You might think that proper archetype support is impossible in pauper. So I decided to write up a little something and demonstrate how you can, in fact, provide support for draftable archetypes at common. The reason is that in all likelihood, the majority of archetypal support cards are already present in your cube. I'm just going to give a quick rundown of where they might be hiding and how they fit into each archetype. So let's make it very simple:
Purpose
To provide a foundation for archetypes in cube design and demonstrate that supporting multiple archetypes has two benefits:
1. Archetype support is compact and does not consume much of the cube’s real estate.
2. Archetype cards can be broad and flexible rather than narrow and unwieldy.
My problem: I want draftable archetypes, but I don’t want to pigeonhole drafters or ruin sealed/low player count drafts.
My answer: Archetypal cards with multiple or universal applications. I choose these cards by dividing the cube into three categories:
Goodstuff
Good on their own. They play well regardless of where you put them. We’re talking Lightning Bolt, Porcelain Legionnaire, Counterspell. Apart from a few exceptions that happen to play particularly well in their archetype, I won’t be looking at these today.
Engine cards
These cards require three qualities to pass muster in my cube.
1. They are attractive. They provide incentive for the drafter to pick them and draft around them.
2. They reward you for synergy.
3. They are cubeable even without this synergy.
Fuel cards
These cards have two defining characteristics.
1. They make the engine cards better.
2. They are cubeable even without the engine card.
Fuel cards are just regular cube cards that happen to give your engine cards a boost when they come together.
Overlapping Cards
There is an optional but very important criterion I use when a card’s inclusion is contested:
3. The card overlaps with other archetypes. Even better if the card shares a color with that guild archetype.
An example of good overlap cards: Mogg Fanatic can slide into Golgari Morbid. Madcap Skills slides into Selesnya Enchantments.
A great overlap card would be something like Empty the Warrens, which goes into Izzet Spells Matter, Rakdos Goblins, and Tokens (a shard theme, since the vast majority of token producers/enablers fall into Naya colors).
And that’s it. There are also ratings though, because everyone loves those!
* : One star. Very narrow, even in the right deck. Should probably not be included unless you have a larger cube or wish to replace cube staples.
* * : Two stars. The majority of cards fall into this category. Some effort should be taken to include them, but not all are necessary.
* * * : Three stars. Very cubeable, especially in the right deck. These are key to the archetype.
Disclaimer:
This is not intended to be a complete list of cards and interactions available between each archetype. Just a look at the best engine cards, a snapshot of some useful fuel cards, and maybe a topical discussion.
How Many Archetypes Are There?
I’ve explored a couple of different potential archetypes in each color combination. Some of them are weaker than others. Gruul in particular is a bit forced – there’s no real synergy that I know of for playing big monsters aside from Tarkir’s formidable/ferocious mechanics, and the defender archetype’s best finisher is in another color entirely (Doorkeeper). Most of the other archetypes are all fun, have an established presence in most cubes already, and play to the guild’s strengths.
Eighteen Reasons To Run Archetypes in your Pauper Cube
What can I do with this information?
Well, aside from noticing just how many cards you already run, the overlap section may be of particular interest to you. This is where I dumped all the cards that could perform in multiple archetypes. In theory, the more archetypes a card is useful in, the more valuable it is. Think of it as a space-saving measure. Why play three different cards for three archetypes when you can include one that does all of them?
What it is: A hyper-aggressive tempo deck, it relies on a steady stream of hasters and detainers (ETB effects that tap, detain, or prevent a creature from blocking) to disrupt the opponent’s game plan, put them on the defensive early and prevent them from coming back. Menace cards like Boggart Brute and Madcap Skills gain huge value when paired with this “mechanic”.
A similar archetype is draftable in blue, with notable cards like Frost Breath, Man-o'War and friends, Frost Lynx, Undo and Withdraw. This paves the way for the Jeskai Detainers archetype.
What it is: One of the simplest archetypes, just smash and go. Gruul is home to the pauper cube’s biggest and baddest, so there is definitely an appeal to slamming down fatty after fatty. As a rule, though, pauper’s biggest creatures do not generate card advantage, and they remain vulnerable to removal. Care should be taken that the mana curve on Gruul’s monsters doesn’t go too high. Some monsters can help fight the blowouts of cheap removal. Durkwood Baloth can be played early for cheap. Morselhoarder can provide a pseudo-ETB effect. Silverglade Elemental helps ramp into bigger fatties. Havenwood Wurm’s flash helps mitigate sorcery speed removal. The one true guarantor of card advantage against removal is Maul Splicer, which remains the gold standard for big butts in pauper.
Conclusion: An underpowered archetype that currently needs help from other colors. It remains one of the most difficult and unusual archetypes to support properly, so many cube managers may not find it worth the while.
What it is: Use auras to boost evasive/untargetable creatures. Use enchantment tutors to find key pieces of your strategy. Ride your enchanted creature to victory. Kruphix’s Insight is a powerful card in this archetype, but it has a real chance of binning your win condition. Timing is key.
What it is: Another experimental archetype. Uses the recently printed renown beaters and the abundance of +1/+1 counters to activate one of the four engine creatures. Ainok Bond-Kin benefits from a ton of incidental synergy across all five colors (just take a look at the overlap!). Skarrgan Pit-Skulk and the Phantoms benefit from the density of auras in Selesnya, essentially becoming unblockable or unbeatable in combat. Ainok Bond-Kin allows you to go wide with spells like Travel Preparations, Elven Rite and Common Bond (helped by the proliferation of tokens in this guild) or go tall with a Pit-Skulk or Phantom Nomad (helped by the prevalence of auras and hexproof critters in Selesnya).
6. Rakdos Goblins What it is: Sole tribal archetype of pauper. A multidimensional tribe that functions well on its own or in service of other archetypes. Contains strong aggressive cards like Mogg Flunkies and Boggart Brute. Strong token support in the shape of Mogg War Marshal, Goblin Bushwhacker and Beetleback Chief. Provides flexible tactical options thanks to removal (Mogg Fanatic, Skirk Marauder, Torch Slinger, Stingscourger) and evasion (Intimidator Initiate, Goblin Heelcutter).
Sparksmith: This guy needs no introduction. A cheap two mana pinger whose damage output can grow to take down Hill Giants is well worth the price of life.
What it is: A value-driven archetype. Seeks to create virtual card advantage by triggering ETB effects multiple times. Since there are so many creatures with ETB effects in this guild, consider any creature with that text to be relevant fuel for the archetype (Mulldrifter, Aether Adept, Custodi Squire). To make up for this, I’ve made an exception to the rule and included some narrower blink spells that could be used to round out the archetype.
What it is: One of the strongest archetypes on raw power alone. Fuels the graveyard to power out massive beaters and spells at a bargain price. Since black and blue’s card quality is already through the roof, this can result in overwhelming advantage. Note that a lot of cards overlap with Izzet Spells Matter thanks to the quality of flashback in this guild. There is also overlap with Simic Madness thanks to blue’s looters and black’s madness.
What it is: An archetype similar in strategy to Izzet Artifacts Matter, Simic Madness relies on looting to get a discount on powerful spells. It can leverage early aggressive creatures like Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba for a tempo advantage, or sit back on Merfolk Looter and company to play the long game. Although Pauper has no shortage of good looting, it suffers from a dearth of good madness spells. For best results, this archetype can be paired with black, which adds another great discard outlet (Undertaker) and two quality madness spells (Gorgon Recluse and Ichor Slick). The addition of black opens up access to the synergistic Dimir Delve archetype, and allows you to play a powerful tricolor card that fits the deck’s needs (Abomination of Gudul).
Overlap:
Aquamoeba, Wild Mongrel, Circular Logic (Dimir Delve)
All looting spells and creatures (Dimir Delve, Golgari Graveyard Matters)
What it is: Ramp up to big threats and big spells, then ensure a steady stream of landfall triggers. Green’s ramp cards gain extra value in this archetype, as do blue’s two Gush cards and the karoo lands.
What it is: Izzet’s Spells Matter engines can be divided into two components: Threats that can become massive (Wee Dragonauts, Whirlwind Adept) and recursion to keep those threats going (Archaeomancer, Izzet Chronarch, Flame Jab). Cheap cantrips, burn, rebound, flashback and suspend all help push your damage-dealers over the top. From this archetype’s engines, Kiln Fiend is arguably weakest, with low toughness and no evasion. It is the most disposable.
This archetype faces a couple of challenges. Artifacts are one of the weakest card types, being extremely easy to remove. And with the rise of Dimir Delve, Izzet Artifacts Matter may start to feel like an underpowered version of that deck.
What it is: The second guild to exploit the graveyard. Same principle as Dimir Delve – feed the yard, then drop massive discounted beaters, or leverage the spells you gain access to with dredge and recursion.
What it is: A unique twist on the typical graveyard archetype, Golgari Morbid relies on the act of creatures dying to turn on its key threats. To that end, some of the best cards in the deck are the ones that allow you to kill creatures quickly, reliably and cheaply. The Black Quartet performs this job admirably (Viscera Seer, Fume Spitter, Carrion Feeder, Plagued Rusalka), allowing the green half of the equation (Ulvenwald Bear, Festerhide Boar) to get swole. Green also provides more sac fodder in the form of Eldrazi (Growth Spasm, Nest Invader, Kozilek’s Predator), giving you both a death and some mana. Black has excellent support just a bit further up the curve with Nantuko Husk and Phyrexian Ghoul. Blind Zealot and Shambling Shell provide more free sacs to fuel the morbidity.
What it is: The infamous “bleed” archetype. Seeks to whittle down the opponent’s life total point by point, while sending its own life total skyward. Extort cards are the main attraction with their repeatable triggers, but Suture Priest and Gray Merchant of Asphodel are also here with the potential to create huge life swings. Has very high cross-synergy with the Azorius Blink archetype due to the prevalence of ETB lifegain.
*** Pillory of the Sleepless
What it is: A mash-up of Orzhov Lifedrain and Selesnya Enchantments, with a small helping of graveyard recursion. The white half recurs enchantments, the black half brings the pain. There are decent enchantments that sacrifice themselves for value (Font of Return, Seal of Cleansing, Seal of Doom), enchantments that will usually head to the yard (Dead Weight, Maggot Therapy, Nyx Infusion) and enchantments which can trigger constellation multiple times (Shackles, Despondency, Cage of Hands). These all combine to form a kind of grindy enchantment control archetype.
Weaknesses: It doesn't have a killer app, something that really drives the archetype. It's crying out for something like Gift of Orzhova, or another reward for enchantments (Ethereal Armor), or a solid enchantment threat (Observant Alseid).
It also suffers from inverse correlation syndrome: Better at smaller sizes, but requires underpowered cards to function. At bigger sizes, it lacks the density required to be successful.
Coming soon! This section will explore the best cards to run, as measured by the number of times they appear in each guild archetype. This is the part that ties it all together. I wanted to provide a bird's eye view of this archetype soup so that a clear picture could emerge. On a micro level (individual guilds), it's useful to differentiate between core archetype cards and lesser fuel. On a macro level (the entire cube), it's useful to have a perspective on the most flexible cards, the ones that can pull double or triple duty in different decks. So that was my definition for identifying the best overall - cards that appeared in three or more guild archetypes at a three-star level.
Cards that appeared in three or more archetypes as a core card:
[ ]
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IV. Change Log
January 20, 2015
Added Table of Contents, Card Ranking by Overlap and Change Log.
There's not much pay-off with these cards and some of the targets are nombos (flashback/unearth), but if they get more support at common, expect this, colorless and allies to rise in value
In the meantime, here's what I would add as possibilities if I had to stretch inclusions for archetypes.
I've been trying to get into Cube and without knowing where to find a generic best-of pauper 360 count with explanations very easily, having a list of archetypes and cards that support them has been really helpful, so consider me also thankful for this thread and I hope to see it expounded upon in the future.
One card that stuck out to me in BFZ was Kalastria Nightwatch. 4/5 for 5 isn't exciting but not horrible, and if with Extort it seems like you can pretty consistently turn on the Flying. I thought it seemed like interesting support for the lifegain deck. I wasn't as into Nirkana Assassin, though.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
They didn't care that he was the savior of Fort Keff, the great hunter of Ondu, the champion of Kabira. To them, he was just another piece of flesh, a thing with life to be drained away.
Glad it was helpful! And thanks for the catch. 5oulCrusher also mentioned the Nightwatch in his review, so I'll edit it into my post. I originally read the Nightwatch as a 3/5, but 4/5 for 5 is acceptable stats and triggering it consistently could bring it to Air Elemental level in pauper! It would be a nice bridge for Orzhov Lifedrain and allies (although I think allies are too parasitic to work in pauper). Nirkana Assassin needed an extra point of stats somewhere.
In the future I will probably update with the second set after BfZ, which should hopefully develop the themes a bit more.
Apologies for dredging up an old thread, but this was really helpful and I think anyone new to pauper cubing could do with reading it. I think a decent chunk of the archetypes and the cards that support them are a bit too narrow for my tastes. I definitely got some solid inspiration for others and discovered some interesting new cards though.
No apologies necessary, Polycotton! It's an article, so I presume that discussion on these threads is always live. It's also meant to be an updated resource, although the update schedule is sporadic. Next one is probably after Eldritch Moon to get all that yummy madness and looting in
Indeed. I am already looking to include more madness. I know that once I am finally happy with my cube Eldritch Moon will come out and result in another endless session of cube tinkering. I also really want some great common fatties to ramp into, I'm considering downgrading the amount of pure ramp in my cube due to not the greatest pay offs and the risks involved drafting ramp. One step is watering down the removal.
What I look like when I try to write about Cube.
I. Introduction
- Naya Tokens (**coming soon!**)
- Jeskai Detainers (**coming soon!**)
- Abzan Enchantments (**coming soon!**)
- Esper Blink/Drain (**coming soon!**)
- Temur Defenders (**coming soon!**)
- Sultai Graveyard Matters (**coming soon!**)
- Grixis
- Bant (**coming soon!**)
- Jund Morbid (**coming soon!**)
- Mardu Tokens / Goblins / Morbid (**coming soon!**)
II. Archetypes
IIa. Guild Archetypes
- Boros Detainers
- Gruul Monsters
- Gruul Defenders
- Selesnya Enchantments Matter
- Selesnya +1/+1 Counters Matter
- Rakdos Goblins
- Azorius Blink
- Dimir Delve
- Dimir Sabotage
- Dimir Madness
- Simic Madness
- Simic Landfall Ramp
- Izzet Spells Matter
- Izzet Artifacts Matter
- Golgari Graveyard Matters
- Golgari Morbid
- Orzhov Life Drain
- Orzhov Enchantments Matter (**coming soon!**)
IIb. Shard and Wedge Archetypes
IIc. Other Archetypes
- Colorless Matters (**coming soon!**)
- Exile Matters (**coming soon!**)
- Lands Matter (**coming soon!**)
III. Card Rankings by OverlapIV. Change Log
Introduction
Hello everyone!
You might think that proper archetype support is impossible in pauper. So I decided to write up a little something and demonstrate how you can, in fact, provide support for draftable archetypes at common. The reason is that in all likelihood, the majority of archetypal support cards are already present in your cube. I'm just going to give a quick rundown of where they might be hiding and how they fit into each archetype. So let's make it very simple:
Purpose
To provide a foundation for archetypes in cube design and demonstrate that supporting multiple archetypes has two benefits:
1. Archetype support is compact and does not consume much of the cube’s real estate.
2. Archetype cards can be broad and flexible rather than narrow and unwieldy.
My problem: I want draftable archetypes, but I don’t want to pigeonhole drafters or ruin sealed/low player count drafts.
My answer: Archetypal cards with multiple or universal applications. I choose these cards by dividing the cube into three categories:
Goodstuff
Good on their own. They play well regardless of where you put them. We’re talking Lightning Bolt, Porcelain Legionnaire, Counterspell. Apart from a few exceptions that happen to play particularly well in their archetype, I won’t be looking at these today.
Engine cards
These cards require three qualities to pass muster in my cube.
1. They are attractive. They provide incentive for the drafter to pick them and draft around them.
2. They reward you for synergy.
3. They are cubeable even without this synergy.
Fuel cards
These cards have two defining characteristics.
1. They make the engine cards better.
2. They are cubeable even without the engine card.
Fuel cards are just regular cube cards that happen to give your engine cards a boost when they come together.
Overlapping Cards
There is an optional but very important criterion I use when a card’s inclusion is contested:
3. The card overlaps with other archetypes. Even better if the card shares a color with that guild archetype.
An example of good overlap cards: Mogg Fanatic can slide into Golgari Morbid. Madcap Skills slides into Selesnya Enchantments.
A great overlap card would be something like Empty the Warrens, which goes into Izzet Spells Matter, Rakdos Goblins, and Tokens (a shard theme, since the vast majority of token producers/enablers fall into Naya colors).
And that’s it. There are also ratings though, because everyone loves those!
* : One star. Very narrow, even in the right deck. Should probably not be included unless you have a larger cube or wish to replace cube staples.
* * : Two stars. The majority of cards fall into this category. Some effort should be taken to include them, but not all are necessary.
* * * : Three stars. Very cubeable, especially in the right deck. These are key to the archetype.
Disclaimer:
This is not intended to be a complete list of cards and interactions available between each archetype. Just a look at the best engine cards, a snapshot of some useful fuel cards, and maybe a topical discussion.
How Many Archetypes Are There?
I’ve explored a couple of different potential archetypes in each color combination. Some of them are weaker than others. Gruul in particular is a bit forced – there’s no real synergy that I know of for playing big monsters aside from Tarkir’s formidable/ferocious mechanics, and the defender archetype’s best finisher is in another color entirely (Doorkeeper). Most of the other archetypes are all fun, have an established presence in most cubes already, and play to the guild’s strengths.
Eighteen Reasons To Run Archetypes in your Pauper Cube
Guild Archetypes
1. Boros Detainers
2. Gruul Monsters
3. Gruul Defenders
4. Selesnya Enchantment Matters
5. Selesnya +1/+1 Counters
6. Rakdos Goblins
7. Azorius Blink
8. Dimir Delve
9. Dimir Sabotage
10.Dimir Madness
11. Simic Madness
12. Simic Landfall Ramp
13. Izzet Spells Matter
14. Izzet Artifacts Matter
15. Golgari Graveyard Matters
16. Golgari Morbid
17. Orzhov Life Drain
18. Orzhov Enchantments Matter (**coming soon!**)
Shard and Wedge Archetypes
19. Naya Tokens (**coming soon!**)
20. Jeskai Detainers (**coming soon!**)
21. Abzan Enchantments (**coming soon!**)
22. Esper Blink/Drain (**coming soon!**)
23. Temur Defenders (**coming soon!**)
24. Sultai Graveyard Matters (**coming soon!**)
25. Grixis
26. Bant (**coming soon!**)
27. Jund Morbid (**coming soon!**)
28. Mardu Tokens / Goblins / Morbid (**coming soon!**)
Other Archetypes
29. Colorless Matters (**coming soon!**)
30. Exile Matters (**coming soon!**)
31. Lands Matter (**coming soon!**)
What can I do with this information?
Well, aside from noticing just how many cards you already run, the overlap section may be of particular interest to you. This is where I dumped all the cards that could perform in multiple archetypes. In theory, the more archetypes a card is useful in, the more valuable it is. Think of it as a space-saving measure. Why play three different cards for three archetypes when you can include one that does all of them?
Anyways. On to the archetypes!
1. Boros Detainers
Engine cards:
- Boggart Brute
- Goblin Heelcutter
- Madcap Skills
What it is: A hyper-aggressive tempo deck, it relies on a steady stream of hasters and detainers (ETB effects that tap, detain, or prevent a creature from blocking) to disrupt the opponent’s game plan, put them on the defensive early and prevent them from coming back. Menace cards like Boggart Brute and Madcap Skills gain huge value when paired with this “mechanic”.A similar archetype is draftable in blue, with notable cards like Frost Breath, Man-o'War and friends, Frost Lynx, Undo and Withdraw. This paves the way for the Jeskai Detainers archetype.
Fuel cards:
***Azorius Arrester
***Blinding Beam
***Feeling of Dread
**Gideon’s Lawkeeper
**Goldmeadow Harrier
***Nightbird’s Clutches
***Ruthless Invasion
**Glaring Aegis
**Hammerhand
**Ivory Giant
***Kor Hookmaster
*Leonin Snarecaster
***Crossway Vampire
***Fervent Cathar
**Goblin Shortcutter
**Subterranean Scout
Overlap:
Boggart Brute, Goblin Heelcutter, Subterranean Scout (Rakdos Goblins)
Azorius Arrester, Ivory Giant, Kor Hookmaster, Leonin Snarecaster, Crossway Vampire, Fervent Cathar, Goblin Shortcutter, Subterranean Scout (Azorius Blink)
Incidental Synergy
Gruul Monsters
Engine cards:
- Sabertooth Outrider
- Stampeding Elk Herd
What it is: One of the simplest archetypes, just smash and go. Gruul is home to the pauper cube’s biggest and baddest, so there is definitely an appeal to slamming down fatty after fatty. As a rule, though, pauper’s biggest creatures do not generate card advantage, and they remain vulnerable to removal. Care should be taken that the mana curve on Gruul’s monsters doesn’t go too high. Some monsters can help fight the blowouts of cheap removal. Durkwood Baloth can be played early for cheap. Morselhoarder can provide a pseudo-ETB effect. Silverglade Elemental helps ramp into bigger fatties. Havenwood Wurm’s flash helps mitigate sorcery speed removal. The one true guarantor of card advantage against removal is Maul Splicer, which remains the gold standard for big butts in pauper.Fuel
***Chartooth Cougar
**Durkwood Baloth
**Elvish Aberration
**Grizzled Outcasts
***Havenwood Wurm
**Hollowhenge Beast
**Imperiosaur
**Wild Leotau
***Krosan Tusker
**Morselhoarder
**Nessian Asp
***Oakgnarl Warrior
***Sentinel Spider
**Silverglade Elemental
***Zhur-Taa Swine
***Scuzzback Marauders
Overlap
Nessian Asp, Scuzzback Marauders (Selesnya +1/+1 Counters Matter)
Gruul Defenders
Engine cards:
- Axebane Guardian
- Lobber Crew
- Overgrown Battlement
- Thallid Shell-Dweller
- Vent Sentinel
What it is: An experimental archetype that draws from past Limited environments Rise of the Eldrazi and Return to Ravnica. Walls typically get a bad rap in Magic due to their defensive nature and lack of play, so it is critical to include walls that can fill multiple roles like ramp (Axebane Guardian/Overgrown Battlement), finisher (Lobber Crew, Vent Sentinel), creature removal (Glade Watcher, Ogre Sentry, Wall of Heat), and board advantage (Thallid Shell-Dweller). Unfortunately the list of playable walls quickly runs dry in these colors, but blue provides some much-needed depth with Doorkeeper, Drift of Phantasms and Stinging Barrier.Conclusion: An underpowered archetype that currently needs help from other colors. It remains one of the most difficult and unusual archetypes to support properly, so many cube managers may not find it worth the while.
Fuel
**Glade Watcher
**Grave Bramble
**Ogre Sentry
**Wall of Heat
**Tinder Wall
*Vine Trellis
*Wall of Tanglecord
Overlap
**Drift of Phantasms
*Stinging Barrier
**Returned Phalanx
4. Selesnya Enchantments Matter
Engine cards:
- Kruphix’s Insight
- Heliod’s Pilgrim
- Auramancer
- Totem-Guide Hartebeest
- Ethereal Armor
- Rubbleback Rhino
- Primal Huntbeast
- Aura Gnarlid
- Silhana Ledgewalker
- Gladecover Scout
- Slippery Bogle
- Ancestral Mask
What it is: Use auras to boost evasive/untargetable creatures. Use enchantment tutors to find key pieces of your strategy. Ride your enchanted creature to victory. Kruphix’s Insight is a powerful card in this archetype, but it has a real chance of binning your win condition. Timing is key.Fuel cards
***Elephant Guide
***Moldervine Cloak
***Rancor
**Wild Growth
**Utopia Sprawl
**Arachnus Web
**Dawn’s Reflection
**Fertile Ground
**Lignify
**Night Soil
**Overgrowth
***Snake Umbra/Spider Umbra
***Hopeful Eidolon
***Hyena Umbrea
***Bonds of Faith
***Observant Alseid
**Faith’s Fetters
Overlap
Moldervine Cloak (Golgari Graveyard Matters)
5. Selesnya +1/+1 Counters Matter
Engine cards:
- Ainok Bond-Kin
- Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
- Phantom Nomad
- Phantom Tiger
What it is: Another experimental archetype. Uses the recently printed renown beaters and the abundance of +1/+1 counters to activate one of the four engine creatures. Ainok Bond-Kin benefits from a ton of incidental synergy across all five colors (just take a look at the overlap!). Skarrgan Pit-Skulk and the Phantoms benefit from the density of auras in Selesnya, essentially becoming unblockable or unbeatable in combat. Ainok Bond-Kin allows you to go wide with spells like Travel Preparations, Elven Rite and Common Bond (helped by the proliferation of tokens in this guild) or go tall with a Pit-Skulk or Phantom Nomad (helped by the prevalence of auras and hexproof critters in Selesnya).Fuel cards:
***Travel Preparations
***Hunger of the Howlpack
**Topan Freeblade
**Crocanura
**Rhox Maulers
***Otherworldly Journey
**Test of Faith
**Sandcrafter Mage
**Sandsteppe Outcast
**Misthoof Kirin
*Timberland Guide/Satyr Grovedancer
**Elven Rite/Common Bond
***Festerhide Boar
**Lurking Automaton
*Skyreach Manta
Overlap:
Otherworldly Journey (Azorius Blink)
6. Rakdos Goblins
What it is: Sole tribal archetype of pauper. A multidimensional tribe that functions well on its own or in service of other archetypes. Contains strong aggressive cards like Mogg Flunkies and Boggart Brute. Strong token support in the shape of Mogg War Marshal, Goblin Bushwhacker and Beetleback Chief. Provides flexible tactical options thanks to removal (Mogg Fanatic, Skirk Marauder, Torch Slinger, Stingscourger) and evasion (Intimidator Initiate, Goblin Heelcutter).
Engine cards:
- Sparksmith
- Warren Pilferers
Sparksmith: This guy needs no introduction. A cheap two mana pinger whose damage output can grow to take down Hill Giants is well worth the price of life.Warren Pilferers:
Some goblins like to sacrifice themselves (Mogg Fanatic). Some goblins encourage killing themselves (Shambling Goblin, Goblin Arsonist, Emberwilde Augur). Some goblins have powerful one-shot effects (Mudbutton Torchrunner, Torch Slinger, Skirk Marauder). Two goblins have all three (Stingscourger, Mogg War Marshal). Even when he’s not returning Goblins, he’s a fat Gravedigger in a color that loves graveyard recursion.
Fuel cards:
*** Beetleback Chief
*** Boggart Brute
*Emberwilde Augur
** Goblin Arsonist
*** Goblin Bushwhacker
** Goblin Patrol
** Goblin War Buggy
** Intimidator Initiate
** Mardu Scout
*** Mogg Fanatic
*** Mogg Flunkies
*** Mogg War Marshal
*** Mudbutton Torchrunner
** Prickly Boggart
** Shambling Goblin
*** Skirk Marauder
*** Stingscourger
** Subterranean Scout
** Torch Slinger
*** Scuzzback Marauders
Overlap:
Goblin Heelcutter, Intimidator Initiate, Subterranean Scout (Boros Detainers)
Prickly Boggart, Boggart Brute (Dimir Sabotage)
Beetleback Chief, Goblin Bushwhacker, Mogg War Marshal (Naya Tokens)
Shambling Goblin, Goblin Arsonist (Golgari Morbid)
Mogg Fanatic, Emberwilde Augur, Mogg War Marshal, Stingscourger (Golgari Morbid)
Incidental Synergy:
7. Azorius Blink
Engine cards:
- Ghostly Flicker
- Momentary Blink
- Otherworldly Journey
- Turn to Mist
- Whitemane Lion
- Cloudshift
What it is: A value-driven archetype. Seeks to create virtual card advantage by triggering ETB effects multiple times. Since there are so many creatures with ETB effects in this guild, consider any creature with that text to be relevant fuel for the archetype (Mulldrifter, Aether Adept, Custodi Squire). To make up for this, I’ve made an exception to the rule and included some narrower blink spells that could be used to round out the archetype.Fuel cards
*Dream Stalker
***Kor Skyfisher
**Keymaster Rogue
*Silver Drake
*Aether Tradewinds
**Peel from Reality
**Curfew
*Call to Heel
*Saving Grasp
**Deputy of Acquittals
Overlap:
Keymaster Rogue (Dimir Sabotage)
8. Dimir Delve
Engine cards:
- Treasure Cruise
- Gurmag Angler
- Sultai Scavenger
- Headless Skaab
- Makeshift Mauler
- Stitched Drake
- Zombie Scavengers
- Barrow Ghoul
What it is: One of the strongest archetypes on raw power alone. Fuels the graveyard to power out massive beaters and spells at a bargain price. Since black and blue’s card quality is already through the roof, this can result in overwhelming advantage. Note that a lot of cards overlap with Izzet Spells Matter thanks to the quality of flashback in this guild. There is also overlap with Simic Madness thanks to blue’s looters and black’s madness.Fuel cards
***Thought Scour
***Forbidden Alchemy
***Gurmag Drowner
***Bitter Revelation
***Stinkweed Imp
**Putrid Imp
**Strategic Planning
**Logic Knot
***Ghastly Demise
**Calculated Dismissal
***Think Twice
***Chainer’s Edict
***Crippling Fatigue
***Silent Departure
**Vile Rebirth
***Deep Analysis
***Street Wraith
***Tortured Existence
**Thrull Surgeon
**Twisted Abomination
**Shoreline Ranger
Overlap
Gurmag Drowner (Blink)
Putrid Imp, Bitter Revelation (Golgari Graveyard Matters)
Silent Departure, Deep Analysis, Crippling Fatigue, Think Twice, Chainer’s Edict, Forbidden Alchemy (Izzet Spells Matter)
Abomination of Gudul (overlap with Dimir Delve, Golgari Graveyard Matters)
9. Dimir Sabotage
Engine cards:
- Ninja of the Deep Hours
- Okiba-Gang Shinobi
- Hands of Binding
- Hidden Strings
What it is: Uses saboteurs to get in for extra damage and generate card advantage. The ninjas are key to this archetype. The three one-drops allow your ninjas to always be live (Triton Shorestalker, Tormented Soul, Prickly Boggart). Trespassing Souleater is a valuable piece of the puzzle. A few other highly evasive three drops are available to keep the pressure on and ensure ninjitsu is available (Deathcult Rogue, Noggle Bandit, Neurok Invisimancer) with Cavern Lampad sitting at the end of the curve. Cubers looking to round out this archetype can try for Keymaster Rogue, Dimir Infiltrator and Distortion Strike.Fuel cards
***Triton Shorestalker
***Tormented Soul
***Prickly Boggart
***Blind Zealot
**Cavern Lampad
**Deathcult Rogue
**Noggle Bandit
***Neurok Invisimancer
***Trespassing Souleater
***Stealer of Secrets
**Corpulent Corpse
**Dimir Infiltrator
**Keymaster Rogue
**Distortion Strike
Overlap
Distortion Strike (Izzet Spells Matter)
Blind Zealot (Golgari Morbid)
Keymaster Rogue, Neurok Invisimancer (Azorius Blink)
Cavern Lampad, Tortured Soul, Triton Shorestalker, Prickly Boggart (Selesnya Enchantments Matter)
10. Dimir Madness
This archetype is near identical to Simic Madness in composition, subbing out green for black. Refer to the Simic section for a more in-depth look.
Engine cards
- Aquamoeba
- Circular Logic
- Frantic Search
- Looter il-Kor
- Merfolk Looter
- Probe
- Thalakos Scout
Fuel cards**Call to the Netherworld
*Deepcavern Imp
***Gorgon Recluse
***Ichor Slick
***Undertaker
*Dark Withering
11. Simic Madness
Engine cards
- Arrogant Wurm
- Basking Rootwalla
- Aquamoeba
- Wild Mongrel
- Circular Logic
Fuel:***Compulsive Research
***Frantic Search
**Probe
***Thalakos Scout
***Merfolk Looter
***Thought Courier
***Waterfront Bouncer
***Abomination of Gudul
What it is: An archetype similar in strategy to Izzet Artifacts Matter, Simic Madness relies on looting to get a discount on powerful spells. It can leverage early aggressive creatures like Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba for a tempo advantage, or sit back on Merfolk Looter and company to play the long game. Although Pauper has no shortage of good looting, it suffers from a dearth of good madness spells. For best results, this archetype can be paired with black, which adds another great discard outlet (Undertaker) and two quality madness spells (Gorgon Recluse and Ichor Slick). The addition of black opens up access to the synergistic Dimir Delve archetype, and allows you to play a powerful tricolor card that fits the deck’s needs (Abomination of Gudul).
Overlap:
All looting spells and creatures (Dimir Delve, Golgari Graveyard Matters)
12. Simic Landfall Ramp
Engine cards:
- Calcite Snapper
- Grazing Gladehart
- Mysteries of the Deep
- Shoal Serpent
- Windrider Eel
What it is: Ramp up to big threats and big spells, then ensure a steady stream of landfall triggers. Green’s ramp cards gain extra value in this archetype, as do blue’s two Gush cards and the karoo lands.Fuel cards
**Deprive
**Gush
**Fathom Seer
***Cultivate
***Kodama’s Reach
***Rampant Growth
**Harrow
**Dreamscape Artist/Greenseeker
***Borderland Ranger / Civic Wayfinder
**Wood Elves
**Coiling Oracle
13. Izzet Spells Matter
Engine cards:
- Archaeomancer
- Empty the Warrens
- Flame Jab
- Izzet Chronarch
- Kiln Fiend
- Mnemonic Wall
- Nivix Cyclops
- Prescient Chimera
- Wee Dragonauts
- Whirlwind Adept
What it is: Izzet’s Spells Matter engines can be divided into two components: Threats that can become massive (Wee Dragonauts, Whirlwind Adept) and recursion to keep those threats going (Archaeomancer, Izzet Chronarch, Flame Jab). Cheap cantrips, burn, rebound, flashback and suspend all help push your damage-dealers over the top. From this archetype’s engines, Kiln Fiend is arguably weakest, with low toughness and no evasion. It is the most disposable.Fuel cards:
** Errant Ephemeron
** Jeskai Sage
** Muddle the Mixture
* Ojutai’s Breath
** Ojutai’s Summons
Overlap
Incidental Synergy
14. Izzet Artifacts Matter
Engine cards:
- Cranial Plating
- Myr Enforcer
- Somber Hoverguard
- Thoughtcast
What it is: Izzet’s secondary archetype is built around sticking a few artifacts and getting ahead with resource discounts on Enforcer, Hoverguard and Thoughtcast. Cheap enablers like Etherium Sculptor, Ghirapur Gearcrafter, Trinket Mage and Artificer’s Epiphany help boost your artifact count. Cranial Plating is a beating.This archetype faces a couple of challenges. Artifacts are one of the weakest card types, being extremely easy to remove. And with the rise of Dimir Delve, Izzet Artifacts Matter may start to feel like an underpowered version of that deck.
Fuel
***Artificer’s Epiphany
** Etherium Sculptor
*Galvanic Blast
*** Ghirapur Gearcrafter
*** Glint Hawk Idol
** Trinket Mage
*Vedalken Certarch
*Vedalken Engineer
Overlap
Ghirapur Gearcrafter, Trinket Mage (Azorius Blink)
Incidental Synergy
Golgari Graveyard Matters
Engine cards:
- Hooting Mandrills
- Night Soil
- Werebear
- Undergrowth Scavenger
What it is: The second guild to exploit the graveyard. Same principle as Dimir Delve – feed the yard, then drop massive discounted beaters, or leverage the spells you gain access to with dredge and recursion.Fuel cards
**Elephant Ambush
**Drudge Beetle
***Desecrator Hag
**Golgari Brownscale
***Grisly Salvage
***Moment’s Peace
***Satyr Wayfinder
***Shambling Shell
*Thrashing Moss-dog
*Tilling Treefolk
Golgari Morbid
Engine cards:
- Festerhide Boar
- Ulvenwald Bear
- Woodland Sleuth
- Wakedancer
- Viscera Seer
- Fume Spitter
- Plagued Rusalka
- Carrion Feeder
What it is: A unique twist on the typical graveyard archetype, Golgari Morbid relies on the act of creatures dying to turn on its key threats. To that end, some of the best cards in the deck are the ones that allow you to kill creatures quickly, reliably and cheaply. The Black Quartet performs this job admirably (Viscera Seer, Fume Spitter, Carrion Feeder, Plagued Rusalka), allowing the green half of the equation (Ulvenwald Bear, Festerhide Boar) to get swole. Green also provides more sac fodder in the form of Eldrazi (Growth Spasm, Nest Invader, Kozilek’s Predator), giving you both a death and some mana. Black has excellent support just a bit further up the curve with Nantuko Husk and Phyrexian Ghoul. Blind Zealot and Shambling Shell provide more free sacs to fuel the morbidity.Fuel cards
**Young Wolf
***Tragic Slip
***Growth Spasm
***Innocent Blood
**Silumgar Butcher
**Vulturous Aven
***Tinder Wall
*Abyssal Gatekeeper
**Aerie Ouphes
**Shambling Goblin
***Blind Zealot
***Blastoderm
***Nantuko Husk
***Phyrexian Ghoul
***Nest Invader
***Kozilek’s Predator
**Moriok Replica
**Sylvok Replica
***Shambling Shell
Overlap
Tinder Wall (Gruul Defenders)
Shambling Goblin (Rakdos Goblins)
Shambling Shell (Golgari Graveyard Matters, Selesnya +1/+1 Counters Matter)
17. Orzhov Life Drain
Engine cards:
- Basilica Guards
- Suture Priest
- Syndic of Tithes
- Kingpin’s Pet
- Tithe Drinker
- Basilica Screecher
- Gray Merchant of Asphodel
What it is: The infamous “bleed” archetype. Seeks to whittle down the opponent’s life total point by point, while sending its own life total skyward. Extort cards are the main attraction with their repeatable triggers, but Suture Priest and Gray Merchant of Asphodel are also here with the potential to create huge life swings. Has very high cross-synergy with the Azorius Blink archetype due to the prevalence of ETB lifegain.Fuel cards
**Pride Guardian
***Arashin Cleric
***Temple Acolyte
***Lone Missionary
***Aven Riftwatcher
**Conclave Phalanx/Staunch Defenders
**Kemba’s Skyguard
***Seraph of Dawn
*Soul’s Attendant
*Soul Warden
***Exile
***Faith’s Fetters
***Recumbent Bliss
**Bottle Gnomes
***Pristine Talisman
***Sylvok Lifestaff
**Guardian Automaton
***Blind Hunter
***Bloodhunter Bat
**Child of Night
**Douse in Gloom/Last Kiss
**Pharika’s Cure/Sorin’s Thirst
***Mark of the Vampire
**Servant of Tymaret
***Vault Skirge
***Stab Wound
Overlap:
Conclave Phalanx, Suture Priest (Naya tokens)
Basilica Guards, Pride Guardian (Gruul Defenders)
Aven Riftwatcher, Bottle Gnomes (Golgari Morbid)
Arashin Cleric, Temple Acolyte, Lone Missionary, Aven Riftwatcher, Kemba’s Skyguard, Bloodhunter Bat, Blind Hunter, Staunch Defenders/Conclave Phalanx, Gray Merchant of Asphodel (Azorius Blink)
Vault Skirge, other lifegain artifacts (Izzet Artifacts Matter)
17. Orzhov Enchantments Matter
Engine cards:
Arenson's Aura
Auramancer
Cage of Hands
Despondency
Griffin Dreamfinder
Harvestguard Alseids
Shackles
Tragic Poet
Dreadbringer Lampads
Grim Guardian
Fuel cards
** Angelic Gift
*** Hopeful Eidolon
*** Observant Alseid
* Opal Caryatid
** Opal Champion
*** Seal of Cleansing
* Ancestral Vengeance
*** Baleful Eidolon
*** Dead Weight
*** Font of Return
* Nyx Infusion
** Maggot Therapy
*** Pestilence
** Seal of Doom
** Shade's Form
*** Stab Wound
* Strands of Undeath
*** Tortured Existence
*** Pillory of the Sleepless
What it is: A mash-up of Orzhov Lifedrain and Selesnya Enchantments, with a small helping of graveyard recursion. The white half recurs enchantments, the black half brings the pain. There are decent enchantments that sacrifice themselves for value (Font of Return, Seal of Cleansing, Seal of Doom), enchantments that will usually head to the yard (Dead Weight, Maggot Therapy, Nyx Infusion) and enchantments which can trigger constellation multiple times (Shackles, Despondency, Cage of Hands). These all combine to form a kind of grindy enchantment control archetype.
Weaknesses: It doesn't have a killer app, something that really drives the archetype. It's crying out for something like Gift of Orzhova, or another reward for enchantments (Ethereal Armor), or a solid enchantment threat (Observant Alseid).
It also suffers from inverse correlation syndrome: Better at smaller sizes, but requires underpowered cards to function. At bigger sizes, it lacks the density required to be successful.
Verdict: Easier to port into peasant than pauper (Blightcaster! One Thousand Lashes! Underworld Coinsmith!), this archetype is still in development.
Overlap:
Slow Motion
Ancestral Vengeance (Selesnya +1/+1 Counters Matter)
III. Card Rankings by Overlap
Coming soon! This section will explore the best cards to run, as measured by the number of times they appear in each guild archetype. This is the part that ties it all together. I wanted to provide a bird's eye view of this archetype soup so that a clear picture could emerge. On a micro level (individual guilds), it's useful to differentiate between core archetype cards and lesser fuel. On a macro level (the entire cube), it's useful to have a perspective on the most flexible cards, the ones that can pull double or triple duty in different decks. So that was my definition for identifying the best overall - cards that appeared in three or more guild archetypes at a three-star level.
Cards that appeared in three or more archetypes as a core card:
[ ]
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IV. Change Log
Added Table of Contents, Card Ranking by Overlap and Change Log.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
There's not much pay-off with these cards and some of the targets are nombos (flashback/unearth), but if they get more support at common, expect this, colorless and allies to rise in value
In the meantime, here's what I would add as possibilities if I had to stretch inclusions for archetypes.
Kozilek's Channeler (Landfall Ramp)
Makindi Patrol (Naya Tokens)
Incubator Drone (Azorius Blink)
Rush of Ice (Jeskai Detainers)
Geyserfield Stalker (Dimir Sabotage)
Kalastria Nightwatch (Orzhov Lifedrain)
Shatterskull Recruit (Jeskai Detainers)
Call the Scions (Morbid, Landfall Ramp)
Eyeless Watcher (Morbid, Landfall Ramp)
Tajuru Stalwart (+1/+1 Counters Matter)
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
One card that stuck out to me in BFZ was Kalastria Nightwatch. 4/5 for 5 isn't exciting but not horrible, and if with Extort it seems like you can pretty consistently turn on the Flying. I thought it seemed like interesting support for the lifegain deck. I wasn't as into Nirkana Assassin, though.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
In the future I will probably update with the second set after BfZ, which should hopefully develop the themes a bit more.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
I am building a pauper modern cube, it looks like some archtypes wont be present in modern. (Which saddens me)
My singleton Masters Cube
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
My singleton Masters Cube