There is perhaps no greater compliment I can give to another Magic: The Gathering creator than they got me to play another format.

A few years ago, I was into Pioneer. I first played myself when I won a Trios side tournament with Etai Kurtzman and Patrick O'Halloran-Gannon in Indianapolis (don't worry, we not-won three other tournaments, including the main event). I really liked Pioneer at the time and thought it might end up displacing Modern as the "other" format for things like RCQs.

LegenVD's Deck

I ended up only playing Pioneer once a year or so the last couple of years, especially as support for the format has largely waned at the competitive level. But last week I -- very much by accident -- ended up watching a LegenVD video on the format.

Don't get me wrong: I love LegenVD's YouTube videos. He's up there with CovertGoBlue and Jim Davis for me on the Arena side.

But I don't think I would have ever watched a Pioneer video on purpose. I mean, I don't play the format (or at least didn't play the format); and most of the Arena I watch is half entertainment but also half getting ideas for things I might want to try myself.

I was mesmerized by LegenVD's deck. It has a lot of the trappings of the Standard Tablet of Discovery decks I'd written about recently, but in a totally fresh context.

Pioneer Lessons Control | LegenVD | Pioneer

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Gran-Gran

• Instants (25)
• 4 Divide By Zero
• 2 Pop Quiz
• 3 Accumulate Wisdom
• 4 It'll Quench Ya!
• 4 Combustion Technique
• 4 Firebending Lesson
• 4 Abandon Attachments

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Igneous Inspiration
• 1 Boomerang Basics
• 1 Iroh's Demonstration

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Tablet of Discovery

• Lands (24)
• 2 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Riverglide Pathway
• 2 Stormcarved Coast
• 2 Riverpyre Verge
• 1 Mistrise Village
• 4 Lindblum, Industrial Regency

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Environmental Sciences
• 1 Introduction to Annihilation
• 2 Mascot Exhibition
• 1 Accumulate Wisdom
• 1 Boomerang Basics
• 1 Octopus Form
• 2 Sokka's Haiku
• 2 Iroh's Demonstration
• 1 Price of Freedom
• 1 Echocasting Symposium
• 2 Improvisation Capstone

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There's a lot to love about this deck list, especially if you're me. First of all, I already owned almost all the cards. The only ones I had to Wildcard was Lindblum, Industrial Regency, which is a Standard card that is showing up in a lot of other Improvisation Capstone decks anyway.

Second, I'd get to play with my old buddy Divide By Zero.

When they still let you play it, Divide By Zero was a great answer to just about anything. In Pioneer, it can keep you alive against a Screaming Nemesis, buy you a turn to find a Counterspell against a Sunspine Lynx (it will in fact get you said Counterspell in the form of Sokka's Haiku), or even outmaneuver an opposing Mistrise Village.

But third, for the old Napster fans out there: This is a Tutor deck. LegendVD built this deck not only for Pioneer, but Magic: The Gathering Arena Best-of-One Pioneer. That means that while most opponents don't get to use their sideboards, we get to use all fifteen of our sideboard cards, and in Demonic Tutor-like fashion.

Sideboard Breakdown

Environmental Sciences x1

Sometimes you need a Land. Sometimes you need two life. Back in the CovertGoBlue Blood Money days I'd play two or more copies of this because both sides of the coin are useful. You can of course use the Avatar: The Last Airbender version; but the Kicker won't get you far.

Introduction to Annihilation x1

Over dozens -- maybe hundreds? -- of games with this strategy at this point, I think I've grabbed this one once (to deal with a Teferi). I don't think I actually cast the card in that game. It costs like a hundred mana.

Mascot Exhibition x2

I can see why LegendVD played multiple copies in the initial build, but I've never had time to grab a second copy. If you have enough mana for a big bomb, you'll usually get Improvisation Capstone first. This card is usually going to be third in line or later, and unlikely to be, say, third and fifth.

Accumulate Wisdom x1

Probably my first get in most games. This deck is pretty good at drawing three.

Boomerang Basics x1

A surprisingly common choice. There are prickly threats in this format like Screaming Nemesis that you often have to use multiple cards to deal with. Which sucks, but the first one will usually be on the bonus from Learn, so your life total will be more important than one card that was an extra card anyway.

Octopus Form x1

I have never searched for this card, but I understand why you might. Keeping Gran-Gran in play being pretty valuable to cast many spells per turn in the midgame. I find that it's often more seamless to just draw another Gran-Gran with Accumulate Wisdom or Improvisation Capstone, though.

Learn is really powerful and can either lock down or end the game. I guess if you have a lot of loose mana but no Accumulate Wisdom left in your sideboard you could get this at Instant speed. Shrug.

Sokka's Haiku x2

This could be 4 Sokka's Haiku, honestly; only you would almost certainly deck yourself. Brian David-Marshall once told me that there is no Counterspell so expensive it couldn't win a PTQ.

I think this card might actually prove that to be true. It costs four mana if everything is going your way. But sometimes you have the game 80% on lock, and it gets you another 5 or 10%.

Iroh's Demonstration x2

I actually think this is the rare flaw in LegenVD's original build. It's much more common that you'd need to get Instant-speed removal (in particular Combustion Technique) to answer a key threat on-demand.

Iroh's Demonstration is a strong removal spell, conditionally. But it's not a perfect catch-all. It is a pretty bad Pyroclasm if the opponent somehow put +1/+1 on all their otherwise 1/1s, and it can't kill an X/5.

Price of Freedom x1

I'd play four if there was room. This card is a worthy sideboard card even in non-Learn decks. You'll often need it against a Witch's Oven or powerful Vehicle.

Echocasting Symposium x1

This is far too expensive for what it does, in my opinion. Also, how good of a Creature are we talking about here?

Improvisation Capstone x2

You will generally grab this with your second-or-so Learn card (again, unless you need a bullet). Your opponent will generally be unable to keep a conventional threat on the battlefield and will have to answer multiple threats per turn. It's quite powerful, if dual-edged.

Improvisation Capstone ends the game if you cast it. Either you bury the opponent in Lindblum, Industrial Regency triggers (yay) or you end up decking yourself (sadly surprisingly often).

I don't think I've ever resolved two Capstones in a game, but it's important to play more than one because the opponent will almost certainly stop the first one if they can, via discard or Counterspell.

The SWOT

I won my first Event I tried with LegenVD's deck and became addicted to playing Pioneer right after. Hundreds of Gems went into the Arena grinder (some profitable). Here's everything I learned about the deck.

Strengths (Positive, Internal)

As we've said before, the first and greatest strength of the deck is that you get a sideboard, when most of your Best-of-One opponents don't. This offers remarkable flexibility to answer a variety of threats and situations. That's kind of slow in the abstract, but Gran-Gran's "senior discount" goes a long way in making multiple spells castable.

This is also a serviceable Lessons deck. I don't know if a Lessons deck (one of the most powerful Standard strategies) is weak relative to Pioneer. It seems generally good enough and fast enough against decks that make Creatures.

Anyone and everyone can be buried under three or more Accumulate Wisdoms, and I assume Divide By Zero is frustrating to play against. Take that, Slickshot Show-Off. Not showing off too much now, are you?

Subtly, many Standard Lessons decks top up on Improvisation Capstone. Your Improvisation Capstones all live in the sideboard here, so you can never accidentally draw one early (when you're busy trying to keep yourself alive).

Finally, this deck gets to play according to Mike's No More Lies rule. Which is, if I'm on the play and I have No More Lies in my hand I always feel like I'm going to win. It'll Quench Ya! is our No More Lies, and in a format where people are tapping out a lot for powerful cards, goes almost all the way to the standard.

Weaknesses (Negative, Internal)

So, this deck plays Lindblum, Industrial Regency, which is a terrible Land in the world of Lands. It enters the battlefield tapped and only makes one color of mana. The reason it's "good" in this deck is because the Mage Siege half is so synergistic with Improvisation Capstone.

Not only can Capstone flip you a 0/1 for "free" (also setting up your next Land drop) but those Wizards rack up damage quickly once you have Capstone online.

Besides Lindblum, Industrial Regency being kind of a bad Land to begin with, you have the additional problem that sometimes your Land can get Counterspelled. Like, this thing isn't on the bonus. It's part of your base 24 Lands.

So, when you go to Mage Siege your opponent at the end of their turn with the intent of playing the Land side the next turn... Sometimes that just doesn't happen, and you also miss your Land drop.

This is going to sound dumb but trust me: Make sure you don't deck yourself. Cards are easy. Damage can be stopped by an opponent who knows what's up.

Opportunities (Positive, External)

This deck seems to be very well positioned against most people who are "playing fair." You know the types. They have slightly jazzed Standard decks. They play like a Llanowar Elves and then want to use it to cast a somewhat bigger Creature. Rawr.

Maybe they eventually cast something big (or try to). Those opponents you will typically mow down. You Firebending Lesson their first Elf and by the time they are going for Turntimber Symbiosis or Nature's Rhythm you have Divide By Zero ready.

If you're mindful, then you have the tools to outmaneuver Greasefang opponents. The most important thing is to have enough mana to stop Greasefang at Instant speed, and by all means get a Lesson down so that your Combustion Technique will do what you need it to do against three toughness.

Blowing two Firebending Lessons is preferable to letting Greasefang trigger. On balance, Igneous Inspiration will nominally get the job done but you'll take thirteen or so first. Unlucky.

Threats (Negative, External)

This deck is very, very soft to Planeswalkers.

High-end Planeswalkers are big problems; but you're going to have a hard time with just a three-mana Narset, Parter of Veils. Almost every situation where they get out a Planeswalker is going to require multiple cards and probably an unchecked Gran-Gran.

Personally, I don't actually know how Gran-Gran interacts with Narset because I was afraid to attack her.

Additionally, you can fall badly behind anyone going wide but not using multiple cards to go wide. If they are just casting a bunch of small Creatures you can answer those one-for-one while drawing more cards than the opponent. But good luck against, say, three opposing Stormchaser's Talents and some open mana. Iroh's Technique is going to fail you.

Being soft to Planeswalkers and go-wide are actually subsets of the deck's biggest weakness -- threat, rather. You can draw a lot more cards than the opponent. You will often deploy three copies of Accumulate Wisdom, in part because you can Learn for one of those. It's not hard to get Improvisation Capstone going, even against opposing Blue decks.

But the problem is your cards aren't individually powerful. So, you can be going super long and be just flipping redundant Gran-Grans or It'll Quench Ya!s with no target.

It's the wrong-answer problem, only times a hundred because that's how many wrong answers you drew. If the opponent knows to deal with your Wizard tokens it can be hard to deal enough damage against a dedicated Control opponent.

Closing Thoughts & Alternate Deck List

I found LegenVD's deck super compelling and have played a lot of Pioneer over the last week as a result. I did think that it could be improved, though. Here's my pass:

Modified Pioneer Lessons Control | Mike Flores | Pioneer

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Gran-Gran

• Instants (23)
• 4 Divide By Zero
• 2 Pop Quiz
• 3 Accumulate Wisdom
• 4 It'll Quench Ya!
• 3 Combustion Technique
• 3 Firebending Lesson
• 4 Abandon Attachments

• Sorceries (5)
• 2 Igneous Inspiration
• 1 Boomerang Basics
• 2 Iroh's Demonstration

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Tablet of Discovery

• Lands (24)
• 2 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Riverglide Pathway
• 2 Stormcarved Coast
• 2 Riverpyre Verge
• 1 Mistrise Village
• 4 Lindblum, Industrial Regency

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Aang's Journey
• 1 Introduction to Annihilation
• 1 Firebending Lesson
• 1 Combustion Technique
• 1 Mascot Exhibition
• 1 Accumulate Wisdom
• 1 Boomerang Basics
• 1 Octopus Form
• 2 Sokka's Haiku
• 1 Iroh's Demonstration
• 2 Price of Freedom
• 2 Improvisation Capstone

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Essentially I thought:

1. Igneous Inspiration is pretty good. I like that you can shoot a Planeswalker. So, I upped from one.
2. You need Instant-speed removal on-demand, especially against Greasefang. So, I moved two of the four-ofs to bullets.
3. Price of Freedom is exceptional. Two copies in the sideboard aren't even enough when you're up against decks with a lot of Artifacts.
4. Aang's Journey is better. Ish.

Weirdly, I've toggled between LegenVD's original version and mine and, even though everything I think makes perfect sense, his has done much better in actual play. Take that for what you will.

LOVE

MIKE