I'm enamored with Courser in Pioneer. Just phenomenal. In the same way that Chevill is in that sweet spot in Historic, Courser is in a good place in Pioneer, where you are interested in a cheap-ish creature that gives a little bit of value every turn. An extra land off the top here or there can swing a game, but you aren't out flat if it gets removed.
This is the list I've settled on after the latest Pioneer challenge. Playing Courser in your deck isn't a given, of course, since it takes away your ability to play both Jegantha and Lurrus, so if we're going down that path we have to make it worth it. The key to this deck is that I've cut red, even though I love Bonecrusher Giant and Dreadbore. That way we can afford to play both BB and GG costed cards easier, and we get to have some good tools in the mana base.
Grim Flayer is a card that pairs well with Courser, and also happens to be excellent in the format. Flayer lets you set up the top of your library to almost always hit a land off the top if you want it, plus a Courser in the graveyard is two card types, setting you up for easy Delirium. As far as the format, Grim Flayer has always been one of my favorites when you are expecting combo decks. Every time Grim Flayer connects, it helps you dig for the specific cards you need. Against combo decks, card selection tends to be more important than card quantity, because a single Damping Sphere or Necromentia is priceless in the right matchup. Also, Grim Flayer hits hard if left on the table, and against combo decks, you can expect it to be left on the table, and hitting hard is appreciated, not giving the opponent time to set up their combo. It's been great against Lotus Field decks and other combo decks.
Scavenging Ooze as a four of has been solid. It seems to do something against everyone, including Greasefang, Arclight Phoenix, Cauldron Familiar, etc. Of course, it's also just a creature that is cheap and can be cast early and grows against aggro decks. Not a lot to say about Ooze, it's good.
I like the Witherbloom Command package. To start, straight up getting a land back is always good if you're hitting an opponent's permanent, so the baseline here is solid. Lots of opponents are going to have stuff that Command can hit, like Witch's Oven, Llanowar Elves, Soul Warden, Portable Hole. Beyond that, Boseiju and Field of Ruin turn out to be excellent in the format. Field does good work against Lotus Field, even though the Field itself has Hexproof, Thespian Stage does not. The same goes for Boseiju, which has some extra flexibility in hitting Parhelion and other stuff. So, since those cards are going to be good, fetching one up with Witherbloom Command turns out to be a real solid play, whether you save a Command in hand until you actually pop your Field of Ruin, or you blind flip one of them. There's a little bit of synergy with Grim Flayer and Courser there, but not so much that it's crippling if the opponent has graveyard hate.
To round it out we've got some Planeswalkers. Not having a companion means that we can play whatever we want for Planeswalkers and top end stuff, but that we are also in the market for some late game value. Sorin is at a nice place in Pioneer, where you can expect your average mana cost to be pretty low, a Vampire token has some real value, and four mana isn't too expensive. Lolth is excellent at creating a board stall and then taking over the game, which is what you would expect from a five mana card, but she also has the added benefit of giving you your value even if they have the removal spell. I tried Elder Gargaroth in that slot but Lolth has been more consistent. Vraska Golgari Queen or Liliana, Waker of the Dead could both be okay here too if you wanted to try those.
During the lastest Pioneer Challenge, I had a Chevill package in my sideboard, and I've since cut it for two Sarulf and two Culling Ritual. For one, the Red/Black or Jund sacrifice deck is all over the place and very good. Chevill would be okay there, but Sarulf and Culling Ritual are knockout blows. Also, there are a lot of removal spells in this deck, but not quite as many as Chevill would really like to see. In the Historic Jund lists, for instance, Bloodthirsty Adversary and Inscription of Ruin count as Chevill trigger enablers in addition to our late game value plan. Here, that stuff manifests as Courser and Lolth, where the plan is more to create a board stall. Sarulf and Culling Ritual love a board stall.
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Pretty quick update here today, but I just wanted to get something in because I haven't had time to lately. Expect more frequent updates and streams and stuff when I'm done my latest work project, which should be soon. Thanks for reading.
