After two weekends of high level tournaments, the Pioneer format appears to have found a tenuous balance at Players Tour Phoenix.
Don’t miss our coverage of Day 1 and the Top 8 of Players Tour Phoenix, or last weekend’s coverage of Day 1, Day 2, and Top 8 of PT Brussels as well as Day 1 and the Top 8 of PT Nagoya.
While UB Inverter of Truth was the breakout deck at Players Tour Nagoya and Sultai Delirium was the talk of Pioneer coming out of Players Tour Brussels, it was Lotus Breach’s turn to shine in Phoenix. It was played about 9% of the field on Day 1 but managed an impressive 57.58% conversion rate into Day 2 and jumped to 15% of the remaining field.
The Day 2 metagame and conversion rates at Players Tour Phoenix
“Breach is obscene,” Hall of Famer Luis Scott-Vargas said at the end of Day 1. “There is going to be a LOT of copies in the top 8, and just about everyone I know playing it had absurd records.”
Vargas may be right about the deck’s power level—the top tables were littered with Lotus Breach and UB Inverter decks—but the Top 8 of Players Tour Phoenix proved to be much more diverse than he predicted. Lotus Breach put two copies into the Top 8, as did UB Inverter, while Sultai Delirium, UW Control, Bant Spirits, and Mono-Red Aggro all have one copy.
Of course, Top 8 metagames aren’t exactly representative of a format’s larger metagame so we’ll have to wait and see how Pioneer reacts to Lotus Breach in the coming weeks.
Players Tour Phoenix Top 8 Decklists
Pioneer Lotus Breach by Allen Wu
| Creatures (15) 4 Arboreal Grazer 4 Fae of Wishes 2 Satyr Wayfinder 1 Thassa’s Oracle 4 Vizier of Tumbling Sands Spells (18) 4 Hidden Strings 4 Pore Over the Pages 4 Strategic Planning 4 Sylvan Scrying 1 Blink of an Eye 1 Dig Through Time Enchantments (3) 3 Underworld Breach | Lands (24) 1 Blast Zone 4 Botanical Sanctum 2 Breeding Pool 1 Forest 4 Lotus Field 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Thespian’s Stage 4 Yavimaya Coast Sideboard (15) 1 Underworld Breach 1 Alpine Moon 1 Anger of the Gods 1 Hour of Devastation 1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries 2 Mystical Dispute 2 Natural State 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun 1 Thought Distortion 1 Tome Scour 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 2 Unravel the Aether |
Pioneer Sultai Delerium by Jacob Wilson
Pioneer UW Control by Austin Bursavich
| Planeswalkers (8) 1 Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria 3 Teferi, Time Raveler Spells (24) 4 Supreme Verdict 1 Absorb 4 Azorius Charm 3 Censor 3 Dig Through Time 1 Dovin’s Veto 1 Mystical Dispute 4 Opt 3 Sinister Sabotage Artifacts (1) 1 Soul-Guide Lantern Enchantments (1) 1 Seal Away | Lands (26) 3 Castle Ardenvale 1 Castle Vantress 2 Fabled Passage 2 Field of Ruin 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 3 Irrigated Farmland 5 Island 2 Plains Sideboard (15) 1 Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis 1 Narset, Parter of Veils 2 Dovin’s Veto 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Seal Away 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Ashiok, Dream Render 2 Damping Sphere 1 Detention Sphere 3 Dream Trawler |
Pioneer UB Inverter by Peter Ingram
| Creatures (7) 4 Inverter of Truth 3 Thassa’s Oracle Planeswalkers (4) 4 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries Spells (22) 1 Thought Erasure 4 Thoughtseize 2 Censor 4 Dig Through Time 4 Fatal Push 1 Hero’s Downfall 2 Mystical Dispute 4 Opt Enchantments (2) 2 Omen of the Sea | Lands (25) 2 Choked Estuary 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Fabled Passage 2 Fetid Pools 6 Island 2 Swamp 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Watery Grave Sideboard (15) 1 Hero’s Downfall 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Agonizing Remorse 2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver 2 Cry of the Carnarium 2 Damping Sphere 1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet 2 Legion’s End 1 Pack Rat |
Pioneer UB Inverter by Corey Burkhart
| Creatures (8) 4 Inverter of Truth 4 Thassa’s Oracle Planeswalkers (3) 3 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries Spells (23) 2 Thought Erasure 4 Thoughtseize 2 Censor 4 Dig Through Time 2 Drown in the Loch 4 Fatal Push 1 Hero’s Downfall 4 Opt Enchantments (1) 1 Omen of the Sea | Lands (25) 2 Choked Estuary 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Fabled Passage 2 Fetid Pools 1 Ipnu Rivulet 5 Island 2 Swamp 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Watery Grave Sideboard (15) 1 Hero’s Downfall 1 Cry of the Carnarium 2 Damping Sphere 1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet 1 Languish 1 Legion’s End 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Negate 3 Pack Rat 1 Witch’s Vengeance |
Pioneer Lotus Breach by William Jensen
| Creatures (14) 4 Arboreal Grazer 4 Fae of Wishes 2 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Vizier of Tumbling Sands Spells (19) 4 Hidden Strings 4 Pore Over the Pages 4 Strategic Planning 4 Sylvan Scrying 1 Dig Through Time 1 Expansion // Explosion 1 Mystical Dispute Enchantments (3) 3 Underworld Breach | Lands (24) 1 Blast Zone 4 Botanical Sanctum 2 Breeding Pool 1 Forest 4 Lotus Field 1 Sheltered Thicket 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Thespian’s Stage 3 Yavimaya Coast Sideboard (15) 1 Mystical Dispute 1 Underworld Breach 2 Anger of the Gods 1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries 1 Lost Legacy 2 Natural State 2 Supreme Verdict 1 Thought Distortion 1 Tome Scour 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 2 Unravel the Aether |
Pioneer Bant Spirits by Thomas Ashton
| Creatures (32) 4 Empyrean Eagle 4 Mausoleum Wanderer 4 Nebelgast Herald 4 Rattlechains 4 Selfless Spirit 4 Spectral Sailor 4 Spell Queller 4 Supreme Phantom Spells (4) 4 Collected Company | Lands (24) 4 Botanical Sanctum 4 Breeding Pool 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Island 2 Plains 4 Temple Garden Sideboard (15) 2 Deputy of Detention 2 Disdainful Stroke 4 Mystical Dispute 2 Permeating Mass 3 Reflector Mage 2 Remorseful Cleric |
Pioneer Mono-Red by Zach Kiihne
| Creatures (28) 4 Abbot of Keral Keep 4 Bonecrusher Giant 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Rimrock Knight 4 Soul-Scar Mage 2 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell 2 Zurgo Bellstriker Planeswalkers (1) 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance Spells (9) 4 Lightning Strike 1 Shock 4 Wild Slash | Lands (22) 1 Castle Embereth 15 Mountain 2 Mutavault 4 Ramunap Ruins Sideboard (15) 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance 2 Abrade 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel 2 Experimental Frenzy 3 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Kari Zev’s Expertise 3 Lava Coil |