Steel-Cannon Pummeler (KLD - Retired)

Casual Aggro Energy RG (Gruul)

clayperce

Creature (18)

• 3x Bristling Hydra
• 4x Electrostatic Pummeler
• 3x Longtusk Cub
• 4x Servant of the Conduit
• 4x Voltaic Brawler

Sorcery (7)

• 4x Attune with Aether
• 3x Larger Than Life

Land (20)

• 4x Aether Hub
• 7x Forest
• 4x Game Trail
• 5x Mountain

Planeswalker (2)

• 2x Arlinn Kord  ^Flip

Instant (13)

• 4x Blossoming Defense
• 3x Brute Strength
• 4x Harnessed Lightning
• 2x Uncaged Fury

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Sideboard

Sorcery (6)

• 2x Devour in Flames
• 2x Incendiary Flow
• 2x Nature's Way

Planeswalker (2)

• 2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Instant (5)

• 2x Appetite for the Unnatural
• 3x Galvanic Bombardment

Creature (2)

• 2x Weaver of Lightning

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Maybeboard

Artifact (1)

• 1x Key to the City

Instant (1)

• 1x Commencement of Festivities

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Pummeler's days as glass-cannon jank are long gone. In addition to the usual crazy-fast killing machine, Energy-abusing Creatures, and pump spells, this brew features Arlinn Kord   and a little extra removal in the main.

I retired this deck on 1/9/2017, with a 55% win percentage in tournament and casual play. Thanks for all your comments, suggestions, and questions along the way!

Strategy and Card Choices

WIN-CON: Smash face with Electrostatic Pummeler, using pump effects from Blossoming Defense, Brute Strength , Larger Than Life, Uncaged Fury, Arlinn Kord  's +1, or Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon   's +1, then using Energy counters to double, re-double, and sometimes even re-double Pummeler's total power.

ALTERNATE WIN-CON: Smash face with Bristling Hydra, Voltaic Brawler, or even Longtusk Cub ... made better with pump spells and +1/+1 counters. Burn face with Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon   's -1 or Emblem.

PREVENT OPPONENT WIN-CONS: Burn Creatures with Harnessed Lightning. Burn Creatures and Planeswalkers with Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon   's -1 or Emblem. Protect Creatures with Blossoming Defense.

MOVE TOWARDS THE WIN: Get in some early damage with Voltaic Brawler and Longtusk Cub.

GENERAL VALUE: Ramp, gain Energy counters, and Attack/Block like a Bear with Servant of the Conduit. Ramp and gain Energy counters with Attune with Aether. Drop 2/2 Wolfs with Arlinn Kord  's 0.

SIDEBOARD:

• Appetite for the Unnatural vs. Artifacts and Enchantments.
• Chandra, Torch of Defiance vs. Control.
• Devour in Flames vs. Planeswalkers.
• Galvanic Bombardment vs. Aggro and maybe Flyers.
• Incendiary Flow vs. Recurring Creatures (e.g., Scrapheap Scrounger) and Control.
• Nature's Way vs. Flyers (in place of Arlinn Kord  ).
• Weaver of Lightning vs. Flyers and decks with lots of 3-Power attackers.

MAYBEBOARD:

• I'm still below 50% in the mirror. If I can't figure it out, I may have to find room for Commencement of Festivities ... :-(
• I go back and forth on Key to the City vs. Nature's Way . They both offer evasion vs. go-wide decks and Creatures with high Toughness (e.g., Ishkanah, Grafwidow and her brood). But I think the deck currently needs Removal (for the Aggro match-up) more than Rummage (for Control).

GREAT CARDS I'M NOT USING AND WHY:

• I know Built to Smash is a Pummeler staple, but I've been stuck with one in my hand way too often, wishing it could pump up a Creature on defense or wishing it could grant Trample to a non-Artifact Creature.
• Ceremonious Rejection is superb against both Artifacts and Eldrazi, but I don't want to find room for an Island in the 75 (and I don't want to depend on just Aether Hub and Servant of the Conduit).
• Chandra's Pyrohelix seemed like it would be good sideboard tech, but it never met my expectations.
• I like Cinder Glade in a midrange build. But Glade is just too slow in the early game, when I need the fixing most.
• Cultivator of Blades is a great five-drop, enabling a +3/+3 for the whole team on Turn 6. But Verdurous Gearhulk enables +4/+4 on a single attacker on Turn 5, which is just better for this deck. And I'm not running it either.
• Dispel is a solid option for heavy removal and the mirror and Negate can also counter Artifacts, Enchantments, and Planeswalkers and Revolutionary Rebuff can also counter Creatures with powerful ETB effects (e.g., Spell Queller and Ishkanah, Grafwidow). But while they often won games for me, they didn't win many matches.
• I love Lathnu Hellion in a "generic" Energy deck, especially against Liliana, the Last Hope and other 3-Loyalty Planeswalkers. But IMO it just eats up too much Energy in a Pummeler deck.
• Natural State is fine against many Artifacts (e.g., Smuggler's Copter and Dynavolt Tower ) and Enchantments (e.g., Authority of the Consuls and Stasis Snare). But it can't hit Aetherworks Marvel , Panharmonicon, Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, Metalurgic Summonings , or any of the Gearhulks.
• Pia Nalaar is superb against Flyers (especially when teamed with Smuggler's Copter), but with all the Instants and Sorceries in this deck, Weaver of Lightning is just a little better.
• Radiant Flames is solid vs. go-wide decks, but it's proven to be just a little too situational for my tastes.
• Sage of Shaila's Claim is OK, but being able to leave Servant of the Conduit up for Blossoming Defense (plus color fixing when needed)) is much better.
• Skysovereign, Consul Flagship is an amazing 5-drop when ahead on boardstate, but it's really bad when behind.
• Verdurous Gearhulk is solid tech for a more midrange build, but this deck wants to run fast and the 'hulk slows the deck more than I want.

Playtips

GENERAL TIPS:

• Arlinn Kord   comes in with only three Loyalty counters, so cast her very carefully.
• Arlinn is very versatile, so there's no one best play pattern. When ahead on board though, I tend to +1 (Pump/Vigilance/Haste) her to 6 Loyalty, then 0 (create a 2/2 Wolf) to Transform her, then -6 for the Emblem. When behind on board, I tend to flip back and forth between her front-face 0 (drop a 2/2 Wolf) and her back-face -1 (bolt to Creature or Player).
• Manage Energy Counters carefully, as Electrostatic Pummeler needs a multiple of 3 to combo off.
• I like casting Electrostatic Pummeler on Turn 4 with protection MUCH better than on Turn 3 without. Turn 4 Arlinn Kord   followed by Turn 5 Pummeler (with Arlinn's +1) is great too.
• Consider possible pumps before you cast Harnessed Lightning. Along those lines, make sure you're using Harnessed Lightning right, because it's a little tricky. You chose the target when you cast, then your opponent has priority and can pump, then (assuming the spell resolves) you get the Energy counters and chose how much damage to deal. Here's the Gatherer text for reference: **You choose the target creature as you cast ~. You don't choose how much Energy to pay until ~ is resolving. No player may take actions between the time you choose how much Energy to pay and the time the creature takes damage equal to the Energy paid this way. If the target creature becomes an illegal target, ~ is countered and none of its effects happen. You won't get Energy counters or be able to pay any Energy."
• Some more Harnessed Lightning tips: Cast it earlier rather than later against Creatures that pump up during combat (e.g., Toolcraft Exemplar and Voltaic Brawler). You can pick up extra Energy counters by casting it but not dealing damage. Against a Vehicle deck, remember that a Creature can Crew in response.
• With extra Energy counters, Longtusk Cub can get enormous at Instant speed. Because the threat of activation is so powerful, I often cast other creatures in the first main phase just to get extra Energy counters.
• Don't attack just one Creature into if you can help it. Blessed Alliance is still a thing.
• Liliana, the Last Hope has to be answered, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Nissa, Vital Force usually do. But I usually just race other Planeswalkers.

POSTBOARD:

• If my opponent saw Electrostatic Pummeler Game 1 and I suspect Natural State or Fragmentize, I will often pull the Pummelers for Game 2. I just love it when an opponent brings in cards to target cards that are no longer in my deck.
• On a "big swing" with Electrostatic Pummeler, watch out for an opponent who might have brought in Commencement of Festivities (I've seen this in the Mirror), Repel the Abominable (a favorite for large Eldrazi, but it works well against us too) and Dazzling Reflection (in Lifegain decks).
• Against Vehicles, Harnessed Lightning and Appetite for the Unnatural seem best at the Start of Combat.
• UW Flash: I'm currently trying -2 Arlinn Kord  , -3 Creatures (usually some combo of Longtusk Cub and Electrostatic Pummeler), +2 Nature's Way , and +3 Weaver of Lightning . I'll sometimes pull a pump or two for extra Galvanic Bombardments (in a Creature-heavy build) or Devour in Fames (in a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar-heavy build). The toughest decisions are what to do Turn 3 (in the face of Spell Queller or Reflector Mage) and whether to hold onto a Harnessed Lightning for Archangel Avacyn  .
• BG Delirium: Nature's Way is a key card, to remove and then Trample over Ishkanah, Grafwidow and her brood. If this was a bigger issue in my meta, I'd probably run Ceremonious Rejection as well (I'd still have to deal with the Cast trigger of course, but at least there's not a 13/13 to deal with afterwards).
• Control: I usually pull Arlinn Kord   (since she's not much good without Creatures on board) and some pump spells (since they're just recipes for two-for-ones). This makes plenty of room for Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Incendiary Flow . In a Gearhulk-heavy match-up, I'll bring in Appetite for the Unnatural (also good for Stasis Snare) and leave as many Harnessed Lightning as I can. In a Planeswalker-heavy match-up, I'll bring in Devour in Flames . And I'll leave Arlinn Kord   in vs. Nahiri, the Harbinger. I really want a Blossoming Defense or some counter-magic in my opening hand, and will mulligan aggressively to get it. The play in Games 2 and 3 is basically to hold back and play really slow ... I try hard to not make a move without some Blossoming Defense in hand, and if that's not possible I just plan the game as if I'm going to lose at least half my cards (to hand disruption, counters, and removal).
• Aggro: The deck's toughest match-up. Radiant Flames was just not doing it, and I recently swapped to Galvanic Bombardment. We'll see ...

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Shout-outs to ...

• Frank Karsten, who brewed the first Electrostatic Pummeler deck I ever saw: Deck #10: Red-Green Double Strike at ChannelFireball.
• xahhfink6 and NinjaTheNick, who wrote early and insightful pieces about Pummeler over at r/spikes.
• Craig Wescoe, who wrote a great article about different Pummeler strategies at TCGplayer.
• SaffronOlive, who did up some fun Pummeler videos as part of his Budget Magic series at MTGGoldfish.
• The brewers of my favorite Energy decks here on T/O.
• michael921 as always, for his excellent suggestions and advice. You can check out his latest brews at 14-09-16-golgari-counters and Bitterblossom in Standard (KLD Standard).

Please don't hesitate to +1 Upvote this deck if you like it ... and especially if you like it enough to put it in a folder :-)

Top Ranked	Achieved #3 position overall 7 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	7 years
Legality	This deck is Casual legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 2 Mythic Rares 11 - 0 Rares 25 - 8 Uncommons 10 - 5 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.20
Tokens	Emblem Arlinn Kord, Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Energy Reserve, Human 2/2 G, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders	Standard References, Future Decks, Check this out, Test, Saved, Decks I Like, Standard, Standard, Kaladesh Standard, Khaladesh