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By: Arctic_Ghost, Arctic_Ghost
May 01 2023 11:58am
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White Weenie is a favorite, not just among Pauper players, but it has always been a favorite among Magic players throughout history. For how simple and basic it is, in the right meta, the archetype can be quite good. It also helps that white has some of, if not, the best sideboard cards in the format. White Weenie has been putting up good results lately and I wanted to see if anything new has been popping up.

The list we will be looking at today got 2nd place in the Pauper challenge that took place on 4/8/2023 and was piloted by the player saikyoluige. Alright it is time to play creatures, turn them sideways and hope for the best. Let’s Rock!

 

Luminarch Veteran – Being a Soul Warden type of creature is helpful against the red aggro archetypes, but the good thing about this creature is it has Disturb. This means it can effectively take 2 removal spells to deal with and it will have flying when it comes back. While you could say Soul Warden is better, Veteran has more purpose than just gaining life.

Steadfast Unicorn – This one is interesting. It is a mass pump spell on a creature with a decent body. This way if you are a little flooded, you have something to sink your mana into.

Thraben Inspector – This is arguably one of the best 1 drops in the format.

Kor Skyfisher – One of the best creatures in Pauper period. Does not surprise me to see 4 copies here.

Raffine’s Informant – This one is pretty interesting. Being able to dig a card deeper is very helpful in a deck that can run out of gas quickly. If you can afford it, discarding a spell makes it slightly bigger. Honestly in this format, a 3 power creature on turn 2 is quite good. I like this card a lot and although it may not be the most powerful card ever, it does a good job.

Squadron Hawk – 8 Mana for 4 power worth of creatures in the air and it thins your deck in the process. Squadron Hawk makes it a little easier to mulligan as well because playing a Hawk helps you undo that mulligan a bit.

Militia Bugler – Great stats, has Vigilance and gives you some card advantage/selection. Honestly this is one of the best creatures for the White Weenie archetype in my opinion.

Battle Screech – This card is quite fantastic. For 4 mana, you get 2 flying creatures and you can flash it back almost always in the same turn. For 4 mana, you get 4 power worth of flying creatures to go wide with. I personally hate seeing less than 4 of these in any White Weenie list.

Guardian’s Pledge – Here is your big end game spell. Turn your creatures sideways, play this and hope. It is quite good at doing the job. You need this later in the game and that is why you only see 2 copies here. Having more than that gives you the opportunity to draw it earlier, that is true, but you don’t want to have dead draws and you usually don’t want to use this early.

Prismatic Strands – This one of the best spells in Pauper of all time. It can be a Fog or a counter spell of some sort. You get 2 uses out of it thanks to Flashback. It doesn’t get much better. It does cost 3 mana however, so playing more than 2 can be a bit of a liability because you don’t want it to be stranded in your hand.

Journey to Nowhere – Every deck needs a bit of removal and for white, it doesn’t get better than Journey.

The Manabase is very straightforward with 19 Plains and 2 copies of Idyllic Grange instead of something like Secluded Steppe. I personally think you can cut a Plains and add something else into the deck, but I am not quite sure what I would add.

The Sideboard

Dawnbringer Cleric – All 3 modes on this card are relevant and it has a good body to use as a blocker. It is nice to have options.

Dust to Dust – Say no to Affinity. Just say no!

Honorable Scout – This can gain a lot of life against the Kuldotha Red decks and it can be returned with Kor Skyfisher. I like this as a 1 of because you want to play it when you will gain a lot of life, but sadly it doesn’t do much in the way of combat.

Lone Missionary – A decent body with the ability to give you 4 life. With having 2 power, you can bring this in as another creature against slower decks where you can maybe trim some removal.

Ramosian Rally – This is a mass pump spell that you can play virtually for free. It is pretty good when you need to go as fast as possible in a matchup.

Relic of Progenitus – Fantastic graveyard hate.

Sunlance – More removal if needed. If you expect to face a lot of mirror matches in your locals or other tournaments, I like Unmake quite a bit. It may be expensive at 3 casting cost, but is a great removal spell.

Temple Acolyte – A good body to block with and it gains 3 life. Seems pretty decent against the red decks.

Verdict and Conclusion

White Weenie will always be a contender in the Pauper format. It may not be very good in every meta, but it will always show up even in small numbers thanks to its loyal player base.

I think the reason White Weenie is doing well right now is because you have a decent matchup against Affinity and Kuldotha Red, while also having some of the best sideboard cards against both matchups. You also have decent game against the Terror and Faerie decks as you can easily overwhelm them quickly, then go wide to finish them off. I caution you that against Terror you need to play around their board wipes though.

As for the list I looked at today, I do like it. I like the main deck but I still think you could theoretically cut a mana source. I am not sure what I would add is a 1 of however, but depending on the meta you expect to face, a third copy of Strands is not terrible. The Sideboard of course is always a meta call.

Should you play this deck? I think White Weenie currently is fine, but I think its time in the sun for challenges is limited. I believe eventually the meta will adjust, shift and eventually push White Weenie out of the meta a little bit. These are of course just my opinions.