Pioneer

Eternal Formats Existence

Maybe it's a bit of a reductionist view, but at a larger timeframe, eternal formats don't really exist. They thrive for a time and are then replaced by something else. Legacy replaced Vintage, Modern replaced Legacy, one day Pioneer will replace Modern and after that, new formats will be born. Yes, there are still Vintage and Legacy players, but at a macro scale, the percentage of players is shrinking.
I think it is very okay to accept this as a fact of the game.

The word “eternal” is a poor choice as we use “eternal” to mean formats with access to (mostly) all the cards. Vintage, Legacy, and Commander are all eternal formats. So eternal formats do exist. : )But your larger point of how Magic keeps shifting where it focuses its formats is true.

Commander Eternal Humor Legacy Modern Pioneer Vintage Thrive

Pioneer Format Boundary Decision

How was it decided for RTR to be the cutoff point for pioneer? I think around that time period was probably about right in order to achieve the intended goal of the format, but I’m curious why/how it was decided to be RTR block specifically as opposed to innistrad or theros or something else around that time

Play design spent a lot of time looking at all the options. Return to Ravnica ended up being their first choice for what it allowed and what it kept out.

Innistrad Pioneer Play Design Return to Ravnica Theros

Release of Suspine Lynx

Hey mark it’s me the guy thats been begging for mass nonbasic hate in standard/pioneer for months I just saw the card Suspine Lynx was spoiled THIS IS SO AWESOME! twice the cost of Price of progress for half the damage obviously isn’t as good, but price of progress is also too strong for either of those formats anyway. Plus being on a 5/4 with two other relevant abilities is AWESOME! THANK YOU

You’re welcome.

Appreciation Pioneer Power Level Standard Lynx Price of Progress

Power Level Adjustment in Sets

Set B "obsoletes" set A is a strong word, but let's focus a moment on pioneer, not very old vintage cards. I have a database of "top playables" in pioneer, restarted after every banning. Cards get into list based on certain number of appearances in goldfish's tournament winners, but criteria is equal to all cards. 9 OG Theros cards are on the list, 5 KTK cards. 4 RTR cards (+ shocks) 21 MKM cards are. 20 LCI cards. 13 OTJ. New sets have vastly more cards in list, thus are stronger.

The switch for a Standard-focus to an Eternal-focus forced us to up the overall power level of premier sets in Throne of Eldraine, so yes, Throne of Eldraine and sets after do have an overall high power level. That wasn’t set by set creep though, but a conscious one-time adjustment.

Bannings Format Legality Khans of Tarkir Murders at Karlov Manor Outlaws of Thunder Junction Pioneer Power Level Premier Sets Premier Sets Return to Ravnica The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Theros Throne of Eldraine Throne of Eldraine Vintage

Format Distinctions

I've heard rumours that Wizards is trying to make Modern more similar to Legacy, and Pioneer more similar to Modern.
Whats your stance on this?

The opposite is true. We want each format to be distinctively its own. It is true though that as formats getting bigger, they change, so Modern has more qualities it shares with Legacy as the card pool gets larger, but the two do play differently.

Legacy Modern Pioneer

Pioneer Energy Designs

There are some cool energy cards in MH3 that I wish they were Pioneer-Legal. Do you think it would be viable to bring some os those designs to a Premier Set?

I believe we’ll do more premier sets with energy. I’m not sure the power level of all the MH3 energy cards are appropriate for Standard though.

Energy Cards Modern Horizons 3 Pioneer Power Level Premier Sets Premier Sets Standard

Nonbasic Hate Balance

Re: Mass nonbasic hate in standard and pioneer pretty please with a cherry on topI have read the threads from my previous questions, and I now understand why most of the extreme nonbasic hate cards, stuff like blood moon, back to basics, or ruination, can feel oppressive against decks with 2 or even 1 color, which is obviously not the goal of such cards. I do want to ask now, as question of curiosity more than a specific request: what kinds of things make hate cards go too far? Whether it be blood moon or rest in peace or engineered plague; at what point does a hate piece cause too much collateral damage (like blood moon), or at what point is the punishment so severe that it can fully lock some decks out of the game (like Rest in Peace). Where is the sweet spot, how do you know you’ve found it, and what kinds of knobs do you turn to help get there? I know that’s way more than one question and might be better suited as an article, but I’d still be fascinated to hear about it.

It’s just yet another reason why play balance is so difficult. Not enough and it’s not effective. Too much and it has impacts you don’t want. Mostly it’s a lot of trial and error in playtesting, and then some finger crossing.

Back to Basics Basics Blood Blood Moon Collateral Damage Colors Engineered Plague Game Balance Pioneer Playtesting Rest in Peace Ruination Standard Trial and Error

Thunder Junction Feedback

Sp follow to comment about wanting to comeback to thunder junction in a product with less focus on commander. My point was that the flavor and tone of the set is something that I enjoy, but the product doesn't have game pieces that are healthy or lead to good game play in the formats I play and in how I interact/enjoy the game. So it would be great to come back to this plane in a product with less focus on commander. I think with all the discourse o er tone of the set, that pointing out other concerns with the product would lead to more information on what a return to thunder junction could be.

There are many cards in Thunders of Outlaw Junction that people are talking about being playable in Standard, Pioneer, and Modern. The biggest complaint about the set is it might be a bit on the strong side for competitive play. What do you need that it’s not delivering as a competitive tournament player?

Commander Competitive Play Flavor Game Play Modern Pioneer Standard

Withering Boon Reprint

May I request a withering boon reprint into standard/pioneer?

No, black countering a spell is a color pie break. Black gets rid of troublesome creature cards in the opponent’s hand by forcing them to discard them.

Black Card Printing Color Pie Creatures Discard Pioneer Reprints Standard Withering Boon Your Hand

Commander Deck Legality

When you release a set for a format (such as premier sets for Standard, or Modern Horizons for Modern), usually there are accompanying Commander pre-con decks.Is it possible to make the commander deck cards legal in corresponding formats? (e.g. "Ziplining" commander cards becoming legal in Standard, or "Pioneer Horizons 2" commander cards becoming legal in Pioneer)

That requires a lot of extra playtesting and would force changes in the new cards that would lessen what they could do in Commander games (and would generally have to be of a lower power level).

Commander Commander Decks Format Legality Modern Modern Horizons Pioneer Playtesting Power Level Premier Sets Premier Sets Standard

Slivers in Sets

What are the chances of there being 5 or so slivers per set for, let's say, 2 years worth of sets? Sure, they wouldn't be a limited archetype, but there could eventually be enough for standard or pioneer. And omenpaths can be used to explain why they're all over the place. They could be an interesting minor subplot of one of the story arcs

The cards would need to organically fit in the set. That’s not as easy to do as you’d think.

Limited Omenpaths Pioneer Sliver Standard Story / Lore

Formats Ecosystem Flow

Do you guys still see formats as an ecosystem? For example, a Standard player might want to keep playing with their cards after rotation, so they move to Pioneer, or a Modern player might have their deck banned, so they get some upgrades and try their luck in Legacy.

We know there’s flow between formats.

Bannings Format Legality Legacy Modern Pioneer Standard

Tron Lands Possibility

Hey, Mark. Tron lands in Standard or Pioneer, are they a when or an if?

An if. They are very powerful.

Lands Pioneer Standard

Mana Base Control

There seems to be a staunch lack of mass nonbasic hate in standard & pioneer. Targeted land removal like demolition field, field of ruin, or Boseiju are good for dealing with individually powerful lands; but they don’t meaningfully punish greedy mana bases. Domain has been a tier 1 standard deck since DMU came out, and it’s only ever gotten more options. 4 color omnath dominated standard when it was legal, and multicolor decks in general have access to tons of fixing just with the land-base. Modern at least has blood moon, but standard and pioneer don’t have any mass nonbasic hate. Is this intentional? If so, why?

Hating on greedy mana bases, but not messing up non-greedy mana bases is a challenge.

Blood Blood Moon Colors Demolition Field Domain Dominaria United Field of Ruin Four Color Lands Mana Modern Pioneer Standard

Horizon Masters Concept

Has the concept of a “horizon masters” set ever been considered? As in, a set that skips standard and goes straight to pioneer/modern, but the set is 100% reprints. Its only purpose is to grandfather in cards that exist but aren’t in the format. In my mind, this makes most sense for pioneer, since there is a much larger card pool to pull from when deciding what to bring in. I think this would relieve some of the tension players feel about “new broken cards destroying the format”, by bringing in cards that have already proved themselves to be good but not format warping (so no sol ring).

Two big issues: 1) The differential between Pioneer and Modern is key to them being very different formats. 2) An all-reprint set that meets the needs of a reprint set and is restricted to cards not in Pioneer, but could be, is a tiny landing strip.

Card Printing Modern Pioneer Reprints Sol Ring Standard

Banning Cards Together

Has it ever been considered for cards to only be banned *together*? For example, felidar guardian is banned in pioneer because of how it combos with Saheeli Rai. Would it ever be considered to ban those cards being in the same deck, but still allowing them separately?

It’s a much more complicated message, and is significantly harder to track. If a card is banned and you see your opponent play it, you know they’re doing something they shouldn’t. But if it’s banned only under certain circumstances, now you don’t know, and there isn’t a good way for you to know. That’s a problem.

Bannings Felidar Guardian Format Legality Format Legality Format Legality Pioneer Saheeli Rai

Pioneer Horizons Hypothetical

If there were to be a Pioneer Horizons set (leave aside whether that's a good idea), would it automatically be legal in Modern, or could there be a set that's specifically legal in Pioneer but not in Modern?

We’re dealing in hypotheticals here, but my gut is we don’t want cards in Pioneer that aren’t in Modern.

Format Legality Modern Pioneer

Lightning Bolt Reprint

If or when, Bolt getting reprinted in a Standard/Pioneer legal set?

If. Lightning Bolt really warps environments.

Card Printing If/When Lightning Bolt Pioneer Reprints Standard

Bitterblossom Reprint Potential

Hey Mark, Is there any possibility of a Bitterblossom reprint in standard later down the line now that we have switched to the kindred type? Its my favorite card and I’d love to be able to use it again in standard and pioneer

While there are potentials for reprints, I’m highly skeptical it will happen in Standard, both because of the power level of the card and that we don’t plan to do much new with Kindred.

Bitterblossom Card Printing Kindred / Typal Pioneer Power Level Reprints Standard

Modern vs. Pioneer Formats

Hi Mark, I love that Modern includes supplemental Horizons sets and now UB tentpole releases too, but I would hate for those things to come to Pioneer. I hope that this difference in approach can remain an important dividing line between the two formats, versus Magic just accumulating a new eternal format every 10 years with an ever-later start date.

You’re very focused on what Pioneer is. When I’m asked questions about the future, I imagine what it could become. Those are two very different things.

Eternal Modern Pioneer