Over time, Pioneer has become a bit of a barren wasteland when it comes to innovation and diversity. In some ways, it feels like Rakdos Vampires and Abzan Amalia combo are holding the format hostage, hence why many players are hopeful for bans to occur on August 26. However, a small glimmer of hope shined through this weekend.
A unique archetype built around a potent synergy made possible by Bloomburrow’s release managed to win a recent Magic Online Pioneer Challenge. This performance doesn’t seem to be just a fluke, either, as a different competitor made top four of another Challenge with a very similar decklist. This really goes to show how impactful modern-day set releases can be. Let’s start by evaluating this new “combo” and seeing what all the buzz is about.
Freestrider Lookout in the Past
- Mana Value: 2G
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/3
- Text: Reach. Whenever you commit a crime, look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a land card from among them onto the battlefield tapped. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything the control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.)
At heart, this archetype functions like a typical Golgari midrange deck in the majority of games. The goal is to utilize some of Pioneer’s best disruptive elements, like Thoughtseize and Fatal Push, and grind the opponent into dust. Typically, most black midrange decks in Pioneer have made use of red as a supporting color, rather than green. After all, Bloodtithe Harvester and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker are absurdly powerful standalone cards. This begs the question: what does green have to offer?
Well, the main reason this deck plays green is to abuse the power of Freestrider Lookout. Freestrider Lookout is a good card. The mana advantage it provides can make it easy to cast multiple spells in the same turn or generate card advantage with Reckoner Bankbuster and still effect the board when necessary.
When Outlaws of Thunder Junction first came out, players tried to build around Freestrider Lookout in a similar manner. Cheap interaction like the aforementioned Fatal Push and Thoughtseize can make it easy to trigger Freestrider Lookout right away. These strategies didn’t really last, though, as the reward for committing crimes wasn’t exactly worth the downside of diluting your deck with other mediocre crime enablers. Fortunately, the printing of Iridescent Vinelasher may have changed the narrative.
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Lizards Committing Crimes
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/2
- Text: Offspring 2 (You may pay an additional 2 as you cast this spell. If you when, when this creature enters, create a 1/1 token copy of it.) Landfall- Whenever a land you control enters, this create deals 1 damage to target opponent.
Iridescent Vinelasher has proven its worth in Standard, and now is doing the same in Pioneer. Iridescent Vinelasher can provide a huge damage output in short order, especially if you can use its Offspring ability. In this deck, Iridescent Vinelasher has the added bonus of working perfectly in tandem with Freestrider Lookout.
With Iridescent Vinelasher in play, all you need to do is play Freestrider Lookout and immediately follow up with a land drop to trigger Freestrider Lookout’s ability. Even if the opponent has removal for Freestrider Lookout, you’ll still get your extra land. This land will trigger Iridescent Vinelasher once again to deal even more damage. Fabled Passage gives you additional Landfall triggers to deal more damage.
Of course, if Freestrider Lookout and Iridescent Vinelasher live for an extended period of time, every land drop you make is devastating for the opponent. Plus, Freestrider Lookout has the luxury of digging for utility lands. In this deck, you’ll mostly want to grab “man-lands” like Mutavault or Restless Cottage when possible. This will help you end the game quicker and give you something to sink your excess mana into.
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Midrange Support
- Mana Value: 1G
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- Text: Trample. When Mosswood Dreadknight dies, you may cast it from your graveyard as an Adventure until the end of your next turn. Adventure- Dread Whispers- 1B: You draw a card and you lose 1 life. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)
The rest of the deck is made up of potent midrange elements. In the two-drop slot, Mosswood Dreadknight does a serviceable job filling the Bloodtithe Harvester role. Meanwhile, Graveyard Trespasser fits nicely as a turn three play. It also acts as a decent precursor to Freestrider Lookout, given its ability to commit crimes when attacking with no additional mana input needed.
Go for the Throat and Extinction Event serve as catch-all removal spells, getting rid of threats too big for Fatal Push to deal with. The goal is to keep opposing pressure to a minimum, while Freestrider Lookout and Reckoner Bankbuster continue to generate value. Vraska, Golgari Queen helps on both counts, removing small nonland permanents when necessary and giving you the option to convert some of your excess resources into card advantage.
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Surprisingly Well-Positioned
- Mana Value: 3BBB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 6/5
- Text: Flying. Ward- Sacrifice a creature. Whenever a creature dies, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
At the end of the day, a big part of the reason this deck was able to succeed is that it presents a solid gameplan versus Rakdos Vampires and Abzan Amalia. Against Vampires, Freestrider Lookout gives you an essential mana advantage. Iridescent Vinelasher, while small, does demand an answer. Making two copies on turn three is strong in the face of single-target removal. Pick Your Poison out of the sideboard then helps you beat a quick Vein Ripper. Not to mention, you can sacrifice the Offspring token to Vein Ripper’s Ward ability if necessary.
Against Amalia, this deck has ample removal at the ready. Extinction Event in particular is excellent. Many of Amalia combo’s threats cost two mana, whereas Freestrider Lookout and Iridescent Vinelasher have odd mana values.
Where this deck can run into issues is against matchups like mono-green Devotion. This deck is a bit slow, and many threats out of mono-green like Old-Growth Troll and Cavalier of Thorns line up well against typical removal. You don’t really have access to any broken starts like a turn three Vein Ripper that could help you steal games, either. Extinction Event does help, at least.
Assuming your midrange plan lines up well, though, the inclusion of Freestrider Lookout and Iridescent Vinelasher provide a pretty big boost. This deck’s elite performance this weekend is very noteworthy moving forward. It’ll be cool to see if the deck continues to put up monstrous results in the coming weeks.
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