Hello everybody. I'm a returning MTG player, played Modern for some time and have dabbled in FNM every now and then, but myself and my friends are looking for a cheaper yet still competitive format that we can play and Pauper sounds great. After going over some of the deck lists, I just had a few questions.
1. What decks are good for beginners to the format?
2. I am pretty sure that this is how it works, but some clarification would be much appreciated: A player can use cards that are uncommon rarity as long as they were printed at common at some point? Such as the card Reprisal (a favorite of mine), since it was printed at common way back in Alliances, is it legal in pauper?
3. As for the banlist, is it recommended to follow the MTGO one if you're playing paper? I assume that the cards on there are banned for a reason, and make their respective decks too strong in the format. For those who have played the decks with/without the cards, do they make those decks just too good against the other top decks?
Thank you! I very much looking forward to playing MTG again and welcome any suggestions that would make playing this format a better experience.
1. Stompy is a very competitive and relatively easy to play deck. White Weenie is also good for beginners. Affinity, Goblins and maybe Burn are also good choices. Delver and Tron are maybe a bit difficult to play, unless you are very experienced players. They take more practice. My list of decks to try in order would be: Stompy, White Weenie, Goblins, Affinity, Delver, Burn and Tron. I also very much encourage you to brew your own decks, as I find there is a lot to explore in Pauper.
2. That is absolutely correct. A Rancor from m13, for example, is just as legal for play as one from Urza's. As long as it was printed at some point as a common, it is legal as a common.
3. Not everyone agrees on this, but I would say a lot of people playing Paper Pauper use the online ban list. If you're only a couple people playing, you might want to agree on your own banlist. In my opinion, Cranial Plating and Invigorate definitely should be banned. To encourage different deck-building options, you may or may not want to ban Storm cards, or Cloudpost/ Glimmerpost. Basically, do whatever you want. If you're all net-deckers, you should probably stick to the banlist, though.
If you have experience with the game, there aren't really bad choices in terms of decks. There aren't many combo decks available: since Empty the warrens and grapeshot were banned, the only combos I can think of are Elves, Familiars and Midnight Guard + Presence of Gond. On the other hand, there's plenty of control decks, specially since there's ton of excellent counters and killspells at common. And delver.
For starting I'd just recommend you to netdeck some decks so you get an idea of the pauper metagame, since some decks (like affinity) are very different from their Modern or legacy counterparts. But if your friends are also new to the format, be careful with mono black control (MBC) and Delver decks, since the lack of answers to those make it sometimes pretty frustrating to play against.
As for the banlist, I think all the banned cards are there for good reasons.
For your first question, you might want to ask yourself what types of decks you enjoy playing and what colors you're inclined to favor. When I first started playing the format, being a big red fan, I immediately tried to put together a burn deck then a Goblin Deck. After further playtesting with my buddies and checking some decks online, I found the monoblack deck to look fun. Once Grey Merchant was out, I was sold!
Broco does make a good point with regards to checking some netdecks. It'll give you a good idea of the most common decks in pauper and you might even find something that catches your attention.
I usually refer to the lists found on DailyMTG (under the Decks of the Week portion) for some ideas. Here's a link:
I just don't want you to feel obligated to obey the ban list, though. They ban cards for a reason, yes, but these reasons may not be important for you and your friends. As long as you respect each other, and feel like you're having fair chances of beating one another with different decks, I don't see why so many cards should be banned.
For example, we allow Invigorate in my group. This is okay, because I'm playing either Turbofog or Pestilence, and they both crap on Infect decks. This keeps the deck in check and allows other strategies to flourish as well. Take your metagame into consideration before you make any decisions; in other words, start playing, THEN decide what should be banned. I don't think it would make sense any other way.
Haven't been to the forums in awhile but I figured I would chime in. A great beginner deck that gives you some options to be competitive would be White Weenie. I pretty much specialize in the White Weenie archtype so that is my go to suggestion for versatility.
Most likely the most simple deck to use is Burn, look in my signature and check out my Burn Primer and my Burn deck list. You can't go wrong with this as it is very simple, fast and efficient. If you want something fair, then fair it is not but competitive yes.
Though I would also check out the primer section here regarding some decks that are tested and work.
Both Obermeir and I have several primers there and you will find the information valuable I'm sure.
1. What decks are good for beginners to the format?
2. I am pretty sure that this is how it works, but some clarification would be much appreciated: A player can use cards that are uncommon rarity as long as they were printed at common at some point? Such as the card Reprisal (a favorite of mine), since it was printed at common way back in Alliances, is it legal in pauper?
3. As for the banlist, is it recommended to follow the MTGO one if you're playing paper? I assume that the cards on there are banned for a reason, and make their respective decks too strong in the format. For those who have played the decks with/without the cards, do they make those decks just too good against the other top decks?
Thank you! I very much looking forward to playing MTG again and welcome any suggestions that would make playing this format a better experience.
1. Stompy is a very competitive and relatively easy to play deck. White Weenie is also good for beginners. Affinity, Goblins and maybe Burn are also good choices. Delver and Tron are maybe a bit difficult to play, unless you are very experienced players. They take more practice. My list of decks to try in order would be: Stompy, White Weenie, Goblins, Affinity, Delver, Burn and Tron. I also very much encourage you to brew your own decks, as I find there is a lot to explore in Pauper.
2. That is absolutely correct. A Rancor from m13, for example, is just as legal for play as one from Urza's. As long as it was printed at some point as a common, it is legal as a common.
3. Not everyone agrees on this, but I would say a lot of people playing Paper Pauper use the online ban list. If you're only a couple people playing, you might want to agree on your own banlist. In my opinion, Cranial Plating and Invigorate definitely should be banned. To encourage different deck-building options, you may or may not want to ban Storm cards, or Cloudpost/ Glimmerpost. Basically, do whatever you want. If you're all net-deckers, you should probably stick to the banlist, though.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
For starting I'd just recommend you to netdeck some decks so you get an idea of the pauper metagame, since some decks (like affinity) are very different from their Modern or legacy counterparts. But if your friends are also new to the format, be careful with mono black control (MBC) and Delver decks, since the lack of answers to those make it sometimes pretty frustrating to play against.
As for the banlist, I think all the banned cards are there for good reasons.
For your first question, you might want to ask yourself what types of decks you enjoy playing and what colors you're inclined to favor. When I first started playing the format, being a big red fan, I immediately tried to put together a burn deck then a Goblin Deck. After further playtesting with my buddies and checking some decks online, I found the monoblack deck to look fun. Once Grey Merchant was out, I was sold!
Broco does make a good point with regards to checking some netdecks. It'll give you a good idea of the most common decks in pauper and you might even find something that catches your attention.
I usually refer to the lists found on DailyMTG (under the Decks of the Week portion) for some ideas. Here's a link:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?tag=activity
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
For example, we allow Invigorate in my group. This is okay, because I'm playing either Turbofog or Pestilence, and they both crap on Infect decks. This keeps the deck in check and allows other strategies to flourish as well. Take your metagame into consideration before you make any decisions; in other words, start playing, THEN decide what should be banned. I don't think it would make sense any other way.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Most likely the most simple deck to use is Burn, look in my signature and check out my Burn Primer and my Burn deck list. You can't go wrong with this as it is very simple, fast and efficient. If you want something fair, then fair it is not but competitive yes.
Though I would also check out the primer section here regarding some decks that are tested and work.
Both Obermeir and I have several primers there and you will find the information valuable I'm sure.
W White Weenie