Explore the best decks in the metagame for the Magic: The Gathering Pioneer format. Our information is based on tournament data from MTG Meta and carefully curated by our expert players to ensure their accuracy. Data being collected for The Brothers' War(BRO).
Pioneer is the latest nonrotating constructed format featuring only Standard sets from Return to Ravnica and forward – no supplementary products. Currently, this format is available only for tabletop and Magic Online. We are including coverage on MTG Arena Zone as it will be coming to MTG Arena in the next few years and relates directly to its bridging format on MTG Arena, called Explorer. If you are interested in checking out Pioneer outside of MTG Arena, check out our beginner’s guide!
Our brand-new meta pages are coming soon! Complete with live data, stats, tracking, and more - we look forward to inviting you to our major overhaul of our content! In the meantime, read the announcement and download the MTG Arena Tracker and check out MTGArena.pro's meta section!
Metagame Matchup Matrix
pioneer
07 Jun 2022 - 05 Dec 2022
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win
rate
rate
vs
rakdos midrange
vs
Mono Green Devotion
vs
izzet phoenix
vs
other
vs
azorius control
vs
mono white humans
vs
abzan greasefang
vs
mono red aggro
vs
bant spirits
vs
Lotus Field Combo
vs
rakdos sacrifice
vs
mono blue spirits
vs
4c fires
vs
gruul aggro
vs
Boros Heroic
vs
5c enigmatic incarnation
vs
angels
vs
izzet creativity
-
48.1%
779 matches
57.1%
515 matches
53.1%
405 matches
53.9%
330 matches
49.8%
269 matches
51.7%
234 matches
61.9%
147 matches
53.7%
136 matches
41.2%
136 matches
41.3%
80 matches
53.1%
130 matches
33.6%
149 matches
29.4%
126 matches
72.9%
48 matches
32.0%
75 matches
55.0%
120 matches
48.7%
76 matches
51.9%
779 matches
-
46.7%
557 matches
54.7%
320 matches
53.4%
296 matches
37.8%
336 matches
52.7%
241 matches
52.1%
144 matches
40.8%
142 matches
60.6%
160 matches
60.6%
99 matches
28.9%
128 matches
66.5%
188 matches
55.1%
156 matches
38.7%
62 matches
60.4%
53 matches
53.4%
118 matches
48.6%
72 matches
42.9%
515 matches
53.3%
557 matches
-
55.1%
243 matches
45.1%
206 matches
44.3%
194 matches
46.9%
128 matches
51.1%
94 matches
65.7%
99 matches
18.8%
85 matches
63.0%
54 matches
71.9%
89 matches
45.8%
120 matches
50.5%
99 matches
41.2%
34 matches
38.6%
57 matches
36.5%
63 matches
46.5%
43 matches
46.9%
405 matches
45.3%
320 matches
44.9%
243 matches
-
37.6%
189 matches
44.2%
120 matches
48.7%
152 matches
49.4%
77 matches
43.1%
58 matches
41.3%
104 matches
36.1%
36 matches
45.8%
59 matches
33.8%
77 matches
44.2%
43 matches
44.1%
34 matches
28.9%
45 matches
33.3%
60 matches
42.5%
40 matches
46.1%
330 matches
46.6%
296 matches
54.9%
206 matches
62.4%
189 matches
-
41.2%
97 matches
54.7%
95 matches
47.1%
51 matches
63.2%
57 matches
49.2%
65 matches
45.8%
48 matches
55.6%
54 matches
70.0%
60 matches
63.0%
46 matches
57.7%
26 matches
69.6%
23 matches
77.6%
49 matches
51.4%
37 matches
50.2%
269 matches
62.2%
336 matches
55.7%
194 matches
55.8%
120 matches
58.8%
97 matches
-
59.7%
77 matches
61.4%
44 matches
50.9%
53 matches
63.8%
58 matches
33.3%
33 matches
55.8%
43 matches
42.6%
68 matches
26.5%
49 matches
53.3%
15 matches
58.8%
34 matches
27.5%
51 matches
59.4%
32 matches
48.3%
234 matches
47.3%
241 matches
53.1%
128 matches
51.3%
152 matches
45.3%
95 matches
40.3%
77 matches
-
45.7%
46 matches
26.4%
53 matches
56.7%
67 matches
50.0%
26 matches
22.2%
45 matches
64.3%
56 matches
58.5%
53 matches
47.6%
21 matches
28.6%
28 matches
35.7%
28 matches
40.7%
27 matches
38.1%
147 matches
47.9%
144 matches
48.9%
94 matches
50.6%
77 matches
52.9%
51 matches
38.6%
44 matches
54.3%
46 matches
-
57.7%
26 matches
60.0%
40 matches
42.9%
21 matches
62.1%
29 matches
33.3%
21 matches
42.3%
26 matches
56.3%
16 matches
33.3%
15 matches
23.8%
21 matches
78.6%
14 matches
46.3%
136 matches
59.2%
142 matches
34.3%
99 matches
56.9%
58 matches
36.8%
57 matches
49.1%
53 matches
73.6%
53 matches
42.3%
26 matches
-
50.0%
24 matches
38.1%
21 matches
52.6%
19 matches
47.2%
36 matches
47.8%
23 matches
50.0%
12 matches
71.4%
14 matches
40.9%
22 matches
33.3%
18 matches
58.8%
136 matches
39.4%
160 matches
81.2%
85 matches
58.7%
104 matches
50.8%
65 matches
36.2%
58 matches
43.3%
67 matches
40.0%
40 matches
50.0%
24 matches
-
54.2%
24 matches
34.3%
35 matches
75.0%
44 matches
54.2%
24 matches
14.3%
7 matches
83.3%
12 matches
72.2%
18 matches
60.0%
15 matches
58.8%
80 matches
39.4%
99 matches
37.0%
54 matches
63.9%
36 matches
54.2%
48 matches
66.7%
33 matches
50.0%
26 matches
57.1%
21 matches
61.9%
21 matches
45.8%
24 matches
-
54.5%
11 matches
20.0%
10 matches
64.0%
25 matches
88.9%
9 matches
27.3%
11 matches
45.5%
11 matches
50.0%
6 matches
46.9%
130 matches
71.1%
128 matches
28.1%
89 matches
54.2%
59 matches
44.4%
54 matches
44.2%
43 matches
77.8%
45 matches
37.9%
29 matches
47.4%
19 matches
65.7%
35 matches
45.5%
11 matches
-
61.3%
31 matches
42.1%
19 matches
33.3%
21 matches
66.7%
9 matches
33.3%
18 matches
63.6%
11 matches
66.4%
149 matches
33.5%
188 matches
54.2%
120 matches
66.2%
77 matches
30.0%
60 matches
57.4%
68 matches
35.7%
56 matches
66.7%
21 matches
52.8%
36 matches
25.0%
44 matches
80.0%
10 matches
38.7%
31 matches
-
37.0%
27 matches
70.0%
10 matches
40.0%
15 matches
48.0%
25 matches
53.3%
15 matches
70.6%
126 matches
44.9%
156 matches
49.5%
99 matches
55.8%
43 matches
37.0%
46 matches
73.5%
49 matches
41.5%
53 matches
57.7%
26 matches
52.2%
23 matches
45.8%
24 matches
36.0%
25 matches
57.9%
19 matches
63.0%
27 matches
-
57.1%
7 matches
22.2%
18 matches
38.1%
21 matches
31.3%
16 matches
27.1%
48 matches
61.3%
62 matches
58.8%
34 matches
55.9%
34 matches
42.3%
26 matches
46.7%
15 matches
52.4%
21 matches
43.8%
16 matches
50.0%
12 matches
85.7%
7 matches
11.1%
9 matches
66.7%
21 matches
30.0%
10 matches
42.9%
7 matches
-
100.0%
1 matches
25.0%
4 matches
50.0%
4 matches
68.0%
75 matches
39.6%
53 matches
61.4%
57 matches
71.1%
45 matches
30.4%
23 matches
41.2%
34 matches
71.4%
28 matches
66.7%
15 matches
28.6%
14 matches
16.7%
12 matches
72.7%
11 matches
33.3%
9 matches
60.0%
15 matches
77.8%
18 matches
0.0%
1 matches
-
36.4%
11 matches
37.5%
8 matches
45.0%
120 matches
46.6%
118 matches
63.5%
63 matches
66.7%
60 matches
22.4%
49 matches
72.5%
51 matches
64.3%
28 matches
76.2%
21 matches
59.1%
22 matches
27.8%
18 matches
54.5%
11 matches
66.7%
18 matches
52.0%
25 matches
61.9%
21 matches
75.0%
4 matches
63.6%
11 matches
-
44.4%
9 matches
51.3%
76 matches
51.4%
72 matches
53.5%
43 matches
57.5%
40 matches
48.6%
37 matches
40.6%
32 matches
59.3%
27 matches
21.4%
14 matches
66.7%
18 matches
40.0%
15 matches
50.0%
6 matches
36.4%
11 matches
46.7%
15 matches
68.8%
16 matches
50.0%
4 matches
62.5%
8 matches
55.6%
9 matches
-
vs
rakdos midrange
vs
Mono Green Devotion
vs
izzet phoenix
vs
other
vs
azorius control
vs
mono white humans
vs
abzan greasefang
vs
mono red aggro
vs
bant spirits
vs
Lotus Field Combo
vs
rakdos sacrifice
vs
mono blue spirits
vs
4c fires
vs
gruul aggro
vs
Boros Heroic
vs
5c enigmatic incarnation
vs
angels
vs
izzet creativity
Metagame Tier List
Tier 1
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?
The premier decks of the format. These are the most likely decks to win challenges or preliminaries on Magic Online and often survive even while being targeted directly by other top decks.
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Mono Green Devotion
50.2% win rate13.96% metashare480$
rakdos midrange
51.1% win rate14.18% metashare756$
Tier 2
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?
These are very strong decks that are poised to top 8 the challenges and may even win them, but generally have a specific weak matchup either against other A tier decks or against some number of S tier decks, which hold these decks back from the top spot.
see full list
izzet phoenix
49.1% win rate9.57% metashare479$
azorius control
53.1% win rate6.52% metashare515$
abzan greasefang
47.7% win rate5.19% metashare436$
mono white humans
54.4% win rate5.33% metashare172$
Tier 3
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?
These are the last of the decks that are likely to put up strong results in the Challenges Online. These decks tend to have skewed matchup spreads, needing to win the matchup lottery to overperform and usually are more like to top 16 a Challenge than top 8.
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rakdos sacrifice
51.9% win rate2.95% metashare651$
bant spirits
49% win rate3.25% metashare382$
Boros Heroic
49.1% win rate2.05% metashare170$
Lotus Field Combo
52.7% win rate3.13% metashare317$
Tier 4
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?
These are decks that can 5-0 a league and will occasionally spike a larger event, but generally they fall victim to too many bad matchups in the upper tiers of the metagame or lack the consistency outside of a single pilot to put up consistent results.
see full list
mono blue spirits
51.2% win rate2.71% metashare170$
mono red aggro
47.2% win rate4.12% metashare74$
niv to light
40.6% win rate1.15% metashare725$
gruul aggro
51.3% win rate2.16% metashare233$
5c enigmatic incarnation
55.5% win rate1.65% metashare709$
angels
52.8% win rate1.61% metashare576$
4c fires
48.5% win rate2.27% metashare601$
Tier 5
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?
These decks show up often enough to warrant mention outside of FNM tier and can sneak into top 16s some amount of the time, but on a week to week basis, these decks are liable to leave you outside of prizes in competitive events.
see full list
selesnya auras
52.8% win rate0.43% metashare309$
jund sacrifice
52.4% win rate0.91% metashare686$
dimir control
44.3% win rate0.99% metashare509$
4c humans
50% win rate0.08% metashare452$
Izzet Tempo
45.5% win rate0.42% metashare386$
esper control
49.7% win rate0.96% metashare566$
Pyre Humans
49.5% win rate0.49% metashare376$
grixis phoenix
50% win rate0.03% metashare485$
Mardu Greasefang
50% win rate0.19% metashare592$
Vampires
62.5% win rate0.19% metashare488$
esper greasefang
35.8% win rate0.29% metashare616$
neoform
69.2% win rate0.03% metashare471$
mono black aggro
48.5% win rate1.04% metashare638$
jeskai control
26.9% win rate0.06% metashare476$
izzet control
33.9% win rate0.28% metashare332$
5c humans
46.4% win rate0.13% metashare314$
bant humans
53.1% win rate0.39% metashare377$
esper humans
33.3% win rate0.01% metashare248$
gruul ramp
60.8% win rate0.13% metashare519$
Gruul Creativity/Transmogrify
25% win rate0.11% metashare405$
izzet creativity
52.6% win rate1.36% metashare530$
jeskai fires
40.9% win rate0.08% metashare754$
orzhov auras
53.3% win rate0.08% metashare192$
orzhov humans
55.3% win rate0.18% metashare336$
Selesnya Company
51.9% win rate0.11% metashare310$
azorius affinity
0% win rate0.00% metashare0$
azorius spirits
57.1% win rate0.37% metashare56$
elves
35.3% win rate0.25% metashare453$
goblins
50.6% win rate0.39% metashare150$
grinning ignus combo
50% win rate0.25% metashare445$
orzhov greasefang
52.2% win rate0.04% metashare500$
other
44.2% win rate7.73% metashare533$
dimir shredder
42.2% win rate0.24% metashare623$
