Charting a Course – A Year with No Data
Arinceo breaks down the week of Pioneer data to provide a glimpse into the future of the format.
Stirring Revelations
Welcome to the latest edition of Charting a Course! We’re now entering the final month of the BRO season, with spoilers/leaks about new cards from Phyrexia: All Will Be One (ONE) already causing a stir within the community.
Over the holiday period we had an issue with the publishing of MTGO decklists, but this has since been rectified by Daybreak Games and we can see another shift in the metagame.
‘Most Dominant’ Decks of the Week (MTGO Challenges)
| Week | Most Top 32s | Most Top 16s | Most Top 8s |
| Nov 5-6 | Izzet Phoenix (10) | Izzet Phoenix (6) | Mono-Green Devotion, Izzet Phoenix (3) |
| Nov 12-13 | Izzet Phoenix (17) | Izzet Phoenix (7) | Lotus Field (4) |
| Nov 19-20 | Izzet Phoenix (13) | Rakdos Midrange (5) | Rakdos Midrange, Izzet Phoenix (3) |
| Nov 26-27 | Rakdos Midrange (9) | Azorius Control (5) | Azorius Control (3) |
| Dec 3-4 | Rakdos Midrange (18) | Rakdos Midrange (13) | Rakdos Midrange (5) |
| Dec 10-11 | Rakdos Midrange (19) | Rakdos Midrange (13) | Rakdos Midrange (8) |
| Dec 17-18 | Gruul Vehicles (13) | Gruul Vehicles (8) | Gruul Vehicles (4) |
| Dec 24-25 | Rakdos Midrange (13) | Rakdos Midrange (8) | Rakdos Midrange (5) |
| Dec 31/Jan1 | Gruul Vehicles (11) | Mono-Green Devotion,Gruul Vehicles (5) | Lotus Field Combo, Gruul Vehicles (3) |
| Jan 7-8 | Mono-Green Devotion (9) | Lotus Field Combo (6) | Lotus Field Combo (4) |
The dominance of Rakdos Midrange has been broken in recent weeks, largely on the back of the Gruul Vehicles deck which has a strong matchup against the deck. Another deck on the rise has been Lotus Field Combo, which is thriving in a meta short on fast aggro decks that can quickly win matches, e.g. Mono-White Humans.
However, when looking at the biggest two MTGO events of the past fortnight, it is clear that familiarity with a deck and how it fares against the meta is a key factor in success.
MTGO Super Qualifier – 383 players, December 28th
Top 8 Results
- Selesnya Angels: MZBlazer
- Izzet Phoenix: Ale_Mtg
- Rakdos Midrange: felider
- Abzan Greasefang: Xuxa
- Enigmatic Fires: THE0NEWH0KN0X
- Enigmatic Fires: musasabi
- Mono-Blue Spirits: Fink64
- Rakdos Sacrifice: Rhianne
Top 32 Breakdown
| Deck | Top 32 | Top 16 | Top 8 |
| Rakdos Midrange | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| Selesnya Angels | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Enigmatic Fires | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Lotus Field Combo | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Gruul Vehicles | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Mono-Green Devotion | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Azorius Control | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Abzan Greasefang | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Izzet Creativity | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 5 | 5 | 4 |
MTGO Showcase Challenge – 251 players, January 8th
Top 8 Results
- Rakdos Sacrifice: Rhianne
- Gruul Vehicles: bresett123
- Gruul Vehicles: Snapcaster-Bolt
- Golgari Vehicles: pancake_sock
- Azorius Control: Daking3603
- Lotus Field Combo: kytk321
- Lotus Field Combo: szkuznik
- Enigmatic Fires: kasa
Top 32 Breakdown
| Deck | Top 32 | Top 16 | Top 8 |
| Mono-Green Devotion | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Gruul Vehicles | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Azorius Control | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Lotus Field Combo | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Selesnya Angels | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Rakdos Midrange | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Dimir Control | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Special congratulations to Rhianne, who secured Top 8 finishes in both events on Rakdos Sacrifice, and also being the only player on the deck to secure Top 32 finishes. With other decks like Mono-Blue Spirits, Izzet Phoenix and Azorius Control securing Top 8’s as well despite having a lower meta share in recent weeks, it’s clear that an experienced pilot can perform well with their preferred deck if they have the practice and a good run.
Around the Tables
To finish off this week’s article we’re gonna take a look at two very fresh brews that secured solid results over the weekend:
Golgari Vehicles by pancake_sock (4th in Showcase Challenge)
3 mythic
55 rare
0 uncommon
2 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (21)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (4)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$447.28
Sideboard
15 Cards
$24.55
Combining the elements of both Gruul Vehicles and Rakdos Midrange, this deck has a powerful suite of Turn One plays between eight mana-dorks and Thoughtseize + Fatal Push. The Vehicles top-end of Esika’s Chariot and Skysovereign provides value that Rakdos Midrange cannot overcome, while Misery’s Shadow and Graveyard Trespasser provide strong mid-game to lock down aggro decks and any graveyard strategies like Izzet Phoenix and Greasefang.
Azorius Control (Yorion) by JTL005 (Pioneer League 5-0)
2 mythic
34 rare
19 uncommon
23 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (4)
Instants (15)
Sorceries (2)
Enchantments (19)
Lands (31)
80 Cards
$293.84
Sideboard
15 Cards
$81.43
This deck is an interesting take on the Yorion lists, running a playset of Disruption Protocol to synergise with an early Portable Hole or Thraben Inspector, along with The Mightstone and Weakstone as a modal effect that can be blinked with Yorion.
The true spice comes from a playset of Banish into Fableand Static Net, which satisfies the artifact and enchantment conditions of Banish while also acting as lifegain and removal to survive the early game.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this week’s article! We’ll be back in a fortnight to check in on the latest previews for ONE and what it means for the format, along with the latest event results and decklists.
If there’s anything you’d like to see me examine further in these articles, you can reach me on Twitter and Reddit, or on our PlayingPioneer Discord if you are signed up to our Patreon.
