Pioneer: Gruul Cutter - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Gruul Cutter has been the most successful Prowess deck in Pioneer since the release of Cori-Steel Cutter, and the archetype has received another effective boost, making it a viable option for the format's Metagame.

This is the standard deck run on Magic Online since the release of Spider-Man, where Heroes' Hangout provided significant support for Gruul Cutter/Gruul Prowess with a spell that facilitates sequences in the same turn while also functioning as a pump and a favorable trade in combat.

There aren't many changes that can be made to this version today. The flexible slots basically include Opera Love Song and Screaming Nemesis, with some opting for Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, or more board interaction, depending on the Metagame.

Maindeck

Our early-game beatdown.

Soul-Scar Mage and Monastery Swiftspear establish pressure from the first turn and benefit from a Cori-Steel Cutter on the second turn while disrupting the opponent's damage math based on the amount of mana and cards we have available in the game. Soul-Scar Mage also has the bonus of permanently weakening creatures with our Burn spells.

Kumano Faces Kakkazan triggers our creatures' Prowess for one mana, boosts the power of another card we play the following turn, and transforms into a 2/2 with Haste in the third chapter, offering a little bit of everything we need.

Emberheart Challenger complements the clock on the second turn, also scales with the spells we play, and we can easily trigger Valiant with Monstrous Rage, Reckless Rage, and Heroes' Hangout.

Cori-Steel Cutter is possibly the most powerful card to be released in 2025. It addresses a historical problem with Prowess decks by offering a constant flow of creatures for the player by doing what this archetype naturally seeks: stringing together multiple spells in a single turn.

To improve the chances of triggering Cori-Steel, we have Questing Druid for the Adventure mode, but we can also leverage it with the dozens of red spells we have to transform it into a threat alongside the artifact or Monstrous Rage.

Screaming Nemesis as a one-of complements the copies in the Sideboard as a difficult-to-block creature in Aggro mirrors. It can become a protection spell like Snakeskin Veil if the player prefers.

To facilitate Cori-Steel Cutter's triggers, we complement Questing Druid with Heroes' Hangout and Opera Love Song. Both also function as pumps and combat tricks, and trigger Emberheart Challenger's Valiant to generate more value.

Monstrous Rage was banned from Standard for facilitating too many hit-kills and essentially invalidating blockers. In Pioneer, its role is essentially the same, and it also benefits from our creatures' Prowess triggers to end games.

The interaction.

Since most of our creatures survive two damage from a Prowess trigger, Reckless Rage works as a four-damage spell for , with the bonus of also triggering Emberheart Challenger.

Burst Lightning is the best and most flexible one-mana damage spell in Pioneer today. While there are rare times when we can afford the Kicker cost, the extra range in longer games is welcome.

In addition to a base of thirteen untapped dual lands and three basic lands, we have Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance and Ramunap Ruins for the extra reach these cards offer, while not compromising our consistency and speed.

Sideboard

Redcap Melee and Chandra's Defeat provide cheap removal that works against the format's Red Aggro. Melee offers more flexibility, and we can also use it against Greasefang, Okiba Boss and other threats that require instant-speed answers.

Scorching Shot is essential against Black Midranges and other fair archetypes, while also dealing with Red Aggro creatures and having the famous "combo" with Screaming Nemesis.

Pick Your Poison is the cheapest answer we have against Unholy Annex, Fable of the Mirror-breaker, Temporary Lockdown and also resolves flying creatures like the Annex token, Arclight Phoenix, among others.

Soul-Guide Lantern functions as our graveyard hate. While cards like Ghost Vacuum could fit into this slot, the one-shot effect seems more effective in the current metagame for this archetype, as preventing multiple Arclight Phoenix seems more relevant than trying to lock one at a time or worrying too much about Parhelion II.

Fire Magic is our sweeper of choice against Boros Convoke and Prowess mirrors, where we can use it to counter the tokens created by the opponent's Cori-Steel Cutter.

Screaming Nemesis is a common side-in in any matchup where the opponent's removal is damage-based, or where we need to prevent life gain for some reason. Ideal against Red Aggro, but I don't particularly like using it on Prowess mirrors as the opponent can always just "run over" it.

Rakdos Demons

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Orzhov Greasefang

IN

OUT

Mono Red Aggro

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Boros Convoke

IN

OUT

Gruul Prowess

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!