2-man queues are rather convenient for when you have thirty or forty-five minutes to spare and want to find an outlet for that competitive spirit.  Normally the price one pays for convenience is seen in a poor payout structure, but with the Pauper queues paying out in M10 you could hardly ask for a better reason to play Pauper.  As I write this M10 is being purchased for 3.9 tix per pack.  With an entry fee of two tix, the 2-man queues currently require only a 52% win ratio in order to make a small profit.  As can be imagined, since the format has a lower cost barrier for entry and fairly good prize support, the 2-man queues have been firing often.  So I made my way to the queues and prepared to rake in the tix.  I was quickly 0-5.  Clearly I am a Pauper expert.  While I had some bad beats, I also discovered that the 2-man queues presented a much different metagame than I was used to, or the small sample I had encountered was vastly different -- three storm decks, goblins, and burn.  What had happened?

M10 happened.  I've been mesmerized by Commander the past few weeks and haven't been playing near as much Pauper.  As a result I had seen the impact of cards like Lurking Predators and Acidic Slime but had failed to realize the impact of M10 commons on the Pauper format.  I hadn't given commons much thought other than the arrival of Borderland Ranger opening up 8x Civic Wayfinder.dec and as a result I had missed a tectonic shift.  Sign in Blood sends massive waves across the Pauper format.  It gives storm combo a draw spell that can be cast with Dark Ritual and Cabal Ritual mana without needing a filter and it provides MBC a much needed way to draw cards as well.  Sign in Blood may even signal the arrival of black aggro decks featuring the brothers Dauthi: Dauthi Horror and Dauthi Slayer.  What a difference a card makes.

I was left wondering what to do.  If the 2-man queues were going to be filled with storm and red decks I wanted to be playing something I felt was a strong favorite against the decks that had put me in a quick hole.  But attacking storm was more difficult than I thought it might be. I found myself playing against drastically different lists which needed to be approached from different angles.  Some killed with Grapeshot, others killed with Empty the Warrens, and some had both.  One interesting version had Empty the Warrens paired with Distant Melody supplemented by Dimir House Guard to tutor for whichever was needed.  I went into the tank and came out with the following:

I wanted a way to punish the red decks while still having game against various storm builds.  White seemed like the natural red nemesis, giving me access to both Martyr of Sands and Aven Riftwatcher to punish the burn decks with a touch of lifegain.  White also grants outs to Grapeshot via flagbearers and Empty the Warrens via Holy Light to thwart the storm decks.  But I feared the goblin decks would be able to amass a large enough army that they could swing through my lifegain and so I wanted a few creatures that could dwarf the little green men.  Coalition Honor Guard was obviously making the list and (Guardian of Guildpact) could play backup but I needed action before turn four and so I decided upon Deft Duelist.  Now while Deft Duelist doesn't tower above the goblin hordes having first-strike does make the 2/1 a bit of a speedbump.  While I could have called upon Vedalken Outlander who would live through any Goblin Sledder type shenanigans, Deft Duelist is a superior threat against the non-red decks in the format which typically rely upon 2/2s like Mulldrifter and Chittering Rats which the first-striker can swing through all the while immune to spot removal via shroud.

With blue added to the mix for Deft Duelist I might as well play Mulldrifters of my own and then decide what to do about instants and sorceries.  I could have ran a mix of Echoing Truth and Holy Light and kept a stable manabase but I wanted to have a small chance against non-red, non-storm decks should I encounter them.  I have always liked Grim Harvest as a late game option and Martyr of Sands recursion against the aggro decks seemed good.  Furthermore, if I was going to splash a small amount of black for Grim Harvest I might as well include a Mystical Teachings package which would not only give me access to Grim Harvest but Echoing Truth and Echoing Decay against storm.  With Mystical Teachings I could perhaps steal some games from opposing control decks by playing a few creatures and then protecting them with countermagic conjured by Teferi and Dralnu's mutual friend.

Sideboard

Against storm decks I am able to cut both copies of Guardian of the Guildpact and the trio of Martyr of Sands along with Capsize, Exclude, Momentary Blink, Diabolic Edict, Soul Manipulation, Grim Harvest, and Condescend in order to bring in Standard Bearer, Hydroblast, Negate, Echoing Truth, Echoing Decay.  While you don't have much of a clock you have the full eight flagbearers, four echoing spells with Mystical Teachings to fetch them and a quite a few counterspells.  Hydroblast can remain on the bench if they don't have much in the way of red rituals but against versions running Rite of Flame, Seething Song, and/or Desperate Ritual the blasts are handy.

Against burn you want to cut removal: Echoing Decay, Echoing Truth, Diabolic Edict, Soul Manipulation, Capsize, and a Mystical Teachings for the Hydroblasts and Negates.  A Renewed Faith would be nice in either the maindeck or the sideboard for the burn matchup but with Martyr of Sands, Aven Riftwatcher, and Coalition Honor Guard I wasn't convinced it was worth the slot.

When playing against other control decks you're in trouble.  You want to keep a Mystical Teachings package and bring in the Negates and the second Grim Harvest but beyond that varies depending on what they are trying to accomplish.  Against other Mystical Teachings decks you can cut removal and hope Deft Duelist can get there.  Martyr of Sands is nice to have on hand in order to control your Grim Harvest recover with which you primarily want to target Mulldrifter and Guardian of the Guildpact.

Doom Blade comes in against Slivers and other aggro decks with sizeable targets.  Against non-red aggro your plan is to recur (Martyr of the Sands) with Grim Harvest to buy time for your fliers to win in the air or Guardian of the Guildpact to walk past those helpless monocolored creatures.

For Your Consideration

If you'd rather play a more balanced Mystical Teachings deck I'd recommend the following:

Teachings

by Amar

Creatures 4 Mulldrifter 3 Aven Riftwatcher 1 Guardian of the Guildpact 8 cards Other Spells 4 Brainstorm 4 Counterspell 4 Mystical Teachings 3 Condescend 2 Diabolic Edict 2 Soul Manipulation 1 Agony Warp 1 Capsize 1 Echoing Decay 1 Exclude 1 Momentary Blink 1 Negate 1 Rend Flesh 1 Renewed Faith 1 Traumatic Visions 28 cards

Lands 13 Island 4 Terramorphic Expanse 3 Orzhov Basilica 2 Plains 2 Swamp 24 cards Sideboard 4 Hydroblast 2 Negate 2 Agony Warp 2 Echoing Truth 1 Diabolic Edict 1 Doom Blade 1 Holy Light 1 Essence Scatter 1 Echoing Decay 15 cards

Amar's list has game against the entire field however I'm not convinced it's a favorite against a patient storm player.  Where Amar's list is trying to play against the entire field, Martyr Teachings is stomping on storm and red decks of various stripes.  Whatever you choose to sling over the next week, I recommend you get in on the queues -- the payout is great at the moment -- and take a second look at Mystical Teachings it provides a great deal of utility and card advantage in a format filled with commons.

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