I always enjoy reading someone else's take on some decks and cards, especially when it involves decks just outside the current "decks to beat" list. Even better when they're similar to some decks I've tried.
I'm not sure why I overlooked Wild Mongrel as a 2-drop after Putrid Leech in the Jund style builds. Maybe I don't own them online? (Not there to check.)
I used Resounding Thunder with some success in earlier Standard builds (maybe Extended and Block too), but not in Classic Pauper. In Classic I've turned more often to potential "multiple hits" like Arc Lightning or Staggershock. Thunder feels contrary to Mongrel to me.
Splashing blue for Mully and the Trinket Mage SB package is interesting. It's been my experience, however, that "Ranger Rock" style of deck works out best when you can use turn 1 for fetching the color you need to play Putrid Leech or the alternate 2-drop on turn 2. Watering down the colors with even just one Island worries me. I think I like the security of remaining at 3 colors and using something like Phyrexian Rager in place of Mully. Mully is certainly better than Rager, but at the cost of "safe" mana. Then there's that sweet Green Post deck full of Land D that could spoil the day for the blue splash.
Nice explanation for your choices, though. You've given me some ideas to improve my own similar decks. Mongrel (duh!), and sideboard options in particular.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of "interesting" pauper decks that have some potential to be borderline playable in a competitive context, but the ones you picked to showcase don't stand out from the crowd. Out of the decks you listed, the Wellspring deck is the only one that's very interesting. It's like an Affinity deck with more burn and less Affinity. The two "Rock" decks seem like they should just be variants on Dead Dog, but adding more colors doesn't look like it will help much. Giving up the good madness cards from Dead Dog and replacing them with bland, off color cards does not seem productive. There have been countless numbers of Black/Red Blightning decks, and I don't see anything very interesting about yours. On the cloak deck, if you're going to run blue, I think you have to run a control package in order to buy time. Spellstutter Sprite can wear equips and auras (especially Rancor) very effectively. Then, I would advise that you drop white altogether and add a Dreamstalker package. Blue/Green control/tempo decks can be effective.
You can't top-deck tutor in response to Choas Warp (at least to do what Andy says). During it's resolution, it *SHUFFLES* the card into your library. So if you vamp in response, that card is going to get shuffled away.
It is an awesome card against a lot of decks - not shops, because of the CC and the fact it's much more likely to flip something dangerous up.
Some interesting stuff. Your last list in particular has some interesting potential, but I think too many colors in an aggro deck can be a recipe for disaster. If you cut white, the squadron hawks and go pure jund, I think the deck has a lot of potential. Kird Ape doesn't see enough play (the card was actually banned at one point) and I think works better than Nacatl because it doesn't require as fractured a mana base. Putrid Leech is still Pauper Goyf as far as I can tell.
I must admit I am ignorant enough of pauper to not know the best replacement for a green 1 drop, Basking Rootwalla would be my assumption, especially with Mongrel, but that may be wrong. Green has Savannah Lions clones, Rogue Elephants and Scythe Tiger, although the synergy with Kird Ape is questionable.
I would also rather play Rancor or something aggressive rather than Duress maindeck. Even Ravenous Rats seems better, Unearth is also an option if you want a few more 187 creatures. Playing only 3 colors allows you to trim 3 wayfinders for Phyrexian Rager or whatever else you like, that's probably the best value creature that you can cast on curve. Keldon Marauders might not be the worst, or you could get spicy and try Horned Kavu or something crazy. Unearth and Keldon Marauders seems like good enough value/reach to me.
I love Nacatl but you really need fetches/duals to have it be worthwhile. No Lightning Helix, no way to make Steppe Lynx viable, naya zoo just doesn't seem possible in pauper.
Also, the 4CC deck Azgan used really can't be attributed to me. I appreciate the shout-out, but all I did was copy a deck built and piloted to five tournament wins by another player, Cleomar. I used a different mix of of fetchlands is all, it should totally be attributed to him.
BTW, totally agree about Gitaxian Probe and Vapor Snag as singletons. Leeching Bite would be an awesome maindeck inclusion, or just more Probe to make sure your alpha strike is free from any interruptions.
a format where the field is so diverse in not only colors but deck types and win conditions! Pauper is slowly becoming an interesting format to me and I have several "casual builds" that I may start tweaking a bit to join some of these. Thanks for the article.
Let me be more precise. Yes, you CAN use the current client on a laptop, but there are no specific support features for laptops.
It's well documented that lag and disconnects are more troublesome on wifi. I can't think of any genuine reason why that should be, most other vendors programs involving a client and server seems to function better.
Laptop display area and pixel density are generally worse than desktops. I'd like to see less wasted space and clearer graphics. Why does everything have to be in one window? Chat windows could be floating free of the main window. The client doesn't remember your layout either, it always resets with every new session.
Input is the worst thing for me currently. The touchpad is slow compared to a mouse, and the GUI doesn't lend itself to common operations like clicking on a lot of lands or assigning attackers and blockers. There really need to be more keyboard shortcuts for things like this, e.g. an attack with everything key, a tap any lands to pay for this spell key etc.
Having said that, the current key shortcuts can be flakey at best. On my machine pressing F10 only highlights a 'no' box, I have to press F10 a second time to get it to register. So any additional shortcuts need to be bug free.
Thanks for the videos! This is as close as most of us will get to Classic, so keep it coming.
As we speak, the Community Cup is in full swing and our inevitable victory is on the way. Time to bring it home, or your next article's comment section will make Vancouver look like a three-year-old's birthday party.
Also, great to hear George on the latest Limited Resources podcast. If you haven't heard it, Marshall gets some of the CC members to do a preview of the event. Good times.
so yea, right now you will not find de's on weekdays, and the weekend events fire at about a 50% clip. However if your going to "invest", dont let current firing rates deter you. the format ha a ton of gamers to play in tp and if you hate it cause no events fire you can sell for profit most likekly barring a fow, wasteland, led reprint.
Remember our conversation about balancing decks a while back? This is what I was talking about. My Gf and I used to play daily and I'd build the decks and balance them so we could have fun. Not always so easily done. Particularly with new sets coming out adding to the chaos.
Hope you and your wife enjoy the fruits of your labor in this.
Duel decks are, as you say, well balanced and more budget. But I always liked building my own decks and when I first started this project, I thought I could easily come up with two balanced decks in no time. Which as you see, turned out to be a real challenge. I never knew how hard it can be to build two decks that are designed to fight against each other.
Next week you'll see what I did end up with. I'm very happy with the outcome but it took me a whole month to end this project and to build just two decks!
As I said, it was a real challenge but I definitely liked it. And most probably I will do this again after INN's realease in October.
...really? The tagline is supposed to draw someone in to read the article, not Ctrl+F for the words in it to skip the article entirely and get the description out of context.
However, while I disagree with your methods, you do bring up a good point. I should've made it more obvious in the description or the article which card I was talking about.
as a note...I simply maximized the youtube window and raised it to 720p and thought it looked fine. I could see everything well enough to understand what you were talking about and your choices. While your choices may not have been the best, mine wouldnt have been either. But qualitywise it was fine. sucked on that time out pic though.
Sorry, but where is the RSS feed for the podcast? MTGCast hasn't updated in a month
Nice article.
I always enjoy reading someone else's take on some decks and cards, especially when it involves decks just outside the current "decks to beat" list. Even better when they're similar to some decks I've tried.
http://pdcmagic.com/gatherling/profile.php?player=rpitcher
I'm not sure why I overlooked Wild Mongrel as a 2-drop after Putrid Leech in the Jund style builds. Maybe I don't own them online? (Not there to check.)
I used Resounding Thunder with some success in earlier Standard builds (maybe Extended and Block too), but not in Classic Pauper. In Classic I've turned more often to potential "multiple hits" like Arc Lightning or Staggershock. Thunder feels contrary to Mongrel to me.
Splashing blue for Mully and the Trinket Mage SB package is interesting. It's been my experience, however, that "Ranger Rock" style of deck works out best when you can use turn 1 for fetching the color you need to play Putrid Leech or the alternate 2-drop on turn 2. Watering down the colors with even just one Island worries me. I think I like the security of remaining at 3 colors and using something like Phyrexian Rager in place of Mully. Mully is certainly better than Rager, but at the cost of "safe" mana. Then there's that sweet Green Post deck full of Land D that could spoil the day for the blue splash.
Nice explanation for your choices, though. You've given me some ideas to improve my own similar decks. Mongrel (duh!), and sideboard options in particular.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of "interesting" pauper decks that have some potential to be borderline playable in a competitive context, but the ones you picked to showcase don't stand out from the crowd. Out of the decks you listed, the Wellspring deck is the only one that's very interesting. It's like an Affinity deck with more burn and less Affinity. The two "Rock" decks seem like they should just be variants on Dead Dog, but adding more colors doesn't look like it will help much. Giving up the good madness cards from Dead Dog and replacing them with bland, off color cards does not seem productive. There have been countless numbers of Black/Red Blightning decks, and I don't see anything very interesting about yours. On the cloak deck, if you're going to run blue, I think you have to run a control package in order to buy time. Spellstutter Sprite can wear equips and auras (especially Rancor) very effectively. Then, I would advise that you drop white altogether and add a Dreamstalker package. Blue/Green control/tempo decks can be effective.
PiDave said, "Just noticed that there's also a neat Pauper Classic version of UG Infect:
http://pdcmagic.com/gatherling/deck.php?mode=view&id=16379
This is getting very interesting. :-)"
THAT one managed a turn 2 win against me at TPDC, even against my Bolt! Explosive!
Troll!!!
It's episode 20 dudes... time to buy some decent microphones if you have a long-term goal to keep casting.
Oath reveals from the top of the deck - it doesn't search.
You can't top-deck tutor in response to Choas Warp (at least to do what Andy says). During it's resolution, it *SHUFFLES* the card into your library. So if you vamp in response, that card is going to get shuffled away.
It is an awesome card against a lot of decks - not shops, because of the CC and the fact it's much more likely to flip something dangerous up.
Yeah, sorry, I missed that link too. Sheesh, I really need to triple check everything! :D
Oh yeah, now I understand Cleomar bouncing around games and shout "4CC's back!". Good times! XD
Some interesting stuff. Your last list in particular has some interesting potential, but I think too many colors in an aggro deck can be a recipe for disaster. If you cut white, the squadron hawks and go pure jund, I think the deck has a lot of potential. Kird Ape doesn't see enough play (the card was actually banned at one point) and I think works better than Nacatl because it doesn't require as fractured a mana base. Putrid Leech is still Pauper Goyf as far as I can tell.
I must admit I am ignorant enough of pauper to not know the best replacement for a green 1 drop, Basking Rootwalla would be my assumption, especially with Mongrel, but that may be wrong. Green has Savannah Lions clones, Rogue Elephants and Scythe Tiger, although the synergy with Kird Ape is questionable.
I would also rather play Rancor or something aggressive rather than Duress maindeck. Even Ravenous Rats seems better, Unearth is also an option if you want a few more 187 creatures. Playing only 3 colors allows you to trim 3 wayfinders for Phyrexian Rager or whatever else you like, that's probably the best value creature that you can cast on curve. Keldon Marauders might not be the worst, or you could get spicy and try Horned Kavu or something crazy. Unearth and Keldon Marauders seems like good enough value/reach to me.
I love Nacatl but you really need fetches/duals to have it be worthwhile. No Lightning Helix, no way to make Steppe Lynx viable, naya zoo just doesn't seem possible in pauper.
Gatherling entry lists 4 Evolving Wilds.
Should have used Terramorphic Expanse! :^)
Good to see the series return for another season! NPH has definitely warped things a bit and I'm glad that Infect has taken hold from the start.
I should point out that the Gatherling Entry link sends us back to Worlds. The MPDC 13.01 link is here:
http://pdcmagic.com/gatherling/eventreport.php?event=MPDC%2013.01
Also, the 4CC deck Azgan used really can't be attributed to me. I appreciate the shout-out, but all I did was copy a deck built and piloted to five tournament wins by another player, Cleomar. I used a different mix of of fetchlands is all, it should totally be attributed to him.
BTW, totally agree about Gitaxian Probe and Vapor Snag as singletons. Leeching Bite would be an awesome maindeck inclusion, or just more Probe to make sure your alpha strike is free from any interruptions.
Keep up the good work!
Is the decklist also missing some Evolved Wilds or Terramorphics?
Just noticed that there's also a neat Pauper Classic version of UG Infect:
http://pdcmagic.com/gatherling/deck.php?mode=view&id=16379
This is getting very interesting. :-)
Thank you for the feedback. :)
P.S.
I noticed that the featured decklist is missing 7 Forests; they're in the colorpie though. Sorry for the mis-paste. ^_^;
Sweet, I want to try them out
a format where the field is so diverse in not only colors but deck types and win conditions! Pauper is slowly becoming an interesting format to me and I have several "casual builds" that I may start tweaking a bit to join some of these. Thanks for the article.
Let me be more precise. Yes, you CAN use the current client on a laptop, but there are no specific support features for laptops.
It's well documented that lag and disconnects are more troublesome on wifi. I can't think of any genuine reason why that should be, most other vendors programs involving a client and server seems to function better.
Laptop display area and pixel density are generally worse than desktops. I'd like to see less wasted space and clearer graphics. Why does everything have to be in one window? Chat windows could be floating free of the main window. The client doesn't remember your layout either, it always resets with every new session.
Input is the worst thing for me currently. The touchpad is slow compared to a mouse, and the GUI doesn't lend itself to common operations like clicking on a lot of lands or assigning attackers and blockers. There really need to be more keyboard shortcuts for things like this, e.g. an attack with everything key, a tap any lands to pay for this spell key etc.
Having said that, the current key shortcuts can be flakey at best. On my machine pressing F10 only highlights a 'no' box, I have to press F10 a second time to get it to register. So any additional shortcuts need to be bug free.
Thanks for the videos! This is as close as most of us will get to Classic, so keep it coming.
As we speak, the Community Cup is in full swing and our inevitable victory is on the way. Time to bring it home, or your next article's comment section will make Vancouver look like a three-year-old's birthday party.
Also, great to hear George on the latest Limited Resources podcast. If you haven't heard it, Marshall gets some of the CC members to do a preview of the event. Good times.
so yea, right now you will not find de's on weekdays, and the weekend events fire at about a 50% clip. However if your going to "invest", dont let current firing rates deter you. the format ha a ton of gamers to play in tp and if you hate it cause no events fire you can sell for profit most likekly barring a fow, wasteland, led reprint.
Remember our conversation about balancing decks a while back? This is what I was talking about. My Gf and I used to play daily and I'd build the decks and balance them so we could have fun. Not always so easily done. Particularly with new sets coming out adding to the chaos.
Hope you and your wife enjoy the fruits of your labor in this.
Duel decks are, as you say, well balanced and more budget. But I always liked building my own decks and when I first started this project, I thought I could easily come up with two balanced decks in no time. Which as you see, turned out to be a real challenge. I never knew how hard it can be to build two decks that are designed to fight against each other.
Next week you'll see what I did end up with. I'm very happy with the outcome but it took me a whole month to end this project and to build just two decks!
As I said, it was a real challenge but I definitely liked it. And most probably I will do this again after INN's realease in October.
LE
...really? The tagline is supposed to draw someone in to read the article, not Ctrl+F for the words in it to skip the article entirely and get the description out of context.
However, while I disagree with your methods, you do bring up a good point. I should've made it more obvious in the description or the article which card I was talking about.
Duel decks?
They're quite balanced, fun and more budget.
The chances of making 2 decks that are evenly matched is difficult to say the least.
Good luck in your quest.
as a note...I simply maximized the youtube window and raised it to 720p and thought it looked fine. I could see everything well enough to understand what you were talking about and your choices. While your choices may not have been the best, mine wouldnt have been either. But qualitywise it was fine. sucked on that time out pic though.