Dragons in Modern brews, you’ll recognize the shell of that deck, along with our game plan. We’re looking to play a turn 1 mana dork, into a turn 2 3-mana Planeswalker, into a 4- or 5-mana finisher and swing out. The remainder of the deck is removal to interact with what our opponent is doing. I discuss the key players in detail here. However, I’ll sum up the important parts briefly before getting to the game play.

Even without Utopia Sprawl, Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner is crucial to our ability to ramp into our finishers. But she does soooo much more than that. First, each of our finishers draws us a card with Kiora on the battlefield, which keeps us from running out of action. Second, she untaps an exerted Glorybringer. Most opponents scoop once they realize whatever they play will get killed each turn while they take 4.

Domri, Anarch of Bolas also provides us with layers of advantage and flexibility beyond simple ramp. His static ability turns our miniscule mana dorks into legitimate threats if we’ve flooded out with them. Making all of our Dragons hit for 5 also increases our clock by a whole turn, if not two. His -2 in conjunction with one of our finishers keeps problematic creatures off the battlefield. With Questing Beast, we can kill anything that isn’t indestructible. And, finally, he makes things uncounterable.

 

Stormbreath Dragon can be difficult to answer for decks leaning heavily on Leyline Binding and other white-based removal. His monstrosity can also close out games extremely quickly. Stingerback Terror is a huge beater when played correctly. Its lack of haste is an issue, but being able to plot it on turn 2 or 3 for the future, as well as being the only threat bigger than Vein Ripper, makes up for it.

For removal, we’re playing Pioneer’s Lightning Bolt and an on-flavor siege with upside. Invasion of Tarkir provides us with a powerful late-game option once we’ve flipped it that can either finish opponents quickly or keep the board clean of creatures.

Sideboard

Our choices here were largely influenced by what other Gruul decks play in Pioneer. Not only have I not played the format in 5 years, but I haven’t even really followed it short of bannings and Vein Ripper winning a Pro Tour. I’m trusting in others here and hope the sideboard lines up with the meta. Let me know in the comments what you think of it!

Practice Match 1 vs. Bogles

Practice Match 2 vs. U/W Spirits

Practice Match 3 vs. Satyr Tribal

Practice Match 4 vs. Gruul Midrange

Practice Match 5 vs. Mono Red Burn

Overall Record: 5-0

Hmm, this is a surprisingly good start. But what are the chances Satyr Tribal is a tier 1 strategy? I have a feeling league play will bring us back to reality.

League Match 1 vs. Rakdos Vampires

League Match 2 vs. Golgari Insidious Roots

League Match 3 vs. Rakdos Midrange

League Match 4 vs. Amalia Combo

League Match 5 vs. Niv to Light

Overall Record: 1-4

Wrap-up

Conclusion

Well, it didn’t take long for our suspicion to be borne out. Rakdos Vampires, a Pro Tour winning deck, fairly stomped us, with its fliers somehow being cheaper and bigger. Who knew?

Otherwise, we played against a swath of top decks and managed to win games against them, but not matches. Golgari Insidious Roots, Amalia Combo, and Niv to Light all managed to defeat us in game 3 after we got game 2 against them. Some of this is experience, of course, while some is sideboard cards. The games we had them, we were able to win. The games we didn’t, we lost. Experience will also give me insight into how I want to change our board. Currently, I mostly miss Brotherhood’s End and a way to kill a 6/6 flier that isn’t Pick Your Poison.

As I talk about in the wrap-up, there are changes we can make to the 60, namely Bonecrusher Giant over Invasion of Tarkir. But there are some other cards out there that could help power up the deck. Perhaps Fable of the Mirror-Breaker would be better in Pioneer Dragons than in Modern Dragons.

Overall, I was happy with the deck. Pioneer as a format does feel a lot like 2016 Modern, which was a pleasant surprise. I’m looking forward to playing more Dragons in Pioneer, as well as other decks. I’m sure that as I learn the meta, we’ll get more wins than losses.

As always, thanks for reading and watching! Let me know in the comments what you think of the deck. Are there any obvious cards I’m forgetting about that I should consider? Are there better ways to kill Archfiend of the Dross than Pick Your Poison? What Pioneer decks would you like to see me play?