The king is dead! Long live the Pauper!

Opinion

Boza

30 November 2016

688 views

The Plague

Peregrine Drake, to keep with the medieval theme in the title, was the Black Death That is Actually Blue that ravaged the format for a few months. Apparently, banning a card that create a strong combo and than legalizing the same card (but even better, since you did not need to play clunky ravnica karoos to make it work) was a great idea. Ux Drake decks proved to be too consistent and resilient, regardless of splash color, and took a big chunk of the meta. However, that is now a non-issue and begs the question - what next?

Getting out of the Dark Ages

The aptly named Conspiracy: Take the Crown has blossomed into an awesome set and I am eager to get medieval on its cool commons:

Borderland Explorer - I like this cheaper version of Civic Wayfinder. It trades 1 power for 1 toughness and 1 less mana, at the cost of a symmetrical discard for fixing. It still finds your lonely Island for the Distant Melody and the welcome cost is nice. It works great with cards like Moldervine Cloak in a more Stompy-oriented list.

Sinuous Vermin - Card is an innocent looking common that granted me many Conspiracy draft victories. In pauper land,12 rat is a variant of Mono Black Control that uses the power of Chittering Rats, Crypt Rats and Rotting Rats to establish control. I will be happy to include this in the deck and make it 16 rat.

Wings of the Guard - a 1/1 flier for 2 that gets to 2/2 when attacking. A bit on the weak side, when compared to something like War Falcon, but still a good option to have for Mono White Aggro.

Deputized Protester - a 3/2 menace attacker for 3 is a bit too expensive. Trading 1 mana for menace on something like gorehouse chainwalker is not a good deal.

Menagerie Liberator - a cool card with good stats that is a bit too expensive for such vulnerability to Lightning Bolt.

Palace Sentinels, Thorn of the Black Rose, Crown-Hunter Hireling, Entourage of Trest, Canal Courier - Those are the pauper Monarch cards, with thorn being superior. It is a cool addition to a control deck, but the cool factor is much greater than the utility of a monarch.

Orchard Elemental - the best of the bunch of cards that use the council's dilemma mechanic, but still there are much better options out there for "big dude gains life on ETB".

The New Monarch

Commander 2016 brings us some new cards and interesting reprints. The most interesting cards and reprints are as follows:

Ash Barrens - the newest iteration of Terramorphic Expanse provides colorless mana or can cycle to get you a card. It is a good addition to that type of cards and in some decks it is better than Evolving Wilds. Great for decks with Delve especially.

Notable reprints - Sakura-Tribe Elder and Kodama's Reach and Terminate were all getting quite expensive due to modern and Commander demand.

The Renaissance

Kaladesh brings the light of science and inventions to pull us away from the dark ages. Artifice is at its peak, Affinity players rejoice and yet again the Common man is king. Here are the people's champions, in alphabetical order:

Built to Smash - great option for aggressive decks as a Brute Force 5-8. Great addition to aggressive decks, especially those looking to push through damage with artifact creatures. Finally, Myr Enforcer can be bigger than Gurmag Angler.

Fragmentize - great option for cheap artifact removal, but only if nothing else is available. The loss of instant speed really hurts Disenchant, despite the reduced mana cost.

Cathartic Reunion - already making waves in Modern, this is prone to make a splash in Pauper too. great with madness and amazing in dredge, this card can also be used as a 2 of in any random burn deck to refill the hand.

Dramatic Reversal - Could this be in a combo of some kind? It most definitely could! Though I have not found it yet, this card screams to combine it with a couple of others and generate infinite mana.

Larger Than Life - being sorcery speed sucks, but the bonus is nice and comes at an affordable 2 mana. Not the best pump spell out there, but it is far from the worst.

Metalspinner's Puzzleknot - split Night's Whisper in two and make it a permanent and that is what you get - a puzzleknot of where to fit this. My first thought is any deck with Disciple of the Vault.

Prophetic Prism - important Pauper card reprint.

Reckless Fireweaver - combines great with Disciple of the Vault to tax artifacts and opponents on the way in and on the way out.I am sure this will be a cool card to brew with.

Sky Skiff - mediocre flier and pressure tool, but in the right deck like mono white or even goblins can grant a lot of pressure for a low cost.

Terrain Elemental - another one in the series of "green 2CMC commons with 3 power". Could use a better type than Elemental, but we take what we get.

Prakhata Pillar-Bug - amazing in draft with a couple of counters on it. Should good in pauper as well as an Aggro mirror-breaker.

Renegade Freighter - the Pain Train is Here to destroy control and chew bubblegum and it is All Out of Bubblegum and is ready to say "Hasta la vista, baby!" to the old Pauper meta; not only the best common in Kaladesh, but the best in quite a while. Useful in any Aggro deck with more than 20 dudes, it gives you a huge power post for a low cost and it is the best equipment printed in quite a while.

Salivating Gremlins - great in a faux-affinity shell with Disciple of the Vault and Reckless Fireweaver. Didn't I mention this just a few paragraphs ago? Kaladesh is giving us a good template for a BR-based affinity Drain deck.

Welding Sparks - mediocre removal, but still a good option to have if you are even a bit into artifacts. Outclassed by Lightning Bolt and many more on versatility.

Peema Outrider - Menagerie Liberator was dethroned in the very next set. The versatility given here with a 4/4 trampler or 3/3 trampler with a 1/1 buddy is amazing. Good card!

Self-Assembler - a colorless auriochs? Sign me up! This is a great card for pretty much any midrange deck.

Tidy Conclusion - continues the theme of the artifact Drain deck, but is a tad too expensive for its effect. Just Doom Blade the dude...

Gearseeker Serpent - la crème du la crème. The new affinity staple. Having such a great body and basically the keyword "affinity for artifacts" and a relevant effect on top of that makes this a great addition to any affinity deck. The only question is how many - 1,2,3 or 4?

The Pauper Inquisition

These past few sets have been great for Pauper! In combination with the recent B&R update, Pauper is headed in a great direction! Below I have highlighted the Pauper Artifact Drain I have been hinting at during the Kaladesh section.

Enjoy!