Foundations is now part of the format! With it, some archetypes may find new tools for tunning their decklist, and maybe one or two needed decks could enter the rodeo next weekend.
I'm glad to share our first Pioneer Meta Tier List! Two weeks ago was a busy weekend for Pioneer with twelve relevant tournaments, including a 546 players' event in Lille, France. 🇫🇷 This weekend was not the exception with seven new tournaments, even with Standard being the park's main attraction.
During our first Modern Tier List, we mentioned that Modern would be a weekly article, but we decided to make it bi-weekly, one week Pioneer, and one week Modern, and have more Magic Tier Lists for all!
Tiers
- Tier 1: The most dominant decks of the moment. This implies the percentage of victories, presence in the meta, and favorable games.
- Tier 2: These will be solid decks with a relevant presence in the meta. A good pilot will probably be able to play one of these archetypes and have a good result in a competitive event. They usually have at least one difficult match against the rest of the archetypes.
- Tier 3: In this tier, we find decks with little presence, but enough to be considered when preparing for a tournament. In addition to their low popularity, they are decks that present two or more complicated matchups against the meta. This prevents them until the release of additional support or a meta shift from standing out. However, players who dedicate themselves to mastering these archetypes usually have the opportunity to obtain good results.
- Silent Performer: Lastly, at the end of the spectrum we find some decks that are little to almost non-present in the current metagame state. However, these archetypes may have won or reached the Top 8 in a relevant tournament with 50 or more players or the Top 16 in any event with more than 100 players. The sample size may be too small to represent their actual strength.
This meta-report Tier List covers the top 16 from the last 12 relevant tournaments from 08/11 to 19/10 2024.
Meta Overview - Duskmourn Last Week
Rakdos dominates the competition; even with two different archetypes in the top 3 most-played decks. Rakdos Prowess and Rakdos Midrange have enough differences to classify them as two different archetypes, without considering the Rakdos Tree, another Rakdos deck with a first-place finish two weekends ago.
Sacrifice is another archetype showing dominance, but Jund seems stronger than Golgari, however, Golgari won this month's biggest tournament with 546 players competing for the win in France. Selesnya Company and Phoenix are fighting hard to remain relevant in Tier 1; both are close to Jund and Rakdos Midrange, but not so compared to Rakdos Prowess.
There is a wide variety of playable archetypes on Tier 2, and two or three decks of Tier 3 can surprise and win any tournament despite its low popularity.
Meta Overview - Foundations Week 1
The waters seem to flow in the same direction. Rakdos Prowess and Midrange switched places while Enigmatic Incarnation pushed to the second place making Jund Sacrifice go down to fourth.
Selesnya Company lost some ground but stood strong on tier 1. Niv-Mizzet Reborn took that ground, letting everyone know it is no less than a solid choice.
The biggest disappointment during Foundations' first week was Transmogrify, passing from being in contention for tier 1 to just one player making a top 8 with the archetype in seven tournaments.
With 31 archetypes in this first meta-tier list, it's time to crunch those numbers!
Top 16 Archetypes - Duskmourn Last Week
- Rakdos Prowess: 28
- Jund Sacrifice: 20
- Rakdos Midrange: 17
- Selesnya Company: 17
- Phoenix: 15
- Transmogrify: 9
- Enigmatic Incarnation: 8
- Gruul Aggro: 8
- Selesnya Angels: 8
- Red Deck Wins: 7
- Creativity: 5
- Golgari Sacrifice: 5
- UW Control: 5
- Zur Domain: 5
- 4/5C Legends: 4
- Lotus Field: 4
- Boros Burn: 3
- Greasefang: 3
- Devotion to Green: 3
- Niv-Mizzet Reborn: 3
- Rakdos Tree: 3
- Dimir Aggro: 2
- UW Spirits: 2
- Convoke: 1
- Emry Helix: 1
- Mono Black Midrange: 1
- Orzhov Control: 1
- Simic Ramp: 1
Top 16 Archetypes - Foundations Week 1
- Rakdos Midrange: 12 🔼
- Enigmatic Incarnation: 8 🔼
- Rakdos Prowess: 7 🔽
- Jund Sacrifice: 6 🔽
- Niv-Mizzet Rebon: 5 🔼
- Phoenix: 5 🔽
- Selesnya Company: 5 🔽
- Boros Burn: 3 🔼
- Creativity: 3 🔼
- Dimir Aggro: 3 🔼
- Gruul Aggro: 3 🔽
- UW Control: 3 🔼
- Zur Domain: 3 🔼
- 4/5 Colors Legends: 2 🔼
- Convoke: 2 🔼
- Izzet Prowess: 2 🆕
- Red Deck Wins: 2 🔽
- Selesnya Angels: 2 🔽
- Boros Aggro: 1 🆕
- Golgari Sacrifice: 1 🔽
- Greasefang: 1 🔽
- Lotus Field: 1 🔽
- Mono White Control: 1 🆕
- Orzhov Control: 1 🔼
- Rakdos Tree: 1 🔽
- Transmogrify: 1 🔽
- UW Spirits: 1 🔽
🔼 - The deck has a higher top 16 appearance % from Duskmourn last week.
🔽 - The deck has fewer top 16 appearance % from Duskmourn last week.
🆕 - First top 16 appearance in the current Pioneer metagame.
Tier List
| Tier | Archetype |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | - Rakdos Midrange - Enigmatic Incarnation - Rakdos Prowess - Jund Sacrifice - Phoenix - Selesnya Company - Niv-Mizzet Reborn |
| Tier 2 | - Boros Burn - Creativity - Dimir Aggro - Gruul Aggro - UW Control - Zur Domain - 4/5 Colors Legends - Selesnya Angels - Transmogrify - Red Deck Wins - Golgari Sacrifice - Rakdos Tree |
| Tier 3 | - Lotus Field - Greasefang - Devotion to Green - UW Spirits - Mono Black Midrange - Emry Helix - Simic Ramp - Boros Aggro |
| Silent Performer | - Convoke - Izzet Prowess - Mono White Control - Orzhov Control |
Tier 1
Rakdos Midrange
Two weekends ago, Rakdos Prowess was all over the place, overshadowing its brothers Rakdos Midrange, and its Tree and Control iterations.
Now, with twelve players making the top 8 in seven tournaments, playing a less-creature version seems to be the right choice.
Unstoppable Slasher and dsk-118-unholy-annex-ritual-chamber keep proving week after week that both are two of the most played Duskmourn cards in Eternal formats. Slasher is so good on its own and hard to block that playing Bloodletter of Aclazotz is not mandatory.
Enigmatic Incarnation
Duskmourn's overlords are all over the place; particularly Overlord of the Hauntwoods. These avatar horrors give Zur, Eternal Schemer new life.
This core has two main iterations, one with Enigmatic Incarnation and another without it. Enigmatic Incarnation was already part of Pioneer's metagame before Duskmourn; however, with so many new good enchantments, this archetype's pivot was logical.
The main difference between this and Zur Domain is whether to run Yorion, Sky Nomad or play 60 cards. This gives Enigmatic iteration more room for enchantments to tutor for.
Rakdos Prowess
Mice from Bloomborrow are the best tribe of the set. Emberheart Challenger and Heartfire Hero are all over Standard and Pionner.
This made Rakdos Prowess get twenty-eight top 8 finishes two weeks ago, which made me think that this was the undisputable king of the hill. However, this week, Rakdos Midrange proves that playing without mice is possible.
Nevertheless, with seven more strong finishes this weekend, Rakdos Prowess stands firm as one of the strongest decks in the format.
Jund Sacrifice
Jund and Golgari's sacrifice situation is interesting. While Jund is more popular and has better results, Golgari won the biggest tournament of the month, a French event with more than 540 players.
The difference between both decks is relevant enough to think twice before choosing your deck for the next big event.
Claim the Fistborn is amazing for creature matchups, same as Mayhem Devil, and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker give you gas enough for playing the hardest attrition matchups.
Jund can win without Gilded Goose, or Traverse the Ulvenwald, however, making many more foods thanks to the Goose and Vinereap Mentor can give you many advantages.
It's a hard choice, but Jund has proof of being more consistent.
Phoenix
I always said that reinventing the wheel is not needed. Phoenix has been an old acquaintance since Pioneer's first days. However, I also always mention that decks that innovate and adjust their pieces have more chances to stay relevant.
That's Artist's Talent case. This card does so much for this archetype. It helps Arclight Phoenix go into the graveyard and accelerates our more expensive spells, and its level 3 is also relevant. Besides being a great mana sink, it makes our removals like Lightning Axe hit bigger targets as Niv-Mizzet, Reborn or Ygra, Eater of All.
Not many tier 1 decks are playing hard graveyard hate in their sideboard. If this remains true, Phoenix can keep fighting against the top dogs. And even if that happens, Phoenix has tools for play around it.
Selesnya Company
Who said playing just creatures can't be competitive? With new additions such as Enduring Innocence the archetype keeps finding new tools to stay relevant.
The card advantage this creature generates can go over the top thanks to Eldrazi Displacer, a creature that has been reclaiming its spots in this archetype decklist. Blinking many of our creatures is now more profitable.
Just imagine a scenario with Aven Interrupter, another recent addition to the archetype, Enduring Innocence, and Eldrazi Displacer on our side of the field.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Niv-Mizzet is one of the decks that gained some terrain last weekend. I know that only one card may not be the reason but Elenda, Saint of Dusk can become your win condition easily thanks to how many life you can win with Omanth, Locus of Creation, Lightnig Helix, etc.
Finding Elenda is not a problem thanks to the full playset of Bring to Light and Niv-Mizzet Reborn itself.
A perfect deck for a 9/9, Lifelink, menace, Hexproof from instants for four mana? Yes, please.
Tier 2
Boros Burn
Boros finally have Lava Spike. Well, Boltwave can't hit Planeswalkers, but you got the point.
Thanks to this simple "3 damage to your face" for one Red mana, Boros Burn is gaining some popularity and it may start competing once again for a place on Tier 1.
It may seem insufficient; however, these small tweaks can be the difference between winning and losing more than we think.
Creativity
Indomitable Creativity decks are not the most popular combo deck of the format. However, putting Valgavoth, Terror Eater, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Titan of Industry via this Red sorcery is still good enough for winning relevant tournaments.
In the end, mastering any viable archetype may lead your path to victory, and Creativity is no exception. The main difference is how this iteration of Creativity lets you play a fair game of Magic when needed, thanks to many good cards that can give you the upper hand in attrition matches.
Do you think Torrential Gearhulk Izzet Creativity can compete in Pioneer's actual state?
Dimir Aggro
This time there are no Foundations cards. However, Dimir Aggro has found success on Standard since Duskmourn's release, and that's reflected in Pioneer.
Floodpits Drowner is an amazing tempo play, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares proved during the last World Championship 30 that it was one of the biggest sleepers in the set. Enduring Curiosity is not exception.
With all these new cards around, it's interesting to notice how oceansoul iteration is playing the full set of Ornithopter. With a 2nd place finish in an MTGO Challenge, it seems like playing 0-2 Ornithopters is not mandatory and going all in on the Moon-Circuit Hacker tempo play could be great.
Gruul Aggro
manalacaio version of Gruul Aggro plays a full set of [Card]Aloe Alchemist[/card]. This cactusfolk can be better than many could think.
Maximizing Burning-Tree Emisary good targets make this archetype better and a +3/+2 to any of your one drops is not a small thing. That's the reason for an extra one-drop in this iteration.
Zurgo Bellstriker has proven many times how solid it can be for one Red mana, so, why not play 1-2 copies on Pioneer? Monastery Swiftspear, Heartfire Hero, and Kumano Faces Kakkazan are clearing taking many spots there, but when an archetype has room for 1 or 2 extra turn one plays, Zurgo is not a bad idea.
UW Control
Many UW Control players refuse to innovate. This deck has enough tools to stay relevant without making any new tweaks to the decklist. However, as many other decks proved, you don't have to do a 180° turn to be in contention for the top on the Tier 1 section, you have to make some innovations and small tweaks.
Why not try a new control iteration with Caretaker Talent? Do you think that would be too slow for Pioneer?
If true, why not play Beza, the Bounding Spring on the mainboard? I'm sure Beza is good enough to win many Pioneer matches single-handedly. What do you think about it?
Zur Domain
Deciding if you play Yorion, Sky Nomad, and Enigmatic Incarnation or not is the question Zur players have to ask themselves every time before a big tournament.
Both decks have at least 12 Duskmourn's overlords, tools for drawing and keeping the gas flowing in Up the Beanstalk, and amazing removals with Leyline Binding as the best one of the list.
Enigmatic Incarnation has room for many silver bullets; that could save you in many situations but playing a 60-card deck has its upsides. In the end, the opportunity of tutoring with Enigmatic Incarnation seems more relevant; or that was at least what the last two weeks' results said.
4/5 Colors Legends
Acererak the Archlich combo may be much higher in this Tier List. The only problem is how hard it is to play.
Dustyn Nogueira and Simon Scrutton's 3rd and 4th place finishes in the second biggest tournament of this report with more than 378 players prove its strength.
This run during the Calgary Regional Championship is no small feat to any archetype. Nevertheless, playing a deck like this at its full potential is like mastering Amulet Titan or Hardened Scales in Modern.
These kinds of decks have so many lines that learning all of them, and knowing which one is the best in any scenario requires a fully devoted player to master it all.
Comparing any deck to old Modern KCI is probably exaggerating, but you get the point.
Selesnya Angels
If one thing is true it is how three different Collected Company decks are relevant in the current state of Pioneer's metagame.
Registering four CoCo in your 75 gives you a high chance of playing something that may give you good results. Selesnya Angels devour aggro matchups, however, with many midrange and combo strategies in the top, Selesnya Angels don't always have the upper hand compared to other CoCo decks.
Don't get me wrong, Selesnya Angels may win a relevant tournament just ass moon11 did. Choose wisely based on your expected metagame and any Coco deck may lead you to victory.
Transmogrify
This was the biggest underperformed during the Foundation's first week.
Winning an MTGO Challenge 64 is hard, and shadowtitan1 did it with Transmogrify, something that proves that cheating Atraxa, Grand Unifier is still a good option over Valgavoth, Terror Eater.
The main upside of playing this combo deck is how good it is at disrupting your opponents' plans until you find the perfect moment for casting your win-condition spell.
Toughtseize, Duress, can dismantle your opponent's hand while Fatal Push, Torch the Tower checks any pesky early creature, and Reckoner Bankbuster helps you stall any graveyard-centric strategy.
Not many talk about it, but Case of Stashed Skeleton may be responsible for this deck's success. You may start playing this Enchantment Case in other Black decks and I assure you it will pleasantly surprise you.
Red Deck Wins
If Boros Burn is playing Boltwave, Red Deck Wins may also start playing it and it may start getting better results.
I'm not saying it is mandatory, however, even with Energy being so dominant in Modern, some Red Deck Wins iterations are here and there, and the most recently successful one plays a full set of Lava Spike.
Please, Red Deck Win's pilots, test it, play it, and then tell me how it goes.
Golgari Sacrifice
We already discussed the Jund and Golgari Sacrifice situation in the Jund section. Yes, it's clear Jund is more popular and its results put it as the more consistent iteration. Why do we think about playing Golgari?
Bill Comminos's list finished 6th in the Super Sunday RCQ however Marc Tobias won a tournament with 546 players on November 9 with a list that has just a few differences.
These small changes may be the reason for this and many other decks to succeed or die trying. That's why I always talk about tweaks, adjustments, and the good habit that is innovating.
Rakdos Tree
This is a deck with low relevance in the metagame right now. However, I refuse to put it on Tier 3.
I can say confidently that it hasn't become a force around the top dogs because this color pair already has amazing iterations in Tier 1. You may ask yourself why you should dedicate time to mastering this Rakdos Tree of Perdition deck instead of playing Rakdos Prowess or Rakdos Midrange.
Well, the reason is simple. Agatha's Soul Cauldron is a busted card. I even read once that it may be the closest thing to Birthing Pod in the format, and even if that may sound weird, it has some truth to it.
Also, Rakdos Tree is a younger deck than the other Rakdos iterations which makes it far from perfected. This makes me think that we could see more about it in the near future.
Tier 3
Lotus Field
Greasefang
Devotion to Green
UW Spirits
Mono Black Midrange
Emry Helix
Simic Ramp
Boros Aggro
Silent Performer
Convoke
Izzet Prowess
Mono White Control
Orzhov Control
End Step
I hope you enjoy this double take on Pioneer mixing Duskmourn's last week with Foundation's first week. Things haven't changed much, but the small details discussed above will be key for weeks to come.
Rakdos Aggro and Rakdos Midrange are going up and down in the first three spots while two or three decks are fighting for the second place. Does another deck rise or fall as big as Transmogrify in our next Pioneer Tier List?
Let's discover that together in our next Pioneer article in two weeks. Until then, thank you dear readers for reaching this paragraph.
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