Delays have been the name of the game for Wizards of the Coast’s release schedule. With Unfinity’s delay being confirmed by Rosewater in his panel as being related to a Sticker glue issue, MTG products can see delays for several reasons. Regardless, while all of these delays aren’t necessarily bad, it is disheartening that most released products are suddenly getting pulled back. What product is being delayed this time? The Pioneer 2022 Challenger decks!
Pioneer 2022 Challenger Decks Delayed
The Pioneer 2022 Challenger Decks set to release on October 14 this year have now suffered a delay. Fortunately, the wait isn’t too bad, as the new release date has been set for November 4 “to allow for a concordant global release.” For those who are unfamiliar with the themes of the 2022 Pioneer Challenger decks, it’s something to get excited about! Izzet Phoenix is one of the best decks in current Pioneer, and a structure deck focused on the archetype should be an excellent way for players to get into Pioneer on a budget! The potential downside of this deck is the strong possibility of Expressive Iteration being present. This was recently banned in Pioneer and, judging by Faceless Haven‘s inclusion in the recent Standard Mono White challenger deck, has a very high chance of being included in the decklist.
Other Archetypes
The other archetypes featured here do not currently have a strong position in the metagame. That being said, depending on what these decklists look like, they may still stand to be excellent deals! Dimir Control was a recent Pioneer titan that has fallen off harshly. That being said, the metagame could see a good change for it.
The other two archetypes stand to see some value as well. Orzhov Humans is a niche archetype that sees play, but Mono White aggro and Bant Humans are more common configurations of archetypes like this currently. Gruul sees experimentation consistently but has not found a meaningful foothold on the Pioneer metagame. We do not know what the exact decklists look like for these products, but we know they will be ready to play out of the box. According to Amazon listings for these products, the Pioneer 2022 Challenger decks will contain:
- one battle-ready 60-card MTG Pioneer 2022 Challenger Deck
- 15-card sideboard
- Some number of Double-sided tokens and helper cards depending on the deck
- 1 deck box (holds 75 sleeved Magic cards)
- Each deck also has a quick description about what it does
Are These Delays a Good Thing?
October is a loaded month for MTG releases. With the Warhammer collaboration and Unfinity currently set to release on the same day, distancing some of the products away from October may prevent them from eating up each other’s profit margins. In this case, a product delay is rather welcome. Most MTG players may not be willing (or able) to purchase all of the products released within a week in early October. For those interested in the Pioneer Challenger decks and other products, this delay gives them some time to recover financially. Wizard of the Coast’s official Statement regarding the wait can be found here.
