Duskmourn cards have been available for tournament usage for almost a month at this point, and they continue to have a huge impact on a variety of formats. Players are still finding ways to build around these new designs.
Archetypes like the newly crafted Jund Delirium shell wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the powerful selection of Duskmourn cards. Well, today, we’re going to focus on a Pioneer deck in a similar vein.
In a recent Magic Online Pioneer Challenge, one player managed to make top eight with an awesome Simic Neoform deck. Neoform is not exactly a new commodity in Pioneer, but the way it’s used here is very different than we’ve ever seen before. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Neoform for a Three-Drop
- Mana Value: 2U
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 5/5
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: As an additional cost to cast this spell, exile six cards from your graveyard.
Flying.
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, Manifest Dread. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)
The main goal of this deck is very simple: get Abhorrent Oculus into play and ride it to victory. You can, of course, cast Abhorrent Oculus like normal as long as you six cards in your graveyard to exile. However, this deck can also utilize the power of Neoform to set it up.
Neoform is an interesting card. Similar to Birthing Pod, you get to grab sacrifice a creature to grab a creature of your choice from your library with mana value equal to exactly one plus the sacrificed creature’s mana value. In order to reliably find Abhorrent Oculus, you have to have access to a high density of two-drops.
Fortunately, there are plenty of two-mana creatures that generate value for you. Both Fallaji Archaeologist and Thundertrap Trainer fit the bill. Both creatures dig for Neoform when they enter as well.
From there, Picklock Prankster rounds out the two-drops. You’ll often want to cast the Adventure portion of the card, then cast Picklock Prankster on a future turn.
What’s nice is that Picklock Prankster, Fallaji Archaeologist, and a boatload of cheap instants and sorceries help you fuel your graveyard to hard-cast Abhorrent Oculus. It’s unusual for a three-drop to have the ability to completely take over the game, but Abhorrent Oculus is more than capable of doing so.
A Bunch of Digging
- Mana Value: 7U
- Rarity: Common
- MTG Sets: Khans of Tarkir, Commander 2016, Commander Anthology Volume 2, Ultimate Masters, Time Spiral Remastered, Commander 2021, New Capenna Commander, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander, Modern Horizons 3 Commander, Mystery Booster 2
- Card Text: Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for 1.) Draw three cards.
We mentioned that there is a plethora of instants and sorceries that let you fill your graveyard, which all make your Fallaji Archaeologists and Thundertrap Trainers more likely to nab you a card when they enter. In the one-mana slot, Consider and Otherworldly Gaze dig for Abhorrent Oculus and Neoform quite well. You’ll also find interactive spells in the form of Into the Flood Maw and Fading Hope to keep the opponent’s pressure at bay.
In most decks, running playsets of Otherworldly Gaze and Into the Flood Maw would come at a huge cost. Otherworldly Gaze helps provide card selection, but unlike traditional cantrips, doesn’t replace itself. Meanwhile, Into the Flood Maw doesn’t permanently deal with an opposing threat. As such, these cards are rather weak in attrition battles.
Fortunately, that doesn’t matter much when you have four copies of Treasure Cruise at your disposal. Between Otherworldly Gaze, Picklock Prankster, Fallaji Archaeologist, and your cheap instants and sorceries, Treasure Cruise is as close to Ancestral Recall as you’re going to get in Pioneer.
A Resilient Gameplan
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Uncommon
- MTG Sets: Aether Revolt, Double Masters
- Card Text: Destroy target creature if it has converted mana cost 2 or less. Revolt– Destroy that creature if it has converted mana cost 4 or less instead if a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn.
Part of the reason why this deck was able to have the success it had is that Abhorrent Oculus, despite only costing three mana, is tougher to get off the board than you might think. This is especially true if it entered via Neoform.
It’s too big for Rending Volley to kill. If it entered with a +1/+1 counter, Lightning Axe and Heartless Act won’t do the trick. Fatal Push can, but enabling Revolt isn’t always easy without Fetchlands in Pioneer.
Even if your opponent managed to remove Abhorrent Oculus, chances are you got at least one manifest dread out of the deal. Given how easy it is to churn through your library with this deck, you’ll typically be able to rebuild rather quickly.
Matchup Spread
- Mana Value: WU
- Rarity: Uncommon
- MTG Sets: Murders at Karlov Manor
- Card Text: Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard.
Where this deck seems to shine brightest according to the pilot is versus black midrange shells. This makes a lot of sense. You aren’t under a great deal of pressure, so you have some time to spin your wheels. Treasure Cruise is particularly excellent at helping you beat Thoughtseize and the like, and Abhorrent Oculus is a reliable win condition.
Where things get tough is when facing decks that have clean answers to either Abhorrent Oculus or Neoform. Against Azorius control, you don’t have a ton in the way of Counterspells that help you push through Neoform against opposing copies of No More Lies. At the same time, Get Lost can immediately get Abhorrent Oculus off the board before you start getting value out of it. Playing against Leyline Binding can be problematic for the same reason.
The red aggro matchups feel somewhat dependent on your ability to find Into the Flood Maw or Fading Hope. If you can disrupt the fast, pump spell-heavy draws from Prowess, Abhorrent Oculus is quite likely to run away with the game.
As such, there are certainly positives and negatives to playing this archetype. This does look like a blast to play, which definitely helps its case. For Abhorrent Oculus fans, this should be a sweet one to sleeve up at your next FNM.