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By: Arctic_Ghost, Arctic_Ghost
Jun 14 2022 11:05am
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White Weenie is one of the oldest archetypes in Pauper and is one of the best ways to be introduced into the format. It has gone through many different builds over the years and still comes in many flavors in the format we know today. I love that about the archetype because no matter what kind of aggro player you are, you can customize it to your liking.

The list we will be looking at today was part of the 5-0 dump from 5/25/2022 and was piloted by the player Beicodegeia. This list is quite different from what I am and I am sure some of you are used to. Without wasting anymore time, let’s rock!


Lunarch Veteran – While this is not a Soul Sisters version of White Weenie, Veteran is still a good creature for a couple of reasons. It takes 2 removal spells to deal with and when it comes back with Disturb it will having flying. The other reason is the life gain can buy you a couple more turns over the course of a game and those couple of turns might be what you need to either turn the corner and win the game or just win the game outright.

Thraben Inspector – A staple of the White Weenie archetype as a 4 of.

Cathar Commando – Commando is quite the powerful card as it has very good stats and it has the ability to Disenchant something. However, it has one very important ability and that is Flash. Flash makes it so it can be a surprise for your opponent that they did not account for and for any situation that goes a long way. I am not surprised to see only 2 copies in this deck as it still only has 1 toughness and the Disenchant doesn’t come up often enough, not to mention it doesn’t have evasion of any sort.

Kor Skyfisher – Another staple of White Weenie as a 4 of. Skyfisher is also just one of the best creatures in Pauper history period.

Spirited Companion – Not the most aggressive creature, but it is another body for your end game card that will come up a little later and it draws a card. It also works well with Skyfisher. Overall I like this card.

Inspiring Overseer – One of my favorite cards from the new set I am happy to see it here. A 2 power creature with flying that gains you a life and (more importantly) draws a card to replace itself. I don’t think you can ask for much more than that.

Search Party Captain – Another card from Midnight Hunt. In an aggro deck like this, Captain can often be cast for 2 or maybe even 1 mana and then you get a 2 power creature that draws a card. Not only is it great with Skyfisher, but I love how much card draw this deck has.

Battle Screech – 4 mana for 4 creatures with flying. I love this card and it is the perfect top end for this deck.

Journey to Nowhere – You need help clearing the way for your creatures and this is one of the best removal spells in the format.

Last Breath – Having more removal isn’t a bad thing, especially when it is instant speed. You do have to be careful though as it does gain your opponent 4 life if you exile a creature of theirs (this can also be good against Burn since you can do it to one of your own) and you will need to factor that in when you are trying to win the game. Sunlance is another option for removal, but being instant speed and exiling the creature can come up in a big way against a lot of different archetypes.

Guardians Pledge – Here is your end game spell and it does the job quite well.

The Manabase

Kabira Crossroads and Radiant Fountain – I don’t like these lands in the deck personally. Sure, they gain you life and the extra life can buy you some extra turns and those turns could mean the difference between winning and losing, but overall I don’t like how Crossroads enters tapped and I do not like that Fountain does not produce white. I would rather just have more plains.

Desert – This one is interesting. It is pretty good against the Faerie decks and other archetypes you may run into I am sure. I can get by on having this in the deck because with all the card draw you have, you can fight the mid game against Faeries. However, I am not sure it is needed and you could easily just go down a land in the deck to 20 and add another Cathar Commando or make room for a couple copies of Ication Javelineer. My main issue is that it does not hit blocking creatures so if your opponent isn’t attacking, they are stalling in your way of progress. I would rather have more plains so you can cast your spells. I could easily be wrong.

Selesnya Sanctuary – This helps you return your gain life lands and keep a land light hand, but still be able to play the game. However with land destruction decks being somewhat popular these days, I might cut this land to in favor of more plains or Secluded Steppe.

The rest of the manabase are just Plains. I still look at this list as an aggro deck and maybe that is the wrong approach, but I think having all these fancy lands will lead to game states where you may have been able to win faster instead.

The Sideboard

Celestial Flare – Decent Bogles hate but also not a bad removal spell against midrange decks. Not a huge fan of this card, I think Prismatic Strands would be better.

Dust to Dust and Revoke Existence – Hate for our robot overlords and trust me you will need it.

Holy Light – A great board wipe as it is an instant and does not hit your creatures.

Last Breath - A little extra removal if needed.

Conclusion

I like this list of White Weenie and if you like the archetype or are a loyalist to the archetype, I think you will have fun with this list. It has a lot of card draw, a go wide strategy and some cool little tricks to do.

In this version, instead of going heavy on the Soul Sisters/gain life and go wide plan or being more aggro with cards like War Falcon, you go for an in between. What you lose in aggressiveness or tons of life gain, you make up for with card draw. While I like the idea, but I also believe that could lead to problems where you don’t have enough of one or the other and the game becomes lost because you just drew cards in the wrong order. Just a bit of food for thought.

Other than what I spoke about already, I don’t really have any gripes with this list. Other than the manabase, I could either way on certain card choices. Overall though, I don’t have any true complaints.

Do I think you should play this deck? For the leagues yes. This archetype and list will teach you a lot as a new player or even as a veteran looking for something new. For challenges however, you could try it, but I don’t think you will get very far as the power level of the deck isn’t very high in my opinion.

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!