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Hi folks, and thanks for checking out my first article. My name is DimeCollectoR, and I'm an American Magic player who loves tackling the Pauper format on MTGO. You can check out several Pauper videos, including deck techs and Daily Events, on my youtube page, which can be found here. 

Pauperation will be an in-depth article series that goes over decks in the MTGO Pauper format, matchups, and an analysis of the metagame as a whole. In particular, it will include videos of test matches, Daily Events, and deck techs to supply quality content in pragmatic terms. This test article is an exercise for me as a writer, and for the most part is an extended version of a forum post I recently added on mtgsalvation.com. Please enjoy, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated: 

White Weenie vs. UR Cloudpost:

So I've done about five matches' worth of testing with this deck vs. UR Cloudpost. I'll start off by saying that the matchup for White Weenie feels like it's in the 40% range. Here is the list I played for this session:

White Weenie Deck Tech (Video)

And here are the videos for the matches themselves. 

Match One: 

G1—G2—G3

Match Two:

G1—G2—G3

Match Three:

G1—G2—G3

Match Four:

G1—G2

Match Five:

G1—G2

Results:

4 wins and 9 losses, for a match finish of 1 - 4. 

Now this looks pretty abysmal, right? While the matchup is not good, the results do not accurately reflect what our chances actually are. First of all, I should have won the second game of match one by casting Kor Skyfisher during the first main phase of my turn five, then replaying a Plains and equipping my Guardian of the Guildpact with a Bonesplitter. Because I didn't do that, he was able to stabilize at 2 (and sometimes even 1 life). Other factors that contributed to some losses included never hitting a fourth land drop in one of the games, drawing almost all lands in another, and keeping a questionable hand or two. 

Sideboarding:

Here is the sideboarding strategy I came up with for this list by the conclusion of the matches.

On the play:

-2 Icatian Javelineers

-1 Journey to Nowhere

-3 Suture Priest

+4 Crimson Acolyte

+1 Kor Sanctifiers

+1 Unmake

On the draw:

-2 Icatian Javelineers

-1 Journey to Nowhere

-3 Suture Priest

+3 Crimson Acolyte

+1 Disenchant

+1 Kor Sanctifiers

+1 Unmake

The Javelineers and Suture Priests are simply the worst threats in the matchup for us. While Javelineers equate to a turn one threat, I think this is a little less important after board since the games are going long no matter what. These creatures also die to every removal spell the opponent has, are particularly weak against Seismic Shudder and Serrated Arrows, and cannot attack into a Mulldrifter. 

Kor Sanctifiers needs to come in because of Serrated Arrows. The card surprised me with its effectiveness in the matchup, particularly when you can vindicate an Arrows the turn after they've tapped out to play it. The 2/3 body can also attack into Mulldrifter. On the draw I also think Disenchant is correct to bring in over a fourth Acolyte, because their Arrows coming down just that turn faster could cause a lot of problems.

It took me far too long to realize that I wanted Unmake over Journey to Nowhere in this matchup, purely because of Capsize. A Journey on Ulamog's Crusher that can be Capsized keeps us from attacking with our Guardians, and generally is just a horrible situation for us. If I were to modify this list and play it, I'd certainly go to 2 Journey and 2 Unmake in the main board, with a 3rd Unmake possibly in the side. 

Key Players:

It usually takes a lot to win this matchup, which means you need to throw everything but the kitchen sink at your opponent. Guardian of the Guildpact is an obvious all-star, since it dies to nothing but Serrated Arrows and Ulamog's Crusher. The Crusher you can almost always avoid attacking into, and the Arrows can be killed by another all-star, Kor Sanctifiers. You'll notice more than a single game where I won with (and because of) a Guardian on the table.  

I'll have to go back and study the games, but I don't think I won a single one without resolving Squadron Hawk at some point. The same is probably true for Kor Skyfisher. These cards only contribute to the war effort, though; they don not win it single-handedly. The important thing is that these cards need to be answered, so they end up absorbing a lot of removal. The same is true of Razor Golem and Shade of Trokair, and ultimately the community is more important than the individual in terms of achieving victory. 

Underperformers:

Crimson Acolyte just never seemed to be more than a minor annoyance. She either eats an arrow or a Capsize just before the opponent decides they want to kill your best creatures. I still think she is better than the cards we take out, and sometimes can be relevant if they don't find the answer for her (this isn't too likely, though). 

Journey to Nowhere sat in my hand for a lot of games, and for reasons stated above, I think Unmake is better against them in general.  

Matchup Summary:

The matchup requires experience and a proper mindset to be played well. You win the game by resolving Squadron Hawk and Guardian of the Guildpact. They win the game by resolving Capsize, Rolling Thunder and Serrated Arrows. I say "resolving" because it's very important to know when to dodge or attempt to bait counter magic. It's also important to try and learn when you need to risk playing a creature anyway, and when you need to make certain attacks. 

I've also come to the conclusion (which I failed to do during the tests) that mulligans need to be made somewhat aggressively. Having something like Shade of Trokair and Squadron Hawk with adequate lands is pretty important on the play, and hands without playable one or two drops are clearly bad (this is primarily a reminder for myself :/).

Overall the matchup is unfavorable (estimating 45% or so), but game one is actually quite winnable. The key becomes stealing a game within those next two. As seen in the videos, the deck can win through 4 Glimmerposts on the board, a Serrated Arrows and an Ulamog's Crusher barreling down on us. This is nothing to scoff at. Going forward, I think there are many steps we can take to making this deck (and this matchup in particular) better.

Thanks for reading, and I hope some of you have some feedback and input for me!