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By: SpikeBoyM, Alex Ullman
Nov 09 2015 12:00pm
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Every format is defined by certain cards. As we progress through the Battle for Zendikar season, Pauper is starting to form new posts. These cards are points around which the format can revolve and evolve. They may not be the most powerful cards - some of them are -but instead they are the most important ones. Games revolve around them - not only the ones played out on the table but the ones where players decide what to include in their deck. Here are what I consider to be the eight most important cards in Pauper in the current metagame. 

Nivix Cyclops/Kiln Fiend: So strictly speaking this is not eight distinct cards. Certain duos are paired because of the similarity or their combined strength. Nivix Cyclops and Kiln Fiend exist in tandem as it is rare to find one without the other. Sure, some Burn variants opt in to Kiln Fiend for a backup angle of attack, but more often than not these two are found next to Apostle's Blessing and Temur Battle Rage.

The most popular combo deck in Pauper, Izzet Blitz wants to resolve one of these two and then chain cheap instants and sorceries together, capped off with the aforementioned Rage or Blessing to connect for lethal in one turn. While some variant of a blue red deck would exist without this tandem (and to an extent those decks are around), Nivix Cyclops and Kiln Fiend approach the format in a way that requires Pauper to bend to its will.

Think about removal. Currently Diabolic Edict and friends are incredibly powerful because they can stop Izzet Blitz when they are down to a single creature. Of course this is only part of the story as the deck often has access to Dispel, which has pushed Chainer's Edict into a role of prominence. An inability to deal with one of these two on a critical turn is a failure to adequately prepare. In addition to Edicts, mass life gain such as Gnaw to the Bone or powerful Fog effects like Moment's Peace see play. Circle of Protection: Red is also a sideboard bullet, capable of stopping either of these cards through protection or shroud effects. 

Flame Slash: For a while Flame Slash was the defining removal spell in Pauper. The ability to stop nearly any threat on the board for a single mana was too much to ignore. Even at sorcery speed, Flame Slash was cheap enough that it could stop a Spire Golem, Insectile Aberration, or a Nivix Cyclops before the real damage could be done.

So what changed?

First, Gray Merchant of Asphodel reared its gold plated head. While creatures with enters-the-battlefield triggers have always existed in Pauper, the strength of Gary’s made it difficult to justify relying on a sorcery speed removal spell. The prospect of getting drained for a significant amount of life and then having to deal with the after image was daunting. A few months later Gurmag Angler hit the scene and the best aggro and control threat suddenly dodged Flame Slash. And yet it still is a key removal spell.

Pauper still plays out on the board and is largely decided on the backs of creatures and Flame Slash still handles the lion’s share of beasts. Mana efficiency matters and at its worst Flame Slash trades even on mana for a single creature. Okay, sometimes you need two to handle an Ulamog's Crusher, but still.

For decks that are looking to win in the midgame, a resiliency to Flame Slash is a must. This is why we have seen Stormbound Geist get heavy play and why cards like Eldrazi Skyspawner and Incubator Drone should see play. Tokens in general, and the ability to generate an army from a card like Battle Screech, can try and steal some tempo back by presenting more threats even if they are paltry in stature. 

Gray Merchant of Asphodel: Mono-Black Control used to be a deck that revolved around leveraging Chittering Rats and Unearth in conjunction with removal to keep an opponent off balance before eventually winning with an onslaught of 2/2s. Gray Merchant changed everything. Suddenly MBC was a deck designed to keep as many permanents on the board as possible. Creatures ceased being tools to protect a life total and simply became fuel for Gray Merchant’s fire.

In this world, Oubliette is a must have and Corrupt went from an occasional inclusion to a must have in the mirror. Gray Merchant helped to push the format back towards instant speed. Less about mana efficiency, Gray Merchant also established an end point for Pauper in that eventually MBC is going to cast enough Fireballs to win. The ability to go over the top helped MBC push Tron - the other over the top deck - to the fringes of the format. Tron and MBC had always filled a similar spot in the metagame as a deck with powerful removal that wanted to nullify everything an opponent could muster. Tron had a superior late game with Capsize and Rolling Thunder but when Gray Merchant came to town Swamps started to trump the Tron.

Being able to beat MBC before they can chain Gray Merchants is a key to the format. Alternatively the ability to stop the life swing from mattering also helps. Some decks try to keep the board free of anything that is not a Swamp. I am fond of trying to stop Gray Merchant from resolving. Clearly the best solution has yet to be found as MBC continues to be an omnipresent force. 

Counterspell: The backbone of multiple blue decks, the ability to just say no remains one of the bedrock foundations of Pauper.

How often are you really expecting a spell to resolve when facing untapped UU?

That’s what I thought.

Counterspell is so good that it helps Prophetic Prism see play in multicolored decks to help facilitate the awkward mana cost. Counterspell is probably the best card for keeping long game control decks alive in the format as it stops threats early and trumps late. Counterspell is such a powerful card the Deprive, a strictly worse card in almost every sense (Bojuka Bog resets notwithstanding) sees heavy play as a fifth and sixth copy of the card.

Counterspell forces redundancy and helps to keep trumps in check. At the same time it has a very real cost and playing around the card is one of the oldest tricks in Magic - just have more threats than they can possibly have answers. 

Gurmag Angler: The Zombie Fish has turned everything upside down. Now every spent resource is a potential mana in the future. Where Gray Merchant made Unsummon and friends run a hide, Gurmag Angler invites them out to play again due to their ability to trade up on cost. A single black mana in its cost means that Angler can find a home in nearly any deck and we have only scratched the surface of this card’s potential ubiquity in Pauper.

Gurmag Angler operates on a completely different axis than most threats. Very few removal spells trade with it straight up and most of those will do it at a net loss in mana. Both Angler and Merchant do work on the back of prior investments but they do so in drastically different ways. Angler, simply put, is a beast on the battlefield and must be answered. The presence of this card has changed the type of removal that sees play - Victim of Night and Snuff Out have been relegated to the bench thanks to Angler. Chainer’s Edict management has now become a key to success in Pauper as the ability to make sure it can hit an Angler matters. Graveyard removal was already an important part of the format and now it matters even more as it can randomly delay the appearance of a 5/5.

For all of its strength Gurmag Angler remains a 5/5 creature with no other abilities. It is stopped cold by Exclude or Journey to Nowhere and still bounces off a Llanowar Knight. Even so, Gurmag Angler has no natural prey as it is hard to go bigger for the same cost. And if people are already willing to Thought Scour themselves for the discount, then we better settle in for having this fish be served over and over again. 

Lightning Bolt: One of the best cards ever printed. Period. Lightning Bolt is the gold standard for cheap fast removal and helps to keep fast decks in check while also giving those same decks the ability to close out the game. Lightning Bolt is so strong that an entire deck - Burn - is based around playing worse versions of the card in an effort to win the game.

How well does your threat fare against Lightning Bolt? The fact is it does not matter as Bolt is going to see play no matter what. Lightning Bolt can stop most early threats dead in their tracks and help to preserve a life total like few other cards. The card has no real weakness aside from the fact that it stalls against some of the formats larger threats.

Yet this pushes Lightning Bolt decks to try and sidestep the late game. Goblins and Burn both try to win before defenses can be set up. Izzet Blitz endeavors to simply bypass life totals with a sufficiently large one shot. Lightning Bolt hits nearly every threat in the format and yet is nigh useless against three of the creatures on this here list. It a testament to the Bolt that other creatures barely sniff the Top 8.

How does one prepare for Bolt? Be ready to face it. Stormbound Geist, Brindle Shoat, Stinkweed Imp - these cards do not care about a single Lightning Bolt. Hexproof succeeds at times as a way to dodge Lightning Bolt. Even if all the matters, the red deck can often bypass blockers and decide “You know what? Today I’m going for the dome.” Lightning Bolt enables that line. 

Cloud of Faeries/Spellstutter Sprite: Together these cards represent one of the best lock down plays in the format. Cloud of Faeries on turn two followed by Spellstutter Sprite can lock down almost every aggressive start in Pauper. Even if Cloud is handled with the untap trigger on the stack the Delver player still is not down a turn as they have not invested any actual mana. So sure, you can spend a Lightning Bolt at that moment, but then you’ve traded mana and a card for their 1/1 flyer.

Some trade, right?

The Faerie duo is everywhere by virtue of being in the most heavily played deck. And it is popular for a reason. In addition to running Counterspell, Delver of Secrets, and other absurdly good blue cards the ability to sometime completely shut an opponent out of the game while ending up with two attackers is too much to pass up.

These cards are not without risk, however. They are rather weak as the game goes long and are in fact only 1/1 flyers. Gut Shot and other instant speed spells can do quite a bit to keep them at bay. Yet even with hate, these two cards trade no time and two mana for a turn two play, all while leaving at least a Shock’s worth of damage behind. If you are looking for a reason why there are not more aggressive decks look no further than the bane of beatdown twos everywhere. 

Ponder/Preordain: Banned in Modern. Restricted in Vintage. These two cards help to keep blue decks on top of the format. The ability to trade one mana to see three or four cards is huge. For almost no investment these sorceries can sculpt hands and find key pieces. They stitch together combos and help to fuel Gurmag Angler delves. They pump up Kiln Fiend and help to flip Delver. These cards also help to smooth draws, allowing Esper Combo to find all its pieces.

Unlike other cards on this list, these two have no natural answer. Ponder and Preordain simply exist and cannot be countered by strategy. The best way to fight these cards is to either run your own or hope that everything they see is just pure garbage. Ponder and Preordain run laps around Brainstorm in Pauper thanks to the relatively weak fetchlands of Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse. If anything, these cards should see more play - but some people just don’t like Islands I guess. 

There are plenty of cards I left off this list. Delver of Secrets may be the most egregious. Here’s the thing - Delver is important, but more so in the context of supporting other cards on this list. When it is followed up by the Faerie duo it represents a ticking clock. In support of Izzet Blitz it helps to tenderize the meat. Next to Gurmag Angler, Delver simply absorbs removal. Delver might be the best hype man in the format.

The alarming thing is how much Grixis there is on this list. Right now I cannot think of a green or white card that would make my top ten. They simply do not matter. I can see a case for Journey to Nowhere but even then, that probably is in the eleven to twelve range.

Right now, Pauper is about efficiency. One card on my list costs more than four mana and only one costs three. The ability to do something fast may be more important that the most powerful iteration of a card. Essence Scatter may just be better than Exclude right now.

Just some food for thought.

What are your eight most important Pauper cards right now?

 

Keep slingin’ commons-

-Alex 

SpikeBoyM on Magic Online

@nerdtothecore

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1 Comments

Preordain is not restricted, by Joe Fiorini at Tue, 11/10/2015 - 07:28
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Preordain is not restricted, but Brainstorm is. They all do similar things, strangely Ponder is my least favorite.