Another week means another edition of Neat-Decking, although this is the first week where I struggled a little bit to find decks. I only ended up with three decks, all of which are for Pioneer. 

This is the first week where this has happened, so I am hoping it is just an outlier, though even if it isn’t, Foundations is right around the corner, which will be another influx of new cards for people to brew with.

And even still, the three decks I have today are all still pretty cool, so even if it’s a limited pool, it is still an interesting one. 

Our first deck here comes from Franticore, who piloted this Mono U Enigma Jewel list to a 5-0 this past week. Enigma Jewel decks are always interesting to me, as someone who has never played one but has seen them many times. One of my favorite things about these decks is how the extra mana allows you to play a bunch of utility lands with the ability to activate them, while still having mana for spells. I’m also a big fan of any sideboard plan that is just a fist full of counterspells, especially in a deck like this where you do actually want to play at instant speed if possible. 

Our next deck comes to us from MadMaxErnst, who has taken a page out of the Enigmatic playbook, without playing Enigmatic. Instead, this list fully leans into Zur, Eternal Schemer and the Overlords as a way to cheat on mana. Zur can turn an enchanted overlord into a creature with the activated ability, and since Zur’s ability to do that is permanent, you get to Impend the Overlords to get them out for cheaper, then turn them on for an additional two mana. 

While Zur enchanting Overlord of the Mistmoors and Hauntwoods is a slight decrease in power and toughness, it is actually a buff to Overlord of the Floodpits, which is a pretty fun interaction. Since this is an Up the Beanstalk deck, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have the card advantage edge over your opponent as well, and even without Zur, the Overlords turn into pretty nasty threats on their own. I also have always loved the card Heliod’s Intervention and am happy to see that show up in the sideboard. 

I am saving the best for last here, because PredatorStyle’s UG list is amazing. I like that people are brewing with Fecund Greenshell, and this deck certainly does that very well. Basically every card in this list puts a land into play, or tutor a land to your hand. I also really like Dreamdew Enchanter in this list, either as a way to slow your opponent down or to stun your own Grazer for some extra card advantage. Pretty much every creature in this list also has Reach, making the Spirits matchup and Slickshot Show-Off matchup better almost incidentally because you’re playing all these cards anyway. Four main-deck Pawpatch Formation is also just hilarious anti-flying creature tech as well, in addition to giving some lifegain or enchantment hate. 

I also want to mention what a great top end Blue Sun’s Twilight is for this list, as without Greenshell on board, I feel like this deck would struggle with actual finishing power. Well, Blue Sun’s Twilight not only serves as a removal option, but also a way to end the game by putting potentially a lot of power on your side of the board while taking some away from your opponent. 

This kind of list is exactly what Neat-Decking is about, so even in a week where I don’t have a lot of decks to talk about, the spirit of the series is carried on in full force.

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And that’ll do it for another week. I once again want to say that I’m incredibly excited for Foundations, as I was a big fan of Core sets and am looking forward to see how the spiritual successor to them plays out. It should have some pretty powerful stuff in it, based on the things they’ve already shown. 

If anyone has any suggestions on that or wants to offer up decks I missed, please find me in thegathering.gg’s discord server @adolce95. Other than that, I’m looking forward to sharing more lists next week!