Playing Pauper: GB Morbid

Playing Pauper is back! Last week, we had an Instant Deck Tech for a Pauper GB Morbid deck, which is basically looking to be the Jund of the Pauper format, overflowing with good removal and the most powerful common creatures it can muster. Most excitingly, the deck feels designed to crush Delver decks, with a ton of reach creatures and some spicy early-game removal good at killing Delver of Secrets. Delver decks are the most popular decks in the Pauper format, and it seems like we lose to the one-mana flying 3/2 every time we have an episode of Playing Pauper. Plus, we have some sweet self-sacrifice synergies allowing us to take advantage of cards like Wakedancer and Tragic Slip that are extremely powerful if we can consistently trigger morbid. Can GB Morbid Jund 'em out in Modern and take down Delver along the way? Let's get to the video and find out; then, we'll talk more about the deck!

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Playing Pauper: GB Morbid

Discussion

• Let's start with the good news: GB Morbid is actually very strong. We played a league and ended up going 4-1, only losing to Elves (which feels like a really difficult matchup, since the deck can go so wide, putting a lot of pressure on our handful of Crypt Rats). 
• As for the bad news, for the first time in this history of Playing Pauper, we didn't run into Delver a single time, and this was the one time we actually wanted to play against the monster of the format. While I'm still pretty sure the matchup is good, it would have been nice to find out for sure by playing against the deck.
• As far as the cards in the deck, Fume Spitter was a surprise all-star. Not only can it take down Delver of Secrets, but it was almost solely responsible for our win against Inside Out as an amazing answer to Tireless Tribe.  
• Wakedancer was also very good. While the card isn't quite good enough for other formats, in a world of all commons, getting two 2/2s for three mana is actually a very good deal. While we had to make some weird decisions to trigger morbid at some points, the card was still very strong in general.
• One card I wish we had more of is Thorn of the Black Rose. I'm pretty sure we won every game where we drew one of our two copies—drawing an extra card each turn is extremely powerful in a grindy, "try to run the opponent out of cards" format like Pauper without many game-ending haymakers, and the combination of cards that put multiple creatures on the battlefield and good removal helps us to remain the monarch for the entire game.
• One of the biggest problems we had with the deck was being stuck on mana. It's possible that 22 lands simply isn't enough. On the other hand, we do have some weird mana sources (like Nest Invader), and we only have a handful of four-drops, so it's possible that we mostly got unlucky by getting stuck on lands in some matchups.
• If you decide to pick up the deck, remember to sideboard out Spidersilk Armor in matchups without fliers. Getting reach and a small toughness boost isn't worth the price of a card unless you're blocking Delver of Secrets or protecting our x/2s against Evincar's Justice.
• So, should you play GB Morbid? I think the answer is yes. GB Morbid feels like a solid option if you enjoy midrange, Jund-esque decks. The combo of good creatures and solid removal gives it a shot in just about every matchup, and while it may not be heavily favored in most, you'll pick up a lot of wins if you learn the deck and play tight!

Conclusion

Anyway, that's all for today. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.