Pioneer Tier List
The Gathering creates tier lists for the RCQ and RC formats differently than our other tier lists. While data analysis serves as the basis, competitive Magic: The Gathering player IslandGoSAMe uses that data to create more of a predictive, forward-looking tier list for the RC/Q formats rather than a metagame share analysis, backwards-looking tier list.
S Tier
A Tier
An Aggressive Explosive Prowess Deck: 16 Prowess/”Prowess” creatures all get a little extra size out of already efficient cheap spells. Monstrous Rage its ilk can’t burn a player directly, but translate to 5+ damage each for one of the fastest possible Pioneer kills. Burn Together(Callous Sell-Sword) with Heartfire Hero offers an explosive combo finish
A Consistent Tempo Aggro Spells Deck: Draw cards, discard cards, and kill creatures with low cost spells while filling the graveyard. Izzet Phoenix is packed full of cantrips and cheap interaction, delve spells to keep cards flowing, and recursive threats that count the number of spells played per turn. Phoenix can always dig up what it needs while applying pressure.
Rakdos Midrange has adopted the Unstoppable Slasher and Unholy Annex but aims to improve on the Mono-Black Versions by adding red. They do that by adding the usual tools of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Bloodtithe Harvester.
B Tier
An Explosive Aggro Deck: Spread the aggro with as many Cheap creatures as possible. Use Cheap creatures, sagas, and Burning-Tree Emissary to flood the board all at once, pulling as maximum damage out of Prowess and Valiant Threats.
A spin on Selesnya death and taxes style lists, this is a disruptive creature deck. It uses taxing effects such as Thalia or Anointed Peacekeeper to slow opponents down, or exile effects such as Skyclave Apparition to remove threats. The deck often uses elves to ramp to a quick Collected Company on the opponent’s turn to interrupt their gameplan, then close out the game with beats.
A Synergistic Tempo Drain Deck: Jund Sac’s spells are rarely powerful on their own, but together they generate a myriad of different engines for dealing damage, drawing cards, and draining the opponent. RakSac runs creatures that sacrifice themselves, generate sacrificial permanents, and ultimately provide a lethal burst of damage or slowly bleed an opponent to death.
Midrange toolbox list that uses its namesake, Enigmatic Incarnation, to tutor powerful creature threats and answers to the board. The list saw a recent resurgence in popularity on the back of a boost from the Overlord cycle printed in Duskmourne. This cycle allows the enigmatic player to cast the overlord for its impending cost, then cheat a much higher CMC creature into play.
C Tier
A 5-Color Pure Midrange Guild Toolbox Deck- Niv-To-Light may look like a mess, but Bring to Light and an 80 card library means an answer for every deck and situation on this Pioneer Tier list. Niv Mizzet Reborn means as many of those cards as possible are exactly two colors, Omnath ends up being a free source of value in a 5-color deck, and Yorion adds consistency to an 80 card deck.
A combo deck supported by the usual Rakdos shell, it uses Transmogrify on a treasure or skeleton token to tutor a game-ending threat, such as Atraxa, to the battlefield.
A Consistent Aggressive Burn Deck: Your opponent starts with 20 life; That’s too many life; Make it 0 life, quickly! Attack with creatures and burn out the opponent, with a few ways to refresh the hand for cardflow. Being mono-colored allows for more creature-lands compared to other aggro decks, and significantly more budget-friendly substitution options
Deck Description Coming Soon
Deck Description Coming Soon
D Tier
Mardu Greasefang has taken the traditional versions of Greasefang and Rakdos Midrange and asked “Why not both?”. This has given up the majority of the speed of old Greasefang but has added a much sturdier midrange plan to the point where it can compete with most other decks when grinding.
Dimir Ninjas takes the old versions of Dimir Tempo and Builds on them with the recent addition of Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. The clock has since become much faster with Kaito’s Plus, and a multitude of tricks you can do with Ninjutsu can catch players off guard.
A Consistent Pure Combo Deck: Search up, copy, and untap the namesake Lotus Field to generate absurd amounts of mana. As a true dedicated combo deck, Lotus Field requires a lot of moving pieces to tap Lotus Field many times in one turn and cast a massive threat or Emergent Ultimatum to win the game all at once, as early as turn three
A Traditional Hard Control Deck: Answer threats, generate value, lock down the game, and win at your leisure. Azorius Control runs the best removal and sweepers available in Pioneer, with counterspells tuned to the meta as needed and strict instant-speed card advantage. A few planeswalkers, tokens, and lands are the only threats. This is the deck for simply telling your opponent “No”.
A Proactive Goldfish Lifegain Deck: Play angels, gain life, and attack with angels- yes each of those angels gained you 36 life. Angels only struggle against infinite combos and board wipes, flying over and ignoring everything else. Kayla’s Reconstruction and Collected Company deploy fliers that enter at the same time, triggering each other’s effects.
