For a while now, Pioneer has felt a bit like a barren wasteland when it comes to innovation. Rakdos Vampires and Abzan Amalia are so dominant, that in some tournaments, players may go the entire event without playing against anything else! This isn’t to say that other decks like mono-green Devotion and Izzet Phoenix don’t pop up, but rather that there has been a lack of unique strategies making their presences felt.
Luckily, just recently, one player took it upon themselves to register something relatively spicy in a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge: Selesnya Company. This proved to be a great metacall, as the pilot managed to go undefeated throughout the tourney, crushing many Vampires players in their path of destruction! There are certainly some interesting deckbuilding decisions going on here. Could this deck be poised to break out into the top echelon of archetypes moving forward? Let’s take a closer look.
Spell Disruption
- Mana Value: 1WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Text: Flash. Flying. When Aven Interrupter enters the battlefield, exile target spell. It becomes plotted. Spells yout opponents cast from graveyards or from exile cost 2 more to cast.
What really separates this deck from other creature-based strategies is the sheer number of interactive elements this deck has at its disposal. Thanks to Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic, you’ll often get to play these disruptive three-drops ahead of schedule, using tempo to your advantage. This deck has a wide range of ways to mess with opposing spells and creatures in play.
Both Annointed Peacekeeper and Elite Spellbinder can make key spells in your opponent’s hand cost more mana. Considering how combo heavy the Pioneer format is at the moment, these cards really shine. Being able to make Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord cost extra mana, for instance, can be the difference between winning and losing.
Once you have the opponent on the backfoot, Aven Interrupter becomes a very strong play. Alongside Anointed Peacekeeper, your opponent may have to spend more than just two mana to re-cast their spell from exile. Aven Interrupter also pairs nicely with Archon of Emeria. Since the opponent can only cast one spell each turn, you’re free to slam Aven Interrupter in response to any spell without fear, even if your opponent still has mana open.
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Creature Interaction
- Mana Value: 1WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Text: Flash. When werefox Bodyguard enters the battlefield, exile up to one other target non-Fox creature until Werefox Bodyguard leaves the battlefield. 1W, Sacrifce Werefox Bodyguard: You gain 2 life.
While cards like Anointed Peacekeeper and Elite Spellbinder are good at holding Vein Ripper at bay, it’s also important to have cards that can answer efficient creatures that fall through the cracks. Decks like Abzan Amalia play a ton of cheap creatures that demand removal in short order or you risk losing to the combo. Fortunately, this deck is jam-packed with interaction.
In game one, the primary sources of creature removal are Werefox Bodyguard and Skyclave Apparition. Both of these cards can answer any of Abzan Amalia’s combo pieces while simultaneously adding pressure to the board. Although Werefox Bodyguard can be a bit vulnerable to kill spells itself, Abzan Amalia plays very few game one. The fact that both of these cards exile opposing threats means you aren’t opening the door for a large Return to the Ranks to blow you out on a future turn.
After sideboarding, you get even more creature removal in the form of Portable Hole and Brutal Cathar. Containment Priest is another elite sideboard option against Abzan Amalia, messing with Chord of Calling and the like. Interestingly, Containment Priest synergizes nicely with Werefox Bodyguard and Brutal Cathar, too. If the opponent goes to remove your copy of Werefox Bodyguard or Brutal Cathar with a creature under it, you can flash in Containment Priest, and the opponent won’t get their threat back! This deck covers a lot of its bases well, and we haven’t even gotten to the top heavy hitters yet.
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Top End
- Mana Value: 3G
- Rarity: Rare
- Text: Look at the top six cards of your library. Put up to two creature cards with converted mana cost 3 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest of the bottom of your library in any order.
As you may have noticed, this deck has a very large density of three-drop creatures. Other than a few copies of Luminarch Aspirant and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, the creatures in this deck are either mana dorks or three-drops. The three-drops clearly pair well with the Elf accelerants, but that’s not the only reason this deck plays so many of them. The main idea behind filling the deck with three-drops is to try to maximize Collected Company as an elite haymaker.
Collected Company is a fantastic card, but not every deck can utilize it. You need a ton of highly impactful creatures to hit, otherwise you aren’t getting your mana’s worth out of the card. In this deck, Collected Company is nearly at its best. It often provides some selection, letting you grab the disruptive creatures that help most in any given matchup.
Once you pass with four mana up, the opponent has to worry about all the possible creatures you can hit. Of course, in some games, you may simply be intending to hold up Werefox Bodyguard, Aven Interrupter, or even The Wandering Emperor out of the sideboard, and the opponent will have to play around all of the above.
Kayla’s Reconstruction serves as Collected Company numbers five and six. This card scales nicely into the long game and gives you a mana sink if you draw a lot of Elves. Both Kayla’s Reconstruction and Collected Company are capable of adding a lot of power to the board all at once.
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Strengths and Weaknesses
- Mana Value: WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Text: Ward- Pay 3 life. Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other 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.)
Ultimately, a 10-0 record is nothing to scoff at. There’s clearly a lot to like about this archetype in the current metagame. Cards like Elite Spellbinder and Containment Priest can effectively break up a Vampire player’s ability to put in a quick Vein Ripper off of Sorin. Meanwhile, Werefox Bodyguard is a great answer to Fable of the Mirror-Breaker tokens. Archon of Emeria is excellent against Izzet Phoenix, and Skyclave Apparition can help keep Monastery Swiftspear decks in check.
That being said, there are definitely some weaknesses to look out for. First and foremost, it should be noted that the pilot managed to dodge the Amalia matchup the whole tournament. According to them, the matchup is close thanks to all the creature interaction. Still, a quick start backed up by a well-timed Skyclave Apparition or Fatal Push from the opponent will be tough to beat. Plus, racing on the ground isn’t always easy against Prosperous Innkeeper and Extraction Specialist.
The other awkward aspect of this deck is that in games where you don’t draw an Elf or it gets Fatal Pushed, you can be a bit slow out of the gates. Against combo decks like Abzan Amalia or Lotus Field combo, make sure to mulligan aggressively. Your disruptive creatures get a lot worse if you don’t play them early.
This deck’s performance should definitely not be overlooked. It’s nice to see some unique strategies flourish in a relatively hostile environment. This deck showcased that it’s fully capable of competing against the best archetypes in the format. If you’re a fan of Collected Company decks but aren’t interested in sleeving up Abzan Amalia, this deck should provide a nice alternative.
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