Playtesting the 2022 Pioneer Challenger Decks | Izzet Phoenix vs Orzhov Humans

[@CardmarketMagic]

🐦⚔ Decklists: bit.ly/3F6fiys

[@fish_in_distress]

Losing with the opponent at 1, a true aggro experience

[@sandwichboy1268]

Shame WotC couldn't afford to buy enough phoenixes or things in ice to include 4 of each in the precons

[@anikaschulz4541]

They are saving that money for a certain 30th anniversary set

[@lachlank.8270]

Maro needs braces

[@FelipeASaito]

Funny and sad how the Izzet *Phoenix* has more Crackling Drakes than actual phoenixes. They didn't even pretend to justify the namesake of the deck by putting other cheaper phoenixes

[@FlourescentPotato]

honestly hilariously pathetic. what a waste of money. These decks are such jank. Just reprint the top decks!

[@feritperliare2890]

@@FlourescentPotato but than the insider traders would lose money you can’t have that you might end up with a health game economy

[@BosSoxFan15]

It is worth pointing out to new Pioneer players expressive iteration is banned in the format (you can play it specifically if you play the exact list of the precon), so if you plan on buying this deck and upgrading it checkout some updated decklists and see what they have replaced iteration with.

[@icomment2226]

It is doable, and you should do OK. However, I recommend playing the precons in the next couple of months (maximum). (as sets come out, these precons will eventually be dated and become obsolete making the two copies of Expressive Iteration not worth bringing a precon to a ‘real’ event). The Izzet Phoenix precon is the best of the four by far due to its consistency.

[@MineRoyale.]

You missed that Crackling Drake should have counted the card under Kitesail Freebooter a few times.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Yes we did! You'll have to forgive us 😅

[@moocow17]

:0 the audacity of how we play paper magic xD

[@ProSandlin]

I love that you guys got a whole sound stage and LED sign of the logo before you brought a second pack of dice lol. Great video!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Priorities! Our neon light budget blew out our dice budget 😅

[@wilfredsun4056]

I like having Carl vs Jamin back.

[@dvicko]

You guys are great. I love how you explain your thoughts and ideas throughout the game. Do that more. :D And also, other matchups would be great to see. Thanks for great content.

[@888ian2]

yooo the music was popping off at around 10:30, also you guys are making great commentary! I feel like it's getting more fluid with every video

[@hoooplah]

I've newly discovered your videos - I'm new to magic and really love the format with the asides explaining your thought processes. They're both useful and entertaining. I'd be interested in a video which compares all four decks (and maybe briefly also ranks them against the previous precon decks).

[@Audentior_Ito]

I agree! Their videos really helped me get into pioneer for that exact reason & they're still really useful in understanding the mentality behind piloting decks I don't run.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We will indeed be doing a video rating all four and recommending upgrades, but we'll do it closer to the release ot the decks :)

[@hoooplah]

@@CardmarketMagic Guess I better subscribe then :P

[@AbesOnAPlaneFilms]

Play the other match ups! This series is great! Much love from the USA!

[@Kadraxan]

The graphic on the side of the screen for Thalia really shouldn't use the diamond/colourless symbol, because that would be suuuper broken if it forced the use of specifically colourless mana. Otherwise, great content!

[@CardmarketMagic]

The video was produced on a time constraint and we did not have a graphic asset for the other mana pip. But mostly, we realized most casual players would get the message and more veteran players know Thalia well enough that they would know what's going on :)

[@colgatelampinen2501]

24:15 forgot to update Crackling drake to 6/4 as Kitesail took lightning axe

[@CardmarketMagic]

Crackling drake still counts cards in exile ;)

[@Rukalin]

@@CardmarketMagic that's exactly the point, Kitesail Freebooter RAISES Crackling Drake's Power. The card goes from hand to exile.

[@CardmarketMagic]

@@Rukalin ahhhhh! Good catch! My bad 😅

[@kbazap1295]

26:40 I love this part

[@zurreal8087]

In Yugioh, our structure decks (preconstructed) only include a single copy of every included card, with the product being designed to be bought at 3 copies (we’re limited to 3 copies of each card in our decks). Is the blue/red preconstructed deck intended to be bought twice?

[@valvadis2360]

Seems so, while Magic precons are always lacking in manabases and with less than ideal numbers of the most expensive cards, the Phoenix deck can mostly be fixed by buying two. The Humans deck by the way has the right number of all the important cards (they aren't very expensive) but it is an outdated list from before an important Ban, so it's weaker from lack of the 3-drop creatures that returned to the deck after that (well deserved, format warping) card was Ban.

[@OscarBrewer]

@@valvadis2360, would you say that Izzet Phoenix is the best Challenger Deck for someone who wants to start playing pioneer?

[@aaronmartin5784]

Can I make a suggestion on the next deck tech? Abzan Greasefang please! Using: Eldridge Evolution (2) Can't Stay away (3) Stitchers Suppliers (4) There's multiple lists out there but with this card selection I would like to see sideboard tech recommendations because Chanel Fireball is slow at updating this particular list! Haha!!! Best them to it with an informative video

[@garrettneary3755]

Now that you have upped your dice game, I'd like to see the infinite turn dice factory deck Toffel did a short on a while back on the next feature match. You know, the deck Inspiring Spike brewed for MTGO

[@sebass4379]

Is it just me? Or did Carl say "playing his bitch creatures" at 3:39? 😂

[@shogert2370]

Would love to see more Pioneer!(although cEDH is my all-time favourite)) May I ask you to consider to play Boros Cycling?

[@CardmarketMagic]

Sure! We'll add it to the list for the next pioneer matches :) Do you have a list for us?

[@shogert2370]

@@CardmarketMagic Couldn't put a link here, so I will just copy-paste list :D 4 Irencrag Pyromancer 4 Hollow One 4 Flourishing Fox 4 Drannith Stinger 4 Drannith Healer 3 Zenith Flare 4 Censor 4 Go for Blood 3 Cast Out 4 Improbable Alliance 2 The Royal Scions 1 Otawara, Soaring City 2 Raugrin Triome 3 Hengegate Pathway 3 Shivan Reef 3 Hallowed Fountain 4 Inspiring Vantage 4 Battlefield Forge 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring 2 Unlicensed Hearse 2 Settle the Wreckage 2 Rending Volley 2 Fry 2 Deafening Silence 3 Mystical Dispute

[@CardmarketMagic]

@@shogert2370 thank you! I'll put it on the list we take decks from when choosing matchups. Hopefully Jamin doesn't hate me 😅

[@alkex1]

Precons and budget battles are my favorites!!!

[@Khaled.Kassem]

Hi guys, iam new to MTG. A question : at the end of round 1, when red cards player did the final attack why the other did not block with his solder card?

[@OscarBrewer]

Is Izzet Phoenix the best option between the four new Challenger Decks for someone who wants to start playing Pioneer? I want to buy one of those, but I'm not sure which one should I get?

[@CardmarketMagic]

I'd suggest either Phoenix or Humans. The humans deck needs quite a few upgrades but is one of the top decks of the format. Phoenix could basically be made tier 1 by buying two precons and adding some lands, and is incredibly powerful, but is not as strong in the general Meta. Still a great path though! 👍 don't forget to take out the expressive iterations if you do as they are banned.

[@icomment2226]

Izzet Phoenix. I will play the precon next week at a 1.5K. If you play the cards out of the box, then you can play the Expressive iterations. Expressive Iteration is not that great in Izzet Phoenix, but it *terrifies* players. So I will stick with the precon. Have fun! 🤣🤣

[@rafinery576]

Do a DImir vs Izzet as well, I'm between getting one of the two :P

[@jacobharner7998]

this content is amazing as always!

[@ThePhantomphan11]

Hey Slight of Hand is in Pioneer now! How much better is phoenix now?

[@braxtonrenfro9029]

This is my favorite way to watch Magic.

[@piotrwillow6440]

can you guys do more test plaing with these precons? Like Dimir Control vs Phoenix, Humas vs Grul, etc. Mix all the combination, that would be great!

[@weirdperson5675]

My problem with the Humans deck is you get none of the great 3 drops which is the power of Mono W human

[@hermelin12]

I see Carl vs Jamin: My weekend is saved:-)

[@themugofthenorth]

im so early! love your channel! just as i was thinking of getting into pioneer

[@montgomeryharr30]

Is the expressive iteration the same as when they printed fabled passage and lingering souls into pre-cons? It's legal in pioneer if you use the exact 75?

[@CardmarketMagic]

Yes this exactly. The card is banned for any deck that is not this exact list

[@TheWaffletron9000]

Come back on that first game was awesome! Great patient and defensive plays that paid off big time

[@TheCoopman35]

Makes fun of crackaling drake it then wins him both games

[@JohnJohnGUY]

At 22:40 ish why does lightning axe return to hand?

[@CardmarketMagic]

There was a lightning axe under the kitesail freebooter. Once it was bounced, the card went back to his hand

[@maciejszpyra]

Where can I buy dice like yours?

[@Brian0033]

"gosh why couldn't the strongest precon deck be even more OP relative to the strength of the other precons?"

[@alexandercanazachambi9744]

actually jim davis played a nice version called izzet drakes in the regional championships,you should check it out,

[@laconquista6227]

Please keep playing the challenger decks Maybe play the new ones vs the 2021 challenger decks? My LGS is doing a pioneer challenger deck tourney where players are randomly assigned one of the 8 decks to compete in a tournament

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's a fun tournament idea! We covered the other challenger decks around their release last year: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKbFg5WCd7udrsU

[@laconquista6227]

@@CardmarketMagic yup I watched them. It would be fun to see the 2021 decks go against the 2022 decks

[@klarkammerman7096]

Pioneer!! Thanks and I look forward to more!

[@cethapplegate594]

Crackling drake is not a bad card. It's just not a good enough card. Remember this one game I have crackling drake and opponent wins on the next turn. Dude mills half my deck drake is 17/4 and he's got no flyers.

[@thunder_bug_1451]

"the plan is to hope he forgets to attack" we've all been there lmao

[@janmelantu7490]

Could you give us some upgrade guides to these precons?

[@JonnMcDude]

I'm not an expert but I'd say at least +2 arclight phoenix and thing in the ice

[@CardmarketMagic]

We're planning on doing it closer to the release :)

[@diogeneticist3585]

Carl stop looking so good, I'm trying to pay attention to the cards.

[@diogeneticist3585]

jk, youre the best

[@CardmarketMagic]

🤣

[@josephcourtright8071]

Ironically this is the first time I think Izzet Phoenix won on this channel. And they did it without the phoenix. I sorta in the camp that the phoenix is a very fragile plan as there are lots of hate cards that just kill the deck.

[@CardmarketMagic]

I don't know if I agree with Phoenix generally being a bad deck, but I do think you might be correct about Phoenix losing all its other matches 😅 this being the only win, without seeing a single Phoenix.

[@josephcourtright8071]

​@@CardmarketMagic I"ve only played it on arena. I think its missing some key pieces there. I don't think its bad. However, If I play best of three with it, I tend to sideboard out the phoenix cause its going to face so much hate. (especially against black or white)

[@talsonis]

I'm pretty sure the crackling drake gained another power while lightning axe was exiled with kitesail freebooter. Right?

[@CardmarketMagic]

That is correct! We simply missed it at the time

[@talsonis]

@@CardmarketMagic I don't blame you, I almost missed it myself. It's a weirder interaction. Now to find a way to jank with this weirdness

[@Alexsnow0_0]

This was really entertaining, keep it up.

[@thaxtonclark8145]

Please play Arcades, the strategist Modern!

[@hamish2509]

Thumbnail says rakdos phoenix?

[@CardmarketMagic]

Ooops! Thanks for letting us know!

[@btrbt8613]

"Ooh, that sounds neat. Wait..." Lmao I was so confused.

[@BosSoxFan15]

Could you guys do something like a 30 or 50$ upgrade to the precons and then play them after the upgrades.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We are planning on doing this closer to product release :)

[@willbracken1827]

now play the two precons that won against each other!

[@bodacious_b0808]

Could you imagine a world where they did these for Modern? I wish they would so bad

[@sandwichboy1268]

Considering they only include 2 copies of core cards for these pioneer decks, I doubt the modern precons would be any good.

[@jii-ro7083]

They would cost like 500 and have literally 0 playables in them

[@Haurent]

And they'll carry no fetchlands don't worry

[@CardmarketMagic]

If they did them well though, it would be wonderful! But one of them would have a random Yorion for sure 😅

[@BennyBartez]

@@Haurent mono colour would get around the fetchland issue. They would probably be all aggro decks though. Unless they did a mono green or blue Tron.

[@maxweisbard9454]

Why is Expressive Iteration in the Izzet Phoenix deck, isn't that card banned in Pioneer?

[@maxweisbard9454]

WOTC: This deck will still be legal for tournament play in tabletop Magic: The Gathering for Pioneer, but only as is. Specifically, the 60-card deck and 15-card sideboard will be legal as long as no changes are made to it. What's the point of banning a card if you only allow it in a specific decklist, this stuff is mindblowing.

[@CardmarketMagic]

They have a different team designing the precons and making the bannings. It seems like the deck was designed and sent to print far before the banning was made 😐

[@davidquirin2606]

Decklist link isn't working proper; would love to see it.

[@CardmarketMagic]

It's updated now :)

[@MindstabThrull]

Winning decks should face off against each other!

[@KariThomasMiller]

Isn’t expressive iteration banned in pioneer? Seems odd to include it in a precon if that’s the case.

[@Shortened2Max]

They've done this many times in the past. The banned cards in question are legal to be played if your decklist (all 75) is exactly the same as the preconstructed deck.

[@KariThomasMiller]

@@Shortened2Max Gotcha, thanks

[@AaronRotenberg]

Yeah, it happens sometimes when they choose the cards and do the print run before the format committee decides to ban a card.

[@Karthedis]

I find it amusing that he did not like the Crackling Drake, but in both games it was the winnig card. :D

[@CardmarketMagic]

Just imagine what the deck could've done with a Phoenix!

[@Karthedis]

​@@CardmarketMagic Definitely the stronger card, but this was actually a good match up for the Drake, because this is also a good defensive card.

[@JapMonts]

I'm a newbie to MTG and I'm confused how dauntless bodyguard works

[@therealax6]

Any effects that say "As [CARDNAME] enters the battlefield..." are replacement effects, i.e., they don't use the stack; they just "replace" entering the battlefield normally. So choosing a creature happens immediately and cannot be responded to. Dauntless Bodyguard then can be sacrificed (at instant speed, since it's an activated ability) to give the chosen creature indestructible until end of turn. Note that this only works for that specific creature, not for any other creature with the same name, and it only works if both of them have remained on the battlefield since the Bodyguard entered. Otherwise, while you can still activate the ability, it sacrifices for nothing. (Might still be useful!)

[@ariverrr]

You should play video1 winner VS video2 winner. This is the only way to reveal the true champion 😅

[@agustinEduardoLopez]

New strategy: winning without any phoenix

[@TimmytheSorcerer]

I actually did buy a MTG Christmas gift for myself 😂

[@DanSto11]

Ummm... isn't expressive iteration banned?

[@CardmarketMagic]

So, this gets really awkward for new players, but wizard announced that, despite being banned in pioneer, Expressive Iteration can be played if your exact list of 75 cards is the same as the challenger deck 🤷‍♂️

[@DanSto11]

@Cardmarket - Magic so much trouble to go through instead of just making the deck like how it's actually played 🙈 Thanks for the clarification tho❤️

[@starshot3390]

i literally bought the other two decks last night

[@CardmarketMagic]

You did well! They are the more fun decks ;) here is the video we did about them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmKmkKZsabeHl9E

[@tyzecta_581]

Fenix go brrrr

[@fabiomatteodozio3167]

Decklists link to this video.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you for pointing it out! We fixed it now 👍

[@AJKiesel]

Beats by Carl. Nice one. But I think that business still needs some work done.

[@whatsyoursteezo]

Expressive Iteration is banned in Pioneer now.

[@CardmarketMagic]

They created the precons before the ban, so it comes with one weird caviat. Expressive iteration is only legal in pioneer when played with this exact combination of 75 cards 😅 I'm not kidding

[@0hboii13]

Awesome games

[@ciaran.downey]

I like the dice

[@antarriustownsend9602]

epress it is banned and it sucks it comes in the deck so if u buy be mindful of that

[@waltersunn7656]

Expressive iteration is banned in pioneer

[@CardmarketMagic]

Yes 😅 but WotC put it in this precon anyway. So it is only legal if you play a deck with this exact 75. We are aware that it's silly

[@2007Shockwave]

That long oh noooooooooooo!

[@Ikirupp1994]

banned cards being used, but fine cause they didn't change anything

[@literallyadog]

It should be izzit drakes

[@alexiswigginton452]

soooo many dice 🤤🤤🤤

[@FaithlessLooter]

WOTC: ships a precon pioneer deck with a card banned in pioneer.😂

[@Yakuo]

🕉🌀☮

[@thebruniNZ]

play the winners vs winners and losers vs losers

[@jekro1]

If you say link in the pinned comment you better pin a comment ;-)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you for pointing it out! It's pinned now 👍

[@aidenchism8628]

Howdy

[@CardmarketMagic]

Howdy!

[@deboozombie23]