During Tarkir: Dragonstorm spoiler season, a number of different unique build-arounds received a ton of hype. From Ugin, Eye of the Storms as a colorless ramp payoff to Rakshasa’s Bargain as a card draw spell that synergizes with Up the Beanstalk, this set is jam-packed with elite cards worth maximizing.
One of the most restrictive build-arounds with immense upside in the set is definitely United Battlefront. As strong as it looks, it didn’t exactly have an immediate home prior to release. However, it may have found a home in a really sweet mono-white tokens build in Pioneer.
This deck features a bunch of cool noncreature permanents to hit off United Battlefront, including a legendary artifact that, in the right circumstance, makes it nearly impossible for you to lose the game! There’s a lot going on here, so let’s dive in.
United Battlefront in a Tokens Shell
This archetype borrows a lot of ideas from the mono-white tokens shell in Standard. Both Caretaker’s Talent and Enduring Innocence serve as incredible card draw engines, so long as you can continue to make tokens. From there, you can use a number of control elements to stave off early pressure, prolonging the game until you’ve gained an insurmountable advantage.
As you might expect, Carrot Cake makes an appearance as a solid token producer that helps buy you time in the early game. The Birth of Meletis and Wedding Announcement are nice additions to the Pioneer version of mono-white tokens that also pair nicely with Caretaker’s Talent and Enduring Innocence.
What’s nice about all of these value-oriented artifacts and enchantments, besides token synergies, is that they can all be found off United Battlefront. Between these cards and removal spells in the form of Portable Hole and Ossification, you’re fairly likely to hit two noncreature permanents to put into play in your top seven cards.
The card selection United Battlefront provides definitely comes in handy, especially in a Yorion, Sky Nomad deck. In sideboard games, digging for Rest in Peace or High Noon can help you steal games versus combo shells. The potent sorcery definitely pulls its weight here, which is cool to see.
Intriguing Combo Inclusion
Perhaps the most interesting inclusion in the deck that can be hit off United Battlefront is The Book of Exalted Deeds. This unusual card has a pretty restrictive mana cost for most decks and requires some setup to abuse. However, it can definitely help you win games out of nowhere.
The first ability of the card isn’t just flavor text. Simply sacrificing Carrot Cake during your turn is enough to let you generate a 3/3 Angel with flying on your end step, which will trigger Caretaker’s Talent just fine.
This alone wouldn’t warrant the card’s inclusion, but when paired with the “you can’t lose the game” ability, you’ve got a threatening card. The main combo with this card is to find a window to animate Mutavault unhindered and put the enlightened counter on Mutavault.
If the opponent doesn’t have an instant speed answer to Mutavault that turn or a form of land destruction in the future, they risk getting locked out of the game. This obviously isn’t a major focal point of the deck, as it’s only a one-of inclusion. Regardless, this deck is capable of seeing a ton of cards thanks to United Battlefront, so having a situational one-of that can sometimes singlehandedly sway a game in your favor can be useful.
Control and Token Support
While a large portion of the deck is built to maximize United Battlefront, there are plenty of slots dedicated to removal and finishers. Interaction such as Get Lost and Day of Judgment is used to keep your opponent off-balance and give you breathing room to assemble your synergies.
As long as you can stabilize the board, Enduring Innocence and Caretaker’s Talent will pull you ahead. It’s tough to truly flood out with this deck, since utility lands like Castle Ardenvale give you something to spend your mana on that furthers your token gameplan.
Eventually, slamming an Elspeth, Storm Slayer will be more than enough to end the game. Whether you’re using its 0 ability to attack for a ton of damage at once or spamming its +1 to generate a big board of creatures, Elspeth is a top-tier addition to this style of deck.
Elspeth’s static ability makes all your token makers better. In a pinch, you can even use Elspeth to deal with problematic creatures like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse if you don’t have other removal spells at the ready. It’s hard to go wrong with this versatile five-drop.
Polarizing Matchups
The current state of Pioneer isn’t exactly the most diverse, and a huge part of the appeal behind this strategy is that it matches up decently well versus red aggro and Rakdos midrange. Versus red aggro, you have access to a ton of removal spells. Plus, with so many basic lands at your disposal, Sunspine Lynx is much less concerning.
On the flip side, versus Rakdos midrange, Caretaker’s Talent and Enduring Innocence are bound to pull you ahead in an attrition war. Rakdos doesn’t do a great job answering enchantments to begin with, and you’re well set up to win the long game.
The deck’s biggest weakness, however, is that it doesn’t do a good job applying pressure. Most of your disruption comes in the form of creature removal, so value engines like Up the Beanstalk are worrisome. Even worse, dedicated combo decks like Lotus Field combo can completely ignore your incremental advantages and end the game in one go.
As such, if you’re going to play this deck, expect to run into some polarizing matchups. Red aggro and Rakdos midrange are both very popular, so playing this United Battlefront shell with tons of removal and card draw definitely has its benefits. If you think you’ll run into a lot of combo at your next event, though, it may be worth leaving mono-white tokens on the shelf.
