The Power of Pauper: Pauper Horizons!
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 back from vacation and talking all about Commander Masters! While this is a reprint set, reprint sets usually come with a number of downshifts to Common, enabling new Pauper cards, and CMM had a ton of those! In addition to that we've got Challenges from this past week to talk about.
Without further ado, let's dive right in!
Commander Masters - Secretly Pauper Horizons?
Every Masters set usually brings with it a number of downshifts to Common rarity for a number of cards. Usually that number isn't too bad. With Commander Masters though, that number is a staggering 41 cards that have been downshifted to Common rarity, some of which were downshifted from Rare even. These kinds of downshifts usually aren't super impactful, although we do occasionally get stuff like Peregrine Drake which breaks the metagame.
There's a great number of really impactful cards here this time, and they stand to actually look to have a super fun impact on Pauper overall, so let's talk about them. Yes I'm going to address every card, because frankly I think we need to and I'm doing it in alphabetical order. Also, a good number of these cards have special borderless printings, which is great for someone like me who has a Pauper cube.
Get ready folks! It's going to be wild.
All That Glitters
This is a really big one that people have been talking about quite a bit. This was an Uncommon before being downshifted, and it's definitely one of the more contentious cards on the list. Usually these effects only count the number of Enchantments, but this one also counts Artifacts, so there's definitely been a lot of talk about this in Affinity. I think this is really good for sure and will definitely see play.
Blood Aspirant
This is a rather interesting one. I don't think this is better than most other sac outlets, especially since it needs to tap, but it can get big. The fact that it only sacs creatures or enchantments is pretty valid. If it could sacrifice artifacts, that would be kind of wild.
Brass Knuckles
Yo, Jimmy! We got a contender here! Actually this is probably just okay. Doubtful this one sees play.
Campfire
Highly unplayable due to the Commander specific text here.
Carrion Grub
There's a lot of self-mill support in these downshifts, so it's interesting to see where this lies. There's also cards like Troll of Khazad-dum which can be cycled at instant speed to possibly change this creature's power which is wild. This could be interesting for sure.
Crash of Rhino Beetles
This was a Rare in one of the Commander decks. Wild to see this at Common for sure. I'm not sure it would be too good because ten lands is a lot and games are very usually over before then, but it's a cool card.
Crawling Infestation
Again, a lot of self-mill support here. There's something to be said about generating a free creature even if it's only once per turn. There's some space for Reanimator strategies for sure (and we'll talk about why here in a bit).
Cryptic Serpent
Okay this one is probably pretty good. It goes great with Tolarian Terror and doesn't have to Delve anything like Gurmag Angler does. If decks are regularly casting Terror for UU, then they can cast this one for sure. Maybe a space for a Mono Blue Terror build with Lorien Revealed?
Cyclops Electromancer
Pretty expensive card for the effect. I don't actually see this one doing anything personally. It takes a lot of investment and can be Bolted before it ever gets off the ground.
Demon's Disciple
Yet another Fleshbag Marauder and that doesn't see play right now so...
Dread Return
Oh boy. This is a card for sure. At the very least there's no Narcomoeba at Common, but Dread Return making for another way to reanimate creatures in Pauper over Exhume is kind of welcome and interesting. I do expect we'll see this card around. It's got a lot of sweet build-around space and it's very strong.
Drown in Sorrow
Another form of a board wipe that is slightly less costed than Arms of Hadar which does see play. The downside is this hits all creatures, but generally the decks playing Arms of Hadar aren't playing small creatures. Having a three mana -2/-2 effect is definitely nice.
Dwarven Hammer
Another Equipment I doubt sees much play.
Filigree Attendant
This might be an actually reasonable finisher for Affinity decks simply because it gets a big boost, and then if you put All That Glitters on it, it seems good.
Firemind Vessel
Probably unplayable. Most of these types of artifacts draw cards and cost a lot less for an ETB-tapped mana rock in current Pauper.
Generous Gift
White doesn't have a lot of great removal and the fact that this removes any permanent is pretty great. I expect this could see play in a number of white based decks as a way to deal with certain permanents and not care about the 3/3.
Goliath Sphinx
THIS WAS A RARE. Yeah, there's a Reanimator sub archetype. This could be a reasonable evasive Reanimation target for that deck.
Guttersnipe
This card is kind of cool. Kind of sets a good stage for a Kiln Fiend style deck that wants to cast a bunch of cards to trigger the damage effect.
Legion Vanguard
A reasonable sacrifice outlet this is for sure. I could see this seeing play in some sort of "sacrifice matters" type deck.
Lotleth Giant
This is a really good payoff to the self-mill deck for sure. You might be able to kill your opponent with this trigger, and even if you don't, leaving a 6/5 in play is intimidating.
Ministrant of Obligation
This could go in that "sacrifice matters" deck for sure. 2/1 that makes two bodies when it dies is not bad there.
Mire Triton
Another self-mill support card. This is reasonable in that deck for sure. Probably also with Dread Return.
Murmuring Mystic
This one is kind of cool. Making birds and stuff is interesting enough. I don't know if there's a good space for it right now due to its mana cost though. Four is a lot.
Myrsmith
I don't know if this is actually playable, I suspect it isn't. The decks generating artifact count generally have no problems making that part work.
Nadier's Nightblade
I rather like this one. Mirkwood Bats is also a Common so I feel like there's some synergy to be had there here with these two. Some sort of sacrifice + token deck for sure.
Phyrexian Gargantua
This one is pretty cool as a Reanimator target. Draws more cards and leaves behind a nice body.
Rapacious One
This is another cool one that could be a neat Reanimator target. I suspect there are better ones though.
Renowned Weaponsmith
Neither of the other two parts of this card are playable, and I suspect the mana ability doesn't make this playable either.
Reverse Engineer
We have Thoughtcast so I don't know if this is playable personally. Draw three for UU vs Draw two for U is interesting.
Rot Shambler
This one is probably not any good at all.
Shipwreck Dowser
I'm in doubt of this one as well. It's technically an Archaeomancer for one more mana that has Prowess so maybe it could be reasonable.
Skysnare Spider
6/6 Vigilance reach is not bad and there's plenty of decks that run a lot of mana acceleration like Utopia Sprawl that this could be a reasonable inclusion.
Spectral Grasp
Yet another Pacifism variant. Pass.
Spitebellows
I like this card a lot personally. It might have some strong power as a creature damage effect and possibly being reanimated can be good.
Sulfurous Blast
I have a feeling this is a really strong card, because sweepers are so far and few between, but they are getting much better in red especially with the advent of cards like Breath Weapon. This being a damage more in main phase sorcery speed while still being flexible at instant speed seems pretty nice.
Sunblade Angel
This is a weird one. I doubt this is playable.
Supply Runners
This could be interesting in some form of a Mono White aggro deck as a top-end finisher.
Vizier of Tumbling Sands
This could be an interesting card in Cycle Storm since it can untap lands. The cycling cost is a little steep there, but it definitely seems interesting.
Vulshok Battlegear
Another Equipment that's likely not any good.
Windrider Wizard
This is likely not any good as well given other options at this mana cost. Granted it triggers off Wizards too, so maybe there's some sick "Wizards-matters" deck.
Witch's Cauldron
This is another interesting sacrifice outlet given that it draws cards and can be activated at instant speed. Could be reasonable.
Pauper Challenge 7/22
The first Challenge event of the weekend was the Saturday event. This event had 61 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Castle of Commons Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Burn was the most played deck overall, but it's win rate was less than positive. Dimir Terror did quite well here as did Jeskai Ephemerate. Gruul Ponza did poorly and Affinity despite a Top 8 finish did less than poorly.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Terror | 1st | Foresterf |
| Mono Blue Faeries | 2nd | Klokannebeha |
| Ephemerate Tron | 3rd | RClint21 |
| Dimir Terror | 4th | jessy_samek |
| Jeskai Ephemerate | 5th | ezocratto |
| Dimir Terror | 6th | cicciogire |
| Goblins Combo | 7th | SanPop |
| Affinity | 8th | msskinbolic |
Pretty neat looking Top 8 here. At the end of the event the winner was Izzet Terror.
This list looks pretty strong overall. Having all the red based damage removal and the draw power of Lorien Revealed. Definitely powerful.
In Second Place we've got Mono Blue Faeries.
This deck continues to be quite good in this current format. It has a lot of proactive power to it.
Also in this Top 8 we have Ephemerate Tron.
There's a lot of strong things this deck does. It makes a lot of mana and has a lot of powerful things it can do.
At the bottom of the Top 8 we have Goblins Combo.
Troll of Khazad-dum is such a great addition to this deck I feel. It allows the deck to shift into a Reanimator role as well with Exhume and makes for an easy way to discard it.
Pauper Challenge 7/23
The second Challenge event of the weekend was the Sunday event. This event had 70 players in it thanks to the data collected by the Castle of Commons Discord.
You can find the Top 32 decklists for this event here and the data sheet here.
Dimir Terror was the most popular deck in the event and it had a great win rate. Burn also did very well, as did Jeskai Ephemerate. Affinity did less than average despite having a Top 8 finish.
Let's take a look at the Top 8.
| Deck Name | Placing | MTGO Username |
|---|---|---|
| Jeskai Gates | 1st | twister66 |
| Jeskai Ephemerate | 2nd | roter_Erzengel |
| Dimir Terror | 3rd | pepeteam |
| Affinity | 4th | O_danielakos |
| Mono White Aggro | 5th | jwaves |
| Izzet Terror | 6th | pokerswizard |
| Dimir Terror | 7th | BrunoGuerra |
| Burn | 8th | karatedom |
Lot of Terror decks in the Top 8 here, but a reasonable spread of things going on here. At the end of the event we have Jeskai Gates as the winner.
This deck is really cool. It does a lot of powerful things and it has some great reactive gameplay to it.
In Second Place we have Jeskai Ephemerate.
This deck is also really powerful. Cleansing Wildfire is really good for this deck in terms of mana ramp.
Further down the Top 8 we have Dimir Terror.
Lorien Revealed continues to be one of the best things about this deck for sure. It's very powerful.
Also in the Top 8 we had Mono White Aggro.
I like this deck quite a bit. It's lean and strong and quite cheap for a Pauper deck. This is a fun deck if you're looking for something strong.
Around the Web
- Bryant Cook has a spicy Reanimator video. Check it out here.
- Kalikaiz has a video on Cycle Storm. Check it out here.
- Cardmarket has a video on Infect vs Storm with No Banlist Pauper. Check it out here.
- Alex Ullman has a great article on why Basic Lands are still King in Pauper. Check it out here.
The Spice Corner
You can find this past week's 5-0 deck lists over here.
Very interesting take on Walls in using Lorien Revealed as a cycler that maybe draws three cards late game.
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!
