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How does Library of Leng interact with Vampire Hounds? Let's say you discard three cards to pump the Hounds (giving it +6/+6), then you can put one, two or all three cards back on top of your library? If so, that's a new wrinkle to explore right there.
Exactly!
Library works very well with Hawk and Conquistador as well. You play one, discard two, play a second, search two more, discard them again... It can make for quite a bit of pumping or recurring. Mix it up with Dredge and things get even more interesting.
Thanks! I have been thinking about Emerge Unscathed. It's a great way to protect your creature from a removal spell and make it unblockable on your turn to go for the kill. I think two copies would be great.
I realized how similar my idea really was to the old "dead dog" deck, which is Golgari colours and plays many of the same combos. Grave Scrabbler is a staple in that deck and should be here too.
Library of Leng actually solves the occasional problem I was having with hand size and also interacts very well with Discarding.
I cut down on Reinforcements. The card is good, but situational.
Twins of Maurer Estate is a weaker version of Arrogant Wurm for this deck. You get the same number of stats but loses the trample. 3/5 is still an excellent body.
I gave up on Simian Spirit Guide. It was just too cute for what it was worth.
I noticed a few months ago that Treasure Chests were being bought for about 2.50 tix by most bots. This seemed like a fair price and I was selling mine then. I tend to hold on to them for a while and sell when I need to, but I'm now noticing that TCs are selling for about 2.20 tix. This is a huge difference.
My question is: Is it reasonable to think that chests will go back up to 2.50 tix at some point and just hold on to the chests until then? I'm not in a huge rush to sell, but would like some new cards at some point.
I'm bringing one of my favourite archetypes to PDH this time with Tatyova. The ability to draw tons of cards while ramping means that we have a very consistent draw engine that can easily be recast when killed. She also keeps our life total high.
The end game looks like milling the opponents and keeping ourselves from milling out with cards like Feldon's Cane and Battlefield Scrounger. The Cane is one-use only, but shuffling a graveyard full of action into the deck means we're probably going to win. Scrounger is excellent in multiplayer since we can use his ability during every turn, so he's easily capable of retuning 12-16 cards per turn cycle, all the while stacking our deck in whatever order we want.
I'm running a lot of non-basics because they combo well with Tatyova to draw extra cards. I think I should be playing more basics for fetching, though.
I'm running a large amount of disruption and wanted to maximize the amount of exile-removal and graveyard hate I could run. I'm not going to play Relic of Progenitus for obvious reasons. If ever I play against non-Pauper decks, Eldrazi titans are an issue, so exile removal and counters help deal with that.
I wanted to "go big" with my draw spells, foregoing the usual cantrips and smaller, more efficient draw spells like Think Twice. Cards like Keep Watch and Rush of Knowledge have a much higher upside, even if there are scenarios where these cards do nothing.
SO much good stuff for PDH in Dominaria, it's insane!
I'm looking forward to Tatyova, Benthic Druid as a general. There are so many interesting directions to take a general like this.
Garna, the Bloodflame also offers some sweet possibilities to break up a stalled board state. Giving Haste is also great!
Tiana, Ship's Caretaker makes auras great! Auras that make creatures become even better, since they also give you a body to attach other auras. I'm thinking of Cartouche of Solidarity.
I don't think Arvad the Cursed will see much play. There aren't too many legendaries to put in the 99 with him...
One player controls Consecrated Sphinx and their opponent controls Geth's Grimoire. During the end step of the player controlling the sphinx, Grimoire will trigger when excess cards are discarded, which triggers the Sphinx again. My question is: after the opponent has already discarded cards for their handsize, do they pass the turn with more than seven cards in hand, or do they have to discard down again because they are still in their cleanup step?
Unwind, Divest and Adventurous Impulse all seem like the most likely to see Pauper play so far. I like the Green Cantrip a lot! I'm sure it's going to see lots of play because of its versatility, cheap mana cost and great card selection! basically a Green Ponder in most cases.
Unwind is a weird one. While it being potentially "free" is great, it costs you three mana up font. This is not going to win you counter wars, which was an important role for Negate. What cards is this trying to counter that would be worth untapping for after it resolves?
Arcane Flight also seems good. A good boost and evasion is nice, but what Blue deck wants this?
hey guys,
I am just starting trying the list seems like it has game against everything delver is a different approach than other decks.
One thing I'm curious about. has anyone tried entourage of trest? at least in side? (green monarch) with the ability to always throw down fogs you can prevent them from taking the monarch and also can be a free fog since it blocks 2 creatures which is often all they may have depending on the matchup.
Secondly, how do you deal with burn? like if they get out of their creatures they just can kill you with 10 spells which really isnt much. I won a match against burn and lost 1 but the one i won he just drew like complete crap like all fireblasts and stuck on 1 land while i just threw down 3 erasures and chained out brainstorms. and in the second game he got stuck on 2 lands never saw a damage creature and I drew all my life gain. The matchup seems really unfavorable even with 3 hydroblasts out of the sideboard.
Which I want to say that I find pristine talisman 1 of radiant fountain and 2 simic bounce lands to really make the mana base work well. I've gotten up to 55 life in a game before I even started trying to deck my opponent.
Hi Kslidz! Welcome to the Pauper forums!
Delver is probably the worst matchup, but I've been slowly improving my win-rate against it through sheer practice. It helps to know the matchup inside-out. I'm constantly trying new things to try to improve this horrible and prevalent matchup.
Entourage of Trest is good but is 5 mana, which is a lot in Pauper. And while drawing an extra card each turn is nice, if ever the opponent can sneak through an attack, Turbo Fog basically has no way to get it back, making it a bit risky to play. If you ever have success with it, let me know!
I deal with Burn with lots of Countermagic and Quiet Disrepair. With artifact lands, it's possible to enchant it as soon as turn 2. From there, constant lifegain can be difficult to beat. Constant sources of damage like Firebrand Archer and Thermo-Alchemist have made this matchup much worse in recent months, however. I don't come across the matchup too often anymore, but it's probably more in the 25-75 range for Turbo Fog at this point.
Radiant Fountain and bounce lands is certainly a way to gain some extra life without devoting extra slots in the sideboard. I may have to give it a try sometime, but I'm liking where my list is right now. Are you talismans main or sideboard?
Unwind dominaria the love son between negate and rewind; any thoughts?
Unwind is a very fair-costed magic card. The fact that it is 3 mana might make it unplayable, even if you get the mana back afterwards. I came across that problem occasionally when playing Faerie Trickery, though they really aren't all that comparable.
Hi, I just comeback from a small tournament were I run the upkeep list. I did 1-2 but still had a blast. I will need to get to play faster. Also, thanks for the videos, they help alot.
Yeah, playing tournaments in paper is hard because of the time limit not being calculated by player, but as a whole. No matter how fast you play, if your opponent takes too much time to play you'll still end up tying more often than you should. You can't exactly rush your opponent along, either. Glad you're having fun and that you're finding the video content useful!
Peat Bog is great here. I don't think I would even try to run Dark Ritual and especially not Cabal Ritual. These cards are card disadvantage for a card that will probably die to removal, so 2-for-1ing yourself is not a good place to be.
You're running too few Rats. There, I said it. I think you want somewhere between 28-32 Relentless Rats to really be able to take advantage of their ability.
Undying Evil is a great card to play, as it will protect and pump a rat that's about to die. Unearth is great, too.
Have you considered splashing Green for Echoing Courage and Lead the Stampede? Mass pump for cheap seems nice, and drawing tons of rats seems better than Read the Bones. Elves of Deep Shadow could help you get to 1BB earlier, though it would require an untapped green source on turn 1, which is sketchy.
With Pillage finally downgraded to common, we have a legitimate LD strategy in Mono-Red, which is exciting. The mix of Burn and LD is sure to be a strong one. My quesion is: What's the finisher? I like Frostburn Weird, and Hordeling Outburst is also a decent clock all by itself. Are there any other more robust ways of winning? How much LD is too much?
So true! This is the most love for Red I have ever seen! it's beautiful!
Loyal Sentry is gonna be great in flicker decks. Being able to block and flicker and kill anything is great. If not, it's basically like a White creature with Deathtouch only when it blocks, which isn't exciting.
I remember really liking Court Hussar many years ago. I feel like there was a combo involving it, but I can't remember.
Jackal Pup has made waves in formats before. Will it be good enough for Pauper?
Hordeling Outburst will see lots of play. Three bodies for three mana in a single card is huge.
Good change! Looks a lot more stylish. Although it feels kinda like Facebook and Twitter at the same time. Why do all community websites just imitate the big social media guys?
My favorite card is Deftblade Elite. Although I'm not generally a White player, this card is just so sweet; he has won me games. Whether he's killing a provoked creature every turn with lots of pump like Honor the Pure or Catapult Squad, or he's getting a dangerous blocker out of the way so my other creatures can get through (and lives to do it again!),he gets the job done! Just an all-round good card. and a common 1-drop, too!
I really like your introduction! Very concise and explains where the archetype comes from.
Is Cadaverous Knight really a core creature? It barely looks playable, to me anyways.
Maybe comment on each creature and specify in what style it belongs to (control or aggro), so that we can get a better idea of where they belong. You can also include ''shells'' of decks, in other words cards that must be run in order to make the deck function.
A notable exclusion from your otherwise rather full list is Nameless Inversion. This card is a complete beast in this deck, as it's recurable removal, with cards like Ghoulcaller's Chant and Ghoul Raiser.
Bonesplitter probably deserves a mention, as do other pump spells like Unholy Strength (there are many variants available).
I think Top 8 and Video sections are wishful thinking, as there are no sanctioned paper pauper tournaments. If you can get your hands on some MTGO videos playing Zombies, that might be a useful tool.
I suggest a section on Peasant (five uncommons max). It doesn't require a much bigger metagaming knowledge, just another card search. There are lots of uncommon candidates for Zombies.
A brief (or very detailed) matchup breakdown and analysis would be very appreciated. I like to test against many of the top decks in Pauper to see where mine stands, but I understand it's not possible for everyone, considering play-mates and time.
Overall, I think you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for playable cards, and cutting some of the more "fringe" ones is probably a good idea (you can also use the rating system to determine the value of each card to the deck). But it's a really good start! I look forward to seeing the rest!
Exactly!
Library works very well with Hawk and Conquistador as well. You play one, discard two, play a second, search two more, discard them again... It can make for quite a bit of pumping or recurring. Mix it up with Dredge and things get even more interesting.
4 Fume Spitter
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Legion Conquistador
2 Crypt Rats
4 Vampire Hounds
4 Grave Scrabbler
2 Stinkweed Imp
2 Grisly Survivor
3 Twins of Maurer Estate
4 Tortured Existence
2 Reinforcements
2 Library of Leng
Lands (23)
4 Scoured Barrens
4 Ash Barrens
7 Plains
7 Swamp
I realized how similar my idea really was to the old "dead dog" deck, which is Golgari colours and plays many of the same combos. Grave Scrabbler is a staple in that deck and should be here too.
Library of Leng actually solves the occasional problem I was having with hand size and also interacts very well with Discarding.
I cut down on Reinforcements. The card is good, but situational.
Twins of Maurer Estate is a weaker version of Arrogant Wurm for this deck. You get the same number of stats but loses the trample. 3/5 is still an excellent body.
I gave up on Simian Spirit Guide. It was just too cute for what it was worth.
My question is: Is it reasonable to think that chests will go back up to 2.50 tix at some point and just hold on to the chests until then? I'm not in a huge rush to sell, but would like some new cards at some point.
I'm bringing one of my favourite archetypes to PDH this time with Tatyova. The ability to draw tons of cards while ramping means that we have a very consistent draw engine that can easily be recast when killed. She also keeps our life total high.
The end game looks like milling the opponents and keeping ourselves from milling out with cards like Feldon's Cane and Battlefield Scrounger. The Cane is one-use only, but shuffling a graveyard full of action into the deck means we're probably going to win. Scrounger is excellent in multiplayer since we can use his ability during every turn, so he's easily capable of retuning 12-16 cards per turn cycle, all the while stacking our deck in whatever order we want.
Winning with Jace's Erasure is probably going to be the most common way of winning. In the deep late-game, having a large hand size with Library of Leng or Thought Vessel can be used to combo with Tolarian Winds and Whirlpool Rider to mill an opponent equal to the cards in your hand, then doing it over and over again with Ghostly Flicker and Mnemonic Wall combos.
I'm running a lot of non-basics because they combo well with Tatyova to draw extra cards. I think I should be playing more basics for fetching, though.
I'm running a large amount of disruption and wanted to maximize the amount of exile-removal and graveyard hate I could run. I'm not going to play Relic of Progenitus for obvious reasons. If ever I play against non-Pauper decks, Eldrazi titans are an issue, so exile removal and counters help deal with that.
I wanted to "go big" with my draw spells, foregoing the usual cantrips and smaller, more efficient draw spells like Think Twice. Cards like Keep Watch and Rush of Knowledge have a much higher upside, even if there are scenarios where these cards do nothing.
I think maybe going up to 40 lands might be good.
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
Artifacts (4)
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Library of Leng
1 Thought Vessel
1 Feldon's Cane
Creatures (3)
1 Whirlpool Rider
1 Sprout Swarm
1 Battlefield Scrounger
Enchantments (2)
1 Jace's Erasure
1 Night Soil
Removal/ Bounce/ Counters (10)
1 Deep Freeze
1 Flood
1 Lignify
1 Mold Shambler
1 Capsize
1 Syncopate
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Deprive
1 Counterspell
1 Faerie Trickery
Fogs (13)
1 Spore Frog
1 Fog
1 Druid's Deliverance
1 Fog Patch
1 Respite
1 Commencement of Festivities
1 Moment's Peace
1 Tangle
1 Defend the Hearth
1 Haze of Pollen
1 Lull
1 Blunt the Assault
Ramp (12)
1 Rampant Growth
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Explore
1 Harrow
1 Cultivate
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Far Wanderings
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Grow From the Ashes
1 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
1 Ondu Giant
Draw (12)
1 Reclaim
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Fathom Seer
1 Borrowing 100,000 Arrows
1 Keep Watch
1 Compulsive Research
1 Deep Analysis
1 Gush
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Rush of Knowledge
1 Mulldrifter
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Displace
1 Archaeomancer
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Scrivener
Lands (38)
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Halimar Depths
1 Command Tower
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Thornwood Falls
1 Woodland Stream
13 Island
13 Forest
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Bant Panorama
1 Warped Landscape
Lands like Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds and the Panoramas are also great ways to trigger revolt for free.
I'm looking forward to Tatyova, Benthic Druid as a general. There are so many interesting directions to take a general like this.
Garna, the Bloodflame also offers some sweet possibilities to break up a stalled board state. Giving Haste is also great!
Tiana, Ship's Caretaker makes auras great! Auras that make creatures become even better, since they also give you a body to attach other auras. I'm thinking of Cartouche of Solidarity.
I don't think Arvad the Cursed will see much play. There aren't too many legendaries to put in the 99 with him...
Kwende, Pride of Femeref could be an excellent general leading lots of First Strike creatures.
Very exciting time overall!
One player controls Consecrated Sphinx and their opponent controls Geth's Grimoire. During the end step of the player controlling the sphinx, Grimoire will trigger when excess cards are discarded, which triggers the Sphinx again. My question is: after the opponent has already discarded cards for their handsize, do they pass the turn with more than seven cards in hand, or do they have to discard down again because they are still in their cleanup step?
Thanks!
Unwind is a weird one. While it being potentially "free" is great, it costs you three mana up font. This is not going to win you counter wars, which was an important role for Negate. What cards is this trying to counter that would be worth untapping for after it resolves?
Arcane Flight also seems good. A good boost and evasion is nice, but what Blue deck wants this?
Hi Kslidz! Welcome to the Pauper forums!
Delver is probably the worst matchup, but I've been slowly improving my win-rate against it through sheer practice. It helps to know the matchup inside-out. I'm constantly trying new things to try to improve this horrible and prevalent matchup.
Entourage of Trest is good but is 5 mana, which is a lot in Pauper. And while drawing an extra card each turn is nice, if ever the opponent can sneak through an attack, Turbo Fog basically has no way to get it back, making it a bit risky to play. If you ever have success with it, let me know!
I deal with Burn with lots of Countermagic and Quiet Disrepair. With artifact lands, it's possible to enchant it as soon as turn 2. From there, constant lifegain can be difficult to beat. Constant sources of damage like Firebrand Archer and Thermo-Alchemist have made this matchup much worse in recent months, however. I don't come across the matchup too often anymore, but it's probably more in the 25-75 range for Turbo Fog at this point.
Radiant Fountain and bounce lands is certainly a way to gain some extra life without devoting extra slots in the sideboard. I may have to give it a try sometime, but I'm liking where my list is right now. Are you talismans main or sideboard?
Unwind is a very fair-costed magic card. The fact that it is 3 mana might make it unplayable, even if you get the mana back afterwards. I came across that problem occasionally when playing Faerie Trickery, though they really aren't all that comparable.
Yeah, playing tournaments in paper is hard because of the time limit not being calculated by player, but as a whole. No matter how fast you play, if your opponent takes too much time to play you'll still end up tying more often than you should. You can't exactly rush your opponent along, either. Glad you're having fun and that you're finding the video content useful!
You're running too few Rats. There, I said it. I think you want somewhere between 28-32 Relentless Rats to really be able to take advantage of their ability.
Undying Evil is a great card to play, as it will protect and pump a rat that's about to die. Unearth is great, too.
Have you considered splashing Green for Echoing Courage and Lead the Stampede? Mass pump for cheap seems nice, and drawing tons of rats seems better than Read the Bones. Elves of Deep Shadow could help you get to 1BB earlier, though it would require an untapped green source on turn 1, which is sketchy.
I think I'd start with something like this:
30 Relentless Rats
Spells (10)
2 Undying Evil
4 Unearth
4 Lead the Stampede
4 Peat Bog
4 Jungle Hollow
2 Golgari Guildgate
2 Mortuary Mire
8 Swamp
4 Stone Rain
4 Molten Rain
4 Pillage
2 Aftershock
2 Roiling Terrain
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Hordeling Outburst
Burn (15)
4 Flame Slash
2 Electrickery
4 Firebolt
4 Magma Spray
1 Staggershock
4 Sandstone Needle
17 Mountain
With Pillage finally downgraded to common, we have a legitimate LD strategy in Mono-Red, which is exciting. The mix of Burn and LD is sure to be a strong one. My quesion is: What's the finisher? I like Frostburn Weird, and Hordeling Outburst is also a decent clock all by itself. Are there any other more robust ways of winning? How much LD is too much?
So true! This is the most love for Red I have ever seen! it's beautiful!
Loyal Sentry is gonna be great in flicker decks. Being able to block and flicker and kill anything is great. If not, it's basically like a White creature with Deathtouch only when it blocks, which isn't exciting.
I remember really liking Court Hussar many years ago. I feel like there was a combo involving it, but I can't remember.
Jackal Pup has made waves in formats before. Will it be good enough for Pauper?
Hordeling Outburst will see lots of play. Three bodies for three mana in a single card is huge.
Pillage still takes the crown in my books.
Great downgrades, great reprints, great set for Pauper! Thanks Wizards!