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By: Blackdeckwins, Anthony Davis
Apr 04 2016 11:00am
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The Shadows over Innistrad prerelease was this past weekend. This coming weekend marks the set’s paper release. The Magic Online Prerelease starts April 15, and its subsequent release is Monday, April 18. With less than two weeks until these cards become legal for Pauper play, commons enthusiasts are pouring over the Shadows over Innistrad spoiler, looking for the latest tech or pieces for entirely new archetypes. Unfortunately, we know it will be difficult for a single set to have a large impact on Pauper, as it only adds about one hundred cards to a pool of thousands of cards. This led me to ask: how have recent Magic sets impacted Pauper? What does it take for a set to change the way we approach the format of commons?

A few hours, tons of decklists, and a spreadsheet later, and I have compiled all of the cards from recent Standard sets that are currently seeing play in upper-tier Pauper archetypes. I decided to look back as far as Return to Ravnica, and will only be considering cards in current Pauper decks; if a deck has “died off” or no longer uses a card from one of these sets, I did not count that card (sorry, Blue/Green Evolve fans). The exception is if the card was part of a deck that was so powerful, it led to a card getting banned, or if the card itself was just insane (Treasure Cruise, Sage’s Row Denizen).

As I combed through the card lists, I noticed each card had a distinct reason that it was able to break into this eternal format of commons. I broke the reasons down into a few categories:
 
  • Scaling Effects: these are effects that start out mediocre, but can grow to be incredibly powerful the longer the game goes. Spellstutter Sprite is a card with a scaling effect.
  • Mana Fixing: these cards help fix your mana, by being dual lands or color-filtering cards. Evolving Wilds is a mana fixing card.
  • Cheap Removal: as the name implies, these are removal spells that have a low mana cost compared to what they do. Victim of Night is a cheap removal spell.
  • Repeatable Effects: these cards have abilities that can be used repeatedly, usually to build an advantage. Kiln Fiend has a repeatable effect.
  • Sideboard/Hate Cards: as the name suggests, these cards are often sideboard cards to fight off specific archetypes. Nihil Spellbomb is a sideboard/hate card.
  • Mana Acceleration: these cards directly increase your mana production. Utopia Sprawl is a mana acceleration card.
  • Card Selection: These cards allow access to a selection of cards, either by tutoring for a subset of cards, by letting you look at some number of cards from your library, or by pulling a card from your graveyard back to your hand. Ponder is a card selection card.
  • Enablers: These cards can either be engines that enable a full strategy, or miscellaneous pieces used to reach a critical mass an effect. Ancestral Mask is an enabler.
  • Combat Tricks: These spells either pump or protect creatures for little-to-no mana, helping aggressive strategies break through blockers and dodge removal. Vines of Vastwood is a combat trick.
  • Utility Lands: These lands offer an additional effect, beyond making mana. Quicksand is a utility land.
  • Mana Advantage: Slightly different from Mana Acceleration, cards with a mana advantage effect let you “cheat” on their mana costs. Myr Enforcer is a card that offers a mana advantage.
Without further ado, here are the impactful Pauper cards from each Standard set since Return to Ravnica.
 

Return to Ravnica

Electrickery Ethereal Armor Izzet Guildgate
 
Impactful cards: Electrickery, Ethereal Armor, Izzet Guildgate, Rakdos Guildgate, Golgari Guildgate, Azorius Guildgate, Selesnya Guildgate
 
Total: 7 out of 94; 7.4% of the possible cards.
 
All of these cards have had some level of impact on Pauper. Electrickery has become a staple sideboard card against tokens and aggro decks. Ethereal Armor is a key piece in Green/White Hexproof strategies. Even though the Khans of Tarkir gain lands are the go-to Pauper duals right now, the guildgates stood in their place for a few years before then. These cards fall into three “categories” of cards that break into Pauper: sideboard/hate cards (Electrickery), scaling effects (Ethereal Armor) and mana fixing (guildgates).
 

Gatecrash

Foundry Street Denizen Ivy Lane Denizen Dimir Guildgate
 
Impactful cards: Foundry Street Denizen, Devour Flesh, Ivy Lane Denizen, Sage’s Row Denizen, Boros Guildgate, Gruul Guildgate, Orzhov Guildgate, Dimir Guildgate, Simic Guildgate
 
Total: 9 out of 92; 9.8% of the possible cards.
 
In addition to the rest of the Guildgate cycle, Gatecrash had several other cards that have impacted Pauper archetypes. Foundry Street Denizen is one of the best creatures in the current Goblins decks. Devour Flesh sees play in Mystical Teachings decks as a one-of tutorable edict effect. Ivy Lane Denizen is an option in Elves decks as a way to build an enormous, unstoppable army of elves. Finally, even though the core card has been band, Esper Familiars was a combo deck that often looked to (Sage’s Row Denizen) as their win condition. This leaves me wondering if there is unexplored space in the rest of the Denizen cycle
 
These cards fell into three categories: cheap removal (Devour Flesh), repeatable effects (the Denizens), and mana fixing (guildgates).
 

Dragon’s Maze

Nivix Cyclops Crypt Incursion
 
Impactful Cards: Nivix Cyclops, Crypt Incursion
 
Total: 2 out of 59; 3.4% of the possible cards.
 
Dragon’s Maze did not introduce many new cards to the environment, but the one of the new cards hugely impacted the format. Nivix Cyclops is a staple in the consistently Tier-2 deck, Delver Fiend/Izzet Blitz. Crypt Incursion is less of a staple, but sees play in Blue/Black and Mono-Black Control decks as a graveyard hate spell, and it can also be played against aggro decks as a life gain buffer. Note that all ten of the guildgates were reprinted in Dragon’s Maze, but I did not count them because this set is not their original home.
 
The two cards from Dragon’s Maze that pop up in Pauper fit into two categories: repeatable effects (Nivix Cyclops) and sideboard/hate cards (Crypt Incursion).
 

Magic 2014

Elvish Mystic Predatory Sliver Sentinel Sliver
 
Impactful Cards: Elvish Mystic, Predatory Sliver, Sentinel Sliver, Hive Stirrings
 
Total: 4 out of 35; 11.4% of the possible cards.
 
Note that, as Magic 2014 was a core set, it did not introduce many new cards to Pauper. It did, however, give Elves decks another mana dork option with Elvish Mystic. Predatory Sliver, Sentinel Sliver, and Hive Stirrings were cheap enough to give Green/White Slivers some footing, and lets the deck show up from time to time. The Pauper playables from this core set fit into the mana acceleration category (Elvish Mystic) and the scaling effects category (Slivers).
 

Theros

Gray Merchant of Asphodel Unknown Shores Lightning Strike
 
Impactful Cards: Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Unknown Shores, Lightning Strike, Aqueous Form, Nylea’s Presence, Commune with the Gods
 
Total: 6 out of 94; 6.4% of the possible cards.
 
Mono-Black Control has not been the same since the release of Gray Merchant of Asphodel: this creature put the deck on the map, pushing it into the upper tiers of the format, occasionally dominating the metagame. Unknown Shores pops up as a land that can fix Tron’s mana. Burn decks sometimes break down and play two-mana Lightning Bolts, so Lightning Strike is a thing. Bogles has begun to dip into more that Green and White, and Aqueous Form is popping up in a few of those decklists. Nylea’s Presence is the perfect card for Zoo decks utilizing Wild Nacatl and the Domain mechanic. Finally, Commune with the Gods has seen play in Bogles/Hexproof as a way to find creatures or enchantments when the deck starts to flounder.
 
The Pauper cards from Theros fall into four categories: scaling effects (Gray Merchant of Asphodel), mana fixing (Unknown Shores, Nylea’s Presence), enablers (Lightning Strike, Aqueous Form), and card selection (Commune with the Gods).
 

Born of the Gods

Satyr Wayfinder
 
Impactful Cards: Satyr Wayfinder
 
Total: 1 out of 57; 1.8% of the possible cards.
 
Satyr Wayfinder may not be in consistently-popular decks, but it pops up in Green graveyard strategies fairly often, in decks like Dredge. This card fits in the enablers category.
 

Journey into Nyx

Font of Return
 
Impactful Cards: Font of Return
 
Total: 1 out of 58; 1.7% of the possible cards.
 
Although it hasn’t been “archetype defining,” Font of Return shows up in Mono-Black Control as a sideboard card for the mirror and for other control matchups, as it dodges discard by being played early and dodges other forms of removal since most control decks are Blue and Black. This card falls into the sideboard/hate card category.
 

Magic 2015

Gather Courage  Radiant Fountain
 
Impactful Cards: Gather Courage, Heliod’s Pilgrim, Radiant Fountain
 
Total: 3 out of 47; 6.4% of the possible cards.
 
Again, Magic 2015 is a core set, so there are fewer cards added to Pauper that were not already part of it. Gather Courage has seen some minor play in Stompy strategies as a way to dodge removal with its vigilance and pseudo-vigilance creatures. Heliod’s Pilgrim appears in Acid Trip to help tutor up Reality Acid. The most important of these additions, however, is definitely Radiant Fountain: it gives slow control decks ways to play main-deck life gain without taking up a card slot, and is easily-reusable with the bounce lands.
 
The cards that impacted Pauper from this set fall into three categories: combat tricks (Gather Courage), card selection (Heliod’s Pilgrim), and utility lands (Radiant Fountain).
 

Khans of Tarkir

Hooting Mandrills Treasure Cruise Bloodfell Caves
 
Impactful Cards: Hooting Mandrills, Sultai Scavenger, Treasure Cruise, Feed the Clan, Bloodfell Caves, Tranquil Cove, Blossoming Sands, Dismal Backwater, Jungle Hollow, Rugged Highlands, Scoured Barrens, Swiftwater Cliffs, Thornwood Falls, Wind-Scarred Crag
 
Total: 14 out of 93; 15.1% of the possible cards.
 
Delve has clearly been one of the most impactful mechanics on the Pauper format in the last several years. Treasure Cruise proved to be so format-warping that it has been banned, and Hooting Mandrills and Sultai Scavenger are two go-to finishers for any graveyard-heavy decks that can cast them on the cheap side. Feed the Clan has popped up in Stompy sideboards to help race opposing Aggro decks. However, possibly the most impactful cards from this set were the gain lands, a cycle of dual lands that gain you one life when they enter the battlefield. These lands allow two-color decks time to fix their mana and offers a small life total buffer to keep them from falling to aggressive decks so quickly.
 
Khans of Tarkirs Pauper-playable commons fit into three categories: mana advantage (Delve cards), sideboard/hate cards (Feed the Clan), and mana fixing (gain lands).
 

Fate Reforged

Gurmag Angler Temur Battle Rage
 
Impactful Cards: Gurmag Angler, Temur Battle Rage
 
Total: 2 out of 57; 2.9% of the possible cards.
 
Fate Reforged may not have unleashed a large quantity of cards into the format, but the few that stuck have changed the way players approach the format. Gurmag Angler is one of Black’s go-to threats, as it is quite difficult for a non-Black spell to answer a 5/5, especially with the counter spell back-up found in Blue/Black Delver. Temur Battle Rage has been adapted as the kill card of choice for Delver Fiend, as it provides both evasion and double strike for their Cyclopes and Fiends.
 
The two impactful cards from Fate Reforged fit into two categories: mana advantage (Gurmag Angler) and enablers (Temur Battle Rage).
 

Dragons of Tarkir

 
Impactful Cards: Twin Bolt
 
Total: 1 out of 89; 1.1% of the possible cards.
 
Dragons of Tarkir didn’t do much towards shaking up the format. The best option that has seen play is Twin Bolt, which is basically a sideboard card to fight tokens while also being able to hit opponents.
 

Magic Origins

 
Impactful Cards: Faerie Miscreant
 
Total: 1 out of 61; 1.6% of the possible cards.
 
This is an interesting case, as this card was not initially adapted into Pauper. It wasn’t until after Cloud of Faeries was banned that Delver decks needed a new Faerie to lead into Spellstutter Sprite, so they turned to the lowly Faerie Miscreant. This card is essentially, an enabler for this strategy.
 

Battle for Zendikar 

 
 
Impactful Cards: Lavastep Raider, Eldrazi Skyspawner, Angelic Gift
 
Total: 3 out of 89; 3.4% of the possible cards.
 
Battle for Zendikar’s archetype-heavy strategies failed to impact Pauper very much, but a few cards see scattered play. Lavastep Raider has appeared in Goblins as a fire-breather with two toughness (meaning it dodges Electrickery). Eldrazi Skyspawner is a sideboard option for Delver Fiend to fight against edict effects. Angelic Gift shows up in some of the recent Five-Color Hexproof decks, as it is an enchantment, gives evasion, and is abusable with Kor Skyfisher.
 
The impactful cards in Battle for Zendikar fit into two categories: sideboard/hate cards (Eldrazi Skyspawner) and enablers (Lavastep Raider and Angelic Gift).
 

Oath of the Gatewatch

 
 
Impactful Cards: Pulse of Murasa, Crumbling Vestige, Holdout Settlement, Expedite
 
Total: 4 out of 66; 6.1% of the possible cards.
 
Pulse of Murasa has definitely had the most impact on Pauper out of the Oath of the Gatewatch cards. It has shown up in Stompy and Tron as a way to stall against aggressive decks and re-buy creatures for damage (in the case of Stompy) and value (in the case of Tron). Crumbling Vestige and Holdout Settlement have been played in various multicolor aggressive decks as a way to fix mana without having to wait extra turns. Finally, single copies of Expedite have shown up from time to time in Delver Fiend lists.
 
These cards fit into three different categories: card selection (Pulse of Murasa), mana fixing (Crumbling Vestige and Holdout Settlement), and enablers (Expedite).
 

Shadows over Innistrad

This is the big question now: can this new set impact an eternal format like Pauper? Most of the cards that have muscled their way into the format fit into one of several categories, and I would expect that, if any cards are able to break into Pauper, they will fit into one of these categories. Here are what I anticipate to be the most likely cards in each category to make it:
 
  • Scaling Effects: There are not good cards with real scaling effects in this set.
  • Mana Fixing: Warped Landscape is the only option available, but it probably is not good enough.
  • Cheap Removal: Angelic Purge in sacrifice-themed decks. Murderous Compulsion if a Madness deck pops up.
  • Repeatable Effects: Pyre Hound is somewhat reminiscent of a slower Kiln Fiend, and may fit in a slower Red/Blue deck.
  • Sideboard/Hate Cards: Dual Shot for decks that are too mana-greedy for Electrickery.
  • Mana Acceleration: There is no good mana acceleration at common in this set.
  • Card Selection: There are no effective card selection options in this set.
  • Enablers: Insolent Neonate could help enable a Madness deck with its one-off free discard ability.
  • Combat Tricks: Rush of Adrenaline offers less pump than most options, but granting trample for one mana could be potent in an aggressive Red deck.
  • Utility Lands: There are no common utility lands in this set.
  • Mana Advantage: Just the Wind and Bloodmad Vampire jump out to be as the cards with lower Madness costs that have the most potential.

It won’t be long before we can get our digital hands on these cards and put them to the test. This set may not put up Khans of Tarkir-level numbers, but perhaps it can outdo some of the past under-performing options.

Born of the Gods can’t be that hard to beat.


Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, you can always contact me on Twitter (@blackdeckwins) and on Tumlbr (also @blackdeckwins), where I write articles about Limited and custom Magic card design. You can also check out all of my previous articles on PureMTGO by following this link.