Note: this article originally appeared on www.carefulconsideration.net
On December 5 the sets from the Masques Block (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis and Prophecy) will finally be released online in boosters that will have cards from all the three sets. Those sets contain a good number of commons interesting for the pauper format that are currently not available online or have been released only in theme decks (and thus they hold a high price on the secondary market). Let's have a look at those cards, while we try to identify what impact they might have on the format.
Gush
Gush is already available online, since it has been released in the Jace vs Chandra duel deck. It is also already played in the pauper format; it sees play as a two-off in the following decks.
In both decks Gush acts as a free Divination, since those two decks do not need more than a few lands on the board. In the Monoblue Delver list Gush allows you to draw cards while still keeping counter mana up from turn three onwards, while in the UR Storm list it's a free spell, some additional card draw and even one extra mana if you did not make the land drop for the turn. As a two of, Gush is solid in both decks and the decrease in price could determine a slight rise in popularity for those decks but I doubt that it will impact the format more than it already does: it's hard to fully take advantage of it and currently there's no deck that wants more than two. If a way to play additional lands will be released in a future set then Gush will shine in a dedicated deck.
Invigorate
Another card that has already been released in theme decks and whose application is well known, Invigorate is one of the strongest cards in the Infect deck, where it acts as a free pump spell that deals eight damage to your opponent.
This time things are different: the lower price of Invigorate will make the Infect deck more popular among pauper players and therefore it will cause a shift in the metagame. Other decks will have to adapt to deal with the surge of infect decks and this will probably lead to the format becoming even faster than it already is.
Daze
Again, a card that is already available but due to its price tag it sees very little play. Daze is going to replace Force Spike in all the monoblue lists and that is a huge boost for the deck since it is far more efficient and allows you to play threats and keep counterspells up. Combined with the printing of Delver of Secrets the card provides a huge speed boost for monoblue, a deck that will probably become one of the mayor players in the foreseeable future, and tempo will become more important in the format.
Accumulated Knowledge
Accumulated Knowledge is a very powerful card for Pauper, and it's going to be a huge boost for the control decks of the format. In order to take fully advantage of the card you need to have a way to chain multiple copies, something that can easily be achieved with Mystical Teachings, a card that already sees of play in the format. While Teachings a few years ago was an archetype on its own nowadays Cloudpost offers too many advantages to not be run if you're going for the control strategy: Therefore I don't think that this card will be lead to a resurgence of classical Teachings, but it will be featured in Cloudpost decks that will slightly change to take fully advantage of the Teachings/Knowledge engine. One thing to notice is that in the immediate future such decks might not be the be best choice as the rise in popularity of Infect and Monoblue will create a rather hostile metagame for control decks, but as soon as the format will slow down a bit there will be a lot of fights for the last Accumulated Knowledge.
Flame Rift
Flame Rift is by many considered one of the best spells available for Burn decks. Personally, I'm not too excited by it, since the four damage that you take do matter when you're facing aggressive decks, but it's still a solid sideboard card for those matchups where the opponent cannot really outrace you. Oh, of course, it's good against Infect.
Snuff-Out
Snuff Out is a card that already has seen play in legacy but has, so far, found little love in pauper. In legacy the card sees play because in the format tempo is really important and because creatures are generally big enough that four life is an acceptable price to deal with a creature that would deal you at least the same damage with one single swing. Now, I'm convinced that the card finally has its place in pauper too: the format is getting faster, and creatures are becoming better! Just look at the list of creatures that you would gladly take out for four damage: Delver Of Secrets, Carapace Forger, Ninja of the Deep Hours, Myr Enforcer, Atog, Kiln Fiend. Also, against infect the card is basically free, and with the deck on the rise, having more answers to their quick draws is now a necessity!
Rouse
Here we get a bit more into speculation, but the card could have its uses if a black\green version of Infect will ever emerge. Not only such deck has access to eight Mutagenic Growths thanks to Rouse, but has much better creatures since it can play Plague Stinger and Flensermite instead of Cystbearer and Rot Wolf. Even the manabase is not that bad with Lotus Petals and Crop Rotation, a spell that comboes nicely with Teetering Peaks and Sejiri Steppe when not needed for color fixing.
Ramosian Sergeant
Sergeant competes win the one drop spot in white weenie. The deck, right now, alongside Benevolent Bodyguard has Icatian Javelineers due to metagame choices. Should the format slow down a little in the future having a late game becomes more important and therefore the sergeant becomes a viable choice for the deck.
Hopefully you enjoyed the article, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments on the deck and on how I can improve as a writer.
Thanks for reading!
3 Comments
Great outlook - I think the 'legates' will see play out of aggro sideboards. Much rather have infect on the rise than the 'slow paced droolings' of Izzet post.
I had to look those up, I think they would be interesting but sadly they are uncommon.
I am just happy about all of these. Here is hoping the drafts can pick up enough people to actually make a significant spike in supply of these cards.