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By: Doctor Anime, Tomer Abramovici
Jul 28 2010 11:29pm
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Basic Information:

To find out when the next Pauper Premier Event is held, check out the calender.

PDCMagic is one of the best sites out there for your Pauper needs. The community has active forums where you can find all the information you want about decks in all the formats. It’s also where you can find out all information about upcoming free admission player-run events (PREs).

TPDC is a Classic Pauper PRE held every Tuesday with registration at 7:30pm EST and the tournament begins at 8:00pm EST. Event coordination is done in /join tpdc and you may register by typing “reg” in /join tpdccom. Admission is free and the event is sponsored by MTGO Traders.

EPDC is a Classic Pauper PRE held every Thursday with registration at 2:30pm EST and the tournament begins at 3:00pm EST. Event coordination is done in /join epdc and you may register by typing “reg” in /join epdccom. Admission is free and the event is sponsored by MTGO Academy.

Go to PDCMagic for even more PREs and if you want more excellent information on the PEs and PREs, check out kalandine's articles covering these event.

Looking for a Pauper guild? Message me on MTGO to get an invite to A Common Cause.

Archetypes:

Deck Current Representation Past Representation Movement
MUC/Faeries

16

16

=

Goblins

8

9

-

Affinity

8

4

+

MBC/MBCu

7

9

-

Stompy

4

4

-

Storm

3

6

-

Cloak

3

1

+

WW

3

2

=

GW Slivers

3

1

=

Twiddle Storm

3

0

+

Teachings

2

4

-

Burn

2

3

-

URW Control

2

1

-

Pestilence

1

2

-

ELVES!

1

0

+

Dead Dog

1

0

+

SUIBlack

1

0

+

Rogue

3

 7  

MUC continues to dominate in representation, stabilizing at the 16 mark. Affinity has moved up significantly. But the most remarkable change from last PE is the emergence of a new deck archetype, Twiddle Storm. More on this deck later in this article!

Top 8:

  Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Finals   Champion
1 CitrusD (MUC)   CitrusD (MUC), 2-0        
8 raf.azevedo (Affinity)    CitrusD (MUC), 2-1
       
4 Thommo (MUC)   Thommo (MUC), 2-0   CitrusD (MUC), 2-0*
5 Shadow_Prince (Storm)    
       
2 isaiascantub (MBCu)
  isaiascantub (MBCu),  2-0
7 hippi_imbiziL (MBCu)   isaiascantub (MBCu),  2-0
       
3 nonimporta (Goblins)   nonimporta (Goblins),  2-0
6 brettwjayne Twiddle    

*Finals were a draw, no matches were played.

Top 8 deck lists can be viewed here.

There's a good amount of variety in the finalist's decks this time, with a healthy mix of control, aggro, and combo.

Repeal

I guess I was wrong about MUC Fae's list finally solidifying because further changes have been done to the two finalist's builds. The biggest change with these two is that they opted to lower the land count to a mere 21. This gives the deck a higher threat density and a higher likelihood of keeping a gassy hand full of creatures, countermagic, and bounce. As with most card changes, there are advantages and drawbacks to this.

The positive effect of this change is that it helps the deck draw steam more consistently. Hitting a pocket of land can mean losing control of the board, something that is exceptionally hard on MUC because such a removal-light deck can struggle to regain a favorable board position once it starts letting too many creatures through. Higher threat density in a deck is good against aggro. Most cards in MUC are 2cc too, so casting spells isn't a problem even if you're stuck on a few lands. Well, it usually shouldn't be a problem, but can be with that playset of Quicksand.

On the other hand, this can pose problems when facing other control decks. Though higher threat density means that MUC will often have a counter ready for each turn, missing land drops means that MUC will be less likely to have as many answers ready to cast per turn as the opposing player. A control deck running a higher land count can wait until the gap between lands is large enough to play out multiple spells and push some through MUC's limited mana.

Affinity pilots can also take advantage of MUC Fae's lower land count. Smart Affinity pilots know that one tried and true strategy against MUC is to not run in single threats into MUC's single counters, but instead develop an affinity count over the first couple of turns before unloading a bunch of discounted or free threats onto the board, overwhelming the MUC pilot's limited mana and getting most of the threats in -- though, of course, if the MUC opponent with two untapped lands does the tell-tale pause as you cast your first few Frogmites unhindered, you're not obligated to throw your single Myr Enforcer at an obvious counter. With MUC running a mere 21 lands, this strategy is even more lucrative. I guess most people have never heard of this strategy, because I've had at least three Affinity pilots approach me asking for advice in this matchup and after they try it their win ratio skyrockets.

I think I've said enough about MUC strategies for now. Moving on, I noticed that isaiascantub reached the finals with my MBCu list, opting to take out maindecked Probes for a doom blade and singleton grim harvest, while the sideboard gets some more removal too. I can agree with that if he wanted more help against aggro. Grats!

Looks like nonimporta went for some MUC hate in his Goblin build. The curve looks a little more aggressive than usual builds, which is good at slipping under countermagic's 2cc bar. A full playset of Goblin Arsonist shows up maindeck, which is very good at killing MUC's faeries. A full playset of Fireblast is begging for some consistency issues though, but I do like the idea of running a couple for some extra oomph. The sideboard has all sorts of pain for MUC, with a full set of pyroblasts and a couple Flame Slash and Flame Jab. I guess whether or not Death Spark is better than Jab is debatable, but for now I side with Spark. I'm also unsure how effective Chain Lightning is against MUC. Finally, Flaring Pain strikes me as odd. Did he expect a lot of the new Twiddle Storm?

raf.azevedo's Affinity sideboard confuses me. What's with the two Crypt Rats? Only two Duress, don't you want them earlier rather than late? One Last Rites? Do you really want to discard your hand? Seems odd.

The final deck that I want to discuss is getting it's own cool header. Behold!

New Contender? Twiddle Storm

Twiddle Storm
Piloted by brettwjayne, top 8, PE 07/25/2010
Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 cards

Other Spells
4 Compulsive Research
4 Deep Analysis
4 Fertile Ground
4 Frantic Search
1 Grapeshot
4 Ideas Unbound
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Oona's Grace
4 Overgrowth
4 Ponder
1 Reclaim
4 Snap
36 cards
Lands
3 Forest
7 Island
2 Izzet Boilerworks
4 Simic Growth Chamber
4 Terramorphic Expanse
20 cards

Cloud of Faeries


In this PE we have been treated to a new archetype, Twiddle Storm. The deck was represented by three players and the above list made it to the top 8. This good showing has quickly brought the deck into the spotlight and has left people wondering, is this deck a serious contender?

First, a overview on how this deck plays and its history. This is a UG deck that abuses mana ramping cards such as Overgrowth and Fertile Ground by combining them with Urza's Legacy untap cards, Cloud of Faeries, Snap (on the faeries), and Frantic Search. Untapping enchanted lands with those cards yields a net gain of mana, which is used to power out a bunch of draw spells until the kill card, Grapeshot, is played for lethal damage.

Twiddle Storm is an update to an older version that used Psychic Puppetry as the untap mechanism, splicing it on arcane cards like Peer Through Depths. Considering that not all the arcane cards were very good -- I'm looking at you, Reach Through Mists -- this change to Legacy untappers is a strong upgrade.

I haven't gotten a chance to test the deck out myself, but I have seen it in action multiple times and now that we have a deck list I can start analyzing the pieces.

To figure out whether this deck has the chops to be a serious contender, we must compare it to the current Combo king of the format, Storm.


Both decks have the same goal, to build up a large storm count and win with a storm finisher, but go different ways in achieving that goal. Storm doesn't abuse land enchantments, but instead fuels its card draw all-in mana acceleration cards, from their sac-lands to their black / red rituals and lotus petals.

To get a Twiddle Storm pilot's perspective on the deck, who better than to ask the person who reached the top 8 with it, brettwjayne? Here's an exclusive(!!) interview with the man himself:

Doctor Anime: How did you end up piloting the UG combo deck?
brettwjayne: The deck started as the UG combo with psychic puppetry and arcane spells, which turned out to be pretty awful so i tried out the urza free cards and it ended up being really strong.
Doctor Anime: What decks did you play against leading up to the top 8?
brettwjayne: A couple G/x aggro decks (which are virtual byes), muc, mono red burn, and goblins is what i remember.
Doctor Anime: What would you say are the deck's best/worst matchups?
brettwjayne: Any of the green or white based aggro decks are the best matchups. mono red burn and goblins are both pretty bad matchups.
Doctor Anime: On average, what turn can the turn usually go off?
brettwjayne: Turn 4-5. you can pretty much always go off on 5.
Doctor Anime: What would you say are the advantages of playing this combo deck over traditional Storm?
brettwjayne: Its a lot more consistent. you can actually bring in good cards from the sideboard without slowing down the deck very much. you can deal with discard and counters a lot easier. you dont play empty the warrens so you arent cold to echoing truth
brettwjayne: Im pretty confidant that the ug deck is strictly better than the other storm decks
Doctor Anime: Well, couldn't traditional also not play warrens too?
brettwjayne: Yea but then youd have to draw more than 1 grapeshot to be able to kill reliably because they have issue with getting up to 20 storm
Doctor Anime: Is there any cards from your PE build that you've decided to change and if so why?
brettwjayne: I took out 2 early frost and 1 moments peace from the board because i never boarded in the full 4 and switched those for hydroblasts to help the red matchups. i also cut 2 forests and an island for 3 evolving wilds in the maindeck, which i should have done before but i hadnt really updated the mana base from when it was the arcane storm deck

We talked a bit more and agreed that the deck is a bit slower than traditional Storm, but is more consistent and has more flexibility with sideboarding. Brett also believes that the deck is more resilient against MUC, but I'm skeptical on that one. I foresee one potential strategy that MUC may employ is to focus its counters on the Legacy untappers to cut off the deck's mana engine. Brett countered by saying that MUC doesn't put much pressure to go off early so he can spend time sculpting a perfect hand. While this is true, traditional Storm can (and does) use the same strategy against MUC, only I'd argue that their deck is better suited for it because their invasion sac lands can end up providing a bunch more uncounterable mana ramp to fuel their cards.

So, is this the new face of Storm? Only time will tell.

 

Matchups:

 

 

Deckbuilding Process: Teachings

It appears that my MBCu list has been picking up a decent following. I've been running into the deck a couple times in the queues and we've got a top 8 appearance this PE. While I still think that it's a strong deck, I have this compulsive urge to constantly churn out decks that stand out from the pack. I know that this ultimately conflicts with my Spike tendencies but it's how I enjoy the game.

With this in mind, I've gravitated back to an old favorite of mine, UB Teachings. When I left this archetype, I was running this list, which I posted in my very first Pauper Times article:


I dusted this list off and played a few games to get a feel for things. It worked out fine, but there were a few things that clearly needed changing.

The thing that jumped out at me first was the additional Grim Harvest in the sideboard. Honestly, I never wanted to board in the second one. I rarely lost my singleton Grim Harvest if I didn't want to. The only time where the opponent could snag my Grim Harvest at will was if they ran Bojuka Bog, something that I don't expect to run into in the current meta. I also feel that I pack enough threats and counters to win even if I lose Grim Harvest. So out that went.

Another outdated boarding call was Faerie Macabre. Actually, this probably was just a bad waste of SB slots in general. I think I had this here to combat Tortured Existence decks. MUC, Storm, Stompy, Goblins, Affinity, none of these really use enough graveyard tricks to warrant this card. The faeries got cut too.

Final sideboard complaint was the extra token wipe in Wail of the Nim. I've never needed more than one fetchable board wipe against Storm. However, I've always been pleased to draw Wail when playing against Faeries, because I've ran into many situations where I can kill multiple X/1 fae with it. In the end I took out Decay for Wail.

Next up was my removal toolbox. My choice in black removal has evolved from back then and now I believe that sac removal spells are stronger in this metagame. I like having cheap removal that kills everything from Spire Golem to Guardian of the Guildpact. It even skirts around Momentary Blink answers. Also, sac removal is the bane of Stompy decks, because they have a fairly low creature count to make space for all those mana efficient pump cards.

I decided that I wanted a full playset of both Innocent Blood and Diabolic Edict for this reason. I also feel that Disfigure perfectly compliments these removals, as it's a cheap removal that cleanly trades with weaker creatures so that all is clear for the sac removal to take out the prime targets. On the other hand, I don't like Agony Warp here, as it's unlikely to be a 2for1 with so few creatures in my deck to initiate this combat trick. It often was used as an overpriced Disfigure so I took them out.

Final big change was my win condition, Twisted Abomination. I really liked the swampcycle ability to help me avoid missing early land drops and being a shuffle effect with Brainstorm. But hardcasting him felt clunky. You need 8 mana available just to play him with a counter ready and just one counter isn't always enough in the late game. So I took him out for Errant Ephemeron, which is far easier on the mana to cast and flows with the rest of the deck. Because I've now cut down on my shuffle effects, Brainstorm was less consistently awesome, Worse yet, Spellstutter Sprite had a nasty habit of countering it! So I swapped Brainstorm out for Think Twice. I've been loving the change so far. Think Twice is consistently great.

Now my list looks like this:


I might cut an Exclude for another maindeck Disfigure, not sure yet. I'm also still testing Prohibit against Condescend. Both have their advantages. Condescend is superb in the early game where it can function as a Scry 2 Force Spike, but later on in the game when the opponent has a lot of mana available it starts losing much of its power. On the other hand, Prohibit stops every spell that Goblins and Stompy can throw at you as well as nearly any removal or counter, but paying 4cc for a counter is underwhelming and it can't stop Mulldrifter. It's something that I have to still decide upon.

Teachings generally favors patience over tapping out and rushing for a win. It doesn't matter if I won with 1 life and 2 cards in my library so long as I've won. Feel free to try it out and tell me how it goes, I always appreciate feedback.

That's All, Folks!

Thanks for reading!

23 Comments

Flaring Pain in the Goblin by Fragoel2 at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 02:01
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Flaring Pain in the Goblin sideboard also deal with Circle of Protection and Guardian of the Guildpact

True by Sexy_Commando at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 09:51
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That's right. I run 3 Flaring Pain in my Goblins for the same reasons.

Thoughts by Sexy_Commando at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 10:01
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5

Main:
-1 Exclude +1 Errant Ephemeron. In this case we will be more resistant to overwhelming stacks of removal from, for example, White Weenie.

-4 Prohibit +4 Negate. According to my practice with similar build our greatest problem is to defend the finisher guy from removal, stacked in the opponent hand. In the controls dogfight it works just like old'n'good Counterspell. And it cut down good half of the other popular spells.

Sideboard:
- 4 Hydroblast + 4 Dispel. Well, we are packed enough with a tons of removal and counters against nasty Goblins. So this is just overkill. The counter-thought "But it can stop kicked Bushwacker!" can be eliminated easily with "Oh, yeah? Let him hit empty board, mwahaha!". It surely helps against Burn, but if you run 4 Dispel you still can stop a solid part of the Burn deck.

Incredible article, as always! Thanks, Doc. :)

I firmly believe the by deluxeicoff at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 11:14
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5

I firmly believe the non-grapeshot version of this deck is stronger, both in the metagame and mirror - it's easier to get up to 20 mana than it is to cast 20+ spells. The build I went with (only got 16th - but I'm not the best pilot -lost one to decking myself..lol) uses Fissure to bounce the permanents all back, and Mnemonic Wall/Thunder to finish them off. I do agree the deck type is MUCH more consistant than traditinoal storm...but be warned, it's a headache to pilot, and very, VERY easy to screw up! PRactice a bunch.

Also a knock against the Grapeshot build - is that Benevolent Unicorn STILL works, and in the deck above, proves to be a game winner since you don't have a plan B - the warrens, with my build, I simply have to pay one more mana for each silly unicorn on the board.

Also, anyone notice the next by deluxeicoff at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 11:17
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5

Also, anyone notice the next tournament is at the same time as a sceduled downtime?

http://www.wizards.com/magic/digital/magiconline.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magi...

What's up with that? Anyone know if it's going to happen at all?

I agree, Temporal Fissure is by Doctor Anime at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 12:20
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I agree, Temporal Fissure is a strong way of clearing the board. I think its steep cost is more affordable in the UG build. Traditional Grapeshot can also deal with unicorn, most builds have 1x shred memory and 1x echoing decay to deal with it, but taking out maindeck cards for the sideboard is always an issue. Still, I think the fact that traditional Storm can go off one or two turns faster on average may still be a big factor here.

I like some of your suggestions, Commando. I'll try out the 4th EE and I could use the Dispels to raise my odds against combo and control. Dispel also covers Burn which is good.

I don't agree with swapping out Prohibit though. Prohibit has a much different purpose than Negate. Prohibit acts as an easier to cast Counterspell against Goblins and Stompy, it's a great answer to Spellstutter Sprite, and if necessary it can stop creatures up to 4cc like GotG. On top of that, since the majority of removals and counters are in the 1-2cc range, it handles them perfectly too. Negate is too narrow to be a maindeck card imo.

Let's discuss by Sexy_Commando at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 22:48
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Just finished 2nd in EPDC 2.01 with the decklist:

http://pdcmagic.com/gatherling/deck.php?mode=view&id=13238

:)

Flaring Pain does nothing to by YrdBrd420 at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 16:53
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Flaring Pain does nothing to Guardian of the Guildpact. It has protection from mono-colored, that doesnt prevent damage.
Doc, I think the table for Burn is still wrong. Counting things up, the win/loss is backwards.

Actually protection does by Paul Leicht at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 18:55
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Actually protection does prevent damage as well as targeting, blocking etc.

So if they declare Guardian by lenney at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 19:21
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So if they declare Guardian to block Keldon Mauraders, and then I play Flaring Pain, Keldon kills Guardian?

Correct. by Paul Leicht at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 19:59
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Correct.

wow.. was not aware of that. by lenney at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 20:39
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wow.. was not aware of that. Been playing a long time, and I don't recall that ever coming up, but it seems pretty relevant to know. lol

Excellent read as usual ! by Cl3m at Thu, 07/29/2010 - 21:36
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5

Excellent read as usual !

Several unrelated thoughts by Dolmir at Fri, 07/30/2010 - 17:28
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4

Why can't you cut a Diabolic Edict so that you can run a single Echoing Decay?

I would never play Negate over Dispel in this deck. How many non-creature, non-instant spells do you need to counter?

The problem with Dispel against burn is that it sometimes just doesn't counter anything because the opponent can play instants when you are tapped out (and don't tell me you won't tap out ever). It is still likely to counter something, but in multiples it is a little bit tougher and it is a huge stretch to say that it is close enough to Hydroblast.

Can't you find room for a single Recoil in the sideboard? That card seems insane against Twiddlestorm.

Is Probe really necessary? It seems like you already have a good game against other control decks.

I don't see any graveyard hate - this sort of deck can lose to Grim Harvest really easily.

With basically zero WW decks running around I don't think you need Innocent Blood.

Some good points Dolmir. by First_Strike at Fri, 07/30/2010 - 17:56
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Some good points Dolmir.

Grats, Sexy! Dolmir: I could by Doctor Anime at Fri, 07/30/2010 - 22:10
Doctor Anime's picture

Grats, Sexy!

Dolmir:

I could see running Decay on the rare time it can be 2for1.

White removal but that's about it. I still don't like them maindeck anyway. What good do either of those do against goblins?

Dispel isn't Hydroblast obviously. It's useless against Goblins but much closer against Burn (Hydro counters Marauders nicely). Of course I tap out sometimes, but only when I can get away with it and not lose. Having 1 mana available for Dispel really isn't difficult, trust me.

I'll try out Recoil but to me it seems it's only worth a spot if Twiddle gets popular, which it likely will. FOTM train, choo choo!

Probe's a terrific card and I already have enough against aggro. It'll get replaced if I see Twiddle around.

I could easily run graveyard hate. Bojuka Bog, done. Makes the deck slower but fills in a hole. But I don't think it's worth it. That single Pestilence deck doesn't scare me.

Innocent Blood is the best removal spell that I'm running. I'd run eight if I could. Absolutely not cutting that one.

Stuff will make more sense if you try it out. But some good points.

Well, the two points about by Dolmir at Fri, 07/30/2010 - 22:49
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Well, the two points about dispel were directed more towards Sexy_Commando. I'm not really suggesting you play either dispel or negate in this deck.

I'm not saying Bojuka Bog is the right card for this deck but I think you need some way to stop an opposing Grim Harvest. It could just be a single instant in the sideboard.

Good question by Sexy_Commando at Sat, 07/31/2010 - 05:23
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The idea to run Dispel obviously grows from my intention to win dogfights versus any types of Mono Blue, Blue and Black, UBr and other controls. Because the only serious finisher in this deck, Errant Ephemeron, goes for their souls at yours upkeep. So you should run cheap anti-counters in order to have some fuel for the following opponent's turn.

Dolmir's right about Recoil. by Doctor Anime at Sat, 07/31/2010 - 14:12
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Dolmir's right about Recoil. It's a blowout against Twiddle Storm, and I bet it'll be in bigger numbers next PE. I'm thinking about putting a full playset in the sideboard, Probes getting cut and probably a Dispel.

I've also tried out another EE for Exclude and I like it.

I could run a single Coffin Purge or Shred Memory in the SB. Maybe a Dispel could get cut for it.

Right now I'm testing Condescend instead of Prohibit but I'm finding mixed results. Sometimes better, sometimes not.

Thanks for the advice guys!

EDIT: Oops, forgot about Capsize. Capsize > Recoil.

SB now: 1 Coffin Purge, 3 Capsize, 2 Disfigure, 1 Doom Blade, 2 Dispel, 1 Deep Analysis, 1 Hydroblast, 4 Duress

Gobs: -4 teachings, +2 disfigure, +1 doom blade, +1 hydro

MUC: -2 mulldrifter, -4 blood, +1 deep, +2 dispel, +1 doom

Twiddle: -4 blood, -1 grim, -2 mull, -1 wail, -3 edict, +4 duress, +2 dispel, +3 capsize, +2 disfigure

Stompy: -4 teachings, -1 exclude, +2 disfigure, +2 dispel, +1 doom

Affinity: -3 prohibit, +2 disfigure, +1 doom

This is what I love about posting decks here. I get such great feedback to make the deck better. Much appreciated.

New old idea by Sexy_Commando at Sat, 07/31/2010 - 15:03
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Maybe we should try single Ghastly Demise instead of single Doom Blade?

New old idea 2 by Sexy_Commando at Sat, 07/31/2010 - 15:05
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At least, it's cheaper and there are some situations when you do need 1 CMC doom blade in the middle-late game.

So one thing I always have by kalandine at Mon, 08/02/2010 - 15:19
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4

So one thing I always have trouble with is reasonably categorizing decks into archetypes in my Pauper Recap.

Of course, we have slightly different archtypes between our two articles, but I was very curious as to why you identified both isaiascantub and hippi_imbiziL as MBCu? I would describe both of these as UB Control, but your archtypes are MBCu and Teachings. I can easily see isaiascantub as MBCu, mainly because he maximizes Swamps for Tendrils of Corruption even if 11 of 36 spells requiring blue mana seems more than a splash. hippi_imbiziL, however, seems a much more even split between blue and black spells and even runs two copies of Mystical Teachings.

Just curious - I only noticed it because I have been crunching numbers from middleman's table trying to break down some stuff for my Recap.

Keep up the good work.

I label isaiascantub's deck by Doctor Anime at Tue, 08/03/2010 - 00:41
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I label isaiascantub's deck as MBCu because it's focusing much more on black than blue. It's not just Tendrils, but also Crypt Rats and even Chittering that pushes the focus to black. Blue is just a splash.

I lump hippi_imbiziL's list as MBCu because it's a little more slanted to black than blue. It's really UB because there's a more even focus on both colors, but eventually you need to draw the line on how many categories you want there to be. I think there's way too many categories already so I simplify a bit in order to make the information more manageable to viewers.

Ghastly Demise for Doom Blade could work.