The Complete Guide to MTGA’s Explorer Format

Last updated on April 21, 2024

Selvala, Explorer Returned | Illustration by Tyler Jacobson

Explorer is WotC’s pathway format to Pioneer, and is rapidly working towards that goal with the introduction of cards to Arena that haven't already been introduced through either Standard or Historic. Between what was already on Arena, three Explorer Anthologies and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered, it feels like Explorer will effectively be Pioneer on Arena in no time. Let’s take a look at where the format is right now, and what’s coming for it in the near future.

What Is Explorer?

Veteran Explorer | Illustration by Steven Belledin

Explorer is a Constructed format on Magic Arena that uses all Pioneer-legal cards on Arena as a basis for the format. Explorer will eventually become Pioneer once all of the relevant Pioneer-legal cards have been added to Arena. This means that although some draft bulk may not be on there, the decks actually seeing play will be identical between the two formats.

Who Is Explorer for?

Explorer is the on-ramp for Arena-only players to start wading into the waters of Pioneer. With the Organized Play announcement featuring Pioneer as a premier Constructed format for the next year, many players have flocked to the Magic Online queues to test the format. While paper events continue to return, the Arena player base didn’t have a means to learn this important premier format and Explorer enables as close a replication of Pioneer as is possible on Arena right now. While not a perfect replication, Explorer aims to eventually become Pioneer as all the cards make their way to Arena.

While competitive players will want to play Explorer to work on their understanding of Pioneer, the benefits of having an analogous format to Pioneer on Arena is that a whole new swath of players will be able to experience and enjoy Pioneer-like gameplay. With the format’s continued growth, this will act as another step in increasing the player base in one of Magic's biggest formats.

Explorer-Legal Sets

All Pioneer-legal sets are legal in Explorer. Here is a detailed list of all legal sets:

• Return to Ravnica
• Gatecrash
• Dragon's Maze
• Magic 2014
• Theros
• Born of the Gods
• Journey into Nyx
• Magic 2015
• Khans of Tarkir
• Fate Reforged
• Dragons of Tarkir
• Magic Origins
• Battle for Zendikar
• Oath of the Gatewatch
• Welcome Deck 2016
• Shadows over Innistrad
• Eldritch Moon
• Kaladesh
• Aether Revolt
• Welcome Deck 2017
• Amonkhet
• Hour of Devastation
• Ixalan
• Rivals of Ixalan
• Dominaria
• Core Set 2019
• Guilds of Ravnica
• Ravnica Allegiance
• War of the Spark
• Core Set 2020
• Throne of Eldraine
• Theros: Beyond Death
• Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
• Core Set 2021
• Zendikar Rising
• Kaldheim
• Strixhaven: School of Mages
• Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
• Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
• Innistrad: Crimson Vow
• Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
• Streets of New Capenna
• The Brothers' War
• Phyrexia: All Will Be One
• March of the Machine
• March of the Machine: The Aftermath
• Wilds of Eldraine
• The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
• Any other Standard-legal set released after this

Explorer Banlist

The Explorer banlist by default aligns with the Pioneer banlist. The Explorer and Pioneer banlists strayed from each other slightly when Winota, Joiner of Forces was banned in Explorer but not Pioneer, but soon after it was also banned in Pioneer, making the two formats align once again.

The following is a current list of all cards banned in Pioneer. Cards with ** next to their name are not yet available on Arena and will be presumably banned in Explorer as well if added to the client:

• **Balustrade Spy
• Bloodstained Mire
• Expressive Iteration
• **Felidar Guardian
• Field of the Dead
• Flooded Strand
• Geological Appraiser
• **Inverter of Truth
• Karn, the Great Creator
• Kethis, the Hidden Hand
• Leyline of Abundance
• Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• Nexus of Fate
• Oko, Thief of Crowns
• Once Upon a Time
• Polluted Delta
• Teferi, Time Raveler
• **Undercity Informer
• Underworld Breach
• Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
• Veil of Summer
• Walking Ballista
• Wilderness Reclamation
• Windswept Heath
• Winota, Joiner of Forces
• Wooded Foothills

Where to Play Explorer

Currently, the only place to play Explorer is on Magic Arena. You could technically play this format in paper, but at that point you're just playing Pioneer with limitations.

Explorer Decks

Decks updated for 2023 meta by Chris Reay

Explorer is closing the gap on Pioneer as more cards are being added to the format. This means that the meta is getting closer to the Pioneer meta. However, there are still a few differences between the two. Here are the current top contenders:

Azorius Control

Teferi, Hero of Dominaria | Illustration by Chris Rallis

One of the premier control decks of Pioneer, Azorius () control packs some strong planeswalkers like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and The Wandering Emperor, as well as removal and board wipes with Supreme Verdict and Farewell. Any good format needs a control deck to keep things from getting out of hand, and this is the premier one in Historic.

Rakdos Midrange

Graveyard Trespasser | Illustration by Chris Rallis

A really solid deck, Rakdos () midrange didn’t lose anything from its Pioneer version when Explorer first debuted, and it was powerful out of the gate. The other decks have caught up since then and it isn’t quite as far-and-away powerful in the Pioneer meta as it was a few months ago, but it’s still a powerful and popular deck.

Chock full of really powerful individual cards like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Graveyard Trespasser, it often feels like everything in this deck is a threat.

Rakdos Sacrifice

Cauldron Familiar | Illustration by Milivoj Ceran

Another Rakdos deck that's popular in Pioneer, Rakdos Sac comes in a couple of different flavors.

It's usually either built around Oni-Cult Anvil and artifacts, or Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven. Either one is difficult to deal with if you’re running a deck that wants to attack on the ground since they have chump blockers that they actually want to die for days.

Mono White Humans

Thalia's Lieutenant | Illustration by Johannes Voss

Making the most of an aggressive shell alongside disruptive/tempo cards like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, mono white humans showcases all that white does well in a single deck. Sideboard slots help cover holes against individual decks, and Brave the Elements is a finisher that can be pretty difficult to counter play.

Mono Green Devotion

Steel Leaf Champion | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is a powerful card, one that’s best used in this mono green deck. Whilst the ban of Karn, the Great Creator is a huge blow to the deck, there’s still potential to simply pivot into a green beaters deck. Taking up to three copies of Llanowar Elves and four Paradise Druid, you have big stompy creatures like Polukranos Reborn, which also give a lot of devotion.

Mono Blue Spirits

Mausoleum Wanderer | Illustration by Kieran Yanner

Chock full of small fliers, flash threats, and counterspells, mono blue spirits is the tempo deck of the format. More popular than the Azorius and Bant () versions that we see in Pioneer, this version still follows similar play patterns as the full Pioneer decklists.

It tends to have some great matchups (Greasefang or any combo deck) and some difficult ones (mono red or angels), but generally it’s a deck that can use fast aggro starts to keep your opponent on the back foot, or keep them at bay with those counters.

Mardu Greasefang

Greasefang, Okiba Boss | Illustration by Victor Adame Minguez

While Greasefang, Okiba Boss comes in pretty much any color combination that has both white and black in it, Mardu () is the version that’s most popular for now.

A potentially quick combo deck, this can attack with Parhelion II as soon as turn 3 with the right opener. It can also disrupt your opponent's plan, playing removal and, of course, Thoughtseize to help ensure you get to win after comboing off.

Izzet Creativity

Indomitable Creativity | Illustration by Deruchenko Alexander

The premier combo deck of the format, Izzet Creativity uses Indomitable Creativity with Xenagos, God of Revels and Worldspine Wurm to one-shot your opponent, whilst a control shell keeps you alive until you can get there, as well as protecting your combo when needed too. Cards like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker provide targets for Creativity, whilst also helping find combo pieces. This is a deck you’ll want to be prepared against.

CoCo Angels

Collected Company | Illustration by Franz Vohwinkel

I don’t think it’s possible to have a format on Arena that doesn’t have some kind of lifegain deck. Selesnya () angels is the premier deck currently playing this in Explorer, running a mono white angels package and splashing green for Collected Company to up the tempo.

This basically auto wins against most of the aggro decks in the format, but it can be controlled to prevent it from getting too out of hand.

Mono Red Aggro

Robber of the Rich | Illustration by Paul Scott Canavan

Are you even playing a real Magic format if a mono red burn variant isn’t viable? This does what you expect: cheap hasty creatures like Robber of the Rich and direct damage spells like Lightning Strike.

Some versions of the deck also run Burning-Tree Emissary which can allow for some explosive turn 2s, especially following Kumano Faces Kakkazan.

Getting Started with Explorer

Section updated for 2023 meta by Chris Reay

If you’ve been playing Standard, there’s likely a similar deck that exists in Explorer. My advice for starting out in any format if you don’t have something similar to start from is to slap together an aggro deck and learn the format with that. Mono red is pretty cheap on the rare and mythic wildcards, so that would be my suggestion.

Explorer Products

Section updated for 2023 meta by Chris Reay

So far we have had three Explorer Anthologies to help close the gap with Pioneer. The first of these introduced 20 cards to the format, and the second and third brought another 24 and 25 respectively. Whilst not every card in these anthologies were smash hits for the format, and some are included for Brawl purposes, each one has brought at least some important cards for the format.

Outside of anthologies, we also have supplemental Arena sets like Shadows over Innistrad Remastered. There's been multiple mentions of Pioneer Masters, a digital-only set designed to be draftable, but also bring Explorer to the point where there will be no envisioned differences between it and ‘Tournament Pioneer'.

Will Explorer Have Rebalances Like Historic and Alchemy?

Explorer does not have digital rebalances and instead bans cards that become problematic due to the card pool differences between Explorer and Pioneer.

Does Explorer Rotate Like Standard?

Explorer is an Eternal format that doesn’t rotate and instead only changes with the printing of new Standard sets or if cards are banned.

What Events and Play Modes Are There for Explorer?

Explorer is available in BO1 and BO3 matches for both ranked and unranked play, Constructed events, and specialty events like the Explorer Metagame Challenge.

How Will Cards Be Added to Explorer?

Cards will be added to Explorer in the same fashion as in Pioneer, through Standard set releases. There may be additional methods like Historic Anthologies to introduce cards to the client, but there won’t be digital-only cards added to Explorer as it approaches Pioneer’s base of cards.

How Will the Explorer Banlist Work?

The banlist for Explorer will start identical to Pioneer and evolve from there and may differ from the Pioneer banlist. But they’ll revert bans made to balance Explorer that aren’t on the Pioneer banlist as all the cards needed to turn Explorer into Pioneer make their way onto the client.

Is Smuggler's Copter Banned in Explorer?

Smuggler's Copter is not available on Magic Arena, though it was unbanned in Pioneer on December 4, 2023.

What Will Happen to Explorer in the Future?

The long-term goal for Explorer is to retire the format once all the cards legal in Pioneer are on Arena. Explorer was created with the express purpose of being a temporary solution to bridge the gap between the current state of Arena and the future version of Arena with more cards fully integrated into the client.

Wrap Up

Dramatic Finale | Illustration by Steve Argyle

We’ve had Explorer on Arena for a couple of years now, and it’s had some big meta changes in that time, mainly due to the anthology sets. While there had been debate since the original announcement of Pioneer if Pioneer would ever make its way to Arena, the announcement of Pioneer Masters in 2024 puts those debates to rest. Eventually Pioneer will end up on Arena and more players than ever will be able to experience a format that is becoming more and more popular in the competitive paper scene.

What do you think of the Explorer format? What decks are you most excited to play? Let me know in the comments down below or over on the Draftsim Twitter. And don't forget to grab Arena Tutor before you foray into this format. It's free, helps you track your games and stats, and you can even work towards some fun achievements if you like having goals.

Thanks so much for reading, and stay safe!