Steel-Cannon Pummeler (KLD - Retired)

Casual clayperce

SCORE: 98 | 118 COMMENTS | 19706 VIEWS | IN 61 FOLDERS


3-2 at FNM (10/28) —Nov. 1, 2016

I was able to play Friday after all, and ended the evening 3-2 (#12 of 28).

Overall impressions: Even in the wins, the maindeck felt a little sluggish. The deck wants to run fast and I need to let it, so will be making changes accordingly. I loved the Temur sideboard though.

Matches:

  • 2-0 vs. Mono-Green Energy. Kind of a mirror-match. But without Red the deck was just not powerful enough.
  • 1-2 vs. UB Control. Dynavolt Tower and Metallurgic Summonings were absolute beasts, and made me realize I needed some actual Artifact and Enchantment hate in the sideboard ... counting on Negate and Ceremonious Rejection was just not reliable enough.
  • 2-1 vs. Mardu Control. A very easy match-up, post-board. Arlinn Kord  Flip was MVP.
  • 0-2 vs. BW Aggro. My opponent's deck felt like Mono-white Humans with extra removal, and it was a terrible match-up. I had consciously positioned my deck as a more mid-range brew, but I did not realize how much I had sacrificed vs. Aggro. Oops! Authority of the Consuls was my opponent's MVP and reinforced my desire to add some Artifact and Enchantment hate.
  • 2-0 vs Mardu Control. Nut draw on Game 1, and another easy match-up post-board.

For my next match, I'm going with the following changes:


Thanks to everyone who's made comments and suggestions! They're now archived here or under the View Archive button.

_Delta_ says... #1

Looks good. I will share two quite similar decklists that I have saved which might give you some ideas.

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-88-36-tix-standard-poisonless-infect

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-g-r-energy-29498#paper

I'm building the (non budget) version of the first deck I'm showing you. It's a good example because it doesn't entirely rely on the Electrostatic Pummelers.

The second list like this one here of your own also runs some blue cards in the sideboard. Although they do it a little differently by using Botanical Sanctum.

October 27, 2016 8:49 p.m.

clayperce says... #2

Delta-117,
Yeah, SaffronOlive's videos are what convinced me the deck was actually consistent enough to try! Thanks much for the reminder ... I enjoyed watching them again and have added them to the "shout outs" section.

Good luck (and good skill!) with your build; please let me know how it goes!

October 28, 2016 5:11 a.m. Edited.

Zaueski says... #3

First, do you ever play anything but Gruul? Lmao, you know there's three other colors out there right? :P

In all seriousness, I think I prefer Cultivator of Blades to Verdurous Gearhulk as he makes your pump spells so much more deadly and has that Zada, Hedron Grinder-esque feel that you love so much.

October 28, 2016 1:27 p.m.

ROUROU says... #4

Gruul = +1 :P

Buuuuut, even if it wasn't my fav colours, it is a SICK deck bro... You can really mess up everyone with this freaking pummeler .

Great deck!

October 28, 2016 1:43 p.m.

clayperce says... #5

Zaueski,
Llol! Because yeah, I've loved Gruul since pretty much forever (I blame original Kird Ape). But I actually play a lot of Izzet too. And usually Naya/sometimes Grixis in EDH. But I digress ...

Cultivator of Blades, huh? I confess I've never seriously looked at the card. Will do though, thanks much!

ROUROU,
Thanks much! I'm not going to be able to get it onto a real table until sunday, but I can hardly wait ...

October 28, 2016 2:04 p.m.

Wolfshadowwind says... #6

I kinda built something like this but I didn't use pummler. If your mana is fine you might want to go with Sage of Shaila's Claim over servant you get 1 more energy for the same mana cost. Though with the higher mana cost in the deck I do see how it gives you speed to play things. The sage would give you another pump on pummler. Also with the same power it could crew the same vehicales as servant.

October 28, 2016 2:07 p.m.

clayperce says... #7

Wolfshadowwind,
Thats a really interesting idea. I love having the ability to ramp from Servant, but I've never really tested Sage, so I might love that one extra Energy counter even more. I'll have to check it out; thanks much!

October 28, 2016 4:06 p.m.

Zaueski says... #8

What were the Mardu Control builds like? I ask because I run Mardu control and I've never had trouble beating Pummeler decks. I'd like to know if it was just their brew or if I need more tweaks.

October 30, 2016 12:02 p.m.

clayperce says... #9

Zaueski,
The first felt a lot like Mardu Walker Control except with Transgress the Mind in the main, and Stasis Snare instead of Authority of the Consuls. He also had a couple Unlicensed Disintegration but I don't recall if that was in the main or the side. The second was much heavier on the Gearhulks ... maybe something like this list, except with Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in the side.

Yeah, Control is generally a terrible match-up for Pummeler. My general plan was basically to get destroyed Game 1, and then side in everything from my sideboard but the Ceremonious Rejection for Games 2 and 3 (and maybe even the Rejection if I saw Void Shatter). Fevered Visions underperformed, but Bristling Hydra and the counterspells were amazing. The play in Games 2 and 3 was basically to hold back and play really slow ... I barely made a move without some 'nope' (i.e., Blossoming Defense or a counterspell) in hand. Lili and Gideon had to be answered, but it was safe to ignore the bigger Planeswalkers.

The element of surprise was a big factor too. For example, in Game 2 of the first match, I was able to use Aether Hub for my first Dispel instead of having to fetch my Island, and while the tempo swing was great, I think the biggest advantage came from how much it shook my opponent.

Hope that helps!

October 30, 2016 4:17 p.m.

clayperce says... #10

Wolfshadowwind,
A quick update: For this build, it turns out Servant of the Conduit is much better than Sage of Shaila's Claim. Being able to leave Servant up for Blossoming Defense and for color fixing with Temur sideboard is just priceless.

Thanks again though!

October 30, 2016 7:50 p.m.

clayperce says... #11

Zaueski,
A quick update: Cultivator of Blades is great, but a tiny bit slow for this build. Enabling a +3/+3 (or more, with a pump spell) for the whole team on Turn 6 is awesome, but Verdurous Gearhulk's +4/+4 on a single attacker on Turn 5 seems to be just a little better for this deck.

Thanks tons though!

October 31, 2016 12:15 p.m.