My LGS has started hosting Pauper events and I'd like to play combo of some sort. I don't see many dedicated combo decks in the forums though. Is there no good combo decks in the format?
Once mastered is it a reasonable deck? Don't want to put the time in on a deck that's just total jank.
It's probably one of the best decks in the format. The reason it's not super popular is that it's difficult to learn to play and that it takes a long time to execute the combo (which, if disrupted, puts you far behind on the clock which eventually loses you the game). You won't have problems with time irl, and hopefully you have the time to play several games to get the hand of it, so this should be a good option for you.
As mentioned, Esper Familiar is by far the best combo deck in the format. Another option is UR Cyclops/Fiend combo. It can take more of an aggro route sometimes and it's more fragile to removal but it definitely fits the combo definition.
As mentioned, Esper Familiar is by far the best combo deck in the format. Another option is UR Cyclops/Fiend combo. It can take more of an aggro route sometimes and it's more fragile to removal but it definitely fits the combo definition.
Turns out my friend has this deck built and let me try it last night. His version plays land enchantments instead of familiars though. It was very fun and super strong. I'll definitely go ahead and build it now!
The familiars version sees much more play. I think it's much more resilient to hate, and doesn't need to combo off to win (sometimes it can just attack).
I've always seen this list around, but I always had questions. What if the Sage's Row Denizen is exiled? Do you just bury your opponent in card advantage and swing with all your fliers? I imagine Reaping the Graves is there to be used to yank him and all other creatures sent to the graveyard if he was killed. So does this deck just transition to aggro when the combo is disrupted?
Also:
I noticed when playing a couple familiar lists, that they ran Capsize and Gray Merchant of Asphodel as win conditions.I wanted to give this deck a try, especially if it is as hard to pilot as many are saying it is. However, is there a better route? Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Sage's Row Denizen seem very interchangeable, except that Gary survives Doom Blade/Snuff Out effects. However, Capsize looks powerful and fun, and seems like it could replace Reaping the Graves as a second win condition. Thoughts?
Normally the Denizen doesn't come out unless you're about to combo off (or unless your deck is misfiring badly); but yeah, the beatdown option is there just by deploying 3 faeries and 4 mulldrifters or whatever. Gray Merchant is probably slightly faster, which is a real issue in online; capsize is a bit slower but maybe more flexible. You probably want Reaping regardless because people like to kill off or counter your faeries on sight.
The biggest problem with the Capsize plan is the clock (and lack of way to quickly repeat the Flicker combo online and make infinite mana), otherwise it would probably be used as the "finisher" more. It works well but it's just so time consuming people would rather play the Denizen or Gray Merchant and just kill their opponent with that time.
Gray Merchant just seems so much better than Sage's Row, because it can actually get some devotion going with Nightscape Familiar, and its win condition works well in conjunction with the beatdown plan, should it come to that. The lifegain doesn't hurt, either, if you're stuck with only a partial combo. Why wouldn't everybody go with Gray Merchant?
This deck is usually always parched for Blue mana, so I think having a win condition that actually uses something other than Blue mana is an advantage.
I'm really thinking about taking this deck to my local pauper night. It seems to be winning a lot in the meta right now. Any advice on mastering the deck? I know the basic combos, but I was crushed a lot of times playing against control.
Dang I wanted to play this but seems expensive for a Pauper deck.
Eh, not really. Most of the top decks are about $20 other than Burn and White tokens which are dirt cheap. Familiar can be as low as about $25 without Hydroblasts in the sideboard. If you throw in 2-3 copies of Hydroblast you're probably looking at another $10-15 which still is fairly reasonable albeit above the average. This is still cheaper than decks like Delver though, or red decks that run Pyroblast and Gorilla Shaman in their sideboard.
First, based on the results, if you don't want to go Familiars this seems to be a reasonably viable combo deck. Second, am I reading this right? You Spellbomb a Bounceland to get infinite mana and Torch someone for the win and use Aurochs Herd if you don't hit that red mana? Really?
Freed from the Real enchanting a Voyaging Satyr goes infinite with the Simic/Izzet bounce land. I'm assuming this builder was worried about sorcery-speed removal, and wanted to keep the on-turn cost down, so used the Spellbomb as a backup plan. (I'd probably just use the 3cc Krosan Restorer, myself. )
The Aurachs seem odd to me. Since we're looking at infinite mana, wouldn't Pyromatics work as an MTGO Torch #2?
-
That said, Freed from the Real is the other strong contender for combo king, and I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned before. You can use a strategy similar to this one (enchant a land untapper, target a 2-mana land), or you can go with the original Axebane Guardian and some defender guys (example). It's straight forward and fairly easy to pilot.
Presence of Gond on Midnight Guard is also worth a mention. It's a two card infinite combo, and is fairly low on the curve. Splashing blue for digging drives it towards a combo deck, but (IMO) it generally works best in a Soul Sisters deck that can combo out. It's less combo this way, so I'm not sure how well it fits for some people.
There are some sub-par combos that are still waiting for their chance to shine. I don't know of any real showing these have had, but I think they have potential. Just needs more exploring.
GB Ivy Lane Denizen
Ivy Lane Denizen + Green Persist Guy + Sac Outlet
(Example: Ivy Lane Denizen + Safehold Elite + Carrion Feeder)
There are several green persist creatures in pauper. With Ivy Lane out, you have infinite sacs. Use a Viscera Seer to filter your entire deck and get the finisher you want, drop it and win. Generally, you want to cast out the persist guys and sac outlets, then drop Ivy Lane to win that turn. It's susceptible to instant removal, though, as it specifically relies on Ivy Lane. (This might become a thing if we can get an Ivy Lane #2 for backup).
Retraction Helix
Retraction Helix/Banishing Knack has the potential to go infinite with several creatures. Cast on a Battered Golem, Zephyr Scribe, or Mirran Spy and you can bounce any 0-mana artifact over and over. Golem Foundry, Glaze Fiend, any Prowess creature, etc, make for a very open win. The fact that it requires four card is it's worst set back - but the fact that we can have so much redundancy is intriguing for pauper. If we ever get a Zephyr Scribe type with prowess, this will also become a real thing.
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Mulldrifter
4 Sunscape Familiar
3 Nightscape Familiar
3 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Mnemonic Wall
1 Sage's Row Denizen
Spells (17)
4 Compulsive Research
4 Preordain
4 Snap
3 Ghostly Flicker
1 Foresee
1 Reaping the Graves
7 Island
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Azorius Chancery
3 Dimir Aqueduct
2 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Hydroblast
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Disfigure
2 Duress
2 Repeal
2 Wormfang Drake
1 Circle of Protection: Green
1 Lone Missionary
You better start practicing now, though; it's a very difficult deck to play. A very good deck to master, however.
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
Once mastered is it a reasonable deck? Don't want to put the time in on a deck that's just total jank.
It's probably one of the best decks in the format. The reason it's not super popular is that it's difficult to learn to play and that it takes a long time to execute the combo (which, if disrupted, puts you far behind on the clock which eventually loses you the game). You won't have problems with time irl, and hopefully you have the time to play several games to get the hand of it, so this should be a good option for 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
Oh yeah...this looks delightful!
Turns out my friend has this deck built and let me try it last night. His version plays land enchantments instead of familiars though. It was very fun and super strong. I'll definitely go ahead and build it now!
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/pauper-simic-enchants-19619#online
Yeah, quite similar to this. I think the Familiars version is probably better though.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Also:
I noticed when playing a couple familiar lists, that they ran Capsize and Gray Merchant of Asphodel as win conditions.I wanted to give this deck a try, especially if it is as hard to pilot as many are saying it is. However, is there a better route? Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Sage's Row Denizen seem very interchangeable, except that Gary survives Doom Blade/Snuff Out effects. However, Capsize looks powerful and fun, and seems like it could replace Reaping the Graves as a second win condition. Thoughts?
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
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
Eh, not really. Most of the top decks are about $20 other than Burn and White tokens which are dirt cheap. Familiar can be as low as about $25 without Hydroblasts in the sideboard. If you throw in 2-3 copies of Hydroblast you're probably looking at another $10-15 which still is fairly reasonable albeit above the average. This is still cheaper than decks like Delver though, or red decks that run Pyroblast and Gorilla Shaman in their sideboard.
But, I noticed that the old Freed From the Reel combo decks seem to have changed a lot. Here's one from a couple days ago that seems to be showing up once in a while: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/311097#online
First, based on the results, if you don't want to go Familiars this seems to be a reasonably viable combo deck. Second, am I reading this right? You Spellbomb a Bounceland to get infinite mana and Torch someone for the win and use Aurochs Herd if you don't hit that red mana? Really?
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
The Aurachs seem odd to me. Since we're looking at infinite mana, wouldn't Pyromatics work as an MTGO Torch #2?
-
That said, Freed from the Real is the other strong contender for combo king, and I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned before. You can use a strategy similar to this one (enchant a land untapper, target a 2-mana land), or you can go with the original Axebane Guardian and some defender guys (example). It's straight forward and fairly easy to pilot.
Presence of Gond on Midnight Guard is also worth a mention. It's a two card infinite combo, and is fairly low on the curve. Splashing blue for digging drives it towards a combo deck, but (IMO) it generally works best in a Soul Sisters deck that can combo out. It's less combo this way, so I'm not sure how well it fits for some people.
4 Midnight Guard
4 Presence of Gond
Soul
4 Soul Warden
4 Soul's Attendant
3 Essence Warden
4 Suture Priest
4 Selesnya Evangel
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Sprout Swarm
Pump
4 Sigil of the Nayan Gods
Lands
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Blossoming Sands
2 Selesnya Guildgate
3 Selesnya Sanctuary
6 Forest
6 Plains
There are some sub-par combos that are still waiting for their chance to shine. I don't know of any real showing these have had, but I think they have potential. Just needs more exploring.
GB Ivy Lane Denizen
Ivy Lane Denizen + Green Persist Guy + Sac Outlet
(Example: Ivy Lane Denizen + Safehold Elite + Carrion Feeder)
There are several green persist creatures in pauper. With Ivy Lane out, you have infinite sacs. Use a Viscera Seer to filter your entire deck and get the finisher you want, drop it and win. Generally, you want to cast out the persist guys and sac outlets, then drop Ivy Lane to win that turn. It's susceptible to instant removal, though, as it specifically relies on Ivy Lane. (This might become a thing if we can get an Ivy Lane #2 for backup).
Retraction Helix
Retraction Helix/Banishing Knack has the potential to go infinite with several creatures. Cast on a Battered Golem, Zephyr Scribe, or Mirran Spy and you can bounce any 0-mana artifact over and over. Golem Foundry, Glaze Fiend, any Prowess creature, etc, make for a very open win. The fact that it requires four card is it's worst set back - but the fact that we can have so much redundancy is intriguing for pauper. If we ever get a Zephyr Scribe type with prowess, this will also become a real thing.
No longer staff here.