Today I wanted to bring you somewhat of a price guide on how much a majority of the decks cost for Pauper. People are always saying that Pauper really is not a budget format anymore. While this is kind of true it still is way cheaper than playing some of the more main stream formats. You can also see that none of these decks come close to the cost of a single (Jace,the Mind Sculptor). So seeing that a whole deck list does not even cost as much as a single card, that is mostly played as a four of in today's standard, I would consider Pauper to be a budget friendly format still. Do not forget that once you invest in pauper your cards are not going to rotate out since it uses the classic card pool.
So I have gathered up a lot of decklist for you to look at and hopefully this article can convince one or two people to try out this fun format. I have searched mtgo to showcase these decks to you. They all have either place 3-1 or 4-0 in at least one event. Now I know this is not all the decks out there but I tried to gather the more played ones and threw in some more rogue type builds as well. Also I know I am kind of promoting net decking but we have to face it. Net decking is a big part of MTG. So let look at all the decks.
Also under all of the deck list I have put three categories: Playability, Cost, and Investment. I am rating each deck using one to four gold stars, with four stars being the best.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just under $19.00
First off we have your traditional mono red burn deck. The decks adjective is simple. Point everything at your opponent and lower their life total down to zero as quickly as possible. This simple game plan makes this a decent deck for a newer player looking to get his feet wet in a competitive environment.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just under $19
Everything said about the above burn deck pertains to this one as well. One major differences in deck list is that it has a main deck sweeper. Martyr of Ashes can get rid of mass hordes of creatures in a pinch giving it somewhat of a game plan against storm decks.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $24.00
Gobbos is one of those decks that you better be prepared for or pay for it. These little green men come out of the gates swinging. Able to kill their opponents turn four is nothing out of the ordinary. This is a deck that I would highly recommend considering for its low cost of investment and raw power. Remember when playing against the green men beware of Goblin Bushwhacker.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $6
Next we have the bane of Mono Black control. This deck obviously thrives in a mono black environment. Its in ability to interact with combo makes it a bad choice when combo decks are as abundant as they are right now. This deck is designed to play one efficient creature after another and eventually overwhelm their opponent. If the meta turns back to an infested mono black meta for 6+ tixs you can't go wrong.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $32
Here we have a traditional Mono U Control deck. It is kind of on the expensive side but if control is your game this is the deck for you. Even though it might not be that exciting to play against it does get the job done. Your game plan for this deck is simple. Counter important spells, draw cards, and play threats on your opponents turn.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $14
Here is the a "Budget" version of the above deck. Being priced less than half of the other version does mean you do lose some of the more powerful spells but I think it does hold a lot of the power that the more expensive version holds.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $30
I just had to show you this list because it encases the old combo of Horseshoe Crab and Psionic Gift. This could still be a potent stratgety if you can keep the crab alive. I think this deck can do that with all the counters and therefore would probably has a better game against goblins which usually just runs over this deck.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $22
This deck has already been talked about in depth by deluxeicoff here on this very site. He mentions how fast and resilient this deck is. This deck has game against pretty much any of the other major decks. This deck can even play a pseudo-control when it needs to. So for the price of this deck you get a lot of bang.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $13
This deck had a rise in popularity due to its effectiveness to deal with the fragile mana bases of decks such as Frantic Storm or RU Post decks. The low price tag on it also has something to do with its popularity. When playing this deck you are trying to deny your opponent from playing anything by destroying their lands. Then you finish them off with one of your fatties like Ulamog's Crusher.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $44
When I hear explosiveness this is defiantly one of the decks that I would think of. Infect starts off with an advantage since playing this deck means your opponent starts off with half their life. The hefty cost of this deck can be mainly directed to Invigorate and Lotus Petal. Invigorate is one of those cards that didn't see any play until infect came to life. This deck is capable of a turn two kill in the ideal situations.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $10
Almost like the roaches in the sense you just cannot get rid of them. This deck has been around for some time and sometimes fades back until people do not expect it. Then it jumps out of hiding to strop your hand away and kill any creatures you try to play. Even though it only plays a bunch of 1/1 and 2/2 creatures they are very effective at what they do. They disrupt your game plan and ping your life away. So be weary of the "Rat Package".
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $10
Here we have another version of Mono Black that utilizes a lot of older and perhaps unknown cards. This could be a nice way to mix it up if you are tired of playing the traditional version of MBC.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $56
One of the original combo decks in Pauper and still one of the most powerful. It is able to create a high spell count by sometimes turn two. It usually goes off turn three though killing you with a big Grapeshot or swarming you with many goblins by casting Empty the Warrens. This deck is hated a lot on so be sure you have plenty of practice with it and understand how to really play this deck before you attempt to venture into a tournament.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $50
Same deal as the other deck TPS deck except it doesn't play Goblin Bushwhacker which losses a little bit of its power in my opinion. I like to kill my opponent the same turn I go off in order to prevent them from drawing their "Savior" card.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $56
This is still what I considered a newer deck but it is already widely played but for good reasons. It is powerful and is not that easily hated on. Frantic Storm creates its high spell count by casting a lot Urza's "Free Spells' such as Frantic Search or Snap. It is also building up a huge amount of mana buy playing them at a reduced cost thanks to the Familiars and the bounce lands. Then when they feel like it the bounce all the hard work you had done back to your hand by casting a Temporal Fissure. If you plan on playing in any dailies be sure you know how to battle this deck.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $29
This deck is kind of on the back burner now due to so many decks hating it out by destroying its somewhat fragile mana base. It would try to counter and/or burn whatever their opponent tried to cast. Its main way of killing their opponent was to either cast a huge Rolling Thunder or cast Ulamog's Crusher.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just under $20
Although this deck plays the same colors as the post deck it plays out very differently. They still try to counter and/or burn whatever you play but they also play a lot more creatures that create more card advantage and bite away at your life.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $15
I thought I would throw this deck in since it is an interesting list. The deck tries to have an answer for any of your opponent spells while attacking them early on. I do not really know how effective this deck is but I can tell you that it did finish in the money so it has to have some game.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just under $27
There was a time when Momentary Blink was one of the "IT" cards but has recently lost some of that. This deck shows you how the card can still be powerful and can catch people off guard when they don't expect it.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just under $27
SoM brought this archetype back to the main stage by giving it some very powerful spells such as Carapace Forger and Galvanic Blast. Affinity's ability to spew out 4/4s is at times ridiculous. Do not forget how well Atog and Disciple of the Vault give the deck even more reach.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $6
This here is a very budget friendly deck that does put up a good fight. It has the ability to disrupt anyone's plans either by creature killing, had disruption, or life gain. This deck also runs the ever impressive Guardian of the Guildpact which I think is very underplayed. The cards you get with this deck also fit into a lot of other decks that were mentioned making the 6 tix price tag a solid investment.
Playability:
Cost:
Investment:
Total Price is just over $17
Its no mystery that Pauper has some very dangerous and potent auras. Cards such as Armadillo Cloak and Rancor could arguably too powerful for the common rarity. Nevertheless they are and cause of that people have been trying to abuse them at their greatest potential. This deck is a prime example of that. It plays creatures that are very hard to kill but that wear the aura package extremely well. This deck is a blast to play if you like to turn your guys sideways. A hiccup of this deck is that if your opponent is able to kill your creatures it usually means you're getting 2 for 1 which can lose games all on its own.
So there you have it a list of deck list. If you are planning to join the Pauper community you should be able to find a deck that fits your play style. My top 3 decks would have to be:
1. Green Stompy
2. Frantic Storm
3. MBC
Also remember that these prices are not set in concrete since prices change with demand. So until next time pick you up a deck and start winning you some packs.
11 Comments
Good article, but what do you mean by the categories and how you rate them?
It's a good article but these decklists aren't up to par 100% - they really make basic errors (Azorious Chancery in Affinity?, 3 Psionic Gift instead of say 2 Gift, 1 Hermetic Study?, Creatures in the red burn deck? - Kiln Fiend NEVER hits, 4 Crop Rotation and 3 Fierce Empath in the Aurochs deck?)
I'd rather see a list of 1-2 decklists that were polished as opposed to a list of 10 of them that are unpolished. I'll give you an A for effort though as its a good article with lots of time invested.
I liked the article but the Star Rating system left me quite confused. I think it needed explaining at the top of the article. I'm not sure what 'playability' means in the sense you are using it. Is it looking at how easy/difficult the deck is to play or how competitive it is against the field.
I assumed with cost the more stars the cheaper the deck, but that doesn't seem to ring true with your ratings. The $6 White Weenie deck gets a '1-Star' for Cost, as does the $32 Mono Blue Control deck.
Finally, I'm guessing investment relates to the reusability of the cards in the deck. Though this also isn't explained very clearly. For instance, I don't understand why the Orzhov Control deck's cards are a better investment than those in the Burn or Mono-Blue Control decks. I'd imagine burn spells and counter spells are much more universally useful than cards like Blind Hunter etc.
First off thanks for the comments.
I did total miss the Azorious Chancery in affinity but I don't see why a 2/1 split would be better than 3 gifts in a format with no cranial spells. Yes I've seen plenty of red burn decks running Klien Fiend not say that I see it as a good choice though. The Green post decks are starting to look more like the one showed here from what I've seen.
Olaw you bring some good critizm to my attention. Now looking back I should have explained the rating system much better. I made the mistake that everyone knows what I am thinking. The one star on the WW deck is a mistake it should have had four stars. As far as the investment I might have let price influence that as well where I should have really done it on just reusability. Playability was suppose to mean more on the lines of how competitive the deck is. But rating on how easy/difficult it is to piolet would have been a nice catagorey to add as well.
Thanks for the comments again and I am glad that you guys enjoyed it and I would also like to add that I do welcome the critizm.
Totally agree with olaw - "A" for effort, but for heaven's sake, get an editor! ;) You spell worse than I do! Also, there are a lot of grey areas with regards to card choice...but a burn deck without kilnfiend is simply wrong on all levels. I can't respect anyone who deludes themselves into thinking otherwise.
Where to begin . . . first of all apparently you can't take the time to read anything as it is me you totally agree with concerning the "a" for effort.
Second, how good is kiln fiend as the only creature in a deck that actually lives more than a turn? The beauty of the burn deck is it leaves decks staring at the their creature removal in disbelief. You play a kiln fiend and they're immediately vindicated. You'd be better off shard volley'ing them.
Third, not respecting someone because they don't put a marginal card in pauper burn deck is the most ridiculous thing I've heard since someone told me this company actually exists (www.clevelandsteamercleaner.com)
Your simply lying. KF can and does (around 50%) kill when it swings. Not including an "I Win" card for fear of turning on opps removal is folly. Not to self-promote (like that even does anything here) but all the for/against comments about this are listed here in depth:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/burning-kiln
I guess crapping on your pet card gets you a little "fired" up.
Regardless, Fiend is average at best in the red decks in pauper. Better noted, the red burn decks in pauper are below average.
A good article, that may have needed a polish.
I may not be spotting it, but why are there Evolving Wilds in the Affinity list? I doesn't have any basic lands ... And tbh, it's a fairly high lands count (25) for an Affinity list.
Correct the decklists, is not just the lands in affinity, check some numbers. Then I'll save this article to check it out constantly.
NIce job. I can tell the affinity has a mistake but if people looked and did some math its fairly clear the cards dont belong in the deck and i understand you arent saying to play them as well. That said do make sure you fully check your decklists for old stragglers like thos e9 lands.