There are a million different matchups in Pioneer to worry about right now. Luckily for Green/Black Stompy, you have a fast gameplan that applies lots of pressure on your opponents. We’ll start off with the big one. But first, let’s update the deck. There are very minimal changes I’d make right now.


I cut a Forest for another Hashep Oasis, and in the sideboard, I cut the Reclamation Sage for another Scavenging Ooze. Hashep Oasis allows you to kill on turn 4 if you have a strong start, and it’s also a good way to just force through damage. The Reclamation Sage was there for UR Ensoul, but I don’t feel like I need that much for that matchup. Another Ooze works well against the creature matchups, Lotus Breach, and Sultai Delirium. Finally, your sideboard guide.

Lotus Breach
+1 Scavenging Ooze, +3 Leyline of the Void, +4 Thoughtseize
-3 Great Henge, -3 Heart of Kiran, -2 Scrapheap Scrounger

They’re not killing your mana dorks in this matchup, so you don’t need the 2 drops as much. Heart of Kiran got in the way more than anything in this matchup. You want to disrupt them as much as possible while also applying pressure. Yes, this board plan is weaker to Ugin, but you’re not beating that card a lot of the time anyway. Just kill them to death.

Blue/Black Inverter
+2 Assassin’s Trophy, +4 Thoughtseize

-3 Great Henge, -1 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger, -2 Heart of Kiran

This matchup is very similar to Lotus Breach, but you don’t have a hammer like Leyline of the Void. I don’t think you want Leyline against them because it just stops Dig Through Time, which you can take with Thoughtseize. They’re going to discard you into oblivion, but they have a hard time killing 3+ drops because they can’t turn on revolt with Fatal Push reliably. So just play out your cards, attack them, and make them have the combo. It’s that easy.

Bant Spirits
+3 Fatal Push, +2 Kraul Harpooner

-1 Great Henge, -2 Rhonas, the Indomitable, -1 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger, -1 Heart of Kiran

This matchup is not great for you. Other than a pile of red removal spells, it might be the worst in all of Pioneer. This is where Kraul Harpooner shines. If you can kill a Supreme Phantom or a Mausoleum Wanderer with it, you’re pretty set. But don’t be afraid to just trade off with it. You want Great Henge because it’s your way to leverage against them just annihilating you. It also gets around Spell Queller. You have to race them and hope they don’t hit two of their eight “lords” in their deck. This is one matchup I wouldn’t like to see, but you’ve got game. They don’t kill your elves which is nice.

Sultai Delirium
+3 Leyline of the Void, +1 Scavenging Ooze, +2 Assassin’s Trophy

-3 Heart of Kiran, -1 Great Henge, -2 Rotting Regisaur



This matchup is pretty close as well. They have a bunch of removal that actually kill your three drops and some discard spells that can pick you apart. Luckily they fold pretty hard to a Leyline of the Void, so if you can get that in play, you’ll have a pretty good chance. You take out part of the Henge/Regisaur combo because Regisaur is pretty bad when they kill it after the trigger in your upkeep. You want the Trophy’s to clear out Uro or anything else. Scavenging Ooze is also a great card here keeping them off Delirium or Uro. Heart of Kiran is a liability because they have too much removal for it.

Mono-Black Aggro
+2 Kraul Harpooner, +3 Fatal Push, +1 Scavenging Ooze

-1 Great Henge, -2 Rotting Regisaur, -1 Surrak, the Hunt Caller, -1 Heart of Kiran, -1 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger

This matchup is closer than you think, but you do have creatures that are just bigger than theirs. If they swarm you into a Rankle, that’s a surefire way to lose. I cut down on some of the bigger end of the deck because you want to be lean against them. Hope they don’t kill your elf and the game is much easier. Kraul Harpooner pulls double duty because it attacks and blocks well and then also kills Rankle and Spawn of Mayhem, which are two of the bigger problem cards. If you can ever get a Great Henge or Rhonas out, your life is much easier.

Blue/Red Ensoul
+3 Fatal Push, +2 Assassin’s Trophy, +2 Thoughtseize

-3 Great Henge, -2 Rotting Regisaur, -1 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger, -1 Heart of Kiran



This matchup is one of the only in all of pioneer where they can make a bigger creature than you faster. If they go turn two Ensoul on something, you need to have the Fatal Push the next turn or risk dying. So the pressure is on you. You don’t want all of the Thoughtseize here, but you can bring in two to try to tag Ensoul or Shrapnel Blast. Other than that, it’s a race to kill their stuff. Once you stave off their assault, their deck folds pretty hard.

Mono-Red Aggro/Big Red
+3 Fatal Push, +1 Scavenging Ooze

-2 Great Henge, -2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller

These are two different decks, but the Big Red variation has been pushed out by Lotus Breach and Blue/Black Inverter. I didn’t face the Mono-Red Aggro version that won the Grand Prix at all, but I’d assume to sideboard like this. You want to be the “control” deck postboard, but they should be killing your elves at all costs. Your creatures are bigger than theirs, if they can’t get down Torbran, then you should win.

Blue/White Control
+4 Thoughtseize, +2 Assassin’s Trophy

-4 Rotting Regisaur, -2 Great Henge,

We’ll finish up with the worst matchup I can think of in Pioneer. Blue/White control plays so many cards that are good against your strategy, that you might have to steal a game 1 to win the match. Scrapheap Scrounger and Heart of Kiran go a long way, but they do have ways to stop those cards. Regisaur is a liability, no matter how huge it is. Great Henge is good if you can sneak it under counter magic or before they can Supreme Verdict you. That’s why I keep one in, but you want to be lean, and try to tag their best cards with Thoughtseize. Assassin’s Trophy is for post-board when they bring in cards like Lyra Dawnbringer or Dream Trawler.

So that’s it! Your comprehensive guide to Green/Black Stompy in Pioneer. I’ve long loved casting mana elves and three drops ahead of the curve in Magic. This deck allows me to do that and more. Just remember when you’re mulliganing with the deck that you never want to keep a hand without a one drop, unless it’s some crazy hand against Blue/White control with tons of good cards for the matchup. So aggressively mulligan because you only need one mana elf, two lands, and some stuff to do with it.