Introduction: Welcome, this is an InsidiousUBPauper EDH Control Deck that's focused upon
achieving victory through disruption of your opponents game-plans via bounce, discard, removal,
and counters, while playing some of the best value creatures and dedicated finishers available to a UB deck in the Pauper EDH Format. The deck also has the option to combo out with when the
right cards are in place.
There is an emphasis on graveyard recursion here as well.... and beyond that, the deck also has a plethora of dirty tricks that it hides up its tentacled sleeves.
The deck is suited for both multiplayer and 1v1, although it's particularly effective in 1v1 games.
In writing this "Primer" my intention is to not only put forth knowledge, but also to inspire thought
and creativity in other players as well. Thanks for taking the time to check it out, I sincerely hope
you find the read both informative and entertaining.
Pauper EDH is a casual alternative to Regular EDH.
Pauper EDH plays exactly the same as Regular EDH except:
Why Dinrova Horror: As Bounce and Discard are some of the central strategies of this deck,
having access to a (Recoil) on a 4/4 Beatstick sitting in the Command Zone is a perfect fit. Once
onto the battlefield its ability can be reused repeatedly with Bounce, Flicker, and Recursion. As it
is a 6 mana commander, this deck grants you the luxury of placing it in the graveyard instead of
returning it to the command zone if it should die, so it can be recurred back to your hand at a later
time. Over the course of the game when your opponents hands are low/empty and their board
cleared of any relevant defenses the Dinrova Horror becomes a wincon by itself. On a side note
the artist Johann Bodin really did a fine job of capturing the look of an unholy cosmic entity that
came right out an eerie old H.P. Lovecraft story and put itself onto one truly evil magic card....
Alternative Commanders:
For a more "value" oriented Pauper EDH Commander, Baleful Strix is a fine choice for this deck.
Just drop Dinrova Horror down into the 99 by swapping out Aethersnipe.
Many will find the Strix to be a more appealing (albeit far less intimidating) Commander than
the Dinrova Horror. The deck still operates the same either way, but you'll have access to some
additional draw power at the expense of not being able to kill with Commander damage in a
timely manner and the loss of reliable targeted removal/game breaking combo piece coming
from the Command Zone.
Overall, Baleful Strix encourages a more "durdley" reactive play-style, where the Dinrova Horror
is a bit more proactive.
The choice is yours... they're both effective in their own unique ways.
If you want take this deck up to the big boys table, drop Dinrova Horror down into the 99
by swapping out Aethersnipe and run The Scarab God as your Commander, and you'll
have the pleasure of giving some people absolute "***** fits" with a 50$ EDH deck.
Scarab God PAUPERSLAYER
Deck History: For those familiar with 60 card Pauper, this deck is essentially a Commander
version of both UBControl/Mystical Teachings and UBFlicker which I've merged together
and reinforced with some good "old school" UB Bounce and Discard to create an oppressive
and quite competitive Pauper EDH deck.
I began brainstorming ideas for this deck back in late 2016, and finally created and started running
early versions of the deck in June of 2017. After considerable experimentation with many different
cards and strategies I have arrived at the finely tuned deck presented below.
In this deck, cards are allocated into 8 categories, dependent upon their purpose and function.
*Note that many cards serve multiple functions, thus providing versatility and/or card advantage.
Straight from the darkest pages of a Lich Lords Spellbook, I have provided a brief/broad description
pertaining to the purpose and function of each card in the deck.
Bounce: Dinrova Horror: Your Commander, Recoil on a 4/4 beatstick, reuse with flicker/bounce/recur. Aethersnipe: Disperse on a 4/4 beatstick, evoke early and recur later for reuse or hardcasting. Mist Raven: Unsummon on an evasive 2/2, best common creature out of Avacyn Restored. Man-o'-War: Unsummon on a 2/2, once touted as the best creature in the game back in yesteryear. Cavern Harpy: An outstanding bounce engine card, nigh impossible to kill in Pauper EDH. Sidisi's Faithful: Unsummon on a 0/4, puts a body into the yard, easily recurred, really good. Into the Roil: Excellent non land bounce that draws on the kicker. Capsize: Boomerang with buyback, one-card bounce Engine, controls the board, wins games. Recoil: Dimir style Boomerang, bounce any permanent, then force a discard at instant speed.
Discard: Dinrova Horror: Your Commander, Recoil on a 4/4 beatstick, reuse with flicker/bounce/recur. Liliana's Specter: Asymmetrical discard effect on an evasive body. Truly excellent card here. Chittering Rats: Rat lock! Mesmeric Fiend: Very nasty little card, provides information/disrupts, play with triggers for exile.
Use it as a recurring pseudoGitaxian Probe/Thoughtseize. Augur of Skulls: Regenerating Skeleton Wizard that gives Mind Rot. Burglar Rat: Asymmetrical discard effect, this is the sister card of Liliana's Specter. Recoil: Instant speed discard after bounce. removes a threat and then removes an option. Perplex: Discards their entire hand if they really need to resolve a crucial spell. Probe: It Mind Rots on the kicker, while drawing 3 cards, then sets up the graveyard for recursion. Syphon Mind: Depletes opposing hands while filling yours. Scales up. Hymn to Tourach: Classic hand disruption, everyone has a plan... until they get Hymn'd. Raven's Crime: Subtle at first..., but mid/late game it get's nasty when hand sniping after bounce.
Removal: Faceless Butcher: Oubliette on a 2/3 body. Play with sac's/bounce/flicker for the Exile trigger.
In some cases you can Butcher one of your own creatures in order to later re-trigger an ETB effect. Slum Reaper: A true ETB pauper Fleshbag Marauder effect on a creature. Rarity shift. Crypt Rats: Exploding mice,.. clears the field, drops life totals, can end games, easy to recur. Plagued Rusalka: Sac outlet that murders small annoying children and alters combat math,
very easy to recur. In this deck she is used as a pseudoDarkblast. Innocent Blood: High efficiency symmetrical sac effect. Diabolic Edict: Instant sac, opportunity always presents itself. Chainer's Edict: Sorcery sac, Flashback makes this card even better mid/late game. Tragic Slip: Easy to trigger Morbid. Kills almost any creature in the pauper format for one B. Victim of Night: Hits most relevant creatures in Pauper EDH. Doom Blade: Simple and effective spot removal. Murder: Indiscriminate Murder... Nihil Spellbomb: The Graveyard Grenade. Shred Memory: Instant graveyard hate. Bojuka Bog: One of the best utility lands ever printed. Reuse with Bounce/Ghostly Flicker.
Counters: Negate: Pauper Countersquall. Basic, efficient, always finds a good target. Mana Leak: The best "Tax" counter ever printed, always finds an unsuspecting target. Counterspell: The best hard counter in pauper, 2 mana and no..., 2 untapped islands unnerves. Soul Manipulation: Remove SoulandRaise Dead on one truly All-Star card. Perplex: Choices have to be made... will they throw their hand away to get their spell through?...
Draw/Filter: Mulldrifter: Evoke the Mulldrifter, Divination on an evasive 2/2, puts itself in the yard. Vulturous Aven: Exploit the Vulture, Night's Whisper on an evasive 2/3, puts a body in the yard. Sea Gate Oracle: Sleight of Hand on a 1/3 body, good early defense. Brainstorm: The best one mana blue draw outside of Ancestral Recall. Ponder: High efficiency 3 card dig that also grants the option of shuffling away chaff. Impulse: High efficiency dig, helps set you up early game, or grabs an answer out of thin air. Night's Whisper: High efficiency draw 2. Forbidden Alchemy: Dimir style Impulse with Flashback, synergy with this decks recursion. Probe: Total synergy with this deck, Draw 3 for 3, sets up for recur, Mind Rots on the kicker. Deep Analysis: Classic Draw 2 with Flashback. Syphon Mind: Draws you cards while depleting opponents hands. Scales up. Into the Roil: Draws a card on the kicker. Halimar Depths: Not card draw, but usually sets you up nice, for free. Terramorphic Expanse: Pauper fetchland, thin and shuffle. Evolving Wilds: Pauper fetchland, thin and shuffle. Ash Barrens: Basic Landcycling, thin and shuffle. Twisted Abomination: Early Swampcycling, put's itself in the graveyard for later recur. Nihil Spellbomb: Graveyard Grenade that cantrips. Tutors: Mystical Teachings: 24 Instants, get whatever the situation calls for, or plan for the future. Merchant Scroll: 15 Blue Instants, get whatever the situation calls for, or plan for the future.
Utility: Ghostly Flicker: Saves/reuses creatures/lands, Engine card with the recur wizards and wall. Displace: Saves/reuses creatures, Engine card with the recur wizards and wall. Dimir House Guard: Regenerating Sac outlet that enables broken plays. Plagued Rusalka: Sac outlet that murders small annoying children and alters combat math,
very easy to recur. In this deck she is used as a pseudoDarkblast.
Finishers: Dinrova Horror: Your commander, Recoil's, beats in, combo piece, closes games. Basically
every time the Horror enters play the biggest threat on the board is getting Recoiled. Aethersnipe: Disperse's, beats in, early/mid game this card can be evoked then later
recurred for reuse or hard casting. Twisted Abomination: The A-Bomb, often difficult to remove in pauper due to it's cheap regen.
It just delivers a relentless beating on an opponent. Early/mid game this card can be Swampcycled
then recurred later for hardcasting. Gray Merchant of Asphodel: Drains all day, likes flicker/bounce/recur, and BBBBB Peregrine Drake: Infinite mana with the recur wizards/wall + Ghostly Flicker/Displace. Crypt Rats: Rodent Dirty Bomb, can pull out wins/draws in a tight game.
** Every creature in the deck is in fact a potential finisher.
Mana Curve: has major influence on proper flow of play/efficiency, and generalized deck speed.
cmc
1 --- 11
2 --- 20
3 --- 17
4 --- 9
5 --- 5
6 --- 3
Strategy:
This deck seeks to rapidly engage/disrupt the opponent(s) from many different angles and keep
them off-balance from the early turns of the game, all the way to the end of the game.
Basically the overall strategy is as follows: Utilize your disruption/control, and value creatures
together with bounce, flicker, and recursion to grind out the opponent's hands/boards while
steadily gnawing away at their life total(s), and their will/ability to stay in the game, then close
the game out with your finishers or by flickering Dinrova Horror repeatedly.
This deck utilizes 8 Key Components, each contributing to the overall strategy:
3. Removal: necessary to remove dangerous threats, provides board control, keeps you alive.
4. Counters: provide control, make opponents second guess key plays, keep you alive.
5. Draw/Tutor: provides you with more cards/options than your opponents have available to them.
6. Recursion: greatly increases the tenacity of the deck, provides redundancy/options, wins games.
7. Utility: pseudo force multipliers, these are card/ability abuse enablers that help you win games.
8. Finishers: once control is established, these seek to close out the game at an accelerated rate.
Overall, it's many small parts and pieces working together to create one big engine of doom.
Engines:
This deck runs many "Value" creatures with highly desirable effects. Engines allow for repeated
reuse of those effects. In the case of Recursion engines, they also provide you with resilience in
the form of providing access to threats/ defense in the form of creatures. This deck is capable of forming three types of Engines:
Flicker engine: Allows for Instant Speed reuse of a creatures ETB/Leaves Play triggered ability.
This is the most efficient Engine, and with it's Instant Speed activation, the most difficult to disrupt. Archaeomancer/Mnemonic Wall/ Salvager of Secrets + Ghostly Flicker/Displace + Creature
Peregrine Drake will generate infinite mana with the flicker engine, generating 2 mana per cycle,
or 3 mana per cycle if Dimir Aqueduct is included. At this point by adding Dinrova Horror into
the mix you then Recoil all opponents permanents in play and discard all their hands, effectively
ending the game. This can happen as early as turn 5 if all the combo pieces are present.
Bounce engine: Returns a creature on the battlefield back to your hand so that it can be recast,
while also returning itself back to your hand to repeat the process, creating a "Loop Effect". Capsize/Cavern Harpy + Creature
Recursion engine: Returns a creature in your graveyard back to your hand so that it can be recast,
then puts it back into the graveyard so that the process can be repeated, creating a "Loop effect". Grim Harvest + Plagued Rusalka + Creature.
***All three of these Engines feed into and support each other.
Soft Locks:
It's a classic UB strategy that dates all the way back to the earliest days of MTG, where decks
used Boomerang and Time Elemental in tandem with Disrupting Scepter and Hypnotic Specter
along with other disruption to keep their opponents in a perpetually suppressed game state
by continually bouncing an opponents permanents back to their hand where they were then
continually forced to discard them, which ultimately left them with nothing in play and no
cards in hand.
This deck utilizes a lot of disruption as it is, which often leaves your opponents in a vulnerable
position (low hand count/ weak board presence) leaving them susceptible to being Soft Locked,
and this deck is fully capable of creating and sustaining Soft Locks, they are a part of this decks
design plan and strategy. This deck is capable of forming three types of Soft Locks:
Bounce Lock: Where an opponent is unable to reliably keep permanents in play due to a
recurring bounce effect, putting them in a position where they are unable to advance/maintain
their board presence, which leads to "Backsliding" when combined with discard effects..
Prime Culprits: Dinrova Horror, Sidisi's Faithful, Capsize, Recoil, Into the Roil, Mist Raven, Man-o'-War, and Aethersnipe.
Deck Lock Where an opponent is unable to draw a new/useful card without the aid of draw
spells/effects.
Prime Culprit: Chittering Rats, the "Rat lock".
***All three of these Soft Locks feed into and support each other.
With this deck a Soft Lock can be generated when an "Engine" is available, and a creature with a
desirable ability/effect is also available.
The creatures ability/effect can then be reused continuously to initiate and maintain the desired
type of Soft Lock.
Depending on your opponents hand size and board presence, it may sometimes only take one
or two activations of the Engine to form a lock.
*** Please note this deck runs a veritable slew of spells which fully support these locks as well,
in the form of initiating, maintaining, protecting and reestablishing them. a few examples:
Archaeomancer + Ghostly Flicker + Dinrova Horror. This an engine capable of both Bounce
Locking and Discard Locking an opponent at instant speed. With Dinrova Horror in particular,
this could even be taken as far as also getting a "Land Lock" on an opponent, where it starts
feeding (Backsliding) an opponents lands back into their hand a laCapsize, to be discarded.
This deck primarily wins through its creatures and the repeated use of their abilities.
***There are 29 creatures in this deck.
So use every single tool available to get as much mileage out of them as possible. The spells are
there for support and aid in keeping you alive long enough to execute your plans and win the game.
*** The deck has good recursion ability, so when piloting it always keep in mind that your graveyard
is a virtual extension of your hand. This deck has the tools to recur nearly every spell and creature.
***Ghostly Flicker/Displace both generate significant card advantage with the creatures in this deck.
Their primary roles in this deck are to re-trigger effects, dodge removal, save blockers, and untap
creatures to provide defense. Don't just keep them in your hand waiting for the recur wizards/wall
and Peregrine Drake to show up.
*** Grim Harvest is great when you start looping it, but there are situations where you may need
to "one shot" it to get back a "solution" if you are being pressured by your opponent(s), or if your
going for the win and need that 1 final bit of disruption from a creatures trigger to win the game.
*** You're not only attacking life totals, you also attacking opponents hands with Discard effects.
Decks that lack good card draw options can be easily crippled/hampered by just a few of these, and
can quickly find themselves stuck in "top deck mode".
*** When Faceless Butcher or Mesmeric Fiend resolve, kill/sac/bounce or flicker them in response
to their exile triggers to permanently exile a creature or card.
*** Be mindful that some of the best decks out there utilize their graveyards, so keep tabs on them.
This deck runs 3 of the best graveyard hate cards in pauper. Bojuka Bog, Nihil Spellbomb, and Shred Memory are fully capable of effectively shutting down opposing recursion tactics.
*** When bouncing opponents creatures be wary of those with strong ETB effects, most are not a
big deal. Just use your spot removal/sac effects for the ones that are. Better yet bounce them, then
make them discard.
***There are many subtle nuances and interactions in this deck. You learn them through playing it.
Personal Bio:
I've been playing both competitive and casual Mtg for over 23 years now. I presently play with a fairly
large and extensive playgroup out of Brothers Grim Games in Selden, NY, and sometimes at Campus
Cards & Games and Coolstuff Games both in FL when visiting family.
I also infrequently visit various kitchen tables.
You can call me Al (Lim)-Dul.
Have fun,.. but always keep in mind this deck is designed to do fiendish things to your
opponents, so it would serve thee well to adopt the "Dimir Mindset" of playing with
"Malicious Intentions" whilst piloting this most unholy monstrosity.....
Wow! That's an awesome primer! Thanks a lot for it! You could try to include condescend and vedalken dismisser. But I think your build is close to optimal. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! That's an awesome primer! Thanks a lot for it! You could try to include condescend and vedalken dismisser. But I think your build is close to optimal. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Korhal! Yeah I've seen Condescend used in Dinrovatron 60 card pauper decks, very good card. Could try it over Negate... Scry 2 is really sweet on a counter. Vedalken Dismisser is really good to, it's a Mistmeadow Witch pauper decks version of Chittering Rats which could create some good redundancy in that department, but at 6 mana I think i'd leave that one for the Witch.
Oona's Grace is a card I feel should make it into grindy blue decks like this. I would be tempted to play it over Altar's Reap. In fact, there's a whole bunch of draw spells that I feel should be in here. Compulsive Research, Ponder, Preordain, Gush...
If you're looking to abuse ETB abilities while disrupting your opponent, Curfew seems pretty good at that.Withdraw also has a similar but more flexible effect (second target is your creature, but if they're tapped out you can bounce two of their things instead).
I'm a bit surprised not to see Evincar's Justice or Pestilence, which seems to be a staple in all black decks. Even if it might wipe your board, it's one of your only ways of catching up against an opponent who's far ahead. You have a way to tutor for them, too!
Urborg Uprising is a card I've grown to appreciate in this format. It's back-breakingly good. I'd play it over Undying Evil.
I think another Edict would be useful. Geth's Verdict is probably your best bet unless your playgroup is okay with you using Chainer's Edict.
Oona's Grace is a card I feel should make it into grindy blue decks like this. I would be tempted to play it over Altar's Reap. In fact, there's a whole bunch of draw spells that I feel should be in here. Compulsive Research, Ponder, Preordain, Gush...
If you're looking to abuse ETB abilities while disrupting your opponent, Curfew seems pretty good at that.Withdraw also has a similar but more flexible effect (second target is your creature, but if they're tapped out you can bounce two of their things instead).
I'm a bit surprised not to see Evincar's Justice or Pestilence, which seems to be a staple in all black decks. Even if it might wipe your board, it's one of your only ways of catching up against an opponent who's far ahead. You have a way to tutor for them, too!
Urborg Uprising is a card I've grown to appreciate in this format. It's back-breakingly good. I'd play it over Undying Evil.
I think another Edict would be useful. Geth's Verdict is probably your best bet unless your playgroup is okay with you using Chainer's Edict.
Thanks Upkeep! All solid suggestions and good advice.
Yeah I've gone out of the box with my card draw, but it works. Crypt Rats pull a lot of weight in this deck, I ran Pestilence and Evincar's Justice but they always seemed to under-perform for me. Yeah, Urborg Uprising is a card advantage monster, I may try it out.
I'm steering clear of infinites here, but never say never.
This looks like an interesting deck. I think I'll give it a shot. I wasn't even aware PEDH is actually a thing.
I've been wanting to teach my son EDH, but wasn't too thrilled spending time trying to tweak the current Commander set. I'm not to thrilled trying to build the higher priced decks either. Checked TCGP pricing and this decks costs about $40. So this is inside my cost limits where I don't have to worry about him or his friends destroying pricey cards.
This looks like an interesting deck. I think I'll give it a shot. I wasn't even aware PEDH is actually a thing.
I've been wanting to teach my son EDH, but wasn't too thrilled spending time trying to tweak the current Commander set. I'm not to thrilled trying to build the higher priced decks either. Checked TCGP pricing and this decks costs about $40. So this is inside my cost limits where I don't have to worry about him or his friends destroying pricey cards.
Thanks SavannahLion! That's the best thing I've heard all day, Have fun!
Is your group of friends not particularly receptive to infinite combos? That's totally fine, but I think you should just mention them in your Primer anyways, maybe in a separate section. There are definitely players who have a more cut-throat environment where these combos are necessary to end games.
I juts want to say as well how great it is to see someone devoting such a huge amount of time and energy into this format like you are. This is really encouraging to see and makes me want to write primers on my own decks and keep brewing. Your efforts might just foster a greater interest in the format as a whole. Thank you!
Is your group of friends not particularly receptive to infinite combos? That's totally fine, but I think you should just mention them in your Primer anyways, maybe in a separate section. There are definitely players who have a more cut-throat environment where these combos are necessary to end games.
I juts want to say as well how great it is to see someone devoting such a huge amount of time and energy into this format like you are. This is really encouraging to see and makes me want to write primers on my own decks and keep brewing. Your efforts might just foster a greater interest in the format as a whole. Thank you!
Thanks again Upkeep, I'll eventually get around to creating a section about infinite combo options, as it
would be a near seamless fit to incorporate at least a Peregrine Drake combo into this deck.
Yeah, Pauper EDH is a really good format, game-play is more challenging and it really forces a degree of
"out of the box" thinking/creativity when deck building, and much like the Amazon Rainforest there's still
many miles of unexplored territory in this format.
If you can find the time perhaps you can turn your Rosheen Meanderer Elfball deck into a primer.
It's a really cool deck, and you've already laid the foundation for it.
Out: Rotting Rats Symetric discard not as good as what Mesmeric Fiend provides. Ravenous Rats Just outclassed by Burglar Rat. Augur of Bolas Undeniably a good card in the right deck, just whiffed to much in this one. Undying Evil One shot Recur while good/fun is surpassed by the raw power of the Hymn. Snap This deck runs more than enough bounce effects, just a tad more removal was needed. Repluse Good card, but i've found that instant bounce spells needs to hit more than creatures. Exclude Another Good card, but the options granted by Merchant Scroll are way more powerful. Altar's Reap Always a nice surprise, but you have to wait for that window of opportunity.
In: Mesmeric Fiend Very nasty little card, gives information while disrupting an opponent,
some people have absolute ***** fits when I use this little $0.10 card on them. Burglar Rat Far superior to Ravenous Rats. This is the sister card to Liliana's Specter. Slum Reaper Finally, an ETB creature with a true Fleshbag Marauder effect for pauper. Hymn to Tourach Should of been in since the beginning, such an evil/crippling card.
Everyone has a plan... until they get Hymn'd. Chainer's Edict Should of been in since the beginning, a tenaciously effective card. Boomerang Overall this has proven to be superior to Repulse in all situations. Merchant Scroll The sheer versatility of this card,.. in this deck,.. has become undeniable. Rhystic Study Straight up Raw draw power. It just puts you miles ahead of the opponent(s).
Soul Stair Expedition - basically, 1 mana for returning 2 cards a few turns down the road. I personally think of the card as being basically free, since it will eat up a mana when I have one left over. This means that the only cost is the time, but time is blue/black controls "thing". If I should suggest a card to drop for it, it would be Disturbed Burial (you need to spend 7 mana to equal what you get from 1. To do better you need to spend at least 12 and you have a mostly similar card anyway).
Echoing truth - I would take this over Boomerang. Easier to cast, and I imagine you are more often worried about a token army than a land, which can be bounced in other ways anyway.
Victim of Night hits basically everything hit by Doom Blade (but is a bit harder to cast) and more besides - like in your deck, doom blade fails to hit 19 out of 29 creatures while Victim of Night only misses 3 - and is cheaper than rend flesh. The main reason I recommend this over doom blade is that it is very unusual for it to be dead in a match-up and more importantly, it can nail way more commanders, which I feel is important in the format.
Rush of Knowledge with your commander is 6 cards, which is absurdly efficient. If for some reason something happend to your commander, you still got many other 5 mana creatures and a few 6 mana dittos (the latter are unlikely to be in play though).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Hail to the speaker, hail to the knower; joy to he who has understood, delight to they who have listened." - Odin
Soul Stair Expedition - basically, 1 mana for returning 2 cards a few turns down the road. I personally think of the card as being basically free, since it will eat up a mana when I have one left over. This means that the only cost is the time, but time is blue/black controls "thing". If I should suggest a card to drop for it, it would be Disturbed Burial (you need to spend 7 mana to equal what you get from 1. To do better you need to spend at least 12 and you have a mostly similar card anyway).
Echoing truth - I would take this over Boomerang. Easier to cast, and I imagine you are more often worried about a token army than a land, which can be bounced in other ways anyway.
Victim of Night hits basically everything hit by Doom Blade (but is a bit harder to cast) and more besides - like in your deck, doom blade fails to hit 19 out of 29 creatures while Victim of Night only misses 3 - and is cheaper than rend flesh. The main reason I recommend this over doom blade is that it is very unusual for it to be dead in a match-up and more importantly, it can nail way more commanders, which I feel is important in the format.
Rush of Knowledge with your commander is 6 cards, which is absurdly efficient. If for some reason something happend to your commander, you still got many other 5 mana creatures and a few 6 mana dittos (the latter are unlikely to be in play though).
Yeah, I ran Echoing Truth in here since the beginning, Boomerang is just one of my old pet cards that I
always go back to. Crypt Rats and Evincar's Justice are my weapons of choice for tokens/ swarms.
Now Victim of Night I can get aboard! It is superior to Doom Blade and should have been in since the start.
Yeah, I ran Echoing Truth in here since the beginning, Boomerang is just one of my old pet cards that I
always go back to. Crypt Rats and Evincar's Justice are my weapons of choice for tokens/ swarms.
Now Victim of Night I can get aboard! It is superior to Doom Blade and should have been in since the start.
Your points make sense to me, but I am a bit surprised that you use disturbed burial in the late game? Then I get to the late game it is reaping the graves or death denied that are my go-to cards for recursion, backed up by some recursion wizard. Quantity is a quality on its own Perhaps it is because you are not running as many tutors as I am and then have a harder time finding them.
Ohh, cards I forgot to suggest: The transmute creatures are amazing! You are running only the 4 drop and I think the 3 and 2 drops make a lot of sense too (like, I presume that a main point of all those sac outlets is to allow you to recur your creatures. These guys are basically like mulldrifter in that they give some effect and then goes to the gy on their own)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Hail to the speaker, hail to the knower; joy to he who has understood, delight to they who have listened." - Odin
Introduction: Welcome, this is an Insidious UB Pauper EDH Control Deck that's focused upon
achieving victory through disruption of your opponents game-plans via bounce, discard, removal,
and counters, while playing some of the best value creatures and dedicated finishers available to a
UB deck in the Pauper EDH Format. The deck also has the option to combo out with when the
right cards are in place.
There is an emphasis on graveyard recursion here as well.... and beyond that, the deck also has a
plethora of dirty tricks that it hides up its tentacled sleeves.
The deck is suited for both multiplayer and 1v1, although it's particularly effective in 1v1 games.
In writing this "Primer" my intention is to not only put forth knowledge, but also to inspire thought
and creativity in other players as well. Thanks for taking the time to check it out, I sincerely hope
you find the read both informative and entertaining.
Pauper EDH plays exactly the same as Regular EDH except:
- 1 Uncommon General (does not have to be a legendary creature)
- 99 Commons (any card that was printed as a common at any point in Mtg history is legal)
- 30 Starting Life
- 18 General Damage
There is no Banlist in Pauper EDH.Why Dinrova Horror: As Bounce and Discard are some of the central strategies of this deck,
having access to a (Recoil) on a 4/4 Beatstick sitting in the Command Zone is a perfect fit. Once
onto the battlefield its ability can be reused repeatedly with Bounce, Flicker, and Recursion. As it
is a 6 mana commander, this deck grants you the luxury of placing it in the graveyard instead of
returning it to the command zone if it should die, so it can be recurred back to your hand at a later
time. Over the course of the game when your opponents hands are low/empty and their board
cleared of any relevant defenses the Dinrova Horror becomes a wincon by itself. On a side note
the artist Johann Bodin really did a fine job of capturing the look of an unholy cosmic entity that
came right out an eerie old H.P. Lovecraft story and put itself onto one truly evil magic card....
Alternative Commanders:
Just drop Dinrova Horror down into the 99 by swapping out Aethersnipe.
Many will find the Strix to be a more appealing (albeit far less intimidating) Commander than
the Dinrova Horror. The deck still operates the same either way, but you'll have access to some
additional draw power at the expense of not being able to kill with Commander damage in a
timely manner and the loss of reliable targeted removal/game breaking combo piece coming
from the Command Zone.
Overall, Baleful Strix encourages a more "durdley" reactive play-style, where the Dinrova Horror
is a bit more proactive.
The choice is yours... they're both effective in their own unique ways.
by swapping out Aethersnipe and run The Scarab God as your Commander, and you'll
have the pleasure of giving some people absolute "***** fits" with a 50$ EDH deck.
Scarab God PAUPERSLAYER
Deck History: For those familiar with 60 card Pauper, this deck is essentially a Commander
version of both UB Control/Mystical Teachings and UBFlicker which I've merged together
and reinforced with some good "old school" UB Bounce and Discard to create an oppressive
and quite competitive Pauper EDH deck.
I began brainstorming ideas for this deck back in late 2016, and finally created and started running
early versions of the deck in June of 2017. After considerable experimentation with many different
cards and strategies I have arrived at the finely tuned deck presented below.
The Deck:
1 Dinrova Horror
Creatures:
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Aethersnipe
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Salvager of Secrets
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Mulldrifter
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Archaeomancer
1 Vulturous Aven
1 Slum Reaper
1 Gravedigger
1 Mist Raven
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Chittering Rats
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Man-o'-War
1 Crypt Rats
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Augur of Skulls
1 Dream Stalker
1 Cavern Harpy
1 Burglar Rat
1 Plagued Rusalka
1 Sidisi's Faithful
1 Innocent Blood
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Tragic Slip
1 Victim of Night
1 Doom Blade
1 Rend Flesh
1 Murder
1 Into the Roil
1 Capsize
1 Recoil
Counters:
1 Negate
1 Mana Leak
1 Counterspell
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Perplex
Draw/ Tutor:
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Impulse
1 Night's Whisper
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Probe
1 Deep Analysis
1 Syphon Mind
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Grim Harvest
1 Reaping the Graves
1 Death Denied
1 Undying Evil
Utility:
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Displace
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Raven's Crime
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Shred Memory
Lands:
1 Command Tower
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Submerged Boneyard
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Ash Barrens
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Halimar Depths
1 Mortuary Mire
12 Swamp
12 Island
Card selection:
99 Commons and 1 Uncommon Commander Dinrova Horror.
In this deck, cards are allocated into 8 categories, dependent upon their purpose and function.
*Note that many cards serve multiple functions, thus providing versatility and/or card advantage.
Straight from the darkest pages of a Lich Lords Spellbook, I have provided a brief/broad description
pertaining to the purpose and function of each card in the deck.
Dinrova Horror: Your Commander, Recoil on a 4/4 beatstick, reuse with flicker/bounce/recur.
Aethersnipe: Disperse on a 4/4 beatstick, evoke early and recur later for reuse or hardcasting.
Mist Raven: Unsummon on an evasive 2/2, best common creature out of Avacyn Restored.
Man-o'-War: Unsummon on a 2/2, once touted as the best creature in the game back in yesteryear.
Cavern Harpy: An outstanding bounce engine card, nigh impossible to kill in Pauper EDH.
Sidisi's Faithful: Unsummon on a 0/4, puts a body into the yard, easily recurred, really good.
Into the Roil: Excellent non land bounce that draws on the kicker.
Capsize: Boomerang with buyback, one-card bounce Engine, controls the board, wins games.
Recoil: Dimir style Boomerang, bounce any permanent, then force a discard at instant speed.
Dinrova Horror: Your Commander, Recoil on a 4/4 beatstick, reuse with flicker/bounce/recur.
Liliana's Specter: Asymmetrical discard effect on an evasive body. Truly excellent card here.
Chittering Rats: Rat lock!
Mesmeric Fiend: Very nasty little card, provides information/disrupts, play with triggers for exile.
Use it as a recurring pseudo Gitaxian Probe/Thoughtseize.
Augur of Skulls: Regenerating Skeleton Wizard that gives Mind Rot.
Burglar Rat: Asymmetrical discard effect, this is the sister card of Liliana's Specter.
Recoil: Instant speed discard after bounce. removes a threat and then removes an option.
Perplex: Discards their entire hand if they really need to resolve a crucial spell.
Probe: It Mind Rots on the kicker, while drawing 3 cards, then sets up the graveyard for recursion.
Syphon Mind: Depletes opposing hands while filling yours. Scales up.
Hymn to Tourach: Classic hand disruption, everyone has a plan... until they get Hymn'd.
Raven's Crime: Subtle at first..., but mid/late game it get's nasty when hand sniping after bounce.
Faceless Butcher: Oubliette on a 2/3 body. Play with sac's/bounce/flicker for the Exile trigger.
In some cases you can Butcher one of your own creatures in order to later re-trigger an ETB effect.
Slum Reaper: A true ETB pauper Fleshbag Marauder effect on a creature. Rarity shift.
Crypt Rats: Exploding mice,.. clears the field, drops life totals, can end games, easy to recur.
Plagued Rusalka: Sac outlet that murders small annoying children and alters combat math,
very easy to recur. In this deck she is used as a pseudo Darkblast.
Innocent Blood: High efficiency symmetrical sac effect.
Diabolic Edict: Instant sac, opportunity always presents itself.
Chainer's Edict: Sorcery sac, Flashback makes this card even better mid/late game.
Tragic Slip: Easy to trigger Morbid. Kills almost any creature in the pauper format for one B.
Victim of Night: Hits most relevant creatures in Pauper EDH.
Doom Blade: Simple and effective spot removal.
Murder: Indiscriminate Murder...
Nihil Spellbomb: The Graveyard Grenade.
Shred Memory: Instant graveyard hate.
Bojuka Bog: One of the best utility lands ever printed. Reuse with Bounce/Ghostly Flicker.
Negate: Pauper Countersquall. Basic, efficient, always finds a good target.
Mana Leak: The best "Tax" counter ever printed, always finds an unsuspecting target.
Counterspell: The best hard counter in pauper, 2 mana and no..., 2 untapped islands unnerves.
Soul Manipulation: Remove Soul and Raise Dead on one truly All-Star card.
Perplex: Choices have to be made... will they throw their hand away to get their spell through?...
Mulldrifter: Evoke the Mulldrifter, Divination on an evasive 2/2, puts itself in the yard.
Vulturous Aven: Exploit the Vulture, Night's Whisper on an evasive 2/3, puts a body in the yard.
Sea Gate Oracle: Sleight of Hand on a 1/3 body, good early defense.
Brainstorm: The best one mana blue draw outside of Ancestral Recall.
Ponder: High efficiency 3 card dig that also grants the option of shuffling away chaff.
Impulse: High efficiency dig, helps set you up early game, or grabs an answer out of thin air.
Night's Whisper: High efficiency draw 2.
Forbidden Alchemy: Dimir style Impulse with Flashback, synergy with this decks recursion.
Probe: Total synergy with this deck, Draw 3 for 3, sets up for recur, Mind Rots on the kicker.
Deep Analysis: Classic Draw 2 with Flashback.
Syphon Mind: Draws you cards while depleting opponents hands. Scales up.
Into the Roil: Draws a card on the kicker.
Halimar Depths: Not card draw, but usually sets you up nice, for free.
Terramorphic Expanse: Pauper fetchland, thin and shuffle.
Evolving Wilds: Pauper fetchland, thin and shuffle.
Ash Barrens: Basic Landcycling, thin and shuffle.
Twisted Abomination: Early Swampcycling, put's itself in the graveyard for later recur.
Nihil Spellbomb: Graveyard Grenade that cantrips.
Tutors:
Mystical Teachings: 24 Instants, get whatever the situation calls for, or plan for the future.
Merchant Scroll: 15 Blue Instants, get whatever the situation calls for, or plan for the future.
Dimir House Guard:
Drift of Phantasms:
Perplex:
Crypt Rats
Diabolic Edict, Chainer's Edict, Victim of Night, Into the Roil, Mesmeric Fiend
Salvager of Secrets: Flicker Engine card, Call to Mind on a 2/2 wizard, new kid on the block.
Mnemonic Wall: Flicker Engine card, Call to Mind on a 0/4 wall, pulls its weight in this deck.
Archaeomancer: Flicker Engine card, Call to Mind on 1/2 wizard, pulls its weight in this deck.
Gravedigger: The Classic. Raise Dead on 2/2 zombie, pulls its weight in this deck.
Cadaver Imp: The Impdigger. Raise Dead on a flying 1/1 Imp, pulls its weight in this deck.
Grim Harvest: Instant speed Raise Dead with Recover. You do need to keep an eye on this card
when it's in the graveyard or you'll lose it.
Reaping the Graves: Storm Raise Dead, use it wisely, and you shall instantly reap the benefits.
Death Denied: Instant speed Mass X Raise Dead. Ridiculously good card at common rarity.
Undying Evil: Elegant card in form and function.
Soul Manipulation: Solid gold, returns a creature to your hand while countering theirs.
Mortuary Mire: Sweet recursion effect, closest thing pauper has to Volrath's Stronghold.
Ghostly Flicker: Saves/reuses creatures/lands, Engine card with the recur wizards and wall.
Displace: Saves/reuses creatures, Engine card with the recur wizards and wall.
Dimir House Guard: Regenerating Sac outlet that enables broken plays.
Plagued Rusalka: Sac outlet that murders small annoying children and alters combat math,
very easy to recur. In this deck she is used as a pseudo Darkblast.
Dinrova Horror: Your commander, Recoil's, beats in, combo piece, closes games. Basically
every time the Horror enters play the biggest threat on the board is getting Recoiled.
Aethersnipe: Disperse's, beats in, early/mid game this card can be evoked then later
recurred for reuse or hard casting.
Twisted Abomination: The A-Bomb, often difficult to remove in pauper due to it's cheap regen.
It just delivers a relentless beating on an opponent. Early/mid game this card can be Swampcycled
then recurred later for hardcasting.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: Drains all day, likes flicker/bounce/recur, and BBBBB
Peregrine Drake: Infinite mana with the recur wizards/wall + Ghostly Flicker/Displace.
Crypt Rats: Rodent Dirty Bomb, can pull out wins/draws in a tight game.
** Every creature in the deck is in fact a potential finisher.
cmc
1 --- 11
2 --- 20
3 --- 17
4 --- 9
5 --- 5
6 --- 3
This deck seeks to rapidly engage/disrupt the opponent(s) from many different angles and keep
them off-balance from the early turns of the game, all the way to the end of the game.
Basically the overall strategy is as follows: Utilize your disruption/control, and value creatures
together with bounce, flicker, and recursion to grind out the opponent's hands/boards while
steadily gnawing away at their life total(s), and their will/ability to stay in the game, then close
the game out with your finishers or by flickering Dinrova Horror repeatedly.
1. Bounce: save blockers, reuse creatures, remove threats, break tempo, delay, harass, control.
2. Discard: removes future threats, limits opponents options, leaves opponents vulnerable.
3. Removal: necessary to remove dangerous threats, provides board control, keeps you alive.
4. Counters: provide control, make opponents second guess key plays, keep you alive.
5. Draw/Tutor: provides you with more cards/options than your opponents have available to them.
6. Recursion: greatly increases the tenacity of the deck, provides redundancy/options, wins games.
7. Utility: pseudo force multipliers, these are card/ability abuse enablers that help you win games.
8. Finishers: once control is established, these seek to close out the game at an accelerated rate.
Overall, it's many small parts and pieces working together to create one big engine of doom.
This deck runs many "Value" creatures with highly desirable effects. Engines allow for repeated
reuse of those effects. In the case of Recursion engines, they also provide you with resilience in
the form of providing access to threats/ defense in the form of creatures.
This deck is capable of forming three types of Engines:
Flicker engine: Allows for Instant Speed reuse of a creatures ETB/Leaves Play triggered ability.
This is the most efficient Engine, and with it's Instant Speed activation, the most difficult to disrupt.
Archaeomancer/Mnemonic Wall/ Salvager of Secrets + Ghostly Flicker/Displace + Creature
Peregrine Drake will generate infinite mana with the flicker engine, generating 2 mana per cycle,
or 3 mana per cycle if Dimir Aqueduct is included. At this point by adding Dinrova Horror into
the mix you then Recoil all opponents permanents in play and discard all their hands, effectively
ending the game. This can happen as early as turn 5 if all the combo pieces are present.
Bounce engine: Returns a creature on the battlefield back to your hand so that it can be recast,
while also returning itself back to your hand to repeat the process, creating a "Loop Effect".
Capsize/Cavern Harpy + Creature
Grim Harvest + Sidisi's Faithful fit's in here as well as a repeatable Unsummon.
Recursion engine: Returns a creature in your graveyard back to your hand so that it can be recast,
then puts it back into the graveyard so that the process can be repeated, creating a "Loop effect".
Grim Harvest + Plagued Rusalka + Creature.
You can also create EOT Grim Harvest loops with, Twisted Abomination, Mulldrifter,
Aethersnipe, Vulturous Aven, Slum Reaper, Crypt Rats, Sidisi's Faithful, Augur of Skulls,
and Plagued Rusalka, as all these creatures are capable of putting themselves into the
graveyard either from play or from your hand. You are only limited by the amount of
mana you have available.
***All three of these Engines feed into and support each other.
It's a classic UB strategy that dates all the way back to the earliest days of MTG, where decks
used Boomerang and Time Elemental in tandem with Disrupting Scepter and Hypnotic Specter
along with other disruption to keep their opponents in a perpetually suppressed game state
by continually bouncing an opponents permanents back to their hand where they were then
continually forced to discard them, which ultimately left them with nothing in play and no
cards in hand.
This deck utilizes a lot of disruption as it is, which often leaves your opponents in a vulnerable
position (low hand count/ weak board presence) leaving them susceptible to being Soft Locked,
and this deck is fully capable of creating and sustaining Soft Locks, they are a part of this decks
design plan and strategy.
This deck is capable of forming three types of Soft Locks:
Bounce Lock: Where an opponent is unable to reliably keep permanents in play due to a
recurring bounce effect, putting them in a position where they are unable to advance/maintain
their board presence, which leads to "Backsliding" when combined with discard effects..
Prime Culprits: Dinrova Horror, Sidisi's Faithful, Capsize, Recoil, Into the Roil, Mist Raven,
Man-o'-War, and Aethersnipe.
Discard Lock: Where an opponent is unable to keep cards in their hand due to a recurring
discard effect, essentially leaving them in a perpetual state of "Top Deck Mode", which then
forces your opponent into a "Use it or Lose it" mentality.
Prime Culprits: Dinrova Horror, Liliana's Specter, Burglar Rat, Mesmeric Fiend, Augur of Skulls,
Hymn to Tourach, Raven's Crime, Chittering Rats.
Deck Lock Where an opponent is unable to draw a new/useful card without the aid of draw
spells/effects.
Prime Culprit: Chittering Rats, the "Rat lock".
***All three of these Soft Locks feed into and support each other.
With this deck a Soft Lock can be generated when an "Engine" is available, and a creature with a
desirable ability/effect is also available.
The creatures ability/effect can then be reused continuously to initiate and maintain the desired
type of Soft Lock.
Depending on your opponents hand size and board presence, it may sometimes only take one
or two activations of the Engine to form a lock.
*** Please note this deck runs a veritable slew of spells which fully support these locks as well,
in the form of initiating, maintaining, protecting and reestablishing them.
a few examples:
Archaeomancer + Ghostly Flicker + Dinrova Horror. This an engine capable of both Bounce
Locking and Discard Locking an opponent at instant speed. With Dinrova Horror in particular,
this could even be taken as far as also getting a "Land Lock" on an opponent, where it starts
feeding (Backsliding) an opponents lands back into their hand a la Capsize, to be discarded.
Mnemonic Wall + Displace + Liliana's Specter/Burglar Rat. This is an Engine capable of
Discard Locking multiple opponents at instant speed.
***There are 29 creatures in this deck.
So use every single tool available to get as much mileage out of them as possible. The spells are
there for support and aid in keeping you alive long enough to execute your plans and win the game.
*** The deck has good recursion ability, so when piloting it always keep in mind that your graveyard
is a virtual extension of your hand. This deck has the tools to recur nearly every spell and creature.
*** Salvager of Secrets/Mnemonic Wall/Archaeomancer are not just here to execute Ghostly Flicker/
Displace combos. Their primary role in this deck is to get back your Countermagic, Removal, Bounce,
Discard, Recursion, and Draw spells so they can be recast again.
***Ghostly Flicker/Displace both generate significant card advantage with the creatures in this deck.
Their primary roles in this deck are to re-trigger effects, dodge removal, save blockers, and untap
creatures to provide defense. Don't just keep them in your hand waiting for the recur wizards/wall
and Peregrine Drake to show up.
*** Grim Harvest, Death Denied, and Reaping the Graves are best utilized when cast at the end-step
of an opponents turn, for obvious reasons.
*** Grim Harvest is great when you start looping it, but there are situations where you may need
to "one shot" it to get back a "solution" if you are being pressured by your opponent(s), or if your
going for the win and need that 1 final bit of disruption from a creatures trigger to win the game.
*** Ghostly Flicker, and Displace work great with all creatures in this deck, but they
also work very well with the Evoke/Exploit triggers of Mulldrifter, Athersnipe, Vulturous Aven,
and Sidisi's Faithful allowing for a "double tap" of their ETB triggers.
*** You're not only attacking life totals, you also attacking opponents hands with Discard effects.
Decks that lack good card draw options can be easily crippled/hampered by just a few of these, and
can quickly find themselves stuck in "top deck mode".
*** When Faceless Butcher or Mesmeric Fiend resolve, kill/sac/bounce or flicker them in response
to their exile triggers to permanently exile a creature or card.
*** Be mindful that some of the best decks out there utilize their graveyards, so keep tabs on them.
This deck runs 3 of the best graveyard hate cards in pauper. Bojuka Bog, Nihil Spellbomb, and
Shred Memory are fully capable of effectively shutting down opposing recursion tactics.
*** When bouncing opponents creatures be wary of those with strong ETB effects, most are not a
big deal. Just use your spot removal/sac effects for the ones that are. Better yet bounce them, then
make them discard.
***There are many subtle nuances and interactions in this deck. You learn them through playing it.
I've been playing both competitive and casual Mtg for over 23 years now. I presently play with a fairly
large and extensive playgroup out of Brothers Grim Games in Selden, NY, and sometimes at Campus
Cards & Games and Coolstuff Games both in FL when visiting family.
I also infrequently visit various kitchen tables.
You can call me Al (Lim)-Dul.
Have fun,.. but always keep in mind this deck is designed to do fiendish things to your
opponents, so it would serve thee well to adopt the "Dimir Mindset" of playing with
"Malicious Intentions" whilst piloting this most unholy monstrosity.....
TEMUJIN
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Thanks Korhal! Yeah I've seen Condescend used in Dinrovatron 60 card pauper decks, very good card. Could try it over Negate... Scry 2 is really sweet on a counter. Vedalken Dismisser is really good to, it's a Mistmeadow Witch pauper decks version of Chittering Rats which could create some good redundancy in that department, but at 6 mana I think i'd leave that one for the Witch.
*** Vedalken Dismisser, has in fact made it on the team.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Oona's Grace is a card I feel should make it into grindy blue decks like this. I would be tempted to play it over Altar's Reap. In fact, there's a whole bunch of draw spells that I feel should be in here. Compulsive Research, Ponder, Preordain, Gush...
If you're looking to abuse ETB abilities while disrupting your opponent, Curfew seems pretty good at that.Withdraw also has a similar but more flexible effect (second target is your creature, but if they're tapped out you can bounce two of their things instead).
I'm a bit surprised not to see Evincar's Justice or Pestilence, which seems to be a staple in all black decks. Even if it might wipe your board, it's one of your only ways of catching up against an opponent who's far ahead. You have a way to tutor for them, too!
Urborg Uprising is a card I've grown to appreciate in this format. It's back-breakingly good. I'd play it over Undying Evil.
I think another Edict would be useful. Geth's Verdict is probably your best bet unless your playgroup is okay with you using Chainer's Edict.
Prosperous Pirates, Cloud of Faeries and Peregrine Drake give you the option of going infinite. Definitely worth looking into. In the same vein, nightscape Familiar could be a good addition to the deck in general.
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
Thanks Upkeep! All solid suggestions and good advice.
Yeah I've gone out of the box with my card draw, but it works. Crypt Rats pull a lot of weight in this deck, I ran Pestilence and
Evincar's Justice but they always seemed to under-perform for me. Yeah, Urborg Uprising is a card advantage monster, I may try it out.
I'm steering clear of infinites here, but never say never.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
I've been wanting to teach my son EDH, but wasn't too thrilled spending time trying to tweak the current Commander set. I'm not to thrilled trying to build the higher priced decks either. Checked TCGP pricing and this decks costs about $40. So this is inside my cost limits where I don't have to worry about him or his friends destroying pricey cards.
Thanks SavannahLion! That's the best thing I've heard all day, Have fun!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
I juts want to say as well how great it is to see someone devoting such a huge amount of time and energy into this format like you are. This is really encouraging to see and makes me want to write primers on my own decks and keep brewing. Your efforts might just foster a greater interest in the format as a whole. Thank you!
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
Thanks again Upkeep, I'll eventually get around to creating a section about infinite combo options, as it
would be a near seamless fit to incorporate at least a Peregrine Drake combo into this deck.
Yeah, Pauper EDH is a really good format, game-play is more challenging and it really forces a degree of
"out of the box" thinking/creativity when deck building, and much like the Amazon Rainforest there's still
many miles of unexplored territory in this format.
If you can find the time perhaps you can turn your Rosheen Meanderer Elfball deck into a primer.
It's a really cool deck, and you've already laid the foundation for it.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Out:
Rotting Rats Symetric discard not as good as what Mesmeric Fiend provides.
Ravenous Rats Just outclassed by Burglar Rat.
Augur of Bolas Undeniably a good card in the right deck, just whiffed to much in this one.
Undying Evil One shot Recur while good/fun is surpassed by the raw power of the Hymn.
Snap This deck runs more than enough bounce effects, just a tad more removal was needed.
Repluse Good card, but i've found that instant bounce spells needs to hit more than creatures.
Exclude Another Good card, but the options granted by Merchant Scroll are way more powerful.
Altar's Reap Always a nice surprise, but you have to wait for that window of opportunity.
In:
Mesmeric Fiend Very nasty little card, gives information while disrupting an opponent,
some people have absolute ***** fits when I use this little $0.10 card on them.
Burglar Rat Far superior to Ravenous Rats. This is the sister card to Liliana's Specter.
Slum Reaper Finally, an ETB creature with a true Fleshbag Marauder effect for pauper.
Hymn to Tourach Should of been in since the beginning, such an evil/crippling card.
Everyone has a plan... until they get Hymn'd.
Chainer's Edict Should of been in since the beginning, a tenaciously effective card.
Boomerang Overall this has proven to be superior to Repulse in all situations.
Merchant Scroll The sheer versatility of this card,.. in this deck,.. has become undeniable.
Rhystic Study Straight up Raw draw power. It just puts you miles ahead of the opponent(s).
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Soul Stair Expedition - basically, 1 mana for returning 2 cards a few turns down the road. I personally think of the card as being basically free, since it will eat up a mana when I have one left over. This means that the only cost is the time, but time is blue/black controls "thing". If I should suggest a card to drop for it, it would be Disturbed Burial (you need to spend 7 mana to equal what you get from 1. To do better you need to spend at least 12 and you have a mostly similar card anyway).
Echoing truth - I would take this over Boomerang. Easier to cast, and I imagine you are more often worried about a token army than a land, which can be bounced in other ways anyway.
Victim of Night hits basically everything hit by Doom Blade (but is a bit harder to cast) and more besides - like in your deck, doom blade fails to hit 19 out of 29 creatures while Victim of Night only misses 3 - and is cheaper than rend flesh. The main reason I recommend this over doom blade is that it is very unusual for it to be dead in a match-up and more importantly, it can nail way more commanders, which I feel is important in the format.
Rush of Knowledge with your commander is 6 cards, which is absurdly efficient. If for some reason something happend to your commander, you still got many other 5 mana creatures and a few 6 mana dittos (the latter are unlikely to be in play though).
All good suggestions Reaper9889!
Soul Stair Expedition is a unique card, Disturbed Burial is just so good to me late game, used primarily on my
cmc 1,2, and 3 creatures.
Yeah, I ran Echoing Truth in here since the beginning, Boomerang is just one of my old pet cards that I
always go back to. Crypt Rats and Evincar's Justice are my weapons of choice for tokens/ swarms.
Now Victim of Night I can get aboard! It is superior to Doom Blade and should have been in since the start.
If Rhystic Study wasn't in the deck, Rush of Knowledge would be.
Thanks man!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Your points make sense to me, but I am a bit surprised that you use disturbed burial in the late game? Then I get to the late game it is reaping the graves or death denied that are my go-to cards for recursion, backed up by some recursion wizard. Quantity is a quality on its own Perhaps it is because you are not running as many tutors as I am and then have a harder time finding them.
Ohh, cards I forgot to suggest: The transmute creatures are amazing! You are running only the 4 drop and I think the 3 and 2 drops make a lot of sense too (like, I presume that a main point of all those sac outlets is to allow you to recur your creatures. These guys are basically like mulldrifter in that they give some effect and then goes to the gy on their own)
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Some strong Decks in my local meta:
We mostly play multiplayer with occasional 1v1's.
1v1's are either really close games or complete blowouts.
Everyone's decks are really well thought out and tuned through playing,
and some are truly terrifying capable of taking down actual EDH decks.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Scour all Possibilities makes it into to the deck.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~