What Is Pioneer In Magic: The Gathering?

What is Pioneer in Magic: The Gathering? It’s a fair question given that most MTG formats have been around for a fair while now. It’s strange to see, but we actually got this brand-new official one not all that long ago. In fact, given that it was announced back in October 2019, it’s only just a year and a half old as of the time of writing this up.

Well, to help you find your feet in this exciting new format, and to figure out what it even is, we thought we’d explain everything you need to know about Pioneer, including which sets are legal, and which cards are already banned.

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What is Pioneer in Magic: The Gathering?

Pioneer is a new constructed format that doesn’t rotate, meaning it’s basically a new eternal format. In terms of deck construction and sideboard rules, it’s all the same as in the other major constructed formats. That means no more than four of any individual card aside from Basic Lands, and at least sixty cards in your deck.

The format was clearly designed as a stepping stone between Modern and Standard, because Modern is becoming increasingly pricey and not every Standard player is going to be able to move into it just because their favorite Standard deck has rotated out.

In terms of which sets are allowed, it’s every Standard release from Return to Ravnica onwards, which means there are a fair few sets to choose from if you fancy brewing something up, but also that there are plenty of well-established decks already as well.

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What cards are banned in Pioneer?

To keep things easy, we’re going to be keeping an up to date list of everything that’s banned in the format, so that you can build a deck safe in the knowledge that only the latest cards will be banned.

• Balustrade Spy Balustrade Spy Flying
  When this creature enters, target player reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a land card, then puts those cards into their graveyard.
• Bloodstained Mire Bloodstained Mire {T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Swamp or Mountain card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
• Expressive Iteration Expressive Iteration Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand, put one of them on the bottom of your library, and exile one of them. You may play the exiled card this turn.
• Felidar Guardian Felidar Guardian When this creature enters, you may exile another target permanent you control, then return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control.
• Field of the Dead Field of the Dead This land enters tapped.
  {T}: Add {C}.
  Whenever this land or another land you control enters, if you control seven or more lands with different names, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
• Flooded Strand Flooded Strand {T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Plains or Island card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
• Inverter of Truth Inverter of Truth Devoid (This card has no color.)
  Flying
  When this creature enters, exile all cards from your library face down, then shuffle all cards from your graveyard into your library.
• Kethis, the Hidden Hand Kethis, the Hidden Hand Legendary spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
  Exile two legendary cards from your graveyard: Until end of turn, each legendary card in your graveyard gains "You may play this card from your graveyard."
• Leyline of Abundance Leyline of Abundance If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
  Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional {G}.
  {6}{G}{G}: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
• Lurrus of the Dream-Den Lurrus of the Dream-Den Companion — Each permanent card in your starting deck has mana value 2 or less. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for {3} as a sorcery.)
  Lifelink
  Once during each of your turns, you may cast a permanent spell with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard.
• Nexus of Fate Nexus of Fate Take an extra turn after this one.
  If Nexus of Fate would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, reveal Nexus of Fate and shuffle it into its owner's library instead.
• Oko, Thief of Crowns Oko, Thief of Crowns +2: Create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.")
  +1: Target artifact or creature loses all abilities and becomes a green Elk creature with base power and toughness 3/3.
  −5: Exchange control of target artifact or creature you control and target creature an opponent controls with power 3 or less.
• Once Upon a Time Once Upon a Time If this spell is the first spell you've cast this game, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.
  Look at the top five cards of your library. You may reveal a creature or land card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
• Polluted Delta Polluted Delta {T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for an Island or Swamp card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
• Smuggler’s Copter Smuggler’s Copter Flying
  Whenever this Vehicle attacks or blocks, you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card.
  Crew 1 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
• Teferi, Time Raveler Teferi, Time Raveler Each opponent can cast spells only any time they could cast a sorcery.
  +1: Until your next turn, you may cast sorcery spells as though they had flash.
  −3: Return up to one target artifact, creature, or enchantment to its owner's hand. Draw a card.
• Undercity Informer Undercity Informer {1}, Sacrifice a creature: Target player reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a land card, then puts those cards into their graveyard.
• Underworld Breach Underworld Breach Each nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast cards from your graveyard for their escape cost.)
  At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment.
• Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath When Uro enters, sacrifice it unless it escaped.
  Whenever Uro enters or attacks, you gain 3 life and draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
  Escape—{G}{G}{U}{U}, Exile five other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)
• Veil of Summer Veil of Summer Draw a card if an opponent has cast a blue or black spell this turn. Spells you control can't be countered this turn. You and permanents you control gain hexproof from blue and from black until end of turn. (You and they can't be the targets of blue or black spells or abilities your opponents control.)
• Walking Ballista Walking Ballista This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
  {4}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
  Remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target.
• Wilderness Reclamation Wilderness Reclamation At the beginning of your end step, untap all lands you control.
• Windswept Heath Windswept Heath {T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Forest or Plains card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
• Winota, Joiner of Forces Winota, Joiner of Forces Whenever a non-Human creature you control attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may put a Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. It gains indestructible until end of turn. Put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order.
• Wooded Foothills Wooded Foothills {T}, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a Mountain or Forest card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.

Some of these cards might seem a little odd to you, b8ut each of them has contributed in some way to decks that people don’t like, or they’re simply fetch lands. We’d always recommend against getting the latest absurd deck just in case something gets banned, but if it doesn’t cost you too much then you can always try the deck in Modern instead.

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