Table of Contents
Discover the best Magic: The Gathering Arena Explorer decks and archetypes the players use to climb the ranked ladder and win tournaments. Our MTG Arena Best of One (Bo1) Explorer Meta Tier List regularly reviews and ranks the top decks in the format, carefully curated by Bohe, an old wizard who undoubtedly has a lot to share. We also follow up our choices based on various factors and sources, comprehensively analyzing the available data.
Meta Overview and Changes
Our new Explorer + Pioneer Meta Report goes over all of the new additions from Outlaws at Thunder Junction that have seen play in Explorer and Pioneer, the decks they’re seeing play in, and how the metagame as a whole has shifted as a result.
Explorer Best of One (Bo1) Meta Tier List
| Tier | Deck Name |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Red Deck Wins Wizards 🔼 |
| Tier 1 | Amalia Combo 🔽 |
| Tier 1 | Mono-White Humans 🔼 |
| Tier 2 | Selesnya Angels 🔼 |
| Tier 2 | Boros Heroic 🔼 |
| Tier 2 | Greasefang Combo 🔽 |
| Tier 3 | Rakdos Midrange Vampires 🔼 |
| Tier 3 | Azorius Control |
| Tier 3 | Boros Convoke 🔽 |
| Tier 3 | Mono-Green Devotion |
| Tier 3 | Rakdos Sacrifice |
Tier List Disclaimer
- Tier 1: The most dominant decks of the format since the release of Outlaws at Thunder Junction. This implies the percentage of victories, presence in the meta, and favorable games.
- Tier 2: These will be solid decks with relevant presence in the OTJ Bo1 meta. A good pilot will probably be able to play one of these archetypes and have good results. They usually have at least one difficult match against the Tier 1 meta archetypes.
- Tier 3: In last place, we find decks with little presence, but enough to be considered. In addition to their low popularity, they are decks that present two or more complicated matchups against the meta. This prevents them from standing out until the release of new cards or a meta shift happens. However, players who dedicate themselves to mastering these archetypes usually have the opportunity to obtain good results.
🔼 – The deck has improved its position on the chart. This includes movements within the same tier.
🔽 – The deck has lost positions on the table. This includes movements within the same tier.
🆕 – First appearance in the tier list.
Tier 1
Red Deck Wins Wizards
Red Deck Wins Wizards – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
0 mythic
12 rare
32 uncommon
16 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (19)
60 Cards
$163.42
The first thing we need to understand is Bo1 queue is a completely different beast than Arena Bo3 and the tournament environment. Doesn’t have a second or third game to adapt against your opponent makes aggressive and combo strategies rise strong.
Having said that, a deck that appears on tier 3 of our Pioneer Tier List put itself as the strongest strategy for this queue.
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about Explorer or Pioneer, Slickshot Show-Off is overperforming everywhere, even on Standard.
On Explorer or Pioneer, the big advantage Slickshot Show-Off has is its wizard type. This allows us to have 12 one-mana wizards + 4 Wizard's Lightning. Being the deck with Lightning Bolt on the format feels good!
Amalia Combo
Amalia Combo – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
5 mythic
38 rare
13 uncommon
4 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (28)
Sorceries (2)
Artifacts (1)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$531.38
Without Hidding Strings on Arena, Lotus Field Combo is non-existent on Explorer. This leaves Amalia as the strongest combo deck in the format.
In a queue where you want to be aggressive and kill your opponent as soon as possible, playing this kind of archetype works great. Especially because not many decks pack interaction and center all their efforts on being frontal.
The combo is really easy to assemble. With Amalia Benavides Aguirre + Wildgrowth Walker, you only need to gain 1 life. This would make Amalia grow to 20+ while blowing all the board at the same time.
Being at a high life total shuts down almost any other aggressive strategy in this queue even if you don’t combo off. However, find the occasional Greasefang or UW Control player may put yourself against the ropes forcing you to assamble your combo as fast as you can.
Mono-White Humans
Mono-White Humans – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
2 mythic
27 rare
16 uncommon
12 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (34)
Instants (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$249.8
This archetype doesn’t get any new additions with OTJ. However, it remains strong and popular in the Explorer Bo1 queue.
Playing 3 Containment Priest, even if it looks like a sideboard card, works amazingly well. It can stop Collective Company, Chord of Calling and Kayla's Reconstruction, key cards for Amalia Combo and Selesnya Angels, powerful archetypes on this queue.
Sadly, Kytheon, Hero of Akros, a signature card of this archetype on Pioneer is still not in MTG Arena. Nevertheless, 1 extra copy of Dauntless Bodyguard and Recruitment Officer doesn’t hurt anyone.
Tier 2
Selesnya Angels
Selesnya Angels – OTJ Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
6 mythic
45 rare
2 uncommon
7 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (30)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$436.04
Selesnya Angels, like any other creature-based deck, is sensitive to removal and wrath effects. However, in Bo1 not many archetypes are trying to interact. This leaves enough room for this tribe to develop its plan.
Of all aggressive decks, Angels are the best for facing other aggressive strategies. Many creatures have 4 toughness which makes blocking something easy, and you can gain a ton of life thanks to Bishop of Wings and Righteous Valkyrie.
If that is not enough, the deck gets some upgrades with the last sets. Wojek Investigator helps you not fall behind on card advantage, and Holy Caw is a direct upgrade to Inspiring Overseer you’re not drawing, but the Cow has Flash, 1 more point of toughness and you scry 2.
A classic that will remain on the Bo1 queue meta despite its results on Bo3 or tournaments because of the good matches it had against other aggro decks.
Boros Heroic
Boros Heroic – OTJ Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
0 mythic
21 rare
23 uncommon
16 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (18)
Instants (17)
Enchantments (1)
Lands (18)
60 Cards
$254.24
If we are talking about explosive decks that can kill you on turn 3, Boros Heroic has to be in the conversation.
This is an old acquaintance in this format, and it had great moments like being on the Chicago MagicCon final. However, it never gets enough momentum to be considered tier 1.
Things can be different now thanks to the Slickshot Show-Off release. This creature has pushed Gruul Prowess to tier 1 status in Pioneer. This could be also true for Boros Heroic soon. Before, if you don’t have Illuminator Virtuoso, your aggression tend to fall short in some matchups where Virtuoso has to carry instead of your one-drops.
Tenth District Legionnaire is good, but it doesn’t cover Virtuoso’s job. On the other hand, Slickshot Show-Off not only covers that job but has some upsides thanks to the evasion flying gives to it.
Greasefang Combo
Greasefang Combo – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 3
10 mythic
33 rare
4 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (12)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (13)
Lands (21)
60 Cards
$377.48
Sideboard
7 Cards
$3.23
Speaking of decks that can end the game on turn three if not interrupted, here is Greasefang Combo.
This deck was a tier 1 not so long ago. However, the problem with it is that it breaks easily if you interact with Greasefang, Okiba Boss. Many aggro decks have an answer for a 4-toughness creature; the ones that do not are easy prey for a reanimated Parhelion II that is bringing two angels with it.
Greasefang is an archetype weak to graveyard hate and spot removal that has fallen in popularity in Bo3 and tournament gameplay because of this weakness. However, it’s a deck of momentum. Just like Storm in Modern, or any of the reanimator decks of Standard; when the meta forgets these archetypes, is when these decks become the strongest of all.
Tier 3
Rakdos Midrange Vampires
Rakdos Midrange – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
16 mythic
31 rare
7 uncommon
6 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Creatures (16)
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$833.8
Rakdos is the best deck in Explorer and also in Pioneer. It can play the role of the beatdown when needed and also fight in attrition games ferociously.
The problem with it on Bo1 is that it could be not explosive enough for this kind of environment. Yes, you can put a Vein Ripper in play on turn 3 thanks to Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord. However, at that moment other decks as RDW or Mono-White can have you against the ropes or play their combo as Amalia or Gresafang.
The archetype has answers for almost every situation, but this shines in the long run. You can easily get Mythic with this deck in this queue. Nevertheless, it would be an easier route if you played this archetype on Bo3, a place where you have the chance to adapt and have enough time to find your answers and your role in the match.
Azorius Control
Azorius Control – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 3
5 mythic
41 rare
8 uncommon
6 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (7)
Instants (17)
Lands (27)
60 Cards
$374.76
UW Control is proof that playing interaction is not a bad idea if you are fully committed to that. Like I just said in the Rakdos section, is not bad if you have some removal or interaction, but being an “all-terrain vehicle” is not the best in this queue. You have to be as aggressive as possible or as defensive as possible.
That’s why UW Control is relevant in this queue. The Bo1 metagame is very linear, focused on committing to the board and setting up their proactive gameplan as fast as possible, and are therefore usually very weak to board sweepers and early interaction in general especially if they’re a creature-based combo like Amalia or Greasefang.
Control decks can take advantage of this, especially because the majority of these decks’ tools to fight against control are usually in the sideboard which they don’t have access to in Best of 1.
Humans are your worst matchup. Tempo-aggressive decks can play around removal spells with fewer problems than other aggro decks like RDW.
Boros Convoke
Boros Convoke – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
8 mythic
28 rare
11 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (30)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (1)
Lands (17)
60 Cards
$289.48
This archetype arrived at the format in a big way. It was all over the Bo1 and Bo3 queues and also in Pioneer.
As time has passed, it lost some popularity, but not because it started losing a lot. Many new cards have pushed other aggro decks to the top, and this archetype hasn’t had any new tools
Or that’s what we believed. PintuMtg finished in 5th place in an MTGO Challenge with 4 copies of Collector's Cage. This new artifact gives us a different approach than Warleader's Call, letting us cast Imodane's Recruiter at instant speed, just to mention an example.
A play like this could mess with our opponent’s math and give a new twist to the combat phase while giving us a new tool for making our creatures bigger in attrition matches where repopulating the field and attacking with 2 or 3 creatures could be the difference between winning and losing.
Mono-Green Devotion
Mono-Green Devotion – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
5 mythic
31 rare
8 uncommon
16 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Creatures (22)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$355.22
Before this tier list update, I thought that Mono Green disappeared from the map. I was wrong. It may be not the best deck out there as it was a few months ago before Karn, the Great Creator ban. However, two players managed to finish in the top 16 of relevant tournaments in recent Pioneer events, and in the Explorer Bo1 queue, there are still people playing this deck.
The main iteration of this deck is playing Leyline of the Guildpact and Nissa, Who Shakes the World. However, being more focused on creatures instead of ramping helps us have better pairings against other aggressive strategies.
This iteration prefers Polukranos Reborn over Ulvenwald Oddity, and Outcaster Trailblazer helps us giving us more gas.
The single copy of Cityscape Leveler can be searched with Archdruid Charm, and Sunken Citadel can help us to activate Nykthos, Shrine of Nyx without tapping more than one land.
We don’t have access to our sideboard in Bo1 like in the old days, but this deck has enough good creatures to fight in this queue.
Rakdos Sacrifice
Rakdos Sacrifice – OTJ Explorer Bo1
by Bohe
Explorer
best of 1
5 mythic
28 rare
20 uncommon
7 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$306.12
Rakdos Sacrifice is almost non-existent in Pioneer, but in Explorer, it keeps fighting hard for its place on the meta.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a fantastic archetype for both formats when the meta revolves around creature-centric decks. Claim the Firstborn and Fatal Push are fantastic spot removals, and gaining life turn after turn makes aggressive decks suffer trying to defeat this deck.
It’s a high-risk high-reward situation. If the aggressive decks of this queue haven’t killed you after turning 4, they probably won’t get the chance to do it in the long run. If you don’t find the Cauldron Familiar + Witch's Oven soon or you can’t start pinging your opponent’s creatures with Mayhem Devil on turn 3, you could put yourself on a hard time.
End Step
It’s been a pleasure to revise the Explorer metagame with you, dear readers.
We had a new Explorer / Pioneer meta report with a ton of new decks that can be a good inspiration for your next ranked session:
With our meta report and now the Tier List updated, is easy for anyone to understand the state of the competitive Explorer meta game.
Let us know your thoughts on this and any other MTG-related topics in the MTG Arena Community Discord, on my Twitter, and in the comment section of this article.
Don’t forget that I have started providing personal coaching services for Magic the Gathering and Marvel Snap. If you want to contact me, look for me:
- On Discord as bohettv
- On my Twitter
- Via email at [email protected]
- On Twitch
Thank you so much for reaching this last paragraph and remember; don’t forget to smile every day; it surely makes a difference.
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Bohe
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