Sideboard


Maybeboard


Originally based on the list that took 40th in the SCG Dallas Open, now taking cues from the list that did relatively well in Pro Tour Ixalan.

Description is outdated and requires overhauling

By now, most people should be familiar with how Electrostatic Pummeler decks work.

Generate 6+ Energy, resolve and stick Electrostatic Pummeler, find an avenue to swing for lethal.

This deck, being based on the SCG Dallas Open list, eschews going the traditional Gruul (RG) route in favour of going Simic (UG) for card advantage and flying. Your basic gameplan is the same: generate 6 energy, swing for lethal. However, you do have a few more ways to get in for that damage in a Simic build.

It's slightly slower since you don't have Invigorated Rampage, settling for Larger Than Life instead, but One With the Wind presents a threat that must be answered by opponents. It makes Longtusk Cub and Servant of the Conduit into 5 turn clocks before pumps, and Rogue Refiner into a 4 turn clock. Most notably, it makes Electrostatic Pummeler lethal WITHOUT trample if you just Blossoming Defense it before double activation of Pummeler's ability.

This combined with the card advantage generated by Rogue Refiner in the main board, along with Nissa, Steward of Elements and Shapers' Sanctuary out of the side, allows you to have a better time finding your Pummelers and pumps.

Some UGx Pummeler decks advocate going for Trophy Mage as the virtual Pummelers 5-8, but I found it was weaker overall as it didn't generate energy and didn't present a significant threat as a 2/2 that doesn't grow any larger without outside assistance.

Generally you want to go for a starting hand with (ideally) 2 lands, Attune, Pummeler, Larger than Life and a Cub/Servant. That lets you comfortably curve out into a potential turn 4 kill. That's Magical Christmas Land though, so realistically you just want a hand which can generate energy and present threats early until you can stick and swing with Pummeler, but don't be afraid to burn energy on Bristling Hydra and Longtusk Cub. They're your backup plans and present pretty significant threats themselves.

Blossoming Defense can either be used to aggressively trade/force the opponent to lose out on blockers, or be sandbagged for Pummeler protection duty, but don't burn it to get an extra two points of damage. It's rarely worth doing that.

While I won't discuss this in detail, there are obviously people who advocate for a RGx core Pummeler deck or they just want to add a third colour to a UGx core, making it either Temur or Sultai.

A third colour certainly gives you options, but it can also cause issues hitting your needed colours since there's a real premium on slots in a Pummeler deck and not a lot of them are reserved specifically for card advantage. It also threatens to dilute the deck's gameplan, so you'd likely be boarding a transformative plan instead of answers to problems.

I'm an advocate for consistency and redundancy, but if you're more of a toolbox fan, there were two lists this week (27th October) which made 5-0 in MTGO. One was Temur, one was Sultai. They're in the links below.

Temur: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/806964#paper

Sultai: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/806960#paper

  1. Nissa, Steward of Elements is a weird sideboard pick that can give you a 2 turn clock in games that go long, such as a control matchup. I like her over Carnage Tyrant because of both monetary and mana cost.

  2. Crushing Canopy lets you deal with flying creatures and any enchantments that might be a problem.

  3. Shapers' Sanctuary has a few really solid applications, but having too many of them isn't as great in practice as it is on paper.

  4. Vizier of Many Faces lets you copy major threats in games where you're forced to go long or where you can use it to blank a threat. One example is maybe bringing it in against Ramunap Red to copy and blank their Hazoret's attacks.

  5. Deathgorge Scavenger eats The Scarab God/Gift of the God Pharaoh targets and Eternalize creatures like Earthshaker Khenra

  6. Negate is good countermagic. Spell Pierce is the more cost efficient alternative, but sometimes you just need the hard counter.

  7. Sorcerous Spyglass lets you turn off Gods and vehicles.

Obviously, you should configure your sideboard to tackle your local meta or the metagame you expect to face at a tournament, so sometimes the options or numbers I use aren't right for you.

Alternatives include:

Essence Scatter: A tidy way of handling big threats like gods if you're not a fan of investing 4 mana into blanking them with a Vizier of Many Faces or perhaps you just stare down a million The Scarab Gods per trip to the LGS in which case, not letting them have it in the first place could be the better choice.

Heroic Intervention: Obvious protection against effects like Abrade or sweepers. I don't think there's many scenarios where this deck will completely overcommit to the board and lose to a sweeper, and I'm pretty content knowing they burned an Abrade to kill something - preferably a Rogue Refiner - so I'm generally not too concerned with boarding this in a relatively low creature count deck that doesn't want to go wide.

Sentinel Totem: This one's really only of value if reanimator decks make a resurgence, but it does also slow down Esper Tokens and it can be problematic for any opponent playing Senor Chitters, A.K.A The Scarab God.

Appetite for the Unnatural: An alternative to Crushing Canopy if your meta doesn't have a lot of Glorybringers

Manglehorn: Artifact hate on a stick. Good against very little right now, but if you want the body, there it is.

Carnage Tyrant: I would never run more than 1, personally. It's great in a control matchup though.

Perilous Voyage: Interaction if you really feel the need. Also lets you scry when you bounce certain things, allowing you to dig for your pumps or a threat.

Cartouche of Knowledge: Not a sideboard option. If you prefer to have the card advantage, this can replace One With the Wind. It does change your combat math however, and potentially forces more 9 energy pumps to kill.

I won't pretend to be a pro when it comes to sideboarding, so what I've listed below are suggestions of what's good to take out and what's best to put in against each of the common decks. I won't offer quantities anymore, because it can be very situational depending on your opponent's build.

Vs. Ramunap Red

Outs: Spell Pierce, Rhonas the Indomitable

Ins: Vizier of Many Faces, Sorcerous Spyglass, Crushing Canopy, Shapers' Sanctuary, Deathgorge Scavenger

Spell Pierce won't put in enough work against their ridiculous amount of shocks and bolts, so you're also going to have a hard time keeping Rhonas the Indomitable active.

Vizier of Many Faces can copy their Hazoret, or you can shut them down with Sorcerous Spyglass.

Deathgorge Scavenger is a great help in getting rid of an Earthshaker Khenra in the yard.

Vs. Temur Energy

Outs: One With the Wind, Spell Pierce, Bristling Hydra

Ins: Vizier of Many Faces, Crushing Canopy, Negate, Sorcerous Spyglass

This is a matchup where you are guaranteed to run into Glorybringers, so you'll want to either bring in Sorcerous Spyglass to turn off their Hydras - in which case you might side out your own to make room - or maybe Vizier of Many Faces to copy their Glorybringers/Hydras

Negate is good if they're running multiple Chandras, though you might be better off taking Crushing Canopy to kill their Glorybringers.

Vs. GB/Sultai Energy

Outs: Bristling Hydra, Spell Pierce

Ins: Vizier of Many Faces, Shapers' Sanctuary

Sultai energy tends to run Hostage Taker, so you don't want to risk them stealing a Hydra from you. You're best off being able to copy their The Scarab God or their Hostage Taker. Sanctuary gives you a draw whenever they target your creatures, and then I believe you can Blossoming Defense to save them after the draw trigger goes on the stack. It also provides crazy draw if they repeatedly use Walking Ballista to kill something, since it counts as multiple activations.

Vs. UW Approach

Outs: Bristling Hydra, One With the Wind, Spell Pierce

Ins: Negate, Crushing Canopy, Nissa, Steward of Elements, Sorcerous Spyglass

Against this deck, you want to be prepared for them to drop a Solemnity out of nowhere, so Crushing Canopy is a hedge against that, though it's not likely to be used. Negate is far more valuable, shutting off their main win-con long enough for you to kill them...hopefully. Nissa, Steward of Elements allows you to put them on a 2 turn clock, Sorcerous Spyglass turns off their Gideon of the Trials.

Vs. UB Core Control

Outs: Bristling Hydra, One With the Wind, Spell Pierce

Ins: Sorcerous Spyglass, Negate, Nissa, Steward of Elements, Vizier of Many Faces, Deathgorge Scavenger

Against UB Control cores, you're risking The Scarab God reanimating your stuff, which makes everything a major threat if they kill it. You can't overcommit to the board, so you want to make sure they can't steal a Hydra at least.

You can happily bring in Spyglass to turn off their Scarab God and any planeswalkers they might run. Vizier of Many Faces lets you blank their Scarab God and gives you inevitability off your own creatures.

Nissa, Steward of Elements is potentially useful in any control match up since at the worst, you'll force them to Disallow her. Just don't try to cast her for an instant 6 loyalty.

Vs. UR Core Control

Outs: Bristling Hydra, One With the Wind, Spell Pierce

Ins: Negate, Sorcerous Spyglass, Vizier of Many Faces, Nissa, Steward of Elements, Deathgorge Scavenger

Hydras can be a liability or they can be absolutely brutal and it hinges on whether they have a black splash for Scarab God or not.

Due to the threat of Abrades, this is another matchup where you might consider going on a "grind them out" plan instead of committing to the Pummeler kill.

Vs. Gift of the God Pharaoh Variants

Outs: Bristling Hydra, Spell Pierce

Ins: Negate, Nissa, Steward of Elements, Crushing Canopy, Deathgorge Scavenger

While it may seem strange to advocate the boarding of Hydras, the GPG decks have taken to running a lot of fliers, so you're not going to blank them with a double pumped Hydra. You would have to stick One With the Wind on it. You're likely best off going on the offensive, using Negate to stop them resolving GPG or Refurbishing it, taking targets out of the yard with Deathgorge Scavenger and falling back on Crushing Canopy to destroy flying threats so you can go in for a fast lethal.

Vs. Anointed Procession Variants

Outs: Bristling Hydra

Ins: Crushing Canopy, Negate, Sorcerous Spyglass

Bristling Hydra won't do much for you here. They go wide too fast. You need to be able to just keep slamming in with low cost creatures who fly or trample with potentially a 9 energy Pummeler.

Crushing Canopy can slow them down by taking out Anointed Procession or you can Negate it. Spyglass is a hedge bet, allowing you to turn off Gideon of the Trials and the flipped Legion's Landing  

Vs. Vehicles Variants

Outs: Bristling Hydra, Rhonas the Indomitable

Ins: Sorcerous Spyglass, Crushing Canopy, Negate

Spyglass turns off their Heart of Kiran entirely. You probably won't have the time to get to and stick a Bristling Hydra which is why I advocate the boarding out of it. They run a fairly decent amount of removal, so Rhonas the Indomitable can easily be stranded.

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Revision 17 See all

(7 years ago)

+1 Bristling Hydra main
-1 Negate side
-1 Rhonas the Indomitable main
+1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship side
Top Ranked
  • Achieved #22 position overall 7 years ago
Date added 7 years
Last updated 7 years
Legality

This deck is not Standard legal.

Rarity (main - side)

0 - 1 Mythic Rares

12 - 3 Rares

22 - 2 Uncommons

16 - 8 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 2.15
Tokens Energy Reserve
Folders Ideas, Standard, Decks that look nice, Cool Decks, Fun Decks, Pummeler
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