Best Pauper EDH Generals?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Dec. 24, 2013, 3:37 p.m. by phc
A few months ago I threw together some pauper commander decks. I never got around to posting them online, as my friends don't really play that format. But I did wonder how my generals stacked up to other uncommons. I was thinking we could put together a list of the better pauper generals.
These were the generals/ decks I used.
- Diregraf Captain Zombie tribal.
- Fusion Elemental Kind of a voltron deck, had a bunch of those big elementals from Dragon's Maze.
- Garruk's Packleader Big creature deck.
- Juniper Order Ranger Populate deck.
- Scarland Thrinax Sacrifice, voltron deck.
- Sigil Captain Weenie deck.
- Sunhome Guildmage Boros soldier/ knight deck.
My guess is it's like EDH except you can only use commons and your commander has to be an uncommon. Am I right?
December 24, 2013 8:31 p.m.
Yes, pauper EDH is where you have a uncommon for your general, and the rest of your deck is made up of commons.
December 24, 2013 9:30 p.m.
There is actually an article on the wizards site where the author built a commander deck that was all pauper except for the commander, which could be any rarity. I'm surprised that more people don't do this.
December 25, 2013 6:26 p.m.
MaliciousMac says... #7
So your general doesn't have to be a legendary?
That's not very flavorful :C
December 26, 2013 3:50 p.m.
I like going the uncommon/ common route myself, it forced me to be more creative. Plus there are some decent uncommons with abilities that benefit your other cards. The Sigil Captain and Juniper Order Ranger both turned out to be strong decks.
The only issues I've found in pauper is protecting your general. There aren't that many good ways to give hexproof/ shroud. If you want to go a voltron route, most of the decent and semi decent equipment is a uncommon or greater. You are pretty much limited to enchant creatures. For the multi-color generals I found the dual color enchantments/ auras from the Morningtide block to be pretty good.
December 26, 2013 7:06 p.m.
Ooo the Invisible Stalker is human. I was thinking there wouldn't be enough worthwhile common equipment to pump up his power, but with the Sharpened Pitchfork thrown in there, you could get him all the way 7 power. That would be Bonesplitter , the Leonin Scimitar , and that living weapon from the second Mirrodin set.
January 3, 2014 1:06 p.m.
Not to mention Trinket Mage is pauper legal too, to search out your equipment.
January 3, 2014 1:28 p.m.
That depends on the pauper format, there isn't an official one I've heard of. Some versions allow commons and uncommons in the deck, others restrict you to one uncommon (the general) per deck.
January 4, 2014 12:30 a.m.
bleedingreen925 says... #14
Fanatic of Mogis . In a format like pauper EDH where you have access to a bunch of cheap, double red devotion cards from Alpha to Born of the Gods, and very little efficient removal (especially now that Doom Blade is bumped up to uncommon) Fanatic of Mogis will hit for 10 or more each time you cast him.
April 11, 2014 3:19 p.m.
canterlotguardian says... #15
I had a 20-dollar Tajic, Blade of the Legion voltron EDH deck that just absolutely beat face.
April 11, 2014 3:33 p.m.
Mistmeadow Skulk is a great voltron general, here's my list: Mistmeadow Skulk (PEDH)
April 14, 2014 1:24 a.m.
I'm starting to look at the Theros block for some additional PDH decks. Some of them look like they could make very strong decks. Here is what I'm considering.
Akroan Conscriptor - If I can get some red recursion spells with this guy he could be pretty fun. I know I have a copy of Ghitu Firebreathing somewhere. I kind of picture this deck as a enchantment/ voltron deck.
Archetype of Aggression
- The only archetype I would consider building a deck around. I like the idea of a red trample deck. I feel he is aggressively costed compared to the other archetypes.
Disciple of Deceit - She gives all of your cards transmute. I am not sure what kind of deck I would build around her, maybe a equipment/ voltron build.
Graverobber Spider - I built a prototype deck online with this uncommon. Dredge cards, creatures with sac effects, or spells that put cards into the graveyard. I'm amused by the idea of casting Balustrade Spy only to target my own deck.
Pheres-Band Raiders
- Out of all of the Inspired creature token generators this one is my favorite. It has a high CMC, but seeing as I am using the general to generate a token swarm the deck with include more ramp that usual.
Siren of the Silent Song - Mill with evasion. Kind of fragile though, and I'd draw hate from everyone for milling them. She's a alternate general for my black/ blue zombie deck.
Stormcaller of Keranos - I have not done a blue/ red deck yet, and I like the idea of being able to scry 1 at will. The Stormchaser Chimera seems like it might make a better general. The scry is more expensive, but it has evasion and can pump itself up.
May 16, 2014 2:53 p.m.
NotSoLuckyLydia says... #19
I'm a huge fan of Orcish Lumberjack . Because it's fair to play five drops on turn two, amirite?
May 16, 2014 8:33 p.m.
The Shriekmaw almost seems too powerful for the format. It won't do much against another black deck, but you will wipe out any other deck. The Evoke mechanic combined with the general zone seems like it would break the pauper format. Pretty much all of those uncommons are evil if you can add recursion to them.
May 17, 2014 2:27 p.m.
phc Generals with evoke or other alternative casting costs like Qasali Ambusher can make really good pEDH generals. However, those don't negate the additional costs (i.e. "Commander Tax"). So, they're not completely broken.
From Commander Rules:903.10. A player may cast a commander he or she owns from the command zone. Doing so costs that player an additional [2] for each previous time he or she cast that commander from the command zone that game.
Right now, Pauper EDH is my favorite format. You can make a decent deck for $25, so it's not too expensive to keep trying new things. It also works great for 1v1 and multiplayer.
http://www.paupercommander.com/
May 18, 2014 10:32 p.m.
Nevermind what I said then, I was under the impression evoke would ignore the commander tax. Evoke creatures are good, but not broken as commanders.
On that topic, what if any cards are broken in the Pauper EDH format?
May 19, 2014 12:24 a.m.
I've made a couple of pauper edh decks. Some of them work great (Nivix Guildmage , Cenn's Tactician ). Others need some work (Korozda Guildmage ), but it's a very cool format. I find cards like Capsize , Pestilence and Lignify (your general is now almost useless!) to be pretty powerful, though not broken per se. Cards that you can use over and over again (buybay, retrace) are superb in this format. In my Sludge Strider deck there's Cranial Plating which can be pretty powerful though, but one Shatter /Disenchant /Naturalize is enough to get rid of it.
May 19, 2014 7:05 a.m.
There are several cards that are seem broken in Pauper EDH. For generals:
anyone with hexproof - Ascended Lawmage (can you say Steel of the Godhead ), Invisible Stalker .
Big Green - Bellowing Tanglewurm , extremely hard to lose when he hits the field.
Tribal - Noxious Ghoul (amazing recursion), Goblin Assassin , Goblin Recruiter , Goblin Warchief (anything goblin related is awesome), Thundercloud Shaman (smaller pool for giants), Daru Warchief (cool tribe, large pool, much aggro, wow), Drove of Elves and many, many more.
The obvious - Transguild Courier
The odd ones - Bloodbraid Elf , Changeling Berserker , Spellheart Chimera etc.
There are many possibilities that can go with this.
May 20, 2014 8:22 a.m.
Some of my favorites to build around are Viashino Slaughtermaster , Nightscape Battlemage , Rot Farm Skeleton , Nimbus Swimmer , Stromkirk Captain , Blaze Commando , Ana Battlemage and Squelching Leeches .
May 20, 2014 8:45 a.m.
Because of a deck I built (not pEDH or Pauper) I want to use Crypt Champion
July 3, 2014 11:43 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #27
Using uncommons defeats the whole purpose of pauper. There are certain mechanics that do not exist in commons. Uncommons tend to include everything. To me people who want to include them are just wishing EDH did not cost so much/have so much power. Kind of a cop out as it does not really change the game much, just slows it.
July 3, 2014 1:31 p.m.
Is that referring to uncommons in the deck, or uncommons as generals?
July 3, 2014 2:20 p.m.
Most generals in regular EDH decks are rare or mythic. At those rarities, you see mechanics that don't appear in lower rarities.
July 4, 2014 3:48 p.m.
I haven't found pauper EDH that much slower than regular EDH, with the exception that it eliminates the quick victories granted by infinite combos.
July 4, 2014 8:52 p.m.
devils_fan says... #31
I like Baleful Strix as well as Spellheart Chimera . Just use a ton of instant burn kill stuff then unleash the beast
July 17, 2014 3:10 p.m.
M15 has some great potential for the pauper EDH format. The Paragons are all pretty cool, and we even have five dual color uncommon commanders too. I want to build a voltron enchantment/ aura deck using the Brood Keeper . Ghitu Firebreathing would be one of the key cards, allowing me to summon dragons over and over. The Jorubai Murk Lurker looks like it has potential, I'd like to figure out some common cards that would let me exploit that potential life gain.
July 21, 2014 1:59 a.m.
gnomercy123 says... #33
My personal favourites are: Ajani's Pridemate , Merrow Reejerey and Orcish Lumberjack .
September 20, 2014 12:44 p.m.
gnomercy123 says... #35
Just looking through my RTR cube I thought of: Bronzebeak Moa , Guardian of the Guildpact (if your play group allows common commanders), Wight of Precinct Six and Pride of the Clouds (if rares are allowed as commanders by your play group).
September 24, 2014 1:34 a.m.
If rares are allowed I'd go with a Stonehewer Giant voltron deck.
September 24, 2014 1:55 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #37
oh god if I had a rare pauper edh deck... oh wait I do.
September 24, 2014 8:42 a.m.
That Countryside Crusher deck is mean. Any thoughts on generals for the new set? Some of the outlast creatures look like they could work nicely.
September 25, 2014 5:43 p.m.
UnknownDemon says... #41
If your playgroup allows uncards then you could use this: Pauper EDH: Magical Hacker
October 20, 2014 1:55 a.m.
Wow, that statement went kinda unfinished :/
I played this deck a few times, its pretty fun, except once the General gets killed, he gets a lot less useful espically because he still only cascades for 3.
October 21, 2014 12:06 a.m.
OP_Magikarp says... #44
I kinda like Blaze Commando run lots of easy burn spells and your commander makes up for your lack of creatures in the deck by spamming the field.
October 21, 2014 11:25 a.m.
I think one of the best tribal might be Drogskol Captain. If you can give him shroud with a Whispersilk Cloak (wich is a common card) you are really safe.
I am personnaly running a Spellheart Chimera pauper EDH and is surprisingly explosive (won a lot of the 2 and 3 player game i played with it so far) : Why do they always send the poor ? - Pauper EDH
December 15, 2014 6:06 p.m.
laughingman123 says... #46
We're doing a little pauper edh thing in my current group. Current commanders are:Azorius Guildmage Nemesis of MortalsWall of DenialHaunter of NightveilHedron Crab guy is literally playing the crab and 99 lands for fun.
There are a couple more players coming into it soon but i don't know what they've brewed up yet.
December 15, 2014 7:11 p.m.
I'm a huge fan of Karametra's Acolyte since it got released. Imagine a pauper EDH deck with this one as your general, some manadorks and other ramping and you can have a ridiculously huge creature on the field as soon as turn 4 :)
Let's see:
Turn 1: Forest, Llanowar Elves
Turn 3: Forest, Karametra's Acolyte
Turn 4: Forest, Nessian Asp
Turn 5: you don't even need a land anymore to activate the Asp's monstrify ability. Then, just attack with an 8/9. Or with Rancor it's a 10/9 trample. Or with a Giant Growth a 11/9 , or ... etc. etc.
Fun! :D
February 6, 2015 3:05 a.m.
I had a green ETB deck planned with the Roaring Primadox, but the Temur Sabertooth seems like a better pick. Same CMC, one less toughness, but I can choose when I send a creature back to my hand, and it gives the Sabertooth indestructible for the turn. I'm thinking of ramp cards like the Sylvan Ranger and creatures that give +1/+1 counters like the Bond Beetle.
lord_of_the_snakes says... #2
what is pauper edh?
December 24, 2013 7:31 p.m.