Last updated on February 13, 2024

Dig Through Time - Illustration by Ryan Yee

Dig Through Time | Illustration by Ryan Yee

MTG Arena is a huge part of the Magic ecosystem. It’s nearly impossible to avoid it since the premier format (Standard) has all but completely shifted to the digital sphere. Pioneer is in a unique spot as a non-rotating format, with a relatively equal card pool to Explorer and a lower cost than Magic’s sweetheart, Modern.

But the question remains: how does Wizards implement cards from the Pioneer card pool into Arena? To answer that, we need to travel back to the start of Magic Online (the now-aged digital game used to play Modern, Legacy, and such) to see how old cards were implemented.

The answer is a Masters set. Enter Pioneer Masters! I’m here to give you the 411 on the set and where I think Pioneer is headed with this set.

So, let’s begin!

Pioneer Masters Basic Information

Pioneer Masters has little confirmed info. Previously promised a release in 2021, Wizards replaced this with a promise that by the end of 2024, we'd see “tournament Pioneer” meaning all of the fomat's relevant competitive cards would exist both on paper and on Arena.

The steps to be taken are booster pack inserts and anthologies with curated cards being added to Magic Arena in small chunks. The big hitter will be the Pioneer Masters set that has packs on MTGA and is available to draft and for constructed play.

Set Details

When there's word of the slightest more detail, this section will have the data like the set symbol, number of cards, and other facts.

Important Dates

If you've played Magic for as little as three months you've probably seen one of these schedules, first looks and previews, then prerelease and the paper release. Once we get a nugget of a fact, we'll share it here.

About the Set: The Story

The masters sets generally don't have a deep history other than what exists for the individual cards.

Set Mechanics

Not sure what mechanics will return in Pioneer Masters, but if previous masters sets are any indication, it'll be a lot of them.

Reprint Speculation

With zero information on the actual set, nothing here can be confirmed as set in stone. With that being said, there are a few things that I can say with the utmost confidence:

  1. Cards that appear in Kaladesh or Amonkhet Remastered probably won’t appear in this set.
  2. Cards that are currently Historic-legal probably won’t appear in this set.

I put together my top picks for what I think will be reprinted in Pioneer Masters:

Thanks to sets like Khans of Tarkir, Kaladesh Remastered, and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered added to Arena, few remaining cards would be highly desired reprints.

Gurmag Angler

Death's Shadow’s best friend will probably make an appearance in this Pioneer Masters because it’s such a good common. Time will only tell if it’s good enough for Arena without fetches.

Bring to Light

The card that helped birth the incredible “Niv-to-Light” archetype, Bring to Light would be a very sad omission, especially with so many multicolored cards in Historic that Niv-Mizzet Reborn can capitalize on.

Pioneer and Arena: A Love Story

Pioneer was plagued with a lot of bad luck from its inception. Initially there was a lack of bannings, and an egregious combo deck with a monolithic presence that took over the format.

Since then, the format has continued to see its hype dwindle. Some believe that Pioneer is the post-Standard sandbox for those who want to reuse those cards.

The ManaTraders Series sprinkles in Pioneer for their monthly tournaments.

Could a potential move to Arena be the solution?

What's the Purpose of Pioneer Masters?

Gurmag Angler

Gurmag Angler | Illustration by Yw Tang

There are a few implications with this set.

It means that WotC is gradually adding Pioneer to Arena after its lack of success in Magic Online. This will open the format up to a lot of people and bring it over to the flagship platform, which means that the player count should go up. It’ll also increase the interest in digital Pioneer events, which means that Wizards may be making it the successor to Modern (or attempting to).

This could be really important for the growth of both Pioneer and Arena. Splitting the player base over two platforms makes overall retention lower, so this could help bring more players into the format. Count on the Arena subreddit to discuss any divisions among the player bases.

Pioneer Masters would be a refreshing change for those dissatisfied with the current state of the Arena formats. Pioneer could provide a better experience for players, meaning more players for the format.

What It Costs to Compete in Pioneer

Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko, Mob Boss | Illustration by Karl Kopinski

Pioneer isn’t cheap. At around half of the Modern deck pricing, playing Pioneer on Magic Online is still pretty inaccessible for a lot of players. Arena reduces this barrier, allowing people to use wildcards to play competitive Pioneer.

Moving to Arena will make the format a lot more accessible and put it on a platter for newer players to take part in, rebuilding the format hype and making sure that there’s an ecosystem and metagame within Pioneer.

Modern vs. Pioneer

Sadly, it seems MTGO isn’t Pioneer’s turf, so to speak, it’s Modern’s (and Legacy and co., but they just kind of vibe there). A move to Arena could bring the Pioneer back to life or signify a death knell for it. As long as Modern stays stable, though, a lot of people won’t see a reason to move from Modern to Pioneer on Magic Online, whereas Arena is free real estate.

The issue here is that, even though there have been a lot of powerful cards printed over the Return to Ravnica to Ixalan period, they’re nowhere near the bread and butter a format like Modern had at its inception in 2011. The format-defining cards aren’t as prevalent in Pioneer.

Where Does Pioneer Fit in Magic?

Thoughtseize

Thoughtseize | Illustration by Lucas Graciano

Where Pioneer fits with other formats depends on where Wizards wants to take it. Pioneer is stronger than Standard. The non-rotating format seems to have the broken stuff from four to six years ago, but without good answers.

It’s no longer a turn-5 format as all the combo decks are basically extinct other than the remains of a Lotus Breach carcass. Is the format less diverse than Historic? Or a lite version of Modern?

So where does Pioneer belong? It’s been a few years since the format came to fruition and it doesn’t really have an identity.

Staple Cards in Pioneer

Counterspells

Cryptic Command MTG card art by Jason Rainville

Cryptic Command | Illustration by Jason Rainville

Modern had the infamous counter, Cryptic Command among others as a foundation, whereas Pioneer doesn’t have any good ones other than the Cancel variants. Sinister Sabotage and Neutralize as examples.

Burn Spells

I understand that Wizards thinks Lightning Bolt is too strong for Pioneer, but Wild Slash and Torch the Tower as top 1-mana burn spells is too weak for a non-rotating format. The lack of good burn support has turned red into a weak splash color for board wipes rather than a driving force of aggression.

Grindy Card Advantage

Modern had Dark Confidant. Pioneer has… Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger? But that’s from Theros Beyond Death and doesn’t even draw you a card.

Let’s Take a Step Back

Maybe I’m being too harsh on the format. After all, it does have the best piece of hand-hate (Thoughtseize) as well as an amazing removal suite. There’s still a lot of room for improvement here, though.

Pioneer Masters probably won’t be a significant part of the Pioneer meta with a lot of the most important cards being legal in Historic. Only time will tell, but Pioneer needs to look forward to improve.

Official Spoilers

There are currently no spoilers out for Pioneer Masters. During the 30th Anniversary Panel in August 2023, there was no key art either. It's explained for a minute in the video, so when there's more, we’ll keep you updated here as soon as we get some tasty information. Save this page!

Unofficial Spoilers/Leaks

None yet, we could use an agent around Renton, Wash. familiar with R&D though.

Notable Cards

None yet, the cards I want to put here, have been trickling onto Arena already.

Available Products

Arena preorder bundles like the Play bundle, Pass bundle, and Pack bundle are likely products to find around any new set in the Arena Store.

Wrap Up

Don't Say Goodbye meme

So that’s it from me today! What do you think: is Arena a good home for Pioneer? Let me know in the comments down there. If you enjoyed this read, make sure to check out some of our other content for more goodies.

If you really want to help support what we’ve got going on here, please consider checking out and pledging to our Patreon! It really helps us do our thing for you and would mean so much to us.

Thank you for reading and since you've expressed interest in Magic Arena, you might like Arena Tutor, a free tool to help you, no matter which format you're playing on MTGA. Have a good one!

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