Izzet Creativity Reaches 11.1% as Phoenix Returns to Pioneer Top Eights

Izzet Creativity placed Dioferreira fourth and VampireDiaries fifth in the 56-player Pioneer Challenge 32 on November 3, 2026, according to MTGO’s published results. Those finishes followed ejk’s second place in the 25-player Challenge 16 on November 1.

In the rolling seven-day Pioneer snapshot dated November 4, 2026, Creativity rose from 2.5% to 11.1% and recorded 5 top eights. Phoenix added 2 top eights after 4 weeks without one. Neither archetype won an event in that rolling sample.

The Share Counts Deck Entries, Not Players

The rounded shares correspond to approximately 17 of 153 deck entries, up from approximately 3 of 121 in the preceding seven days. These are entries, not unique players: one pilot can contribute multiple tournament lists.

Separately, the event feed lists 5 events in the current window: the October 29 Challenge with 48 players, the October 30 RC Super Qualifier with its field size unlisted, the November 1 Challenge 16 with 25, the November 1 Showcase with 163, and the November 3 Challenge with 56. Those field sizes describe individual tournaments rather than a unique-player total.

Creativity Keeps Its Established Combo

Dioferreira’s 6-2 list retains the same central package as WawWaw’s October 26 list: 4 Indomitable Creativity, backed by Deduce, cheap interaction and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. Both use Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Valgavoth, Terror Eater and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers as their 3 creature hits.

The TCG Playbook strategy guide, dated October 21, describes the sequence: survive with removal and counters, make a token, then resolve Indomitable Creativity. Volcanic Spite returns a drawn payoff to the library. Drawing the creature you intended to cheat into play remains an administrative problem.

The changes are concentrated in flex slots. Dioferreira plays 2 Spell Snare and 1 Transmogrify, absent from the other 30 lists in the six-week comparison, while skipping Flashback, present in 80% of those lists. VampireDiaries instead keeps 1 Flashback alongside 1 Into the Flood Maw and 1 Spell Snare.

The sideboards have changed more visibly. WawWaw used 4 Shark Typhoon alongside Anger of the Gods and Brotherhood’s End. Dioferreira now has 4 Avengers Disassembled, 3 Change the Equation and 3 Mystical Dispute; VampireDiaries has 3 Avengers Disassembled and 2 each of Change the Equation, Mystical Dispute and Test of Talents.

The Playoff Matchups Were Mixed

In the November 1 playoff bracket, ejk beat Control 2-1 in the quarterfinal and mono- midrange 2-1 in the semifinal, then lost the final 0-2 to Arianne’s Midrange. The semifinal win was against trussell48, not a second control deck.

Across that event and November 3, Creativity went 1-3 against Midrange in the playoffs. Dioferreira beat ElCucuy 2-1 before losing to Arianne 1-2; Arianne also eliminated VampireDiaries 2-1.

Arianne’s November 3 list carries 4 Thoughtseize and 1 Duress, with another 3 Duress in the sideboard. We favour the guide’s patient midrange plan here: grind with card-advantage engines rather than rush Indomitable Creativity into disruption.

Aggro produced losses too. The October 30 qualifier bracket has VampireDiaries losing 1-2 to mono- aggro and Tinker147 losing 0-2 to Prowess. WawWaw lost 0-2 to Ninjas on October 26.

Against aggro, TCG Playbook prioritises early removal and hands that can defend the combo after boarding, when cheap counters enter the fight. Its control plan uses Mystical Dispute and Test of Talents, with Hullbreaker Horror or Shark Typhoon as alternative threats. Dioferreira’s sideboard keeps 2 Hullbreaker Horror but no Shark Typhoon.

Phoenix Returned With Two Different Builds

Marghar finished fourth at 6-2 in the 48-player October 29 Challenge, per MTGO’s published standings. O_danielakos finished seventh at 6-3 in the 163-player November 1 Showcase; the Showcase playoff results record a 0-2 quarterfinal loss to eventual winner claudioh’s Company.

Both lists retain the Arclight Phoenix, Artist’s Talent and Treasure Cruise engine, with Picklock Prankster and the familiar cantrips. Marghar plays 3 Into the Flood Maw and 2 Flashback, then offers 4 Ledger Shredder from the sideboard.

O_danielakos uses a broader set of singletons, including Galvanic Iteration, Temporal Trespass, Brazen Borrower and Hall of Storm Giants. The sideboard divides its alternative threats between 2 Thing in the Ice and 2 Third Path Iconoclast instead of Ledger Shredder.

The Week Beginning November 2

The calendar-week tracker, separate from the rolling snapshot, gives Creativity 6 of 32 entries, or 18.8%, with 2 top eights and no wins through November 4. Phoenix has 1 of 32 entries, or 3.1%, and no top eight. We take Creativity’s follow-through more seriously: Phoenix’s return still rests on its 2 finishes from the previous week.

Watch the remaining results in the week beginning November 2 for Creativity’s first event win in this run and another Phoenix playoff appearance.