As I may have mentioned once or twice, I enjoy doing set reviews—not necessarily to say “buy this now,” but to snark a little. Honestly, my track record on calling winners is mixed. I called Ugin and Eye of the Storm, but I definitely missed one this time—mostly because I thought the mechanic “Flurry” had a dumb name: Cori-Steel Cutter.
And yet, here we are. Cori-Steel Cutter might just be the breakout card of the set and has already breathed life into a long-quiet Modern archetype: U/R Prowess.
🧾 U/R Prowess Decklist
Main Deck (60):
1 Arid Mesa
2 Bedlam Reveler
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cori-Steel Cutter
4 Dragon's Rage Channeler
4 Expressive Iteration
4 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Manamorphose
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Mountain
4 Preordain
3 Spirebluff Canal
3 Steam Vents
2 Stormchaser's Talent
1 Thundering Falls
2 Unholy Heat
4 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard (15):
4 Consign to Memory
2 Dismember
2 Meltdown
1 Mystical Dispute
2 Pyroclasm
2 Spell Pierce
2 Surgical ExtractionWhy It Works
Red-based prowess decks have been Modern staples since Monastery Swiftspear first dashed onto the battlefield. They deliver great threat density, chain cantrips and burn spells, and can close games lightning fast.
Cori-Steel Cutter takes that to the next level. It gives trample, haste, and a +1/+1 bonus—and with Flurry, you can get a swarm of Monks with prowess triggers. It’s not unlike Monastery Mentor, which still sees Legacy play.
Worth noting: Flurry is not exactly like prowess. It triggers on the second spell you cast each turn—any type of spell. That means you can get value even from casting two Swiftspears in a row.
The beauty? Cutter just wants you to play Mountains. It’s equally great in U/R Prowess or R/G builds with cards like Giant Growth and Mutagenic Growth. It can slot easily into any aggressive shell with cheap spells—Mono-Red Aggro in Standard, Boros Heroic in Pioneer, or maybe even somewhere new.
More Than a Flash in the Pan
At time of writing, U/R Prowess has that new-deck shine, and the format is still adjusting. Expect an increase in sideboard cards like Temporary Lockdown, Wrath of the Skies, and Anger of the Gods to counter this archetype’s speed and resilience.
But Prowess isn’t a gimmick. This deck is fast, flexible, and surprisingly deep. If you haven’t picked up your playset of Cori-Steel Cutter yet, now’s the time. It slices, it dices, and it might just carve out a tier spot in Modern.