After years of waiting, spoiler season for Pioneer Masters is finally upon us. Designed to bring the bulk of the format’s decks and staples to MTG Arena, this digital-only expansion has been eagerly awaited by many. While we haven’t seen a lot of the set so far, early previews have been encouraging.
Today two more classics joined the Pioneer Masters lineup, one of which, Behold the Beyond, also received some brand-new art in the bargain. Clearly, this set is going to be more than just a card bump. It’s also looking like a celebration of Pioneer’s history and legacy.
Behold The Beyond
- Mana Value: 5BB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Type: Sorcery
- Card Text: Discard your hand. Search your library for three cards, put them into your hand, then shuffle.
Behold the Beyond is one of the most significant Pioneer Masters cards spoiled so far. Interestingly, this isn’t down to its playability. Behold was a very playable card in the format back in the day, serving as a multi-tutor effect for the popular Lotus Field Combo deck. Seven mana isn’t a lot to ask in that shell, and grabbing three specific cards was often enough to secure a combo win shortly after.
Nowadays, most Lotus players have moved away from Behold. The deck has simply been refined and improved to the point where it’s no longer necessary. The card is still an important part of Pioneer history, however, hence its inclusion here. This also explains the new artwork that has been created for the card. As WotC Senior Game Designer Ben Weitz put it on Twitter:
“Some cards in #PioneerMasters were chosen to get new art pieces! We decided to include some Pioneer easter eggs in a few of these pieces. In the art for Behold the Beyond, there’s a special kind of flower, commonly found in fields, used as an important ingredient…”
Ben Weitz
That flower, of course, is a Lotus, referencing the card’s role in Lotus Field decks. It’s a lovely little touch, and one that makes this mostly-defunct sorcery feel more like a worthy inclusion in the set. This art change also serves a second purpose. The original artwork for Behold the Beyond was created by Noah Bradley, with whom Wizards cut ties back in 2020. This followed Bradley’s “inappropriate sexual conduct” with members of the community.
Naturally, Bradley hasn’t been commissioned for any new Magic art since. His work is already present on over 100 cards, however, which makes reprinting these cards somewhat awkward. Commissioning new artwork for these cards, as Wizards has done here, is a great way to address the issue. This is something Wizards has done before with cards like Cleansing Nova and Drown in Sorrow.
Oath Of Nissa
- Mana Value: G
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Legendary Enchantment
- Card Text: When Oath of Nissa enters, look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal a creature, land, or planeswalker card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast planeswalker spells.
Our next spoiler for today doesn’t have quite as dramatic a history. It makes up for that, however, by being a much more relevant card in Pioneer currently. Oath of Nissa is a fantastic piece of card selection, letting you dig three deep for three of the most relevant card types. On its own, that wouldn’t really make it worthy of a slot in this set. What really puts Oath over the top is the fact that it’s a legendary enchantment.
Both parts of this typeline are highly relevant. As an enchantment, Oath sticks around and adds one to your devotion to green. This makes it a stellar pick in the various Nykthos decks that still see play in Pioneer. Grabbing your key pieces early and upping your mana count later, the card plays double duty. Like Behold, Oath has been phased out in some versions of the deck. It still sees play in others, however, which makes it a solid inclusion here.
The ‘legendary’ part of Oath of Nissa matters too. Outside of Nykthos, this card is also used in 4-Color Rona Combo decks. These decks rely on Rona, Herald of Invasion’s untap ability in order to win the game. Since this triggers off of any legendary spell you cast, not just creatures, Oath can keep things going for a very reasonable one mana. This deck is much more niche than Nykthos, but it’s nice to have some extra utility. If the rest of Pioneer Masters keeps up this level of quality, it may just get the Arena naysayers off the bench and into the Pioneer metagame.
