I've been playing around with Orzhov Devotion and came up with a deck somewhat similar to this one. It's probably more Devotion than Pestilence, but there are enough overlapping cards and it was mentioned in above comments so I thought it could be useful to post my list.
Great list! I'd say you could probably just go Mono-Black, replacing Pillory of the Sleepless with more Oubliette and Wall of Hope with just about any good black card, maybe something else that gains you life? Something as simple as Corrupt or Drain Life (I don't remember the name of the version from Mirrodin now) would be really cool. You would probably still have enough creatures as it is.
Wizards should go and print a common man-land already!
If I wanted to build this as a monoblack deck, is the list in the primer still a good starting point?
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“Modern has provided us a non-rotating format that is far more accessible than Legacy or Vintage, but still retains many of the qualities that people enjoy in those formats—such as a more stable metagame, the ability to play and tweak the same deck week after week, and simply a much more powerful card pool than Standard.”
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
I'd say so. If you want to go with something with more power, I guess going with mono-black staples like Cuombajj Witches and Gray Merchant of Asphodel as well as Disowned Ancestor might be a stronger choice than walls. I haven't thought about a mono-black list in a while, to be honest.
Maybe something like this for the creature package:
Maybe something like 2 Cemetery Gates might not be bad as well.
I'm also no longer a fan of Dark Ritual. It's definitely a playable card in this deck, as it will give you an advantage against tempo decks in the right circumstances. I think I'd run more removal or something instead at this point.
Hope this helps!
The Night's Whisper downgrade also helps the BW deck quite a bit, so that's good news!
Maybe Dark Rit until I can afford Oubliette. It's a great card, but less so without access to 3-drop monstrosities like Gloom.
...though, now that I think about it, Chittering rats and Oubliette are incentives to run Dark Rit.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Modern has provided us a non-rotating format that is far more accessible than Legacy or Vintage, but still retains many of the qualities that people enjoy in those formats—such as a more stable metagame, the ability to play and tweak the same deck week after week, and simply a much more powerful card pool than Standard.”
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
Oubliette is good if you're going the Gray Merchant route. Chittering Rats is perhaps not the best card for this style of play, as it will simply die to your own cards too often. Try out the DR for now, they're definitely playable in the archetype.
If you're looking to play Chittering rats, Oubliette and Gray Merchants, you might as well look into MBC, which is a powerful Tier 1 deck in Pauper. They sometimes use Pestilence in some number in the sideboard and occasionally the mainboard, so there is obviously a lot of overlap between the two strategies.
I'm sorry for my extremely poor English (correct me if I write something awful) and for exhuming back this thread, but I'm pretty intersted in this Deck.
I'm quite sure about the chosen creatures, they're tough and very smart. I've red that merchant doesn't fit this deck but after a bunch of match I assure that it's perfect even without Oubliette, card that I consider inappropriate for both the costs (I mean mana and money, this is called Pauper ). I don't play Dimir House Guard because it's too much slow, if I'd want more Pestilence I'd play 1x/2x Crypt Rats/Evincar's Justice
Removals are troubling me instead: I don't want to overdo because combo and controll decks are still played, thus 7 1x1 removals I think are enough. How to choose'em?
Diabolic edict is fine but sometimes not such useful: if oppo has 2 creatures on the field often we'd like to choose the biggest (extremely common situations are Gurmag angler and phyrexian Rager or Delver and Sea gate oracle). Unmake is fine too whether it costs 3 (Stormbound Geist is an ass pain usually). Drain Life is both removal and finisher, I really like it because it boost the Race and is a very good removal in the late game; easily sided out against controll.
Sideboard is set against Controll, Combo and Aura decks: my biggest problem is what side out and what side in. This section is Work In Progress!
(Hymn to tourach is for paper, Wrench mind is for MTGO rules)
Welcome to MTGS and the Pauper forums! I hope to see you around more often!
The list seems decent. After lots of testing and practice, I've come to the conclusion that the best way to lock the opponents out of the game is by denying the early their early game or aggression with cheap removal, following it up with Pestilence to stop the game entirely.
My only issue with your creature selection is your full set of Guardian of the Guildpact. While it's the perfect creature for resisting Pestilence, the 4 mana is often getting in the way of other things you could be doing, namely getting a Pestilence in play as soon as possible. You should consider splitting those numbers with another creature. I really like Aven Riftwatcher, personally.
I really like having all four Diabolic Edicts somewhere between the main and sideboard. Think about having more of them in the mainboard. They work very well with Pestilence, which often kills the weaker creatures and leaves the creatures you need to Edict. Worst case scenario, it's still relieving pressure for you. Drain life is certainly interesting.
The Aura deck should not really be your main concern, as this should be a naturally pretty good matchup. Having more than 4 edicts might help your cause more than enchantment removal. Discard will be good against both Control and Combo. You can try and transition into more of a MBC style in those matchups.
The sideboard definitely needs some work. I really don't get Sign in Blood. The way you split your mana is also pretty important, so it would be nice to see how you do it.
Probably you're right: mana curve is very important in this format and we cannot afford to have 4 pestilence, 4 guildpact, 4 Gurmag, 4 merchant and 2 drain life, even though we play 3 dark ritual, card which deserves a question apart (is this corect in English?? ).
I think I'll test this list doing these changes:
-1 Guardian
-1 Merchant
-1 ???
+3 Creature
Where I wrote "???" I mean 1 to be selected between Unmake, Drain Life, Guardian of the guildpact and Gurmag Angler.
Creatures I'm contemplating are: Aven Riftwatcher (though he doesn't keep Pestilence on the battlefield, so if I choose this the third card to be pushed out won't be the 2nd Guildpact), Vampire Envoy (which is essentially mediocre but fullfills some important tasks such as gain life, keep pestilence on the field and block flying creatures) and wall of hope (which is fine, but only with Pestilence on the field).
For what concern sideboard I totally agree with you: I'm not used to build sideboard for this format and as I said I'm not used to choose what to side out/in too; I've a lot of work to do!
I'm considering 3x of dry spell against Goblin which is not an easy game because Pestilence without ritual is very slow.
Have you ever evaluated another color for the splash which is not white?
EDIT: I think 3x Edict effects is enough, they're wonderful with Pestilence but I think we should think about our game plan when Pestilence is not available too, in that case some spot removal would be very useful!!
I think I would cut the Drain Life as your third card.
Wall of Hope is a very good card. It's a decent wall in the early game and is incredible with Pestilence.
Another creature you could consider is Disowned Ancestor. This card has a big defense that helps in the early game and keeps Pestilence Alive, but it can also grow bigger with extra mana and is an effective finisher as either a 4/8 or a 5/9.
With a large amount of removal, Goblins will be slowed down anyways, which will likely give you enough time to lay down Pestilence and lock them out.
White generally has the most to offer for this kind of deck, but I'm of course open to suggestions.
Edict is generally good even when it only gets a 1/1. It can never be worse than 1-for-1. I think it's worth more mainboard inclusion and general use, but that's my opinion.
On Friday I had a long talk with a dear friend of mine who's playing the deck with some good results (he's second in the local Pauper league on 30 players), he's running such a kind of list:
I don't remember the last 2 slots but I think they're life gain tools (drain life effect) or 2 Unearth or maybe some equipment (Bonesplitter).
The list firstly didn't persuade me, thus I asked why it lacks of Rituals, whispers, cuombajj, 4th pestilence and moreover why there're so many asynergyc cards with Pestilence. He answered point to point:
1-Ritual is a bad draw in the late game and we can't afford it in this kind of build, furthermore with only 2 Merchant and 3 Pestilence, it is not so fundamental
2-We don't need whispers because Skyfisher and Rager together assure some Card advantage and besides Pestilence is a Huge Card Advantage instrument. He said that sometimes he had played 2x/3x of Read the bones.
3-Cuombajj is not needed because he's already running several creatures and removals, He would play it in a different metagame of course (Delver and Mono U metagame for example)
4-He doesn't like the fourth pestilence because it is not necessary to win in this configuration and it is quite heavy without rituals, furthermore he uphold that open a game with 2 Pestilence in hand often means to lose that game
5-He think that even though x/2 cretures are not synergyc with Pestilence thay're fundamental to the Game plan: gain a little card advantage with chittering rats, rager and skyfisher in the early game in order to force opponent to use his resources and then strike hard with Pestilence (plus eventually guildpact), combined with Merchant in the mid/late game. He believe that little smart creatures are very useful in match-up where Pestilence and big toughness creatures are purely useless such as Vinestorm and Urzatron.
I viewed only few games played with the deck but I can assure the Strategy works, it is pretty similiar to MBC but is boosted by the Most powerful card in the format, in fact Pestilence is the only Sweeper (this is how in Italy we call the Damnation effect) available in Pauper, and by the Guildpact which is very similar to True-name Nemesis.
Anyone here ever try BUBBLING MUCK from the Urza block?
Seems like double black Mana for a turn would be pretty broken.
My non-Pauper builds used to play it, but as I became a better player, the card felt less and less useful. The goal is to lock the opponent out of the game rather than combo out, though Muck certainly helps achieving a faster kill. I personally don't think it's worth playing.
Wow... Speaking of becoming a better player, this primer is wayyyyy out of date. I will be working on updating this massively over the next weeks.
EDIT: I've overhauled most of the "Building the Deck" sections and consolidated the sample decks into one category, seeing as Orzhov is the way to play this deck nowadays (and definitely always was). I've also added a video at the beginning and a pretty big video section at the end.
EDIT2: I've also erased the vast majority of what I've written in the Matchups section as it was no longer relevant with modern builds of Pestilence. I've also added many more matchups, to be filled out over the coming weeks.
4x Chittering Rats
3x Cuombajj Witches
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2x Guardian of the Guildpact
4x Wall of Hope
Sorcery (9)
4x Chainer's Edict
2x Duress
1x Evincar's Justice
2x Sign in Blood
1x Bojuka Bog
2x Evolving Wilds
6x Plains
4x Scoured Barrens
11x Swamp
Enchantment (8)
1x Font of Return
2x Oubliette
3x Pestilence
2x Pillory of the Sleepless
2x Disfigure
1x Circle of Protection: Black
1x Circle of Protection: Blue
1x Circle of Protection: Green
3x Circle of Protection: Red
3x Disenchant
1x Disfigure
2x Dry Spell
2x Duress
1x Evincar's Justice
I just started testing the current list so I'll update later if I stick with it and it evolves. Critique welcome!
Wizards should go and print a common man-land already!
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Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
How to Use Spoiler Tags
Starting Over: The Origins of the Mulligan Rule
Practical Approach to Slow Play
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 2: SWARM and TOOLBOX
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 3
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 4
These videos are by MTG Salvation Moderator Lantern!
Introduction to Tempo
Controlling Tempo
Elements of Tempo
Roadblocks to Tempo
How Not To Build A Deck - Tempo
Learn How To Sideboard, Dammit!
Mulligan's Island
The Art of the Mulligan
The Art of the Mulligan: Eight Case Studies
Fundamentals: The Mulligan
Some Mulligan Exercises
A Mulligan Is Worth Three Cards
The Mulligan Debate
Common Sense: The Art of the Mulligan
Who's The Beatdown?
3 Caves of Koilos
3 Eldrazi Temple
2 Fetid Heath
3 Godless Shrine
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
Artifacts (4):
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
Creatures (29):
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Fiend Hunter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Flooded Strand
6 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
Creatures (16):
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stormchaser Mage
2 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Spell Pierce
3 Twisted Image
3 Vapor Snag
Sorceries (8):
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
1 Forked Bolt
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal
2 Roast
1 Spell Snare
2 Spellskite
1 Vapor Snag
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Copperline Gorge
5 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (14):
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Atarka's Command
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Searing Blaze
Sorceries (8):
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Destructive Revelry
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
2 Rending Volley
3 Skullcrack
19 Forest
3 Treetop Village
Creatures (24):
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Dryad Militant
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Experiment One
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Rancor
Instants (10):
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dismember
2 Choke
2 Gut Shot
2 Deglamer
2 Feed the Clan
2 Oxidize
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Skylasher
1 Unravel the Æther
Maybe something like this for the creature package:
4 Cuombajj Witches
2 Dimir House Guard
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Maybe something like 2 Cemetery Gates might not be bad as well.
I'm also no longer a fan of Dark Ritual. It's definitely a playable card in this deck, as it will give you an advantage against tempo decks in the right circumstances. I think I'd run more removal or something instead at this point.
Hope this helps!
The Night's Whisper downgrade also helps the BW deck quite a bit, so that's good news!
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
...though, now that I think about it, Chittering rats and Oubliette are incentives to run Dark Rit.
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
How to Use Spoiler Tags
Starting Over: The Origins of the Mulligan Rule
Practical Approach to Slow Play
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 2: SWARM and TOOLBOX
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 3
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 4
These videos are by MTG Salvation Moderator Lantern!
Introduction to Tempo
Controlling Tempo
Elements of Tempo
Roadblocks to Tempo
How Not To Build A Deck - Tempo
Learn How To Sideboard, Dammit!
Mulligan's Island
The Art of the Mulligan
The Art of the Mulligan: Eight Case Studies
Fundamentals: The Mulligan
Some Mulligan Exercises
A Mulligan Is Worth Three Cards
The Mulligan Debate
Common Sense: The Art of the Mulligan
Who's The Beatdown?
3 Caves of Koilos
3 Eldrazi Temple
2 Fetid Heath
3 Godless Shrine
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
Artifacts (4):
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
Creatures (29):
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Fiend Hunter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Flooded Strand
6 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
Creatures (16):
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stormchaser Mage
2 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Spell Pierce
3 Twisted Image
3 Vapor Snag
Sorceries (8):
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
1 Forked Bolt
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal
2 Roast
1 Spell Snare
2 Spellskite
1 Vapor Snag
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Copperline Gorge
5 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (14):
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Atarka's Command
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Searing Blaze
Sorceries (8):
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Destructive Revelry
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
2 Rending Volley
3 Skullcrack
19 Forest
3 Treetop Village
Creatures (24):
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Dryad Militant
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Experiment One
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Rancor
Instants (10):
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dismember
2 Choke
2 Gut Shot
2 Deglamer
2 Feed the Clan
2 Oxidize
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Skylasher
1 Unravel the Æther
If you're looking to play Chittering rats, Oubliette and Gray Merchants, you might as well look into MBC, which is a powerful Tier 1 deck in Pauper. They sometimes use Pestilence in some number in the sideboard and occasionally the mainboard, so there is obviously a lot of overlap between the two strategies.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
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BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Actually I'm testing this List:
4 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Cuombajj witches
4 Gray merchant of asphodel
2 Gurmag angler
Removals:
2 Unmake
2 Diabolic edict
1 Chainer's Edict
2 Drain Life
3 Dark Ritual
4 Night's whisper
1 Read the bones
4 Duress
4 Pestilence
Lands:
23 Lands
3 Circle of protection: green
2 Diabolic Edict
3 Castigate
3 Wrench Mind / Hymn To Tourach
2 Fragmentize / Leave no Trace / Disenchant
2 Sign in Blood
I'm quite sure about the chosen creatures, they're tough and very smart. I've red that merchant doesn't fit this deck but after a bunch of match I assure that it's perfect even without Oubliette, card that I consider inappropriate for both the costs (I mean mana and money, this is called Pauper ). I don't play Dimir House Guard because it's too much slow, if I'd want more Pestilence I'd play 1x/2x Crypt Rats/Evincar's Justice
Removals are troubling me instead: I don't want to overdo because combo and controll decks are still played, thus 7 1x1 removals I think are enough. How to choose'em?
Diabolic edict is fine but sometimes not such useful: if oppo has 2 creatures on the field often we'd like to choose the biggest (extremely common situations are Gurmag angler and phyrexian Rager or Delver and Sea gate oracle). Unmake is fine too whether it costs 3 (Stormbound Geist is an ass pain usually). Drain Life is both removal and finisher, I really like it because it boost the Race and is a very good removal in the late game; easily sided out against controll.
Sideboard is set against Controll, Combo and Aura decks: my biggest problem is what side out and what side in. This section is Work In Progress!
(Hymn to tourach is for paper, Wrench mind is for MTGO rules)
Welcome to MTGS and the Pauper forums! I hope to see you around more often!
The list seems decent. After lots of testing and practice, I've come to the conclusion that the best way to lock the opponents out of the game is by denying the early their early game or aggression with cheap removal, following it up with Pestilence to stop the game entirely.
My only issue with your creature selection is your full set of Guardian of the Guildpact. While it's the perfect creature for resisting Pestilence, the 4 mana is often getting in the way of other things you could be doing, namely getting a Pestilence in play as soon as possible. You should consider splitting those numbers with another creature. I really like Aven Riftwatcher, personally.
I really like having all four Diabolic Edicts somewhere between the main and sideboard. Think about having more of them in the mainboard. They work very well with Pestilence, which often kills the weaker creatures and leaves the creatures you need to Edict. Worst case scenario, it's still relieving pressure for you. Drain life is certainly interesting.
The Aura deck should not really be your main concern, as this should be a naturally pretty good matchup. Having more than 4 edicts might help your cause more than enchantment removal. Discard will be good against both Control and Combo. You can try and transition into more of a MBC style in those matchups.
The sideboard definitely needs some work. I really don't get Sign in Blood. The way you split your mana is also pretty important, so it would be nice to see how you do it.
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GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I think I'll test this list doing these changes:
-1 Guardian
-1 Merchant
-1 ???
+3 Creature
Where I wrote "???" I mean 1 to be selected between Unmake, Drain Life, Guardian of the guildpact and Gurmag Angler.
Creatures I'm contemplating are: Aven Riftwatcher (though he doesn't keep Pestilence on the battlefield, so if I choose this the third card to be pushed out won't be the 2nd Guildpact), Vampire Envoy (which is essentially mediocre but fullfills some important tasks such as gain life, keep pestilence on the field and block flying creatures) and wall of hope (which is fine, but only with Pestilence on the field).
For what concern sideboard I totally agree with you: I'm not used to build sideboard for this format and as I said I'm not used to choose what to side out/in too; I've a lot of work to do!
I'm considering 3x of dry spell against Goblin which is not an easy game because Pestilence without ritual is very slow.
Have you ever evaluated another color for the splash which is not white?
EDIT: I think 3x Edict effects is enough, they're wonderful with Pestilence but I think we should think about our game plan when Pestilence is not available too, in that case some spot removal would be very useful!!
Wall of Hope is a very good card. It's a decent wall in the early game and is incredible with Pestilence.
Another creature you could consider is Disowned Ancestor. This card has a big defense that helps in the early game and keeps Pestilence Alive, but it can also grow bigger with extra mana and is an effective finisher as either a 4/8 or a 5/9.
With a large amount of removal, Goblins will be slowed down anyways, which will likely give you enough time to lay down Pestilence and lock them out.
White generally has the most to offer for this kind of deck, but I'm of course open to suggestions.
Edict is generally good even when it only gets a 1/1. It can never be worse than 1-for-1. I think it's worth more mainboard inclusion and general use, but that's my opinion.
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GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
3 Guardian of the guildpact
2 Gray merchant of asphodel
4 Phyrexian Rager
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Chittering rats
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Chainer's Edict
2 Unmake
1 Oblivion ring
Lands Include 2 Kabira crossroad, 2 Bojuka Bog, 2 Barren Moor and the whole deck he is playing is Foil
I don't remember the last 2 slots but I think they're life gain tools (drain life effect) or 2 Unearth or maybe some equipment (Bonesplitter).
The list firstly didn't persuade me, thus I asked why it lacks of Rituals, whispers, cuombajj, 4th pestilence and moreover why there're so many asynergyc cards with Pestilence. He answered point to point:
1-Ritual is a bad draw in the late game and we can't afford it in this kind of build, furthermore with only 2 Merchant and 3 Pestilence, it is not so fundamental
2-We don't need whispers because Skyfisher and Rager together assure some Card advantage and besides Pestilence is a Huge Card Advantage instrument. He said that sometimes he had played 2x/3x of Read the bones.
3-Cuombajj is not needed because he's already running several creatures and removals, He would play it in a different metagame of course (Delver and Mono U metagame for example)
4-He doesn't like the fourth pestilence because it is not necessary to win in this configuration and it is quite heavy without rituals, furthermore he uphold that open a game with 2 Pestilence in hand often means to lose that game
5-He think that even though x/2 cretures are not synergyc with Pestilence thay're fundamental to the Game plan: gain a little card advantage with chittering rats, rager and skyfisher in the early game in order to force opponent to use his resources and then strike hard with Pestilence (plus eventually guildpact), combined with Merchant in the mid/late game. He believe that little smart creatures are very useful in match-up where Pestilence and big toughness creatures are purely useless such as Vinestorm and Urzatron.
I viewed only few games played with the deck but I can assure the Strategy works, it is pretty similiar to MBC but is boosted by the Most powerful card in the format, in fact Pestilence is the only Sweeper (this is how in Italy we call the Damnation effect) available in Pauper, and by the Guildpact which is very similar to True-name Nemesis.
I think that this list deserves some test
Seems like double black Mana for a turn would be pretty broken.
My non-Pauper builds used to play it, but as I became a better player, the card felt less and less useful. The goal is to lock the opponent out of the game rather than combo out, though Muck certainly helps achieving a faster kill. I personally don't think it's worth playing.
Wow... Speaking of becoming a better player, this primer is wayyyyy out of date. I will be working on updating this massively over the next weeks.
EDIT: I've overhauled most of the "Building the Deck" sections and consolidated the sample decks into one category, seeing as Orzhov is the way to play this deck nowadays (and definitely always was). I've also added a video at the beginning and a pretty big video section at the end.
EDIT2: I've also erased the vast majority of what I've written in the Matchups section as it was no longer relevant with modern builds of Pestilence. I've also added many more matchups, to be filled out over the coming weeks.
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