So, with Pauper now playable at FNM I was thinking they could reprint the best cards from the format in something draftable, maybe make the format worth more than casual Planeswalker points. Oubliette and Serum Visions need a reprint, after all. Would Cloud of Faeries and Snap be left in? For that matter do they reprint or ban commons that aren't in the MTGO format that might effect constructed play like Sinkhole, Feldon's Cane and Hymn to Tourach?
Doubtful that they would release a draftable set featuring only commons. Most players want bomb rares & staples for more popular formats. Additionally drafts would be considered limited events regardless of what format the packs were intended for.
Not going to happen. MMA2 will have common reprints and maybe even some rarity shifts, but wizards would never make a set of commons only.
However,if what you want is to draft, you should look into building a Pauper Cube. There are plenty of lists online and they are pretty cheap to build and you can tailor it to your like.
I've become kind of obsessed with the idea of a Pauper Masters lately. I don't think it's fair just to assume that a sufficient pool could not be assembled. I want to see if enough potential rares exist amongst commons, not just take it as given that they don't.
Those are at least some of the best commons in the game and I'd argue many of them would be perfectly acceptable as "bomb rares". If we allow Pauper Masters to draw rares from paper-only commons (which might be problematic for Online Pauper, or at least somewhat confusing) then Sinkhole, Hymn to Tourach and Strip Mine (yes, it is a common regardless of what Gatherer says) would make fine rares/mythics as well.
I agree with most of your list, except for Empyrial Armor (I'd put Ancestral Mask there instead), Arcane Denial (Counterspell could be there instead), Quirion Ranger, Ponder and Land Grant. I feel like the last 3 don't really have "rare" qualities to them. I'm also iffy on Snap. How about High Tide in that paper-only list?
I agree with most of your list, except for Empyrial Armor (I'd put Ancestral Mask there instead),
Why not both? My list is not supposed to be exhaustive (Modern Masters 2015 will have 53 rares and 15 mythics, if Pauper Masters would be a similar size we'd obviously need a lot more than just those I thought of) and Ancestral Mask is a good addition.
Arcane Denial (Counterspell could be there instead),
The fact is there's lots of really strong countermagic at common, I chose Arcane Denial because it's been printed fewer times and has that extra bit of complication in the cantrips. But a case could be made for Counterspell.
Quirion Ranger, Ponder and Land Grant. I feel like the last 3 don't really have "rare" qualities to them. I'm also iffy on Snap.
Ranger, Ponder and Snap are all genuine "Pauper Masters" in that they're strong cards that see a lot of play in the format. I figure they'd be in the set one way or another, but they don't all have to be rare. I'm not sure if Land Grant is played much in Pauper but it's a unique effect that has a place in some Eternal decks; really I just want a reprint because I'm trying to build Cheerios in Legacy :).
Hymn to Tourach should go in there. That is my favorite Pauper card ever.
I did mention it, but since it's not a common online there's potentially some issues that would need to be sorted out. I envisage Pauper Masters bringing the paper and online formats as close together as feasible, similar to Vintage Master's mandate, but there's an open question of what the best way to do that would be. One possibility would be to put affected cards in the common slot but that places extra pressure on the already difficult to populate higher rarities. Another solution would be to "cheat" and just rule that all cards printed in Pauper Masters are legal in Pauper regardless of rarity (or say that any printing, paper or online, can qualify any card).
A third possibility is to reprint Hymn in a non-random set, like a duel deck or Commander deck. The convention with these is to use the rarity of the most recent printing in a core set or expert level expansion (so excluding Masters Edition etc.) so if Hymn showed up in Commander 2015, it would become legal in online Pauper and there'd be no problem. This avenue isn't open to all of the "paper only" commons (for example, Goblin Grenade was most recently printed at uncommon in M12 so subsequent printings will reflect that rather than its common status in Fallen Empires) but it is open to Hymn, Sinkhole, High Tide and others.
I just thought that since Empyrial Armor is played so little and that it's not completely broken either, maybe it shouldn't even be in a set such as this.
I'd see Land Grant, cantrips and Ranger more in the uncommon slots, personally.
Is there a list somewhere of cards that were printed as both commons and uncommons? A case could be made to return them to uncommon status in this set and possibly make them rare.
Exile also seems like a good candidate. Printed as a rare, then downgraded to common.
I just thought that since Empyrial Armor is played so little and that it's not completely broken either, maybe it shouldn't even be in a set such as this.
I was looking for bomb quality commons and while it's true that it's not broken, I think it might qualify for that. It's not played in constructed because the environments don't exist that support it but anyone who drafted Vintage Masters can attest to its strength in limited.
Exile also seems like a good candidate. Printed as a rare, then downgraded to common.
Exile has the opposite problem to Hymn et al. in that it was only common online. Also it's so close to Kill Shot that I can't really see it as rare nowadays.
Except a Cube has no concept of rarities, if I understand correctly.
I agree with everything on Zephyr's list except Werebear. It's definitely a strong common, but I don't think it's rare material, either.
Lotus Petal
Daze
Brainstorm
Diabolic Edict
Ponder
Crop Rotation
Mogg Fanatic
Wild Mongrel
Rhystic Study
Gush
Rancor
Fireblast
Blastoderm
Empyrial Armor
Ancestral Mask
Land Grant
Quirion Ranger
Capsize
Arcane Denial
Counterspell
Armadillo Cloak
Disciple of the Vault
Snap
Mulldrifter
Rolling Thunder
Guardian of the Guildpact
Lightning Bolt
Werebear
Tortured Existence
Sprout Swarm
Errant Ephemeron
Ulamog's Crusher
Delver of Secrets
Serrated Arrows
Pyrotechnics
Pestilence
This is already shaping up to be quite a list. 36 cards. I'd like to add Atog as well, possibly. I feel like some Goblins could also go in there, like Goblin Matron or Sparksmith. Death Spark also has a rather special place, though never printed as a common in paper, either. There's also Mogg War Marshal, Carrion Feeder and Firebolt that I'd like to see at uncommon. Maybe even Tron at uncommon.
The problem with Delver is that it needs a separate double-faced sheet. The problem with a separate double-faced sheet is that there are only 10 pauper-legal double-faced cards (Innistrad had 20 cards on its double-faced sheet, Dark Ascension had 13) and Delver is the only one that's probably worth reprinting. I would be ok with reprinting all of them if I thought it would facilitate a Delver reprint but I don't think 10 is enough for an entire sheet.
The problem with Delver is that it needs a separate double-faced sheet. The problem with a separate double-faced sheet is that there are only 10 pauper-legal double-faced cards (Innistrad had 20 cards on its double-faced sheet, Dark Ascension had 13) and Delver is the only one that's probably worth reprinting. I would be ok with reprinting all of them if I thought it would facilitate a Delver reprint but I don't think 10 is enough for an entire sheet.
Also, Pyrotechnics is another paper-only common.
Well, they did change the card border with that fancy "machine-readable" ID info in the lower left, so they could just print a bunch of Delver of Secrets on one sheet and have the machines interleave them with the other cards.
That said, how would Wizards make money from a set full of commons? (even if many were uncommon/rare for limited purposes) It's a non-starter. I don't think they'd bet on the popularity booming enough to make a profit, would they?
The problem with Delver is that it needs a separate double-faced sheet. The problem with a separate double-faced sheet is that there are only 10 pauper-legal double-faced cards (Innistrad had 20 cards on its double-faced sheet, Dark Ascension had 13) and Delver is the only one that's probably worth reprinting. I would be ok with reprinting all of them if I thought it would facilitate a Delver reprint but I don't think 10 is enough for an entire sheet.
Also, Pyrotechnics is another paper-only common.
Well, they did change the card border with that fancy "machine-readable" ID info in the lower left, so they could just print a bunch of Delver of Secrets on one sheet and have the machines interleave them with the other cards.
Wow, that's a really good idea. If the machine readable codes can do that then that's perfect, whether for Pauper Masters or any other reprint of double-faced cards.
That said, how would Wizards make money from a set full of commons? (even if many were uncommon/rare for limited purposes) It's a non-starter. I don't think they'd bet on the popularity booming enough to make a profit, would they?
I don't know what their usual profit margins are but if they could get an idea of how popular it would be they could limit the print run so that there wouldn't be a glut. It's like what MaRo says about Unhinged (admittedly not an unbiased commentator, but he does have a better insight into the process than us): The problem wasn't that people didn't buy it, the problem was they printed too much.
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However,if what you want is to draft, you should look into building a Pauper Cube. There are plenty of lists online and they are pretty cheap to build and you can tailor it to your like.
Some ideas, in no particular order:
Those are at least some of the best commons in the game and I'd argue many of them would be perfectly acceptable as "bomb rares". If we allow Pauper Masters to draw rares from paper-only commons (which might be problematic for Online Pauper, or at least somewhat confusing) then Sinkhole, Hymn to Tourach and Strip Mine (yes, it is a common regardless of what Gatherer says) would make fine rares/mythics as well.
I agree with most of your list, except for Empyrial Armor (I'd put Ancestral Mask there instead), Arcane Denial (Counterspell could be there instead), Quirion Ranger, Ponder and Land Grant. I feel like the last 3 don't really have "rare" qualities to them. I'm also iffy on Snap. How about High Tide in that paper-only list?
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
Why not both? My list is not supposed to be exhaustive (Modern Masters 2015 will have 53 rares and 15 mythics, if Pauper Masters would be a similar size we'd obviously need a lot more than just those I thought of) and Ancestral Mask is a good addition.
The fact is there's lots of really strong countermagic at common, I chose Arcane Denial because it's been printed fewer times and has that extra bit of complication in the cantrips. But a case could be made for Counterspell.
Ranger, Ponder and Snap are all genuine "Pauper Masters" in that they're strong cards that see a lot of play in the format. I figure they'd be in the set one way or another, but they don't all have to be rare. I'm not sure if Land Grant is played much in Pauper but it's a unique effect that has a place in some Eternal decks; really I just want a reprint because I'm trying to build Cheerios in Legacy :).
Good idea, thanks for your input.
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
I did mention it, but since it's not a common online there's potentially some issues that would need to be sorted out. I envisage Pauper Masters bringing the paper and online formats as close together as feasible, similar to Vintage Master's mandate, but there's an open question of what the best way to do that would be. One possibility would be to put affected cards in the common slot but that places extra pressure on the already difficult to populate higher rarities. Another solution would be to "cheat" and just rule that all cards printed in Pauper Masters are legal in Pauper regardless of rarity (or say that any printing, paper or online, can qualify any card).
A third possibility is to reprint Hymn in a non-random set, like a duel deck or Commander deck. The convention with these is to use the rarity of the most recent printing in a core set or expert level expansion (so excluding Masters Edition etc.) so if Hymn showed up in Commander 2015, it would become legal in online Pauper and there'd be no problem. This avenue isn't open to all of the "paper only" commons (for example, Goblin Grenade was most recently printed at uncommon in M12 so subsequent printings will reflect that rather than its common status in Fallen Empires) but it is open to Hymn, Sinkhole, High Tide and others.
I'd see Land Grant, cantrips and Ranger more in the uncommon slots, personally.
Is there a list somewhere of cards that were printed as both commons and uncommons? A case could be made to return them to uncommon status in this set and possibly make them rare.
Exile also seems like a good candidate. Printed as a rare, then downgraded to common.
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
I was looking for bomb quality commons and while it's true that it's not broken, I think it might qualify for that. It's not played in constructed because the environments don't exist that support it but anyone who drafted Vintage Masters can attest to its strength in limited.
Exile has the opposite problem to Hymn et al. in that it was only common online. Also it's so close to Kill Shot that I can't really see it as rare nowadays.
And Uncommons:
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Check my Pauper Cube!
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I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
I agree with everything on Zephyr's list except Werebear. It's definitely a strong common, but I don't think it's rare material, either.
This is already shaping up to be quite a list. 36 cards. I'd like to add Atog as well, possibly. I feel like some Goblins could also go in there, like Goblin Matron or Sparksmith. Death Spark also has a rather special place, though never printed as a common in paper, either. There's also Mogg War Marshal, Carrion Feeder and Firebolt that I'd like to see at uncommon. Maybe even Tron at uncommon.
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
The problem with Delver is that it needs a separate double-faced sheet. The problem with a separate double-faced sheet is that there are only 10 pauper-legal double-faced cards (Innistrad had 20 cards on its double-faced sheet, Dark Ascension had 13) and Delver is the only one that's probably worth reprinting. I would be ok with reprinting all of them if I thought it would facilitate a Delver reprint but I don't think 10 is enough for an entire sheet.
Also, Pyrotechnics is another paper-only common.
That said, how would Wizards make money from a set full of commons? (even if many were uncommon/rare for limited purposes) It's a non-starter. I don't think they'd bet on the popularity booming enough to make a profit, would they?
Wow, that's a really good idea. If the machine readable codes can do that then that's perfect, whether for Pauper Masters or any other reprint of double-faced cards.
I don't know what their usual profit margins are but if they could get an idea of how popular it would be they could limit the print run so that there wouldn't be a glut. It's like what MaRo says about Unhinged (admittedly not an unbiased commentator, but he does have a better insight into the process than us): The problem wasn't that people didn't buy it, the problem was they printed too much.