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Keeping you up to date with what is new, interesting and powerful in the Magic the Gathering Pioneer format
Episodes
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Pioneer was front and center on the biggest stage of Magic the Gathering last weekend: The Pro Tour. The excitement that had been building through the previous qualifier seasons finally boiled over into the mainstream. Tens of thousands of players watched the top Pioneer players in the world battle it out live on camera, and when all was said and done, ONE player remained: Reid Duke.
But how did we get to this point? The new set, Phryexia: All Will Be One, went live barely a week before and even with a full spoiler it left most teams scrambling to figure out the new metagame. To help us chart a course from that first day to the Pro Tour, The First Pioneers welcomed back Dreams of Ashiok to talk about how he tested with the new cards that first week, and also to explain why some of new cards lived up to their hype while others fell flat. We break down lots of decklists, talk above innovation, and discuss where the Pioneer format goes from here on out in this week's episode.
Be sure to stop into our Discord or drop us a line on Twitter afterwards if you want to talk about the results of last weekend's Pioneer Pro Tour more!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Feb 13, 2023
Monday Feb 13, 2023
While we wait for the upcoming Pioneer Pro tour to shake things up, The First Pioneers decided it would be a good idea to showcase two of the biggest decks to rise to popularity in the last season: Angel Company and Gruul Vehicles. One deck seeks to gain a bunch of life and sends legions of flyers over the heads of your enemy, and the other likes to go fast. Like really fast (and sometimes furious). The Pioneer 101 series (which seeks to educate listeners about the ins and outs of decks in Pioneer that they might not know about) is joined by Dreams of Ashiok once again this week. Ashiok helps us to break down the key cards from both strategies, gives us ideas for alternate cards, reasons for sideboard choices, as well as what the decks' match ups are like.
If you're looking to learn how to play or how to beat these decks, you'll definitely want to give this episode a listen. If you want to talk about either Angels or Vehicles more after listening, be sure to pop into our Discord!
(NOTE: This episode had audio issues which needed to be fixed and re-recorded which is why it's being released out of order. 158 will be next week!)
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Feb 06, 2023
Monday Feb 06, 2023
At first glance Phyrexia: All Will Be One might not have any obvious homeruns for the Pioneer format, but maybe that's a good thing? If we don't know where the cards go at first we'll just have to brew with them until we see where they fit! MTGO grinder and fellow lover of brews Conorman11 joins us this week to throw some new decks together and see what sticks. We start with some updates to crowd favorites (Bard Class, Esper Parhelion, Enigmatic Incarnation) and then move into some really spicy lists like Anvil Blast, UB Rogues, a new take on Hammertime in white, and more! If you're looking to try something new in Pioneer and want to take these lists for a spin be our guest! And afterwards, be sure to stop into our Discord to let us know how they went or to share some ideas of your own.
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Will Phyrexia, All Will be One be another Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty set for the Pioneer format with a huge impact, or be more subdued like Innistrad: Crimson Vow with only a handful of cards seeing any play? Returning guest Dreams of Ashiok joins us again this week to finish up what we started with our first reactions episode. Do the other cards in the new set have what it takes to reshape Pioneer? Or will the best decks in the format shrug off the challenge from these pesky Phyrexians? Be sure to listen for the cards we think can become all stars, which will be relegated to role players, and what cards could become sleeper hits.
If some of your favorite cards don't show up in the podcast, be sure to hop into the Discord to let us know why you like them!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Jan 23, 2023
Monday Jan 23, 2023
With our Pioneer set review due out next week for Phyrexia: All Will be One, we thought we'd save ourselves some time by talking about what cards we think will have a big impact on the format like the reprint of the allied Fastlands, and also cover all the other things that MTG ONE is bringing to Pioneer. Special guest Dreams of Ashiok joins us again to talk about Toxic, Phyrexian mana, proliferate, and everything else from the new set and how it relates to the Pioneer metagame. Be sure to listen to this primer before diving into all the playable cards next week on the set review!
(NOTE: We had audio issues for episode 154 and will be releasing it when we have the time to re-record parts of it.)
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Jan 09, 2023
Monday Jan 09, 2023
While everybody is currently focused on the future and what the next set will bring for Pioneer this February, we thought it would be a good idea to look back. We did a few episodes on Explorer last year and how it inches ever so closer to a normal Pioneer format, but before Explorer was a thing everybody was playing Historic. I was one of those people and while everybody was out there trying to win, I was out there trying to collect cards that would be playable in Pioneer in the future when it came to the MTG Arena platform. I remember being excited by each Historic Anthology and looking for cards that I could make a "Pioneer lite" deck with, but now that Explorer is a thing I've kind of forgotten about many of those Historic cards.
But maybe we shouldn't have. Did you know that there are a good number of cards in Historic that came with Historic Horizons and Jumpstart that are legal in Pioneer such as Slivers? Or maybe you've always wanted to try and make Goblin Dark Dwellers work. Unfortunately, finding these Pioneer/Explorer legal cards on Arena can be a chore, especially if your parameters are set to only include Explorer legal sets. While some of these cards will show up if you type in the card type in a general search, if you don't know exactly what cards to look for you could be missing on on some neat tech your deck is missing.
But why stop there? While researching these cards in Historic, The First Pioneers thought it would be fun to see which other cards not in Explorer, such as the Modern Horizon or Alchemy Cards, might also make great additions to the Pioneer format in the future. And while you're listening, feel free to make a list of your own cards you think aren't too powerful for Pioneer from older sets and be sure to share them with us on Discord our Twitter!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Dec 26, 2022
Monday Dec 26, 2022
The year 2022 started very unassuming for Pioneer but it ended up being one of the most eventful years since the format's inception. We had tons of break out cards, new decks appeared, some old ones returned to the metagame, there were bannings, and through it all The First Pioneers were there cover it. There was so much going on in Magic the Gathering you might have confused what did and did happen this year in Pioneer, so with this week's episode we want to set the record straight and help everybody understand how we got to where we were so we can look forward to next year.
What better way to wrap things up for the year then than to have one of the best competitive Pioneer guests on to talk about what happened both competitively and digitally in Pioneer than Harry13SCO. He found himself in the thick of things in 2022, going from frustration to elation as he battled through various metagames, sometimes finding himself at the bottom but near the end of the year, coming out on top. He offers us valuable insight on not only the metagame but also the decks he played, why some cards did better than others, and why some were a big let down.
Make sure to listen to this episode before the new year so you can start Pioneer with a fresh slate in 2023! We'd also like to wish all our listeners out there happy holidays!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
She's making a list, and checking it twice,
going to find out who's naughty or nice,
She-oldred is coming to town.
She knows when you are drawing,
She gains life while she's awake,
She know if your removal is goodorbad so
be good for goodness sake.
- Phyrexian Holiday Song
It's that time of year again, and I don't mean me trying to write horrible music lyrics related to Magic the Gathering. No, the holiday's are just around the corner and instead of asking for presents this year the First Pioneers are asking for some things for the Pioneer format in 2023. But does every deck deserve presents? We beg to differ. Some decks were very naughty this year and think they shouldn't get any presents, while other decks tried really hard to be good but just couldn't cut it. But which ones? And what kind of presents should they get?
In this week's episode we talk not only about what we want for each of those decks, but also what we want for the Pioneer format as a whole. If you think some decks deserve some different presents than what we talked about, be sure to pop into our discord and share your own holiday wishlist!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
While our 150th episode probably deserves more pomp and celebration, there is simply too much going on in the world of Pioneer to take a week off! With the Explorer Anthology 2 dropping on MTG Arena this week, we're guessing there are more than a few of you wondering if you can finally play your favorite Pioneer decks on the client. The new anthology drops 24 new cards into Explorer, and while some of them are obvious inclusions for the Arena only Brawl or Historic formats, we feel like the majority of cards will find homes and totally change the "Pioneer-lite" format.
The real question is, after we add all of these cards, how much closer does that bring us to having Pioneer available to the masses for free (grinding included)? Will the Explorer metagame finally mirror the Pioneer one? Will you be able to test out new decks on the client before your next paper Pioneer event? We're hoping you will, and Ryan also tries to convince Kevin to finally drop MTGO and open up Arena on his computer. Whether he succeeds or not ... well you'll just have to listen.
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Continuing our tradition from last year, Kevin and I over at The First Pioneers own up to the mistakes we made on our Top 5 picks during our Pioneer set reviews (and also gloat about the picks we DID get right in 2022). While The Innistrad Double Feature set released in January, this years set reviews only included:
- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- The Streets of New Capenna
- Dominaria United
- The Brother's War
While the Brother's War set only recently came out, we've seen enough results to remake our previous top 5s into new ones, and did the same for the other sets that came out in 2022. Listen to find out what our new top 5 cards from each set this year was, why we got our original Top 5's wrong, and what cards might still have a chance to shine in the coming year!
Our Discord: https://discord.gg/SBRF8DH
Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/MtgPioneer
You can find our other episodes on the Untap Leagues website as well! https://untapleagues.com/author/the-first-pioneers/