The Ultimate Guide to Pioneer Masters (PIO) Draft

Last updated on December 26, 2024

Liliana, Defiant Necromancer | Illustration by Karla Ortiz

Greetings planeswalkers! “Explorer” as we know it will hopefully soon be a thing of the past, as the age of Pioneer Masters (PIO) is fast approaching. This MTG Arena-only set promises to get Explorer mostly up to speed, though there are still going to be random Casualties of War (i.e., Battle at the Bridge) that won’t be on the client). Beyond its impact on Constructed, Pioneer Masters is also notable for being another draftable Magic set on Arena.

Keep reading for the Day-0 low-down on how to best approach this new format!

Sets and Mechanics

Radiant Flames | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

Pioneer Masters draws heavily from several sets that haven’t yet been on MTG Arena, most prominently the Return to Ravnica block, the Battle for Zendikar block, the Theros block, Fate Reforged, Dragons of Tarkir, Magic Origins, and Core Sets 2014/2015. As such, its choice of mechanics is heavily influenced by the sets that were needed for Pioneer reprints. Going off sheer quantity of mechanics, Pioneer Masters is absolutely massive, as a full mechanical list would include all of:

Converge, Devoid, Support, Landfall, Dash, Exploit, Rebound, Formidable, Manifest, Prowess, Delve, Ferocious, Devotion, Heroic, Bestow, Extort, Scavenge, Evolve, Overload, Battalion, Surge, Awaken, Renown, Monstrosity, Fuse, Detain, Cipher, Bloodrush, Afterlife, Adventure, Delirium, Double-faced cards, Exert, Convoke, Embalm, Kicker, Undergrowth, and Blood tokens.

Practical Mechanics/Themes

In practice, most of the keywords listed above are restricted to just a card or two and won’t be prominent features in the Pioneer Masters Limited environment. However, there are some specific keywords and strategies that receive significant support in this set.

There are several creatures with heroic in PIO, all of which are from the Theros block. Key rarity downshifts (Hero of Iroas at common!?) mean Wx heroic should be a consistent draft theme. It also overlaps with Gladecover Scout and Gnarlback Rhino, which also appreciate spells that target them.

Bestow is also prominent, which complements the heroic mechanic well. Each color has at least one common bestow creature, and there are several uncommons plus Chromanticore for you to draft.

Devotion is another Theros mechanic that appears in the set a fair amount, though mostly at uncommon or above barring two exceptions (Nylea's Disciple and Disciple of Phenax). The entire pantheon of Theros gods is draftable at mythic too, though most of them actually seem pretty weak relative to PIO’s high power level.

Note that devotion cards are a part of one of PIO's bonus sheets, and not part of the set's regular roster of cards.

Enchantments: Theros‘s influence is felt once again here, as Pioneer Masters has a higher number of enchantments than the average set. You can recur enchantments or tutor enchantments with Heliod's Pilgrim, Lotus-Eye Mystics, and Commune with the Gods. If you’d rather just get rid of them, Keening Apparition and Unravel the Aether provide two solid options at common.

There’s a reasonable number of prowess creatures (6 total) across common/uncommon rarities, plus a few cards like Nivix Cyclops which may as well have prowess. You can pair these with removal spells and cantrips like Consider and Shoulder to Shoulder for consistent triggers.

Graveyard payoffs: Pioneer Masters seems to support multiple avenues for getting value out of your graveyard. Cards like Treasure Cruise, Bloodfire Enforcers, Dreg Mangler, and Nemesis of Mortals play well with self-mill like Commune with the Gods, Undead Butler, and Fallaji Archaeologist.

Gates are a prominently supported subtheme in Pioneer Masters. Most of the strongest gates payoffs are in the set, including key uncommons like Guild Summit, Gatebreaker Ram, Gates Ablaze, and Archway Angel. The set also includes 11 common gates (10 duals + Gateway Plaza), District Guide, and several Gatekeeper cards like Opal Lake Gatekeepers to further pay you off.

Double-faced lands: Each color has one common/uncommon dual-faced land, both of which are from Zendikar Rising. Rarity downshifts made this possible. There aren’t really “build-arounds” but are always a treat to play in Limited, as spell/land hybrids generally result in a more consistent deck.

Bonus Sheet

One oddity about Pioneer Masters is its use of bonus sheets. There are three 40-card sheets in PIO, which encompass 120 different cards. Each of these has a pretty simple theme: The first is devotion, the second planeswalkers, and the third spells.

But here's the kicker! The bonus sheets rotates every two weeks on the following schedule:

• Planeswalkers: December 10–24
• Spells: December 24–January 7
• Devotion: January 7–21

The devotion bonus sheet includes not only devotion cards, but also creatures with useful pips like Archaeomancer and Nightveil Specter. These give the set a different character for each of the weeks that it’s draftable on Arena.

For this guide, I’ve tried to mostly focus on cards that will always be in Pioneer Masters. I’ve reviewed bonus sheet cards in the uncommon/rares sections, so keep in mind they won’t always be appearing in packs you open. None of the top commons I’ve included are bonus sheet cards.

Rarity Downshifts and Upshifts

Seeing Dreadbore at common is a shocking experience, but that’s the kind of experience you’re in for with Pioneer Masters! While I won’t list every single rarity change, a few of the most remarkable ones are:

• Dreadbore and Hero of Iroas from rare to common,
• Boon Satyr and Loxodon Smiter (both Pro Tour finalist cards!) from rare to uncommon,
• Master of Waves at rare rather than mythic (you might get to draft multiples!),
• Assemble the Legion now at mythic rather than rare (definitely because of Limited).

The general effect of these shifts is to make Pioneer Masters feel like a proper Masters set. If you’re jumping into PIO after playing Foundations, expect to feel a bit of whiplash, as your decks should be much more powerful on average.

Multicolor Commons and Archetypes

One other thing worth noting about rarity shifts is that 10 2-color uncommons have been shifted down to common for PIO! These act as classic signposts for the set’s (loose) 2c Draft archetypes.

The full list of these plus my read on their corresponding archetypes are:

• Lyev Skyknight (WU Skies)
• Possessed Skaab (UB Control)
• Dreadbore (BR Midrange)
• Zendikar Incarnate (RG Stompy)
• Selesnya Charm (GW Midrange)
• Imperious Oligarch (BW Attrition)
• Nivix Cyclops (UR Spells)
• Dreg Mangler (BG Midrange)
• Martial Glory (RW Heroic)
• Skyrider Elf (GUx Ramp)

Archetypes

The 2-color archetypes in Pioneer Masters seem less defined than most Magic sets. While there are more multicolor cards than normal (one for each pair at common, and 2-4 for each pair at uncommon), they’re distributed unevenly and often don’t overlap thematically. This means your drafts probably won’t feel “on rails” in most color pairs but should feel “on rails” if you can latch onto a strongly supported theme like Gates or Heroic.

Either way, it’s good to have a bit of a plan for what to do with each color pair!

WU Skies

Lyev Skyknight is a great beater that works best in decks with other ways to apply pressure. I expect WU to often have a heroic subtheme, as cards like Sungrace Pegasus, Wingsteed Rider, and Ghostblade Eidolon really like pump spells and auras. White will usually be your more prominent color, with blue’s best offerings being Clutch of Currents, Cloudfin Raptor, and Nimbus Naiad.

UB Control

Possessed Skaab works best in a controlling deck with some self-mill and lots of good interaction for it to grab. The plan is to get back spells like Far // Away, Devour Flesh, and Ob Nixilis's Cruelty and keep 1-for-1’ing your opponent until they concede. You can rebuild resources using card advantage like Read the Bones, Treasure Cruise, and Sight Beyond Sight.

BR Midrange

Dreadbore is about as archetype agnostic as a spell can be, and BR’s other multicolor offerings (Bloodtithe Harvester, Toil // Trouble, Rakdos's Return, etc.) are similar. There also isn’t much of a sacrifice theme in PIO (though you do have Nantuko Husk at common and Limits of Solidarity at uncommon). I’d expect this color pair to be employing a “good stuff” strategy in most cases. Draft the best removal spells and creatures you can and apply steady pressure while consistently killing anything important your opponent plays.

RG Stompy

Zendikar Incarnate is a simple creature that hits pretty hard for its mana value. The rest of RG is pretty similarly straightforward. Try pairing beaters like Rubblebelt Raiders, Nessian Asp, and Heart-Piercer Manticore with support cards like Domri Rade and Ghor-Clan Rampager. This is also a great home for powerful rarity-shifted cards like Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma, Honored Hydra, Boon Satyr, and Heart-Piercer Manticore. I’ll be relying on District Guide here often, as the color pair looks quite land hungry.

GW Midrange

Selesnya Charm? I’ll take four, please, as that’s the kind of card that really just about does it all in Limited. There’s not much fanciness to GW in PIO, as its best qualities are mostly just efficient creatures and flexible cards. Loxodon Smiter at uncommon means you should be able to get multiple fat elephants if you find the right lane. I imagine there’ll be two prominent flavors of GW, ranging from straightforward beatdown to builds that are basically just heroic decks. Selesnya Charm is going to make the cut either way!

WB Attrition

WB feels like one of the more anemic color pairs in Pioneer Masters, mostly due to its lackluster multicolor cards. Imperious Oligarch is efficient against early creatures, but other multicolor offerings like Sin Collector and Cartel Aristocrat fail to impress. You might be able to do a mini-aristocrats deck here, as some of the pieces are definitely around (Cartel Aristocrat, Nantuko Husk, Zulaport Cutthroat, etc.). Otherwise, though, this is a color pair I’ll be actively avoiding, so try splashing Blood Baron of Vizkopa if you can.

UR Spells

UR is a more optimistic color pair to evaluate, as its multicolor offerings seem better than WB’s. Turn // Burn, Stormchaser Mage, and Nivix Cyclops are efficient cards for a UR prowess deck. You could also try going bigger with resilient bombs like Keranos, God of Storms and lots of removal and card draw spells. As always with UR, the key is to figure out what “flavor” of UR spells you are, though there’s no shame in just throwing a standalone bomb into an otherwise focused prowess deck.

BG Midrange

Dreg Mangler at common is a house and makes this flavor of BG feel more aggressive than most sets. You won’t be leaning much into heroic here, so instead expect to just play standalone good creatures plus black removal to clear a path for beats. I wouldn’t classify this as a “graveyard” archetype, as most of the incentives are value bonuses rather than hard build-arounds. Nemesis of Mortals is probably the closest thing to one in PIO, so expect it to do good work here.

RW Heroic

RW is easily among the best supported color pairs in the set. Martial Glory, Anax and Cymede, and Tenth District Legionnaire all go perfectly together, and there are plenty of other heroic creatures, too. You can repeatedly target creatures with a variety of solid cards like Artful Maneuver, Rimrock Knight, Fall of the Hammer, Witch's Mark, and Expedite.

GUx Ramp

The last archetype will probably be the most varied, as Skyrider Elf rewards you for going out of color as much as possible. GU’s other multicolor offerings are mostly straightforward, as cards like Kiora's Follower and Urban Evolution can go in just about any deck. There’s a strong overlap between Skyrider Elf and gates matter stuff, so expect to see GUx Gates often. It and RW Heroic will likely occupy prominent ends as the premier fast/slow decks of the format.

Top Commons

Part of the fun of new Draft sets is always trying to predict the top commons for each color pair. I’ll give three for each here, plus a bit of commentary on each color’s identity in Pioneer Masters.

White

White is a lean aggressive color that really likes the heroic mechanic in PIO. Most white cards overlap with that purpose, though there are some exceptions like Swift Reckoning and Lotus-Eye Mystics that don’t line up well with other commons. I’d expect it’s best three commons to be:

#1. Hero of Iroas

Hero of Iroas‘s rarity shift is remarkable, so it should come as no surprise that Hero of Iroas looks to be a top common. It has a better creature rate than alternatives like Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, plus handy cost reduction for cards like Compulsory Rest, Knightly Valor, and Gift of Orzhova.

#2. Sejiri Shelter / Sejiri Glacier

All the MDFCs are strong Limited cards, but Sejiri Shelter / Sejiri Glacier in particular seems excellent. Heroic decks love Gods Willing type protection spells, so getting to play one that’s also a tapped Plains can do wonders for your decks’ consistency. Remember to count these as roughly about 0.5 lands when deckbuilding.

#3. Compulsory Rest

Compulsory Rest‘s sacrifice drawback is relevant against bestow since your opponent can “free” bestowed creatures with it. Either way, this white enchantment is close enough to Pacifism and can be tutored by Heliod's Pilgrim, so I expect it to be better than Swift Reckoning for most decks.

Blue

Blue is a varied color with some nice tempo spells, a few instant/sorcery friendly creatures, and Treasure Cruise which is, well, Treasure Cruise.

#1. Treasure Cruise

Fairly obvious but Treasure Cruise is a messed-up rate when it works. You’ll have to put in the work though, which means cards like Fallaji Archaeologist, Consider, Undead Butler, and Commune with the Gods are a must. If you can’t build around this blue sorcery, I’d recommend just playing one copy to avoid severe diminishing returns.

#2. Essence Scatter

Essence Scatter is strong, efficient all-purpose interaction that seems well positioned in this format. Many decks (particularly green ones) look quite ponderous, which plays right into Essence Scatter. This counterspell is good in any base blue deck and is generally much easier to line up than Cancel variants.

#3. Fallaji Archaeologist

Treasure Cruise gives this blue creature an incredible purpose that it was lacking in The Brothers' War. Finding Treasure Cruise off of this already reduces its cost down to before any other cards are factored in. It’s also a generally useful blocker that provides a nice speed bump against aggro.

Black

Black kills creatures, draws cards, and mills itself a bit for value with cards like Gurmag Angler and Sanitarium Skeleton. There’s also a small sacrifice theme with Nantuko Husk and Silumgar Butcher. Its best qualities are mostly straightforward, though.

#1. Ob Nixilis's Cruelty

No-questions-asked removal that gets almost everything in the format. Ob Nixilis's Cruelty even exiles too, and it’s a black instant at a very affordable rate.

#2. Nantuko Husk

A seriously threatening black creature in the right deck, and PIO has some cards that work well with it like Sanitarium Skeleton, Zulaport Cutthroat, Cavern Lampad, Rogue's Passage, and Undead Butler. Worth building around, though you shouldn’t include it in decks that lack support for it.

#3. Gurmag Angler

Great graveyard payoff, similar to Treasure Cruise. You’ll want one big fish in almost every deck, and more than one in decks that can support it.

Red

Red is an aggressive color with lots of support for heroic at common, plus a few other cards for stompy/spells. Its card quality looks pretty high overall thanks to downshifted uncommons.

#1. Rimrock Knight

Rimrock Knight was an amazing common in Throne of Eldraine, and you didn’t even have heroic in that set! The flexibility here is key for consistently curving out with pump spells. Rimrock Knight completely outclasses most other common 2-drops like Makindi Sliderunner and Boundary Lands Ranger.

#2. Wild Slash

Shock looks great in a set with Hero of Iroas, Wingsteed Rider, and Nantuko Husk at common. It also goes face, though the damage prevention line is mostly flavor text here (Fog is technically uncommon, I suppose).

#3. Fall of the Hammer

Removal + heroic triggers = one happy customer. This red instant is also just secretly red Bite Down for stompy decks, which also make great use of it.

Green

Green’s main strengths seem to be fixing, ramping, and fatties, which puts it in line with green in most sets. It has some great support cards for heroic, but it’d likely need to be paired with red or white to take advantage of them.

#1. District Guide

District Guide is a solid all-around green creature that is a must have for anything greedy, as it’s hard to get more reliable than this for fixing your mana.

#2. Gnarlback Rhino

Good base stats + free cards from pump spells, auras, and Savage Punch has me very interested in Gnarlback Rhino. It’s common too, so you should be able to get multiples and build around it.

#3. Audacity

Speaking of build-arounds, Audacity is about as good as it gets for heroic creatures. Audacity is a cheap, powerful aura that even refunds itself when your creature gets dealt with.

Weaker Commons

As a Masters set, Pioneer Masters manages to include a couple of general stinkers that won’t be great in most decks. These aren’t specific to any one color, but are worth mentioning:

Lagonna-Band Trailblazer: Not the worst card, but definitely the humblest of all common heroic creatures. This is more of a blocker/backup plan and will ideally be cuttable from your builds.

Tah-Crop Skirmisher: The power level in PIO is a bit high for cards that were mere filler in Amonkhet. You’ll play this if you need a 2 and never be happy about it.

Returned Centaur: There are two ways to approach this one: Either you’re targeting yourself for value, or targeting your opponent because you got all of them. Either way, the body just isn’t very good for its cost, so don’t play this centaur without a solid reason.

Makindi Sliderunner: Evolving Wilds helps a little, but I can’t help but feel that this just isn’t up to snuff in a Masters set.

Darksteel Ingot: Between common gates, District Guide, Courier's Briefcase, and Evolving Wilds, I have a strong feeling you can do better than this for mana fixing.

Halo Scarab: Similar critique applies, though this at least can trade with a 2-drop so I’m more likely to start it.

Scion of Ugin: Mediocre common fattie is mediocre. If you need an honest flier/wincon at the top of the curve, you can play it, but you usually won’t.

Strong Uncommons

Pioneer Masters is jam packed with a lot of strong uncommons, many of which are rares that were shifted downwards. These are often going to be the most important and draft-defining cards in Pioneer Masters. I’ll review some excellent ones for you here to give you a taste. Note that this section does include bonus sheet cards, so some of the cards you see here may not be draftable at the time you’re drafting the set!

Celestial Archon was a rare originally, so suffice to say that Air Elemental plus first strike/bestow is a pretty good Limited card.

Bonus Sheet: Devotion

Fiendslayer Paladin is an excellent creature to suit up, as it dodges many of the most prominent removal spells in the format and has two great abilities.

Very strong 2-drop for an aggressive deck, as Imposing Sovereign punches for 2 and puts your opponent's blockers a turn behind.

Limited is generally slow enough for Mentor of the Meek to shine in most white creature decks, though it can sometimes take a bit long to get going.

Stasis Snare is premium white removal for dedicated white decks, especially since this white enchantment has flash and can blow out heroic setups.

Guild Summit is among the best gate payoffs in the set, being very strong card advantage that works well at any point in the game if you can build around it.

Prowess is a great ability on a Scroll Thief, so Jhessian Thief can do quite a bit of work alongside cards like Wild Slash, Shoulder to Shoulder, and Clutch of Currents.

Murmuring Mystic is one of the strongest spells payoffs in the set. Great blocker that can win the game on its own if left alive for long enough.

Bonus Sheet: Devotion

All you need to do is play Sphinx's Tutelage and survive, and it will eventually kill your opponent. It’s a powerful build-around that looks especially good against durdly gates piles.

Fell Stinger is an excellent value creature if you can pair it with fodder like Undead Butler and Sanitarium Skeleton.

Bonus Sheet: Devotion

Another strong value creature, Keepsake Gorgon’s a giant wall of a blocker that can pick off a creature later if you drag the game on long enough.

Priest of the Blood Rite is an efficient curve topper, though you’ll definitely want a plan to get rid of the 2/2. Best in decks with cards like Nantuko Husk for obvious reasons.

Ultimate Price isn’t quite Terminate, but hitting about 80-90% of creatures is certainly good enough to make it great. Premium removal in a set with many good other options.

Fight with Fire is solid red removal on its own, but the kicker is especially notable as its often “you win the game”. I’m not sure if I’ll be kicking it as much as I did in Dominaria, but either way you’ll want to play Fight with Fire.

Getting to use Heart-Piercer Manticore twice means you can get quite a bit of Fling damage out of it when you want to. You’re under no pressure to always do so though, which makes for a red creature that is excellent at any stage of the game.

Monastery Swiftspear is a premium aggro card for very lean/aggressive decks that still sees play today across several Magic formats. It’s not always the best in Limited, but it’s certainly capable of nut draws.

Another rare to uncommon downshift, Boon Satyr is best as a very powerful combat trick though the flash mode has uses.

Excellent aggressive card if you can play Experiment One early and curve out with it. Regeneration gives it a surprising amount of safety for a 1-drop.

Another peak payoff for Gates.dek, Gatebreaker Ram can get incredibly large in the right shell. This works as both a wincon and a giant wall if you have the goods.

Cost reduction is nice, but Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma‘s real appeal is huge trample swings which can decimate your opponent.

Honored Hydra is premium fat that plays very well with self-mill. Hard-casting this is good, but freerolling it off a Commune with the Gods is even better.

Still an amazing 2-drop to this day, really. Bloodtithe Harvester is just such an efficient Rakdos card (), as it punches for 3, acts as removal when needed, and even provides a free rummage effect.

You won’t be getting Loxodon Smiter for free often, but a 3-mana 4/4 with upside is definitely above rate here. Essence Scatter will be sad to see this elephant soldier!

Tenth District Legionnaire is a premium heroic creature that goes perfectly with other heroic cards/pump spells. The haste and extra card selection are relevant bonuses over something like Hero of Iroas.

Bomb Rares

PIO has some bombs, that’s for sure. While many of the mythics/rares feel more like box checking for the format (i.e. Enter the Infinite, Day's Undoing, the Theros gods, etc.), there’ll certainly be some heavy hitters in PIO. Note that this section does include bonus sheet cards, so some of the cards you see here may not be draftable at the time you’re drafting the set!

Mythics

Untap with Archangel of Thune and you win, basically. There’s not actually much raw lifegain to pair this angel with (Sungrace Pegasus is your best bet), but it doesn’t really matter as connecting once with Archangel of Thune usually does the trick.

Bonus Sheet: Planeswalkers

Planeswalker week is going to be a doozy thanks to cards like Elspeth, Sun's Champion! This white planeswalker is just an all-around 10/10 Limited card that is virtually unbeatable.

The best Gideon ever is back, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar isn’t even tied to the bonus sheet in Pioneer Masters. That means could spell your doom all month along, as Gideon does pretty much everything you could ever want at an efficient rate. It makes guys, beats for 5 a turn, and even Glorious Anthems if you need it.

Bonus Sheet: Spells

Tragic Arrogance translates in practice to “I keep my best thing(s), you keep your worst thing(s).” That’s a game winning set of phrases, so by all means try to digitally windmill slam this white sorcery.

Bonus Sheet: Planeswalkers

Cashing Jace, Architect of Thought in for cards is quite strong, as each mini Fact or Fiction gives you the best card(s) from the top 3 cards of your deck. That’s mostly all this blue planeswalker does, though that’s still well above average in Limited.

Bonus Sheet: Planeswalkers

Jace, Memory Adept is more of a win condition than a value card, as all it takes is 2-3 0s and you win the game. +1’ing it mostly isn’t recommended as 0 just kills so fast in Limited.

The best Jace ever is back too, though in Limited I’d probably give that title to Jace, Memory Adept. Either way, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is Merfolk Looter that flips into Snapcaster Mage and somehow just costs .

There was a brief period in Magic history when just about every planeswalker was some variant on Ob Nixilis Reignited; +1 draw, -3 kill, -X “you win the game” in some specific way. While we seem to be past that era, Ob Nixilis Reignited is still a powerful, classic design that’s sure to take over games of Limited.

Chandra, Flamecaller sweeps, draws cards, and also bashes for 6 if needed. Between this, Chandra, Pyromaster and Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Chandra fans were eating good back in that era!

Bonus Sheet: Spells

Try to save Mizzium Mortars for the sweeper mode if you can, as red Plague Wind is just a ludicrous Limited card. The flexibility here is also greatly appreciated.

Stormbreath Dragon is still one of the best dragons ever in Standard. The rate here is good to begin with, and monstrous is just icing on the cake/dragon.

District Guide is good, but how about one that becomes a planeswalker later on for free? Nissa, Vastwood Seer is a classic value creature that unfortunately has been muscled out of Pioneer itself.

0/1 plants may seem underwhelming, but you can just chump with them over and over and ride Nissa, Voice of Zendikar to -7/victory. -2 is also powerful and gives you additional control over the game state.

Whisperwood Elemental‘s anti-sweeper mode won’t come up much, but spitting out bears each end step is still pretty impressive.

Dragonlord Ojutai is a huge fat flier with protection that Anticipates if you can connect with it. Sitting behind a Void Shatter is a great idea, since the protection should keep it safe until you can happen.

Fat flying deathtoucher that Mind Controls your opponent's best thing. Yeah, Dragonlord Silumgar is a bomb, so please take/splash it highly.

Dragonlords are just bomby in general, really. Dragonlord Atarka has massive stats and can kill multiple creatures when you play it, which is well worth the wait.

Getting the idea yet? Huge flying lifelinker that prevents any countermagic or removal on your turn. Dragonlord Dromoka wins games!

Blood Baron of Vizkopa also wins games, particularly in matchups where the protection is relevant. I’m not looking forward to seeing this Orzhov card () again, as it’s quite miserable if you can’t answer it.

Bonus Sheet: Devotion

Not the fastest value engine, but definitely a safe one. Keranos, God of Storms bolts or draws every single turn and makes for a great splash/wincon in a controlling deck.

WotC was wise to rarity-shift Assemble the Legion, as it’s hard to remove and completely takes over the game after a couple of turns. Its only drawback is being in a color pair that won’t usually be interested in 5-drops, so expect it to be splashed often.

Rares

Getting blown out by Dictate of Heliod in combat is rough, as this sits around as a double Glorious Anthem right afterwards. Keening Apparition will feel worth its weight in gold if you ever have it against this.

Linvala, the Preserver is sort of a proto Beza, the Bounding Spring, though not quite as efficient. Either way, you’re getting a huge flier plus potentially another one and 5 life based on how the game is going. Sign me up!

Another terrifying white rare, particularly if you thought your opponent was “out of gas.” Secure the Wastes can make an absurd number of creatures in very little time out of nowhere.

Among the coolest control win conditions ever printed, thanks to Tyler Jacobson’s amazing art. It’s also a miserable Limited card, as you pretty much aren’t removing Aetherling once it hits the table. Hope you can race or counter it!

Untapping with Niblis of Frost seems gross, as it’s very difficult to race if it doesn’t immediately eat a kill spell. It punches above its mana cost thanks to prowess and can lock down multiple creatures with the right support.

Sidisi, Undead Vizier‘s body is quite good, so getting a Diabolic Intent on top of that is of some serious value. Works especially well in decks with good fodder and other bombs to tutor up.

Soulflayer is probably not the best black card, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that it and Chromanticore are in the same set!

Goblin Rabblemaster is still one of the strongest red creatures ever printed in Standard. This kills remarkably fast on its own and can even act as card advantage sometimes if the 1/1s stick around.

Chandra’s parents make for a solid value creature that goes especially well with other artifact producers. You certainly don’t have to build around Pia and Kiran Nalaar though, as this is very much a standalone rare for any red deck.

This was one of the best cards in Theros, so get ready to lose to Polukranos, World Eater more now that it’s been downgraded to rare. It’s a well-costed creature for its cost that can potentially eat multiple small creatures, though you’ll usually settle for just one.

In the 5-color Gates deck, Woodland Wanderer will often be a 6/6 or 7/7 vigilance/trample which is incredible for its cost. Even outside of that, the rate is pretty much always good in Limited, so I’d highly recommend this one.

Bonus Sheet: Spells

Rakdos's Return is a neat and powerful take on Blightning that’s scalable but less efficient. This is a very powerful effect!

Efficient beater that can eventually become almost entirely unkillable. I look forward to playing with Fleecemane Lion again, as it was quite the force back in the day!

Boros Reckoner‘s mana cost is interesting, as it’s very easy to play in RW and almost impossible to play otherwise. If you can cast it though, this is still an incredible Boros card () even in 2024. Combat against it is pretty miserable, and first strike can really mess with your opponent since it’s already so annoying to deal with.

Splashing and Mana Fixing

This is by no means a strict 2-color set! Your options for fixing in Pioneer Masters include:

• District Guide
• Courier's Briefcase
• 10 2c common gates
• Evolving Wilds
• Gateway Plaza
• Halo Scarab
• Darksteel Ingot

There’s enough fixing that I’d definitely recommend taking and splashing bombs, at least when you see elite single-pipped ones. There’s also something to be said for being truly 3-color to make double-pipped cards work. Lean heroic decks versus multicolor greed piles is what I expect to see often in this format. And don’t forget that the gates theme provides another strong incentive for splashing/durdling!

Wrap Up

Tragic Arrogance | Illustration by Winona Nelson

And with that, we’ve covered Pioneer Masters! I must admit, bonus sheets make for a weird experience when trying to Day 0 a set, as certain colors/decks will likely feel better from week to week. Either way, you can’t go wrong with Wx Heroic and Gx value decks, so I’d recommend drafting those if you aren’t sure.

Which cards are you looking forward to playing in Pioneer Masters Limited? Which archetypes are you looking forward to drafting? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, and may your Pioneer Masters drafts always be sweet!