Since I've got a very unorthodox Nath deck (my usual group game deck, which I've been meaning to post), Arcum (my tournament winning deck), my "Spirit of EDH" (which has easily earned more ire than all the others combined...), Sen Triplets, Skithrix, V Clique (yeah I'm a jerk like that), this deck, and a Riku deck I'm currently working on... People just haven't had enough chances to be annoyed by this deck.... yet, and with a lineup like that, most of them are actually happy to see Child show up.
This suffers from the fact that we're just not running that many red cards. I've got 6 in my current list. So the likelihood that I'd be able to do it for even two is pretty bad. Crypt Rats pretty much has it beat, and even that's on the chopping block more often than not for me, sometimes becoming Swirling Sandstorm.... and sometimes just leaving the deck entirely. Currently it's been slotted out for a Fireball, which I'm liking a lot better.
Seeing as how I'm looking to all too often kill my own general, and how he blows it up... Can't say this is exciting. And he practically reads unblockable anyway, I mean not only does Child sport trample... but if they kill it, it wipes their board, and then comes right back.
While I can't speak for d0su, I cut Trinket Mage for taking up space (Pauper really needs better 0 and 1 cost artifacts). And don't want any removal that can't kill my own child... who is immune to Capsule.
Realistically, Child itself kills in 4 hits if they can't answer it, since the whole point of the deck is to return it over and over... even if they can, it usually gets them eventually. Going to be tough finding a finisher that's that efficient. Otherwise I personally use the Krosan Restorer/Freed from the Reel infinite, and recurring Fireball/Rolling Thunder.
Valid argument for Martyr, Spreading Seas and the multikickers.
There are perfectly good sac outlets that can be used in place of the removal to kill off your general, even at common. Viscera Seer and Thoughtpicker witch come to mind. At the very least, these options can chumpblock something and sac themselves and smooth your draws/screw their draws. Less relevant in EDH, where evasion and trample is common, but it also means a repeatable way to kill off your general, as well as your izzet chronarch before using a Death denied to restock your hand.
The problem with permanent-based sac outlets is that they die when you sacrifice Child, so they're not actually repeatable. All of the sac outlets that are land or buyback spells are uncommon or rare, leaving us with spot removal as the only realistic option for getting rid of Child.
Really given that you only tend to net 2-3 cards off either of these cards, I'd say slot one out for Rush of Knowledge. You'll basically always draw 5 off it as few people want to wipe their board by killing Child to stop you. I know nobody has taken me up on the proposition so far, and really even if they did... I'd just thank them. I mean the deck as you have it now has no way to bring back Remora or Study, but two ways to get back Rush of Knowledge. And nothing says loving quite like transmute Brainspoil for Mnemonic Wall, Cast Wall getting back Brainspoil, transmute for Rush of Knowledge. Obviously not something you do over one turn but still.. card advantage machine with any of the recursion stuff.
You might have a point there. Rhystic Study has been really bonkers sometimes, but Mystic Remora, while good, is always fair. I'll try replacing it with Rush of Knowledge. Having another Brainspoil target is nice, too; I hadn't thought of that.
Quote from chaos_redefined »
Valid argument for Martyr, Spreading Seas and the multikickers.
There are perfectly good sac outlets that can be used in place of the removal to kill off your general, even at common. Viscera Seer and Thoughtpicker witch come to mind. At the very least, these options can chumpblock something and sac themselves and smooth your draws/screw their draws. Less relevant in EDH, where evasion and trample is common, but it also means a repeatable way to kill off your general, as well as your izzet chronarch before using a Death denied to restock your hand.
LittlestMorte and Nideovinja pretty much covered it all, but to be fair, having a permanent-based sac outlet blown up is the same net card gain/loss as using spot removal on Child of Alara. They are also quite easy to recur along with Child of Alara. I have actually used Dimir House Guard for this very purpose on several occasions.
However, as a whole, our options in that department are less versatile than things like Rend Flesh or Wrecking Ball. The only really useful thing Viscera Seer does is provide a sac outlet for Child of Alara, whereas Terminate is useful in a wide variety of situations. Similarly, Dimir House Guard has broader applications because he transmutes the majority of the time.
On Martyr of Ashes -- If we had more red cards, this would be auto-include. Unfortunately it doesn't work here, but in general this is the exact type of utility we are looking for.
On Executioner's Capsule -- I was disappointed with Executioner's Capsule in my Trinket Mage package. It had its uses, but all too often the double black mana requirement slowed me down, plus it couldn't kill Child of Alara. I replaced it with Rend Flesh. It also helps that Aether Spellbomb can buy us time to remove a problem creature in a pinch.
Quote from LittlestMorte »
Between all the new commanders that have come out and the fact that my playgroup is starting to really hate playing against Child, I've sort of put this deck on the back burner for now. I'm not going to take it apart, but I'll definitely be seeing a lot less playtime with it in the near future.
Slight bummer, but I totally understand why. This deck is completely fair, but it's not for the faint of heart. It's not unusual for me to hear a sigh or two when Child of Alara blows up for the 4th time. I've never played against the deck, but it's probably frustrating. It's called The Pauper Dreamcrusher for a reason.
ashnod's altar is a common in chronicles (so maybe it could still count, its in uncommon in antiquities), and can ramp your smaller creatures to put in something like ulamog's crusher early.
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my favorite thing to say: "you're about to get beat by someone who uses duke nukem card sleeves."
ashnod's altar is a common in chronicles (so maybe it could still count, its in uncommon in antiquities), and can ramp your smaller creatures to put in something like ulamog's crusher early.
We talked about Ashnod's Altar already, but it's not a problem. Altar just isn't good enough for three reasons:
1. Child blows it up after one use as a sac outlet;
2. Altar is only a sac outlet and performs no other function;
3. Ramping into Crusher at the expense of CA is the opposite of what this deck wants to do. I don't even play Crusher any more -- we usually win the long game anyway, so just aim to get there safely.
Quote from Zombie Shakespeare »
Pauper? EDH? Veiled YGO:The Abridged Series references?
Sold.
This looks like a really fun deck. I'm gonna sleeve this up over the next few days & try it out. Is your 6/20 edit the updated list?
Excellent. I think the 6/20 update is my current list; I don't see any glaring omissions. Let us know how it turns out -- hopefully it will serve you well! It's my favorite deck at this point.
I'm also glad you got the Abridged reference. No one does. At least, not many people say so if they do.
I am really intrigued by this pauper concept and considering building one immediately based on yours. I play against a few people who are constantly throwing out crazy infinite loop decks with expensive, broken cards. Once is fine but after that it's just not fun anymore and what's the point? And now they are bringing that into EDH too. I don't have the budget, nor the inclination, to spend mega bucks on dual lands, Demonic Tutors and Jace, the Wallet Sculptor class cards. Plus, where is the challenge in building an uber deck with all the most powerful cards? /rant off.
Anyway, have you had any experience playing this deck against those types of decks? If so, how did it do?
I am really intrigued by this pauper concept and considering building one immediately based on yours. I play against a few people who are constantly throwing out crazy infinite loop decks with expensive, broken cards. Once is fine but after that it's just not fun anymore and what's the point? And now they are bringing that into EDH too. I don't have the budget, nor the inclination, to spend mega bucks on dual lands, Demonic Tutors and Jace, the Wallet Sculptor class cards. Plus, where is the challenge in building an uber deck with all the most powerful cards? /rant off.
Anyway, have you had any experience playing this deck against those types of decks? If so, how did it do?
d0su's points in the OP are really spot on
This deck might be for you if:
+ You don't want the game to end quickly
+ You prefer having answers to all types of threats
+ You like decks that are challenging to play well
+ You like graveyard shenanigans, 2-for-1s, and incremental advantage
+ You want a fun new EDH experience without breaking the bank
You might want to choose a different deck if:
- Your metagame is extremely fast or you hate long games
- You want an easy deck to pilot
- You usually prefer being the aggressor in a game
- You want to "go infinite" and a Capsize lock isn't good enough
- You're filthy rich and want others to know it
Oftentimes if games are super fast, you're in for trouble. If games get into the 6-8 turn range, you come online in a big way and you really can answer just about any threat you want. Typically, you're able to escape notice early and then a well-timed dead angry baby effectively seals the deal. From that point on, you just bury the table in incremental card advantage and answers to things that you actually care about stopping (e.g. removal of things in your graveyard = sadface).
Great thread dosu. I've been looking into this, and I want to make a few pauper decks to try out. Can anybody give me a suggestion as to which general would be good for a pauper aggro based deck? I'd also like to keep it at 3 colors or less.
Great thread dosu. I've been looking into this, and I want to make a few pauper decks to try out. Can anybody give me a suggestion as to which general would be good for a pauper aggro based deck? I'd also like to keep it at 3 colors or less.
Hmm, pauper aggro EDH... from what I hear, Rhys the Redeemed is pretty good at doing an aggro swarm approach. Sygg, River Cutthroat aggro-control is quite solid as long as you're only going against one or two opponents. Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer would be tricky to build, but the bonus he grants your dudes is really good and I bet he would pack a wallop.
On the other hand, you could go for a voltron aggro approach. Thrun, the Last Troll is tough to kill and just keeps coming back... he's probably quite scary with Rancor and stuff, and even more so if you're up against other pauper decks. Ashling the Pilgrim packs a wallop and of course can be built on a minimal budget. And if getting in the red zone is what you want to do, it's hard to go wrong with Rafiq of the Many.
Basically, just pick a general with some decent power and you'll be fine. Whereas regular EDH decks can get by on mediocre dudes, pauper decks need as much power as they can get, especially if you're pitting them against their non-pauper cousins. In any case, it's definitely an experience. Hope you have fun! Let us know what you decide.
Quote from atratus »
I am really intrigued by this pauper concept and considering building one immediately based on yours. I play against a few people who are constantly throwing out crazy infinite loop decks with expensive, broken cards. Once is fine but after that it's just not fun anymore and what's the point? And now they are bringing that into EDH too. I don't have the budget, nor the inclination, to spend mega bucks on dual lands, Demonic Tutors and Jace, the Wallet Sculptor class cards. Plus, where is the challenge in building an uber deck with all the most powerful cards? /rant off.
Anyway, have you had any experience playing this deck against those types of decks? If so, how did it do?
Ubershaum pretty much covered it. Enemy decks can pack as many combos as they want -- it all depends on the speed of your meta. If games end on turn 4 or 5 regularly, you'll have to make some major adjustments so that you can focus on interacting in the early game instead of building up a manabase. However, if games last past turn 6 or 7, a build like this one stands a decent chance of weathering the storm and taking over in the long run. I play this deck against opponents of all varieties, and the dynamics of multiplayer politics are really the key to success in any environment.
The idea of Pauper edh has got both My play groups interested so I figure I'll either be playing against something like this soon or playing it My self. Have You done any testing against other pauper decks? If You have how did it go?
The idea of Pauper edh has got both My play groups interested so I figure I'll either be playing against something like this soon or playing it My self. Have You done any testing against other pauper decks? If You have how did it go?
Thanks! I hope it goes well for you.
Against other pauper decks, I've only tested some 1v1 matches against Wort, the Raidmother, Sygg, River Cutthroat, and Vendilion Clique. Wort wins if it hits heavy with LD and doesn't let up, Sygg is fine but has a tough time if Child gets its mana, and Clique crushes just about everything.
Multiplayer, I'd imagine it's not even close; Child of Alara has so much card advantage and so much late game power that it dominates those other decks consistently. If the game goes long, you need a more powerful general to tangle with Child -- gimmicky 2-drops don't cut it.
Thanks for the advice I think I'll try out a Thrun deck, as he is a favorite of mine. But it the mean time I thought I'd post a deck I've been messing around with.
The idea behind it is obviously to use Doran's ability to turn creatures like Grizzled Leotau into to a 5/5 for two mana. And then there is a sub aura theme because something like Gift of the Woods becomes +3/+3 for one mana. I haven't actually played the deck yet, so if anybody has any suggestions to improve it that would be nice.
Ok, I have liberated all the cards in your pauper deck now and built my own. I am an experienced player (played off and on for ~ 15 years). How is this deck played? What do I look for from the draw, beginning, middle, end game?
Ok, I have liberated all the cards in your pauper deck now and built my own. I am an experienced player (played off and on for ~ 15 years). How is this deck played? What do I look for from the draw, beginning, middle, end game?
The ideal opening hand should have mana, card draw/tutors, and maybe a removal spell. Mana seems like a given, but you really want to be sure you can hit land drops nearly every turn of the game. You cannot necessarily glean that from your opener, but 4 lands is optimal, 5 is good too, 6 is fine, and 7 is still alright (I won a game off of a 7-land opener once -- mana fixing was easy, and a cycling land and Halimar Depths got me there). Essentially, just make sure you can set up a manabase so you can sweep the board with Child of Alara when you need to, and maybe have a few other ways to squeeze value out of your early turns. I find that having lots of our "spells" in the form of creatures is very helpful here, as chump blockers ward away otherwise painful attacks.
Mid-game, you play policeman. Try not to let the truly backbreaking stuff resolve(Armageddon, Tooth and Nail, Hinder on your general, etc.), and save removal for similarly problematic permanents like Primeval Titan, Winter Orb, and Leyline of the Void. Play politics and try to keep a low profile -- maybe make it known that you're playing an all-commons deck, or see if others can answer a threat so you don't have to. However, since your deck is 50% mana, 25% card draw, 24% removal, and 1% threats, you can usually bail everyone out of a problematic situation. You are trying to survive until the extreme late game. Common tutor targets here include Mystical Teachings, Far Wanderings, and various counterspells/answers.
Once you have a good amount of land (15 or so) and everyone else is starting to run out of backup resources, start looking for an opportunity to go on the offensive. Hit people where it hurts the most -- finish off someone while the aggro players have knocked them down to a low life total, or sweep the board after the aggro players have really committed, or Nihil Spellbomb the guy who is living out of his graveyard. I find that Mind Extraction sacrificing Child of Alara is a strong transition to our late game. Now you start locking people out with Capsize and Child of Alara recursion, going for the kill with general damage or Rolling Thunder loops.
Just remember to play the table politics (I can't stress this enough) and focus on protecting your weaknesses above all else. Assuming you can hit your land drops, it might be worth passing the turn several rounds with counter mana up even if you aren't doing anything else, because if you can develop your position without dying, you have been successful. I'd recommend reading The Rabbit Move by The Ferret if you haven't already.
I hope that answers your questions! You sound like an experienced player, so I'm sure you'll adapt it to your own playstyle quickly and probably play it to greater success than I can.
Quote from redflare »
Thanks for the advice I think I'll try out a Thrun deck, as he is a favorite of mine. But it the mean time I thought I'd post a deck I've been messing around with.
Looks pretty sweet! The biggest jaw-dropper in the deck looks like Solidarity -- combined with Doran, yes, that's a pauper Titanic Ultimatum!
I'm not a big fan of stuff like Holy Strength or Gift of the Woods, but for the most part the deck looks pretty strong. If you're looking for more of this type of effect, why not try some other equipment? Accorder's Shield, Spidersilk Net, and Strider Harness are good here and don't cause you to suffer card disadvantage when your creature dies.
Two creatures that might be fun are Tireless Tribe and Trenching Steed. They are super risky and require you to go all-in to attack someone, but they could deal tremendous damage and give you a lot of reach. I'd like to see attack with Tireless Tribe, discard all but 1 card in hand, cast Death Denied to restock your hand, discard your hand again.
Adarkar Sentinel was common in MEIII (good enough for me!) and has colorless quasi-Firebreathing. Kitsune Loreweaver does something similar.
Other generally-useful-but-not-necessarily-on-theme cards are Sprout Swarm, Shattered Crypt, and the transmute tutors like Dimir House Guard. They might be good to keep in mind.
I saved the best for last. It looks like that with some combination of:
(Daru Spiritualist/Task Force) + (Nomads en-Kor/Spirit en-Kor) you can generate infinite toughness. Doran gives you a pretty good use for such things. Daru Spiritualist and Spirit en-Kor are also at the right converted mana costs to be fetched with Shred Memory and Dimir House Guard if you so desire. Sounds fun!
I think you've found a good pauper general there. I might try my hand at a Doran deck in the upcoming week, if you don't mind.
I played the list in the OP in a three player game and won.
My observations-
It really was hard to believe, but some decks just fold to repeated boardwipes. Child died and wrathed the board about 10 times over the course of the game, and no one wanted to kill him at all.
I pointed Mind Extraction at the guy with the Angel of Despair out, who had just used it to destroy my second to last red source. This deck's mana is bad, but will work when not under pressure, but a strip mine or two really grinds everything to a halt.
The 3 CMC transmuters are critical for this deck. They get Cultivate, Capsize, Cadaver Imp, Mind Extraction and so much more. I learned that Capsize is one of the few things that we can do to a resolved Iona naming black.
Filling your hand with Death Denied pretty much sets you up for the win if it is down to 1v1.
I love this thread, and I am glad that commons can show their worth in EDH.
If you're having problems with Iona on black, Reprisal is a pretty good answer. I've run it in my list since the beginning and I'm always happy to see it. It doesn't hit some of the more annoying generals (Zur, Sisay), but it does work against most of the more annoying regular creatures (Primeval Titan, Consecrated Sphinx, Iona) and it works on Child.
I played this deck last night and had a blast. It was a 4-way and lasted for 5 hours. I was the first to go but of all things I got milled to death! I encountered the same thing as the previous poster. Like him, I used Alara to wipe the board at least 6 times and no one seemed to care that I would bring Alara back in. What would be nice is to find a common card to fold my graveyard back into my library. I blundered a few times by forgetting to flashback cards from my graveyard. It think if I hadn't made that mistake I could have cleaned up and won. One of the players was the ten-minute turn type who basically plays with himself by twiddling his own cards all over the place with ridiculous mana and creature loops. Oh well, but still, it was a really fun deck to play and I will definitely play it more to get used to all that it seems to be capable of.
Edit:
I just found these.
Fold in your graveyard anytime with this: Feldon's Cane
Or wait until your library gets really low and play this: Paradigm Shift
Martyr of Ashes: A sweeper. Enjoy.
Whispersilk Cloak: Common back in darksteel, grants shroud.
Executioner's Capsule: Removal searchable by trinket mage.
Spreading Seas: Stops any lands that are causing a problem.
Can't think of any bombs, but you may be able to build one with equipment. Maybe Apex Hawks, Enclave Elite, Gnarlid Pack, Quag Vampires and/or Skitter of Lizards?
This suffers from the fact that we're just not running that many red cards. I've got 6 in my current list. So the likelihood that I'd be able to do it for even two is pretty bad. Crypt Rats pretty much has it beat, and even that's on the chopping block more often than not for me, sometimes becoming Swirling Sandstorm.... and sometimes just leaving the deck entirely. Currently it's been slotted out for a Fireball, which I'm liking a lot better.
Seeing as how I'm looking to all too often kill my own general, and how he blows it up... Can't say this is exciting. And he practically reads unblockable anyway, I mean not only does Child sport trample... but if they kill it, it wipes their board, and then comes right back.
While I can't speak for d0su, I cut Trinket Mage for taking up space (Pauper really needs better 0 and 1 cost artifacts). And don't want any removal that can't kill my own child... who is immune to Capsule.
Unfortunately it doesn't for long as the first time Child dies, it dies as well.
Realistically, Child itself kills in 4 hits if they can't answer it, since the whole point of the deck is to return it over and over... even if they can, it usually gets them eventually. Going to be tough finding a finisher that's that efficient. Otherwise I personally use the Krosan Restorer/Freed from the Reel infinite, and recurring Fireball/Rolling Thunder.
There are perfectly good sac outlets that can be used in place of the removal to kill off your general, even at common. Viscera Seer and Thoughtpicker witch come to mind. At the very least, these options can chumpblock something and sac themselves and smooth your draws/screw their draws. Less relevant in EDH, where evasion and trample is common, but it also means a repeatable way to kill off your general, as well as your izzet chronarch before using a Death denied to restock your hand.
Teneb, the Harvester: Let there be life!
Drafting Aggro in the Cube: A Primer for Beginners
You might have a point there. Rhystic Study has been really bonkers sometimes, but Mystic Remora, while good, is always fair. I'll try replacing it with Rush of Knowledge. Having another Brainspoil target is nice, too; I hadn't thought of that.
LittlestMorte and Nideovinja pretty much covered it all, but to be fair, having a permanent-based sac outlet blown up is the same net card gain/loss as using spot removal on Child of Alara. They are also quite easy to recur along with Child of Alara. I have actually used Dimir House Guard for this very purpose on several occasions.
However, as a whole, our options in that department are less versatile than things like Rend Flesh or Wrecking Ball. The only really useful thing Viscera Seer does is provide a sac outlet for Child of Alara, whereas Terminate is useful in a wide variety of situations. Similarly, Dimir House Guard has broader applications because he transmutes the majority of the time.
On Martyr of Ashes -- If we had more red cards, this would be auto-include. Unfortunately it doesn't work here, but in general this is the exact type of utility we are looking for.
On Executioner's Capsule -- I was disappointed with Executioner's Capsule in my Trinket Mage package. It had its uses, but all too often the double black mana requirement slowed me down, plus it couldn't kill Child of Alara. I replaced it with Rend Flesh. It also helps that Aether Spellbomb can buy us time to remove a problem creature in a pinch.
Slight bummer, but I totally understand why. This deck is completely fair, but it's not for the faint of heart. It's not unusual for me to hear a sigh or two when Child of Alara blows up for the 4th time. I've never played against the deck, but it's probably frustrating. It's called The Pauper Dreamcrusher for a reason.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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ashnod's altar is a common in chronicles (so maybe it could still count, its in uncommon in antiquities), and can ramp your smaller creatures to put in something like ulamog's crusher early.
my trade thread:http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=6270364#post6270364
want to get rid of your cards?
http://www.globalmtg.com/buylist
He'll buy anything
Sold.
This looks like a really fun deck. I'm gonna sleeve this up over the next few days & try it out. Is your 6/20 edit the updated list?
We talked about Ashnod's Altar already, but it's not a problem. Altar just isn't good enough for three reasons:
1. Child blows it up after one use as a sac outlet;
2. Altar is only a sac outlet and performs no other function;
3. Ramping into Crusher at the expense of CA is the opposite of what this deck wants to do. I don't even play Crusher any more -- we usually win the long game anyway, so just aim to get there safely.
Excellent. I think the 6/20 update is my current list; I don't see any glaring omissions. Let us know how it turns out -- hopefully it will serve you well! It's my favorite deck at this point.
I'm also glad you got the Abridged reference. No one does. At least, not many people say so if they do.
"Screw the rares, I have no money!"
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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Anyway, have you had any experience playing this deck against those types of decks? If so, how did it do?
d0su's points in the OP are really spot on
Oftentimes if games are super fast, you're in for trouble. If games get into the 6-8 turn range, you come online in a big way and you really can answer just about any threat you want. Typically, you're able to escape notice early and then a well-timed dead angry baby effectively seals the deal. From that point on, you just bury the table in incremental card advantage and answers to things that you actually care about stopping (e.g. removal of things in your graveyard = sadface).
Trade/Sell me your Demonic Attorney!
Hmm, pauper aggro EDH... from what I hear, Rhys the Redeemed is pretty good at doing an aggro swarm approach. Sygg, River Cutthroat aggro-control is quite solid as long as you're only going against one or two opponents. Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer would be tricky to build, but the bonus he grants your dudes is really good and I bet he would pack a wallop.
On the other hand, you could go for a voltron aggro approach. Thrun, the Last Troll is tough to kill and just keeps coming back... he's probably quite scary with Rancor and stuff, and even more so if you're up against other pauper decks. Ashling the Pilgrim packs a wallop and of course can be built on a minimal budget. And if getting in the red zone is what you want to do, it's hard to go wrong with Rafiq of the Many.
Basically, just pick a general with some decent power and you'll be fine. Whereas regular EDH decks can get by on mediocre dudes, pauper decks need as much power as they can get, especially if you're pitting them against their non-pauper cousins. In any case, it's definitely an experience. Hope you have fun! Let us know what you decide.
Ubershaum pretty much covered it. Enemy decks can pack as many combos as they want -- it all depends on the speed of your meta. If games end on turn 4 or 5 regularly, you'll have to make some major adjustments so that you can focus on interacting in the early game instead of building up a manabase. However, if games last past turn 6 or 7, a build like this one stands a decent chance of weathering the storm and taking over in the long run. I play this deck against opponents of all varieties, and the dynamics of multiplayer politics are really the key to success in any environment.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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The idea of Pauper edh has got both My play groups interested so I figure I'll either be playing against something like this soon or playing it My self. Have You done any testing against other pauper decks? If You have how did it go?
Thanks! I hope it goes well for you.
Against other pauper decks, I've only tested some 1v1 matches against Wort, the Raidmother, Sygg, River Cutthroat, and Vendilion Clique. Wort wins if it hits heavy with LD and doesn't let up, Sygg is fine but has a tough time if Child gets its mana, and Clique crushes just about everything.
Multiplayer, I'd imagine it's not even close; Child of Alara has so much card advantage and so much late game power that it dominates those other decks consistently. If the game goes long, you need a more powerful general to tangle with Child -- gimmicky 2-drops don't cut it.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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1 Doran, the Siege Tower
Aggro Creatures
1 Ornithopter
1 Phyrexian Walker
1 Llanowar Augur
1 Valiant Guard
1 Grizzled Leotau
1 Loxodon Wayfarer
1 Charging Paladin
1 Sporecap Spider
1 Penumbra Spider
1 Yavimaya Ancients
Utility Creatures
1 Aura Gnarlid
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Veteran Armorer
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Sylvok Replica
1 Auramancer
1 Crypt Rats
1 Gravedigger
1 Totem-Guide Hartebeest
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Farseek
1 Rampant Growth
1 Harrow
1 Cultivate
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Golgari Signet
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
Protection
1 Blessed Breath
1 Stave Off
1 Withstand Death
1 Apostle's Blessing
1 Solidarity
Recursion
1 Grim Harvest
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Unearth
Removal
1 Innocent Blood
1 Doom Blade
1 Terror
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Unmake
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Carapace
1 Gift of Granite
1 Holy Strength
1 Gift of the Woods
1 Holy Armor
1 Spider Climb
1 Street Savvy
1 Rancor
1 Eland Umbra
1 Hero's Resolve
1 Beastmaster's Magemark
1 Guardian's Magemark
1 Necromancer's Magemark
1 Shield of the Oversoul
1 Conclave's Blessing
Equipment
1 Slagwurm Armor
1 Whispersilk Cloak
Land
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Command Tower
13 Forest
12 Plains
9 Swamp
The idea behind it is obviously to use Doran's ability to turn creatures like Grizzled Leotau into to a 5/5 for two mana. And then there is a sub aura theme because something like Gift of the Woods becomes +3/+3 for one mana. I haven't actually played the deck yet, so if anybody has any suggestions to improve it that would be nice.
The ideal opening hand should have mana, card draw/tutors, and maybe a removal spell. Mana seems like a given, but you really want to be sure you can hit land drops nearly every turn of the game. You cannot necessarily glean that from your opener, but 4 lands is optimal, 5 is good too, 6 is fine, and 7 is still alright (I won a game off of a 7-land opener once -- mana fixing was easy, and a cycling land and Halimar Depths got me there). Essentially, just make sure you can set up a manabase so you can sweep the board with Child of Alara when you need to, and maybe have a few other ways to squeeze value out of your early turns. I find that having lots of our "spells" in the form of creatures is very helpful here, as chump blockers ward away otherwise painful attacks.
Mid-game, you play policeman. Try not to let the truly backbreaking stuff resolve(Armageddon, Tooth and Nail, Hinder on your general, etc.), and save removal for similarly problematic permanents like Primeval Titan, Winter Orb, and Leyline of the Void. Play politics and try to keep a low profile -- maybe make it known that you're playing an all-commons deck, or see if others can answer a threat so you don't have to. However, since your deck is 50% mana, 25% card draw, 24% removal, and 1% threats, you can usually bail everyone out of a problematic situation. You are trying to survive until the extreme late game. Common tutor targets here include Mystical Teachings, Far Wanderings, and various counterspells/answers.
Once you have a good amount of land (15 or so) and everyone else is starting to run out of backup resources, start looking for an opportunity to go on the offensive. Hit people where it hurts the most -- finish off someone while the aggro players have knocked them down to a low life total, or sweep the board after the aggro players have really committed, or Nihil Spellbomb the guy who is living out of his graveyard. I find that Mind Extraction sacrificing Child of Alara is a strong transition to our late game. Now you start locking people out with Capsize and Child of Alara recursion, going for the kill with general damage or Rolling Thunder loops.
Just remember to play the table politics (I can't stress this enough) and focus on protecting your weaknesses above all else. Assuming you can hit your land drops, it might be worth passing the turn several rounds with counter mana up even if you aren't doing anything else, because if you can develop your position without dying, you have been successful. I'd recommend reading The Rabbit Move by The Ferret if you haven't already.
I hope that answers your questions! You sound like an experienced player, so I'm sure you'll adapt it to your own playstyle quickly and probably play it to greater success than I can.
Looks pretty sweet! The biggest jaw-dropper in the deck looks like Solidarity -- combined with Doran, yes, that's a pauper Titanic Ultimatum!
I'm not a big fan of stuff like Holy Strength or Gift of the Woods, but for the most part the deck looks pretty strong. If you're looking for more of this type of effect, why not try some other equipment? Accorder's Shield, Spidersilk Net, and Strider Harness are good here and don't cause you to suffer card disadvantage when your creature dies.
Spidersilk Armor, Veteran Armorer, Parapet, and Lumithread Field grant static bonuses to your dudes. IDK if that is helpful, but it's worth thinking about.
Two creatures that might be fun are Tireless Tribe and Trenching Steed. They are super risky and require you to go all-in to attack someone, but they could deal tremendous damage and give you a lot of reach. I'd like to see attack with Tireless Tribe, discard all but 1 card in hand, cast Death Denied to restock your hand, discard your hand again.
Adarkar Sentinel was common in MEIII (good enough for me!) and has colorless quasi-Firebreathing. Kitsune Loreweaver does something similar.
Other generally-useful-but-not-necessarily-on-theme cards are Sprout Swarm, Shattered Crypt, and the transmute tutors like Dimir House Guard. They might be good to keep in mind.
I saved the best for last. It looks like that with some combination of:
(Daru Spiritualist/Task Force) + (Nomads en-Kor/Spirit en-Kor) you can generate infinite toughness. Doran gives you a pretty good use for such things. Daru Spiritualist and Spirit en-Kor are also at the right converted mana costs to be fetched with Shred Memory and Dimir House Guard if you so desire. Sounds fun!
I think you've found a good pauper general there. I might try my hand at a Doran deck in the upcoming week, if you don't mind.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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My observations-
It really was hard to believe, but some decks just fold to repeated boardwipes. Child died and wrathed the board about 10 times over the course of the game, and no one wanted to kill him at all.
I pointed Mind Extraction at the guy with the Angel of Despair out, who had just used it to destroy my second to last red source. This deck's mana is bad, but will work when not under pressure, but a strip mine or two really grinds everything to a halt.
The 3 CMC transmuters are critical for this deck. They get Cultivate, Capsize, Cadaver Imp, Mind Extraction and so much more. I learned that Capsize is one of the few things that we can do to a resolved Iona naming black.
Filling your hand with Death Denied pretty much sets you up for the win if it is down to 1v1.
I love this thread, and I am glad that commons can show their worth in EDH.
Turn 2 Two Goblin Guide
Teneb, the Harvester: Let there be life!
Drafting Aggro in the Cube: A Primer for Beginners
Edit:
I just found these.
Fold in your graveyard anytime with this:
Feldon's Cane
Or wait until your library gets really low and play this:
Paradigm Shift
Any alternatives to that?
And, how does this deck fare in multiplayer?
Thanks for spiderboy4 of High~Light_Studios for the kick ass avatar.
Thanks for DarkNightCavalier of HotPS for the exceptional signature.
totally meant Worldly Counsel had been working on a Verdeloth deck and had mono-green on the brain.