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By: Arctic_Ghost, Arctic_Ghost
Jun 16 2017 12:00pm
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You all know the Metalcraft ability from the Affinity archetype, but there are some cards with the Metalcraft ability that are not used often. One of these cards is Bleak Coven Vampires and it is a pretty good creature as it has great stats and does an 8 point life swing when it comes into play with Metalcraft active.

In this archetype, you also get to take advantage of Thoughtcast, as it is usually only 1 or 2 mana to cast for 2 quick cards and you have Galvanic Blast being able to hit for 4 damage, which makes it either a great removal spell or a good way to deal the last few points of damage. You get to play a lot of cards that generate a lot of value as well and the big way you win is by using the old favorite Mnemonic Wall and Ghostly Flicker combo to flicker Bleak Coven Vampires and drain your opponent to death. Let's go ahead and check out the deck and break it down card by card.

 

Mulldrifter – This is in my opinion the best creature in Pauper. If you can afford to play it and especially if you can combo with it, (this archetype can because of Ghostly Flicker) I see no reason you should not play it.

 

Mnemonic Wall – You have a lot of powerful spells and you want a way to bring them back, not to mention this card is the combo with Ghostly Flicker. I am choosing to play this over Archaeomancer because, although it costs 1 mana more to cast, it only costs 1 blue mana and does not die to a single Lightning Bolt.

 

Thorn of the Black Rose – With Ghostly Flicker, if your opponent ever becomes the Monarch, you can Flicker this creature and become the Monarch again. It is also a good blocker and being the Monarch allows you to grind out any opponent.

 

Bleak Coven Vampires – This is your main win condition. For 5 mana you get a 4 power creature that can win the game in just a few turns, but when you have Metalcraft online, you can also drain your opponent for 4 life and gain 4 life whenever it enters the battlefield. With Mnemonic Wall, Ghostly Flicker and Bleak Coven Vampires, you can drain your opponent over and over again, then you eventually can win the game. The downside to this card is that it only has 3 toughness so Lightning Bolt can easily kill it, so do not play it unless you can bring it back, you can protect it, or you really need the life gain.

 

Lightning Bolt – You know why this is here, I will not bore you with it and we will move on.

 

Galvanic Blast – I've said it before and I will gladly say it again. If you can achieve Metalcraft, keep it going and have access to red mana, you have no reason to not play Galvanic Blast. Being able to deal 4 damage to anything for only 1 mana is as good as it is going to get.

 

Firebolt – This archetype is all about getting value for every spell you play. I like that Firebolt can kill 2 creatures over the course of a game for only 6 mana and the price of only 1 card, or it can deal 4 damage to your opponent to finish them off.

 

Chainer's Edict – I like having some Edict effects in my decks if I have access to them. Chainer's Edict is the best because you can use the Flashback cost to play it again later in the game and you never know when you will face a big creature that can't be killed with burn like Gurmag Angler and you might go up against creatures with Shroud or Hexproof.

 

Terminate – A big reason to play a deck that has access to both black and red mana is Terminate. It kills anything it wants to (unless the creature is given protection from one of these colors or has Hexproof, etc) and the creature cannot Regenerate either, which is great if you ever run into creatures like River Boa.

 

Grim Harvest – In a deck like this with a lot of creatures with come into play abilities, having a way to return them from the graveyard to your hand is a great thing to have access to. I chose Grim Harvest because I like the interaction with Mulldrifter to gain card advantage and grind out opponents, but I will be going back to Reaping the Graves because it is just as good and does not have the problem of when a creature you control goes to the graveyard, if you can't pay 2B, you lose the spell forever and sometimes that can come up because your spells are expensive. Reaping the Graves also can't be countered easily because of Storm and with Mnemonic Wall you can keep doing it over and over again.

 

Counterspell – I like that this gives you the option to deal with anything and the mana cost hasn't been very hard to achieve consistently. Sometimes you might run into a spell such as Rolling Thunder or a pump spell like Vines of Vastwood, even a spell like Capsize will have to be dealt with and it generally just helps against anything. I do however think Prohibit may be better because the mana cost is easier to achieve.

 

Thoughtcast – I like that this can cost only 1 mana and help you draw 2 cards. I find it to be better than Preordain because it puts 2 cards directly into your hand. However I will say after a bit more testing, Preordain or Ponder may be better for card selection.

 

Deep Analysis – A good way to draw cards late in the game when you have exhausted all of your resources because of its ability to be cast from the graveyard due to Flashback.

 

Ghostly Flicker – I shouldn't have to explain why this is here, as you have seen it plenty of times to know its job and so I will not bore you and just move on.

 

The manabase is pretty straightforward. Since you are so heavy on all of your colors, you spread your mana out by playing 1 of each dual land and 4 of each artifact land. You need to max out on your artifact lands because the whole point of this deck is to achieve Metalcraft and you don't want to play too many dual lands because you want your mana to come into play untapped so you can actually cast your spells.  Next, we move on to the sideboard!

 

4 Pyroblast – This is to fight the blue decks. You mainly want to use this to protect your creatures from getting countered as they are usually what will help you win the most.

 

4 Hydroblast – You have a hard time dealing with burn decks and so you need 4 of these to really help you out.

 

3 Swirling Sandstorm – Against decks where you get swarmed easily (such as Elves or White Weenie), you will need a way to clear the board and this is the best option.

 

2 Gorilla Shaman – Your tool to beat the Affinity matchup or if you have too many dead cards against Tron, an extra creature that destroys their Prophetic Prism can be very useful.

 

1 Chainer's Edict – If you go up against Bogles or if you go up against a control deck where Lightning Bolt isn't very good (such as Teachings), this is a great way to deal with their creatures.

 

1 Dispel – A good all-around counter spell to help you deal with anything that you may need to. Since it costs a blue to cast, it doesn't take away from your ability to use your red or black mana to kill creatures as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can tell you that I think this deck is fun. It has a lot of power in it and you can sometimes just completely decimate an opponent. However, although I think it is very fun, I really don't think I would trust it in the big events and I certainly don't think my list is anywhere near close to what the deck should be.

 

I find that you have great aggro matchups because your removal is so good. However against the control decks you lack a lot of fighting power and you don't have much to stop their counter spells or their removal. I also think that even against your good matchups, you will often find yourself with cards in your hand that cost too much and you fall far behind very quickly. I will be tuning this deck a lot in the coming weeks.

 

My verdict is that if you want to have some fun and experiment, I think the deck is fine to pick up. If you want to do well in leagues or any big Pauper event, I think I would leave this deck in the box for a little while, at least until the deck list gets smoother. I am by no means an expert and my list is not very good, so let me know what list you would play and what changes you would make.

 

Would you like to compete in a free Pauper tournament with some great prizes? Head on over to Gatherling.com on Tuesday nights at 8pm EDT and play in our weekly Pauper Classic Tuesday's event! Join the chat #PCT to chat with us and feel free to find most of the competitors on Discord!

 

See you guys next time and thanks for checking out my stuff!