If you have no way to tutor cards or ways to manipulate your deck, it's irrelevant if the cards go to the bin or not: they are useless either way. And, anyways, you will be always be binning the least useful card.
No its not because a Gleeful Sabotage or a COP: Red can go to the bin which in some matchups post board are pretty much needed to win. Almost all of my sideboard cards are not enchantments so if they get hit while using a Commune or an Insight then they are binned and i have to find another.
The cards hitting the graveyard or being put on the bottom of the library (what these types of cards would normally do) is just about the same; you'll never see them again. The advantage Commune has is that it will get you creatures, which you do run less of. It won't ever turn into card advantage, but it at least gives you a greater choice of what to take.
@Obermeir Yes i do realize they both do, and Commune gets me creatures, but my point is id rather not lose any cards that i may potentially need. Which is why im running a singleton.
I posted this variant in another thread. Slightly less 1-dimensional although probably less explosive too. I don't run Ancestral Mask, so none of the land Auras, and I've got some control options and removal to interact more with the opponent instead of straight up goldfishing with fat.
My manabase may be too slow with tapped lands compared to Abundant Growth + Utopia Sprawl. Instead of cantrips I just run redundancies. I should try out the suggested decklists though and see how they compare.
I posted this variant in another thread. Slightly less 1-dimensional although probably less explosive too. I don't run Ancestral Mask, so none of the land Auras, and I've got some control options and removal to interact more with the opponent instead of straight up goldfishing with fat.
My manabase may be too slow with tapped lands compared to Abundant Growth + Utopia Sprawl. Instead of cantrips I just run redundancies. I should try out the suggested decklists though and see how they compare.
Your list is going to be significantly slower than a traditional list. You do plan to bother the opponent with removal, which can make up for that.
What's with Slaughterhorn? Why not just more auras?
Not such a fan of Nyxborn Shieldmate here. a 1/2 is poor comfort compared to a hexproof creature. He might as well be another, more powerful Aura.
I could go with 4 guildgates 2 plains no problem, but then I would have 6 ETB tapped lands (I run 2 khalni garden for edict protection). Wouldn't that be a bit too much?
Hmm... Well I don't realy know how fast the deck wins, but shouldn't a good portion of their life total be gone by turn 3 considering it is where we curve out?
Jounrey to nowhere probably is better yes however.
If I cut the Rays for and maybe one Kruphix's Insight I'd have 4 open slots. Any good ideas what to fill them with? As I said, I don't want to neccesarily run Rancor. I could also maybe branch out into peasant with this...
Maybe that would be a bit much, but try it out and see. If it slows you down too much, you can cut back on either land.
The deck is just starting to take off on turn three, usually. You can get them to scary low life by turn 4 and have them most likely dead by turn 5. This is in an ideal scenario. I really think Opp Rays isn't as good as Journey.
Those 4 slots could be Abundant Growth which could also help you make your mana base more flexible (not having to run any guildgates, or very few). If not, I'd recommend maxing out your Ancestral Mask and add 2 Frog Tongue or Spider Umbra, depending on your needs.
Check out the new banner everybody! Looks fantastic!
I could go with 4 guildgates 2 plains no problem, but then I would have 6 ETB tapped lands (I run 2 khalni garden for edict protection). Wouldn't that be a bit too much?
Hmm... Well I don't realy know how fast the deck wins, but shouldn't a good portion of their life total be gone by turn 3 considering it is where we curve out?
Jounrey to nowhere probably is better yes however.
If I cut the Rays for and maybe one Kruphix's Insight I'd have 4 open slots. Any good ideas what to fill them with? As I said, I don't want to neccesarily run Rancor. I could also maybe branch out into peasant with this...
Could Fists of Ironwood be what you need? Rancor is definitely better, but if you use Fists it'll add more Trample to your deck and it could replace Khalni Gardens for Edict protection. Then you can replace those with the 2 extra Guildgates and only have 4 ETBT lands and hopefully fix your mana base.
What I do when I want to use the same cards between several decks is just switch them out of one or the other (so one of the decks has cards missing because they're borrowed). For example, I'm not going to buy more Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors than I need, so I switch them between my Egg deck and my Stax deck. It's really not all that much hassle, as I'm not constantly switching them.
I am lucky to have a shop nearby that has boxes of unsorted commons/uncommons. He's a super nice guy and I go with a friend and just gander through looking for stuff I need for my decks. We always grab every copy we find of rancor, spell pierce, etc. Owner checks for 'em so we're not ripping him off but he does give us a deal. Can never have enough rancor or spell pierce...
I suppose I should try and get some Nivix/Fiend or Eye-Candy matches under my belt, as it seems to be a popular enough deck now.
EDIT: I've added the Eye-Candy matchup to the list. It's actually a really cool deck to play against, as it plays really differently than other Pauper decks. It's a decent matchup for us regardless, as our sideboard options make disrupting their combo very easy.
I'm on the fence and don't want to say anything stupid, honestly.
Searching your library for the right aura is awesome, but is 3 mana too much to pay for such a thing? I was having a hard time with Kruphix's Insight, and that provided potentially great card advantage. This is about card selection, however. Is there a single aura in the deck that we absolutely want for certain matchups? Yes, I'd say. Is 3 mana too much to pay to get to it? I don't know. We don't necessarily want to play this on turn three, and sometimes we simply can't, due to missing land drops. There's like this step between 2 and 3 mana that I have a hard time coming to terms with.
I would play it as a 2-of, much like the other search/dig spells we have. I'll definitely be trying her out, as I like it much better than the gamble of Kruphix.
It also spawns a new interesting way to play the deck: running singletons to improve pre-board matches and/or prepare your deck better versus more archetypes. It dilutes the consistency of running nothing but the best auras in exchange for a diversity of choices to fit the situation. I think having a more consistent deck with the best auras will yield the better results because tutoring for answers is time-consuming for a deck that typically wants to race with little to no interaction. That doesn't mean she won't be run, as we still want to get our Armadillo Cloak when it's appropriate, so it can definitely still see some play in traditional lists. It is a different matter to build around her, which others have already started doing.
New up coming common that could do well as a splash blue, Jeskai Windscoutfrom KHANS!! of Tarkir. It is a 2U creature, but with Flying and Prowess combo to together, you could dump all the auras on Jeskai Windscout to double the +1/+1 for a quick almost unblockable creature. Or, just dump the auras on a Hexproof creature and have two big creatures coming your opponent's way.
I believe Aura Gnarlid already fills that role, and even better than the Windscout. His pump isn't only 'til end of turn, he's on-colour, and he is even harder to block. I don't see anyone splashing blue for that card, unfortunately.
I'm really not sold on Blue being a viable colour. 3 mana for +1/+1 and almost unblockable doesn't seem like a big enough incentive to play the colour. And the fact that the magemark applies to all enchanted creatures doesn't quite fit the bill of the strategy, as it tends to want one creature receiving all the auras and the others just there to chump block or eat edict spells.
As for Sacred Wolf, his three mana and 1 toughness is what holds him back from being good enough for me. We have 12 1 and 2 mana hexproof guys, and that is usually enough for the deck to function well. I suppose if you want more hexproofers, he'd probably the next step in the line.
Dragons of Tarkir has brought some interesting new commons to think about.
Glaring Aegis A one white mana Aura that gives +1/+3 and the ability to tap the most annoying blocker on your opponent's team as long as that creature doesn't have hexproof/shroud.
Conifer Strider New green Hexproof 5/1 creature for 3G. Cool, but I think the cost is too high and there are better creatures with maneuverability.
Sheltered Aerie Green's new common Aura, but we have cheaper and better mana producing auras.
Glint It maybe blue, but for 1U it can be good to use to protect Aura Gnarlid? Mmmmm maybe sideboard if you been seeing creature removable problems.
Glaring Aegis is the only card that comes close to playable, in my opinion. And even then, I don't think it's worth playing. The toughness boost isn't all that relevant, and that tapping is only for one turn makes it feel more like a spell than an aura.
4 mana is too much to pay for a creature in this deck (especially if it's only going to have 1 toughness).
The Aerie is cool, but not useful here. We want the mana fixing to cost 1 mana, not 3. This could be useful for the UG Wall build though.
Glint is not an aura, so the boost and protection it gives is not permanent. It's just as useful as any other removal-killing spell, like Apostle's Blessing, and we don't play that, either.
Nope, I think the Khans Block has not been overly kind to Hexproof (aside from the dual lands)
Honestly, is there anything Hexproof Aura needs at this point? It's an insanely powerful deck in both Pauper and Modern. I would be very surprised if we got any new commons that would shake up the archetype.
You're very right. I think that if there's one thing the deck could really use, it's another 1 or 2-drop Hexproof Creature. This would make the deck more consistent and naturally resistant to Edicts.
Other than that, I think that if there was a card that gave a good p/t boost, as well as lifelink, it might also be used. Something along the same lines as Armadillo Cloak, but at 2 mana or something. Maybe +1/+2 and lifelink for WW.
I'm also trying to update my primers, but non-latin characters have temporarily been disabled (due to a influx of Korean spammers), and I seem to have a few in all my primers that I can't find. I'm well aware that Flaring Pain is now present in most top lists as a 1 or 2-of, but unfortunately can't update this in the primer until I either find my non-latin characters or the temporary ban is lifted.
I don't think Favor of the Overbeing is worth it; it's only really good on Bogle and sub-par on any other creature.
I think it's completely fine to have Journey to Nowhere in your maindeck. I think, however, that you have too much removal. I'd take out the Prey Upon and either Qasali Pridemage or Oblivion Ring. A more popular choice these days is Gleeful Sabotage.
If Turbo Fog is something you see regularly in your playgroup, consider a second Flaring Pain.
Maindeck Lifelink? I don't see it. There are always utility auras that can really win games. I really like Triclopean Sight in my testing (essentially a removal spell), and Spider Umbra is also good against many decks. LIfelink is good to have when racing, but Armadillo Cloak is often enough, and not providing any other bonus makes it only fringe playable.
You should really try out Aura Gnarlid. The beauty of it is that it will get huge without you ever needing to put Auras on it. It also makes sideboarding more difficult for your opponent, as they might want to keep cards in to fight it. It's just a strong stand-alone creature that's hard to stop.
Last thing, consider more cards to fight edict effects in the sideboard, like Young Wolf.
You don't have to run a full set of Blossoms if you don't want to. Many good lists have 2-3. I think they're better to have than basic plains.
Plays are rarely so linear that you would really be harmed by playing a land tapped on turn 1 or 2. There are plenty of other possible plays, like playing Ledgewalker on turn 2 after a Sands turn one, or playing Bogle turn 1, then following up with a sands on turn two and Rancor.
Don't forget you can also nullify the mana you spend on Utopia Sprawl by playing it on an other land than the one you tapped to play it. That way, even if you don't play it turn one, it doesn't actually cost you mana. With that in mind, you can do things like Blossoms turn 1, turn two play forest, tap Blossoms for Utopia Sprawl on Forest, cast Bogle then Ethereal Armor. That's a pretty efficient turn, and your mana's been fixed.
Khalni Garden is definitely worth maindeck space. Not only does it protect your hexproof creatures, but it also can block when racing another aggro deck. I've seen people even play their auras on it just to keep pressure up (usually Rancor).
I wouldn't stop myself from including a card because it might get countered. If you consider that they should probably counter every spell you play, you can bait their counters to push things through or just play into it and hope for the best. You can't interact with counters, so there's not much use worrying about them other than when you can bait them.
It's usually pretty safe to take out a copy of Rancor. Although it's a good card, you do like to see cards that pump toughness as well. Drawing multiple Rancors is not the best. If anything, though, I would maybe have only a singleton of Triclopean Sight or the Umbra.
How did the testing go? I think this list looks fine. It's not a stock list, but it has maindeck removal and interesting (and still playable) auras to go along with it. I like it!
No its not because a Gleeful Sabotage or a COP: Red can go to the bin which in some matchups post board are pretty much needed to win. Almost all of my sideboard cards are not enchantments so if they get hit while using a Commune or an Insight then they are binned and i have to find another.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Slaughterhorn
2 Nyxborn Shieldmate
4 Rancor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Armadillo Cloak
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Plains
8 Forest
My manabase may be too slow with tapped lands compared to Abundant Growth + Utopia Sprawl. Instead of cantrips I just run redundancies. I should try out the suggested decklists though and see how they compare.
Your list is going to be significantly slower than a traditional list. You do plan to bother the opponent with removal, which can make up for that.
What's with Slaughterhorn? Why not just more auras?
Not such a fan of Nyxborn Shieldmate here. a 1/2 is poor comfort compared to a hexproof creature. He might as well be another, more powerful Aura.
That leaves you some room Snake Umbra, Ancestral Mask or Frog Tongue/Spider Umbra. I'm positive these will help you a lot.
I would at least include Utopia Sprawl, as it will at least speed you up to three mana.
Maybe that would be a bit much, but try it out and see. If it slows you down too much, you can cut back on either land.
The deck is just starting to take off on turn three, usually. You can get them to scary low life by turn 4 and have them most likely dead by turn 5. This is in an ideal scenario. I really think Opp Rays isn't as good as Journey.
Those 4 slots could be Abundant Growth which could also help you make your mana base more flexible (not having to run any guildgates, or very few). If not, I'd recommend maxing out your Ancestral Mask and add 2 Frog Tongue or Spider Umbra, depending on your needs.
Check out the new banner everybody! Looks fantastic!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Could Fists of Ironwood be what you need? Rancor is definitely better, but if you use Fists it'll add more Trample to your deck and it could replace Khalni Gardens for Edict protection. Then you can replace those with the 2 extra Guildgates and only have 4 ETBT lands and hopefully fix your mana base.
EDIT: The new banner looks great!
Rancors are good, man.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I suppose I should try and get some Nivix/Fiend or Eye-Candy matches under my belt, as it seems to be a popular enough deck now.
EDIT: I've added the Eye-Candy matchup to the list. It's actually a really cool deck to play against, as it plays really differently than other Pauper decks. It's a decent matchup for us regardless, as our sideboard options make disrupting their combo very easy.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
+Search for the aura you need from your deck.
+Always good to have a spare 1/2 creature to block the opposing rabble.
-Commune with the Gods is... cheaper, but it is up to you if you think saving one mana is worth the random chance at drawing the needed card.
Searching your library for the right aura is awesome, but is 3 mana too much to pay for such a thing? I was having a hard time with Kruphix's Insight, and that provided potentially great card advantage. This is about card selection, however. Is there a single aura in the deck that we absolutely want for certain matchups? Yes, I'd say. Is 3 mana too much to pay to get to it? I don't know. We don't necessarily want to play this on turn three, and sometimes we simply can't, due to missing land drops. There's like this step between 2 and 3 mana that I have a hard time coming to terms with.
I would play it as a 2-of, much like the other search/dig spells we have. I'll definitely be trying her out, as I like it much better than the gamble of Kruphix.
It also spawns a new interesting way to play the deck: running singletons to improve pre-board matches and/or prepare your deck better versus more archetypes. It dilutes the consistency of running nothing but the best auras in exchange for a diversity of choices to fit the situation. I think having a more consistent deck with the best auras will yield the better results because tutoring for answers is time-consuming for a deck that typically wants to race with little to no interaction. That doesn't mean she won't be run, as we still want to get our Armadillo Cloak when it's appropriate, so it can definitely still see some play in traditional lists. It is a different matter to build around her, which others have already started doing.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
As for Sacred Wolf, his three mana and 1 toughness is what holds him back from being good enough for me. We have 12 1 and 2 mana hexproof guys, and that is usually enough for the deck to function well. I suppose if you want more hexproofers, he'd probably the next step in the line.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Glaring Aegis A one white mana Aura that gives +1/+3 and the ability to tap the most annoying blocker on your opponent's team as long as that creature doesn't have hexproof/shroud.
Conifer Strider New green Hexproof 5/1 creature for 3G. Cool, but I think the cost is too high and there are better creatures with maneuverability.
Sheltered Aerie Green's new common Aura, but we have cheaper and better mana producing auras.
Glint It maybe blue, but for 1U it can be good to use to protect Aura Gnarlid? Mmmmm maybe sideboard if you been seeing creature removable problems.
Did I miss anything else good?
Edit: fixing casting cost.
4 mana is too much to pay for a creature in this deck (especially if it's only going to have 1 toughness).
The Aerie is cool, but not useful here. We want the mana fixing to cost 1 mana, not 3. This could be useful for the UG Wall build though.
Glint is not an aura, so the boost and protection it gives is not permanent. It's just as useful as any other removal-killing spell, like Apostle's Blessing, and we don't play that, either.
Nope, I think the Khans Block has not been overly kind to Hexproof (aside from the dual lands)
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Other than that, I think that if there was a card that gave a good p/t boost, as well as lifelink, it might also be used. Something along the same lines as Armadillo Cloak, but at 2 mana or something. Maybe +1/+2 and lifelink for WW.
I'm also trying to update my primers, but non-latin characters have temporarily been disabled (due to a influx of Korean spammers), and I seem to have a few in all my primers that I can't find. I'm well aware that Flaring Pain is now present in most top lists as a 1 or 2-of, but unfortunately can't update this in the primer until I either find my non-latin characters or the temporary ban is lifted.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I don't think Favor of the Overbeing is worth it; it's only really good on Bogle and sub-par on any other creature.
I think it's completely fine to have Journey to Nowhere in your maindeck. I think, however, that you have too much removal. I'd take out the Prey Upon and either Qasali Pridemage or Oblivion Ring. A more popular choice these days is Gleeful Sabotage.
If Turbo Fog is something you see regularly in your playgroup, consider a second Flaring Pain.
Maindeck Lifelink? I don't see it. There are always utility auras that can really win games. I really like Triclopean Sight in my testing (essentially a removal spell), and Spider Umbra is also good against many decks. LIfelink is good to have when racing, but Armadillo Cloak is often enough, and not providing any other bonus makes it only fringe playable.
You should really try out Aura Gnarlid. The beauty of it is that it will get huge without you ever needing to put Auras on it. It also makes sideboarding more difficult for your opponent, as they might want to keep cards in to fight it. It's just a strong stand-alone creature that's hard to stop.
Last thing, consider more cards to fight edict effects in the sideboard, like Young Wolf.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Plays are rarely so linear that you would really be harmed by playing a land tapped on turn 1 or 2. There are plenty of other possible plays, like playing Ledgewalker on turn 2 after a Sands turn one, or playing Bogle turn 1, then following up with a sands on turn two and Rancor.
Don't forget you can also nullify the mana you spend on Utopia Sprawl by playing it on an other land than the one you tapped to play it. That way, even if you don't play it turn one, it doesn't actually cost you mana. With that in mind, you can do things like Blossoms turn 1, turn two play forest, tap Blossoms for Utopia Sprawl on Forest, cast Bogle then Ethereal Armor. That's a pretty efficient turn, and your mana's been fixed.
Khalni Garden is definitely worth maindeck space. Not only does it protect your hexproof creatures, but it also can block when racing another aggro deck. I've seen people even play their auras on it just to keep pressure up (usually Rancor).
I wouldn't stop myself from including a card because it might get countered. If you consider that they should probably counter every spell you play, you can bait their counters to push things through or just play into it and hope for the best. You can't interact with counters, so there's not much use worrying about them other than when you can bait them.
It's usually pretty safe to take out a copy of Rancor. Although it's a good card, you do like to see cards that pump toughness as well. Drawing multiple Rancors is not the best. If anything, though, I would maybe have only a singleton of Triclopean Sight or the Umbra.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio