Every now and again, a popular deck in Standard will start to creep into other, more powerful formats. If a specific shell proves to be strong in Standard, it often encourages players to give the deck a shot in Pioneer, usually with a handful of upgrades.
For example, when Bloomburrow was released, Heartfire Hero and Emberheart Challenger quickly helped form the basis for red aggro decks in Standard. Over the last couple weeks, a Rakdos aggro deck with many similarities started popping up more and more in Pioneer, utilizing potent support pieces like Titan’s Strength not available in Standard.
Well, earlier this weekend, an unusual Pioneer deck that clearly drew inspiration from Boros token control in Standard managed to make top four of a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge. This Boros Pioneer deck builds upon the ideas present in the Standard version with high-powered super staples and prison elements. There’s even a way to completely lock all players out of resolving spells, which can end the game if you’re ahead on board! The deck’s breakout performance definitely deserves a shout.
Standard’s Influence
- Mana Value: 2W
- Rarity: Rare
- MTG Set: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: (Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.) Whenever one or more tokens you control enter, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn. Level 2: W: When this Class becomes level 2, create a token that’s a copy of target token you control. Level 3: 3W: Creature tokens you control get +2/+2.
To start, it’s worth showcasing just how much influence the Standard Boros token control archetype had on this deck’s emergence. The biggest draw to crafting your deck in a similar manner certainly lies with the power of Caretaker’s Talent. Caretaker’s Talent is an absolutely incredible card.
At its base, you get a consistent card advantage machine, so long as you have ways to generate tokens. This is already strong, but Caretaker’s Talent comes with the additional upside of letting you copy your best token for one measly mana. Later on, you have the luxury of pumping all your creature tokens, which can help you close the game quicker.
Just like in Standard, most of the rest of the deck is filled with interaction and token producers. The goal is to keep the opponent off-balance while you continue to pull ahead on cards. For token production, Carrot Cake makes an appearance once more. This unassuming card provides a lot of value with Caretaker’s Talent. It produces multiple tokens on its own, the second of which can be made at instant speed to help get around the fact that Caretaker’s Talent’s main ability triggers “only once each turn.”
Carrot Cake also helps fuel Torch the Tower. Torch the Tower is a great removal spell. Permanently answering Greasefang, Okiba Boss or Arclight Phoenix in such an efficient manner is an amazing deal. Other common forms of disruption that overlap between Standard and Pioneer include Get Lost and Temporary Lockdown. Temporary Lockdown makes its appearance in the sideboard in this Pioneer deck, but it plays an essential role against aggro and Boros Convoke all the same.
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Where Things Get Interesting
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Rare
- MTG Set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
- Card Text: Each player can’t cast more than one spell each turn. 4R, Sacrifice High Noon: It deals 5 damage to any target.
As you might expect, though, there are some key inclusions that separate this variant of the Boros token control archetype and the one that’s popular in Standard. First of all, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and The Wandering Emperor are elite additions that are not Standard legal. Both cards do everything this deck wants.
Fable makes a token for Caretaker’s Talent, and the Goblin Shaman token can then make Treasures on top of that. Getting to rummage away dead removal spells in certain matchups and excess lands is awesome. Of course, if Fable goes unchecked, you’ll get to start copying your tokens every turn. As for The Wandering Emperor, it cleans up even the biggest threats on the opponent’s side, while serving as a token-producing engine in its own right.
Where things get even more interesting is with the inclusion of High Noon and Possibility Storm. By itself, High Noon can be a real nuisance for a lot of decks in Pioneer. It’s excellent against Izzet Phoenix, preventing Arclight Phoenix from ever being returned. It also shines against Prowess strategies and decks with Burning-Tree Emissary as a way to slow the opponent down. Once you factor in Possibility Storm, High Noon becomes even scarier.
With both of these enchantments on the battlefield, neither player is able to resolve spells. If any player goes to cast a spell, Possibility Storm will trigger, and their initial spell will get exiled. Any spell that gets revealed from Possibility Storm’s trigger will not be castable, since High Noon limits everyone to only playing one spell a turn.
This effect is symmetrical, so you need to be careful. If you can get to a spot where the board is clear of creatures except you have access to The Wandering Emperor or Fountainport, you can use this combo to your advantage and win the game with mediocre token beats. Possibility Storm doesn’t do much on its own most of the time, so there are only two copies of it in the deck. Luckily, this deck is capable of drawing tons of cards between Fable, Caretaker’s Talent, and Fountainport.
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Strengths and Weaknesses
- Rarity: Rare
- MTG Set: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Card Text: Tap: Add G. Channel- 1G, Discard Boseiju, Who Endures. Destroy target artifact, enchantment, or nonbasic land an opponent controls. That player may search their library for a land card with a basic land type, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. This ability costs 1 less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
Ultimately, similar to its Standard counterpart, Boros token control in Pioneer seems relatively well-positioned against midrange and aggro decks. With a solid mix of spot removal, sweepers, and card advantage, this deck is fully capable of grinding Rakdos midrange to a pulp. High Noon also adds a whole new dynamic that gives you a much better shot against Izzet Phoenix.
The main issue this deck can run into is the fact that you can’t pressure the opponent quickly. Against some combo decks, the High Noon+Possibility Storm combo can save you. However, Lotus Field combo has access to multiple copies of Boseiju, Who Endures and Otawara, Soaring City to get High Noon off the board.
The good news is that Pioneer is heavily dominated by assertive decks and Izzet Phoenix at the moment. In this sense, Boros token control looks like a perfectly reasonable metacall, despite some polarizing matchups. If you’re looking to break out something a bit unorthodox for your next Pioneer event, Boros token control definitely fits the description.
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