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By: Arctic_Ghost, Arctic_Ghost
Nov 07 2017 12:00pm
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In the format of Pauper, UW Control archetypes aren't very popular or are rarely seen at all. But there has always been an archetype looming in the format that many remember, but not many choose to play. That archetype is called UW Acid Trip and we are gonna see if it is still any good.

UW Acid Trip is a control deck that uses Reality Acid to attach to your opponents permanents and then you return the Reality Acid back to your hand with cards such as Kor Skyfisher. Since Reality Acid triggers when it leaves the battlefield, returning it to your hand will still trigger the sacrifice this permanent effect.

 

The deck also has some neat tricks and you can build it in a few different ways. You can have more counter spells, more removal or be heavier on the bounce effects so you get as much value from your Reality Acid as possible. Let's take a look at what we are working with this time around.

 

Acid Trip
- 75 Cards Total
Creature
4 Dream Stalker
2 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 (Kor Skyfisher:mm3)
3 (Lone Missionary:mm3)
3 (Sea Gate Oracle:mm3)
4 Mulldrifter
20 cards

Instant
2 (Momentary Blink:mm3)
2 cards
Sorcery
4 Preordain
4 cards

Artifact
1 Serrated Arrows
1 cards
Enchantment
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Faith's Fetters
3 Reality Acid
2 Crystallization
11 cards

Land
2 Quicksand
1 Radiant Fountain
4 Azorius Chancery
1 Bojuka Bog
3 (Plains:hou)
4 (Island:hou)
2 Kabira Crossroads
1 Mortuary Mire
4 (Tranquil Cove:ema)
22 cards
 

Sideboard
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
3 Disenchant
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Sunlance
3 Dispel
2 Circle of Protection: Red
15 cards

 

The Creatures

(Mulldrifter:LOR) – One of the best creatures in Pauper and with so many bounce effects in this deck, there is no reason you shouldn't be playing it.

 

Dream Stalker – This is a good blocker to have early in the game and it makes you return a permanent to your hand when it enters the battlefield, making it great for this archetype.

 

Kor Skyfisher – Much like Dream Stalker, this creature is also very good to have as a blocker or even as an attacker (we all know what this creature is and how good it is by now). It also makes you return a permanent, making it perfect for this archetype.

 

Sea Gate Oracle – Another great blocker that also gets you some good card draw along the way.

 

Lone Missionary – A good early blocker to trade with against aggro decks and it can gain you a ton of life if you bounce him enough times. It can also allow you to go on the beatdown early against any control archetype.

 

Heliod's Pilgrim – This is here to help you find your Reality Acid and all the other good aura's you play in the deck.

 

The Spells

Preordain – I find this card to be better than Ponder in this archetype. Being able to push dead cards to the bottom can come in handy when trying to get a specific run of spells in a row.

 

Reality Acid – The namesake of the deck, it is no wonder why this card is in here. The strategy to playing this card can change from game to game, for example: You could face a Stompy opponent where attacking their lands in hopes of mana screwing them is correct or trying to kill all of their creatures is the correct line. The situations will change every time, which is what makes this archetype fun and most challenging. The reason you do not play 4 of these is because you only ever need one to work with.

 

Momentary Blink – This is a great card in this archetype because it helps you do more shenanigans with Reality Acid by Blinking your Kor Skyfishers or your Dream Stalkers. Also being able to sort of counter your opponents removal on your creatures can be a good thing.

 

Journey to Nowhere – This is a great card in this deck because not only is it one of the best removal spells in the format, but it also can be used multiple times in this deck. When you play Journey and you target a creature and before the ability resolves, you can use (Momentary Blink:ZEN) to blink either a Kor Skyfisher or a Dream Stalker to return the Journey back to your hand, which will allow you to use it again. The ability will then resolve and the creature will be removed forever.

 

Faith's Fetters – This spell might be a bit expensive at costing 4 mana, but it does stop anything and also gains you 4 life when it enters the battlefield, which makes it great to return and replay a few times if needed.

 

Serrated Arrows – We all know by now how powerful this card is in the Pauper format as there are plenty of 1 toughness creatures for this card to easily pick off on your journey to victory. With all the bounce effects you play in this archetype, you can easily return Serrated Arrows to your hand and reset it, making it usable again and again. Against a decks such as Elves, Stompy and especially Delver/Faerie archetypes, Serrated Arrows can win you the game by itself.

 

(Crystallization:CON) – This is another good tutor target for Heliod's Pilgrim for when you need to deal with a creature quickly. The best card is that they can't target their creature with a protection spell or a bounce spell because the creature will just get exiled anyway.

 

The Manabase

The manabase isn't very complicated. You have 8 dual lands to work with in the usual form of 4 bounce lands and 4 of the gain life lands you usually see and you have 7 basics to work with as well.

 

Quicksand – It may not be able to hit creatures with flying, but it does help against the aggro decks of the format by threatening to kill a creature and mess with your opponents attack plan.

 

Bojuka Bog and Mortuary Mire – Although you don't play any spells that require the color black to cast, being able to remove your opponents graveyard or return a creature from your graveyard to play it again, goes a long way against any of the control decks or Tron decks you will come across in the Pauper format today.

 

Radiant Fountain and Kabira Crossroads – These are the lands that help you gain life. The Radiant Fountain comes into play untapped, which helps you curve out easier, while the Kabira Crossroads helps you cast your white spells. I personally like the mix of 1 Fountain and 2 Crossroads.

 

The Sideboard

2 Sunlance – A good cheap removal spell for any aggro deck you may come across.

 

2 Circle of Protection: Green and 2 (Circle of Protection: Red:8E) – The Red aggro decks and the Green aggro decks (Burn, RDW, Stompy and Hexproof to name the big ones) can be trouble for this deck to run into. However the Circle of Protection cards help win those matchups and I would suggest keeping them in your sideboard.

 

3 Disenchant – I like having the option of destroying enchantments, but having a card like Dust to Dust to have some personal hate for the Affinity archetype may be the better option in the end.

 

3 Dispel – A good cheap counterspell to help you fight the blue decks of the format.

 

2 (Curse of the Bloody Tome:INN) – A good win condition to bring in when you know your creatures won't be good enough. Decks with lots of removal or bigger creatures are the perfect decks for this card to prey on.

 

1 (Relic of Progentius:ALA) – Always good to have one of these in the sideboard these days to help fight a Mystical Teachings strategy or an Urza Tron archetype.

 

The videos

 

Verdict and Conclusion

I must say that I am not a big fan of this deck. I find that compared to any other deck in the format, it is very under powered and it just does not do enough. I have played 15 or so games with this deck, not including the match I did on video and I lost every one of them and non were close. Now yes, 15 matches no where near a good sample size, but could not convince myself to keep trying this archetype.

 

My problem with this archetype is that it is just too slow and not powerful enough. When I was winning a few games here and there, it was after sideboard and due to my sideboard cards. When you face Burn with this deck, you beat it because of (Circle of Protection: Red:8E) and what you need to ask yourself is, why play this deck when I can play a powerful Tron variant with the Circle of Protection and be just as good against the rest of the format without struggling. Your game plan of put Reality Acid on permanents and make your opponent sacrifice them is fun, but the aggro decks of the format are just too fast to care and the control decks of the format can either go over the top or the counter magic is just too good and cheap. Without the Reality Acid engine going, I also found that this was just a bad version of better decks.

 

I have tried with more counterspells, more removal and even with a bigger aura package and I only got more frustrated. I don't claim to be an expert and I am not saying this deck is unplayable, but I personally would never choose to play this archetype in a tournament. I have made a few changes to the deck going forward and I will leave you with the list.

 

Another Trip
- 75 Cards Total
Creature
4 Dream Stalker
2 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 (Kor Skyfisher:mm3)
2 (Lone Missionary:mm3)
2 (Sea Gate Oracle:mm3)
4 Mulldrifter
18 cards

Instant
2 (Momentary Blink:mm3)
3 (Prohibit:ddm)
5 cards
Sorcery
4 Preordain
4 cards

Artifact
2 Serrated Arrows
2 cards
Enchantment
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Faith's Fetters
3 Reality Acid
1 Crystallization
10 cards

Land
2 Quicksand
1 Radiant Fountain
4 Azorius Chancery
3 (Plains:hou)
4 (Island:hou)
2 Kabira Crossroads
1 Mortuary Mire
4 (Tranquil Cove:ema)
21 cards
 

Sideboard
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
1 Lone Missionary
2 Deep Analysis
2 Circle of Protection: Green
3 Sunlance
3 Dispel
2 Circle of Protection: Red
15 cards

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!

 

Visit my stream. Twitch.tv/arcticghost_tv and thank you so much if you do!

 

Thanks for checking out my article! See you guys next time.