Episodes
Tuesday Nov 12, 2019
Code of the Cardboard Samurai 12: Pioneer Delight
Tuesday Nov 12, 2019
Tuesday Nov 12, 2019
Pioneer started off with a bang here in Japan and it's been the talk of the entire Magic the Gathering Community for the past few weeks. It was only natural that we'd do a podcast about it. In this episode Ben and I talk with our good friend Bobby Birmingham about what it's been like to play the new format in Japan since the initial announcement. We talk about the initial reception of Pioneer from players, how the stores in the Tokyo/Yokohama area are changing their tournament schedules, as well as how the new format has affected the prices of cards. We also get a little personal and discuss what we are most excited to play in this new format and what we are brewing. To those of you that stick around until the 30 minute mark, we have a special treat for you.
We hope you enjoy today's show and if you have any suggestions or comments feel free to leave them down below!
(special thanks to Lain Kaplan for use of the beginning and end themes)
Monday Nov 11, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 62/63.1 - War of the Spark Planeswalker Review
Monday Nov 11, 2019
Monday Nov 11, 2019
War of the Spark made a huge impact on standard, and some of the cards even made their way into modern, legacy, and vintage. But did any make it into Frontier? In this episode we cover each of the planeswalkers spoiled in the set and talk about where it might fit into the format. While cards like Teferi, Time Reveler and Ashiok, Dream Render have found there way into control decks and sideboards in Pioneer already, where would the other cards fit in? If you're looking for some ideas on where to play the WAR walkers, give this episode a listen.
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 61 - Wishing for a Better Post Modern Format
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Wizards of the Coast had played around with the idea of a new format between Modern and Standard for a very long time before finally pulling the trigger on Pioneer. As long time Frontier players we always knew that there would be a new format, but we never knew exactly what it would be. With the conversation shifting to the Arena Historic format a few months back, we realized that we might have to deal with a post modern format possibly starting from Ixalan. If that WERE to happen, we talked about what cards from the Frontier format would have to be reprinted in either core sets or some kind of Historic "Horizons" set in order to make the format worth playing. Since we ended up getting Pioneer, this episode isn't as relevant, however it does look at which cards should be looked at for reprints in Pioneer in the future.
Friday Nov 08, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 60 - The Difficult Decks of Frontier
Friday Nov 08, 2019
Friday Nov 08, 2019
Are you one of those players who enjoys a challenge? Do you like solving tricky situations on the battlefield? Or would you consider yourself a straightforward, linear player that doesn't like to have to make a lot of decisions? In episode 60 we talked about the difficult decks of the Frontier format. We covered the decks where decisions are key at all points of the game, and also talked about which decks you can pick up and play without having to learn it first. A good listen for the different levels of Pioneer players, whether you're trying to be a competitive "Spike" or just a casual "Timmy".
Tuesday Nov 05, 2019
Tuesday Nov 05, 2019
Sideboarding is incredibly important in Magic the Gathering. If you're not prepared, a deck can catch you totally off guard and win the game without you being able to do anything about it. In episode 58 we go over all of the best sideboard cards in Frontier and talk about which type of decks you should play them in and against. While there are some better options now in the Pioneer format, there are some very good suggestions in this episode. Learn what you can use as alternatives in case you don't have the cards from Return to Ravnica or Theros block at the moment, as well as what decks you should be looking out for in Pioneer.
Monday Nov 04, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 57 - Where we Went Wrong
Monday Nov 04, 2019
Monday Nov 04, 2019
We made a lot of claims over the months about how good card X and card Y were when we did our set reviews. But were we right? Did we sometimes get it wrong? In this episode we go over all of the picks from our past set reviews and talked about why some of our choices didn't pan out, while others were underrated. A good discussion on how the Frontier metagame evolved and grew in directions we couldn't predict, and what eventually became staples in the format. A good in depth episode for all of you Pioneer players out there.
Sunday Nov 03, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 56 - The Frontier Spike Episode
Sunday Nov 03, 2019
Sunday Nov 03, 2019
Are you a Spike? Do you enjoy winning games in Magic the Gathering more than anything else? If so, this episode is for you. Kevin and I talk with Tom Davis from the online Frontier community about what decks pull out all the stops to win. If you're going to a big Pioneer event in the future and looking to crush the competition, check out which Spike decks and cards we recommend. We talk in depth about aggro decks like Atarka's command, as well as how the Spike decks evolved from the inception of Frontier.
Saturday Nov 02, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 55 - Reducing your Staple "Footprint"
Saturday Nov 02, 2019
Saturday Nov 02, 2019
Not everybody has the money to play a few Liliana the Last Hope, a playset of Smuggler's Copter, or have the disposable income to buy Collected Companies for their Pioneer decks. But is there another card that's almost as good that you could use in its place? In today's episode we explored the alternatives to staple cards of the Frontier format. If you're currently waiting to buy cards in Pioneer but want to check out the format, why not build a slightly more budget version with different cards that can fill a similar role? This episode is also useful if you're worried about investing in a deck only to have the main card banned. Not to worry, just have a back up plan!
If you want more Pioneer content, follow our new podcast! https://thefirstpioneers.podbean.com/
Friday Nov 01, 2019
Frontier Archive Ep. 54 - Ravnica Allegiance Review (Part 2)
Friday Nov 01, 2019
Friday Nov 01, 2019
In part 2 of the Ravnica Allegiance Frontier review we cover the remaining cards such as the multicolor, artifacts, and lands. We start by going guild by guild and discuss how they fit into the already existing archetypes of the format. If you're an Orzhov, Azorius, Gruul, Simic, or Rakdos player you'll want to check it out. Multicolor cards are always more powerful and we thought quite a few were good enough to make it into Frontier. They might also be good enough for Pioneer!
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Frontier Archive Project Ep. 54 - Ravnica Allegiance Review (Part 1)
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
After Guilds of Ravnica the Frontier metagame really started to heat up. With the second Ravnica set being added, Ravnica Allegiance, we saw a number of new decks pop up and many more already established decks got a much needed shot in the arm to re-energize their strategies. In part one we talked about the main colors of the new set from white to red and which decks they slotted into in Frontier. If you're building new Pioneer decks and have just started playing MTG recently, this is a good episode to see which of your newer cards are playable in the format and which decks are worth checking out.