Pioneer: Mono Red Lynx - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Mono Red is, technically, the archetype with the longest longevity and most competitive results in Magic history. Since the famous Sligh, born to prey on the then best deck of the format in 1998, Necropotence, the archetypes in this color have remained viable in several formats over the years, adapting to the Metagame of each year while establishing the “clock”, the number of turns a deck has to execute its game plan before being defeated.

In this article, we delve into the new Mono Red variant in Pioneer, where the lists move away from the explosive Prowess variants in favor of a plan closer to the classic Sligh of the archetype's origins, with the inclusion of Sunspine Lynx in the maindeck to punish the format's mana base, where several strategies tend to run several non-basic lands in their lists.

This is the updated list, which is based on the termidor player's version from the March 10 Pioneer Challenge. Their list seems very focused on the Standard card pool, so the main changes involved adding some red Pioneer staples to the maindeck and sideboard, with Den of the Bugbear and Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance in addition to Hazoret the Fervent.

The biggest draw of this version, when compared to the other red Aggro decks in the format, is resilience. Most Mice decks in Pioneer have a very explosive early game and lose steam as the game goes on. Mono Red Lynx manages to get around this problem with a late-game bomb, Sunspine Lynx, which masterfully preys on a format where there are many decks with two or more colors and where there are very few cards that punish the use of many non-basic lands - it is not a Blood Moon, but it can punish the opponent just as much, but with an instant victory for its controller.

The weakness, obviously, is the loss of flexibility. With Sunspine Lynx discouraging the use of many non-basic lands, it is necessary to limit oneself to Mono Red, which considerably reduces the amount of answers available in the current Metagame and makes it difficult to deal with some of the main archetypes of the format if not “on the race”.

Maindeck

The mice package is the best early-game card combination available for Mono Red today. The ideal is to start with Heartfire Hero, sequence it with Manifold Mouse and start putting pressure on the opponent, forcing removals or blockers.

Emberheart Challenger is the complementary threat that grants extra gas every turn with Manifold Mouse, Monstrous Rage and Rockface Village, in addition to growing with removals used on creatures or burn on the opponent and that is also an excellent follow-up to a Monastery Swiftspear or Kumano Faces Kakkazan on the first turn.

Manifold Mouse offers two bodies for four mana, or a perfect follow-up to Heartfire Hero or Emberheart Challenger. In addition, it can grant Double Strike to itself and, complemented by Monstrous Rage, speed up the game considerably.

Monastery Swiftspear and Kumano Faces Kakkazan are the other ideal one-drops and complement each other, with Kumano triggering the Prowess for Swiftspear and Emberheart Challenger.

Monstrous Rage ensures that your creatures get past blockers with a pump that grants permanent Trample to the target creature. Combined with Heartfire Hero, Emberheart Challenger and Manifold Mouse, it can win or turn games that would be lost with other cards.

The anti-lifegain package.

Screaming Nemesis has become a staple for red Aggro in Standard and Pioneer. In addition to having an efficient body for its cost and immediate impact, it permanently punishes any block and interacts with the damage spells on the list to increase the damage.

Sunspine Lynx also has a good body for its cost, blocks any possibility of life gain or damage prevention while in play and its ETB can guarantee three or more damage depending on the circumstances in the game where it is cast, with the possibility of suddenly turning or winning games when played from the top in longer games.

Burst Lightning and Lightning Strike are the spells that operate as both early game board interaction and to speed up the clock and/or end the game after our creatures have exerted enough pressure.

Witchstalker Frenzy addresses several categories of problematic creatures in Pioneer today, resolves a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and also It can be used with Screaming Nemesis to deal five damage to the opponent.

Mutavault serves as a complementary threat, in addition to being a mouse that interacts with Manifold Mouse to gain Double Strike and attack for four damage on an empty board.

Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance and Den of the Bugbear offer more range in the game and ways to “mana sink” in longer games, becoming complementary threats.

Rockface Village has the drawback of only generating for creatures, but it makes up for it with the possibility of triggering the Valiant from the mice every turn, or granting Haste to Manifold Mouse, allowing it to attack on the same turn it entered.

Sideboard

The attrition package.

Urabrask’s Forge allows taking advantage of how long the game goes on, creating a stronger token every turn, in addition to avoiding the traditional removals against red Aggro in the Metagame today.

Hazoret the Fervent provides another hard-to-kill threat, with a relevant immediate impact on an archetype that easily empties the hand. It also provides more reach in the game by discarding cards to deal damage to the opponent.

Torch the Tower deals with small creatures and sends them to exile, making it essential against Arclight Phoenix, Heartfire Hero, Enduring Innocence and other cards with recursive potential. You can sacrifice the token from Monstrous Rage or Manifold Mouse to deal with creatures like Greasefang, Okiba Boss.

Roast works as an unconditional way to resolve Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and other larger creatures for a lower cost, and is also another "combo" with Screaming Nemesis.

Lithomantic Barrage works against any blue and white archetype where we need cheap removal and protection against counterspells, such as Spirits, Humans, Azorius Control, and even against Enigmatic Incarnation.

Magebane Lizard works against any archetype that casts a lot of non-creature spells in a turn, such as Izzet Phoenix, Lotus Combo, and even in games against Prowess, where it is also an efficient blocker.

Rakdos Demons

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Rakdos Prowess

IN

OUT

Selesnya Company

IN

OUT

Lotus Combo

IN

OUT

Niv to Light

IN

OUT

NOTE: We can put more cards in, but the best bet against this matchup is to pressure the early game as much as possible so that Sunspine Lynx and Screaming Nemesis can finish the job.

Dimir Bounce

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Nykthos Ramp

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!