The Power of Pauper: A Look at the Pauper Ban List in 2026
Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of The Power of Pauper! I'm your host, Joe Dyer, and this week we're going to be taking a look at the Pauper Ban list and seeing what that card looks like in 2026! In addition we've got our first Challenges of 2026 to look at. We'll be doing our Lorwyn Eclipsed set review next week, so be on the lookout for that.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
The Pauper Ban List in 2026
I did this last year for both Legacy and Vintage, but I always like a rolling two-year check in on the Ban List for a format, just to get a feel for what I think could happen with the BnR down the line and whether or not something could come off the list.
For this, we are going to make a few assumptions on some classifications of cards. We aren't going to be discussing primarily anything that has been banned such as Conspiracies or anything that utilized Attractions/Stickers, as those classifications of cards will never be unbanned ever in Pauper, and that's fine. We don't expect them to be unbanned. We'll also stay away from the few cards banned for MTG community standards.
With that said, let's take a look at cards in Pauper's Ban List.
Initiative Creatures
These all kind of come as a package deal I feel like. Realistically, what makes these things rough to consider unbanning is the mana cost on all of them. The black ones especially are rough because Dark Ritual and Cabal Ritual exist as cards, but the four mana for the blue and red ones also is a bit too close to being too good. Considering out of the ones we do have, the only truly playable one is Avenging Hunter and that's because it's green and ramp exists that having more of these is probably a negative for the format than a positive.
I know there's a lot of folks who just genuinely hate mechanics like Initiative (and to an extent Monarch) because they tend to center the game around that very mechanic, so I think it's okay these cards stay right here.
All That Glitters
One of the more recent additions to the list, so I don't think it's coming back anytime soon, and honestly I think it probably will need to stay banned anyways. This again creates a scenario where the entire game is whether this card is looming over your head as a way to win the game, and you have to be cognizant of that aspect at all times during a game.
Arcum's Astrolabe
A lot of people hated this card, I personally found it fun and it allowed for some creative deckbuilding and didn't quite push color pie nearly as badly as other formats (it's not like people were playing 5c soup, it was primarily Jeskai decks). I had this deck built and always had a lot of fun with it. I would be tentatively okay with freeing it on a trial unban, honestly, but at the same time I know people absolutely hated it.
Atog
Another card banned for the sins of the existence of the Affinity shell (this isn't a bad thing mind you). I think as long as we continue to allow the artifact lands and bridge lands into the format this guy will stay on the list. That being said, people seem to be far happier with the artifact lands in general being an identity in the format, and Affinity isn't currently ruining anything, so this is fine.
Basking Broodscale
Another very recent addition. This thing can stay right where it is, honestly. Broodscale was functionally Splinter Twin and a lot of people absolutely hated it.
Bonder's Ornament
This was a pretty big deal in Tron, and while Tron is just fine at the moment, it doesn't need the extra card draw. This is purely a Commander card and was designed for that format. It creates some additional baggage on 60 card formats like Pauper that don't need it.
Storm Cards
I think the only way a Storm card ever gets unbanned in Pauper is if they printed something like Consign to Memory at Common. And even then... probably not? I feel like the safest one here is probably Temporal Fissure but at the same time, people probably would absolutely hate, hate, hate getting their board bounced and then having to spend forever for the opponent to actually win the game.
"Untap Up to" Cards
Anything like this that untaps lands in this fashion is probably good at just staying banned. I do think Frantic Search would be kind of cool with High Tide gone, but it's probably pushing it. That's probably the one I'd feel safer about though because it's not a permanent that can be blinked or bounced.
Cloudpost
Realistically I get why this card is banned, because ramp is ramp and there's not a great safety valve for this kind of ramp in Pauper that all decks can access (wildly a Ghost Quarter-esque effect would be kind of cool but probably never happening), but honestly? I'd probably be fine with a trial unban of this and seeing what happened with it. It's not like they printed more Locus at common ever.
Cranial Plating / Cranial Ram
These are both similar enough, and really they know why they're here. These are fine staying banned.
Daze
With as good as a deck as Mono Blue Terror is, I don't think giving it a free piece of countermagic is the best idea. Probably best this stays here.
Deadly Dispute
Another very recent addition to the list. This card proved to be quite problematic, and while decks are still doing the Ichor Wellspring thing, getting a free mana out of it and making it Ancestral Recall is fine to not have.
Disciple of the Vault
I do kind of wonder if Disciple would be an interesting trial unban, but at the same time it is probably heavily abusable with as much free sacrifice outlets as there are in Pauper.
Fall from Favor
See my comments about Initiative. People don't really like mechanics like Monarch in general, and stapling Monarch to this kind of effect is really egregious.
Gitaxian Probe
Hahahahahahhaha.... no.
Gush
Similar comment about this one that I said about Daze. Giving Mono Blue Terror this kind of effect would be silly.
High Tide
We just experienced what things were like with this card around. Safe to say it's definitely never coming back.
Hymn to Tourach
This is one of those cards that was banned when the format was unified into paper/MTGO legality. Realistically, it would be a good candidate for a trial unban for that reason, but at the same time people would probably not find playing against Hymn very fun at all.
Invigorate
I think Wizards has made it fairly clear they don't desire Infect as a big thing in Pauper, at least not without some safety valves to make it beatable. Probably not good to let this out unless they come up with some way to prevent it.
Kuldotha Rebirth
Another super recent card, and another one that's likely to stay put just because of how good it made the Red decks.
Monastery Swiftspear
Another card people just absolutely hated. It's probably not coming back because it is just absolutely really strong.
Mystic Sanctuary
We just absolutely cannot have nice things with Mono Blue Terror around the format. The deck plays all basic Islands, getting this online is pretty easy after Turn 3.
"Name Sticker" Goblin
I know we said we wouldn't say anything about Stickers, but honestly this specific interpretation of this card on MTGO always intrigued me. The problem with unbanning this is not that it's not fair, cuz I think it absolutely was by itself on MTGO in this specific interpretation, it's that this just doesn't exist in paper Pauper, and we don't want anything that puts that kind of wedge between the two.
Sinkhole
Yet another card that was pre-banned during the format unification, I do think Sinkhole would be a candidate for an unban, but like Hymn it probably just would not be fun for anyone playing against it. Still, it's a card I could see them trialing (and then probably failing).
Sojourner's Companion
This is another Affinity card that probably is pretty bad to have around. Being a 0 mana 4/4 is already good enough but it also cycles for your artifact mana and can be rebought with Blood Fountain. Most definitely not a good thing.
Treasure Cruise
Terror getting a way to refill in the late game? Delve on these kinds of cards was an absolute mistake of a mechanic. Definitely not a card I'd want to ever have again in Pauper.
Wrapping Up
So there we have it. The current Pauper Ban List. Is there a card you think could be unbanned as a trial? Or do you think they should all stay banned? Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are. This was pretty fun to write, so I think I will do this again in a few years just to see what it looks like then.
Pauper Challenge 32 1/1/2026
The first Challenge of 2026 was the Thursday event. This event had 72 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Azorius Gates | 1st | wolf777 |
| Mono Blue Terror | 2nd | Luminati |
| Dredge | 3rd | seasonofmists |
| Mono Red Rally | 4th | boom_bust |
| Mono Black Sacrifice | 5th | qbturtle15 |
| Azorius Gates | 6th | A_AdeptoTerra |
| Grixis Affinity | 7th | LuffyDoChapeuDePalha |
| Rakdos Affinity | 8th | -Nicolo- |
This is a pretty solid Top 8 here. At the end of the event it was Azorius Gates that won.
This goes pretty deep into the red sideboard cards, primarily for your sweepers and blast effects. The split of Breath Weapon and Fiery Cannonade is interesting.
In Second Place we had Mono Blue Terror.
Biggest thing here is no Delver of Secrets, which is usually common to these decks. This deck really wants to lean on getting Terror or Cryptic Serpent into play. Piracy Charm is a super sweet sideboard option. Give your thing Islandwalk in a mirror? Woof.
Pauper Challenge 32 1/2/2026
The second Challenge of 2026 was the Friday event. This event had 57 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Elves | 1st | Shiib |
| Golgari Gardens | 2nd | Nasello |
| Dimir Faeries | 3rd | barff |
| Grixis Affinity | 4th | LuffyDoChapeuDePalha |
| Jund Wildfire | 5th | _blaze66 |
| Golgari Food | 6th | GilbertoAntunes |
| Jund Wildfire | 7th | Walker735 |
| Boros Synthesizer | 8th | viashinoperuano |
This is a nice looking Top 8. At the end of the event it was Elves that won.
Very clean and straightforward looking list here. Monstrous Emergence is a really sweet sideboard card.
In Second Place we had Golgari Gardens.
Looks like a fairly solid list here. I do love Campfire as a way to recycle your graveyard when you need it. Really sweet addition to Pauper overall.
Pauper Challenge 32 1/3/2026
The third Challenge of 2026 was the Saturday event. This event had 63 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Mono Red Rally | 1st | Niederschatten |
| Grixis Affinity | 2nd | LuffyDoChapeuDePalha |
| Jund Wildfire | 3rd | DataPusher |
| Madness Burn | 4th | Denisevich |
| Gruul Ramp | 5th | Ixidor29 |
| Elves | 6th | Boquinha |
| Mono Blue Terror | 7th | audio336 |
| Golgari Food | 8th | True-Name-Nemesis |
This is yet another really reasonable Top 8. At the end of the event it was Mono Red Rally that won.
This is super aggressive. I've been pretty happy with how the separation of the Red decks has gone with the format as of late. I think it has been very helpful at identifying which version of Red is which.
In Second Place we had Grixis Affinity.
Every week I wonder if I will end up covering an Affinity decklist from this player, and look, they didn't surprise me on how well they do with the deck. Black Mage's Rod is the overall biggest card this deck has gotten in a while and it seems very strong here.
Pauper Challenge 32 1/4/2026
The final Challenge of the week was the Sunday event. This event had 79 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Azorius Gates | 1st | Gn42 |
| Spy Combo | 2nd | Borbs |
| Grixis Affinity | 3rd | Beicodegeia |
| Madness Burn | 4th | NMT_Sco94 |
| Mono Blue Terror | 5th | discoverN |
| Spy Combo | 6th | Burnigh0 |
| Mono Blue Terror | 7th | Luminati |
| Mono White Aggro | 8th | Guii_Machado |
Pauper Top 8s have honestly looked pretty good across the board here, so I'm happy. At the end of this event it was Azorius Gates that won.
Gates is just one of those sweet decks that exists primarily because of cool sets like Baldur's Gate. It's just a really fun midrange/control shell that has a lot of fun gameplay to it.
In Second Place we had Spy Combo.
I still find it somewhat amazing that a deck like this exists, but also that its a place where Land Grant can see play in Pauper of all places. What a wild world.
Around the Web
- GiorgioCombo is doing some Spy work. Check it out here.
- Bryant Cook is burning some offerings in Cycle Storm. Check it out here.
- Pauperganda is drawing cards like crazy. Check it out here.
- Heartyshow is playing some Elfball. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
As League results are now spread out across the week, let's dig in and find something spicy!
Ruby Storm being a really good deck is pretty sweet.
Wrapping Up
That's all the time we have this week folks! Thanks for continuing to support the column and join us next week as we continue our journey into Pauper!
As always you can reach me at all my associated links via my Link Tree! In addition I'm always around the MTGGoldfish Discord Server and the MTGPauper Discord Server.
Until next time!
