Pioneer Lotus Walks – Deck Highlight

Pioneer Lotus Walks by fwdr3

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The deck we’re taking a look at today combines two of my favorite things – Lotuses and Time Walks. Granted, they are in the form of Lotus Field and Alrund’s Epiphany, but that still plays. Let’s take a look at Pioneer Lotus Walks!

Get out Lotus Field and copy it with Thespian’s Stage. Use all that mana to take lots of turns, draw lots of cards and eventually Emergent Ultimatum into more Time Walks. Eventually win the game with Part the Waterveil.

There have been a long line of Lotus Field decks in Pioneer, as the Lotus Field and Thespian’s Stage combo really is great. This particular one casts extra turn effects and Emergent Ultimatums to win, but at its core is still trying to do essentially the same thing that the Underworld Breach and Hidden Strings deck did.

At the end of the day, these decks rarely win without a Lotus Field in play (in fact, it’s nearly impossible). As a result, all of these cards are maxed out, and you want to see Field or Sylvan Scrying in every opening hand.

The addition of this is a huge leap forward for Lotus Field decks. For just two mana, you can play this with the Lotus trigger on the stack, which means you don’t need to sac any lands. Later, it’s another Time Walk, as you can cast it on the opponent’s upkeep and essentially make them skip their turn.

Oh how little we knew… Arboreal Grazer ended up being much better than it looked, and it really delivers in this deck. It’s essentially a one-mana Time Walk, of sorts, and even blocks while it ramps you.

This is one of the biggest payoffs for getting a Lotus Field or two into play, as it generates mana and draws you cards all at once. The games where you draw two of these tend to be landslide victories, and it’s the highest-priority card to play post-Field.

This is a funny Emergent Ultimatum deck. It wins the game well enough, but mostly by getting a bunch of Time Walks. If you’re casting Ultimatum, you have Lotus Field in play, so a pile of Alrund’s Epiphany, Part the Waterveil and Pore Over the Pages is going to be great.

Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is another pretty neat addition to the deck. Teferi generates a lot of mana by untapping Lotus Field, setting up Discontinuity on the opponent’s turn and making each Time Walk effect very profitable.

The mulligan rules for this deck are a lot stricter than most. If you don’t have Lotus Field or Sylvan Scrying, you should strongly consider mulling, and only a hand that has Shimmer of Possibility and Arboreal Grazer is usually tempting enough. The deck just doesn’t function without Field, so you need access to it very quickly.

Keep. The Temple lets you scry, and this hand is the nuts as long as you can hit a second non-Lotus land.

Keep. This hand has turn two Shimmer into turn three Lotus, and that’s plenty.

Keep. This is a rare non-Lotus hand that has enough dig and acceleration to be worth keeping.

• You can Thespian’s Stage opposing lands, which can lead to some pretty sweet plays.
• In a pinch, Solve the Equation can find Sylvan Scrying for Lotus Field (though it’s glacially slow).
• Zagoth Triome and Blast Zone give Sylvan Scrying a small toolbox effect.

Growing a Lotus Field is not an easy task, but the fruits are very rewarding. I love playing these decks, and the Time Walk version is a very cool new take on the archetype. Good luck, and may you take all the turns…