The First Pioneers

#10 - Mind over Meta

Substantial results before the first Pioneer Players Tours and Grand Prix in Europe/Japan were few and far between but leading up to the events we had some really good tournament results come out of Japan. In this episode we discussed how the Pioneer metagame had changed since since the start of the year, took a look at some interesting decks from Japan, and also made some predictions about what we thought we’d see at the first competitive Pioneer tournaments.

 

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#9 - Part 2 - Theros Beyond Death set Review: All the Rest and Our Top 5

After the first week of the Theros Beyond death meta the First Pioneers met up once again to finish our thoughts on where the format was going before the Players Tour. While some of our picks might not have panned out we hit the nail on the head on some of them. Listen to find out which cards we called, which have potential, and what cards we thought would have the biggest impact in Pioneer. Special guest Jonathan Medina ( https://twitter.com/medina_mtg ) joins us once again in hyping up the new Pioneer metagame!

 

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#9: Theros Beyond Death set Review Part 1: White to Green

With the first ever Pioneer players tours and Grand Prix in the books, we saw a lot of cool decks and cards being used in ways we had never even considered before. About 2 weeks back we recorded this set review for the new set to discuss what cards we thought would show up in Pioneer and how they would impact the format. Were we right? Did your choices for playable cards in THB match ours? Listen to find out! Special guest Jonathan Medina joins us in hyping up the new Pioneer metagame.

#8: The Planes of Pioneer - Ixalan and Amonkhet

Are you new to Pioneer and not sure where to start? Don't know which cards are good and which aren't? Join Kevin and Ryan as we further explore the planes of Pioneer and how they fit into the new format. In today's episode we talk about what archetypes, cards, and strategies the Ixalan and Amonkhet blocks bring to Pioneer. Whether you're building your collection of playable cards or trying to get into competitive Pioneer, we got you covered!

#7: The Planes of Pioneer - Innistrad

Christian Calcano joins us in today’s podcast as we explore the different planes of Pioneer. Pioneer is in an unique position as a format as it largely follows Wizards of the Coast’s new take on set building and story telling. With some Planes spanning years and multiple sets, it’s very easy for one of them to shape how we play the format. Today we discuss the impact of the Innistrad plane and talk about how it’s cards fit into Pioneer.

#6: The Long Game

Midrange decks were never good enough in the Frontier format as they were always outclassed by aggro, control, and combo. They simply didn’t have the tools necessary to compete. Now that cards like Nexus of Fate, Oko, and Field of the Dead have been banned, it might finally be time for midrange decks to shine. In today’s topic we talk about which midrange cards are playable in Pioneer and which decks get better because of the bannings.

#5: Under the Radar

With so many people playing Pioneer now, there are bound to be cards that you would think should be seeing play but aren’t at the moment. In this episode Kevin and Ryan think back to cards that saw play in Frontier and try to explain why those cards aren’t seeing play in Pioneer now, and also discuss other available cards that saw a lot of initial hype but are now nowhere to be seen.

 

What decks and cards are currently “under the radar”?

#4: Staple or Ban Worthy?

What does it mean when a card becomes a format staple? What’s the difference between commonplace card in Pioneer and a card that warps the format? In today’s episode we discuss what cards we think are shaping up to become staples in the format as bans start to wind down, and which cards are still capable of warping it.

 

Twitter: @mtgpioneer

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Show hosted by Kevin Finkle & Ryan Schwenk. Editing by Cameron Thompson. Opening/Ending music by Dreadnought.

Staying Away from the Hammer

The hammer struck swift and true. Wizards of the Coast wasn’t playing around when they said they would be acting decisively and often. The fledgling Pioneer format knew something was going to banned eventually, but we thought we had more time. While the writing might not yet be on the wall for some cards, you can definitely see somebody reaching for a paintbrush.

You can speculate for hours about what might be next on the anvil for the ban hammer, but what is safe? If you’re still on the fence about joining the format because you’re scared of buying into it and getting your deck neutered, listen to the First Pioneers as we talk about what decks and cards we believe are relatively, if not definitely safe from the hammer. Get off that fence and get started playing Pioneer today with our suggestions!

The First Pioneers: Ep 2 - Choosing the deck that’s best for you

While the deck choosing process is usually a long thought out one where you go over the pros and cons of each archetype, followed by heavy testing and tweaking of a few cards, today’s guest Jonathan Blank didn’t have that luxury. Due to the UNpopularity of the current standard format, Star City Games decided to change their invitational to the new Pioneer format instead.

This left Jonathan in quite the pickle so our hosts Matt Murday and Kevin Finkle came to his aid in hour of need. Using their vast knowledge and experience in the previous Frontier format and new Pioneer format, they helped prepare Jonathan for the event and gave him some pointers for choosing a deck.