Pioneer: Gruul Prowess - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Pioneer is currently experiencing a rise in Prowess decks, led by the Rakdos variants that make up approximately 20% of the Metagame today. The combination of fast creatures, cheap spells, and an efficient clock put several archetypes in check in the post-ban scenario and dictate the way lists need to be built.

In this article, we focus on another version of this strategy, the Gruul Prowess - an archetype that has been the best choice in Standard and may have the potential to impact Pioneer as well with the right card selection and as the format adapts to the more well-known variants.

This list follows the same core as Rakdos Prowess, with some specific differences that the addition of instead of makes possible. The main ones are the inclusion of Blossoming Defense for protection and Audacity for evasion - in practice, what we do is gain more resilience in combat while losing more durability over the course of the game.

There are many unexplored territories in Gruul Prowess: we can use Dreadhorde Arcanist or Questing Druid to gain more gas, Thud or Callous Sell-Sword for a combo-kill, bet on the recurring increase in power with Innkeeper’s Talent, triggering the Valiant of our creatures every turn, or follow other plans. It all depends on how we want to face the Metagame.

This version is more aggressive, aimed at Magic Online Leagues and Magic Arena ranked games. In a Challenge or even in an RCQ, we need more meta calls and understand the format’s stance on Rakdos Prowess to answer “why go for Gruul instead?” - Today, this question is not very relevant because both decks aim to meet different needs while taking advantage of the speed that Slickshot Show-Off and Heartfire Hero offer.

Maindeck

One advantage of Gruul Prowess, which we can transfer to Rakdos lists, is an increase in the number of mice.

In addition to the already classic staples Heartfire Hero and Emberheart Challenger, Manifold Mouse becomes a pseudo-Embercleave, unleashing their Valiant while transforming our combat tricks into game-winning machines - just one Giant Growth and any of the above cards already deals eight or more damage - and if that's not enough, we can copy it in longer games to have more gas.

Despite not being mice, Monastery Swiftspear and Slickshot Show-Off are staples too strong to pass up and are driving the popularity of Prowess decks in competitive Magic today.

For our plan to work, we need to ensure that our creatures' damage can pass through to our opponent even on a full board.

Audacity is another important addition on green and the closest thing we have to Rancor in Pioneer. It's a common side-out in games where we expect a lot of removal to avoid favorable 2-for-1 trades in sorcery speed.

Might of the Meek could be Ancestral Anger, but since we already have Audacity and have more mice in the list, we can take better advantage of its interactions at Instant-Speed. This is a flexible slot which can be any card that the player considers best suited to the Metagame.

Monstrous Rage is the main staple of red Aggro today, and another motivator for their rise in Pioneer, being a red Audacity at Instant-Speed.

Giant Growth, despite the increase in power, also has defensive properties: alone with any Prowess or Valiant trigger, it takes our creatures out of the Redcap Melee or Reckless Rage zone while it can also end games with Manifold Mouse.

Blossoming Defense is the other reason for the splash to green. Instead of trying to get our creatures back with Claim // Fame, we want to keep them in play with protection spells that we can also use proactively.

Our lands are designed to give us explosive early-game turns, with additional utility as the game goes on. Rockface Village triggers Valiant, Ramunap Ruins, Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance, and Den of the Bugbear provide extra damage in longer games.

Sideboard

There is currently no reason to use cards with two of the same mana symbol in Gruul Prowess, so Jegantha is a painless addition to the Sideboard that also works for longer games.

Our splash into green provides us with access to some very effective green cards: Pick Your Poison deals with enchantments like Temporary Lockdown and also takes care of flying creatures like Ledger Shredder or Crackling Drake.

Shapers’ Sanctuary punishes the opponent’s removals, giving us more breathing room. Since the Metagame today is very focused on 1-for-1 trades, it is one of the best sideboard cards green has to offer.

Magebane Lizard punishes decks like Izzet Phoenix and Lotus Combo. Some players like to include it in Prowess mirrors, and it seems like a valid proposal in theory, but I don't like cards that can punish me more in the race than the opponent.

Unlicensed Hearse deals with Arclight Phoenix, Greasefang, Okiba Boss and Cauldron Familiar, and is also a threat on its own as games go on.

Redcap Melee is our main answer in the red Aggro mirror, but we can use it to answer Greasefang, Okiba Boss and other creatures that would naturally be problematic for us, even at the cost of a land.

Flowstone Infusion is a good card in the mirror that works both as removal and as a pump. Today, it is close to a meta call, but it is not a dead card against decks like Humans either.

Rakdos Prowess

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Jund Sacrifice

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Rakdos Midrange

IN

OUT

That’s all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!