Harlan Firer
Standard
Temur Reclamation
Standard Temur Reclamation
| Creatures (7) 4 Brazen Borrower 3 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Spells (18) 4 Growth Spiral 1 Negate 1 Scorching Dragonfire 4 Thassa’s Intervention 4 Storm’s Wrath 4 Expansion // Explosion Enchantments (8) 4 Omen of the Sea 4 Wilderness Reclamation | Lands (27) 4 Breeding Pool 2 Castle Vantress 2 Fabled Passage 1 Forest 2 Island 2 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 4 Stomping Ground 1 Temple of Abandon 3 Temple of Epiphany 2 Temple of Mystery Sideboard (15) 4 Aether Gust 1 Negate 3 Scorching Dragonfire 3 Mystical Dispute 4 Nightpack Ambusher |
I’m a big fan of being proactive in week 1 standard, and though Temur Reclamation may not be a proactive deck, it has a strong engine that is hard to beat if not properly disrupted. This deck is well positioned to beat up on the slower and untuned decks that show up Week 1 and is decently equipped to not get run over by Mono-Red.
I was very close to playing Mono-Red or UW Control this weekend, but decided I wanted to be more proactive than control and have a higher power level than Red. I still think both are also solid choices for this weekend and you can’t go too wrong with any of the three.
Dylan Hand
Standard
Jund Food
Standard Jund Food
| Creatures (21) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Gilded Goose 4 Mayhem Devil 3 Murderous Rider 1 God-Eternal Bontu 4 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King 1 Massacre Girl Planeswalkers (2) 2 Liliana, Dreadhorde General Spells (4) 4 Agonizing Remorse Artifacts (4) 4 Witch’s Oven Enchantments (4) 4 Trail of Crumbs | Lands (25) 4 Blood Crypt 2 Castle Locthwain 3 Fabled Passage 5 Forest 1 Mountain 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp Sideboard (15) 1 Duress 3 Noxious Grasp 2 Lovestruck Beast 3 Thrashing Brontodon 2 Treacherous Blessing 1 Vraska, Golgari Queen 1 Massacre Girl 2 Casualties of War |
I started with lists incorporating Treacherous Blessing in the maindeck as a way to fill the curve out a little better, but I realized after many games on MTG Arena ladder that the card just helps the deck do what it already excels at—grinding. Instead, I’ve opted to play the full playset of Agonizing Remorse in the maindeck. This serves two purposes: giving the deck more things to do in the early game, and poking holes in hands in otherwise challenging matchups. Being able to snag a ramp payoff against Simic Ramp, disrupt Jeskai Fires, or snag a Dream Trawler against Azorius Control helps you set up to dominate the late game.
Another long forgotten card in Standard that I have included is Liliana, Dreadhorde General. Instead of the other six-drop of choice in the past, Casualties of War, Liliana is better positioned against the metagame as a whole. Being able to double edict Ramp/Fires/Control to snag huge bombs that are otherwise challenging to deal with make the card a slam dunk in Standard at the moment. Additionally, it can be found off of Trail of Crumbs!
I think this deck has high potential this weekend and I look forward to playing it. I would like to shout out my honorable mention for Standard this weekend—Mono-Red Aggro. The new tools from Theros Beyond Death that the deck has access to now has upped the power level of that deck considerably.
Chad Harney and Drake Sasser
Pioneer
Diet Chonky Red
Pioneer Diet Chonky Red
| Creatures (27) 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Soul-Scar Mage 3 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider 4 Bonecrusher Giant 4 Goblin Chainwhirler 4 Phoenix of Ash 4 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell Planeswalkers (1) 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance Spells (8) 4 Wild Slash 4 Lightning Strike | Lands (24) 2 Castle Embereth 17 Mountain 1 Mutavault 4 Ramunap Ruins Sideboard (15) 4 Tormod’s Crypt 1 Chandra’s Defeat 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 3 Fry 2 Lava Coil 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance |
Chad: I’m normally one to shy away from aggressive strategies but Pioneer is a unique case. Nobody has really broken the format like Modern or Legacy. The format is still young and every deck I tried felt awful to fine but never great.
So for the first time ever, I’ll be sleeving up all Mountains (Ramunap Ruins and Castle Embereth are honorary Mountains). I didn’t love the Chonky Red decks though, as I felt they were a little too…chonky. So I’ll be playing this list of Red that I think should appropriately be named Diet Chonky Red.
Drake: I have been testing a great deal of Pioneer in preparation for PT Phoenix coming up, and the mono-colored decks have been the most impressive to me by a great deal. The manabases in Pioneer are much worse than in the other eternal formats that contain fetch lands, so the mono colored decks are the only ones that get to leverage utility lands in addition to having good, functional mana.
Of those mono-colored decks, Mono-Red has impressed me the most. This deck can go large in the face of the more aggressive decks, taking a control role, and can pivot against the ramp and combo decks by leaning on its more aggressive elements. That flexibility, alongside some rather impressive sideboard options given the color restrictions puts this red deck ahead of the rest of Pioneer going into SCG Richmond.
Matt Dilks
Modern
Amulet Titan
Modern Amulet Titan
Ok wow, they actually keep printing new cards for my deck so why would I ever change?
A question almost nobody has asked me, “Why is Dryad of the Ilysian Grove worth it when Wayward Swordtooth never was?” Though Swordtooth has impressive stats, not being able to attack and block can be problematic and made a cheaper card like Explore a better option. Dryad is often a good blocker and reasonable attacker at 2/4 and is often difficult enough for your opponent to remove.
The real reason I want to put my stock in this card is the Prismatic Omen text is so powerful with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Valakut Titan decks would play Omen but not being able to tutor for it and it not functioning as a ramp spell could be problematic, but now we can even Summoner’s Pact for Dryad and we can also hit it off of Once Upon a Time. This interaction is so powerful we have moved away from all the white lands and combo lands in favor of adding Valakut. Hanweir Battlements even hastes for one less mana and the combo turns are just as explosive when Primeval Titan and Dryad come together.