the premise of these 17 decks is that they are all in identical black deck boxes, in a big bag. When you want to play a game (or even have a tournament of up to 17 players), you simply pick a deck out of the bag and play.
What I've done here is picked 5 mono-coloured decks, 10 two-coloured decks (one of every combination possible) and 2 four-coloured decks (affinity and Tron). I tried to pick the strongest strategies in Pauper as much as possible. That's 17 decks that I consider to be competitive.
Approximate cost of the Paper Pauper Battle Bag: $768.34 (deck boxes, sleeves and bag not included).
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to include the most competitive decks out there, where is Blink Tron? Elves? etc.
Another one of my guidelines when building this set was to have every colour more or less equally represented. This is done to increase variety, so we're not all playing Blue decks!
Do you use the online banlist?
Yes. We believe the banlist exists online for a reason and that no paper-only card would change the circumstances in which these cards are banned. Whether certain paper-only cards should be banned as well is another topic entirely.
Main strategy: Play small flying creatures to pressure the opponent while disrupting their game-plan with countermagic. Ninja of the Deep Hours can create a lot of value by ninjutsuing a Spellstutter Sprite or Faerie Miscreant. Snap can also be used to return a Spellstutter in order to counter a spell.
Main Strategy: Remove anything harmful through discard and removal spells. Go into the late game where your creatures can take control and end the game in just a few turns.
Gain momentum and value by returning permanents and playing them to draw cards or get their ETB triggers again, all the while attacking with efficient beaters aided with burn spells and removal. Grind out your opponent every time.
Main Strategy: Pile on a ludicrous amount of Auras on a creature with Hexproof in order to hit with a massive creature that can't be removed. Flaring Pain can be cast by using the colour-fixers available in the maindeck, and is used to counter Turbo Fog decks and Circle of Protection: Green.
Main strategy: Counter and remove any possible threat. Win in the late game with Twisted Abomination or Evincar's Justice. Never let Grim Harvest be exiled by its ability, as this assures that you will always have a creature to play if it gets destroyed.
Main Strategy: Play a creature that gets bigger when you play spells, and then combo into a win with any number of spells. Temur Battle Rage giving double strike and trample can end the game extremely quickly. Protect your few creatures at all costs, even if it means pumping or using spells on your opponent's turn.
Main Strategy: Draw tons of cards and play a Fog every turn so your opponent can't win through combat. Mill them out with Jace's Erasure and more draw spells. Against non-creature decks, use your lifegain and countermagic to control them and mill them.
Main Strategy: Pressure them with big threats while recurring any they have destroyed. Madness out threats while taking advantage of discard effects and your own graveyard. Many of the creatures in the sideboard can be abused for their sacrifice triggers, such as infinite Fogs, infinite Artifact/Enchantment destruction, infinite graveyard hate and infinite Discard.
Main Strategy: Play as many Slivers as you can and beat the opponent down as quickly as possible. Against other faster Aggro decks, take control of the board with Hunter Sliver and Lightning Bolts, then get past their remaining blockers with Two-Headed Sliver. Against Control, try to apply pressure to avoid going to the late game.
Main Strategy: Get the Urza Land Combo going to go bigger than any other deck. Your threats are massive and create huge swings, on top of coming out very fast.
Main Strategy: Play tons of artifacts and creatures that interact with them in order to get a huge board presence with big threats. Atog/Fling combo can finish a game out of nowhere.
Thanks for your great feedback! I really appreciate it.
Yes, I'm playing without online-only commons. This has been a pretty unanimous decision (even if I sometimes would really like to use those cards).
The Mulch deck is actually pretty decent! Preliminary testing has matched it quite well against almost everything except Stompy and Burn. I absolutely LOVE the list you sent, though. I also watched the Pauper Gauntlet videos on Youtube and was really impressed. That Dan guy cracks me up to no end! I think I'll switch to that deck, as it seems to have a fairer matchup against everything. Thank you!
Now I think I'm starting to have a lot of Blue. 7/16 is quite a bit (almost half).
I really like the White Weenies list I have right now. It's perfect versus anything that packs a lot of removal, and still manages to stay very aggressive. I like my aggro decks to have a lot of staying power.
True about Affinity and Hexproof. I think Sideboards will have to stay.
I must disagree about Turbo Fog. I'm fighting with and against it rather frequently online (I'm really not the only one playing it, which is awesome). The deck seems to have become very refined over the years. It completely locks out Aggro decks with Fogs (and a few counters), and maindeck mill is absolutely deadly for control decks, making it surprisingly well rounded against the field. Where it fails is against tempo decks like Delver and Trinkets, but even that matchup is winnable. That weakness coupled with good sideboard cards like Flaring Pain stop it from becoming overwhelming.
I already have combo with Eye Candy and Tron, so while I wouldn't be against a third combo deck, the Defender Combo is just not good enough. I have however seen a deck running a lot of land auras like Fertile Ground and things to untap it like Cloud of Faeries to create large amounts of mana to burn someone out with Rolling Thunder. It seemed pretty resilient when I went up against it. Anyone know more about that?
The RG aggro deck I posted is decent because it can do multiple things. It starts out looking like a token aggro list, and can definitely finish the game quickly with a Goblin Bushwhacker or Violent Outburst. It can then transition into bigger threats and abuses ETB triggers with Horned Kavu. The burn serves as excellent removal and reach all at once. The whole package just isn't enough, though, so I've dropped the idea again for now.
I did notice Dan was getting a lot better, especially in the second gauntlet (I watched snippets of the last one, too). What a cool idea!
What's DTB?
You should take a look at Urdjur's version of Peasant TurboFog (It's in the Primer and also in one of the subsequent pages). It can give you a great starting point. Not only did I leave out the mana base for Turbo Fog, but there were 4 cards missing in the Sideboard!!! Those 4 were Counterspell. The matchup isn't great, but I generally take out a lot of Fogs and add all the countermagic as well as the 3 Quiet Disrepair, as they usually equal fogs and can keep me out of reach of being killed by Merchants and Corrupts. It's a pretty fair matchup, assuming MBC doesn't get too fast a start (not likely, but it happens).
I have a bag of 17 deck atm but I play with no banlist. Probably a bit different. The banlist atm is what I struggle the most with. I wish there was a formal paper pauper banlist.
This probably isn't the place to ask something like this, but how do you think the banlist would differ if we had one for paper Pauper? I don't think there would be one, personally.
This probably isn't the place to ask something like this, but how do you think the banlist would differ if we had one for paper Pauper? I don't think there would be one, personally.
A perennial question, and it depends how the format shapes up and what its maintainers want from it. Should Storm, Infect, and 8post stay banned out? Would Sinkhole be so prevalent as to warrant a banning? I think Hymn to Tourach would have to go - Sinkhole is mainly good at punishing land-combo decks like Tron, while Hymn is powerful value for basically any deck that can cast it.
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
Thank you kcd111 for yet another possible BG deck! It seems that this colour combination has a lot more depth than one would normally have thought. I'm inclined to prefer the brews by ineversmile and GalacticPresident, as they seem a bit more versatile against more matchups. As it was pointed out in the thread for your deck, it seems like the decks' success was for a large part due to a good pilot and luck. From the videos I saw on BUGs & Pigs, it's just a strong brew, especially against Aggro (even against the Delver match, they both top-decked like heroes and I feel like the matchup is not as bad as it's made out to be). Not to say Dan's a bad pilot, but he could be better by knowing the deck more haha. ineversmile's list (edited by me to be a bit stronger against Aggro) is incredibly grindy and great against control strategies (I've tested the deck quite a bit). I think it's GalacticPresidents' list for me.
Welcome back, oh LordSaturn. We seem to have a lot of decks in common (not that surprising, as we probably chose among the same "competitive" pool). You should take a look at the recent discussion in the Pestilence Primer, there's been some interesting development there.
Important players in a paper metagame compared to an online one are Hymn to Tourach, Sinkhole and Desert. LD isn't a rewarding enough strategy in Pauper to be powerful enough even at 2 mana. We'd see Sinkhole, but only as a sideboard option (if at all). Hymn, in my experience, doesn't make Black overly powerful. It's a better Wrench Mind, yes. Many decks play very little discard in the first place, and while I think they would do so if given the opportunity, Hymn is rarely game-breaking. Where I found it the most destructive was against low-mulliganed hands, where the early 2-for-1 really got them where it hurts. I think Desert would be a really powerful tool to fight Delver decks, and would be played in a lot of different decks.
On top of it all, if online rarities aren't permitted in Paper Pauper, MBC would lose access to Chainer's Edict; quite an important card today. I don't see a reason why Post, Storm and Infect wouldn't be banned in Paper; they've been proven to be destructive, and no addition in paper would change that fact significantly to hate them out.
EDIT: I've listed the prices for half of the decks so far, and the total is coming out to $218.09. This is going to cost a lot more than I anticipated haha Burn came out as the most expensive at a little over $50, but believe it or not, it was mostly due to sideboard Smash to Smithereens that are apparently going for a little under $5 a pop. Plus all the bolts makes for a very expensive deck. If I had included the Chain Lightnings, we'd be looking at a Pauper deck in the $100 range! The cheapest deck (and by quite a margin) is the White Weenies deck at 12.08, which is a very good price for a very good deck. Definitely the most bang for your buck.
So the approximate total for all 16 decks is $455.08. Three times what I thought!! Good thing I have most of these cards already! It won't cost me nearly as much.
But, when you divide that total into 16 decks, it comes out to an average of $28.44, which actually seems reasonable for 75 cards (paying about 38 cents a card). I'm just happy I have absolutely nothing to buy for the Burn deck, which was the main money-grubber. In fact, I can build 5 of those decks completely without touching my wallet: Burn, Stompy, Pestilence, Turbo Fog and BR Aggro-Control. That's already $141.87 shaved off, plus whatever I already have for everything else. I'm thinking it will end up costing me around 275$ for the cards I'm missing, which actually isn't so bad...
White Weenies is still the cheapest deck at $12.08, followed closely by Bugs & Pugs at $13.59 (like that deck needed any more value ). Burn sits on top at $50.96, followed by Eye-Candy at $46.95. Interesting stuff. I never noticed how many Legacy-playables Eye-Candy was running.
Ah okay, that makes sense! What's the deck to beat in Peasant?
You wouldn't think that Turbo Fog requires a lot of thought, but it is sometimes very difficult to make the right play. The premise is simple, but the reality is a whole different thing. Thanks for the tip on Sylvan Library!
I used the source that MTGS uses, which is TCG Player. I realize you can probably find the cards for a lot cheaper in some places, but this source was very accessible and seems to cover a lot of ground. I thought it was appropriate. Why do you ask?
Thanks for the comment! I thought about elves if ever I wanted to have another UG deck instead of Turbo Fog (It seems a lot of decks can/should splash Blue...). I see Eye Candy as a Combo deck in the same right as Infect was, and White Weenie is a whole different ball game, concentrating on slower, value creatures rather than fast and aggressive creatures backed up with pump spells. The three decks have very different styles of play, in my opinion.
As a quick count, I have 7 Aggro, 5 Control, 2 Tempo and 2 Combo decks, which I think is a very well balanced number of strategies. You always want a few more aggro decks to keep it proactive, a few more control decks to slow things down, a few tempo decks to blur the line between the two and a couple combo decks to keep everyone honest. Although my combo decks are Eye Candy and Tron, who aren't exactly dedicated Combo decks. They just use powerful combinations to gain an advantage or end the game quickly. I consider them combo because of their required card assembly to be powerful.
This is awesome. Thanks for all the decklists. I started putting together some Pauper decks to change up our play night within our group. I had the same idea of having a random grab-a-deck night using these. Trying to make a pool of about 10ish decks on my end. This will be a good start!
I'm glad you like it! I was hoping it could be used as a reference for anyone else trying something similar. What 10 decks will you start with, do you think?
I'm glad you like it! I was hoping it could be used as a reference for anyone else trying something similar. What 10 decks will you start with, do you think?
So, I have 3 decks so far and I'm open to suggestions on the other 7. I was thinking: Boros Kitty, Bugs & Pigs, Burn, Delver, Pestilence, Stompy, Tron.
I would try a White Metal deck intead of a normal White Weenie one for the Monowhite spot, since it really feels more powerful (although it somewhat overlaps with Affinity, but plays differently):
A lot of the deck choices in the Battle Bag were made in function to what was successful in the past online. The deck that I posted had a very good run of success because of how hard it is to grind against. The creatures are always coming back, so removal is practically useless, which means it keeps up constant pressure. I highly recommend having Standard Bearer somewhere in the 75; it ruins so many decks all by itself.
I think you're off to a good start.
I just realized while building the Burn list irl that I didn't include Flame Rift into the deck!! Is it worth adding? If so, what would you cut? I'm a little torn.
I kind of like Mogg Fanatic because he can get in for more than just 2 damage. Even when the board becomes cluttered with Creatures he can still do something. He's a real nightmare for slower decks. He's typically good for 2-3 damage, though. Sometimes a chump block.
I already explained why I don't use Chain Lightnings. I have the original ones from Legends, and I want to keep them in better decks. Usually I'm not against using the same card in multiple decks, but with the Battle Bag concept, I don't want to have to take decks apart for others.
I'm beginning to wonder if I want a card that deals 4 damage to me... playing a few games, I can definitely see some scenarios where it is just unplayable.
I finished my collection, and got to try it out for the first time yesterday!
We played it in Star Format (5-player variant where the two people opposite you are your enemies, the two next to you are your allies, and whoever defeats their two enemies first wins). This is a very popular format in our playgroup, since we often end up an odd number.
I pulled the Tron deck. My allies were Rakdos Aggro-Control and Boros Kitty, and my enemies were Pestilence and Eye Candy.
I keep a risky 1-land hand with multiple 1-mana spells, and it works out well for me. I get Tron on turn 4 and pump out a Mulldrifter early, which I ping the Pestilence player with for the rest of the game.
There is so much removal/burn around the table that the Eye-Candy player simply can't get a creature to live to his next turn. Between my Firebolts, Boros Kitty's burn spells and Pestilence, he is just not getting very far.
Boros Kitty and BR Aggro-Control are having an all-out war while the Pestilence player and I are slowly building up out board. Eventually the Eye-Candy player and the Rakdos player team up, with the Rakdos player sacrificing all her creatures to a Flayer Husk-wielding Nantuko Husk, turning it into a 9/9, which is pumped up with the Eye-Candy players' Temur Battle Rage for 18 damage, nearly killing my Boros ally through a chump-blocker.
I play my Fangren Marauder and get my life total up to 21, but it is Oblivion Ringed by the Pestilence player who follows it up by making me discard my entire hand to Raven's Crimes. I'm left with two Firebolts in my graveyard and draw only lands for the rest of the game.
The Eye-Candy player plays a Kiln Fiend and passes. Sensing I was next on his agenda, I Flashback Firebolt to kill it, but he responds with Apostle's Blessing and laughs. I have no other choice but hope he can't take me down in a single turn.
The Boros player makes a final suicidal attack on the Rakdos player, who goes down to 3 life. Everyone but me is now at single digit life totals.
The Pestilence player just hangs tight, and now comes the Eye-Candy player's turn. Sure enough, he had 3 cards in hand, Ponder, Gitaxian Probe and Temur Battle Rage. He Probes me, draws Lightning Bolt, Bolts me and attacks for lethal. Darn.
At this point, the Pestilence player responds at the end of the turn and deals the last three points of damage to the Rakdos player and wins. Woops. Good Game.
Seriously, that was so much fun. The decks interacted very well on many levels (combat, spells, etc.), there were no huge power plays (until the end), and nothing felt over-powered or under-powered. Everybody was able to make their deck do what it was meant to do. I definitely want to try it again soon!
I got to play a match with my girlfriend afterwords as well. I drew the Rakdos deck and she got Hexproof. Should have been a pretty easy match for her, but I had lots of edicts first game while she struggled with mana. She pummeled me games two and three, though. It was the first time I got to try sideboarding with these sets of decks. Felt legit!
I'll be editing the OP with small changes and more details on the Battle Bag.
Awesome read! I might make my small collection of peasant decks into a battle bag as well. We play lots of pentagram (our name for Star Format) in our group too, so maybe going up to five decks will cover most bases? Right now, I have Affinity, Turbo Fog and Spring Tide. What two decks would you suggest I complete the Star with? I'd rather not take Burn. I'd personally like to fit White Weenie, Delver and/or MBC, but 8 post control with ThopterSword could be cool too. Infect is a contender too!
Do you have sideboards for your decks? Or are the main decks built to handle everything in the bag so to speak?
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Pure combo decks aren't really that great in multiplayer, so more than one isn't a good idea, in my opinion. If you're going to be playing casually, making everyone do nothing for five minutes while you combo off and win is just not a good game experience (not saying I'm against combo in general, it's perfectly ok in more competitive settings). On a more practical scale, can Spring Tide take out two opponents? Or would it run out of cards?
I'd go for a Delver deck. Possibly UR delver with Young Pyromancer, which would make it more multiplayer-friendly, I think. If you check out the web-site that zomby33 posted a while ago, you'll see UR Delver was a very popular and successful deck in Europe. UR Delver. Not sure about Gelectrode, but the rest seems solid. They also banned things like Treasure Cruise and Delver of Secrets recently, so do what you want with that info lol
The Tokens deck gets a lot better with Sky Hussar. You never actually cast the card, so you can keep the deck mono white.
There's an interesting The Rack deck with Trinket Mage to glue it all together. Seems legit.
I don't know if I would go for an infect deck. Like a combo deck, I think it's fast, squishy, and not particularly fun for anyone but the player.
Mono Black Control would be really good. You could even have Pestilence in there for the board control and the devotion. Of course, Skeletal Scrying and Demonic Tutor are insane.
My choices would be:
Affinity
Turbo Fog
Spring Tide (only because it's already built, otherwise I would have something else)
UR Delver
MBC
All of my own decks have included sideboard (you can view them in the OP). However, in Star Format, there usually is no game two. Sideboarding would be just insane. Many decks have a few general answers put into them already but for the most part they are made to have a sideboarded game two.
Thanks for the reply! Just to clarify, the 5 decks wouldn't ONLY be for star format. The main function would be to have a nice selection of casual decks and I assume it would be mostly 1v1. But since multiplayer tends to happen anyway, I might as well take it into consideration. The battle bag aspect would only be icing on the cake!
Pure combo decks aren't really that great in multiplayer, so more than one isn't a good idea, in my opinion. If you're going to be playing casually, making everyone do nothing for five minutes while you combo off and win is just not a good game experience (not saying I'm against combo in general, it's perfectly ok in more competitive settings). On a more practical scale, can Spring Tide take out two opponents? Or would it run out of cards?
While there is some truth to this, I think some measure of combo keeps people honest, and Spring Tide only gets better the more islands it can play so it's a pretty decent choice. Anything with counters, hand disruption or instant speed removal can interact with it, and then some. Yes, you can kill a table with it but you need to go infinite or near-infinite with Archaeomancer/Capsize since just one Brain Freeze might not cut it.
I'd go for a Delver deck. Possibly UR delver with Young Pyromancer, which would make it more multiplayer-friendly, I think. If you check out the web-site that zomby33 posted a while ago, you'll see UR Delver was a very popular and successful deck in Europe. UR Delver. Not sure about Gelectrode, but the rest seems solid. They also banned things like Treasure Cruise and Delver of Secrets recently, so do what you want with that info lol
Wow, yes, yes YES! This is exactly what I'm looking for. I wanted Delver but couldn't find any "game breaking" uncommons but pairing it with pyromancer seems like a great idea. I also always wanted to play Delver in a deck with few creatures in it. Gelectrode seems solid to me, but maybe Guttersnipe would be even better? Can't argue with Gelectrode turning a lowly Firebolt into a 4/4 killer though.
I'm not sure MBC is what I'd want in the 5th slot TBH. Did you ever get a chance to try any Astral Slide decks back when you were tinkering with them? That interaction with Tilling Treefolk, cycling lands and Astral Slide seemed pretty wicked to me!
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Thanks for the reply! Just to clarify, the 5 decks wouldn't ONLY be for star format. The main function would be to have a nice selection of casual decks and I assume it would be mostly 1v1. But since multiplayer tends to happen anyway, I might as well take it into consideration. The battle bag aspect would only be icing on the cake!
Ah okay! My decks are not designed for multiplayer either, but the Pauper format is surprisingly good for it.
While there is some truth to this, I think some measure of combo keeps people honest, and Spring Tide only gets better the more islands it can play so it's a pretty decent choice. Anything with counters, hand disruption or instant speed removal can interact with it, and then some. Yes, you can kill a table with it but you need to go infinite or near-infinite with Archaeomancer/Capsize since just one Brain Freeze might not cut it.
What do you mean by keeping people honest? I always heard the opposite of what your saying, like "Force of Will is an important way to keep the game honest, instead of just turn-1 combos"
This is what I'm saying about combo. It's really good at taking down a single opponent with minimal disruption. Taking down multiple opponents when there is discard, countermagic and removal coming from all sides makes combo a lot less attractive (squishy). I don't like these oppressive combo decks (in multiplayer) because they take a long time to execute and they're very vulnerable to disruption (in which case the combo player is just having a bad time). Eye-Candy was fine because it's still creature based. I hope I'm explaining myself clearly. :S
Wow, yes, yes YES! This is exactly what I'm looking for. I wanted Delver but couldn't find any "game breaking" uncommons but pairing it with pyromancer seems like a great idea. I also always wanted to play Delver in a deck with few creatures in it. Gelectrode seems solid to me, but maybe Guttersnipe would be even better? Can't argue with Gelectrode turning a lowly Firebolt into a 4/4 killer though.
I think Gelectrode is a meta call against Mono Blue Delver (which in Peasant basically means Pauper Delver + Mental Misstep and Mishra's Factory). It could easily be another counter or burn spell, or good uncommon creature. It's still a strong card, but it's not exactly the first card I think of when I think "powerful Peasant cards".
That Young Pyromancer, though. It's crazy how easily one can take over the game with him and a few cantrips. It really gives you a board presence that would normally be impossible for such a spell-heavy deck.
I'm not sure MBC is what I'd want in the 5th slot TBH. Did you ever get a chance to try any Astral Slide decks back when you were tinkering with them? That interaction with Tilling Treefolk, cycling lands and Astral Slide seemed pretty wicked to me!
You know, to be perfectly honest, I was very overwhelmed by all the ideas that were going on in that thread that I didn't know where to start and was discouraged by the sheer amount of things to test. I played around with my Eternal Witness Slide deck for a while. It was okay, but not nearly as powerful as I had hoped.
That being said, I think I'd be ready to give it another try. I'll put together another list and post a new thread.
I mean that I don't like pre-conceived meta games. You're absolutely right that FoW keeps combo players honest, but if there's sort of a gentleman's agreement that no combo will occur, there's less value to run FoW, right? So the pre-conception of no combo warps deck building, and I don't like that. A meta should contain a bit of everything IMO, to be healthy. Enough combo to merit the use of some counters and hand disruption over simple board control, but not so much as to completely hate combo out etc.
A 3 CMC creature (Gelectrode) seems like a bad answer to Delver but I could be wrong I suppose. What other uncommons would you recommend for UR delver then? No FoW please
That being said, I think I'd be ready to give it another try. I'll put together another list and post a new thread.
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Well, people board in Stormbound Geist and Serrated Arrows versus Delver, so Gelectrode seems like a reasonable thing to do in that light (especially when you think that this deck also runs counters to back it up).
the premise of these 17 decks is that they are all in identical black deck boxes, in a big bag. When you want to play a game (or even have a tournament of up to 17 players), you simply pick a deck out of the bag and play.
What I've done here is picked 5 mono-coloured decks, 10 two-coloured decks (one of every combination possible) and 2 four-coloured decks (affinity and Tron). I tried to pick the strongest strategies in Pauper as much as possible. That's 17 decks that I consider to be competitive.
Approximate cost of the Paper Pauper Battle Bag: $768.34 (deck boxes, sleeves and bag not included).
Frequently Asked Questions
Another one of my guidelines when building this set was to have every colour more or less equally represented. This is done to increase variety, so we're not all playing Blue decks!
Do you use the online banlist?
Yes. We believe the banlist exists online for a reason and that no paper-only card would change the circumstances in which these cards are banned. Whether certain paper-only cards should be banned as well is another topic entirely.
W
4 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 Sacred Cat
4 Deftblade Elite
4 Akroan Skyguard
3 Seeker of the Way
Auras (16)
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Cartouche of Solidarity
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Cho-Manno's Blessing
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Emerga Unscathed
Lands (17)
15 Plains
2 Secluded Steppe
2 Shield of Duty and Reason
1 Lifelink
1 Obsidian Acolyte
2 Standard Bearer
2 Beckon Apparition
2 Sundering Growth
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Circle of Protection: Green
1 Prismatic Strands
TCG price: $27.95
Main strategy: Play many small creatures that get bigger when you play spells on them and make them hard to block and interact with.
U
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Faerie Miscreant
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Spire Golem
Counters (8)
1 Dispel
3 Lofty Denial
4 Counterspell
4 Preordain
4 Ponder
4 Frantic Inventory
Bounce (4)
4 Snap
Lands (17)
17 Island
2 Stormbound Geist
2 Coral Net
1 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
3 Hydroblast
2 Annul
1 Aura Flux
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Viridian Longbow
TCG price: $47.03
Main strategy: Play small flying creatures to pressure the opponent while disrupting their game-plan with countermagic. Ninja of the Deep Hours can create a lot of value by ninjutsuing a Spellstutter Sprite or Faerie Miscreant. Snap can also be used to return a Spellstutter in order to counter a spell.
B
2 Cuombajj Witches
4 Chittering Rats
4 Phyrexian Rager
3 Bone Picker
2 Thorn of the Black Rose
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Removal (15)
4 Defile
3 Chainer's Edict
1 Echoing Decay
3 Cast Down
2 Oubliette
2 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Sign in Blood
Lands (22)
17 Swamp
2 Bojuka Bog
2 Barren Moor
1 Witch's Cottage
2 Crypt Rats
1 Death Denied
2 Duress
3 Wrench Mind
2 Pharika's Libation
3 Rancid Earth
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
TCG price: $39.42
Main Strategy: Remove anything harmful through discard and removal spells. Go into the late game where your creatures can take control and end the game in just a few turns.
R
4 Thermo-Alchemist
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
Burn (32)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Skewer the Critics
4 Needle Drop
4 Curse of the Pierced Heart
4 Fireblast
16 Mountain
4 Forgotten Cave
3 Martyr of Ashes
2 Flaring Pain
2 Electrickery
4 Pyroblast
4 Smash to Smithereens
TCG price: $58.69
Main Strategy: Deal 20 damage as quickly as possible to your opponent. Burn spells should rarely have to hit creatures.
G
3 Quirion Ranger
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
3 Vault Skirge
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
2 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Nest Invader
2 River Boa
4 Rancor
4 Savage Swipe
4 Hunger of the Howlpack
3 Vines of Vastwood
2 Elephant Guide
Lands (17)
17 Forest
2 Viridian Longbow
4 Gut Shot
2 Spore Frog
2 Feed the Clan
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Gleeful Sabotage
TCG price: $43.80
Main Strategy: Be aggressive from the start. Make efficient trades with your pump spells or use them to end the game.
WU
1 Bonesplitter
1 Flayer Husk
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Mantle of Tides
Creatures (17)
1 Court Homunculus
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Auriok Sunchaser
4 Trinket Mage
Removal (8)
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Sunlance
4 Brainstorm
4 Thoughtcast
2 Of One Mind
Land (21)
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Ash Barrens
2 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Prismatic Strands
1 Dust to Dust
2 Leave No Trace
3 Sacred Cat
TCG price: $36.91
Main Strategy: Beat down the opponent with evasive flyers wearing equipment, all the while burying your opponent in card advantage in the mid-game.
WB
3 Palace Sentinels
2 Guardian of the Guildpact
Removal(17)
2 Disfigure
2 Dead Weight
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Chainer's Edict
1 Diabolic Edict
4 Pestilence
Discard (5)
2 Duress
3 Castigate
4 Night's Whisper
2 Bonder's Ornament
4 Pristine Talisman
Land (23)
4 Scoured Barrens
4 Orzhov Basilica
7 Swamp
3 Bojuka Bog
2 Plains
2 Kabira Crossroads
1 Radiant Fountain
2 Shred Memory
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Circle of Protection: Green
1 Circle of Protection: Blue
1 Castigate
2 Duress
1 Raven's Crime
1 Evincar's Justice
3 Fragmentize
TCG price: $37.91
Remove early threats in order to get to the late game, where you establish a lock with Pestilence.
WR
4 Glint Hawk
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Kor Skyfisher
3 Palace Sentinels
1 Guardian of the Guildpact
Spells (14)
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Lightning bolt
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Prismatic Strands
1 Reaping the Graves
Artifacts (9)
2 Golden Egg
2 Alchemist's Vial
4 Prophetic Prism
1 Bonder's Ornament
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
3 Wind-Scarred Crag
4 Boros Garrison
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Radiant Fountain
2 Secluded Steppe
2 Forgotten Cave
2 Gorilla Shaman
2 Standard Bearer
2 Lone Missionary
2 Circle of Protection: Green
2 Celestial Flare
2 Flaring Pain
3 Pyroblast
TCG price: $45.73
Gain momentum and value by returning permanents and playing them to draw cards or get their ETB triggers again, all the while attacking with efficient beaters aided with burn spells and removal. Grind out your opponent every time.
WG
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
2 Aura Gnarlid
2 Heliod's Pilgrim
Auras (17)
4 Ethereal Armor
1 Cartouche of Solidarity
4 Rancor
4 Armadillo Cloak
4 Ancestral Mask
4 Abundant Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
Other (2)
2 Ram Through
Lands (17)
4 Blossoming Sands
2 Khalni Garden
11 Forest
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Young Wolf
2 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Lifelink
2 Ram Through
1 Standard Bearer
2 Flaring Pain
2 Moment's Peace
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Gleeful Sabotage
TCG price: $58.73
Main Strategy: Pile on a ludicrous amount of Auras on a creature with Hexproof in order to hit with a massive creature that can't be removed. Flaring Pain can be cast by using the colour-fixers available in the maindeck, and is used to counter Turbo Fog decks and Circle of Protection: Green.
UB
2 Mulldrifter
1 Crypt Rats
1 Twisted Abomination
Draw/ Tutor (12)
4 Brainstorm
4 Accumulated Knowledge
2 Mystical Teachings
2 Deep Analysis
Removal/ Bounce (10)
2 Innocent Blood
2 Disfigure
4 Chainer's Edict
1 Evincar's Justice
1 Capsize
4 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
1 Prohibit
Other (4)
2 Pristine Talisman
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Grim Harvest
Lands (23)
4 Dismal Backwater
4 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
7 Island
7 Swamp
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Crypt Rats
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Dispel
3 Hydroblast
1 Wail of the Nim
1 Innocent Blood
TCG price: $28.61
Main strategy: Counter and remove any possible threat. Win in the late game with Twisted Abomination or Evincar's Justice. Never let Grim Harvest be exiled by its ability, as this assures that you will always have a creature to play if it gets destroyed.
UR
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Kiln Fiend
1 Elusive Spellfist
4 Nivix Cyclops
Instants (22)
4 Apostle's Blessing
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Dispel
4 Temur Battle Rage
2 Fire // Ice
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
Lands (17)
8 Island
5 Mountain
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
3 Electrickery
2 Flaring Pain
3 Hydroblast
3 Pyroblast
2 Spell Pierce
2 Flame Slash
TCG price: $57.77
Main Strategy: Play a creature that gets bigger when you play spells, and then combo into a win with any number of spells. Temur Battle Rage giving double strike and trample can end the game extremely quickly. Protect your few creatures at all costs, even if it means pumping or using spells on your opponent's turn.
UG
2 Fog
4 Tangle
4 Moment's Peace
2 Weather the Storm
Draw (20)
4 Brainstorm
4 Preordain
3 Ponder
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Frantic Inventory
1 Pieces of the Puzzle
4 Arcane Denial
2 Muddle the Mixture
Mill (4)
2 Stream of Thought
2 Jace's Erasure
Lands (18)
2 Forest
8 Island
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Thornwood Falls
2 Counterspell
2 Dispel
1 Hydroblast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Return to Nature
2 Rust
2 Weather the Storm
2 Penumbra Spider
1 Aerial Volley
TCG price: $66.85
Main Strategy: Draw tons of cards and play a Fog every turn so your opponent can't win through combat. Mill them out with Jace's Erasure and more draw spells. Against non-creature decks, use your lifegain and countermagic to control them and mill them.
BR
4 Goblin Chirurgeon
1 Goblin Sledder
1 Mogg Raider
4 Mortician Beetle
4 Mogg War Marshal
3 Skirk Prospector
4 Sparksmith
3 Goblin Matron
4 Falkenrath Noble
1 Silumgar Scavenger
Instants/ Sorceries (7)
2 Goblin Grenade
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Reaping the Graves
1 Warren Weirding
3 Sylvok Lifestaff
Lands (21)
3 Ash Barrens
4 Bloodfell Caves
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Great Furnace
1 Vault of Whispers
2 Rakdos Carnarium
5 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Krark-Clan Shaman
1 Electrickery
3 Pyroblast
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Flaring Pain
1 Goblin Tinkerer
1 Terminate
1 Warren Weirding
2 Reaping the Graves
TCG price: $43.30
Main Strategy: Play out lots of goblins and sacrifice them for profit to other goblins.
BG
2 Carrion Feeder
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Fume Spitter
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Grave Scrabbler
4 Vampire Hounds
3 Golgari Brownscale
2 Crypt Rats
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Tortured Existence
4 Winding Way
Land (21)
5 Forest
8 Swamp
4 Jungle Hollow
4 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Crypt Rats
2 Spore Frog
2 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Thrull Surgeon
4 Duress
1 Golgari Brownscale
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Stinkweed Imp
TCG price: $24.50
Main Strategy: Pressure them with big threats while recurring any they have destroyed. Madness out threats while taking advantage of discard effects and your own graveyard. Many of the creatures in the sideboard can be abused for their sacrifice triggers, such as infinite Fogs, infinite Artifact/Enchantment destruction, infinite graveyard hate and infinite Discard.
RG
4 Virulent Sliver
4 Striking Sliver
4 Muscle Sliver
4 Predatory Sliver
4 Two-Headed Sliver
4 Heart Sliver
3 Spinneret Sliver
3 Hunter Sliver
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Rancor
4 Winding Way
Lands (20)
8 Mountain
8 Forest
4 Rugged Highlands
1 Pyroblast
2 Life Goes On
2 Vines of Vastwood
2 Electrickery
1 Mogg War Marshal
2 Moment's Peace
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Flaring Pain
2 Tranquility
TCG price: $40.59
Main Strategy: Play as many Slivers as you can and beat the opponent down as quickly as possible. Against other faster Aggro decks, take control of the board with Hunter Sliver and Lightning Bolts, then get past their remaining blockers with Two-Headed Sliver. Against Control, try to apply pressure to avoid going to the late game.
WURG
4 Mulldrifter
4 Fangren Marauder
2 Ulamog's Crusher
4 Self-Assembler
Artifacts (14)
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Prophetic Prism
2 Golden Egg
Instants/Sorceries (12)
2 Crop Rotation
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Firebolt
2 Flame Slash
1 Rolling Thunder
2 Great Furnace
2 Tree of Tales
1 Khalni Garden
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Cave of Temptation
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
1 Coalition Honor Guard
2 Weather the Storm
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ray of Revelation
3 Electrickery
4 Pyroblast
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Moment's Peace
TCG price: $61.76
Main Strategy: Get the Urza Land Combo going to go bigger than any other deck. Your threats are massive and create huge swings, on top of coming out very fast.
WURG
4 Frogmite
4 Carapace Forger
4 Atog
4 Myr Enforcer
2 Gearseeker Serpent
Artifacts (13)
2 Witching Well
4 Chromatic Star
4 Prophetic Prism
3 Springleaf Drum
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Thoughtcast
1 Dispel
2 Fling
1 Temur Battle Rage
Lands (17)
4 Ancient Den
4 Tree of Tales
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Krark-Clan Shaman
2 Standard Bearer
3 Hydroblast
4 Pyroblast
1 Serene Heart
1 Tranquility
TCG price: $48.79
Main Strategy: Play tons of artifacts and creatures that interact with them in order to get a huge board presence with big threats. Atog/Fling combo can finish a game out of nowhere.
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
Yes, I'm playing without online-only commons. This has been a pretty unanimous decision (even if I sometimes would really like to use those cards).
The Mulch deck is actually pretty decent! Preliminary testing has matched it quite well against almost everything except Stompy and Burn. I absolutely LOVE the list you sent, though. I also watched the Pauper Gauntlet videos on Youtube and was really impressed. That Dan guy cracks me up to no end! I think I'll switch to that deck, as it seems to have a fairer matchup against everything. Thank you!
Now I think I'm starting to have a lot of Blue. 7/16 is quite a bit (almost half).
I really like the White Weenies list I have right now. It's perfect versus anything that packs a lot of removal, and still manages to stay very aggressive. I like my aggro decks to have a lot of staying power.
True about Affinity and Hexproof. I think Sideboards will have to stay.
I must disagree about Turbo Fog. I'm fighting with and against it rather frequently online (I'm really not the only one playing it, which is awesome). The deck seems to have become very refined over the years. It completely locks out Aggro decks with Fogs (and a few counters), and maindeck mill is absolutely deadly for control decks, making it surprisingly well rounded against the field. Where it fails is against tempo decks like Delver and Trinkets, but even that matchup is winnable. That weakness coupled with good sideboard cards like Flaring Pain stop it from becoming overwhelming.
I already have combo with Eye Candy and Tron, so while I wouldn't be against a third combo deck, the Defender Combo is just not good enough. I have however seen a deck running a lot of land auras like Fertile Ground and things to untap it like Cloud of Faeries to create large amounts of mana to burn someone out with Rolling Thunder. It seemed pretty resilient when I went up against it. Anyone know more about that?
The RG aggro deck I posted is decent because it can do multiple things. It starts out looking like a token aggro list, and can definitely finish the game quickly with a Goblin Bushwhacker or Violent Outburst. It can then transition into bigger threats and abuses ETB triggers with Horned Kavu. The burn serves as excellent removal and reach all at once. The whole package just isn't enough, though, so I've dropped the idea again for now.
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
What's DTB?
You should take a look at Urdjur's version of Peasant TurboFog (It's in the Primer and also in one of the subsequent pages). It can give you a great starting point. Not only did I leave out the mana base for Turbo Fog, but there were 4 cards missing in the Sideboard!!! Those 4 were Counterspell. The matchup isn't great, but I generally take out a lot of Fogs and add all the countermagic as well as the 3 Quiet Disrepair, as they usually equal fogs and can keep me out of reach of being killed by Merchants and Corrupts. It's a pretty fair matchup, assuming MBC doesn't get too fast a start (not likely, but it happens).
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
http://hgcube.blogspot.com/ (help me Make my Custom CUBE!)
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=382498
The "Make a Proxy Thread
Redit Proxy Article "current gallery"
MY LEGACY ALTERS
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
Perilous Affinity
Goblins
Dragonaut (Does not contain actual Wee Dragonauts)
Red Skies (AKA Boros Kitty)
Domain Zoo (Nylea's Presence.dec)
Plague Doctor (Pestilence + Guardian of the Guildpact combo)
All using the online banlist.
A perennial question, and it depends how the format shapes up and what its maintainers want from it. Should Storm, Infect, and 8post stay banned out? Would Sinkhole be so prevalent as to warrant a banning? I think Hymn to Tourach would have to go - Sinkhole is mainly good at punishing land-combo decks like Tron, while Hymn is powerful value for basically any deck that can cast it.
Welcome back, oh LordSaturn. We seem to have a lot of decks in common (not that surprising, as we probably chose among the same "competitive" pool). You should take a look at the recent discussion in the Pestilence Primer, there's been some interesting development there.
Important players in a paper metagame compared to an online one are Hymn to Tourach, Sinkhole and Desert. LD isn't a rewarding enough strategy in Pauper to be powerful enough even at 2 mana. We'd see Sinkhole, but only as a sideboard option (if at all). Hymn, in my experience, doesn't make Black overly powerful. It's a better Wrench Mind, yes. Many decks play very little discard in the first place, and while I think they would do so if given the opportunity, Hymn is rarely game-breaking. Where I found it the most destructive was against low-mulliganed hands, where the early 2-for-1 really got them where it hurts. I think Desert would be a really powerful tool to fight Delver decks, and would be played in a lot of different decks.
On top of it all, if online rarities aren't permitted in Paper Pauper, MBC would lose access to Chainer's Edict; quite an important card today. I don't see a reason why Post, Storm and Infect wouldn't be banned in Paper; they've been proven to be destructive, and no addition in paper would change that fact significantly to hate them out.
EDIT: I've listed the prices for half of the decks so far, and the total is coming out to $218.09. This is going to cost a lot more than I anticipated haha Burn came out as the most expensive at a little over $50, but believe it or not, it was mostly due to sideboard Smash to Smithereens that are apparently going for a little under $5 a pop. Plus all the bolts makes for a very expensive deck. If I had included the Chain Lightnings, we'd be looking at a Pauper deck in the $100 range! The cheapest deck (and by quite a margin) is the White Weenies deck at 12.08, which is a very good price for a very good deck. Definitely the most bang for your buck.
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
But, when you divide that total into 16 decks, it comes out to an average of $28.44, which actually seems reasonable for 75 cards (paying about 38 cents a card). I'm just happy I have absolutely nothing to buy for the Burn deck, which was the main money-grubber. In fact, I can build 5 of those decks completely without touching my wallet: Burn, Stompy, Pestilence, Turbo Fog and BR Aggro-Control. That's already $141.87 shaved off, plus whatever I already have for everything else. I'm thinking it will end up costing me around 275$ for the cards I'm missing, which actually isn't so bad...
White Weenies is still the cheapest deck at $12.08, followed closely by Bugs & Pugs at $13.59 (like that deck needed any more value ). Burn sits on top at $50.96, followed by Eye-Candy at $46.95. Interesting stuff. I never noticed how many Legacy-playables Eye-Candy was running.
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
You wouldn't think that Turbo Fog requires a lot of thought, but it is sometimes very difficult to make the right play. The premise is simple, but the reality is a whole different thing. Thanks for the tip on Sylvan Library!
I used the source that MTGS uses, which is TCG Player. I realize you can probably find the cards for a lot cheaper in some places, but this source was very accessible and seems to cover a lot of ground. I thought it was appropriate. Why do you ask?
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'm quite certain I can do better than that price as well, so I'll have to start hunting!
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 a quick count, I have 7 Aggro, 5 Control, 2 Tempo and 2 Combo decks, which I think is a very well balanced number of strategies. You always want a few more aggro decks to keep it proactive, a few more control decks to slow things down, a few tempo decks to blur the line between the two and a couple combo decks to keep everyone honest. Although my combo decks are Eye Candy and Tron, who aren't exactly dedicated Combo decks. They just use powerful combinations to gain an advantage or end the game quickly. I consider them combo because of their required card assembly to be powerful.
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
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
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
So, I have 3 decks so far and I'm open to suggestions on the other 7. I was thinking: Boros Kitty, Bugs & Pigs, Burn, Delver, Pestilence, Stompy, Tron.
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Nivix Cyclops
3 Artful Dodge
2 Assault Strobe
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Apostle's Blessing
3 Dispel
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Piracy Charm
2 Gush
8 Island
8 Mountain
2 Swiftwater Cliffs
2 Electrickery
3 Hydroblast
3 Pyroblast
2 Flaring Pain
2 Gorilla Shaman
3 Mogg War Marshal
4 Atog
4 Carapace Forger
4 Chromatic Star
4 Flayer Husk
4 Fling
4 Frogmite
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Myr Enforcer
2 Prophetic Prism
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Thoughtcast
4 Ancient Den
2 Darksteel Citadel
4 Tree of Tales
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
3 Gorilla Shaman
1 Hydroblast
4 Obsidian Acolyte
3 Pyroblast
4 Standard Bearer
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Icatian Javelineers
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Leonin Skyhunter
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Vault Skirge
4 Veteran Armorer
4 War Falcon
4 Bonesplitter
4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Secluded Steppe
17 Plains
3 Patrician's Scorn
3 Prismatic Strands
2 Rune of Protection: Red
3 Serrated Arrows
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
3 Unmake
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
4 Ardent Recruit
4 Court Homunculus
4 Vault Skirge
4 Auriok Sunchaser
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Frogmite
2 Razor Golem
4 Bonesplitter
3 Flayer Husk
4 Journey to Nowhere
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Ancient Den
4 Darksteel Citadel
13 Plains
It has some really powerful and fast plays, like:
- T1 Vault Skirge, T2 drop and equip Bonesplitter.
- T1 Ancient Den, Ardent Recruit, T2 Court Homunculus and a third artifact, and follow up with a Frogmite if both lands are artifact lands.
- T1 Ancient Den, Court Homunculus, T2 artifact land and Auriok Sunchaser
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
I think you're off to a good start.
I just realized while building the Burn list irl that I didn't include Flame Rift into the deck!! Is it worth adding? If so, what would you cut? I'm a little torn.
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 kind of like Mogg Fanatic because he can get in for more than just 2 damage. Even when the board becomes cluttered with Creatures he can still do something. He's a real nightmare for slower decks. He's typically good for 2-3 damage, though. Sometimes a chump block.
I already explained why I don't use Chain Lightnings. I have the original ones from Legends, and I want to keep them in better decks. Usually I'm not against using the same card in multiple decks, but with the Battle Bag concept, I don't want to have to take decks apart for others.
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'm beginning to wonder if I want a card that deals 4 damage to me... playing a few games, I can definitely see some scenarios where it is just unplayable.
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
We played it in Star Format (5-player variant where the two people opposite you are your enemies, the two next to you are your allies, and whoever defeats their two enemies first wins). This is a very popular format in our playgroup, since we often end up an odd number.
I pulled the Tron deck. My allies were Rakdos Aggro-Control and Boros Kitty, and my enemies were Pestilence and Eye Candy.
I keep a risky 1-land hand with multiple 1-mana spells, and it works out well for me. I get Tron on turn 4 and pump out a Mulldrifter early, which I ping the Pestilence player with for the rest of the game.
There is so much removal/burn around the table that the Eye-Candy player simply can't get a creature to live to his next turn. Between my Firebolts, Boros Kitty's burn spells and Pestilence, he is just not getting very far.
Boros Kitty and BR Aggro-Control are having an all-out war while the Pestilence player and I are slowly building up out board. Eventually the Eye-Candy player and the Rakdos player team up, with the Rakdos player sacrificing all her creatures to a Flayer Husk-wielding Nantuko Husk, turning it into a 9/9, which is pumped up with the Eye-Candy players' Temur Battle Rage for 18 damage, nearly killing my Boros ally through a chump-blocker.
I play my Fangren Marauder and get my life total up to 21, but it is Oblivion Ringed by the Pestilence player who follows it up by making me discard my entire hand to Raven's Crimes. I'm left with two Firebolts in my graveyard and draw only lands for the rest of the game.
The Eye-Candy player plays a Kiln Fiend and passes. Sensing I was next on his agenda, I Flashback Firebolt to kill it, but he responds with Apostle's Blessing and laughs. I have no other choice but hope he can't take me down in a single turn.
The Boros player makes a final suicidal attack on the Rakdos player, who goes down to 3 life. Everyone but me is now at single digit life totals.
The Pestilence player just hangs tight, and now comes the Eye-Candy player's turn. Sure enough, he had 3 cards in hand, Ponder, Gitaxian Probe and Temur Battle Rage. He Probes me, draws Lightning Bolt, Bolts me and attacks for lethal. Darn.
At this point, the Pestilence player responds at the end of the turn and deals the last three points of damage to the Rakdos player and wins. Woops. Good Game.
Seriously, that was so much fun. The decks interacted very well on many levels (combat, spells, etc.), there were no huge power plays (until the end), and nothing felt over-powered or under-powered. Everybody was able to make their deck do what it was meant to do. I definitely want to try it again soon!
I got to play a match with my girlfriend afterwords as well. I drew the Rakdos deck and she got Hexproof. Should have been a pretty easy match for her, but I had lots of edicts first game while she struggled with mana. She pummeled me games two and three, though. It was the first time I got to try sideboarding with these sets of decks. Felt legit!
I'll be editing the OP with small changes and more details on the Battle Bag.
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
Do you have sideboards for your decks? Or are the main decks built to handle everything in the bag so to speak?
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
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I'd go for a Delver deck. Possibly UR delver with Young Pyromancer, which would make it more multiplayer-friendly, I think. If you check out the web-site that zomby33 posted a while ago, you'll see UR Delver was a very popular and successful deck in Europe. UR Delver. Not sure about Gelectrode, but the rest seems solid. They also banned things like Treasure Cruise and Delver of Secrets recently, so do what you want with that info lol
The Tokens deck gets a lot better with Sky Hussar. You never actually cast the card, so you can keep the deck mono white.
There's an interesting The Rack deck with Trinket Mage to glue it all together. Seems legit.
I don't know if I would go for an infect deck. Like a combo deck, I think it's fast, squishy, and not particularly fun for anyone but the player.
Mono Black Control would be really good. You could even have Pestilence in there for the board control and the devotion. Of course, Skeletal Scrying and Demonic Tutor are insane.
My choices would be:
Affinity
Turbo Fog
Spring Tide (only because it's already built, otherwise I would have something else)
UR Delver
MBC
All of my own decks have included sideboard (you can view them in the OP). However, in Star Format, there usually is no game two. Sideboarding would be just insane. Many decks have a few general answers put into them already but for the most part they are made to have a sideboarded game two.
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
While there is some truth to this, I think some measure of combo keeps people honest, and Spring Tide only gets better the more islands it can play so it's a pretty decent choice. Anything with counters, hand disruption or instant speed removal can interact with it, and then some. Yes, you can kill a table with it but you need to go infinite or near-infinite with Archaeomancer/Capsize since just one Brain Freeze might not cut it.
Wow, yes, yes YES! This is exactly what I'm looking for. I wanted Delver but couldn't find any "game breaking" uncommons but pairing it with pyromancer seems like a great idea. I also always wanted to play Delver in a deck with few creatures in it. Gelectrode seems solid to me, but maybe Guttersnipe would be even better? Can't argue with Gelectrode turning a lowly Firebolt into a 4/4 killer though.
I'm not sure MBC is what I'd want in the 5th slot TBH. Did you ever get a chance to try any Astral Slide decks back when you were tinkering with them? That interaction with Tilling Treefolk, cycling lands and Astral Slide seemed pretty wicked to me!
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"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
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Ah okay! My decks are not designed for multiplayer either, but the Pauper format is surprisingly good for it.
What do you mean by keeping people honest? I always heard the opposite of what your saying, like "Force of Will is an important way to keep the game honest, instead of just turn-1 combos"
This is what I'm saying about combo. It's really good at taking down a single opponent with minimal disruption. Taking down multiple opponents when there is discard, countermagic and removal coming from all sides makes combo a lot less attractive (squishy). I don't like these oppressive combo decks (in multiplayer) because they take a long time to execute and they're very vulnerable to disruption (in which case the combo player is just having a bad time). Eye-Candy was fine because it's still creature based. I hope I'm explaining myself clearly. :S
I think Gelectrode is a meta call against Mono Blue Delver (which in Peasant basically means Pauper Delver + Mental Misstep and Mishra's Factory). It could easily be another counter or burn spell, or good uncommon creature. It's still a strong card, but it's not exactly the first card I think of when I think "powerful Peasant cards".
That Young Pyromancer, though. It's crazy how easily one can take over the game with him and a few cantrips. It really gives you a board presence that would normally be impossible for such a spell-heavy deck.
You know, to be perfectly honest, I was very overwhelmed by all the ideas that were going on in that thread that I didn't know where to start and was discouraged by the sheer amount of things to test. I played around with my Eternal Witness Slide deck for a while. It was okay, but not nearly as powerful as I had hoped.
That being said, I think I'd be ready to give it another try. I'll put together another list and post a new thread.
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 mean that I don't like pre-conceived meta games. You're absolutely right that FoW keeps combo players honest, but if there's sort of a gentleman's agreement that no combo will occur, there's less value to run FoW, right? So the pre-conception of no combo warps deck building, and I don't like that. A meta should contain a bit of everything IMO, to be healthy. Enough combo to merit the use of some counters and hand disruption over simple board control, but not so much as to completely hate combo out etc.
A 3 CMC creature (Gelectrode) seems like a bad answer to Delver but I could be wrong I suppose. What other uncommons would you recommend for UR delver then? No FoW please
Beat you to it!
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
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