Banned and restricted cards in Pioneer

The Pioneer banlist holds the cards banned in the format that starts at Return to Ravnica and does not rotate. It weighs less than the others in the tournament calendar, but its list stays valid and checked: it is the page to open before picking up a deck put away a few seasons ago.

What is forbidden in Pioneer

Pioneer starts at Return to Ravnica and does not rotate, and its list took shape quickly: the lands that search your deck were excluded from the start, so the format would not collapse into one way of building a mana base, and the interventions since have hit the most reliable combinations and the cards that showed up in every winning list. It carries less weight in the tournament calendar than Standard or Modern, but its list is current: if you are picking up a Pioneer deck put away a few seasons ago, this is where to check.

How to check a Pioneer deck

Before settling a list it is worth checking the cards in the other formats you might play them in: the complete banlist gathers every list on one page, and from there you reach the Standard banlist and the Modern banlist. The Pioneer tournaments show what the latest change did, while the spoilers of the sets on the way are where you see, ahead of time, the cards that may push towards the next intervention.

Frequently asked questions about the Pioneer banlist

Does Pioneer rotate?

No: the format starts at Return to Ravnica and loses no expansions over time, so everything that joins it stays.

Are the lands that search your deck legal in Pioneer?

No: they were excluded from the start, so that building a mana base would not come down to one obligatory answer.