Fierce Bombardment: Pioneer Stingerback Unsealing

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Before We Start

Speaking of Stingerback Terror from the new set Outlaws of Thunder Junction, a four-mana flying trampler that can be up to 7/7 looks like a powerful French-vanilla-style creature. But in a Limited format full of chaos, it doesn’t count as a top-tier bomb, and even in the Standard card pool its chances of making it seem slim… but could it create a new deck in Pioneer?

Card Analysis

Besides its 7/7 flying trample stat line and the drawback of shrinking based on your hand size, Stingerback Terror also has a three-mana plot ability. In a Gruul deck with one-mana mana creatures, you can plot on turn two and cast it for free on turn three. The problem is, what is the point of casting a dragon without haste for free on turn three? The answer is Sarkhan’s Unsealing from M19.

Just as you’d expect, Stingerback Terror’s power of 7 can trigger the one-sided sweep of Sarkhan’s Unsealing, and plotting on turn two fills exactly the gap before the turn-three Unsealing, catching the opponent off guard. Since Sarkhan’s Unsealing can go straight to the face, even if the opponent deals with Stingerback Terror using removal, as long as they can’t handle Sarkhan’s Unsealing, the game is on a countdown. And of course, even if the opponent can handle the Unsealing, this deck still has plenty of big-fist creatures ready to serve them. The decklist is as follows:

Decklist

At its core this deck is Gruul aggro. Besides the core pieces Stingerback Terror and Sarkhan’s Unsealing, along with the one-mana mana bases Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic, the ferocious requirement of Sarkhan’s Unsealing makes the new set’s Outcaster Trailblazer an important piece that serves as attacker, accelerant, and card refill all in one. Next come the staple removal-plus-attacker Bonecrusher Giant and the two-mana, power-4 Exemplar of Strength to fill out the curve.

Because four copies of Stingerback Terror alone are a bit too few creatures to trigger the sweep, the author also added Trumpeting Carnosaur, which was once all the rage in Standard. Not only can the body itself trigger the sweep, but discover 5 means it can dig up every card other than itself. It can pull out another big-fist creature to trigger the Unsealing, and it also has a chance to pull out the Unsealing itself to set up the next turn’s bombardment. For the remaining slots, the author put in Volcanic Spite as filler removal, which also filters a card from your hand so you have more chances to draw your pieces.

Gameplay Demo

Right off the bat I ran into the popular Amalia Benavides Aguirre combo. When I plotted Stingerback Terror, the opponent thought for a moment and finally chose to deploy their lifegain creatures, and the result was taking an Unsealing sweep right in the face. After that, although creatures like Voice of Resurgence were struggling, they were kept down by Volcanic Spite and Bonecrusher Giant. Stingerback Terror swung three times through the air and put them into lethal range. In the end, using Chord of Calling to fetch Skyclave Apparition to remove the dragon was of no help either, and Exemplar of Strength delivered the final blow to end the game.

Conclusion

The best part of Magic is that you never know when a card in your collection will turn things around. Without the arrival of Stingerback Terror, Sarkhan’s Unsealing would only be a Commander toy. While we marvel at the Unsealing’s powerful suppressive force, the tactical value of plot really can’t be overlooked. Plot’s pay-first mechanic keeps you from spinning your wheels entirely against counterspells, and casting spells back to back afterward makes it hard for the opponent to keep up. When conditions allow, bombarding for 12 to 16 points in a single turn is not impossible. I hope you all have fun with this fun tech!