I haven't played any pauper for over a month, and I've been wanting to get back in to it. I'm wondering what the other players think is the best deck against the field. Or, more simply, what is the best deck?
I'm setting up this poll out of curiosity mostly. I don't want to know what you play, I want to know what you would play if you had all the cards. All of the choices are decks that have had numerous showings in DE's over the last 10 days. If you want to post why you think your choice is the best deck, that might be interesting to read as well.
I haven't played any pauper for over a month, and I've been wanting to get back in to it. I'm wondering what the other players think is the best deck against the field. Or, more simply, what is the best deck?
I'm setting up this poll out of curiosity mostly. I don't want to know what you play, I want to know what you would play if you had all the cards. All of the choices are decks that have had numerous showings in DE's over the last 10 days. If you want to post why you think your choice is the best deck, that might be interesting to read as well.
I think there is another (very similar) thread about this topic. I also think it's very hard to pick a best deck without understanding the factors that determine what allows someone to play a deck at its optimal level.
In terms of late game inevitability and pure power level, it could be that UR Post is the best...however that deck also requires a lot of time and many lines of thought to be played optimally. These aspects of the deck can be tedious and/or very taxing. So when a player is affected by these, it no longer remains "the best deck".
It also isn't obejctively the best deck for every player. I personally perform much better with proactive/aggressive strategies than I do with reactive/defensive ones, so UR Post would almost never be the best deck for me to play.
Also, "the field" changes all the time—especially in Pauper. You'll see that there are a number of reasonable decks to choose from, each having their day in the sun at one point or another.
What are your goals? UR Post is by far not "the best deck" for someone looking to be a serious multi-queing grinder, while Goblins and Storm are both very well suited for that purpose.
I'm fairly certain that you'll get multiple answers to your question, and they'll all probably be "right" in their own way.
I would give it to Delver Blue/Faeries pretty easily actually. It doesn't have any matchups that are to bad and if you are a strong player should have a chance to win basically every match.
The stats back this up pretty strongly too, just look at any of JustSin's articles on puremtgo. It is always Mono blue at the top. Looking at the players with the most wins this year on MTGStats backs this up even more as three of the top five are Delver blue players and four of the top six are players that play some sort of mono blue deck with Delver of Secrets.
As for some of the other decks and why I wouldn't pick them...
UR Post is a fine and powerful deck, and easily the top deck in the format for people that don't like to actually do anything for the first couple turns in the game. However, it has a huge hole against the combo decks in the format (I was 29-3 against it with Storm stats) and having matchups that lopsided against them takes away from being the best overall deck.
As for UR Storm, I don't even think it is close to the best Storm deck. Sure the deck is fast, and very explosive, and fairly easy to pick up, but the versatility is just not there. Not having the ability to switch to Grapeshot well or even being able to beat Seismic Shudder+counterspell.
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Standard: Zombies, AntiTusk Vampires, BUG Graveyard, Bant Hexproof, UR Storm Delver Modern: Storm, Jund, Ghast Blaster, Elf Warriors Legacy: RUG Cascade, Imperial Painter, Affinity, Dredge, Elves, Merfolk, Pox, Dragon Stompie, Goblins, ANT, Belcher Classic: Delver, Dredge, Jacerater Draft: I will draft basically any format online (other than Masques) Pauper: MTGO's #1 most handsome Pauper Storm player
it really comes down, as mentioned, to your playing ability and deck preference... but if you were to put all of that information aside and take it all at face value Delver blue has been, without question, the most dominate deck in the format
I apologize for nitpicking spelling/grammar, but the word you want is "dominant". Or maybe "dominating". It's the one thing that annoys me about your writeups on puremtgo.
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I'm setting up this poll out of curiosity mostly. I don't want to know what you play, I want to know what you would play if you had all the cards. All of the choices are decks that have had numerous showings in DE's over the last 10 days. If you want to post why you think your choice is the best deck, that might be interesting to read as well.
I think there is another (very similar) thread about this topic. I also think it's very hard to pick a best deck without understanding the factors that determine what allows someone to play a deck at its optimal level.
In terms of late game inevitability and pure power level, it could be that UR Post is the best...however that deck also requires a lot of time and many lines of thought to be played optimally. These aspects of the deck can be tedious and/or very taxing. So when a player is affected by these, it no longer remains "the best deck".
It also isn't obejctively the best deck for every player. I personally perform much better with proactive/aggressive strategies than I do with reactive/defensive ones, so UR Post would almost never be the best deck for me to play.
Also, "the field" changes all the time—especially in Pauper. You'll see that there are a number of reasonable decks to choose from, each having their day in the sun at one point or another.
What are your goals? UR Post is by far not "the best deck" for someone looking to be a serious multi-queing grinder, while Goblins and Storm are both very well suited for that purpose.
I'm fairly certain that you'll get multiple answers to your question, and they'll all probably be "right" in their own way.
Pauper's Cage Podcast (Classic Pauper)—http://www.mtgcast.com/?cat=232
Cinemalarkey Podcast (Movie Reviews)—http://cinemalarkeycast.libsyn.com/
The stats back this up pretty strongly too, just look at any of JustSin's articles on puremtgo. It is always Mono blue at the top. Looking at the players with the most wins this year on MTGStats backs this up even more as three of the top five are Delver blue players and four of the top six are players that play some sort of mono blue deck with Delver of Secrets.
As for some of the other decks and why I wouldn't pick them...
UR Post is a fine and powerful deck, and easily the top deck in the format for people that don't like to actually do anything for the first couple turns in the game. However, it has a huge hole against the combo decks in the format (I was 29-3 against it with Storm stats) and having matchups that lopsided against them takes away from being the best overall deck.
As for UR Storm, I don't even think it is close to the best Storm deck. Sure the deck is fast, and very explosive, and fairly easy to pick up, but the versatility is just not there. Not having the ability to switch to Grapeshot well or even being able to beat Seismic Shudder+counterspell.
Modern: Storm, Jund, Ghast Blaster, Elf Warriors
Legacy: RUG Cascade, Imperial Painter, Affinity, Dredge, Elves, Merfolk, Pox, Dragon Stompie, Goblins, ANT, Belcher
Classic: Delver, Dredge, Jacerater
Draft: I will draft basically any format online (other than Masques)
Pauper: MTGO's #1 most handsome Pauper Storm player
Deck List:
BMBCB
UBUB Control/TeachingsBU
Ha! My Pauper UG Post Deck Showed!
Classic
BPoxB
Legacy
GB Eva Depths (Primer By Me) BG
Monthly Academy Showcase!
An Introduction to Competitive Pauper! *Updated*
Pauper Meta Analysis & What Wizards Left Out!
Found at MTGO Academy!! Same Great Series, Same Great Content, Great New Home!! (yes that is me shamelessly trolling for more readers :))
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If I was looking to profit as much as possible on Magic Online, I'd probably go with some variant of Storm or Infect.
I apologize for nitpicking spelling/grammar, but the word you want is "dominant". Or maybe "dominating". It's the one thing that annoys me about your writeups on puremtgo.