Earlier this week, the MTG world saw a massive shakeup as seven cards were either banned or restricted across a variety of formats. For many players, the announcement brought hope for a new era that might showcase a wider range of diverse archetypes.
Going into Monday, it seemed like Nadu, Winged Wisdom in Modern and Grief in Legacy were both inevitably going to get the axe. Beyond that, though, the door was left pretty wide open. Fast forward to the announcement, and we now know that both Vintage and Pioneer have received major changes.
With regards to Pioneer, it seems that the bans to Rakdos Vampires and Abzan Amalia combo helped reignite additional interest in the format from the player base at large. With the resurgence of a multitude of strategies held down by Vampires and Amalia for so long, there’s a lot to enjoy about the current state of the format.
Player Excitement
- Mana Value: WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- MTG Set: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Card Text: Ward- Pay 3 life. Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it’s a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
When the ban announcement revealed the news that Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Amalia Benavides Aguirre were getting the axe, the community seemed to have generally mixed reactions. While there was clear enthusiasm that two format-warping archetypes were essentially gone for good, many players were concerned that a rise in Izzet Phoenix would be bad news for the format. Others felt like this would put mono-green Devotion in a prime position for a takeover.
However, player interest in the format definitely grew quickly after the ban announcement. Multiple players that had taken a break from the Pioneer format made it a point to come back and test some cool ideas. On top of that, one Magic Online Pioneer Challenge that ran on Monday post-ban managed to obtain a whopping 128 competitors. The metagame was quite diverse as well, with archetypes that were previously poorly positioned rising to the top of the ranks.
Read More: Burly Bloomburrow Frog Can Help You Conquer Your MTG Store Championship
Aggro’s Time to Shine
- Mana Value: 4W
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 4/4
- MTG Set: March of the Machine
- Card Text: Convoke. When Knight-Errant of Eos enters the battlefield, look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal up to two creature cards with mana value X or less from among them, where X is the number of creatures that convoked Knight-Errant of Eos. Put the revealed cards into your hand, then shuffle.
This large Pioneer tournament, along with another separate Challenge event on Monday, really showcased some interesting shifts in the metagame. As you might expect, Izzet Phoenix and mono-green Devotion were a bit more prevalent. However, their presences weren’t completely overwhelming.
In the top 32 of both Challenges, there were a total of 10 Izzet Phoenix players and five Devotion players out of the 64 slots. Above all, neither Challenge was won by Izzet Phoenix nor Devotion. Instead, two distinct aggro decks emerged victorious. Overall, aggro decks appear to be a major winner thanks to the bans.
In the 128-player event, Boros Convoke managed to win the whole thing. Boros Convoke is a deck that was quite popular in 2023. It’s biggest weakness, however, was that its cards lined up so poorly against Abzan Amalia. Playing any strategy where you need to attack with lots of ground creatures to close the game was very risky against Amalia. Not only were you at risk of losing to the combo at any point, but racing in the face of Prosperous Innkeeper and Wildgrowth Walker gaining life and clogging up the board proved to be a weak proposition.
With Amalia out of the way, Boros Convoke becomes a lot more appealing. Its nut draws are fully capable of presenting lots of pressure in short order. As appealing as mono-green Devotion and Lotus Field combo may seem at first glance, the lack of removal spells in these decks puts them at risk of getting run over.
Beyond just Boros Convoke, both assertive red decks and mono-white Humans appear to be on the rise in similar fashion. Aggro decks are back in full force, so make sure you’re prepared moving forward.
Read More: Wizards Admits Recently Banned MTG Card Was a Design Mistake
Reactions to Initial Metagame Shifts
- 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.
While it is still very early in the evolution of new Pioneer, the immediate reactions from players are mostly very positive. Many players were relieved to finally see a relatively healthy and diverse top 16 in the 128-player Challenge. Others were happy to see aggro decks finally in the thick of things again.
Above all, players seemed thrilled that Izzet Phoenix didn’t dominate the tournament. Not seeing a Challenge with 50%+ of the top eight made up by Rakdos Vampires is undoubtedly a big relief, and many people noticed a big difference.
It’ll be interesting to see how players react to the revitalization of aggro, too. Perhaps a grindy deck like old-school Rakdos midrange will grow in popularity in the coming week. Notably, Selesnya Angels, a deck well-known for dunking on aggro decks, made top eight of the 128-player Challenge. This could definitely help cause a spike in the number of players registering the archetype.
Of course, that may encourage more players to gravitate towards Devotion and Lotus Field combo. This push-pull scenario would be a breath of fresh air. Only time will tell how the metagame continues to evolve in the long run. The good news, at least, is that the short-term data is rather promising.
