Pioneer Masters: A First Look At An Arena-Only Release

Josh Nelson • November 25, 2024

News
Jace is back (on Arena), tell a friend! Pioneer Masters releases on December 10th.

Magic Arena has been teasing players with the tantalizing promise of Pioneer. According to Wizards of the Coast, the Pioneer format is a 60-card Constructed format that uses a card pool dating back from Return to Ravnica forward. It has its own ban list and a whole slew of support from Wizards of the Coast, but Pioneer events have been largely lacking... Until now. On November 25th, 2024, Wizards of the Coast revealed a few cards from Pioneer Masters, a new Arena-only Magic set. Pioneer Masters is geared to revolutionize the way players on Arena think about the format. Let's take a closer look at some of the cards!

The full art of Gideon, Battle-Forged, the back face of Kytheon, Hero of Akros, a card implied to be in Pioneer Masters. Illustrated by William Murai.
The full art of Gideon, Battle-Forged, the back face of Kytheon, Hero of Akros, a card implied to be in Pioneer Masters. Illustrated by William Murai.

Pioneer Masters, Pioneering Arena Masters

According to the official Card Image Gallery for the new set, 12 cards out of "hundreds" are confirmed in the set so far. The cards we currently know for sure are as follows:

However, Wizards of the Coast also cleverly included Gideon, Battle-Forged in the header art for the Card Image Gallery, heavily implying that Kytheon, Hero of Akros is also a shoe-in for the set alongside the other flip-walkers. While we don't have confirmation that this includes Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh or Nissa, Vastwood Seer, Wizards rarely prints this particular cycle of planeswalker cards without each other, if ever.'

The full art of Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, the flipside of Liliana, Heretical Healer, a card confirmed for Pioneer Masters. Illustrated by Karla Ortiz.
The full art of Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, the flipside of Liliana, Heretical Healer, a card confirmed for Pioneer Masters. Illustrated by Karla Ortiz.

Notable Dates

The Pioneer Masters Card Image Gallery also gave us a few notable dates for events, but the exact meaning of their titles is obscure, alluding to rotating bonus sheets within Limited events on Arena. These dates are all for happenings post-release:

  • Planeswalkers: December 10-24
  • Spells: December 24-January 7
  • Devotion: January 7-21

Are you excited for Pioneer Masters? Is this something that will revitalize Magic Arena for you or your friends? Sound off below!

Josh Nelson

Josh Nelson

Josh Nelson wears many hats. They are a music journalist when not writing gaming news. Beyond this, they're a scholar of the Sweeney Todd urban legend, a fan of monster-taming RPGs, and a filthy Aristocrats player. Josh has been playing Magic since 2001 and attributes their tenure to nostalgia, effort, and "aesthetic".