Okay, here’s my attempt to share my experience building Explorer decks in MTG Arena, following the provided guidelines and example:
So, I wanted to try out this “Explorer” format on MTG Arena, right? Figured it would be a good way to use some of my older cards that aren’t legal in Standard anymore. I’ve been playing for a while, but I am not a pro, I just do this for fun.
First thing I did was check, you know, what even is Explorer. Turns out, it’s like a stepping stone to Pioneer, another format I’ve only vaguely heard of. Basically, they’re slowly adding all the Pioneer-legal cards to Arena, and until they’re all there, it’s “Explorer.” Good to know!
Building My First Deck
I started by poking around my collection. I knew I had a bunch of cards from, like, Ixalan and Dominaria, so I figured I’d start there. I’ve always liked messing with Green and White, so I thought, “Why not try a Selesnya deck?” No big strategy, just throwing stuff together to test the waters.
- Creatures: I picked some big stompy creatures. I always like big dudes.
- Removal: Got some basic removal spells, nothing fancy, just to get rid of annoying blockers.
- Ramp: Some mana dorks, you always need those.
I named the deck “Selesnya Explorer Test” because I am not creative.
Then I jumped into a few games. And, man, I got destroyed. Like, totally crushed. My big creatures were too slow, and everyone else was playing these super-fast aggro decks or weird combo things I didn’t even understand. Back to the drawing board!
Trying Something Faster
Okay, so big stompy creatures were a no-go. I needed something faster. I remembered seeing some people play a Red Deck Wins (RDW) style deck, so I figured, “Let’s try that!” It’s easy, it is simple, fast, and you just have to throw fire at your enemy, pretty neat!
I swapped all my green and white cards, dumped a bunch of red creatures and burn spells into a new deck, and called it “Explorer RDW Try #1”. Very Original.
- Creatures: Small, fast, cheap red creatures. Lots of them.
- Burn: Every burn spell I could find. Lightning Bolt, Shock, you name it.
- Lands: Mostly Mountains, obviously.
This time, it was a little better. I actually won a few games! But I also lost a lot. It felt like I was always one turn too slow, or just ran out of steam before I could finish them off. It was really frustrating.
Finally, Something That Works (Sort Of)
I was about to give up on Explorer, but then I had an idea. I’ve always liked those “token” decks, where you make a bunch of small creatures and then buff them all up. I used to play a white weenie token in Standard a long time ago, so I figured I could use some of those cards. I got some cards from the store, I was like, “Maybe this will work”.
So I built another new deck. This time, I focused on cheap white creatures that make tokens, and some spells to pump them up. I called it “Explorer Tokens Maybe?”. Very low expectations at this point.
- Token Makers: Lots of cheap creatures that create tokens when they enter the battlefield.
- Anthems: Spells that give all my creatures +1/+1 or something similar.
- Removal: Just a few, mainly to get rid of big threats.
And… it actually worked! Okay, not amazing, but I was winning more than I was losing. I even managed to climb a few ranks! It was still rough against some of the faster decks, but I felt like I had a chance. It was fun, and not as stressful as losing constantly.
So, that’s where I’m at with Explorer right now. Still learning, still experimenting, but at least I found something that I kind of enjoy playing. I’ll probably keep tweaking the token deck, and maybe try out some other archetypes later. The important thing is that I did not get mad, and enjoyed building and testing new decks.
