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By: Arctic_Ghost, Arctic_Ghost
Aug 04 2021 12:00pm
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When looking at White Weenie in Pauper, there isn’t just 1 way to build the deck. There are other forms of the archetype. One of those forms, is Soul Sisters. Soul Sisters gets its name from being based around Soul Warden and creatures that benefit from life gain, such as Ajani's Pridemate.

Unfortunately, Ajani's Pridemate is an uncommon and not legal in Pauper. However, there is now hope, thanks to the new set, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. We now have access to Celestial Unicorn and overall a new way of building the archetype. (A build that I personally have not seen before).

The list we will be looking at today is piloted by NewHJ. They finished in the top 16 of the Pauper challenge that took place on 7/11/2021. This is usually where I try to make you laugh and waste your time. Instead, let’s just get into the list.


Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant – Here are your main Soul Sister creatures. Ideally, you always play one of them on turn 1. They are your key one drop creatures for the archetype.

Thraben Inspector – Still one of the best one drops in Pauper. It isn’t the biggest in the world, but it brings a clue token with it and it gets the job done when needed.

Benevolent Bodyguard – A good creature to help counter removal spells or help drive home the win with a giant Unicorn.

Suture Priest – not only is this a Soul Sister creature, but it also slowly drains your opponent to death as well. This gives you a great axis to attack from when trying to drive home the last few points of damage or trying play defense against other aggro decks.

Squadron Hawk – Ah yes, the good old Hawk army. They aren’t big, but they fly and playing the first one can draw you 3 cards (when you play a Hawk, you can search for more of them is what I am saying), giving you a decent amount of gas to work with.

Celestial Unicorn – A new card from Adventures of the Forgotten Realms. Although the Unicorn dies to a simple Cast Down, if it is left unchecked, this creature can finish the game rather quickly. It gives the Pauper version of Soul Sisters the big threat it needed. Against aggro, you can use it to play defense. Against control, it is a big threat that needs to be dealt with quickly or the opponent will lose the game even quicker. Never play less than 4 of these in my opinion.

Priest of Ancient Lore – Not the most impressive creature, but it does draw you a new card when it enters the battlefield and it gains you life that will trigger your Unicorn. I am not sure this is the best creature you could be playing, but time will tell on that.

Battle Screech – One of the best cards in the Pauper format in my opinion. While you have an untapped creature in play, this card gives you 4 flying threats for 4 mana. Not only does this give you a lot of damage in the air, but it also triggers your Soul Warden 4 times, which gives you 4 triggers for your Unicorn. This is one of the best cards for a white aggro deck in Pauper.

Journey to Nowhere – You always need a removal spell to fall back on and one of the perks of playing white is getting access to one of the best removal spells in the format.

Silverflame Ritual – While you do have Celestial Unicorn as your big win condition, you have another plan. Your second plan is to go wide and flood the board with as many threats as possible. To put the finishing touch on that plan, you need a mass pump spell. Ritual is one of the best you can use because it gives a +1/+1 counter to all your creatures, making them bigger permanently. It also has the added bonus of giving all your creatures Vigilance for the turn, which allows you to get a huge attack in and still play defense against other aggro decks. The only downside of this card is that it is 4 mana. However, I would still try to fit a third copy into the deck.

The Manabase

Secluded Steppe – You can either use this as a land, or use it to draw a card. It makes it feel like you playing a 57 card deck.

Radiant Fountain – Although it doesn’t produce colored mana for you, it does give you a free trigger for your Unicorn.

Orzhov Basilica – You don’t play any non white spells in the deck. But this does allow you to keep land light hands and/or reset your Fountain. It also helps you pick up a Secluded Steppe you have in play so that you can Cycle it away for a new card.

The rest of the manabase is just 12 Plains. You don’t want too many come into play tapped lands as you don’t want to be slow. Remember, sometimes all it takes is 1 turn of stumbling to lose the game.

The Sideboard

Dust to Dust – Probably the best hate against Affinity currently in the format. Do not play less than 4 of these in my opinion.

Fragmentize – Although it is a sorcery, it is only 1 mana to cast. This isn’t too great against Affinity as it does not kill the artifact dual lands, nor does it kill their 4 power threats. It does help against decks where you need to deal with enchantments or little artifacts that can make a difference like against Tron when trying to cut them off of colored mana for a couple of turns. I am not sure if this wouldn’t be better as mass enchantment removal, but I don’t think this card is too necessary in the sideboard.

Lumithread Field – Help against Electrickery and Nausea type cards.

Prismatic Strands – I am sure by now everyone knows how good this spell is and why it is here. Let’s move on.

Revoke Existence – This is better than Disenchant because it exiles the target. While it is a sorcery, being able to exile is very important in the current meta.

Sunlance – Against decks such as Elves or Stompy, this is a fantastic removal spell. It only costs 1 mana and kills almost anything they play. It is the closest thing you will get to a Swords to Plowshares effect.

Verdict and Final Thoughts

White Weenie will always be a main stay of the Pauper format. It is a great way to get someone into the format and teach them basic fundamentals of magic.

Soul Sisters is a bit different from the regular builds of White Weenie. The archetype does want to and can easily beat down, but it also can play a defensive game and try to make the game go a bit longer against other aggro decks.

Soul Sisters has always been around in the Pauper format and has always won by using the go wide strategy with a mass pump spell. Now with Celestial Unicorn, you have another way to pressure your opponent early and force the issue, making your opponent play to your terms to a degree. You now also have a way to play the defensive game against other aggro decks and have a big creature they need to play around, which can help in making the game go longer.

One issue with Soul Sisters is that you are much weaker to board wipes than the regular versions of White Weenie. You do have cards to help, but they will only get you so far. You are also slightly weak to Stonehorn Dignitary, however you do have Suture Priest to help with that. My point is, for the faults this archetype has, it has ways to work around it.

Do I think you should play this deck? For leagues, I think this deck is perfectly fine. You won’t win every match, but you should win more than lose and have fun doing it. For the challenges however, I am not so sure.

NewHJ is a very good player and I can’t argue against the fact that they took top 16 in a challenge with this archetype. However, in my opinion, I don’t think this archetype can reliably top 16 or top 8 enough to gamble on it. This how I feel about the archetype itself.

I think the archetype will struggle against Tron and I think Affinity is a bad matchup for you. Storm seems like a bit of a coin flip, but they can just take their time and set up a huge enough army that all your life gain might not matter. Suture Priest is a really good answer to the squirrel army, but they have answers for the Priest. I think the current meta game isn’t great for this archetype, but I am more than willing to be wrong and eat my words.

However, with all this being said, as always, do remember my words are not gospel. I will always encourage you to try a deck that I bring you despite my personal feelings. Remember that results will vary and always remember to practice!

Would you like to compete in a free Pauper tournament with some great prizes? Head on over to Gatherling.com on Tuesday nights at 8pm EDT and play in our weekly Pauper Classic Tuesday's event! Join the chat #PCT to chat with us and feel free to find most of the competitors on Discord!

Thank you so much for reading. Best of luck to you in your next tournament and I’ll catch you all next time!