Back when Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths released, one of the most feared decks in Standard was Cycling. By pairing elite assertive threats with a card that can singlehandedly end the game in Zenith Flare, the Cycling deck was extremely robust and versatile.
Unfortunately, when Ikoria rotated out of Standard, Cycling went by the wayside. There simply weren’t enough tools to support the deck in other formats like Pioneer. Well, that is until now.
Aetherdrift rewarded Cycling enthusiasts with a handful of upgrades that make the strategy in Pioneer more consistent and powerful. Following a strong performance in a Magic Online Pioneer Qualifier, it only seems fair to showcase exactly what these new Aetherdrift cards bring to the table and how they mesh well with the older designs.
An Aggressive Slant
- Mana Value: R
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Type: Creature – Shark Pirate
- MTG Sets: Aetherdrift
- Stats: 1/1
- Card Text: Whenever you discard one or more cards, put that many +1/+1 counters on this creature.
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When playing against the Cycling decks of old, undoubtedly the scariest thing you could see was a draw involving multiple copies of Flourishing Fox. This potent one-drop can quickly grow out of control and outpace damage-based removal if you’re not careful.
Well, thanks to Aetherdrift, the Pioneer Cycling deck now essentially has access to an extra four copies of the card in the form of Marauding Mako. Marauding Mako functions almost identically to Flourishing Fox in this deck.
It does have the downside of not being able to be cycled for one mana in the late game, but you’ll want to play out your copies of Marauding Mako more often than not. Plus, any other form of discard (such as your opponent targeting you with Thoughtseize) will grow Marauding Mako as a bonus.
Obviously, Pioneer has a deeper card pool than Ikoria Standard did and stronger removal spells like Fatal Push. As such, you won’t always be able to run away with the game with Fox or Mako alone. Luckily, these cards have some strong supporting cast members.
Hollow One is a great example. All it takes is for you to cycle three cards on turn three and any copies of Hollow One you draw will be free. Unlike Fox and Mako, Hollow One is immune to Fatal Push, Vanishing Verse, Go for the Throat, and other popular removal options. It’s easy for your opponent to end up on the backfoot in the face of these early threats.
Inevitability
- Mana Value: 3
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Artifact
- MTG Sets: Aetherdrift
- Card Text: Whenever you discard a card, choose one that hasn’t been chosen this turn-
- Draw a card.
- Create a Treasure token.
- Each opponent loses 3 life.
What’s nice about the Cycling deck in general is that even if the opponent can keep pace with your threats, if they aren’t prepared with lots of pressure or disruption, they risk just losing to Zenith Flare in the late game. Zenith Flare is the type of card that gives this deck inevitability and reach.
The life gain that Zenith Flare provides means that you don’t always need to wait for the kill shot when casting it. Sometimes, you’ll simply use Zenith Flare as a removal spell with five cycling cards in your graveyard, using the life cushion to buy you more time. This way, you can continue to cycle through your deck, digging for more copies of Zenith Flare and fueling the powerful instant at the same time.
Now, beyond Zenith Flare, we have another source of inevitability in the form of Monument to Endurance. This Aetherdrift artifact is a card advantage engine, ramp machine, and a win condition all in one. Assuming the opponent can’t remove it right away, they’re in a world of trouble.
Early on, you’ll probably want to cycle cards on both your turn and your opponent’s turn to start drawing lots of extra cards. This will find you more cards to cycle. Eventually, you’ll start choosing to force your opponent to lose three life each turn you cycle a card, and the opponent’s life total will plummet in no time.
Cycling Staples
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Common
- Card Type: Sorcery
- MTG Sets: Ikoria, Jumpstart 2022
- Card Text: Target creature you control fights target creature you don’t control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.) Cycling 1 (1, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
In order to maximize all of these payoffs, we need a high density of cards that you can cycle for one mana, and this deck does not disappoint. In the creature slot, we have Drannith Stinger and Drannith Healer. You can cast one of these in a pinch, but the vast majority of the time, you’ll just want to cycle them away and build up your Zenith Flare count.
The cards with cycling that you will want to consider casting from time to time are Go for Blood and Cast Out. Neither of these cards is all that efficient, but they do have relevant effects from time to time. Go for Blood can be used alongside Hollow One or a beefy Fox or Mako to kill an opposing threat. Cast Out gives you an out to problematic bombs, including Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Enigmatic Incarnation.
Rounding things out, we have Footfall Crater and Djeru’s Renunciation. Footfall Crater can make Hollow One a hasty attacker at certain points, which is worth keeping in mind. With a total of 26 cards that cycle for one mana in the maindeck, you shouldn’t have a problem running out of cycling cards once you have your payoffs online.
A Robust Gameplan
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- MTG Sets: Return to Ravnica, Masters 25, Signature Spellbook: Gideon, Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales, Ravnica Remastered, The Big Score
- Card Text: When Rest in Peace enters the battlefield, exile all cards from all graveyards. If a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely Boros Cycling is going to emerge as a frontrunner in Pioneer, solely because of the speed of the format. There’s a bunch of removal spells in the sideboard that can help stave off early pressure from red Prowess decks, but this only dilutes your main gameplan.
The good news, though, is that Boros Cycling is a difficult archetype for your opponents to hate out. Any slower deck is likely going to be weak to Monument to Endurance and Zenith Flare. Both Monument to Endurance and Zenith Flare allow you to kill the opponent even if you fail to connect in combat a single time.
Traditionally, players would utilize graveyard hate pieces to keep Zenith Flare in check. While this works against Zenith Flare, it’s an ineffective strategy against Monument to Endurance and the creature package that Boros Cycling can win with all the same.
As a fan of the Boros Cycling, I’m hopeful that this early breakout performance will help the shell gain some traction long term. At minimum, if you’re looking for something unusual to take to your next FNM, this is a reasonable choice.