Copperfield's picture
By: Copperfield, Colin Abele
Jan 13 2014 4:13pm
5
Login to post comments
12993 views


  

Cabel's STANDARD & PAUPER on PureMTGO - January 2014 - Vol. III No. 2 - Mid THEROS Season

Welcome to Standard & Pauper, the monthly online magazine dedicated to competitive Standard Pauper.  Here we will put the Standard Pauper metagame, the MPDC and SPDC series of PREs, under the microscope.  All available Standard Pauper metagame data and discussion will be considered. Standard & Pauper is brought to you by Cabel the Pauper and Pure MTGO.  

The Top Story:  

Standard Pauper 2014: Open Season & Guilded Age

Ethereal Armor Crypt Incursion Simic Guildgate Razortip Whip

Halfway through the Theros Season of Standard Pauper, metagame data from the MPDC and SPDC Player Run Events on Magic Online indicate that this is probably the most wide-open the format has ever been.  That's in addition to Standard Pauper being the most inexpensive format available, even more than regular Pauper and other casual styles like Heirloom and Silverblack.  If you are into the challenge involved by restricting the rarity level or price of cards allowed in your deck like those formats, then 2014 is a great year to get started or continue playing Standard Pauper.  There's never been a better time to break into the format.

Or break it yourself!

Things are interesting for Standard Pauper veterans, too.  It looked like a Dimir Mill deck might warp the metagame early on, but we found ways to deal and the data points to the deck being more skill intensive than an official metagame force by the numbers.  The data reviewed in the Standard & Pauper Stock Report to follow will elaborate on this and much more about Theros season so far.  Usually, this is what is used to determine which deck or strategy is the focus of our Top Story.

Try as I might, I could not find a single standardized list or archetype to focus on this month!  It's just not in the numbers the way it has been in the past.  Which makes the Top Story the fact that things are as wide open as they have ever been as we begin a new year of revitalized, organized competitive Standard Pauper play while helping MTGO beginners get started in a great foundational format.  So, I'll present a few examples of how diverse the metagame is today.

The list of options is much longer than the decks we'll highlight this month.  Some of these are more prevalent than others with greater rates of success and their own strengths and weaknesses. Almost anything is possible at this point if you take a few factors into consideration and just find a deck that works for your favorite playstyle.  This is part of what makes the format so accessible and rewarding.  Many classic playstyles or favored deck types have returned with a new twist by now, as is usual in Standard Pauper historically.

For example, if you wish to play a tradition "The Deck" stack of cards, sticking to a White and Blue Control strategy, you might be able to win a tournament like GodZo did with Azorius Fortress at SPDC 19.37:

Azorius Fortress
1st Place by GodZo in SPDC 19.37 (4-1) 12 Dec 2013
Creatures
4
Auramancer
4
Keening Apparition
3
Cloudfin Raptor
1
Hussar Patrol
1
Scroll Thief
13 cards

Other Spells
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Nimbus Naiad
3 Omenspeaker
4
Ethereal Armor
3
Pacifism
2 Fate Foretold
2 Gods Willing
2
Way of the Thief
1
Scatter Arc
10 cards
Lands
9
Island
9
Plains
4
Azorius Guildgate
22 cards


12 cards
Deputy of Acquittals

 

OK, maybe it's nothing like "The Deck" at all, but it's still Azorius and it's still counts toward a Guilded Age in Standard Pauper.  

Many other Guild style decks are possible in the format and have had similar success in competitive play.  The most notable is Dimir, which has access to a Mill strategy that has a paradoxical track record: it has won the most events, yes, but the data shows that it has one of the worst ratios of making the cut to Top Eight after the Swiss half of an event.  It remains one of the decks one must consider when building for the environment.  The story of the Mid Season of Theros Standard Pauper is largely that of players adapting to Dimir Mill and effectively fighting it off without getting rid of it entirely.  

Here's the most recent Top Eight list for reference, as piloted by Nighthavk_:

Dimir Mill
Top 8 by Nighthavk_ in MPDC 23.09 3-2) 16 Dec 2013
Creatures
4
Archaeomancer
4 cards

Other Spells
4
Devour Flesh
4
Essence Scatter
4
Grisly Spectacle
4 Pharika's Cure
4
Pilfered Plans
4
Psychic Strike
3 Thassa's Bounty
2
Crypt Incursion
1
Cancel
1
Tome Scour
24 cards
Lands
12
Swamp
9
Island
4
Dimir Guildgate
25 cards


15 cards
Grisly Spectacle

 

As for the rest of the guilds, we should start with Boros, which has emerged as a reliable aggro approach during Theros season.  In fact, many of the format's sub-strategies can be adopted to this aggressive style, making it a great illustration of the variety the format has to offer.  

Plain-old (but still powerful) Boros looks basically like this: We begin with a battalion of efficiently-costed creatures to simply play more threats than Dimir Mill or Gatekeeper Control decks can remove outright while keeping the curve low to increase chances of a fast start.  Boros can achieve some very quick opening attacks.  My own build applied an Aura theme and achieved a couple of turn four wins in tournament play; I call it Aura Boros Aggro.  Other versions have made Top 8 with a Token or Human based approach, making Boros one of the most flexible aggro choices, if not the most effective.  Here is a basic list:

Boros Aggro
Top 8 by Masemaster613 in MPDC 23.08 (3-2) 9 Dec 2013
Creatures
4
Daring Skyjek
4
Foundry Street Denizen
4
Skyknight Legionnaire
4
Viashino Firstblade
4
Wojek Halberdiers
2
Gore-House Chainwalker
22 cards

Other Spells
4
Madcap Skills
3 Lightning Strike
3 Titan's Strength
2 Gods Willing
2
Razortip Whip
2
Swift Justice
8 cards
Lands
10
Mountain
8
Plains
4
Boros Guildgate
22 cards


10 cards
Viashino Firstblade

 

These guild-based archetypes have been around for a while.  But others are emerging and I believe still more are possible.  Of course, Orzhov has been a metagame constant for a while despite a mid-season drop-off in popularity.  What interests me most is in alternate strategies to defeat the combined control menace of Dimir Mill and Mono Black Control.  Most recently, Simic has been tried as a way to build a single large threat that is too difficult to deal with, resulting in an Aggro-Control hybrid as strange and amusing as, I dunno, a first-strike 7/11 frog-rabbit....thing.  Or something like that.  Something like this:

Simic Permission
Top 8 by Adner in MPDC 23.07 (3-2) 2 Dec 2013
Creatures
4
Cloudfin Raptor
4
Frilled Oculus
4
Nessian Courser
4
Shambleshark
2
Crosstown Courier
18 cards

Other Spells
3 Leafcrown Dryad
2 Omenspeaker
4
Cancel
4
Essence Scatter
3
Negate
2
Dispel
2
Ranger's Guile
15 cards
Lands
11
Island
7
Forest
4
Simic Guildgate
22 cards


9 cards
Shambleshark

 

Did I say frog-rabbit?  I meant hammerhead-crustacean.  I wasn't that far off!.  Anyway, the designer of pilot of this deck is the same who broke Dimir Mill in the first place has more on Simic Permission at the Standard Pauper Players blog.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg of what you might encounter in Standard Pauper right now.  Check out the rest of the season results so far in-depth in the Gatherling to find more decks and results.  Each month, we'll compile this information in to take stock of what the data tells us.  

The STANDARD & PAUPER STOCK Report

Standard Pauper TOP 10 DECKS - Mid Theros Season
DIMIR MILL 4   1 2 23 23% (7 / 30)
MONO BLACK 2 1 6 11 18 53% (20 / 38)
WHITE WEENIE 2   2   5 44% (4 / 9)
BOROS AGGRO 1   2 4 11 39% (7 /18)
AZORIUS MIDRANGE 1   1 1 11 21% (3 / 14)
RED DECKS   3   3 9 40% (6 /15)
AURA & HEXPROOF   2   4 14 43% (6/ 14)
ORZHOV EXTORT   1 4 3 12 40% (8 / 20)
IZZET CONTROL   2 1 1 8 33% (4 / 12)
BG BAD TOUCH   1   1 5 29% (2 / 7)

There are two control decks that threaten to dominate right now: Dimir Mill and Mono Black.  Dimir Mill has a worse reputation, probably because countermagic and mill itself are both widely considered to be annoying.  But it is the Devotion-based Mono Black deck with its Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Disciple of Phenax that has the most favorable prospects of making the cut to Top Eight after the Swiss.

In comparison with last month's Stock Report, Azorius Midrange is our most improved deck so far this season while Orzhov Extort has seen the greatest decline.  It's nice to see the power of Deputy of Acquittals finally live up to its promise on the one hand.  On the other, Orzhov was one of the most promising decks of the early metagame, with one of the highest number of entries in the Swiss and Playoffs.  Yet its popularity has fallen and still has yet to achieve total victory.  

Standard Pauper - DECKS & ARCHETYPES - Mid THEROS Season

Many other decks have failed to win as well, but are still prevalent with varying degrees of success.  Sometimes with very respectable degrees of success.   There is an almost staggering variety of decks possible even though only commons from the Standard legal sets are allowed.  Here is a look at all the decks entered in Standard Pauper tournaments so far this season:

From this, we can visualize the percentage of Aggro, Control, Midrange (Aggro-Control) and Combo (almost non-existent) decks in the Standard Pauper metagame:

It's safe to say that Control has the upper hand here.  Tournament rounds tend to go long thanks to the power of strong control strategies like Mill and Devotion, thanks in no small part to absurd life-gain thanks to Crypt Incursion.  The potency of more control-leaning midrange decks like Azorius and Izzet add to this bias.  As such, aggro decks like Boros and Simic with more late-game answers are trending a little bit better than straight-ahead Mono Red and Mono White strategies.

Finally, since our Color Balance chart last month left a bit to be desired, we'll look for some patterns with an updated look at the colors utilized in Top Eight Standard Pauper decks thus so far.  Next month will feature a different statistic I'm sure will entice you....but first!  Colors!  

BONUS: Mid Theros Season - Color Balance

Since last time, black has fallen from its top spot, but remains prevalent.  Blue has followed along with it due to its pairing in Dimir (wine connoisseurs might find it dry and fruity...no?). But blue has been bolstered by Azorius and Izzet entries rising in popularity as a response to mill itself.  White has risen slightly thanks to White Weenie becoming successful once again and tends to follow red's development thanks to the steady march of Boros decks.  Once again, green gets the short end of the stick even though sticks grow on trees.  Go figure! 

The Side Story:  

'MANCER WARS!

Archaeomancer vs. Auramancer

Now this is probably not the topic of much discussion in Standard Pauper circles.  But one cannot help but note that these two girls are the two recursion powerhouses of Standard Pauper.  They know how to work it and they are doing great work in decks that recall both traditional and revolutionary styles of Pauper play.  

For example, White Weenie  is a classic archetype that would probably be around anyway, but check out how Auramancer positions herself in the deck these days:

White Weenie
1st place by BigBee in MPDC 23.09 (7-0) 16 Dec 2013
Creatures
4
Auramancer
4
Concordia Pegasus
4
Keening Apparition
4
Syndic of Tithes
16 cards

Other Spells
4 Hopeful Eidolon
3 Wingsteed Rider
2 Observant Alseid
4
Ethereal Armor
4 Gods Willing
4
Pacifism
3
Smite
11 cards
Lands
20
Plains
20 cards


15 cards
Auramancer

 

Auramancer is a key element in the Aura based strategies that we looked at in Side Story in last month’s Standard & Pauper.  Since then, she has not gone away and has only gotten better.  White Weenie has earned two gold medals and utilized her to grab back Pacifisms for extra removal, Hopeful Eidolons to act as creature recursion, and various buffs...including Ethereal Armor, the ultimate buff of them all.  The victorious Azorius build we considered in the Top Story this month also likes Auramancer for the same reasons, except that she can also fetch back Fate Foretold to add card drawing to the mix.

 

This makes Auramancer just as flexible and powerful as Standard Pauper's original Power 'Mancer, the Archaeomancer:

Izzet Control
2nd place by DrChrisBakerDC in SPDC 19.37 (4-1) 19 Dec 2013
Creatures
4
Archaeomancer
4 cards

Other Spells
4
Annihilating Fire
4
Cancel
4
Chandra's Outrage
4
Divination
4
Essence Scatter
4 Lightning Strike
4
Razortip Whip
4
Shock
2
Explosive Impact
30 cards
Lands
10
Mountain
8
Island
4
Izzet Guildgate
22 cards


13 cards
Archaeomancer

 

For more on what deck designer and pilot DrChrisBakerDC of The Draft Brewery has to say about this deck, check out the linked-to article.  Back to Archaeomancer...

The blue 'Mancer may not be as threatening in combat and more difficult to cast, but her reputation precedes her thanks to being a key piece in the Ghostly Flicker combo from last season.  Well, Flicker is gone, but 'Mancer is still 'Mancer.  She is the lone creature in the Dimir Mill deck for a reason, and has now been adopted by Izzet builds that run her alongside Razortip Whip just like in Dimir Mill sideboards.  Grabbing back burn spells can mean additional removal or a quicker win, while bringing back various draw spells and counter magic can maintain control of the game.

So who is better?  Auramancer or Archaeomancer?  Both have powerful applications, but does using them end up limiting you to Aura or Instant & Sorcery strategies rather than freeing you to combat the threats of the metagame?  Should they even be employed at all, or do they work side by side?  Feel free to experiment on your own or discuss the comparison in the comments below!  

TL;DR 

Card advantage and graveyard recursion have always been important in the Standard Pauper format, which has also been heavily creature-based.  Archaeomancer and Auramancer fulfill all three requirements and there are both spell-based and enchantment-based strategies available that can be aided by using one (or both!) of these powerful commons.  

The Editorial Page: 

A New Year for Standard Pauper

Well, the New Year is here and I'm going to declare right now that 2014 will be the Year of Standard Pauper.  Great things are happening in this format and are in store for its future this year. I also say that adding Standard Pauper to your arsenal of Magic Online formats you have mastered would be an excellent New Year's Resolution to make.  Thanks to the wide-open, un-broken aspects of the metagame and renewed community support, it's a perfect time to start playing or make a renewed commitment to the format.

   

The MPDC (Monday Pauper Deck Challenge) and SPDC (Standard Pauper Deck Challenge) series of Player Run Events will run together once again this year.  MPDC will take place on Mondays at 2:00 PM EST / 7:00 PM GMT to cater to a European time zone audience.  The SPDC series happens on Thursdays at 8:30 PM Eastern / 5:30 PM Pacific to give American time zone players the opportunity to compete.  Both tournaments are free to enter and have prize support thanks to both MTGO Traders and PDC Magic.

Standard Pauper remains the perfect format for both the new player who wants to learn the game and find out how to join tournaments as well as the veteran Magic player who just does not have the budget for rares.  Or even uncommons, as is my case.  But Drafters also enjoy the format because the randomness of making picks is gone and the opportunity to build a full sixty-card deck and sideboard is attractive.  Finally, constructed players might enjoy the challenge of being limited to using only commons; the benefits gained when playing this way are still going to sharpen your play when you go back to playing with expensive cards!

In short, Standard Pauper has something for everybody.  Especially you!  And there are now more players than ever to help you get started and keep up with the format. The continued blogging and hosting support of Gwyned, the Writer Adept and the renewed Standard Pauper Players Clan breathed new life into the format 2013, and I'm seeing 2014 as a great opportunity to continue building it up further, maybe even to official MTGO support.  I'm looking forward to a years’ worth of Standard & Pauper articles each month and regular updates to Cabel the Pauper to help do just that.  I hope having read this article you are enticed to give the format a try in the new year or stick with it for another one.  See you next month!  

Happy New Year & Peace,

 

-C

2 Comments

SPDC Needs Host, I Gotta Go :-( by Copperfield at Thu, 01/16/2014 - 10:57
Copperfield's picture
5

I'm real sorry guys, but since I submitted this article and the time it was published, things have changed and I've hit a rough spot. So despite what the article repeats over and over, I cannot host the SPDC tournament season after all.

Here's hoping somebody picks it up. I really hope it can continue, it's the oldest Standard Pauper scene there is and there's plenty of talented and trustworthy folks who probably have more time and better situation than I've got.

Sorry once again :-( One a' these days...

Till then, good luck & thanks for the good games, guys. Peace.

seoo by seooseoo at Sat, 10/01/2022 - 14:35
seooseoo's picture

After looking for printing services that have fast and quality work, I could say that this one is what I would really recommend. After being in the field for years, this really helped me and my business be efficient in all aspects possible. Check out https://www.digitekprinting.com/poster-prints link to their site to see what I’m talking about,