The Magic: the Gathering Pioneer format has become a weekly Friday Night Magic event for the Iloilo City community and the regulars were around 8 to 10 players in attendance already. It is a good thing, as this format is now recognized in some of the upcoming major Magic: the Gathering events scheduled in the country and worldwide.

It was my first time joining last Friday’s Pioneer FNM and I piloted my housemate Gedi’s Mono Red Aggro deck. I had to make some slight changes though as I have checked the local metagame and noted some possible archetype matchups. I referenced some builds with Chandra, Dressed to Kill in the main deck but upon checking Gedi’s current build, I realized that a lot of cards needed to be changed. The list still goes with Bomat Couriers and Ash Zealots which I think is not efficient anymore. Unfortunately, my teammate Ace is also playing Mono Red, and the supposed card pieces I will borrow will be used in his deck. It is then that I stick with the same creatures and cut a few slots for Chandra DTK.

I arrived at Pro Reis place past 6pm and just minutes before the start of the first round. There were about ten players in total and the prize lineup was Crimson Vow draft booster packs. We will try our luck again in pulling Sorin or Chandra from this set.

Below are my rounds matchup results:
Round 1 vs Mono Blue Spirits (Won 2-1)
Round 2 vs Mono Black Aggro (Lost 0-2)
Round 3 vs Mono-Red Aggro (Lost 1-2)
Round 4 vs UW Control (Won with concession)

I think the deck build is still decent, it is just that drawing eight lands in a row will get you nowhere. Overall, still hoping to play this archetype again next week with the preferred decklist. Congrats to the top players and the community for making Pioneer alive again.

Until the next blog post.