Herein lies a comprehensive outline of the differences between MTGO Pauper and paper Pauper. This info will probably be more helpful in this dedicated thread than being buried elsewhere. All future updates and corrections will be made in this thread.
Pauper Rarity Breakdown:
Except for Arabian Nights, Antiquities, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Chronicles, Homelands, & Alliances, all other boosters prior to the introduction of mythic rares (even Alpha, if my source is correct) contained 15 cards at a rarity breakdown of 11-3-1. (11 commons, 3 uncommons, & 1 rare per booster) Most of those exceptions, however, only contained 8 cards and had a rarity breakdown of 6-2. (6 commons* & 2 uncommons* per booster) Alliances had a breakdown of 8-3-1, while Chronicles had a breakdown of 9-3. Legends had a more normal breakdown of 11-3-1.
* these terms are ambiguous and are discussed further in the next section
Most sets follow a standard for rarity distribution (11-3-1: 11 cards from one sheet of 121 cards, 3 from another, and 1 from a third), which smoothly fit into a standard for card rarity (11 commons, 3 commons, & 1 rare per booster). The terms 'common', 'uncommon', and 'rare' are defined by this standard rarity distribution. For non-standard sets, actual rarity isn't so easily correlated with rarity distribution: in order to use those terms in the same context in which they're defined (i.e. for them to have the same meaning), we must first translate into a standard. If this isn't done, a card from the 'common' sheet or 'uncommon' sheet of a non-standard (6-2) set might be considered 'common' or 'uncommon' on the basis of what sheet it was printed on, but those terms wouldn't match the standard that we mean with them. Using the same words to mean different things, especially when those things are similar, makes understanding quite difficult. For the sake of clarity, let's briefly use other terms: those sheets could just as easily be titled 'normal' and 'special'.
Since the rarity of these 'normal' cards is defined by their taking 6 slots in an 8-slot booster, it's clear that they aren't distributed the same as 'common' cards, which are defined as taking 11 slots in a 15-slot booster. Both terms are meant to express how rare a card is, or how often the card appears in a booster. By comparing the actual rarity of each card, we can see how cards from non-standard sets fit into our standard classification of 'common', 'uncommon', and 'rare'.
Note: The terms 'common' and 'uncommon' and abbreviations such as 'C1' will continue to be used for early sets because using a new format such as N1 (printed once on the normal sheet) or S3 (printed 3 times on the special sheet) doesn't clarify the issue well enough to be intuitive considering how ingrained the traditional formatting is.
Many early expansions used 2 sheets rather than 3, but often had a greater number of distinct rarities across all cards than later expansions due to some cards being printed multiple times per sheet. The terms C1, C4, U3 and such represent which sheet the cards were printed on (Common or Uncommon) and how many appeared on the sheet. (1, 4, or 3, respectively) For most of these sets, both sheets contained 121 cards each, organized into 11 columns and 11 rows before being cut into individual cards.
As an example, Arabian Nights had 32 U2 cards (32 cards printed twice each on the uncommon sheet) and 19 U3 cards (each printed three times on the uncommon sheet). Each sheet had 121 cards in total, which can be checked with a little math: 32 * 2 = 64, 19 * 3 = 57, and 64 + 57 = 121. The same can be done for the common* sheet as well as any other set.
The average number of any card appearing in a booster pack depends on how often that card appears on a sheet as well as how often cards from that sheet appear in a booster. In the case of Arabian Nights, the boosters contained 8 cards: 6 from the common sheet and 2 from the uncommon sheet. A U2 card, which appeared twice on the uncommon sheet, would be found twice per 121 cards (since each uncommon sheet had that many cards). Math shows us that 2/121 = 0.0165, or 1.65%. However, because there were 2 uncommons per booster, that number is doubled: (2 / 121) * 2 = 0.0331, or 3.31% of the cards per Arabian Nights booster will be any particular U2 card on average. (assuming complete randomization) The same math can be applied to any card in any set, and the results are shown below.
Arabian Nights (78 total cards) Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: December 1993
32 U2 (uncommons) . . . . . each 3.31% per booster
19 U3 (uncommons) . . . . . each 4.96% per booster
1 C1 (basic Mountain - uncommon, as prevalent as U3 cards) . . . 4.96% per booster
16 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.83% per booster
9 C5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 24.8% per booster
1 C11 (Desert) . . . . . . . . . . . 54.55% per booster Note: Arabian Nights had a much flatter rarity distribution than most sets, with 2 main groups of rarities and no cards even as rare as the uncommons of later sets. Whoever entered the data for this set into Gatherer listed the U2s as rares, while many rarer cards from other sets were listed as uncommons. It seems likely that the method used to determine Gatherer rarity involved some amount of guesswork when sets were first added.
Antiquities (85 total cards) Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: March 1994
20 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
4 U2 (uncommons). . . . each 3.31% per booster
29 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 4.96% per booster
2 C1 (uncommons, just as prevalent as U3 cards) . . . each 4.96% per booster
2 C2* (commons) . . . . . each 9.92% per booster
25 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.83% per booster
1 C5^ (Urza's Tower) . . . 24.8% per booster
2 C6^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 29.76% per booster Notes:
* Mishra's Factory are Strip Mine were printed 3 times on the uncommon sheet, but are unique in that they were also printed once on the common sheet, and are thus neither U3 nor C1, but rather the rarity equivalent of both combined: either C2 or U6.
^ Urza's Tower, Mine, and Power Plant were all printed with 4 separate art versions. The Tower had 1 of those versions duplicated on the common sheet while the two other cards each had 2 versions duplicated, so Urza's Tower is C5 while the others are C6.
Legends (310 total cards) Breakdown: 11-3-1 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: June 1994
121 R1 . . . each 0.83% per booster
107 U1 . . . each 2.48% per booster
7 U2 . . . . . each 4.96% per booster
29 C1 . . . . each 9.09% per booster
46 C2 . . . . each 18.18% per booster
The Dark (119 total cards) Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: August 1994
35 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
43 U2 (uncommons) . . . each 3.31% per booster
1 C1 (Maze of Ith - uncommon, as prevalent as uncommons in other sets) . . . 4.96% per booster
40 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.88% per booster
Fallen Empires (102 total cards) Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: November 1994
36 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
5 U2 (uncommons) . . . . each 3.31% per booster
24 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 4.96% per booster
2 C1^ (uncommons, just as prevalent as U3s) . . . . 4.96% per booster
1 C3* (Farrel's Zealot, common) . . . 14.88% per booster
19 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.88% per booster
15 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.83% per booster Notes:
^ The 2 C1s are Farrel's Mantle and Delif's Cone. Gatherer lists the latter as common for an unknown reason.
* Farrel's Zealot was printed twice on the common sheet and 3 times on the uncommon sheet, so is neither C2 nor U3, but rather a combination of both that has the equivalent rarity of C3.
Ice Age (373 total cards) Breakdown: 11-3-1 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: June 1995
121 R1 . . . each 0.83% per booster
121 U1 . . . each 2.48% per booster
121 C1 . . . each 9.09% per booster Note: Rares, uncommons, and commons add up to a total of 363 cards. The remaining 10 cards are the 5 basic lands and 5 basic snow lands.
Chronicles (116 total cards) Breakdown: 9-3 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: June 1995
46 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 2.48% per booster
25 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 7.44% per booster
5 C1 (uncommons) . . . . each 7.44% per booster
7 C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.88% per booster
30 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 22.31% per booster
3 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 29.75% per booster Note: These U1s would normally be considered uncommons from a static percentage-based rarity perspective, but this set seems to showcase that relative rarity between rarities should be taken into account - these boosters contained more cards at each rarity, but the relative difference between those rarities was quite normal.
Homelands (115 total cards) Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: October 1995
43 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
26 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 4.96% per booster
21 C1 (uncommons, just as prevalent as U3s) . . . each 4.96% per booster
25 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.84% per booster Note: Each C4 is technically 2 C2 versions of the same card with different art.
Alliances (144 total cards) Breakdown: 8-3-1 | Cards per sheet: 110 | Released: 10 June 1996
46 R2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 0.91% per booster
3 R6 (uncommons) . . . . each 2.73% per booster
40 U2 (uncommons) . . . each 5.45% per booster
5 U6 (commons) . . . . . . each 16.36% per booster
40 C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.54% per booster
10 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 21.82% per booster
While Gatherer seems to (mostly) display rarities based on which sheet cards were printed on, and ignoring how often they were printed on it, Magiccards.info seems to display rarities based on how rare the cards were, regardless of how they were printed. (see the 'Contestable Cards' section below for the exceptions to this organization) It seems the rarity thresholds are as follows (see the above section for the math that results in these values):
<= 1.65%: Rare
2.48% - 7.44%: Uncommon
9.09%+: Common
With this as a basis for rarity, whether a card was printed on a specific card sheet or another doesn't matter. Only the card's rarity (as a percentage) affects it's status as common, uncommon, or rare. Unless otherwise noted, this is how cards will be referred to here.
Note: The practical differences between this system and Gatherer rarities includes ~20 cards total, with Merchant Scroll, Mishra's Factory, and Strip Mine being the only notable cards. See the 'Contestable Cards' section below for a more detailed explanation and complete list of cards whose rarities are different depending on the system used.
It's important to remember that C1 simply means 'printed on the common sheet 1 time'. For sets with a breakdown of 6-2, (6 cards from the common sheet and 2 from the uncommon sheet) C1 cards had the same rarity as U3 cards, (4.96%) making them uncommons. Most other breakdowns put C1 cards at a lower rarity, making those cards commons.
C1s from Homelands (uncommons) - 4.96% per booster
It seems that Gatherer lists these as commons because they were printed on the 'common' sheet of the print-run, even though they have the same rarity as U3 (uncommon) cards.
C1s from Chronicles (uncommons) - 7.44% per booster
Though more common than C1s from sets with 6-2 rarity breakdowns, these still fall within the 'uncommon' rarity.
C1s with Multiple Versions (commons) - 9.92% per booster or higher
Though each version (different art) is technically uncommon for collecting purposes, these 'cards' are considered to be C2, C3, or C4 depending on how many versions there are, so are common for rarity purposes.
Without sanctioned support, the metagame of paper pauper is difficult to determine. In practice, it may reflect MTGO pauper's metagame, with the exception of commons unavailable there. These are the commons that were never made common for MTGO:
MTGO has none of the cards from sets prior to Mirage, except for those available through the Masters Editions and other specialty sets. Fifth and Sixth Edition (printed after Mirage) and a few recent sets were never added to MTGO either. Additionally, select cards from Conspiracy 1 & 2 and the Commander sets are available via treasure chests.
Sets never released online:
Arabian Nights
Antiquities
Legends
The Dark
Fallen Empires
Homelands
Ice Age
Alliances
Chronicles
Alpha
Beta
Unlimited
Revised
Fourth Edition
Fifth Edition
Sixth Edition
Conspiracy
Conspiracy 2
Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi
Commander 2015
Commander 2016
Commander 2017
While the better known and more powerful commons of old have found their way to MTGO at higher rarities, there are many other commons that were never made available again at any rarity, and thus aren't available on MTGO. Of those, there are very few, (if any) standout cards that would be played if legal online. Most have been outclassed:
See the 'contestable cards' section (point #1) below for 15 additional cards which aren't available online as commons, but are sometimes considered as such in paper. They aren't included here because they aren't common from a percentage-based rarity perspective.
Though playing with physical cards, many decide to incorporate rarities from both paper and online sets. These cards lack a physical printing at a common rarity, appearing as commons solely via MTGO-only sets:
Because there's disagreement on the rarity of some cards in these early sets, understanding these differences helps us determine which are legal for our particular environment. Outside of simply abiding by an authority's rarity system and ban list (such as MTGO, Gatherer, or a more local authority as seen in Card Kingdom's Rags to Riches tournaments), there are two main approaches to determining rarity for early sets. One is the percentage-based rarity system, and the other is the common-sheet rarity system - both are mentioned in the opening section here. Points 1-3 below address the relevant older cards with respect to these systems and Gatherer, while the others deal more directly with the differences between paper and MTGO Pauper:
1. Listed as commons on gatherer, but only appeared as frequently as other uncommons:
These had the same rarity (percentage-wise) as other uncommons from the same sets. They seem to be listed as commons on Gatherer due to being printed on the 'common' sheet of their time. See the 'History and Set Information' section above for an explanation of why such a detail is contentious.
2. Listed as uncommons on gatherer, but appeared more frequently than other commons:
These were at least as common (percentage-based rarity) than other commons from similar sets. Gatherer and other sites such as magiccards.info seem to treat each version of these two (4 versions each) separately as far as rarity is concerned, rather than combining all versions as they do for others. For example, neither Hymn to Tourach (4 versions) nor High Tide (3 versions) would be considered common via this method. Both cards were unique in that they were printed 3 times on the uncommon sheet AND once on the common sheet - this may be an explanation for how the mistake originated.
3. C1 'commons' not recognized as such on gatherer:
These could be considered common on the basis that they were printed on the 'common' sheet of their time, regardless of how frequently they could be found in booster packs. Since this "common sheet" criterion seems to be one used for Gatherer in part 1, these cards represent an inconsistency because they were also printed on the 'common' sheet. Note that except for those cards listed in part 2 above, none of these were actually as common as other commons from a percentage-based rarity perspective.
4. Arbitrary 'Commons':
While the vast majority of commons were released in draftable sets with some kind of non-flat rarity distribution, a few were 'downshifted' (that is, their rarity symbol was made black) without actually appearing more often than any of the other cards in their set. As a comparison, the FTV sets include each card as a 'mythic rare' even though each set has no true rarity. Suppose that those same sets included each card as a 'common' instead, and it becomes obvious that rarity assigned within non-random sets is arbitrary. These cards can only be considered common via this arbitrary method:
Note: Commander sets, while not randomized, do incorporate a consistent rarity scheme which correctly places cards within standard rarity thresholds.
5. Only introduced at common through MTGO: (see the 'MTGO rarity downshifts to common' list above)
Paper players have the liberty of allowing all commons (whether released online or normally) if desired.
6. Banned in MTGO:
Paper pauper isn't explicitly supported by Wizards, so no official ban list technically exists for it. Some use the online pauper ban list. Some don't use any list. Some use a custom list.
7. Powerful cards absent from MTGO banlist:
For those who use MTGO's banlist for paper Pauper, a number of additional cards that mostly aren't available as commons on MTGO are strong enough to either be banned as well or at least considered for banning. It's difficult to say whether each of these are too powerful without testing, but this list errs on the side of comprehensiveness - any card that's been discussed multiple times as a candidate for banning is listed. The contents of this section are the most subjective of any in the 'Contestable Cards'.
*As the only two Locus lands, banning either Glimmerpost or Cloudpost neutralizes the 8-post mana package. However, since Cloudpost may have some marginal use alone while Glimmerpost is practically useless without its counterpart, banning Glimmerpost rather than Cloudpost improves the format's cardpool slightly.
Peasant, a format identical to Pauper except for the allowance of up to 5 uncommons per deck, went this route with its banlist. (see here) It's interesting to note that as far as commons are concerned, the two banlists are nearly identical. The only other differences are the banning of Delver of Secrets in Peasant rather than Cloud of Faeries, and Invigorate remaining unbanned in Peasant.
Strip Mine and Mishra's Factory are now more explicitly shown as commons from a percentage-based rarity perspective
A few incorrect points about set history/organization were pointed out and fixed. The main realization of this is that two additional cards from Antiquities were actually quite common - Mishra's Factory and Strip Mine. The details are mentioned above in the rarity breakdown section, but essentially, whether you follow the percentage-based rarity as described here, or you subscribe to the idea that any card printed on the common sheet is common, these two cards are commons. Gatherer, however, doesn't currently list them as commons, probably for the same reason that they were glanced over at first here.
Somewhere in the translation to Gatherer, their rarities were split among each version of art, rather than combined like every other multi-art-version card. Hymn to Tourach, for instance, would not be common if the same was done with it - each of the 4 versions would be considered C1 (uncommon), rather than seen together as C4 (common). In any case, there seems to be no reason for these cards to continue to be considered non-commons, except from a stance that maintains tradition to be more important than rarity.
As these are quite powerful cards and are sure to be contentious in Pauper, they were added to the newly made point #7 of the 'Contestable Cards' section, alongside other similar cards. Gatherer is maintained by Wizards of the Coast, albeit poorly (comments have been temporarily disabled for years now), but it is still the de facto authority for Magic. Simultaneously, Gatherer has mirepresented these cards as uncommons or rares for many years. As always, refer to your local authority or playgroup for a list of banned cards.
In addition to being a new difference between MTGO and Paper Pauper, this is noted because duel deck rarities aren't really rarities - the decks are non-random, with commons and rares appearing at the same frequency. See part 6 of the 'Contestable Cards' section.
1. Only introduced at uncommon through MTGO (see the above list)
2. U2s not recognized as uncommons on magiccards.info:
These are probably mislabeled, as Gatherer lists them as uncommons and they fit the uncommon rarity range described above. They're noted here because magiccards.info is often the go-to card info source rather than Gatherer.
3. Banned in Peasant (taken from mtg-peasant.com) Note: The peasant banlist is maintained independently by a joint French-German rules committee. With no conflicting 'officially sanctioned' banlist (as in Pauper), the committee's banlist is the banlist. There are no differences between online and paper Peasant in this regard, but the list is included here for reference:
4. Other Powerful Cards
Cards not on the Peasant Banlist, but either similar in power-level as those that are, banned in other formats, or often brought up as candidates for banning:
Pauper Rarity Breakdown:
* these terms are ambiguous and are discussed further in the next section
Most sets follow a standard for rarity distribution (11-3-1: 11 cards from one sheet of 121 cards, 3 from another, and 1 from a third), which smoothly fit into a standard for card rarity (11 commons, 3 commons, & 1 rare per booster). The terms 'common', 'uncommon', and 'rare' are defined by this standard rarity distribution. For non-standard sets, actual rarity isn't so easily correlated with rarity distribution: in order to use those terms in the same context in which they're defined (i.e. for them to have the same meaning), we must first translate into a standard. If this isn't done, a card from the 'common' sheet or 'uncommon' sheet of a non-standard (6-2) set might be considered 'common' or 'uncommon' on the basis of what sheet it was printed on, but those terms wouldn't match the standard that we mean with them. Using the same words to mean different things, especially when those things are similar, makes understanding quite difficult. For the sake of clarity, let's briefly use other terms: those sheets could just as easily be titled 'normal' and 'special'.
Since the rarity of these 'normal' cards is defined by their taking 6 slots in an 8-slot booster, it's clear that they aren't distributed the same as 'common' cards, which are defined as taking 11 slots in a 15-slot booster. Both terms are meant to express how rare a card is, or how often the card appears in a booster. By comparing the actual rarity of each card, we can see how cards from non-standard sets fit into our standard classification of 'common', 'uncommon', and 'rare'.
Note: The terms 'common' and 'uncommon' and abbreviations such as 'C1' will continue to be used for early sets because using a new format such as N1 (printed once on the normal sheet) or S3 (printed 3 times on the special sheet) doesn't clarify the issue well enough to be intuitive considering how ingrained the traditional formatting is.
Many early expansions used 2 sheets rather than 3, but often had a greater number of distinct rarities across all cards than later expansions due to some cards being printed multiple times per sheet. The terms C1, C4, U3 and such represent which sheet the cards were printed on (Common or Uncommon) and how many appeared on the sheet. (1, 4, or 3, respectively) For most of these sets, both sheets contained 121 cards each, organized into 11 columns and 11 rows before being cut into individual cards.
As an example, Arabian Nights had 32 U2 cards (32 cards printed twice each on the uncommon sheet) and 19 U3 cards (each printed three times on the uncommon sheet). Each sheet had 121 cards in total, which can be checked with a little math: 32 * 2 = 64, 19 * 3 = 57, and 64 + 57 = 121. The same can be done for the common* sheet as well as any other set.
The average number of any card appearing in a booster pack depends on how often that card appears on a sheet as well as how often cards from that sheet appear in a booster. In the case of Arabian Nights, the boosters contained 8 cards: 6 from the common sheet and 2 from the uncommon sheet. A U2 card, which appeared twice on the uncommon sheet, would be found twice per 121 cards (since each uncommon sheet had that many cards). Math shows us that 2/121 = 0.0165, or 1.65%. However, because there were 2 uncommons per booster, that number is doubled: (2 / 121) * 2 = 0.0331, or 3.31% of the cards per Arabian Nights booster will be any particular U2 card on average. (assuming complete randomization) The same math can be applied to any card in any set, and the results are shown below.
Arabian Nights (78 total cards)
Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: December 1993
32 U2 (uncommons) . . . . . each 3.31% per booster
19 U3 (uncommons) . . . . . each 4.96% per booster
1 C1 (basic Mountain - uncommon, as prevalent as U3 cards) . . . 4.96% per booster
16 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.83% per booster
9 C5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 24.8% per booster
1 C11 (Desert) . . . . . . . . . . . 54.55% per booster
Note: Arabian Nights had a much flatter rarity distribution than most sets, with 2 main groups of rarities and no cards even as rare as the uncommons of later sets. Whoever entered the data for this set into Gatherer listed the U2s as rares, while many rarer cards from other sets were listed as uncommons. It seems likely that the method used to determine Gatherer rarity involved some amount of guesswork when sets were first added.
Antiquities (85 total cards)
Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: March 1994
20 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
4 U2 (uncommons). . . . each 3.31% per booster
29 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 4.96% per booster
2 C1 (uncommons, just as prevalent as U3 cards) . . . each 4.96% per booster
2 C2* (commons) . . . . . each 9.92% per booster
25 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.83% per booster
1 C5^ (Urza's Tower) . . . 24.8% per booster
2 C6^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 29.76% per booster
Notes:
* Mishra's Factory are Strip Mine were printed 3 times on the uncommon sheet, but are unique in that they were also printed once on the common sheet, and are thus neither U3 nor C1, but rather the rarity equivalent of both combined: either C2 or U6.
^ Urza's Tower, Mine, and Power Plant were all printed with 4 separate art versions. The Tower had 1 of those versions duplicated on the common sheet while the two other cards each had 2 versions duplicated, so Urza's Tower is C5 while the others are C6.
Legends (310 total cards)
Breakdown: 11-3-1 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: June 1994
121 R1 . . . each 0.83% per booster
107 U1 . . . each 2.48% per booster
7 U2 . . . . . each 4.96% per booster
29 C1 . . . . each 9.09% per booster
46 C2 . . . . each 18.18% per booster
The Dark (119 total cards)
Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: August 1994
35 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
43 U2 (uncommons) . . . each 3.31% per booster
1 C1 (Maze of Ith - uncommon, as prevalent as uncommons in other sets) . . . 4.96% per booster
40 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.88% per booster
Fallen Empires (102 total cards)
Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: November 1994
36 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
5 U2 (uncommons) . . . . each 3.31% per booster
24 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 4.96% per booster
2 C1^ (uncommons, just as prevalent as U3s) . . . . 4.96% per booster
1 C3* (Farrel's Zealot, common) . . . 14.88% per booster
19 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.88% per booster
15 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.83% per booster
Notes:
^ The 2 C1s are Farrel's Mantle and Delif's Cone. Gatherer lists the latter as common for an unknown reason.
* Farrel's Zealot was printed twice on the common sheet and 3 times on the uncommon sheet, so is neither C2 nor U3, but rather a combination of both that has the equivalent rarity of C3.
Ice Age (373 total cards)
Breakdown: 11-3-1 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: June 1995
121 R1 . . . each 0.83% per booster
121 U1 . . . each 2.48% per booster
121 C1 . . . each 9.09% per booster
Note: Rares, uncommons, and commons add up to a total of 363 cards. The remaining 10 cards are the 5 basic lands and 5 basic snow lands.
Chronicles (116 total cards)
Breakdown: 9-3 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: June 1995
46 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 2.48% per booster
25 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 7.44% per booster
5 C1 (uncommons) . . . . each 7.44% per booster
7 C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.88% per booster
30 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 22.31% per booster
3 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 29.75% per booster
Note: These U1s would normally be considered uncommons from a static percentage-based rarity perspective, but this set seems to showcase that relative rarity between rarities should be taken into account - these boosters contained more cards at each rarity, but the relative difference between those rarities was quite normal.
Homelands (115 total cards)
Breakdown: 6-2 | Cards per sheet: 121 | Released: October 1995
43 U1 (rares) . . . . . . . . . each 1.65% per booster
26 U3 (uncommons) . . . each 4.96% per booster
21 C1 (uncommons, just as prevalent as U3s) . . . each 4.96% per booster
25 C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 19.84% per booster
Note: Each C4 is technically 2 C2 versions of the same card with different art.
Alliances (144 total cards)
Breakdown: 8-3-1 | Cards per sheet: 110 | Released: 10 June 1996
46 R2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 0.91% per booster
3 R6 (uncommons) . . . . each 2.73% per booster
40 U2 (uncommons) . . . each 5.45% per booster
5 U6 (commons) . . . . . . each 16.36% per booster
40 C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 14.54% per booster
10 C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . each 21.82% per booster
<= 1.65%: Rare
2.48% - 7.44%: Uncommon
9.09%+: Common
With this as a basis for rarity, whether a card was printed on a specific card sheet or another doesn't matter. Only the card's rarity (as a percentage) affects it's status as common, uncommon, or rare. Unless otherwise noted, this is how cards will be referred to here.
Note: The practical differences between this system and Gatherer rarities includes ~20 cards total, with Merchant Scroll, Mishra's Factory, and Strip Mine being the only notable cards. See the 'Contestable Cards' section below for a more detailed explanation and complete list of cards whose rarities are different depending on the system used.
C1s from Homelands (uncommons) - 4.96% per booster
It seems that Gatherer lists these as commons because they were printed on the 'common' sheet of the print-run, even though they have the same rarity as U3 (uncommon) cards.
C1s from Chronicles (uncommons) - 7.44% per booster
Though more common than C1s from sets with 6-2 rarity breakdowns, these still fall within the 'uncommon' rarity.
C1s from other sets (uncommons) - 4.96% per booster
C1s from Legends (commons) - 9.09% per booster
Legends used a modern rarity breakdown, so its C1 cards meet the standard rarity threshold for commons.
C1s with Multiple Versions (commons) - 9.92% per booster or higher
Though each version (different art) is technically uncommon for collecting purposes, these 'cards' are considered to be C2, C3, or C4 depending on how many versions there are, so are common for rarity purposes.
Other (only ever printed in non-random sets)
Pauper Differences:
Arabian Nights
Antiquities
Legends
The Dark
Fallen Empires
Homelands
Ice Age
Alliances
Chronicles
Alpha
Beta
Unlimited
Revised
Fourth Edition
Fifth Edition
Sixth Edition
Conspiracy
Conspiracy 2
Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi
Commander 2015
Commander 2016
Commander 2017
While the better known and more powerful commons of old have found their way to MTGO at higher rarities, there are many other commons that were never made available again at any rarity, and thus aren't available on MTGO. Of those, there are very few, (if any) standout cards that would be played if legal online. Most have been outclassed:
Cards that aren't strictly worse than others (146):
Abbey Matron
Adarkar Unicorn
Aisling Leprechaun
Arnjlot's Ascent
Artifact Possession
Artifact Ward
Avoid Fate
Awesome Presence
Balduvian Shaman
Balduvian War-Makers
Ballot Broker
Barbarian Guides
Battering Ram
Battle Frenzy
Blazing Effigy
Bog Rats
Bone Shaman
Brago's Representative
Broken Dam
Burning Cloak
Camel
Canal Courier
Clergy of the Holy Nimbus
Cooperation
Crown-Hunter Hireling
Darkness
Deep Water
Desert Nomads
Dire Wolves
Earthbind
Earthlore
Elven Fortress
Elvish Scout
Emerald Dragonfly
Enchanted Being
Enraged Revolutionary
Equinox
Eternal Warrior
False Demise
False Orders
False Peace
Feast of the Unicorn
Feint
Festival
Folk of An-Havva
Fortified Area
Foxfire
Fruition
Fylgja
Fyndhorn Druid
Gaze of Pain
Giant Albatross
Giant Shark
Giant Turtle
Gift of the Woods
Glyph of Delusion
Glyph of Destruction
Glyph of Doom
Glyph of Life
Glyph of Reincarnation
Goblin Racketeer
Goblin Rock Sled
Goblin Sappers
Gorilla Berserkers
Grenzo's Cutthroat
Grizzled Wolverine
Grudge Keeper
Guardian Angel
Holy Armor
Howling Fury
Hurr Jackal
Icatian Infantry
Icatian Moneychanger
Imposing Visage
Indestructible Aura
Ingenious Thief
Initiates of the Ebon Hand
Inquisition
Jeering Homunculus
Kelsinko Ranger
Kjeldoran Escort
Kjeldoran Skyknight
Kjeldoran Warrior
Living Armor
Marchesa's Emissary
Marsh Gas
Marsh Viper
Martyrdom
Moor Fiend
Morale
Nafs Asp
Noble Steeds
Norritt
Norwood Riders
Pestilence Rats
Phyrexian Gremlins
Piety
Pikemen
Plague Rats
Preemptive Strike
Priest of Yawgmoth
Rally
Reef Pirates
Remove Enchantments
Reverse Polarity
Riding Red Hare
Rime Dryad
Riptide
Rousing of Souls
Royal Herbalist
Runesword
Sacred Knight
Samite Alchemist
Savaen Elves
Seizures
Selvala's Enforcer
Sengir Bats
Shelkin Brownie
Shu Grain Caravan
Snowfall
Soldevi Adnate
Soldevi Heretic
Soldevi Sentry
Soldevi Steam Beast
Soul Barrier
Subdue
Tarpan
Taste of Paradise
The Brute
Tidal Flats
Trade Caravan
Undergrowth
Undying Beast
Venarian Gold
Venom
Veteran's Voice
Wall of Caltrops
Wall of Heat
Wall of Shadows
War Elephant
Whip Vine
Wind Sail
Wu Light Cavalry
Wu Scout
Zuran Enchanter
Strictly Worse than other Commons of the Same Color (132)
Alabaster Potion
Anti-Magic Aura
Arenson's Aura
Argivian Blacksmith
Argothian Treefolk
Ashes to Ashes
Ashnod's Altar
Blue Elemental Blast
Breath of Life
Brown Ouphe
Carnivorous Plant
Clay Statue
Cruel Edict
Dandân
Dark Heart of the Wood
Desert
Disintegrate
Dream Fracture
Enchantment Alteration
Errand of Duty
Essence Filter
False Defeat
Farrel's Zealot
Feldon's Cane
Fireball
Flame Spirit
Flash Flood
Flying Men
Fountain of Youth
Forked Bolt
Gaea's Touch
Goblin Glider
Goblin Grenade
Goblin War Drums
Grapeshot Catapult
Guerrilla Tactics
High Tide
Hymn to Tourach
Illusionary Forces
Lava Burst
Ley Druid
Lim-Dûl's High Guard
Mishra's Factory
Moorish Cavalry
Mystic Remora
Orcish Mechanics
Painful Memories
Phyrexian War Beast
Psychic Purge
Pyrotechnics
Red Elemental Blast
Rukh Egg
Sage of Lat-Nam
Sinkhole
Soldevi Sage
Soul Kiss
Spore Cloud
Squire
Storm Shaman
Strip Mine
Sunken City
Swamp Mosquito
Swarm of Rats
Thought Vessel
Tormod's Crypt
Unstable Mutation
Wolverine Pack
Woolly Spider
Yavimaya Ancients
Adarkar Sentinel
Addle
Aeolipile
Afterlife
Alluring Scent
Anaba Ancestor
Anaba Spirit Crafter
Armor Sliver
Armored Griffin
Arrogant Wurm
Balduvian Conjurer
Barbed Sliver
Barktooth Warbeard
Battle Screech
Beetleback Chief
Bone Flute
Bottle Gnomes
Brass Man
Brilliant Plan
Brindle Shoat
Chainer's Edict
Circular Logic
Citanul Druid
Claws of Wirewood
Coal Golem
Dauthi Mercenary
Death Spark
Demonic Torment
Desperate Charge
Drift of the Dead
Ebony Horse
Elven Lyre
Elven Rite
Exile
Fellwar Stone
Feral Thallid
Fire Drake
Flying Carpet
Foul Spirit
Gilded Light
Glasses of Urza
Goblin Commando
Goblin Firestarter
Goblin General
Gravebind
Heavy Fog
Horned Sliver
Hunting Cheetah
Hyalopterous Lemure
Icatian Lieutenant
Icatian Phalanx
Icequake
Icy Prison
Ironhoof Ox
Jedit Ojanen
Jerrard of the Closed Fist
Just Fate
Killer Whale
Kjeldoran Elite Guard
Kjeldoran Skycaptain
Knights of Thorn
Kobold Taskmaster
Lady Orca
Lava Flow
Lesser Werewolf
Library of Leng
Lightning Blow
Mana Prism
Mightstone
Mistmoon Griffin
Mnemonic Sliver
Oasis
Obsianus Golem
Ogre Taskmaster
Onulet
Patchwork Gnomes
Peach Garden Oath
Phantasmal Forces
Phantasmal Mount
Predatory Nightstalker
Ramirez DePietro
Red Cliffs Armada
Righteous Avengers
River Merfolk
Rockslide Ambush
Sea Sprite
Serra Bestiary
Shield Sphere
Shu Elite Companions
Shu General
Shu Soldier-Farmers
Shyft
Sir Shandlar of Eberyn
Sivitri Scarzam
Skirge Familiar
Skirk Drill Sergeant
Skyshaper
Slashing Tiger
Sol Grail
Soltari Emissary
Spoils of Victory
Staunch Defenders
Tangle
Tawnos's Wand
Telekinesis
Telethopter
Thallid Devourer
The Lady of the Mountain
Thermokarst
Thrull Retainer
Tobias Andrion
Torsten Von Ursus
Tribute to the Wild
Trip Wire
Verdigris
Wall of Kelp
Wall of Light
Wanderlust
Warp Artifact
Wei Elite Companions
Whispers of the Muse
Whiteout
Wu Longbowman
1. Listed as commons on gatherer, but only appeared as frequently as other uncommons:
These had the same rarity (percentage-wise) as other uncommons from the same sets. They seem to be listed as commons on Gatherer due to being printed on the 'common' sheet of their time. See the 'History and Set Information' section above for an explanation of why such a detail is contentious.
From Homelands
- Ambush
- Chandler
- Clockwork Gnomes
- Clockwork Steed
- Clockwork Swarm (common in MTGO - ME4)
- Coral Reef
- Ebony Rhino (common in MTGO - ME4)
- Greater Werewolf
- Headstone
- Jinx
- Joven
- Joven's Ferrets
- Leaping Lizard (common in MTGO - ME2)
- Merchant Scroll
- Prophecy
- Renewal
- Roterothopter (common in MTGO - ME2)
- Serra Bestiary (common in MTGO - ME4)
- Serra Paladin
- Serrated Arrows (common in Duel Decks)
From Fallen Empires2. Listed as uncommons on gatherer, but appeared more frequently than other commons:
These were at least as common (percentage-based rarity) than other commons from similar sets. Gatherer and other sites such as magiccards.info seem to treat each version of these two (4 versions each) separately as far as rarity is concerned, rather than combining all versions as they do for others. For example, neither Hymn to Tourach (4 versions) nor High Tide (3 versions) would be considered common via this method. Both cards were unique in that they were printed 3 times on the uncommon sheet AND once on the common sheet - this may be an explanation for how the mistake originated.
From Antiquities
3. C1 'commons' not recognized as such on gatherer:
These could be considered common on the basis that they were printed on the 'common' sheet of their time, regardless of how frequently they could be found in booster packs. Since this "common sheet" criterion seems to be one used for Gatherer in part 1, these cards represent an inconsistency because they were also printed on the 'common' sheet. Note that except for those cards listed in part 2 above, none of these were actually as common as other commons from a percentage-based rarity perspective.
From Chronicles
- Kei Takahashi
- Marhault Elsdragon
- Sivitri Scarzam
- Tobias Andrion
- Tor Wauki
From Antiquities- Mishra's Factory
- Strip Mine
- Cursed Rack
From The Dark4. Arbitrary 'Commons':
While the vast majority of commons were released in draftable sets with some kind of non-flat rarity distribution, a few were 'downshifted' (that is, their rarity symbol was made black) without actually appearing more often than any of the other cards in their set. As a comparison, the FTV sets include each card as a 'mythic rare' even though each set has no true rarity. Suppose that those same sets included each card as a 'common' instead, and it becomes obvious that rarity assigned within non-random sets is arbitrary. These cards can only be considered common via this arbitrary method:
Planeswalker Decks
Duel Decks
- Serrated Arrows (see part 1 above regarding C1s from Homelands)
- Forked Bolt
Starter Sets- Royal Falcon
- Sea Eagle
- Willow Elf
Note: Commander sets, while not randomized, do incorporate a consistent rarity scheme which correctly places cards within standard rarity thresholds.5. Only introduced at common through MTGO: (see the 'MTGO rarity downshifts to common' list above)
Paper players have the liberty of allowing all commons (whether released online or normally) if desired.
6. Banned in MTGO:
Paper pauper isn't explicitly supported by Wizards, so no official ban list technically exists for it. Some use the online pauper ban list. Some don't use any list. Some use a custom list.
7. Powerful cards absent from MTGO banlist:
For those who use MTGO's banlist for paper Pauper, a number of additional cards that mostly aren't available as commons on MTGO are strong enough to either be banned as well or at least considered for banning. It's difficult to say whether each of these are too powerful without testing, but this list errs on the side of comprehensiveness - any card that's been discussed multiple times as a candidate for banning is listed. The contents of this section are the most subjective of any in the 'Contestable Cards'.
- High Tide
- Strip Mine (irrelevant if Gatherer rarities are used)
- Mishra's Factory (irrelevant if Gatherer rarities are used)
- Hymn to Tourach
- Sinkhole
- Goblin Grenade
- Desert
- Merchant Scroll (if Gatherer rarities are used)
- Delver of Secrets
- Ponder
- Preordain
- Glimmerpost (instead of Cloudpost*)
*As the only two Locus lands, banning either Glimmerpost or Cloudpost neutralizes the 8-post mana package. However, since Cloudpost may have some marginal use alone while Glimmerpost is practically useless without its counterpart, banning Glimmerpost rather than Cloudpost improves the format's cardpool slightly.Peasant, a format identical to Pauper except for the allowance of up to 5 uncommons per deck, went this route with its banlist. (see here) It's interesting to note that as far as commons are concerned, the two banlists are nearly identical. The only other differences are the banning of Delver of Secrets in Peasant rather than Cloud of Faeries, and Invigorate remaining unbanned in Peasant.
Changelog:
no longer common solely via arbitrary rarity:
new cards available only via planeswalker decks (arbitrary rarity):
- Aggressive Instinct
- Armored Whirl Turtle
- Breath of Fire
- Cleansing Screech
- Colorful Feiyi Sparrow
- Confidence from Strength
- Dragon's Presence
- Drown in Shapelessness
- Earth-Origin Yak
- Earthshaking Si
- Feiyi Snake
- Ferocious Zheng
- Hardened-Scale Armor
- Heavenly Qilin
- Leopard-Spotted Jiao
- Nine-Tail White Fox
- Purple-Crystal Crab
- Qilin's Blessing
- Reckless Pangolin
- Vivid Flying Fish
Note: The above cards are also available online via the MTGO cube (PZ2), which has a flat (i.e. arbitrary) rarity due to its singleton nature.first paper printing at common:
Royal Trooper
newly available online:
Ghost Ship
first paper printing at common:
Primal Clay
newly available as online commons (all previously common in paper):
From Iconic Masters
From Treasure Chest Update
From Iconic Masters
Strategic Planning
Ash Barrens available online via Treasure Chests (announcement)
A few incorrect points about set history/organization were pointed out and fixed. The main realization of this is that two additional cards from Antiquities were actually quite common - Mishra's Factory and Strip Mine. The details are mentioned above in the rarity breakdown section, but essentially, whether you follow the percentage-based rarity as described here, or you subscribe to the idea that any card printed on the common sheet is common, these two cards are commons. Gatherer, however, doesn't currently list them as commons, probably for the same reason that they were glanced over at first here.
Somewhere in the translation to Gatherer, their rarities were split among each version of art, rather than combined like every other multi-art-version card. Hymn to Tourach, for instance, would not be common if the same was done with it - each of the 4 versions would be considered C1 (uncommon), rather than seen together as C4 (common). In any case, there seems to be no reason for these cards to continue to be considered non-commons, except from a stance that maintains tradition to be more important than rarity.
As these are quite powerful cards and are sure to be contentious in Pauper, they were added to the newly made point #7 of the 'Contestable Cards' section, alongside other similar cards. Gatherer is maintained by Wizards of the Coast, albeit poorly (comments have been temporarily disabled for years now), but it is still the de facto authority for Magic. Simultaneously, Gatherer has mirepresented these cards as uncommons or rares for many years. As always, refer to your local authority or playgroup for a list of banned cards.
- Kird Ape
- Wakedancer
first common printing in paperCarbonize
Cephalid Sage
Desperate Ravings
Dragon Egg
Elephant Guide (paper)
Elite Vanguard
Elvish Vanguard
Emperor Crocodile
Humble
Kird Ape (MTGO)
Monk Idealist
Night's Whisper
Nimble Mongoose
Orcish Oriflamme
Peregrine Drake
Phantom Monster (paper)
Prowling Pangolin
Rally the Peasants
Roots (paper)
Stupefying Touch
Sylvan Might
Tidal Wave
Undying Rage
Warden of Evos Isle
Wakedancer (MTGO)
Wildfire Emissary
Yavimaya Enchantress
In addition to being a new difference between MTGO and Paper Pauper, this is noted because duel deck rarities aren't really rarities - the decks are non-random, with commons and rares appearing at the same frequency. See part 6 of the 'Contestable Cards' section.
Newly available, but not in MTGO
Newly available in MTGO
Hulking Goblin
Adventurers' Guildhouse
Ærathi Berserker
Agent of Acquisitions
Aggression
Aladdin's Lamp
Ali Baba
Ambush
An-Havva Inn
An-Havva Township
Arcum's Sleigh
Arcum's Weathervane
Arcum's Whistle
Ashnod's Battle Gear
Avalanche
Aysen Abbey
Backdraft
Backfire
Baton of Morale
Battle Cry
Beasts of Bogardan
Bite of the Black Rose
Black Mana Battery
Black Scarab
Black Ward
Blood of the Martyr
Blue Scarab
Blue Ward
Breath of Dreams
Brine Hag
Burrowing
Camouflage
Castle Sengir
Cathedral of Serra
Cave People
Celestial Prism
Chandler
Circle of Protection: Artifacts
Cocoon
Cogwork Tracker
Cold Snap
Conservator
Coral Reef
Council Guardian
Crevasse
Curse Artifact
Cursed Land
Damping Field
Dark Sphere
Deadfall
Delif's Cone
Diseased Vermin
Dream Coat
Drought
Drudge Spell
Dwarven Lieutenant
Dwarven Song
Dwarven Weaponsmith
Electric Eel
El-Hajjâj
Essence Vortex
Eternal Warrior
Evaporate
Extract from Darkness
Fallow Earth
Fanatical Fever
Farrelite Priest
Fasting
Feedback
Fire and Brimstone
Flamewright
Floral Spuzzem
Force Void
Fortified Area
Freyalise Supplicant
Freyalise's Charm
Fyndhorn Bow
Ghost Hounds
Goblin Artisans
Goblin Kites
Great Defender
Great Wall
Greater Werewolf
Green Mana Battery
Green Scarab
Green Ward
Haunting Wind
Headstone
Heaven's Gate
Hematite Talisman
Heroism
Hipparion
Hyperion Blacksmith
Ichneiumon Druid
Ichneumon Druid
Illusionary Terrain
Infernal Medusa
Irini Sengir
Island Fish Jasconius
Jandor's Ring
Jihad
Jinx
Joven
Joven's Tools
Justice
Kasimir the Lone Wolf
King Suleiman
Koskun Keep
Krovikan Elementalist
Krovikan Plague
Kry Shield
Lance
Lapis Lazuli Talisman
Leshrac's Sigil
Lifetap
Lim-Dûl's Hex
Lim-Dûl's Paladin
Lord Magnus
Maddening Wind
Magnetic Mountain
Malachite Talisman
Marble Priest
Marchesa's Infiltrator
Marchesa's Smuggler
Melee
Melting
Merchant Ship
Mind Bomb
Mind Warp
Mole Worms
Mountain Stronghold
Mystic Compass
Nacre Talisman
Nature's Chosen
Necropolis
Nettling Imp
Onyx Talisman
Orcish Healer
Orcish Mine
Part Water
People of the Woods
Powerleech
Pradesh Gypsies
Predator's Howl
Primordial Ooze
Prophecy
Puppet Master
Pyramids
Quagmire
Raiding Party
Rashka the Slayer
Red Mana Battery
Red Scarab
Red Ward
Reflecting Mirror
Relic Bind
Renewal
Repentant Blacksmith
Reverse Polarity
Rocket Launcher
Root Spider
Sacrifice
Sandals of Abdallah
Scarab of the Unseen
Scarwood Hag
School of the Unseen
Sea Kings' Blessing
Sea Troll
Seafarer's Quay
Seasoned Tactician
Seeker
Segovian Leviathan
Selvala's Charge
Serra Inquisitors
Serra Paladin
Shahrazad
Shimian Night Stalker
Silhouette
Silver Erne
Simulacrum
Siren's Call
Sleight of Mind
Snow Hound
Soldevi Sage
Soldier of Fortune
Sorceress Queen
Soul Barrier
Spectral Cloak
Split Decision
Standing Stones
Stench of Evil
Stromgald Spy
Suffocation
Sunstone
Surge of Strength
Svyelunite Priest
Sylvan Paradise
Tangle Kelp
Thelon's Chant
Thrull Wizard
Tidal Influence
Tolaria
Touch of Darkness
Touch of Vitae
Tourach's Chant
Tower of Coireall
Treasonous Ogre
Tunnel
Undertow
Unlikely Alliance
Updraft
Urza's Engine
Vertigo
Visions
Wall of Brambles
Wall of Dust
Wall of Ice
Wall of Lava
Wall of Pine Needles
Wall of Putrid Flesh
Wall of Shields
Wall of Tombstones
Wall of Water
Wand of Ith
War Chariot
Whalebone Glider
Whippoorwill
White Mana Battery
White Scarab
White Ward
Wizard's School
Woodvine Elemental
Yavimaya Gnats
Aladdin's Ring
Ali from Cairo
Amnesia
Anarchy
Arboria
Armageddon Clock
Bazaar of Baghdad
Berserk
Binding Grasp
Black Vise
Bottle of Suleiman
Bounty of the Hunt
Channel
City in a Bottle
City of Brass
Clone
Consecrate Land
Contagion
Conversion
Craw Giant
Cyclone
Deathgrip
Deep Spawn
Diamond Valley
Dreams of the Dead
Drop of Honey
Eron the Relentless
Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore
Eye for an Eye
Feldon's Cane
Force of Will
Ghost Ship
Giant Oyster
Glacial Chasm
Gloom
Goblin Snowman
Guardian Beast
Hail Storm
Hurricane
Hypnotic Specter
Ifh-Bíff Efreet
Island of Wak-Wak
Jade Statue
Jalum Tome
Jandor's Saddlebags
Jasmine Boreal
Juzám Djinn
Karakas
Khabál Ghoul
Kismet
Land Tax
Library of Alexandria
Life Chisel
Lifeforce
Mana Drain
Maze of Ith
Merfolk Assassin
Mijae Djinn
Old Man of the Sea
Power Artifact
Psionic Blast
Pyrokinesis
Rakalite
Reset
Resurrection
Ring of Ma'rûf
Scars of the Veteran
Serendib Djinn
Serendib Efreet
Sindbad
Skull of Orm
Spitting Slug
Sylvan Library
Thelonite Druid
Titania's Song
Transmute Artifact
Tsunami
Uncle Istvan
Underworld Dreams
Uthden Troll
Wakestone Gargoyle
Wall of Wonder
War Barge
Whirling Dervish
Wood Sage
Ydwen Efreet
2. U2s not recognized as uncommons on magiccards.info:
These are probably mislabeled, as Gatherer lists them as uncommons and they fit the uncommon rarity range described above. They're noted here because magiccards.info is often the go-to card info source rather than Gatherer.
From The Dark
3. Banned in Peasant (taken from mtg-peasant.com)
Note: The peasant banlist is maintained independently by a joint French-German rules committee. With no conflicting 'officially sanctioned' banlist (as in Pauper), the committee's banlist is the banlist. There are no differences between online and paper Peasant in this regard, but the list is included here for reference:
- Cloud of Faeries
+ Delver of Secrets
- Cloudpost
+ Glimmerpost
- Invigorate
4. Other Powerful Cards
Cards not on the Peasant Banlist, but either similar in power-level as those that are, banned in other formats, or often brought up as candidates for banning:
Changelog
All Cards Downshifted from Rare in A25 (16):
Newly available, but not in MTGO
TO ADD: [UMA] Penumbra Wurm
newly common in MTGO
- Kird Ape
- Wakedancer
first common printing in paperCarbonize
Cephalid Sage
Desperate Ravings
Dragon Egg
Elephant Guide (paper)
Elite Vanguard
Elvish Vanguard
Emperor Crocodile
Humble
Kird Ape (MTGO)
Monk Idealist
Night's Whisper
Nimble Mongoose
Orcish Oriflamme
Peregrine Drake
Phantom Monster (paper)
Prowling Pangolin
Rally the Peasants
Roots (paper)
Stupefying Touch
Sylvan Might
Tidal Wave
Undying Rage
Warden of Evos Isle
Wakedancer (MTGO)
Wildfire Emissary
Yavimaya Enchantress
new commons (unavailable online)
From Iconic Masters
From Treasure Chest Update