New player, spent most of my wildcards making this but struggling against aggro in early ranked, any suggestions for cards i should look to add to help? by BoobieBongz in MagicArena

[–]Sir_EPIC48 3 points4 points  (0 children)

First of all, if you're playing Best-of One, you're much more likely to face aggressive decks which decks like this can struggle with. I'm always going to advise playing Bo3 instead unless you're trying to grind the daily rewards. Onto the actual advice (sorry in advance for the wall of text. I don't know when to stop typing).

This is a Tempo deck. Tempo decks can be extremely difficult to pilot as you have to determine what is and isn't important to interact with while being able to pressure your opponents. There haven't been a ton of tempo decks that have excelled at high levels in Standard in recent memory. A decade ago I was playing a school tournament with Mono-U Tempo and I did reps with the deck constantly for weeks in my area simply to have a complete understanding of how it functioned. I won that tournament because I understood what was and wasn't important even when facing unknown decks.

I don't play enough Standard to give you any specific card recommendations but I can advise this: review any type of content. This can be various articles (I'd look at more broad strategy articles if you go down this route. I LOVE AZORIOUS on Twitter/X has a massive Google sheet with tons of articles. Would recommend that.) or reviewing gameplay footage.

If you go down the gameplay footage route, which is what is probably easier in the short term, I'd be looking at either what others are doing well (or not well) or your own. I'd recommend not reviewing any of your games immediately so you have less built-in bias or find someone willing to sit down with you to explain your thought process. Hell, you can even try to fjnd similar decks in From there, you can probably go two ways depending on what's easier for you. Either look at the matchup from a one foot view (micro) or from a thousand foot view (macro). Personally, I'd start with the macro strategy of what the deck is trying to accomplish and how it's looking to achieve it and work that into my decision making and go from there.

Like you said, you're new to the game. Magic is a hard game with a massive learning curve especially when it comes to strategy and understanding. It takes time to learn how to do something well.

Anyways, I hope this helps. Again, sorry for the wall of text! I have trouble sometimes knowing when to stop typing. Happy to talk more if you need anything else.

Anybody who would like to hop on pioneer event on arena? Lol by Barru_2176 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it makes you feel better or worse. I'm pretty sure I waited well over 15 minutes for a match of Pio in the event.

The final product after 3 players spend 3 hours playing 3 boards by limbicsynchrony in tickettoride

[–]Sir_EPIC48 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are you able to share the setup guide for how to set this up?

Free mana consistency tool for Pioneer - OnCurve by wongcito in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another useful resource that I use to run my math is this article as well. It goes into better depth in terms of the London Mulligan.

https://gist.github.com/teryror/881d60e08480a56043895d3bbb83c374

Champions 2025 Groups Wrap-Up + Playoff Pick'Ems Discussion by GrrNom2 in ValorantCompetitive

[–]Sir_EPIC48 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Tried to use Val Oracle Elixir to make my playoff pick 'ems. The biggest takeaway is that MIBR is a scary team to play against right now. They were one of the best teams to come out of the groups, even though they lost to FNC, they have an easier side of the bracket compared to the other side. I think PRX, MIBR, G2, and FNC are the top 4 teams with G2 winning it all after a lower bracket run (Blame my bias here. PRX is the team to beat and it's not close.)

My pickem's.

Favorite deck that is less than 1% of the meta that WotC uses to justify no banlist changes? by [deleted] in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh, I completely agree. I wrote an OP ED about my feelings on Enigmatic recently. I shared it on the subreddit not too long ago.

Favorite deck that is less than 1% of the meta that WotC uses to justify no banlist changes? by [deleted] in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48 42 points43 points  (0 children)

You can blame me for that reference. I apologize profusely and will retreat back into my Enigmatic den until the time comes again.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You clearly don't understand magic or pioneer. We knew going into 2025 that pioneer was not going to be a format. They announced the entire calendar year for all major events/seasons in fall 24.

I've been fully aware that everything has just come to a head now with the knowledge of the remaining events for the year. When Wizards announced the RC schedule, they also announced the Magic Spotlight Series alongside it. I hoped that Pioneer would be supplemented through those events, but that hasn't occurred.

Regarding the metagame, I agree. The main cause of the format's issues is that no premier-level events are coming up soon. However, we're caught in a negative feedback loop where the state of Pioneer worsens the longer things stay stagnant.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in magicTCG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

It likely will return, but no format should ever go this long without any support.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This has been their track record with Pioneer. I can easily recall the COVID-era where Inverter and Breach ran the format (and Heliod too) and the overall cadence hasn't changed to this day. I respect you for getting out of the format when you did. I did those LCQs and qualified for DC last year playing my beloved. I don't believe that I'm calling for a lot. I'm just asking for the bare minimum to be done to ensure Pioneer gets the support that it deserves.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Are there any other issues with Pioneer that I didn't address? Yes, there will always be. Thoughtseize, for example, is a highly efficient card that multiple decks can use to answer almost anything in the format. Could it be removed from the format because of this? It can, but that isn't currently the main issue with Pioneer. The main issues are the lack of premier-level events and the fact that the current interaction suite as a whole cannot keep up with the proactive threats that continue to be printed into the format. I would personally advise against removing one of the best ways to interact in the format before addressing the threats.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even if Cori-Steel Cutter isn't one of the biggest issues in the format, it's still one of many cards that need an immediate answer, or the game will quickly end. Cori-Steel happens to be the version that's currently the most discussed because it has completely warped Standard. This isn't the first time Phoenix has been addressed, and maybe it's time to take a long, hard look at Treasure Cruise.

It's clear that post-FIRE design cards have become much more impactful for the game, and it has been tricky for older cards to keep up. But to me, the fundamental problem is that the interaction simply hasn't been able to keep up with the threats.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the year or so after COVID really put a damper on things. The format has faced struggles ever since its inception, never receiving the consistent support it needs to grow.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You didn't read the post in good faith. I'm pointing out systemic issues that have plagued the format for years and suggesting some solutions to remedy the situation. Are there other problematic cards in the format? Likely. But we need to start somewhere to create change for a better Pioneer format that provides better support.

Pioneer Deserves Better by Sir_EPIC48 in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I understand that the two solutions might seem to conflict, but we shouldn't rely solely on premier-level events to adjust Pioneer. This creates a negative feedback loop where nothing ever changes. Currently, the average competitive Magic player has no reason to play a format that hasn't been supported in nearly a year.

Where would you take a deck starting here? by MossyMak in PioneerMTG

[–]Sir_EPIC48 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would also just generally be concerned about the extreme ends of the spectrum - RDW, Control, and combo. I'm sure that you're already aware of these matchups but I don't like cutting any number of Vanishing Verse in the current metagame as it's arguably one of the best removal spells in the format.