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Pro Tour Philadelphia: Pioneer Metagame

• February 17, 2023

A Peek Behind the Curtain

While there is still some time between now and Round Four’s impending decklist release for Pro Tour Philadelphia; social media has been buzzing with players sharing their finalized decklists, giving us a small peek behind the curtain for this weekend’s main event. Not to be outdone by the player base, Wizards was also kind enough to give us the full archetypal breakdown of what to expect come the start of Friday’s constructed portion in Round Four. So let’s quickly take stock of what we can expect to see on the tournament room floor.

Leading the Pack

I don’t want to say that the two most populous decks in the tournament aren’t boring, but I will say that I’m not surprised. Pioneer as a format has been revolving around Rakdos Midrange and Green Devotion for some time now, and it looks like the Pro Tour is no different. Of course, we don’t know the breakdown of pilots to decks yet so it could very well be the case of a lot of up and coming players sticking to what they know vs. established players just defaulting to the perceived best decks. In my opinion it’s most likely going to be the former more than the later as I’m expecting to see a lot of the long time pro players on a wide spectrum of strategies that fit their particular play style, something I believe Pioneer is very good at offering players, as opposed to locking in the number one meta deck. For most viewers, I think the biggest surprise here is Lotus Field being the 4th most played deck in the field. As much of the overall Pioneer meta, and most other formats for that matter, revolves around Magic Online events it’s very rare to see more than a small handful of lotus field decks make any sort of meaningful finish, if any finish at all. This lack of finishes shouldn’t really fool long time Pioneer players, as the deck’s strength is more or less an open secret mired by matchups against Rakdos Midrange and Green Devotion that have ranged from even to worse. Where Lotus field is trying to squeeze into this meta is by preying on the decks teched out for the Midrange and Devotion matchups like Incarnation and Gruul Boat; decks that are trying to play a longer midrange plan and potentially struggle to put in the damage necessary to end the game quickly and also lack proper interaction for lotus’ plan.

Speaking of Gruul Boat, take a look at that whopping 9.6% metagame share. With how little enigmatic has shown up and a whole lot of Rakdos, the meta looks poised to bring Pioneer’s newest meta competitor home to port at the winner’s circle. Despite my prediction of it being Vehicle’s weekend to lose, there is still one question that remains……what’s the better build. It looks like things are still split on Werewolf Pack Leader vs Jegantha, with Jegantha taking the edge in deck count. Perhaps this weekend will put a definitive end to this schism in the archetype. I’m curious to hear from our readers which build you prefer, I’ve been leaning towards the Pack Leader build myself.

Capping off the top five most populous decks is Mono-White Humans, which has quickly become Pioneer’s preeminent aggressive deck. Able to swarm the board with a swathe of synergistic aggressive creatures, bolstered by Luminarc Aspirant and Thalia’s Lieutenant turning even the most humble 2/1 into a game winning threat. Couple that with creature based disruption like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Brutal Cathar , and topping it all with the army in a can that is Adeline, Resplendent Cathar and you have a recipe for a clock that can put any deck on the back foot; a clock that’s very important for matchups like Green Devotion and Lotus Field .

Middle of the Road

Rounding off our double digit decklists we have a trio of decks with 14 copies in Azorius Control, Izzet Creativity, and Rakdos Sacrifice alongside Izzet Phoenix with 11 copies in the field. These strategies aren’t necessarily the strongest in the format, especially when compared to our Pioneer Tier List, but given a competent pilot and some lucky draws I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these made it all the way to finals. This was a constant theme during the inaugural round of Regional Championships which saw deep runs by both Azorius Control and Izzet Phoenix, both decks that were on the lower end of our Tier List at the time. Even Rakdos Sacrifice was noted for Regional Championship success using its cheap threaten effects to help cinch the Rakdos Midrange matchup, but of course it tends to falter in the face of Green Devotion.

While most of these decks have had their time in the Pioneer Sun, perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend is how popular Izzet Creativity is. Coming into this weekend I wouldn’t have expected it to be tied as the sixth most populous deck in the field. When decklists drop we’ll be sure to see if these deck lists are packing any surprises and just who those intrepid 14 pilots are, so be sure to come back for that later today.

All the Single Digits

Selesnya Angels is looking to stick it to Rakdos Midrange thanks to the power couple of Collected Company and Kayla’s Reclamation allowing the deck to keep ahead of Rakdos’ suite of removal spells, and of course flying over all of Rakdos’ creatures. But, with such a large uptick in decks like Green Devotion and Lotus field will this slow to start deck be able to snowball its way to victory before being locked out of the game?

Other decks to keep an eye on are the variety of Auras decks which also managed some impressive showings during Regional Championships, especially now that they have access to Razorverge Thicket and Skrelv, Defector Mite . Let’s also not forget about the Greasefang variants as I’m sure all of our readers have been on the receiving end of a turn two lucky Parhellion II at one event or another in recent months. One question that plagues me however is, “Where are all Leyline Bindings”? Enigmatic Incarnation has been going through a renaissance as of late, so I was definitely expecting it to show up in force this weekend. Perhaps a heightened field of decks like Control and Lotus Field caused players to leave their Fires of Invention at home despite the amount of Rakdos Midrange in the field.

What Do You Want To See

Finally, from Storm Herald to Grinning Ignus to Azorious Powerstones there is quite a lot going on when looking at the expanded field. Luckily for you, our staff will be pouring over all the decklists once they go public with Round Four. So let us know what outlier decklists you want to see most, what archetype trends you want our opinions on, and any other topics you want to see covered as the Pro Tour rolls on throughout the weekend..

Editor-In-Chief

Having started playing Magic shortly before the release of Return to Ravnica, Ruckman’s Magic lifespan covers the breadth of the Pioneer format. Despite not being a stranger to the Top 8 tables of the old IQ and PTQ systems, most of his competitive experience comes from the other side of the event space, where he served more than five years as a level-two judge, only hanging up the black shirt for good at the beginning of 2022. Currently, you can find him making Pioneer content for Crew3 on your favorite podcasting platform or on Twitch/YouTube.

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Player Wins 8-0 on First Day of Pro Tour With Off Meta Deck

Ben Macready

MTG organized play has returned in dramatic style this weekend at Pro Tour: Phyrexia. Pro Tour: Phyrexia is running from 17/02/2023-19/02/2023, as a part of MagicCon: Philadelphia. After the first day of the tournament, only one competitor emerged with a perfect 8-0 win record. Benton Madsen, a player from Manhatten who has been playing the game since 2012. Madsen states that he qualified for entry for Pro Tour: Phyrexia through an MTG Arena event which he completed on his phone. In the first event, a Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft, he built a White/Blue artifacts deck and went 3-0.

Madsen  claimed in an interview  after the match: “I was not very experienced with my deck or in the draft format, when it came to draft I picked a friend’s brain last night over dinner.”

Madsen then went 5-0 in the second event, a Pioneer tournament where he piloted an  off-meta  aura-focused deck.

“Selesnya Auras”

In an interview  prior to his final match of the day, Madsen stated: “I expected roughly 0-8, maybe like a 2-6 “. He was pleased with his performance, modestly stating: “I’m happy to be here, I’ve no idea how it happened.”

Community Reactions

The MTG community have been hugely supportive of Maden’s results. With the Pro Tour returning Madsen’s story is being looked upon as an example of why organized play matters, and how it can provide previously unknown players with a chance to win big and become a part of Magic’s history.

On Reddit,  Shinra_Temp  wrote: “This is the dream the PT has always been trying to sell just with Arena added alongside your local LGS as the starting point. Glad to see it.”

ChestersJensen  responded: “That’s very incredible stuff and exciting to see someone new burst into the scene like that. This sort of thing is the whole fun of the Pro Tour and now it’s back!”

These sentiments were echoed by  F0me  who wrote: “This is why competitive play is so great. It gives you something to aspire to. Commander is a great pastime with friends and beer, but organized play is where dreams are made.”

On the second day of Pro Tour: Phyrexia, Madsen’s undefeated win strike came to an end and he suffered three losses. Enduring these defeats, Madsen performed well enough to earn a place in the top eight and advance to the finals. Madsen ultimately finished Pro Tour: Phyrexia in second place, losing to Reid Duke’s Izzet Creativity deck in a dramatic final bout.

Read more:  Never Before Seen MTG Con Exclusive Card Announced This Month!

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MTG Pro Tour MagicCon Philadelphia 2023 Winners, Decks

Magic: The Gathering's latest Pro Tour event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania concluded over the weekend, and the results of the tournament are now locked in. Here's what you need to know about the tournament meta and who's advancing to the next stage of Magic competition.

To enter the Pro Tour, players must first qualify via a Local Qualifier and a Regional Qualifier. These two events come together in the Pro Tour, where players from different regions play against one another in one massive event. The year is then capped off by the World Championship, which has a massive cash prize and the opportunity for the winner to be memorialized in an upcoming Magic card.

MTG Pro Tour MagicCon Philadelphia 2023 Winner

The champion of Magic's Pro Tour Philadelphia Pioneer tournament was Magic Hall of Famer Reid Duke, piloting his Izzet Creativity deck to victory against Benton Madsen and his Selesnya Auras deck.

Reid Duke's Izzet Creativity Deck

Duke's deck uses a card called Indomitable Creativity to "cheat" large creatures Worldspine Wurm and Xenagos, God of Revels into play and win the game instantly, a powerful combo that is difficult to stop.

This article was originally published on dbltap as MTG Pro Tour MagicCon Philadelphia 2023 Winners, Decks .

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MTG Pro Tour top eight showcases multiple Hall of Famers and diverse meta

Over 200 Magic: The Gathering players competed over the course of the last two days, with only eight advancing to the playoffs of Pro Tour Phyrexia, featuring the World Champion, Hall of Famers, and six different Pioneer decks. 

The best MTG players from around the globe gathered in Philadelphia for the first tabletop Pro Tour tournament of the 2022-2023 season. A total of 16 rounds were played during days one and two, featuring gameplay in ONE Draft and Traditional Pioneer Constructed. The Draft rounds had a huge impact on the field, with players like Shota Yasooka going undefeated both days, and being the first of eight players to advance onto the day three single elimination playoffs.

Heading into the Phyrexia: Pro Tour, the two most popular Pioneer decks brought to the tournament were Rakdos Midrange (33 players) and Mono-Green Devotion (30 players). Only one Rakdos Midrange deck made it to the top eight, piloted by Yasooka. No Mono-Green Devotion builds or Gruul Vehicles decks (21 players) made it to the top eight. 

• Shota Yasooka: Rakdos Midrange 
• Benton Madsen: Selesnya Auras
• Reid Duke: Izzet Creativity
• Takumi Matsuura: Mono-White Humans
• Nathan Steuer: Lotus Field Combo
• Chris Ferber: Lotus Field Combo
• Gabriel Nassif: Izzet Creativity
• Derrick Davis: Enigmatic Fires (Yorion, Sky Nomad)

Of the three players who went 6-0 during the ONE Draft rounds, only Yasooka advanced to the top eight. The other two players were Michael Belfatto and Riki Kamo. Hall of Famers who made the top eight at the Phyrexia Pro Tour include Yasooka, Duke, and Nassif. Also making the top eight was the current MTG World Champion, Nathan Steuer.

The standout player and favorite heading into the final day of the Phyrexia Pro Tour was Shota Yasooka. He was the only Rakdos Midrange player to make it to day three, defeating other decks that made it like Izzet Creativity, Lotus Field Combo, and Mono-White Humans. Favored alongside Shota is the World Champion Steuer, along with Hall of Famers Duke and Nassif.

Day three of the Phyrexia Pro Tour will feature a single elimination bracket playoff with a best-of-five games in Pioneer Constructed. All the top eight players earned a direct invite to the 2022-2023 Magic World Championship. 

Pro Tour Phyrexia Top 8 Decklists

Here are the Top 8 Pioneer Decklists from Pro Tour Phyrexia !

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