R/G Energy was an obvious new archetype in Kaladesh, but despite the presence of many powerful cards in the shell, from Servant of the Conduit to Voltaic Brawler to Lathnu Helion to Harnessed Lightning, the deck has failed to make any impression on the new Standard format. And this is a format that would seem to reward the aggressive gameplan utilizing powerful creatures that is Gruul’s forte.
So clearly the time has come to reassess. R/G Energy isn’t working as a straightforward aggressive deck. So let’s make it a combo deck! Enter Electrostatic Pummeler.
This little artifact is aptly named. With the amount of Energy this deck can generate, it’s quite easy to set up a turn where you activate it two or three times. Now, starting as a 1/1 that doesn’t add up to all that much, but if it starts as a 5/5 trampler or a 5/5 with trample and double strike, then your opponent is dead.
Both Larger Than Life and Built to Smash offer trample to Electrostatic Pummeler, and Uncaged Fury gives you double strike. Conveniently, the turn you untap with your creature, you will have four mana, just enough to fire off two pump spells and send your opponent reaching for their calculator when they really should be reaching for the match slip.
There isn’t a lot of removal going around in Standard right now because the creatures are too efficient, and this deck seeks to take advantage of that. For what few removal spells they do have, Blossoming Defense plays great defense, although you can cast it proactively if you need to.
The secondary creatures in this deck perfectly fitted to this style of deck. Voltaic Brawler is incredibly efficient and comes with trample built in, so you just need the double strike to go off. Bristling Hydra protects itself so you won’t need Blossoming Defense, and Servant of the Conduit and Longtusk Cub give you more mana and Energy so you can set up the biggest turn possible.
It’s a shame this deck is from Magic Online, because I have to imagine one of the greatest joys of piloting it is in looking at the shocked faces of your opponents as you throw down a pile of pump spells and kill them out of absolutely nowhere, followed by the frustrated face after Game 2 where their removal spell met a Blossoming Defense, leading to another hasty kill.
It’s still the early days of Kaladesh Standard, and while most people prepare to play typical games of Magic, attacking from a completely different angle like this can give you a significant edge. And if the deck is as powerful as it looks, that edge may be there for even longer.
Creatures (18)
Lands (20)
Spells (22)
