Pioneer is a perfect ten out of ten.

The World Championship was a can't-miss event for Standard Constructed, and for its competitors, it could be the biggest tournament of the their lives. But for everyone else, it has been the Pioneer Regional Championship season.

We kicked off the seventh cycle of Regional Championships back in September, when Vinicius Karam defeated Jonathan Lobo Melamed in the finals of the City Class Games Showdown. That tournament was most notable for being the first major Pioneer event after the banning of Amalia Benavides Aguirre and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, meaning all eyes would be on Brazil to see what would emerge in the thoroughly shaken-up format. Izzet Phoenix with Treasure Cruise was the obvious frontrunner, but was it too obvious?

Karam won that tournament with a classic: Azorius Control, grinding his way through a stacked Top 8 against matchups like Dimir Rogues, Rakdos Aggro, and Enigmatic Incarnation decks in the finals. Not only that, but the Top 8 didn't include any Izzet Phoenix decks, instead showcasing seven different archetypes, all with vastly different game plans.

Vinicius Karam defeated Jonathan Lobo Melamed in the finals of Brazil's Regional Championship, kicking off one of the most diverse competitive seasons seen in years.

That was a sign of things to come. There are currently eleven Regional Championships in the global circuit. Ten of them have been played so far—with the Regional Championship in Mexico City from November 29 to December 1 being the last—and in those ten events, we've seen ten different decks win.

Ten out of ten. And one of those included Tree of Perdition. Peak Pioneer.

Frank Karsten dove into the data last week. Izzet Phoenix was indeed the most popular deck across the global RC field, but its win rate hovered right below 50%. Meanwhile, newer decks like Rakdos Demons and often forgotten decks like Selesnya Company posted stronger numbers. There were dozens of unique archetypes represented across Top 8s, and you can check out the many spicy decklists that might take down the next Regional Championship, earning the pilot a spot at Magic World Championship 31.

• Azorius Control
• Rakdos Tree
• Mono-Black Demons
• Rakdos Aggro
• Izzet Phoenix
• Enigmatic Incarnation
• Rakdos Midrange
• Golgari Food
• Fable Demons
• Jund Creativity

The most powerful cards in the format are clear—Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber, Thoughtseize, Treasure Cruise, Lotus Field, Supreme Verdict, and more—but the cards you haven't heard of that are playing key roles in the format are even more interesting.

Sure, you've seen Cauldron Familiar, but when was the last time you saw Vinereap Mentor? What about Case of the Stashed Skeleton or the Valgavoth, Terror Eater it tutors up? Do you have a plan for an opponent who sits down with a dozen Overlords from Duskmourn: House of Horror alongside a playset of Zur, Eternal Schemer? I'm sorry, Tree of Perdition does what?

It's a deck-builder's paradise that's showcased what's truly possible in Pioneer; we're entering the last weekend of the Pioneer season, and it seems the format is no closer to being "solved" than it was back in August. That also means it's been a unique opportunity for talented deck builders to show their chops, which is where Marc Tobiasch comes in.

The Bonn, Germany, native is a Pro Tour veteran, having competed in dozens of Magic's top events, including a trio of World Magic Cup events. With that much experience, he knows what it takes to spin up a deck in an open format. So, with the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series Regional Championship in Lille on his calendar, Tobiasch went to work in the best lab in the world: Magic Online queues.

"I mostly tested alone for this event, theorizing, crafting, and testing ideas out on Magic Online, which is where I qualified. Overall, I had a ton of fun making new decks since the format has a nice combination of a huge pool of cards and a lot of options without the crazy power level of some of the cards that restrict more novel decks like in Modern and Legacy," he explained. "I tested a decent amount beforehand and was very happy with how my deck turned out, so I expected to do well."

He certainly performed well. The European Regional Championship is the biggest event on the continent and draws the best players to compete for their most direct path to the Pro Tour or the World Championship. This time around, more than 500 players had qualified for the Regional Championship, and Izzet Phoenix and Rakdos Demons decks were leading the field.

But there's one deck that didn't make the metagame graphic: Tobiasch's Golgari Food Combo deck, built around Ygra, Eater of All and Cauldron Familiar. The legendary Cat from Bloomburrow creates an instant combo with two copies of Cauldron Familiar. Since each Familiar counts as a Food because of Ygra, you can sacrifice one to the other to trigger an infinite amount of life-drain triggers and win the game on the spot. Eschewing red and cards like Mayhem Devil, Tobiasch's build focuses on assembling the combo with cards like Cache Grab, Scavenger's Talent, and Traverse the Ulvenwald.

"It's basically impossible to interact with through normal graveyard hate or removal, which makes it very appealing to play," Tobiasch explained. "The deck is built to maximize the amount of Food you have, since every Food lets you start the combo again in response to interaction and find pieces to combo. That incidentally means that you're difficult to kill with a lot of blockers and life gain. Also, the backup plan of just attacking with a huge Elemental Cat is not terrible."

Tobiasch's plan paid off in France. He started the tournament with a perfect 8-0 match record—dropping only two games in the process—before finally dropping one to renowned champ Andrea Mengucci. But every round at the Regional Championship level is hard, and as Tobiasch battled through to the Top 8, he immediately found himself paired once again with Mengucci.

But this time, the match—and soon the entire tournament—belonged to Tobiasch. His testing leading up to the event suggested he'd found something, and when deck registration came, he trusted himself.

"During the last round of testing when I was a couple of cards away from the final version, I pretty much didn't lose anymore. That amounted to something like eight league trophies across nine tries, losing only one match total while facing the entire metagame spread. That felt reasonably good," Tobiasch explained. "Moving forward, I think this deck will be tier 1."

Soon, Tobiasch will turn his attention to Pro Tour Aetherdrift coming up in a few months at MagicCon: Chicago. And while the formats there will be Aetherdrift Draft and Standard Constructed, don't expect Tobiasch to be a one-and-done tournament breakthrough. He put his decks on the map back in 2022 with a Top 32 finish at the Regional Championship with Pioneer Storm Herald, later making a deep run with an experimental Jeskai Ascendancy combo list. Whatever format Tobiasch applies his creative energies to, innovative combo decks seem to follow.

For now, Tobiasch said he's taking a break, appreciating the congratulations as they roll in, and looking forward to what 2025 is bringing to Magic.