Hi folks!
Perhaps this is a called shot.
Or perhaps Peregrine Drake has cheated Pauper death, and we're all in for at least a few more months of degenerate land untapping.
I'm just saying. If Peregrine Drake has gotten the boot (and if not, when it does) there will be a number of things changing about the Classic Pauper format. This boils down to the fact that Izzet Drake invalidates a number of strategies and simultaneously forces others to recognize its presence in the metagame.
To completely oversimplify things, the format has gotten faster and more degenerate during the P-Drake era, thereby pushing out slower, fair decks that so many of us have enjoyed playing over the years. Former staples like Mono Black Control, Kuldotha Jeskai and Temur Tron simply aren't winning all that much anymore. Answer cards are overstressed and made obsolete by the wide array of blitzing, proactive and often non-interactive strategies of today.
So Drake gets banned and things are allowed to slow down a bit. Decks that want to steer things towards the late game end up having a place again. This prospect makes me very happy.
Here are some of the decks I'll play once Drake is banned.
Ruin Processor Decks!
Ruin Processor was more or less discovered by Alex Ullman in this article, and is quite an underrated finisher. I've had a blast playing with the card, and even took it into a League at the tail end of last year.
One aspect of the Eldrazi that we're able to easily abuse is its relationship with bounce effects and enchantments like Journey to Nowhere and Oblivion Ring. To clarify, Processor can in essence “free up” a Journey or Ring for future use, while at the same time gaining us 5 life and providing us with a huge board presence.
This is what I'm hoping to sleeve up oh-so-very soon!
This list presumes that Mono Blue Delver will once again rise to power in a world without Peregrine Drake. Hence the cheap answers to Delver of Secrets in the form of Gut Shot, Righteous Blow and Sunlance in addition to midrange elements like Serrated Arrows and Stormbound Geist, which keep the rest of their air force at bay.
The card draw suite is nothing short of robust, and could very well be the best array of draw I've ever assembled in a Pauper control deck! Believe me when I that say I've tried out many assortments in the past, and this one is highly effective.
Fueling Processor's fire are Faerie Trickery, Journey to Nowhere and Oblivion Ring. If we need even more late game, Capsize can hypothetically provide us with an unending stream of creatures via Mortuary Mire.
This is absolutely my kind of deck, and all it requires is my kind of metagame!
Mardu Midrange!
Another late game deck, but one that is far more creature dense. Have a look!
This was the first strategy I thought to brew around Night's Whisper, which entered Pauper earlier this year through Eternal Masters. It plays one of the format's best finishers in Gurmag Angler, one of the best value creatures in Kor Skyfisher and some of the best removal in Chainer's Edict and Flame Slash.
There is a pretty much constant card flow provided by this deck thanks to all of the cantrips/cycling, and the ability to cast creatures that draw cards, then bounce them, Unearth them and Grim Harvest them repeatedly. This means that we can keep up with many other strategies in terms of velocity, and drive right past others.
Mardu Midrange's endgame is nothing short of annoying. Kor Skyfisher and Mortuary Mire don't look like much, but are quite capable of putting in work. Grim Harvest just beats people with value (so long as we have open mana to protect it). Finally, Evincar's Justice paired with Pristine Talismans is a tried and true kill condition that hurts swarm decks that have limited toughness boosting.
While it might not look all that insane, Mardu Midrange has loads of potential in my eyes. I've been pleased with it in testing, and can't wait to find areas for improvement!
Mono White Metal!
I talked about this deck in my last article, but since then we've had more commons from Kaladesh unveiled! Here's a new take that I'm calling “Vehicular Manslaughter.”
If the metalcraft beaters fail, there's always the equipment. If they fail, there are vehicles! If they fail...well, they can't! We can't let them. We have to Built to Last and Mutagenic Growth them. We have to drive on!
Aside from Tokens, there hasn't been a viable form of mono white aggression in Pauper for what feels like years. I'm hoping that these new entries into the world of metalcraft will have something to say about that.
Are vehicles going to be the next big thing in (Classic Pauper)? This deck will be my starting point for answering that question.
Izzet Control Without Peregrine Drake!
And now we come to perhaps my favorite archetype of all! Before the printing of Peregrine Drake, that is.
Now that's a 5 mana finisher! Whirlwind Adept can get massive in this list, and he's harder to kill than a measly Peregrine Drake.
But guess what, you don't even have to play this version of Izzet Control if you don't want to. There's many variations you can choose from!
For instance, I played a Delver of Secrets version in a League here, and before that a Trinket Mage and Galvanic Blast rendition called Kuldotha Control. I'm sure there are even more options out there.
Dime's Up
What are you going to play in a world without Peregrine Drake? Feel free to share.
You can also follow me on Twitter (@DimecollectorSC) for MTG-related updates and info!
Bye for now!
12 Comments
He shoots, he misses. The Drake yet lives for now. Intriguing thought exercise nonetheless. What if Delver gets the boot alongside Drake a few months hence?
what is the general vibe of this announcement on twitter, I've deactivated my account for a few days, and I reckon I picked a bad time to do so.
JXClaytor - I've yet to hear anyone commend the decision not to ban. Reddit in particular seems a bit depressed by the news.
yeah I am personally just not playing the format until it's gone. :/
Thanks for checking out the article! I imagine there would be a degree of backlash from players if Delver received a ban. The card supports at least three higher tier strategies at the moment. Delver (the deck) keeps Burn in check to some extent, so it's possible that a Delver ban could make similarly stifled strategies more viable.
I should think Ghostly Flicker to be a bigger culprit than the drake.
Nix the Flicker and leave the derpy 2/3, no?
I am getting into pauper. Do you guys feel burn has a good chance against drake? Nice article. Keep it up!
Elbinac - I'd say no for a few reasons. If you ban Ghostly Flikcer, you must also ban Displace. Flicker is a pet card that some players really enjoy (myself included), and it fits into other strategies in a role similar to Momentary Blink. Peregrine Drake only enables one kind of strategy (infinite mana combo as early as the turn you play it), and has been used for that singular purpose. The same cannot be said for Flicker, which has several (more honest) applications. There is a precedent for banning cards that untap lands (this has been done multiple times in Pauper), and there isn't one for banning bounce effects. Just my two cents. Good question!
Mindless Marty - Burn should have a decent chance, yes. Izzet can mostly interact via Burn with permission or an early combo kill. It doesn't have a Burn hoser card along the lines of some uber life gain or damage prevention spell. Other decks do, though. Burn's weakness tends to be lack of flexibility against the larger field, IMO.
I'm currently 2-1 with Burn in the League, and played vs 3 Drake decks.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Again, nice article
I don't mind drake. I find running Faerie Macabre + any removal is enough...I've beaten it in tourneys A LOT more than I lose to it...my tourney score with a lot of different decks so far is 2 losses, 8 wins...My only hesitation is that it is forcing (like you stated) some decks to not exist, and/or forcing brewers to have room for Macabre. Additionally, I don't see it that often either - as is a running joke on our live Twitch tourneys...maybe I'm just lucky.
MindlessMarty - Thanks again for the kind words!
deluxeicoff - Ahoy! I've been pretty lucky lately too. Drake dodging FTW! Thanks for all of the insight!