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Keeping you up to date with what is new, interesting and powerful in the Magic the Gathering Pioneer format
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
It seems like the last few sets we've gotten from Wizards of the Coast have toned down the overall power level a little bit, but that doesn't mean that playable cards aren't being made. I for one, have honestly enjoyed exploring the more subtle interactions and restrictions of the cards in recent sets. As a long time brewer and player of 'jank' I like to push the envelope on the ridiculous and insane. Kevin always takes the more pragmatic approach to deck building but he really goes all out in this week's show!
Between Kevin, EkerossMTG, and I, we came up with 9 decks for your playing pleasure. We talk about fun new combos, neat interactions, and also discuss updates to some of your favorite decks in the Pioneer format. As always, if you have some really cool brews you want to share, join our discord and pop into Ryan's Channel O Jank! We'd love to see them!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Wednesday Jul 07, 2021
Wednesday Jul 07, 2021
There has been an absolute onslaught of spoilers attacking Magic players unceasingly over the past few months, but the only ones that matter to us are the newest non-eternal sets. Forgotten Realms is such a set, and like Strixhaven before, it doesn't seem like it will shake the Pioneer format to its core but there are quite a few enablers to allow fringe decks to become better and many cards that should strengthen currently existing competitive decks.
Jonathan Medina of MedinaStreams on Twitch joins us once again go over all the cards in the new set to discuss the possibilities both obvious and less obvious. We managed to go over all the cards in Forgotten Realms right after the full spoiler was released, so don't "forget" to listen to this week's episode before you start brewing new Pioneer decks and updating your old ones!
Join us on Discord or Twitter to talk about the new cards more!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Monday Jun 28, 2021
Monday Jun 28, 2021
As we get closer to being able to play safely in person at paper MTG events, the need to buy your Pioneer deck in paper is becoming more apparent. The First Pioneers continue their series on the staples of the format and give you suggestions on how to build your paper collection without breaking the bank or wasting your time.
This week's episode covers the two color multi-color cards. We explain what cards you should be buying, how much you might end up paying for them, as well as how many you might need if you want to play Pioneer in paper. Even if you already have a large Pioneer collection, you'll want to listen to hear about all the updates to the competitive decks as well as some of the newer cards that have snuck into various strategies.
If you think we might have missed a few cards then hop onto Twitter or our Discord and join the discussion!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
If you take a look at older eternal formats such as Legacy or Modern the decks, for the most part, are optimized. Sure new sets shake them up every once in a while, but you'll never have a red deck NOT playing Lightning Bolt or a white deck NOT playing Sword to Plowshares or Path to Exile. Is that true of Pioneer though?
When people say that Pioneer isn't fun because there are only a few good decks or that it's solved, I can't help but shake my head and sigh. I for one, do not honestly believe that Pioneer is anywhere close to being a solved format and in this week's episode Kevin and I (along with our re-occuring guest Amit, a.k.a. EkerossMTG) to explain why we think so.
Sure there are a few decks that seem to be optimized for the Pioneer metagame, but in our opinion the large majority of them still have work to be done. We talk about what decks need optimization, what optimizing a deck in Pioneer means, as well as how to optimize decks. Whatever deck you're playing, listen to this week's episode and ask yourself if YOUR deck is optimized. If it isn't, join our Discord community to talk about how to optimize it or if it is we'd love to see it!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Pioneer has had many a problem since its inception but most have been at no fault of its own. Honestly, we at the First Pioneers have some 'beef' with how Pioneer has been handled, rolled out, and executed since it was born almost two years ago at the end of 2019. It seems that somebody or something is standing in its way and keeping it from succeeding at every twist and turn and we're tired of it so we're calling these problems out so the tired anti-Pioneer tropes and misinformation stops.
Aside from calling out the issues plaguing the format, we offer various solutions to each and explain how they should be implemented. I'm sure there have been some of you that have wanted to play Pioneer or have been trying to play Pioneer but there was something standing in your way. We're here to say that doesn't have to be the case anymore, and that if we work together as a community we can find a salve that will cure all the negativity and ignorance infecting the format.
If you want to chat more about this topic, join us on our Discord or find us on Twitter!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Monday Jun 07, 2021
Monday Jun 07, 2021
This week Ryan takes a week off from the podcast not only because the topic has blue cards in it, but also because we wanted to jam pack this episode with guests. For the first time ever we have fellow MTGO grinders and Twitch streamers EkerossMTG and ClaudiohMTG on the same show!
Blue and Red decks have been around since the inception of the format (UR Prowess and UR Ensoul), but it took another big metashift from the Strixhaven Pioneer format and all the new Prismari cards to finally let it play with the big boys. However, just what IS the best UR deck to play now? Izzet Phoenix? Izzet Tempo? Izzet Arcanist?
Kevin, Amit, and Claudioh break down just what the deck is, what it wants to be, and what it could be in this week's show. If you've always been a fan of the archetypes or are interested in building in these colors be sure to listen to this week's episode! We talk about everything you need to know so you don't have to ask yourself, "What Izzet?"
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Sunday May 30, 2021
Sunday May 30, 2021
Not everybody is going to be able to go back to their local game stores right away later this year to play MTG, but I'm sure it will become a lot easier to get friends together at each other's places for some casual MTG. Cubing has been out for a few years but it's been growing in popularity year over year. The idea is simple: You take 360+ of your favorite cards, balance the colors, and then stick them in a box with some land. Once you have 6 or more people to play, you shuffle those cards up and then break them into 15 card "booster packs" which you and your friends then draft.
It's like drafting, but without the cost associated with having to buy packs all the time. You can use all of those Pioneer cards not already in your decks that are sitting your collection, and the beauty of it is that Cubes are highly customizable. Whether you like playing with big dumb creatures, combos, or control cards, Cubes have it all.
Special guest Dreams of Ashiok joins us once again to talk about the MTGO Pioneer cube that was available a while back. We talk about what cards we liked in the cube, what cards we'd love to see added to the cube, and also discussed all the variety of ways you could build your own personal cube in the future. It's a great way to introduce your friends casually into the wonderful Pioneer format and also to have something you can always take with you to events in the future!
Be sure to join our Discord or Twitter to discuss all the possibilities of Pioneer cubing and share your ideas with us!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Monday May 24, 2021
Monday May 24, 2021
Vaccinations and masks permitting, the threat of pandemic will fade and we'll be back in our local game stores in the next few months playing Magic the Gathering with our friends. But if you're like Kevin and Ryan on the First Pioneers, then you probably haven't been buying a lot of MTG singles over the past year. Sure we had a lot of the pre-Covid cards in paper, but when it comes to everything that was released last year, our collections are severely lacking.
On a previous show, our guest Amit (EkerossMTG) had mentioned that because he plays most of his games on MTGO, that he actually has very few cards in Paper. So we got to thinking, there are probably a lot of other people out there in the same situation. If we plan to play the Pioneer format in Paper in a few months, we better be ready for it. Part staple and part finance episode, this new series will focus on what cards every Pioneer player should have in their paper collection. Sure there might be more staples in each color, but we feel like these cards are probably the most necessary in order to build either a large variety of decks or to play some of the best decks.
Luckily for our listeners, most of our suggestions in white, blue, black, red, and green don't break the bank! If you're itching to play Magic in Paper again and only got into the format during the pandemic, you definitely don't want to miss this! Also, if we missed a card you think should have been included be sure to @ us on Twitter or join the discussion in our Discord!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
Many, if not all of the other competitive Magic the Gathering formats, are defined by their speed. Some people might say that Legacy is a 1 or 2 drop format, Modern probably tops out at 3. Sure they can cheat out some bigger cards, but most decks are playing as low to the ground as they can go and as fast as they can go. This leaves out many of the other cards at 4 converted mana cost or higher. But where does Pioneer stand?
Is Pioneer the first 5 drop competitive eternal format? Can you safely play 5 drops and get value from them either right away or over a number of turns? Today we turn our focus to competitive 5 mana spells in the Pioneer format and talk about what makes a 5 drop good, why we should play them, which ones are our favorites, and also which 5 mana spells we'd love to see played in the format in the future.
Resident streamer and competitive MTGO grinder EkerossMTG joins us once again to evaluate the 5 mana cards of the format and to tell Ryan he's living in Magic Christmas Land while telling Kevin that he's absolutely right.
Join the discussion on Twitter and Discord if you have some other fun 5 drops you think we should have talked about!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
MTGO grinder and Pioneer player extraordinaire EkerossMTG (aka Amit), visits this week's show to talk about the first few weeks of the Strixhaven Pioneer metagame and how the new set has affected the format. We go over what's been doing well in Pioneer, what hasn't, what new cards have shown up, cool deck ideas, and also what we're working on this season.
Keep yourself up to date with everything that's happening in the format and what has changed since you last played! If you have thoughts on the current state of Pioneer or have some experiences you'd like to share, join the discussion in our discord channel and on Twitter!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer