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The beginning of any post-rotation Standard format inMagic: The Gatheringis the best time for aggressive decks to thrive. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the quick-to-kill Gruul Prowess deck has clawed its way to the top of the metagame.
Prowess has been a powerful mechanic ever since it was first released in the Khans of Tarkir set back in 2014. One creature in particular from that set, Monastery Swiftspear, was reprinted for Standard and remains such a potent card that she sees play in Modern burn decks. The power of prowess aside, let’s see what makes Standard’s prowess deck tick.
3 Urabrask’s Forge
Key Cards
The key cards in Gruul Prowess revolve aroundswinging in for a huge chunk of damageafter growing a creature to enormous size using noncreature spells alongside prowess triggers.
While there are a handful of prowess creatures and noncreature spells in the deck, the most important ones are listed below along with why they are a cut above the rest of the cards in the deck.
Slickshot Show-Off
The primary reason to play red at the moment, Slickshot Show-Off comes with built-in evasion thanks to flying. This gives you a much better chance of the creature attacking through potential blockers. Furthermore, it doesn’t come with atraditional prowess trigger, but a trigger that gives it +2 power instead. This makesevery noncreature spell you cast twice as effectiveat dealing damage.
Finally, Slickshot can becast for its plot costinstead of a traditional hard cast. This allows you to keep your Slickshot in the safety of exile until you find the right moment to deploy it. In other words, this creature serves as your ace in the hole when you’re dealing with an opponent who has a ton of removal.
Emberheart Challenger
Emberheart made Gruul Prowess more consistent asits prowess trigger exiles a card from the top of your libraryand allows you to play it the same turn. The additional card draw Emberheart provides is one thing that the deck was sorely missing prior to the release of Bloomburrow.
Alongside Heartfire Hero, Emberheart is also one of two Mouse creatures that make your Might of the Meek cantrips deal additional damage. While it might not seem like a big difference,getting the additional +1 powerthat Might of the Meek provides when you have a Mouse on the board turns the card from a dud into a stud.
Emberheart Challenger will often exile a land off the top of your deck. If you’ve already played a land for turn, you cannot play the exiled land. Consider waiting to play your land for turn until after you see what Emberheart exiles even if this means you have to target Emberheart with an instant during your main phase.
Questing Druid
This isyour other source of card advantageoutside of Emberheart Challenger. The adventure half of this card allows you to find enough noncreature spells to pump up your prowess creatures to life-threatening size. As a result,you will almost always want to cast Questing Druid’s adventure halfbefore casting the creature itself.
The fact that Questing Druid receives counters instead of a temporary prowess trigger boost allows you to grow this creature to astronomical heights after a handful of turns. In some matchups,a massive Questing Druid that’s given tramplewith Might of the Meek, Monstrous Rage, or Audacity is exactly what you’ll need to win.
Keep in mind that Questing Druid does not receive counters when you cast green cards. Royal Treatment, Audacity, and other Questing Druids are the only green cards in the deck, however, this is an easy detail to forget.
Royal Treatment
The linchpin noncreature spell of the deck. Obviously, this deck’s biggest weakness is a well-timed instant speed removal spell. It doesn’t matter how big of a creature you swing in with if your opponent can take care of that creature before it deals damage.
This is where Royal Treatment comes in. As your one spell capable of blanking opposing removal,your Royal Treatment must be timed wiselyto avoid getting blown out by spot removal. Whenever you plan to go for the kill witha massive creature, make sure to account for having an extra green mana available so that you’re able to give your attacking creature hexproof just in case.
The royal role token Royal Treatment provides also grows your creature by +1/+1 and gives it ward one. Take this into account when you’re calculating a lethal swing. Additionally, ward one can be monumentally useful if you know what kind of removal the opponent has in their deck. Don’t underestimate mana taxation even when it’s an additional cost of a single generic mana.
How To Play Gruul Prowess
In the early game, you want to try andestablish a board presencewhile chipping away at the opponent’s health. Get a couple of creatures on the board and continue to pressure the opponent’s life total whenever you’re able to do so without risking one of your attackers. The small amount of damage you do here canend up being the differencebetween a lethal attack and falling just short later.
In the middle of the game, start to look for opportunities to get in with a big attack byusing spells exiledfrom either Questing Druid’s adventure side or Emberheart Challenger’s prowess trigger. This is also a good time to use your cantrips like Might of the Meek and Audacity to bettersculpt your hand for a finishing blowwhile growing your prowess creatures to a size that lets them attack.
The easiest way to lose with Gruul Prowess is to run out of cards in hand. you’re able to avoid this by making the most of your Questing Druid and Emberheart Challenger. The goal is to take the greatest advantage of the extra cards these triggers provide while assembling a lethal combination of noncreature spells in hand to finish the opponent off with.
In the late game (as soon as turn fivefor aggressive decks like this), you will look for the perfect moment to deploy your lethal attack using what remains of your cards in hand. Typically, this moment iswhenever the opponent has no untapped manaand an unsuitable blocker for your attack. The last thing you want is for you attack to be interrupted by a counterspell or instant speed removal.
That being said, remember that Gruul Prowess is an aggressive deck first and foremost. The longer the game goes on, the less likely you are to win.Sometimes, you’ll be forced to make your moveand have to simply hope that the opponent doesn’t have interaction. Otherwise, you’ll give the opponent too much time, and their higher card quality will overcome your aggression.
Sideboarding
The strategy of Gruul Prowess is pretty one-dimensional. You want to grow a creature to a huge size and crash in for a lethal attack. The cards that will allow you to do that best are already in the main deck, and any amount of sideboarding you do will only make your strategy less consistent. As a result,sideboarding for this deck primarily concerns bringing in silver bulletsfor certain matchups.
“Silver bullet” is a term for a card that works against a specific card or mechanic. For example, Rest In Peace exiles an opponent’s graveyard and prevents cards from entering their graveyard. Consequently, it is considered a silver bullet against reanimation effects and other graveyard shenanigans.
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Against anaggressive deck,bring in yourWitchstalker FrenziesandObliterating Boltso that you can interact with their attacking creatures. These cards should also be brought in any time you expect the opponent to play Sheoldred, The Apocalypse or Preacher Of The Schism. In exchange, take outMight of the Meekas trample won’t help you against small creatures.
The Tectonic Hazards in this sideboard should be brought in specifically against the aggressive deck Boros Convoke. This card is your answer to Boros' litany of one toughness creatures.
Against amidrange deck,Urabrask’s Forgeprovides you with an unlimited number of attacking creatures that continue to grow the later the game goes.Audacityand a singleMight of the Meekare good cards to take out here as all are susceptible to being blanked by one of your opponent’s many instant speed removal spells.
Finally,Koth, Fire of Resistancewill serve you best when dealing with control decks. There are only seven mountains in this deck, so Koth isn’t here to use his -3 loyalty ability. Instead, he serves asan alternate win conditionthrough his ultimate and +2 loyalty ability which will put mountains in your hand to trigger the damage from his emblem. Again,Audacityis a fine card to exchange here.
Pick Your Poison is another silver bullet that should be brought in against Domain Ramp decks. Its sacrifice enchantment mode can release your creatures from Temporary Lockdown or Leyline Binding while its sacrifice a flying creature mode answers both Archangel of Wrath and Atraxa, Grand Unifier.
