Caretaker’s Talent has been taking hold in multiple formats, becoming a cornerstone of multiple decks that Tom dives deep into here! The cycle of rare Talents have been frontrunners for Bloomburrow’s best constructed cards right out of the blocks. In the first week after the set released, I wrote about a string of upstart Standard decks that were already emerging …
The Best Self-Mill Cards in Magic
Graveyard decks have always been a huge part of Magic, ever since the first Animate Dead was used to cheat out the first Lord of the Pit or Shivan Dragon. But if you broaden your definition beyond simple reanimation, almost every deck has some way to get value out of the yard – and if yours doesn’t, you’re probably not …
Oswald’s Big Score in Pioneer
I don’t get to brew many decks for tournament Magic these days. The majority of my time and energy goes into Limited (check out our Outlaws of Thunder Junction Draft guide!), so if I do play Constructed I tend to just trust decklists offered by more invested players. But sometimes a new card (or a new set of cards) just …
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan: Updated Decks for Pioneer
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan prerelease begins Friday, and Pioneer Regional Championship season is just around the corner! So, today we’re going to break down three decks to try testing ahead of the next big event in Atlanta. Ramp Ramp is a deck we haven’t really had in Pioneer since the beginning of the format, with cards like Field of …
Pioneer Regional Championship Check-in: October 2023
All eyes have been on Modern Regional Championship Qualifiers lately, but the first round of Regional Championships playing Pioneer wrapped up this weekend. There were some interesting, key developments worth mentioning, so let’s not beat around the bugs and jump right into exploring them. Izzet Phoenix Phoenix won the Canadian RC while also putting up good results in the EU …
Lost Caverns of Ixalan: Early Impressions
We continued our descent toward the Lost Caverns of Ixalan during the weekend at MagicCon Las Vegas. While we have still only seen a few previews, they point us in some fun directions, so we’re going to look at the potential standouts. Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might Now this is an exciting god. Ojer turns all your burn spells into Boros …
Up the Beanstalk in Older Formats
If the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk has a lesson, it’s that drawing cards in older formats is good. This is the reason players are trying to see how high Up the Beanstalk can go in formats like Pioneer, Modern and Legacy — right? OK, that may not be the lesson from Jack and the Beanstalk, but the part …
Wilds of Eldraine: Updated Decks for Pioneer
Wilds of Eldraine drops Sept. 8, so it’s time we start looking at potential new decks in the Pioneer format. Most eyes have moved to Modern for the Regional Championship Qualifier season, but I’m still working on Pioneer in hopes of finding the next big brew for the upcoming Regional Championship in December. Sleepy Fae Combo This deck is the …
Wilds of Eldraine Pioneer Highlights
The last time we visited Eldraine, the set shook magic to its core. And while this time around Wilds of Eldraine seems much more tame, there are still plenty of cards worth looking at for the Pioneer format. Here are five to keep in mind as preview season wraps up. Sleep-Cursed Fae and Spell Stutter Pioneer players have been trying …
Banned and Restricted Update: August 2023
This week, Wizards of the Coast announced their last Banned and Restricted update before switching to a new, yearly cadence in October. But while conversation in the community was blowing up about targets for Modern and Pioneer, every possible option escaped the hammer. Instead, Wizards of the Coast actually unbanned two cards, one in Modern and one in Legacy. The …