I’ve seen a lot of talk about the power level of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and boy there are some of the spiciest takes imaginable (looking at you Reddit). So, as I do with every set, I’m here to place my bets on just what cards could shake up Pioneer with what I consider the top 10 best cards in OTJ.  

10:Scorching Shot

Better get ready to put your Roasts back in the bulk bin, with the printing of Scorching Shot.  5 Damage misses very little in the current meta outside of Niv-Mizzet Reborn and Atraxa, but it hopefully will be many years till Pioneer needs 2 mana red removal for that level of threats. In the current red decks, it will be limited to sideboard play but if a red-based midrange ever pops up again, I would not be surprised if this was a main deck viable option.  

9:Tinybones, the Pickpocket

Tiny Bones fills tiny homes in the one-drop slot of rogues. While not as good as the other one-drop they play, Thieves’ Guild Enforcer, the deck has always struggled with the lack of good one-drop creatures that mill post-Lurrus ban. 

Tiny Bones reads like the poor man’s Ragavan, while providing even less than that. If left uncontested, it provides a lot of value when paired with mill or the ever-present Thoughtseize to give you options to cast from your opponent’s yard, but in the current format, a 1/1 dies to a stiff breeze, even if deathtouch provides some evasion when attacking. This floor and ceiling even it out where it will only see play in rogues, but still the deck will have to wait for a shift in the meta to be playable outside of FNM.

8:Duelist of the Mind

Young Nathan Steuer here is a bit of a gamble on my end. It reads like a tempo-centric version of Pioneer staple Ledger Shredder, but with giving up the permanent power and toughness for being much easier to trigger. It’s never going to present the fastest clock outside of being paired with Treasure Cruise and Of One Mind, but should help alleviate some of the “drawing the wrong half” problem that most tempo decks struggle with while also protecting your life from the more aggressive decks. I don’t have the biggest hopes for it on making a pet deck competition-viable, but I can see a world where it does pretty clearly. 

7:Grand Abolisher

Outlaws of Thunder Junction gives us a powerful two-drop human that will see play in the sideboards of Humans and Lotus field combo decks. It’s a powerful card with a boring effect. 

6:Three Steps Ahead

Now this card is cool for one of the more common pet decks of the format, Dimir Control. This will replace Sinister Sabotage going forward as just the amount of options and synergy it provides with the current lists is astounding.

Its first option of just being Cancel is by far the most boring, but is going to be the most used option.

The second one, while probably being the least useful of the bunch, provides a lot of flexibility in the Gearhulk-centric lists to either provide a faster clock, any instant in the graveyard, or both. It is worth noting though that in the Gearhulk versions,you will have to pay for the extra spree costs if you chose to cast it with Gearhulk.

The third and final ability is what puts it miles above Sinister in value. Being able to hold up card selection and a counterspell with one card is an incredible amount of power for one card. Its plays into the old addage of each instant in your deck making each other one better by hiding which option you are holding up mana for. 

All of this to not even mention the most exciting and flashy option of doing two or three of these things late into the game that will outvalue a lot of other turns by itself. 

5: Slickshot Show-Off

This one is much more of a mixed bag for me. The card is powerful – don’t get me wrong, but it’s also incredibly fragile. The other main concern is that two mana is very expensive in the main deck that will play it, Boros Heroic, and I don’t see that deck playing another two-drop. If I’m right about that, then its main competition is Tenth District Legionnaire, as Illuminator Virtuoso is pretty much always better than Show-Off, as it kills faster and provides card selection in a deck that so often needs it. I’m not sure if the less spell-intensive kill, flying, and sometimes dodging sorcery removal is worth the price of permanent power and card selection from the Legionnaire.

4:Pest Control

Just in case you were getting ready to sleeve up that ole Boros Convoke deck again, this card might just talk you out of it. The cycling more than makes this card maindeckable and I would not be surprised to see it in some Niv-To-Light shells if Convoke pops back up. I’m most excited to see this in older formats such as against Hardened Scaled in Modern or against the entirety of the Vintage format. 

3:Magebane Lizard

Overall, this card is just gonna be an all-star in the sideboards of red-based decks. It doesn’t die to Boseiju from Lotus and Phoenix needs a lightning axe to kill it with the size of that butt. A warning to Phoenix players though is don’t miss that this is symmetrical so maybe not in your sideboard.

2:Phantom Interference

While this card is not too exciting at face value, I believe that having another upgrade of Make Disappear from Outlaws of Thunder Junction for Creativity is super important for the Izzet and Temur versions of Creativity. The 4 mana option to make a token at instant speed is gonna be amazing on punishing your Opponents for tapping out, not even considering for one extra mana you just might be able to counter their big play also.

1:Jace Reawakened

GOD, I love this card. It’s just the type of card that gets the brewing brain going,  And it may be the rose-colored glasses talking, but it seems to be the best card in the set by far. 

So, what can we do with it? So far, the ideas I have seen on the unfair matrix are with Leyline of Anticipation and Valki, God of Lies.

Leyline lets you ignore Jace’s restriction since it says nothing about casting it on your opponent’s turn two. “What deck wants both of these?” I might hear you asking, and the ol’e answer is Mono-Blue Devotion. The deck already plays Leyline, Jace provides two Devotion for Nykthos and is another activated ability for Engima Jewel. Granted, the issue with this Idea is the deck does not use Jace’s second ability all that well compared to some ideas later, and that’s arguably his most powerful ability.

Now in the opposite direction, let’s move on to everyone’s other favorite two-mana Planeswalker, Valki, God of Lies, and arguably the best way to use Jace’s second ability in Pioneer. By plotting Valki with Jace (or any other way) you can choose to cast the backside, Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor, for free the following turn. A mild warning on this, as the card is exiled face up so your opponent can see it coming and prepare for it. I expect some variant of this with a fair backup plan to be the most successful, though you do have Kellan Joins Up as Copies 5-8 if you want to go full combo plan.

Overall, I don’t expect any huge meta shifts with the printing of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, but a lot of small upgrades. If I were you I  would recommend keeping an eye on the C and D Tiers of the pioneer tier list for some new spice coming to the meta.