Dork Rituals: The Pauper Project

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Gattison

25 January 2018

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Dork Rituals: The Pauper Project

Issue 1: YOU are a Pauperwalker!

Hello fellow TappedOut.users, my name is Gattison, and I've been lurking in the background of the site for a few years now. In that time I've started to maintain the Obscure List of Obscure Lists (a large list of resources for all formats, created by TappedOut.users like you and me), and write song parodies as theme songs for Magic: The GatheringTM decks as a pastime (that's... pretty much exactly what it sounds like). As for play-style, I'm a Johnny with great big "Timmy-eyes," I like too much, I'm obsessed with Impact Tremors, I love aggro decks but am also branching out and trying new things lately and I build a LOT of paper pauper decks. I'm on a mission to brew 32+ different paper pauper decks, one of each color combination (including 4-color & colorless), and I'd like to take you with me.

My friend eyes2sky and I discuss the depth and nuances of pauper quite a bit, and from these conversations I plan to write some detailed, in-depth articles on many aspects of pauper (and maybe even beyond), from the differences between MTGO and Paper pauper to the history of the format itself. This isn't an "introduction to pauper" series, so some of what I discuss may be pretty advanced, but I'm going to walk you through everything I can, explaining as much as I am able, for the sake of being complete. I'm not going to hold back, though, I've had a lot of these thoughts on my mind for quite a long time now, so I'm just going to dive into the deep end and talk about whatever strikes my fancy (because that's how good articles are written ;] ). I want to discuss format staples and "budget" alternatives, interesting cards, deck-building philosophy and so much more. I want to celebrate the pauper format and how great and fun it is by raising awareness of the format, experimenting with new and unique decklist ideas and generally promoting discussion. You'll be learning new things you never even knew you were curious about, and if I can actually help you make a deck better along the way, then lucky us. If I get anything wrong... well, that's why I'm not keeping all this information to myself. I want to pool our collective knowledge so that we can all become better pauper players and brewers, and more experienced and informed about pauper, and Magic, in general.

I will admit to you a couple things now, though. First, I don't play any formats competitively. Thus my pauper (and Magic) in general experiences are more casual in nature, in a kitchen-table environment (with eyes2sky & LunaCelt--SHOUT OUT!). Secondly, I have only ever played pauper in paper, with real cards, never on MTGO, therefore there's no way I can comment on the meta in that environment. If that's what you want most, then there are better people out there for that, trust me. What I am here to do is help the Timmy in you find new, awesome cards. And to help the Johnny in you conceive new, creative archetypes/builds. And to help the Spike in you find a deck you can finally call your own. Third and finally, these articles (and this one especially) are truthfully nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to "sell" you on pauper and give you a bunch of reasons to start playing. So try not to be sucked in by the evil rhetoric of the commercial pauper machine that is this article. I dare you. :|

So, tickets are $10-$15 (or more) per person (per deck), you must be this tall to ride and everybody gets a free basic land for participating (your prize will be in the next pack of Magic cards you buy, along with eleven potentially awesome pauper cards).

That was my introduction. This is my actual article. This paragraph may not actually make into the final edit. It lacks purpose.

To begin, I should definitely clue the audience in on all the in and outs and what-have-yous of what I'm talking about. And that is, the pauper format. Pauper is another way to play Magic: The Gathering, like EDH/Commander, or pack battles (aka, Pack War, Mini-Master, which can be very fun and typically very quick, even in multiplayer--especially when you play with only 10 life). Pauper is an eternal, constructed format in which decks are built with nothing but common cards. That's right, no uncommons or rares, or dreaded mythics allowed, at all, ever. Unless the card was actually printed as a common, at some point--which does happen, from time to time. And there's the beautiful "loophole" in the commons-only rule, and what actually makes this format very exciting in my eyes. To be very clear, let me state this explicitly:

Magic: The Gathering, Pauper Format Additional Rules  

100.p General  

100.1p Pauper is a two-player or multiplayer format.  
100.2p Pauper is a constructed format, meaning each player creates his or her own deck ahead of time.  Each deck must contain at 
least sixty cards.  A constructed deck may contain any number of basic land cards and no more than four of any card with a 
particular English name other than basic land cards.  
     100.2p.a Pauper is an eternal format, meaning cards from all Magic: The Gathering sets with the standard card back and black or
white borders are legal for play.  Unglued and Unhinged have silver borders and are therefore not included.  
100.3p Pauper is a casual format in which decks may be constructed only of cards that have been printed (or released online) at the
common rarity at least once.  This includes casual, nonstandard formats, such as Commander, Archenemy and Conspiracy, as well as 
the multiple printed and MTGO-exclusive "Masters" series.  

Beyond that, your typical pauper game plays out like any other game of Magic. Build 60. Playsets of 4. Start with 20. Draw 7. Mulligan and lose 1. Sideboard of 15. Best of 3. See? Everything else is the same.

You may be thinking, "why limit yourself to only commons?" My answer to you is, "what else am I going to do with all these commons?" What do you do with them? Do you sell them at a loss? Do you store them, for a loss, technically? Do you give them away, for a gain, I mean loss, obviously. =P

Or do you use them? Do you get your money's worth out of them? Do you enjoy owning them?

I've considered being "that guy" who only buys cards they want/need, and that's it. But I enjoy a freshly cracked pack too much. I was considering selling my bulk junk at a significant loss. Then I discovered pauper, and found another reason to hold on to all these collectibles I've collected and now own and don't know what to do with. I'll just... do something with them.

I mean, seriously. Remember all those janky Timmy-cards you opened up in packs when you first started playing Magic, and you just wished you could play them, but they never worked out, or you knew you never would because there were just too many better options in the format? Well now you most likely can play those cards. Even after you cherry-pick your collection for all your other "more preferred" formats, like Commander, or Modern or even Legacy or Vintage. So far, I firmly believe that there is a pauper deck for (99% of) all occasions. If all you ever really wanted to do is make a deck with Mindstab or Charging Badger (or whatever) in it, for whatever reason, then there is a pauper deck out there for you. Or, there will be once you make it.

Furthermore, along that same line of thought, from what I understand basically every single archetype is playable in pauper as well. You like Affinity, or Infect or 5-color slivers? Pauper has that. You like Eggs, Cheerios or Abzan +1 Counters? Pauper has that. You like Elves, Goblins or Zombies? What about Mono- Mercenaries, Mill, or Aikido? Stax? Burn? Mono- Stompy? It doesn't matter. Not really. Pauper basically has an equivalent for everything. You'll find yourself using some "expensive cards" here and there--which typically means cards worth about $1 or 3--but often you'll be able to find reasonable alternatives right there, in your own collection.

I, myself, have been playing pauper for probably around two years now and have 30+ pauper decks, in paper, built, sleeved (in cheap sleeves), boxed (in cheap deckboxes) and counting. And I don't ever see myself stopping either. I'll always buy new Magic cards, therefore I'll always have excess commons that I wouldn't otherwise use. Now I'll use some of them. Eventually I'll figure out what isn't even pauper good and sell my actual, true chaff for a reasonable loss. Maybe. However, by chaff I mean cards in your collection that aren't good, at all, in any format. We can all usually tell what cards aren't going to be good in standard. We all know which cards are weak in Modern. Everybody knows what's viable in Legacy and Vintage or not (pretty much everything you own sucks =( ). No one's quite sure about pauper, yet, though. Certain cards are obvious staples, like Preordain and Rancor, and Lightning Bolt which currently--as of October, 2017--appears in almost a full third of the meta's decks. However, other cards, like Kird Ape, Prophetic Prism, Augur of Bolas and Young Wolf can also shine brightly as the signature cards of your deck, or at least reliable stepping stones.

Still not satisfied? Try Peasant, or try Pauper EDH/Commander. Peasant is essentially a pauper-variant (although Peasant is much older) in which players are allowed to use up to five individual uncommon-rarity cards in their deck. In Pauper Commander you pick a single uncommon-rarity card to be your commander (instead of a Legendary creature), then you fill the 99 with commons and basic lands. Players start with 30 life (instead of 40) and Commander Damage is lethal at 16 (instead of 21). Then you play Commander.

Otherwise, give pauper a shot. If you have piles and piles, or rows and rows of unused cards, then you can probably build an effective, Tier 2-3 deck or better tonight, before you go to bed. Hell, before you eat dinner, probably. Then you can tweak it to where you want within a couple weeks. And, then you can build a completely different pauper deck for your friend to play the next night. A week later you'll both be playing your own, original pauper decks, more than likely.

Well that's my introduction to pauper, myself and this article series, and I hope you liked it. I'm really just here to celebrate the pauper format while promoting discussion and doing what I can to aide the pauper community, here on TappedOut and wherever. Let me know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to make suggestions or request topics you want to hear about, and you pauper veterans out there can even correct me if the need ever arises. I'll return next week with another installment of Dork Rituals: The Pauper Project, in which we'll go a little deeper down the rabbit hole of pauper. Thanks for reading!

...And now, here it is, the end of the article. I'll leave you with a bunch of cool stuff to check out--mostly pauper related, because, ya'know. I'll highlight a pauper card, a pauper deck, a resource that you can use, and one of my own pauper decks... and maybe even a song. Each one will be either cool, useful, interesting or will in some way demonstrate subjects discussed in the accompanying article. Take a look and happy brewing!

Pauper Card Highlight

Apostle's Blessing

This versatile little piece of insurance can go in any sideboard or even your mainboard. Unless you're down to 2 life, this card only costs a single to cast, because you don't have to pay the . You can completely ignore it (kind of). Plus, it can even grant one of your creatures protection from artifacts, which doesn't happen often. If you want some kind of defense in your pauper deck and you can't find what you need in your colors, give this a playtest. Enjoy!

Pauper Deck Highlight

deck-large:pauper-beasts-of-burden

Here we have a new take on an old pauper staple, Kiln Fiend, and a new one, Burning-Tree Emissary. Most of the time you'll see Kiln Fiend in a mono- or Izzet () build, and after its recent introduction to pauper, Burning-Tree Emissary quickly found a home in Mono- Stompy. However, when eyes2sky sees everybody else jumping off a bridge, he proudly keeps his feet planted firmly and refuses to be a follower.

He spiced up his battlefield with some new exert cards and a few Vitalizes to get double duty out of them, and added some obligatory trample spells--a must in most Gruul decks. To get extra mileage out of the Kiln Fiend, we got a few Prey's Vengeances and a playset of Violent Outbursts. This deck, built from stuff eyes2sky had just lying around, can be very fast and explosive. Even if "RG Fiend" isn't your thing, maybe you can at least draw some inspiration from an original brew like this and come up with something more your own style. Have fun brewing!

Pauper Resource Highlight

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Pauper Staples

Pauper fruuty

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I will be talking budget pauper (if you can conceive of such a thing) quite a bit as we move forward, but that's only because I myself am building pauper decks in paper, and only own so many copies of any given card. Nothing will stop me from building pauper decks, though, so I'm on the hunt for whatever I can use.

That being said, here's a list of pauper staples, taken from the Obscure List of Obscure Lists itself. You might be surprised at some of the things on this list at first, if you're new to pauper. Once you get familiar with the format in general, however, you'll begin to understand why a lot of these cards are on here. Take a look at it and see what you already own. Maybe you'll be inspired by something you see here, or maybe you'll find something that can help you round out a deck you've already built/played.

The Pauper Project

The Pauper Project

Normally this would be a deck that would have something to do with the article above, but since this is the first issue, and the subject was "introduction," I feel like I can get away with anything, just this one time. So here it is, my personal collection of pauper decks.

Most of them are actually built, but a few are marked as "brews" only, and are still untested ideas. Most are MTGO-legal as well. Peruse them if you wish, but I'll more than likely get around to talking about most of them eventually, because deckbuilding is a favorite topic of mine, so I'd like to discuss at least a few interesting builds I've come across.