Wizards of the coast often release pre-constructed decks that allow players to jump right into MTGs most popular formats. One instance of this is the Pioneer challenger decks which started in 2021, which are great for players who want an easy onramp to playing the Pioneer format in Magic: The Gathering. If you have an interest in the newest challenger decks at all, you’re in the right place. Before we dive in, let’s start with what they are and what they contain.
Each deck for Pioneer contains 75- cards (60-card main deck & 15-card sideboard) and are preconstructed decks, built with tournament level or competitive play in mind. They are primarily for the Pioneer format at the Friday Night Magic level. Furthermore, they are playable and competitive right out of the box. They release on October 14, 2022.
Now with some idea of why they exist, what they’re intended for, their non-unique contents and when they release, let’s move on to the fun stuff. I’ll go over each list, and how best to upgrade it to be the most competitive for the Pioneer format. Then, I’ll give a few upgrades to make the decks viable for Modern play.
Table Of Contents:
Key Dates
As mentioned above, the 2022 pioneer decks will release on October 14th, 2022. They will be the second installment of challenger decks for the Pioneer format. You can find the full decklists and upgrades to last year’s Pioneer decks here.
Contents
- A competitive 60-card main deck
- A 15-card sideboard
- Five double-sided tokens
- Six cards to help with the use of double-faced cards
- A deck box capable of holding 75-sleeved cards
Decklists And Upgrades
Here you’ll find the original deck lists for each deck as well as upgrades to make them more optimal for Pioneer. Additionally, I’ll include some budget upgrades (around $40-$50 when possible) to make the deck playable in Modern.
Modern mana bases are often expensive. So, for our transition into Modern, I’m going to leave the lands alone for the most part and instead put that money into the main spells of the deck.
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Orzhov Humans
Colors:
Black, White
Theme:
This Orzhov deck wants to do a few very simple things – Play creatures with the “Human” creature type, make those creatures bigger and turn them sideways.
Decklist:
Orzhov Humans
| Creature (30) 2 Giant Killer 4 Luminarch Aspirant 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 4 Thalia’s Lieutenant 4 Bloodsoaked Champion 4 Kitesail Freebooter 4 Dauntless Bodyguard 4 Thraben Inspector Sorcery (2) 2 Bloodchief’s Thirst Instant (2) 2 Dire Tactics Enchantment (4) 4 Rally the Ranks Land (22) 4 Caves of Koilos 4 Concealed Courtyard 1 Godless Shrine 2 Mutavault 4 Unclaimed Territory 4 Secluded Courtyard 3 Plains Sieboard (15) 1 Giant Killer 2 Containment Priest 2 Sungold Sentinel 3 Portable Hole 4 Sunset Revelry 3 Duress |
Pioneer Upgrades:
Wizards of the Coast kept it simple with this deck and it pays off in a big way. There’s not much that you want for the deck that isn’t here and there are not a lot of cards that don’t belong. As a result, the upgrades here are going to be very few.
I have replaced just a few slower, less aggressive cards with some things to further bolster the deck’s power and toughness. For example, adding in a playset of Metallic Mimic. Other than that I really just added in a few Kytheon, Hero of Akros.
Honestly, these upgrades are just to my personal taste. You could take them or leave them and have a strong deck either way. Even the mana base is quite well-rounded and doesn’t need much.
Upgrading To Modern
| In: | Out: |
| 3 Path To Exile | 2 Giant Killer, 1 Dire Tactics |
| 4 Champion of the Parish | 4 Bloodsoaked Champion |
| 4 Inquisition of Kozilek | 4 4 Kitesail Freebooter |
In Modern, Human Tribal decks play all five colors. That said, with just black and white, there aren’t too many cards you’ll be missing moving into Modern. We will add the one exception in Champion of the Parish and upgrade the interaction by adding Path to Exile and Inquisition of Kozilek.
Izzet Phoenix
Colors:
Blue, Red
Theme:
The theme for izzet Phoenix is pretty straightforward. The deck resolves around casting multiple spells per turn to recur Archlight Phoenix from the graveyard. Much like the popular Modern deck by the same name. Once the deck starts chaining together spells and casting things from the graveyard it’s hard to stop.
Decklist:
Izzet Phoenix
| Creature (6) 2 Arclight Phoenix 4 Crackling Drake Sorcery (13) 2 Expressive Iteration 4 Chart a Course 4 Treasure Cruise 3 Pieces of the Puzzle Instant (18) 3 Izzet Charm 3 Lightning Axe 2 Fiery Impulse 2 Flame-Blessed Bolt 4 Consider 4 Opt Land (21) 2 Sulfur Falls 4 Temple of Epiphany 4 Shivan Reef 1 Steam Vents 6 Island 4 Mountain Other (2) 2 Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror Sieboard (15) 2 Sweltering Suns 3 Abrade 2 Lava Coil 4 Mystical Dispute 1 Invasive Surgery 3 Narset, Parter of Veils |
Pioneer Upgrades:
This is one of the stronger challenger decks straight from the box. As such, there are not very many cards to switch out here. Most of the spells are what you would want to be playing. The main changes here are adding in more copies of Thing In The Ice, Archlight Phoenix.
Other than that, the changes are simple power upgrades and optimizing the mana base. Let’s jump right in.
| In: | Out: |
| 2 Thing In The Ice, 2 Archlight Phoenix | 4 Crackling Drake |
| 2 Strategic Planning | 2 Fiery Impulse |
| 1 Temporal Trespass | 1 Izzet Charm |
| 3 Stormcarved Coast, 3 Steam Vents, 4 Spirebluff Canal, 2 Riverglide Pathway, 2 Hall of Storm Giants | 2 Sulfur Falls, 4 Temple of Epiphany, 4 Shivan Reef, 2 Island, 2 Mountain |
Upgrading To Modern
This is perhaps the deck that sees the most power increase by going to Modern. Modern simply has much more efficient spells. So, we’re still going to add the mandatory extra copies of Thing In The Ice and Archlight Phoenix.
Then add cheap spells to help us trigger both of them as often as possible. This includes full play sets of Manamorphose, Thought Scour, Gut Shot, and Lightning Bolt.
Pioneer Gruul Stompy
Colors:
Green, Red
Theme:
Stompy wants to ramp into big, well-costed creatures ahead of curve and beat down opponents. Naturally, red and green are the perfect combination for this classic creature-based strategy.
Decklist:
Gruul Stompy
| Planeswalker (2) 2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance Creature (18) 2 Questing Beast 4 Glorybringer 4 Scavenging Ooze 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Elvish Mystic Sorcery (8) 4 Lovestruck Beast 4 Mizzium Mortars Instant (7) 4 Bonecrusher Giant 3 Abrade Land (25) 4 Karplusan Forest 1 Stomping Ground 4 Rockfall Vale 7 Mountain 9 Forest Sieboard (15) 1 Abrade 4 Cindervines 3 Shifting Ceratops 3 Rending Volley 4 Flame-Blessed Bolt |
Pioneer Upgrades:
Overall, the stock list here looks pretty good. The main focus of the upgrades here is to remove some of the slower, weaker creatures with more aggressive ones. Then, I’ll be delving into a few more planeswalkers that will add ramp and damage to the deck. Lastly, I want to cut a few removal spells in favor of creatures, add more copies of the best cards from the precon, and optimize the mana base a bit.
| In: | Out: |
| 4 Domri, Anarch of Bolas | 4 Scavenging Ooze |
| 2 Questing Beast, 2 Heart Of Kiran | 4 Mizzium Mortars |
| 3 Stormbreath Dragon | 3 Abrade |
| 4 Rootbound Crag, 3 Stomping Ground | 4 Karplusan Forest, 1 Mountain, 2 Forest |
Upgrading To Modern
Modern stompy has a few upgrades from Pioneer. First, I made room for four copies of Lightning Bolt. Next, I lowered the overall curve and swapped a playset of mana dorks for an early-game threat in Pelt Collector. After that, Gruul Spellbreaker and Steel Leaf Champion simply up the overall power level of the creatures.
Lastly, I added the two copies of Vivien, Champion of the Wilds. I’ve found her to be great at moving the deck toward victory no matter when she comes into play. If you’re ahead, she’ll put you farther ahead. And if your
Pioneer Dimir Control
Colors:
Blue, Black
Theme:
Dimir control is all about thwarting and negating enemy threats and denying them resources to new ones. Once any and all obstacles are gone, it can swoop in for the easy kill.
Decklist:
Dimir Control
| Planeswalker (2) 2 Narset, Parter of Veils Creature (4) 2 Torrential Gearhulk 2 Murderous Rider Sorcery (2) 2 Extinction Event Instant (25) 3 Dig Through Time 2 Drown in the Loch 4 Censor 3 Sinister Sabotage 4 Fatal Push 1 Mystical Dispute 2 Heartless Act 2 Negate 4 Consider Enchantment (1) 1 Shark Typhoon Land (26) 4 Temple of Deceit 2 Drowned Catacomb 1 Watery Grave 4 Field of Ruin 7 Island 8 Swamp Sieboard (15) 2 Mystical Dispute 2 Languish 2 Test of Talents 2 Cry of the Carnarium 2 Go Blank 2 Cling to Dust 3 Duress |
Upgrades:
Control needs everything to be as optimally costed and as versatile as possible. That’s what I will be looking to achieve via my upgrades – making sure the deck has the most cost-effective answers to as many opposing threats as possible.
There’s nothing worse than having control of the game and having an opponent come back to win because you couldn’t close the game out. So, I’ll also be adding in more copies of some of the best win conditions in the precon.
Aside from that, I will be changing out some of the stock lands for duals that can come in untapped and several basic lands for some tech lands.
| In: | Out: |
| 3 Shark Thyphoon | 2 Murderous Rider, 1 Extinction Event |
| 2 Eliminate, 3 Make Disappear | 2 Consider, 2 Censor, 1 Dig Through Time |
| 1 Soul Shatter, 1 Behold the Multiverse, 1 Cling to Dust, 1 Memory Deluge | 2 Drown in the Loch, 2 Heartless Act |
| 3 Watery Grave, 4 Clearwater Pathway, 4 Shipwreck Marsh, 2 Hall of Storm Giants 1 Castle Vantress | 4 Temple of Deceit, 2 Drowned Catacomb, 5 Swamp, 3 Island |
Upgrading To Modern
| In: | Out: |
| 3 Shark Typhoon | 2 Torrential Gearhulk, 1 Murderous Rider |
| 2 Ashiok, Dream Render, , 3 Spell Pierce | 2 Narset, Parter of Veils, 3 Sinister Sabotage |
| 3 Eliminate, 3 Conterspell, 2 Echoing Truth | 4 Censor, 2 Dig Through Time, 2 Heartless Act |
Our upgrades into Modern are again, making sure we are playing the most cost-effective answers available. Things like Eliminate allow the deck to remove many threats in Modern that Fatal Push misses. This includes things like – Wrenn and Six, Endurance, Risen Reef and, Liliana, of the Viel.
While Ashiok, Dream Render does a ton of work to stop searching by cards like Primeval Titan and graveyard strategies using Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger or Priest of Fell Rites. Aside from these specifics Spell Pierce, Conterspell and Echoing Truth are great catch-all answers for the format.
End Step
Magic’s challenger decks are always a lot of fun for new and veteran players alike. I can’t recommend them enough for anyone looking to get into the pioneer format. Whether you’ve been playing for years and just want to try out the next best thing or this will be your first deck, rest assured that these decks will serve your needs. I hope you have found this article helpful, regardless. Until next time, get out there and play some Pioneer or upgrade your list and jump into Modern with it.
