Pioneer - Gruul Aggro

36 28
32 6 0 22

This is a deck I built for someone on Fiverr. If you're interested in having a deck built, you can find me as Genoslugcs on Fiverr.com or simply search MTG deck building on Fiverr.

The Deck

Ok, my friend, let's break the deck down some. Overall, we have a creature-based deck that is forced around attacking. But it has some incredibly fun play lines that I think you'll enjoy. Let's start out with the ramp, which gives you extra mana to cast your spells. We have Llanowar Elvesimage and Elvish Mysticimage. Play one of these on turn one and a second land on turn two, you'll be able to cast your three drops on turn two, which we have a lot of:

image image image

We also have four copies of Burning-Tree Emissaryimage, which is a really fun card. Essentially, you get to cast it for free. If you happen to have multiple copies in hand, you can just chain them together and fill your board up. One really cool line I want to mention is casting Burning-Tree Emissaryimage, getting the two mana and using it to cast Reckless Bushwhackerimage for the surge cost.

When you do, the Burning-Tree you just cast (and any other creatures in play) get a +1/+0 boost and haste. So, even just one Burning-Tree Emissary and a Reckless Bushwhacker will attack for five damage. If you have a giant board, this can cause a ton of damage out of nowhere, and it gives you some strategic lines of play to think about.

image

Next, the thing I want to mention is Embercleaveimage. Once you've got some creatures out you'll be able to cast this for as little as two mana and give one of your creatures a massive boost in attacking power. Pair this with flash and you can really take opponents off guard. The tokens made from Goblin Rabblemasterimage, your mana dorks, and multiple early-game copies of Burning-Tree make reducing the casting cost reasonably easy.

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These cards are big bodies that offer you some utility and resilience too. The Stomp portion of Bonecrusher is removal, a burn spell and a way to make sure your damage isn't negated. Then, the creature portion (which can be cast from exile after the adventure portion is cast or cast naturally from hand before the adventure portion) is a great 4/3 body that punishes opponents when they try to remove it.

And Klothys, God of Destinyimage is an indestructible creature (once you have the correct devotion) with a ton of upside. It can remove cards from opposing graveyards, ramp you into your spells, gain you life, and burn opponents out. Again, this is another card I find makes the deck interesting to play. Sometimes, you'll stop and think, "Huh, if I cast my cards right, I can have enough devotion this turn," or you'll be counting up how much damage you have and realize the extra two from Klothys is enough for lethal... It's really fun.

Lastly, we have Atarka's Commandimage which does everything we could want. For two mana (works great with Burning-Tree Emissary), you get two of the options. You can time this and stop opponents from gaining life, deal them three damage, drop and extra land, pump up your team of attackers, or any combination of them. For example, giving a +1/+1 to all your creatures and dealing three extra damage can easily mean an opponent is dead when they thought they were safe.

 

The Sideboard

  • Scavenging Oozeimage - Comes in against decks using their graveyards

  • Shifting Ceratopsimage - A great option against control decks and decks with blue creatures. Mainly anti-control.

  • Toski, Bearer of Secretsimage - Toski is also great against control and other matchups playing heavy removal or a grindy gameplan.

  • Abradeimage - This is extra removal and a way to deal with Pioneers many troublesome artifacts

  • Grafdigger's Cageimage -  This comes in against decks that rely heavily on their graveyard for strategies like reanimation or flashback spells. It shuts off those abilities, hindering their resourcefulness and disrupting key plays.

  • Scorching Dragonfireimage - Additional removal that hits Planeswalkers and can keep key creatures from going to the graveyard via the exile effect. 

  • Skullcrackimage - Skullcrack will come in against any deck that is trying to make your job hard by gaining life or preventing damage. Not only does it ensure you get through for damage but it provides some itself as well. Great card.

  • Chandra, Torch of Defianceimage —Shandra is a catch-all that can be a win condition against slower decks. Her first ability offers card advantage and a way to burn opponents. Her second ability is ramp, her third is removal, and her ultimate is a win-con. I would bring this in against slower, more controlling matchups.

Art Considerations

You mentioned liking the art of Gallia of the Endless Danceimage so I added that. If you scroll back up to the list, the Burning-Tree Emissaryimage, Elvish Mysticimage, and Cragcrown Pathwayimage are all borderless versions. Burning-Tree Emissary, Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, and Klothys, God of Destiny, are some lovely yet fearsome ladies.

The budget, according to Aetherhub, is about $135, including the special versions in the list. That said, Aetherhub always runs high, and a TCGplayer-optimized card would be a fair amount less. If it's so low that you actually want to put more money into we could make a slight improvement to the mana base by replacing some copies of Karplusan Forestimage with two more Stomping Groundimage.

 

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Genoslugcs
Last Updated: 09 Jul 2024
Created: 09 Jul 2024
162 42 1

Mainboard - 60 cards (17 distinct)

Creature (32)
$0.492.25
$0.25
$0.75
$0.28€0.180.02
$1.19€1.55
$0.38€0.310.02
$3.85€4.030.06
$0.48€0.742.50
$0.47€0.630.79
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (6)
$8.19€5.260.17
$2.18€1.330.09
Land (22)
$3.10
$0.20
$0.20
$2.16€1.640.02
$11.83€10.180.88
$4.41€3.56

Sideboard - 15 cards (8 distinct)

$0.31€0.25
$0.38€0.200.02
$3.45€4.10
$2.86€1.970.20
$0.25€0.120.03
$0.15€0.100.03
$0.25€0.24
$1.99

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