The Power of Pauper: Good Pauper
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 what was said about Pauper in the most recent Banned and Restricted update, in which there were no changes to Pauper. In addition to that we've got some Challenges to talk about from last week. One new thing we're going to try with Challenges is to have the third list I talk about for each Challenge something that can be outside of the Top 8 to encourage looks at other decks besides Top 8 decks.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Banned & Restricted Announcement 2/9/2026 - No Changes to Pauper
We had a Banned & Restricted update this past Monday, which you can find the full article for here. That being said, there were no changes to Pauper at this time, and I have to say I think this might be one of the shortest blurbs we've ever gotten about Pauper as a format from the PFP. This particular blurb on the format was from Gavin Verhey, leader of the Pauper Format Panel. Let's see below what is said about Pauper right now.
Right off the bat, we know that the departure of High Tide from the format has had a small, but positive effect on the format. One thing that's called out is being able to reclaim sideboard slots, which makes sense, and also bringing decks that struggled against the Tide decks back into the fray as well. I think these can all be reasonably seen as good things for Pauper overall. While I was indeed skeptical of banning High Tide I do admit the deck having the kind of win rates it did when it got banned gave pause that it was likely the right decision to make.
Gavin also calls out some decks that they're keeping an eye out. One of these is decks playing Sneaky Snacker. This card has made a push into multiple archetypes, but primarily in decks like Rakdos Madness and Mono Red Madness Burn. Both decks have some slightly different construction, but they are always wanting to do the same thing with this Faerie and that's discard it so they can push it back into play from the graveyard. This combined with decks playing Melded Moxite to enable it show that the card is definitely part of the format, but I don't think they are utterly problematic at the moment.
The other card called out is Balustrade Spy which very much only exists in one deck and that is Spy Combo. I'd be curious to hear what the PFP's thoughts are on this deck as a whole, but I don't see it pop all that much in Challenges except for the occasional Top 8 or Challenge win. Is it good? Yes, I think it is a rather good deck. Do I think it's an issue? No, I don't. I think it could be a potential issue down the line, provided we ever get cards that possibly make it way better.
The big deck called out on their radar however, is Tolarian Terror based decks. These decks are often very fair decks in that they aren't trying to win with a combo, but playing lands and casting countermagic and removal and then converting that into a big monster. As the PFP states here, there are plenty of counters to this strategy because it is a fair deck strategy, but at the same time the namesake card of these decks (Terror itself) is certainly an extremely powerful card and Ward 2 is pretty difficult for a lot of decks to push through.
This deck is called out as being successful, yes, but it doesn't currently meet any thresholds for banning. I would be rather curious what they could ban out of these decks, but I think the only answer at the end of the day is to nuke Tolarian Terror itself. The Ward combined with the cost reduction is very powerful, and getting rid of the major threat would probably bring these kinds of strategies back down in line if in the future they become too much for Pauper to manage.
Currently, though, I think the format is rather okay. The games seem good, there isn't a huge overpowering deck or set of cards, and you can get away with some interesting brews.
As noted, this feels like about the shortest update we've gotten since the inception of the PFP. I would be interested to see if there's a bigger article coming on the general state of the format at some point.
Did you like the fact that there were no changes? Were you expecting any changes? Let us know in the comments below what your thoughts are, and thanks again to Gavin and the PFP for being so awesome at what they do!
Pauper Challenge 32 2/5/2026
The first Challenge event of the week was the Thursday event. This event had 51 players in it thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Jund Wildfire | 1st | ziofrancone |
| Mono Red Madness | 2nd | Ale_Mtg |
| Mono Red Madness | 3rd | atlante |
| Dimir Faeries | 4th | barff |
| Azorius Gates | 5th | AlessandroPiraccini |
| Mono Blue Terror | 6th | Luminati |
| Grixis Affinity | 7th | Beicodegeia |
| Elves | 8th | xfile |
Small bit of Madness here, but otherwise a fairly diverse Top 8. At the end of the event, it was Jund Wildfire that won.
This deck really is just the bread and butter of everything that is good in these colors, and if that isn't Jund, I don't know what is. There are a lot of flex spots you can carve out in this deck, as some lists are playing stuff like Gixian Infiltrator as big game-ending threats that just get really big.
In Second Place, we had Mono Red Madness.
This deck backs up the persistent threats of Sneaky Snacker with a bunch of damage from instants/sorceries off stuff like Guttersnipe and Kessig Flamebreather. Remember, 18 Mountain!
Also in this event, we had a showing by Ruby Storm.
It is always sweet to see new cards make archetypes interesting. Case in point here, Burning Curiosity is such a sweet card. If you cast it and blight with it, getting three cards for three mana is pretty stellar.
Pauper Challenge 32 2/6/2026
The second Challenge event of the week was the Friday event. This event had 46 players in it, thanks to the MTGO website.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Golgari Gardens | 1st | NickNorman |
| Dredge | 2nd | seasonofmists |
| Mono Blue Terror | 3rd | Luminati |
| Rakdos Madness Burn | 4th | Denisevich |
| Mono Black Sacrifice | 5th | airplay |
| Dimir Terror | 6th | Purgatory_01 |
| Dredge | 7th | marzaboi |
| Grixis Affinity | 8th | Beicodegeia |
This is a pretty diverse Top 8 here. At the end of the event, it was Golgari Gardens that won.
The really interesting thing that caught my eye here is the singleton Returned Centaur in the sideboard. What an interesting thing. I will totally admit I am personally not seeing what matchup this is actually used for (and I don't really want to try to guess and look silly). If you know, let me know in the comments below!
In Second Place, we had Dredge.
Stuff like Holdout Settlement and Survivors' Encampment being able to turn your creatures into mana filtering is kind of groovy. This just ensures you have your colors available to you for being able to cast off-main color cards.
Also in this event, we had some Food.
I like the additions of stuff like Writhing Chrysalis and Gixian Infiltrator as big threats that can close the door out. They also help shut down small threats from ganging up on your because of how big they can get.
Pauper Challenge 32 2/7/2026
The third Challenge event of the week was the Saturday event. This event had 47 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 Blue Terror | 1st | Tsubasa_Cat |
| Boros Moxite | 2nd | viashinoperuano |
| Tron | 3rd | brick_ |
| Mono Blue Terror | 4th | Luminati |
| Mono Red Madness | 5th | Mikhathara1994 |
| Grixis Affinity | 6th | LuffyDoChapeuDePalha |
| Azorius Gates | 7th | MisterTwin |
| Gruul Ramp | 8th | Terminus0 |
Another really good-looking Top 8 from a diversity standpoint. At the end of the event, it was Mono Blue Terror that won.
16 Islands, let's go! This is about as straightforward as you get with this deck.
In Second Place, we had Boros Moxite.
Melded Moxite might just end up being one of my favorite commons from Edge of Eternities. It just seems so very strong with its enters trigger, but then if you really need the extra threat, you can sacrifice it for a Robot.
Also in this Top 8 we had some Tron action.
YES Pinnacle Kill-Ship. Three mana (cuz 1+1+1=7 right?) deal 10 damage to any creature is beautiful stuff. Edge of Eternities really just had more going on with it than just a few cards, and I love it.
Pauper Challenge 32 2/8/2026
The final Challenge event of the week was the Sunday event. This event had 55 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 Blue Terror | 1st | discoverN |
| Golgari Gardens | 2nd | __Noob__ |
| Jund Wildfire | 3rd | Walker735 |
| Elves | 4th | xfile |
| Gruul Ponza | 5th | Ixidor29 |
| Spy Combo | 6th | asWerty |
| Grixis Affinity | 7th | LuffyDoChapeuDePalha |
| Mono Red Rally | 8th | vini_torres |
This is also a very diverse Top 8. At the end of the event, though, it was again Mono Blue Terror that won.
It's no real surprise this is a deck they called out in the BnR update. It's definitely very good, but it can be beaten, so I think it is fine.
In Second Place, we had Golgari Gardens.
This is extremely straightforward for Gardens, honestly. No real frills, but you don't need to get frilly with this sort of deck, because it's just a bunch of really good cards crammed together with synergies.
Also in this Top 8, we had Spy Combo.
This is another deck called out in the BnR update. I honestly think this deck is currently just fine, but there is a line that could be crossed with it if they print better action for it, or so help us - common MDFCs.
Around the Web
- The MOST HATED Pauper Deck?
- Our good friend Alex Ullman has some info on the first two weeks with Lorwyn Eclipsed. Check it out here.
- Walker735 has a Pauper Challenge video with Jund. Check it out here.
- Check out this entirely free guide on Caw-Gates!
- Pauperganda has a video on TRIBE-olon! 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!
Have not seen Serpentine Curve in a hot minute.
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!
