‘Sup nerds! Welcome back to Fun & Jank Episode 37.
This week we’re doing something a little different: we’re climbing the Pioneer ladder—not with a tiered-out meta deck, but with a spicy pile of legendary humans that came from user @Tiago_Cygnus (MTGO_Cygnus) on x.com. I was scrolling through my feed looking for interesting lists when I saw this decklist pop up, with multiple users showing off their impressive runs with it.
I knew I had to try it myself—and after a few tweaks (mostly due to a lack of wildcards) and some stream-side grinding, I piloted it all the way to Mythic rank in Pioneer.
1-Drops This deck is playing some very efficient one-mana creatures, a few of wich can take over gams on their own. However, this is compounded by the fact that they all enable Mox Amber which can give the deck explosives starts.
– One of the most fun cards in the deck. He’s a 2/1 that eventually grows into a 3/2 double striker with card advantage strapped to it. Kellan threatens to take over the game all on his own if unanswered and acts as a very efficient beater that scales as the game goes on thanks to our other anthem effects.
Cecil, Dark Knight – Cecil is a new card from Final Fantasy that has impressed me every time I’ve played him.. A 2/3 deathtouch for one is already solid, but the twist is in the transformation. If you’re behind on life, Cecil flips into a lifelink 4/4 (and untaps itself to block) that makes your team indestructible when it attacks. Great early blocker, great late-game topdeck, and still turns on Mox Amber.
– You already know this guy as we played him plenty in our White Weenie list from Episode 30. In a wide creature deck like this, Kytheon flips pretty easily and becomes a powerful threat with some extra utility stapled to it. Between him, Jirina, and Zack Fair, we have quite a few ways to dodge removal via making our creatures indestructible.
Zack Fair – Zach is incredibly strong in this list. He enters with a +1/+1 counter, which is already fine, but his activated ability lets you cash him in to make another creature indestructible and transfer his buffs (aka the +1/+1 counters from Thalia’s Lieutenant). That means he saves your Adeline, Resplendent Cathar from removal, loops with Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate, or just turns into a combat trick that blows out blockers. He’s performed very well so far.
2-Drops These four create a rock-solid turn two package that supports both your legendary subtheme and your aggressive go-wide plan.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben – The classic taxes creature. Taxing noncreature spells feels like quite a solid plan right now, and Thalia is a nightmare for control, combo, and midrange decks trying to curve out smoothly. She’s also just a pain to trade with in combat thanks to first strike.
Thalia’s Lieutenant – The best payoff for going wide with humans. She enters the battlefield pumping your whole squad and grows even bigger with every new body you play. In many games, she becomes the biggest threat on the table by turn four without much effort. Combine her with Adeline and you can close out games very fast.
Coppercoat Vanguard – This serves as our second anthem effect. Giving your whole team +1/+0 and ward 1 is exactly what you want in an aggressive deck—it turns your one-drops into real threats and makes your opponent’s removal spells just a little too awkward to sequence efficiently. Plays very well along side Thalia to tax the opp’s mana in the early game.
Jirina, Dauntless General– Jirina has felt like more of a flex slot, but definitely feels worth the inclusion. She protects your entire board from wraths or targeted removal and gives you a body on board. Just like Zack Fair, she can loop herself every turn with Alesha to make your creatures dodge instant speed removal and never die in combat. Incidental graveyard hate is nice too.
3-Drops
These 3-drops turn on the midgame plan—bringing recursion, board dominance, and closing power.
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar– Just one of the best 3-drops ever printed for white aggro, period. Scales with your board, makes free bodies, and swings for a ton of damage even if she never personally attacks. She demands a removal spell—and often eats it with no value lost. She’s also fantastic with our other legends like Zack Fair, who can protect her in a pinch.
Joshua, Phoenix’s Dominant – Another sweet addition from FF. At worst, he’s a 3-mana 3/4 looter that helps you find more gas. At best, he transforms into Phoenix, Warden of Fire, a powerful saga that revives part of your team from the yard. He’s especially filthy in grindy matchups and pairs beautifully with the rest of the list.
Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate – Alesha is a glue piece. She brings back just about everything in the deck (Zack, Jirina, Kytheon, Thalia’s Lieutenant, etc.), often for massive tempo swings. You get to attack and reanimate in one go. I find that it plays a very similar role to Extraction Specialist from other lists, but the fact that it grows and can recur things repeatedly has proven to be stronger in my opinion.
Gameplay
Over the course of the climb, we faced a wide variety of decks—everything from Rakdos and Mono-Black Midrange to fringe archetypes like Dredge, Merfolk, and even Cycling combo. Through it all, the deck felt streamlined, consistent, and genuinely fun to pilot.
Against midrange, games were often very back-and-forth, hinging on how efficiently we could deploy threats and whether they had removal early. Cards like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Jirina, Dauntless General, and Zack Fair really shined in those grindy matchups—taxing spells, protecting the board, and creating windows where our creatures could safely connect.
Control felt surprisingly easy. The speed of the deck—combined with the raw power of our 1-drops and aggressive 3-drops—made it difficult for control opponents to stabilize. Even through cards like Temporary Lockdown, the deck could often recover quickly with Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate or stick a Joshua, Phoenix’s Dominant and grind right through sweepers.
We had the most trouble against decks that clogged the board early—especially Boros Convoke or creature based aggro builds that could outscale us like elves or lifegain. When we stumble or keep a speculative hand, the format will punish us. But if we curve out cleanly, this deck is more than capable of racing the best.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, this deck was an absolute blast to play—and it turns out, pretty dang effective too. We ended our run with a 13–5 record, clocking in at a 72% win rate, and I genuinely think it has the legs to compete in the Pioneer meta. The curve is clean, the threats are diverse, and the synergy between the new cards and the existing Humans shell gives it a fresh angle that most opponents won’t be ready for.
Big shoutout again to @Tiago_Cygnus for the decklist—this brew really nails the balance between raw aggression and smart sequencing. If you’re looking for something spicy, resilient, and a little off-meta to jam in Pioneer, I’d highly recommend giving this one a try.
Thanks for reading.
As always feel free to comment and leave any questions you have below! Make sure to come back next week for even more Fun & Jank!
If you want to see these decks in action, come hang out with me on stream where we test, refine, and have a ton of fun together!
Happy Brewing!
Premium
Enjoy our content? Wish to support our work? Join our Premium community, get access to exclusive content, remove all advertisements, and more!
No ads: Browse the entire website ad-free, both display and video.
Exclusive Content: Instant access to all exclusive articles only for Premium members, at your fingertips.
Support: All your contributions get directly reinvested into the website to increase your viewing experience!
Discord: Join our Discord server, claim your Premium role and gain access to exclusive channels where you can learn in real time!
Special offer: For a limited time, use coupon code L95WR9JOWV to get 50% off the Annual plan!
Plum is the creator of the Jank Tank.
He started playing at the ripe old age of 12 and immediately fell in love with the infinite possibilities that deck building could lead to.
He truly understands that jank is a mindset, and spends most of his free time brewing and concocting new and exciting deck lists to help inspire and promote creativity within the MTG community.
