Well, that's exactly why I use 7 finishers, to gain combat advantage with 1/1 creatures. But I agree on Impact Tremors, it's a really good card against decks that prey on tokens. I've been using them as sideboard against control decks.
I also was very unpleased with Young Wolf, since doesn't add anything to the deck except for being a 1CMC green creature. Guess what? Essence Warden is also a 1CMC green creature and it's very synergystic with everything else. So, I made some changes to the 75 and it looks like this now:
Deck has been running much better. After some major testing, the main problem with this deck is that it mulligans so bad... Still, aggro decks are very easy matchups, so you can focus on the hard stuff (like UB Teachings and Tron). If you play smart and learn how the deck works, you'll make a lot of 5-0's in MTGO. Give this list a spin.
Oh no! Another busted Thermo-Alchemist deck! R/G Tokens was developed by MatraMTG (YouTube channel, I'll post the videos for reference and gameplay). It's essencially an aggro-combo deck, that is very resilient and bursty. You can often deal 20~30 damage in one swing, and you can go infinite (with a little luck). This deck is very skill-intensive and very rewarding to play and master.
First of all, let me explain the deck's objective: Create a great army of tokens and swing for the win with one or two Finishers. Most token generation spells are Instants with Convoke or Creatures, so don't forget that some cards can be played in response and EOT. Both Finishers are also Instants, so you can usually keep the combat advantage.
Also, remember that Convoke spells are only cast after you pay all the costs (including tapping creatures for mana), so your Nettle Sentinel will always untap if you tap it for Convoke (because they're green). Thermo-Alchemist untaps with Instants, but it's the same idea.
Khalni Garden taps for green and creates a token, perfect. Rugged Highlands is the RG lifeland. Ash Barrens can fetch the color you need.
And those good old Basic lands, of course.
-Creatures:
Untappers: Nettle Sentinel and Thermo-Alchemist
These two are the heart of the deck. Thermo-Alchemist and Nettle Sentinel both untap when you play Sprout Swarm. If you have one untapper, you should need 8 mana/creatures to cast Sprout Swarm twice. If you have 2 Untappers, you'll need 7 mana. If you have 3, you'll need 6 mana. If you have 4 untappers, you can make INFINITE tokens. Yeah, it's THAT good.
Token Generators: Nest Invader and Mogg War Marshal
Both creatures cost 2 and make two bodies. Mogg War Marshal is a better blocker, Nest Invader is a better beater. Be aware that you'll need green mana to cast Scatter and Sprout, so playing Nest Invader first is usually the correct choice when you have both in hand.
Utility: Living Totem and Young Wolf
Living Totem is a BEAST! Actually, he's a Plant Elemental, but you get it. He can OFTEN be cast without tapping a single land. And he's obviously green, so the synergy with Nettle Sentinel is obvious. He can also put counters in your other creatures, so those can be safe from Electrickery/Shrivel, or you can make your Nest Invader/Nettle Sentinel better beaters. Young Wolf isn't so hot. But he's the next best green creature for 1 mana, after Nettle Sentinel. He also blocks like a champ.
-Spells:
Token Generators: Sprout Swarm and Scatter the Seeds
Sprout Swarm is very, very good. The more creatures you have, the more creatures you can make, it's really dirty. Scatter the Seeds is much better than Sprout Swarm in the early game, tho. Generating 3 Saprolings for 5 mana a really good turn 3~4 play. Don't forget that both spells are Instants, so you can respond to spells and abilities, and play after blockers are declared, and EOT. Pretty sweet, right?
Removal: Lightning Bolt
Every deck using Red should use this card. It's that simple.
Finishers: Dynacharge and Might of the Masses
Those are the best finishers avaliable in gruul colors. Dynacharge turns your 0/1 and 1/1 tokens into freaking murderers. With "only" 7 creatures, you can deal more than 20 damage with a single Dynacharge. Might of the Masses needs more creatures to kill, but it can also save your important creatures (like Thermo-Alchemist, Nettle Sentinel and Living Totem) from damage removal like Flame Slash and Lightning Bolt. Remember both this spells are instants, so you can pump your little (or maybe not so little) army after blockers are declared.
-Sideboard
Essence Warden: Best creature against aggressive decks. You can gain a lot of life by your own with this creature. She also triggers for your opponent creatures, making her the ultimate removal magnet. Use against red decks like RDW and Burn, against decks with Tokens like Boros Kuldotha and Soul Sisters, and aggressive decks in general like Stompy/ Delver.
Pyroblast: Sprout Swarm is really good, you must know by now. Pyroblast is here to protect your spells from Counterspells. And also kill some Delvers when they're just laying there, waiting to be eaten. Pretty good card in every red Pauper sideboard.
Flame Slash: Sometimes you need more than Lightning Bolts. Flame Slash are the next best red removal for 1 mana. Should come against decks that run 4/4s like Affinity and deck that uses a lot of Flying creatures (which we can't normally block).
Spidersilk Armor: This card is very good in this sideboard. It has two main functions: protect your creatures from Shrivel/Electrickery and make your creatures able to block flyers. The latter is not really common, unless you play a lot against Delver and White Weenie.
Electrickery: This is our nightmare. But it can also be other decks' nightmare, right? Electrickery is very good against most aggro decks.
Relic of Progenitus: Good against Gurmag Angler based decks and control that abuses the graveyard. And that Tortured Existence deck you run into once in a while.
Gleeful Sabotage: There aren't many artifacts and enchantments that make us sad. But who knows right? Better safe than sorry.
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Play this deck, you'll find it really entretaining. Really powerful. As I mentioned, this deck is very skill-intensive, so you'll need some practice before you start rolling your opponents, but be patient and smart and you'll be able to make a lot of 5-0s in MOL.
I've been trying Boros Kitty and Jeskai Kitty as well. So far, the Boros version is much more consistent because of mana stability and the raw power of Rally the Peasants. Still, Jeskai has a much better late game with Gearseeker Serpent and Mulldrifter, so it's pretty much playstyle preference between the two.
Sup dudes. Since the printing of Ash Barrens, we've found the perfect substitute for fetches in this deck (Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse really suck in aggro decks). It can tap for colorless the turn it comes in, and it can also find that color needed. Combo them with 4 Abundant Growth to fix your mana without losing card advantage, no worries.
I've been toying around with Naya Slivers with a pretty decent success:
Gemhide Sliver combo'd with Heart Sliver is ridiculous. You can dump your hand as soon as you can resolve both this dudes. It really speeds up the pace and the aggression, since your Lords can come down faster and attack the turn they're cast. This list has some ridiculous Affinity-like hands where you dump your whole hand in turn 3, and can swing with 5 4/4 Slivers the next turn.
Since you need some deck space to fix your mana and speed up things, this list lacks a little bit in protection. Apostle's Blessing was the best fit for that space, since you can cast it off any land. Extra protection comes from the board, if necessary.
Give this list a spin and tell me what you think. I'd appreciate some feedback.
I've played like 50~60 Bo3 matches with the current version of the deck. Well, the most difficult matchup is Burn and Goblins, because they can usually swarm and burn you down before you stabilize. Curse of the Piercing Heart just trashes on this deck because we take a long time to win. The best matchup is probably Elves and Mono Blue Delver because you can kill every single creature they have. GW Auras is a toss game 1 because 20% of your deck is useless against them, but postboard it gets easiler with Shrivel and Negate (I usually leave 1 Terminate to fetch with Teachings in case they run Aura Gnarlid). RUG Tron is also a good matchup, because you can control their board and save Counterspells for those Rolling Thunders.
Not really man. Creatures in Pauper hardly ever have 3 toughness (some notable exceptions: Kor Skyfisher, Aven Riftwatcher). Every other playable creature have either 1~2 toughness (inside Firebolt reach) and 4+ toughness (outside Lightning Bolt reach). And I don't really use burn into my opponent's life, 95% of my Firebolts target creatures. The recursion is better than the extra point in damage I think.
This is one variant of hard Control in Pauper. This basically means this deck takes a while to win, but makes your opponent rage in fury against all the creature removal and permission this deck packs. This deck has a lot of positive matchups, because in this format people use mostly creatures as their gameplan.
The Grixis colour trinity is perfect for this deck's goal, which is removing every single threat that drops in the battlefield. Red and Black are the perfect killing combination, and backed up by blue's consistency and card advantage, makes this deck one of the hardest decks to play, because you need to manage your mana in early turns and try to estabilize the board position as the games develops. This deck is fun because it is the opposite of linear. Every turn you have to figure out what's the best possible play.
Lands:
I use Swiftwater and Backwater as main lands because they provide blue mana and gives 1 life, which is pretty important in this deck. Evolving Wilds is the fetchland, and the single Bojuka Bog is relevant in sometimes, but it can be replaced by something else.
Win Conditions:
Gurmag Angler is the perfect critter in Pauper. A giant 5/5 body with a relative easy cost to play in the midgame. This is your main threat if you want to win the game as fast as possible. Curse of the Bloody Tome is the second win condition and the slower one. This takes a while to win you the game, but it's effective against most decks. Only green and white decks can remove it consistently.
Draw Spells:
Preordain is the best cantrip for card filtering. Accumulated Knowledge is great, and it gets better as the games drag out (our main gameplan).
Removal:
Firebolt is the best removal sorcery in Pauper, as it can be used twice for value. This card is extremely important for this deck, as it deals with early threats from your opponent's side. Chainer's Edict follows the same reasoning, cheap removal that's re-usable. This card is great against decks with few creatures like Tron and GW Auras. Terminate is the best creature removal in the format. Electrickery and Diabolic Edict are silver bullets that can be found with Mystical Teachings, and can be important in some cases.
Permission:
4 Counterspell is a staple in this format, play no less than 4. Exclude is the second best permission, as it counters your opponent's threats and gives you a draw.
Tutor and Utility:
2 Pristine Talisman is ESSENTIAL in this deck, but 2 is the golden number. This card makes you gain 1 life every turn, while helping you with additional mana. Don't cut this card if you expect to win against Burn or Goblins. Mystical Teaching can be upped to 2 in numbers, maybe cut an Exclude for it. It's the basic tutor for instants in Pauper, it can save you from almost any situation if you have the mana avaliable.
Sideboard:
This one is pretty straight foward... Pyroblast because Mono Blue Delver is probably the most common deck in Pauper (and one of the strongest, also). Negate to replace your removal against decks where you don't need removal, like GW Auras, Burn and some other combo stuff. Crypt Incursion is ESSENTIAL in the sideboard, as it can help you recover lots of life after removing all your opponent's creatures. Also great against decks that abuse the graveyard recursion like Grim Harvest and Tortured Existence decks. Shattering Pulse is great against affinity, as it is recursive by nature and can be fetched with Teachings. Shrivel is another great card against GW Auras and swarm decks like Goblins and Elves. The extra Curse of the Bloody Tome comes when you need to speed up the kill, and against other Control decks as well. Syphon Life is my personal choice for an alternate win condition that helps you gain some life when you're in trouble.
@bmp I haven't been able to make a detailed matchup analysis yet due to lack of time (and I haven't been playing magic as much as I would want). Basically, in my experience, the hardest matchups are Goblins and MBC. Goblins has a really fast clock, this deck needs time to setup. MBC is hard if the player knows what he's doing. A well timed removal can stop the combo dead, and Wrench Mind also hurts.
I play 3 Mnemonic Wall because it's an integral part of the combo. Often I was able to draw 10~15 cards in one turn, but couldn't find Mnemonic Wall to make the loops and just had to ship the turn. The possible drawback is opening with 2 of them in your hand, very annoying indeed.
20 Lands has been enough, sometimes I have to mulligan because of Aqueduct and Chancery being my only lands, but that's fine. It has been working.
@Obermeir Graveyard hate is only relevant in the combo turn, so I suggest something instant speed or that can respond at instant speed (like Relic of Progenitus, Nihil Spellbomb, Faerie Macabre). The key to beat this deck is to either be lightning fast and finish before the deck can establish the mana, or fight with discard and hold your removal to an important time (for example: in respose to Snap into Cloud of Faeries, or responding Ghostly Flicker targeting Mnemonic Wall).
I couldn't find a thread for this deck, so I decided to start one:
Esper Familiar Combo is a UWB Combo deck that relies on the "Familiar" creatures to reduce the cost of your blue spells to fuel a powerful draw engine that ultimately mills your foe's deck. This deck has evolved from the old Temporal Fissure Storm (that has pretty much the same engine, but a less powerful finisher [well, Temporal Fissure is banned now]).
Card choices:
Core: Cloud of Faeries - this is one of the combo pieces, use Cloud of Faeries to untap lands (mainly those who produce UB or UW). Don't forget to always tap both lands before resolving Cloud of Faeries.
Snap - This one is awesome, bounce your foe's creatures to gain tempo to establish your mana, or to loop Cloud of Faeries and generate a lot of mana. Again, don't forget to tap both lands before resolving Snap.
Sunscape Familiar - This is the main Familiar in the deck. As a 0/3 Wall, this creature can hold off aggro decks, to buy you some time to estabilish your manabase and card filtering.
Nightscape Familiar - This is the second Familiar. He regenerates, which can be relevant sometimes, but as a 1/1, he's much weaker.
Mnemonic Wall - This one is a core card as well. You pretty much can't win without it. Use it to recover Ghostly Flicker (or any other important card) to make the loop going. I play this over Archeomancer for two reasons: Once you have 4 Familiars out (a pretty dream situation, actually), this card only costs 1 (Archeomancer would cost 2), and 0/4 Defender is more useful than a 1/2.
Sage's Row Denizen - This one is the main kill condition. Once you've established the infinite combo flicking blue creatures (usually Mnemonic Wall and Cloud of Faeries/Mulldrifter), you can mill your opponent's deck in the spot.
Ghostly Flicker - This card allows the infinite loops with Mnemonic Wall. On your combo turn, one of the targets must always be Mnemonic Wall, as it will be able to recover Ghostly Flicker, and the second target should be Cloud of Faeries to add infinite mana or Mulldrifter to draw your deck (or even Lone Missionary out of the sideboard, to gain infinite life).
Dimir Aqueduct - UB tapping land, necessary for the combo with Cloud of Faries and Snap
Draw Engine: Compulsive Research - On your combo turn, any land after your land drop is irrelevant, so use this card to full potential. Probably the best draw spell in the deck.
Mulldrifter - This card is a staple in pauper for a good reason. In this deck, he's a freaking beast. Evoke is a alternative manacost, so you can also reduce Evoke costs with the Familiar creatures. If you have 2 Familiar out, Evoke Mulldrifter for 1 mana and draw 2 cards (Ancestral Recall much?)
Preordain - This card is the best at filtering our topdecks, as well as sculpting our hand in the early turns.
Foresee - This card is a powerful Preordain, that gets much cheaper once you got some Familiars.
Deep Analysis - DA is awesome, Flashback being an alternative cost also gets reduced by Familiars, don't forget to use this.
Utility: Reaping the Graves - This card is necessary in the maindeck. You can't win without Sage's Row Denizen (unless you plan to attack with Mulldrifters for the win, lol). If Sage gets discarded or killed in any case, Reaping the Graves allows you to recover him, as well as evoked Mulldrifters.
Sideboard: Lone Missionary - Gaining 4 life and a blocker is pretty necessary against fast aggro decks like Goblins and Mono Green Aggro. Also great synergy with Ghostly Flicker.
Duress - Take out that removal spell or Counterspell that will break your combo. Great against control decks.
Dispel - Also against removal and Counterspells, but fighting on the stack.
Hydroblast - Against Goblins/Burn, probably our worst matchup.
Prismatic Strands - Against any aggro, Strands can also mess up some combos like Kiln Fiend, etc.
Capsize - Awesome sideboard card against control decks. Also a similiar with Temporal Fissure, once you have enough mana, just bounce your foe's board entirely.
Sign in Blood is WAY better than Treasure Cruise. Even if I were playing UB Control, I'd rather play Mulldrifter and Sign in Blood before Treasure Cruise. That card fits better Delver variants and some sort of combo.
Guys, transformational sideboards are bad, don't do it.
@LED vs LEDless lists
I play LED version, and it has been pretty good. If I were to play LEDless, in a Deathrite Shaman era, I'd START the deck with 4 Firestorm maindeck, which doubles in Discard Outlet + Removal.
It's basically Quadlazer, but I swapped Putrid Imps for Street Wraith, and 1 Breakthrough for an extra land. Street Wraith has been awesome. It's black for Ichorid fodder, doesn't require mana, and can mess up with Deathrite Shaman. The only drawback is that the lack of Putrid Imp might make you go for DDD plan on the draw against some matches.
Don't you like Gitaxian Probe? I think it's pretty awesome in this deck. "Free" pump, cantrips, and gives us information. Knowing what your opponent's hand opens up lines of play.
Mizzium Skin is THE nuts in this deck. Apostle's Blessing gives protection, but costing 2 life in a deck that already runs 4 Gitaxian Probes seems pretty bad against fast aggro. Mizzum Skin can also save more creatures with Overload. People tend to hold back removal against this deck in order to X-for-1 against us (casting removal in response to our buffs). Mizzium Skin has caught many people with their pants off.
I find it better than permission effects, because our game 1 is basically getting the damage through. Post-board, when people usually overload with removal, Dispel and the Elemental Blats can take care of other dangerous stuff.
Stormbound Geist and Spell Pierce are great against them.
Actually, to win MBC, you should aim your counters to two stuff: Removal to your Delver (mainly the lifegain ones), and these three creatures: Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Crypt Rats and Cuombajj Witches.
The key to win this match is to put pressure early, while they're developing their mana and drawing off Sign in Blood, then counter everything that's relevant.
Bounce is actually terrible against them. All their creatures except Crypt and Cuombajj have ETB triggers, so you have to fight them in the stack, rather than in play.
I also was very unpleased with Young Wolf, since doesn't add anything to the deck except for being a 1CMC green creature. Guess what? Essence Warden is also a 1CMC green creature and it's very synergystic with everything else. So, I made some changes to the 75 and it looks like this now:
4 Rugged Highlands
4 Khalni Garden
4 Forest
5 Mountain
2 Ash Barrens
Creatures [22]
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Thermo-Alchemist
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Nest Invader
4 Living Totem
2 Essence Warden
4 Scatter the Seeds
4 Sprout Swarm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Dynacharge
3 Might of the Masses
4 Impact Tremors
2 Essence Warden
2 Flame Slash
2 Electrickery
2 Spidersilk Armor
1 Moment's Peace
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Gleeful Sabotage
Deck has been running much better. After some major testing, the main problem with this deck is that it mulligans so bad... Still, aggro decks are very easy matchups, so you can focus on the hard stuff (like UB Teachings and Tron). If you play smart and learn how the deck works, you'll make a lot of 5-0's in MTGO. Give this list a spin.
Oh no! Another busted Thermo-Alchemist deck! R/G Tokens was developed by MatraMTG (YouTube channel, I'll post the videos for reference and gameplay). It's essencially an aggro-combo deck, that is very resilient and bursty. You can often deal 20~30 damage in one swing, and you can go infinite (with a little luck). This deck is very skill-intensive and very rewarding to play and master.
First of all, let me explain the deck's objective: Create a great army of tokens and swing for the win with one or two Finishers. Most token generation spells are Instants with Convoke or Creatures, so don't forget that some cards can be played in response and EOT. Both Finishers are also Instants, so you can usually keep the combat advantage.
Also, remember that Convoke spells are only cast after you pay all the costs (including tapping creatures for mana), so your Nettle Sentinel will always untap if you tap it for Convoke (because they're green). Thermo-Alchemist untaps with Instants, but it's the same idea.
The list:
Lands [19]
4 Khalni Garden
4 Rugged Highlands
5 Mountain
4 Forest
2 Ash Barrens
Creatures [22]
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Thermo-Alchemist
4 Nest Invader
4 Mogg War Marshal
2 Young Wolf
4 Sprout Swarm
4 Scatter the Seeds
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Dynacharge
3 Might of the Masses
4 Essence Warden
3 Pyroblast
2 Electrickery
2 Spidersilk Armor
2 Flame Slash
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Gleeful Sabotage
-Mana Base:
Khalni Garden taps for green and creates a token, perfect.
Rugged Highlands is the RG lifeland.
Ash Barrens can fetch the color you need.
And those good old Basic lands, of course.
-Creatures:
Untappers:
Nettle Sentinel and Thermo-Alchemist
These two are the heart of the deck. Thermo-Alchemist and Nettle Sentinel both untap when you play Sprout Swarm. If you have one untapper, you should need 8 mana/creatures to cast Sprout Swarm twice. If you have 2 Untappers, you'll need 7 mana. If you have 3, you'll need 6 mana. If you have 4 untappers, you can make INFINITE tokens. Yeah, it's THAT good.
Token Generators:
Nest Invader and Mogg War Marshal
Both creatures cost 2 and make two bodies. Mogg War Marshal is a better blocker, Nest Invader is a better beater. Be aware that you'll need green mana to cast Scatter and Sprout, so playing Nest Invader first is usually the correct choice when you have both in hand.
Utility:
Living Totem and Young Wolf
Living Totem is a BEAST! Actually, he's a Plant Elemental, but you get it. He can OFTEN be cast without tapping a single land. And he's obviously green, so the synergy with Nettle Sentinel is obvious. He can also put counters in your other creatures, so those can be safe from Electrickery/Shrivel, or you can make your Nest Invader/Nettle Sentinel better beaters. Young Wolf isn't so hot. But he's the next best green creature for 1 mana, after Nettle Sentinel. He also blocks like a champ.
-Spells:
Token Generators:
Sprout Swarm and Scatter the Seeds
Sprout Swarm is very, very good. The more creatures you have, the more creatures you can make, it's really dirty. Scatter the Seeds is much better than Sprout Swarm in the early game, tho. Generating 3 Saprolings for 5 mana a really good turn 3~4 play. Don't forget that both spells are Instants, so you can respond to spells and abilities, and play after blockers are declared, and EOT. Pretty sweet, right?
Removal:
Lightning Bolt
Every deck using Red should use this card. It's that simple.
Finishers:
Dynacharge and Might of the Masses
Those are the best finishers avaliable in gruul colors. Dynacharge turns your 0/1 and 1/1 tokens into freaking murderers. With "only" 7 creatures, you can deal more than 20 damage with a single Dynacharge. Might of the Masses needs more creatures to kill, but it can also save your important creatures (like Thermo-Alchemist, Nettle Sentinel and Living Totem) from damage removal like Flame Slash and Lightning Bolt. Remember both this spells are instants, so you can pump your little (or maybe not so little) army after blockers are declared.
-Sideboard
Essence Warden: Best creature against aggressive decks. You can gain a lot of life by your own with this creature. She also triggers for your opponent creatures, making her the ultimate removal magnet. Use against red decks like RDW and Burn, against decks with Tokens like Boros Kuldotha and Soul Sisters, and aggressive decks in general like Stompy/ Delver.
Pyroblast: Sprout Swarm is really good, you must know by now. Pyroblast is here to protect your spells from Counterspells. And also kill some Delvers when they're just laying there, waiting to be eaten. Pretty good card in every red Pauper sideboard.
Flame Slash: Sometimes you need more than Lightning Bolts. Flame Slash are the next best red removal for 1 mana. Should come against decks that run 4/4s like Affinity and deck that uses a lot of Flying creatures (which we can't normally block).
Spidersilk Armor: This card is very good in this sideboard. It has two main functions: protect your creatures from Shrivel/Electrickery and make your creatures able to block flyers. The latter is not really common, unless you play a lot against Delver and White Weenie.
Electrickery: This is our nightmare. But it can also be other decks' nightmare, right? Electrickery is very good against most aggro decks.
Relic of Progenitus: Good against Gurmag Angler based decks and control that abuses the graveyard. And that Tortured Existence deck you run into once in a while.
Gleeful Sabotage: There aren't many artifacts and enchantments that make us sad. But who knows right? Better safe than sorry.
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Play this deck, you'll find it really entretaining. Really powerful. As I mentioned, this deck is very skill-intensive, so you'll need some practice before you start rolling your opponents, but be patient and smart and you'll be able to make a lot of 5-0s in MOL.
MatraMTG's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-31CdZh6CIq6NdebpjU-sA
Thanks for reading!
Lands [21]
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
3 Boros Garrison
3 Wind-Scarred Crag
3 Radiant Fountain
2 Secluded Steppe
2 Forgotten Cave
Creatures [12]
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Glint Hawk
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Galvanic Blast
1 Firebolt
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Battle Screech
3 Kuldotha Rebirth
2 Rally the Peasants
3 Molten Rain
2 Prismatic Strands
2 Pyroblast
2 Standard Bearer
2 Lone Missionary
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Patrician's Scorn
1 Relic of Progenitus
Lands [22]
4 Ancient Den
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Tranquil Cove
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Boros Garrison
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Azorius Chancery
2 Secluded Steppe
2 Forgotten Cave
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Glint Hawk
4 Kor Skyfisher
3 Mulldrifter
3 Gearseeker Serpent
Spells [20]
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Kuldotha Rebirth
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Negate
3 Gorilla Shaman
2 Pyroblast
1 Hydroblast
2 Standard Bearer
1 Leave no Trace
2 Electrickery
1 Relic of Progenitus
I've been toying around with Naya Slivers with a pretty decent success:
9 Forest
7 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Ash Barrens
Creatures [32]
4 Sinew Sliver
4 Predatory Slivers
4 Muscle Sliver
4 Plated Sliver
4 Gemhide Sliver
4 Heart Sliver
4 Virulent Sliver
3 Sidewinder Sliver
1 Spinneret Sliver
4 Abundant Growth
2 Hive Stirrings
2 Apostle's Blessing
3 Crimson Acolyte
3 Dawn Charm
3 Natural State
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Spinneret Sliver
1 Hive Stirrings
1 Relic of Progenitus
Gemhide Sliver combo'd with Heart Sliver is ridiculous. You can dump your hand as soon as you can resolve both this dudes. It really speeds up the pace and the aggression, since your Lords can come down faster and attack the turn they're cast. This list has some ridiculous Affinity-like hands where you dump your whole hand in turn 3, and can swing with 5 4/4 Slivers the next turn.
Since you need some deck space to fix your mana and speed up things, this list lacks a little bit in protection. Apostle's Blessing was the best fit for that space, since you can cast it off any land. Extra protection comes from the board, if necessary.
Give this list a spin and tell me what you think. I'd appreciate some feedback.
This is one variant of hard Control in Pauper. This basically means this deck takes a while to win, but makes your opponent rage in fury against all the creature removal and permission this deck packs. This deck has a lot of positive matchups, because in this format people use mostly creatures as their gameplan.
The Grixis colour trinity is perfect for this deck's goal, which is removing every single threat that drops in the battlefield. Red and Black are the perfect killing combination, and backed up by blue's consistency and card advantage, makes this deck one of the hardest decks to play, because you need to manage your mana in early turns and try to estabilize the board position as the games develops. This deck is fun because it is the opposite of linear. Every turn you have to figure out what's the best possible play.
This is my list, for reference:
4 Dismal Backwater
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Bloodfell Caves
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Island
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Bojuka Bog
Win Conditions [7]
4 Gurmag Angler
3 Curse of the Bloody Tome
4 Preordain
4 Accumulated Knowledge
Permission [8]
4 Counterspell
4 Exclude
Removal [12]
4 Firebolt
4 Chainer's Edict
2 Terminate
1 Electrickery
1 Diabolic Edict
Tutor and Utility [3]
2 Pristine Talisman
1 Mystical Teachings
4 Pyroblast
4 Negate
3 Crypt Incursion
1 Curse of the Bloody Tome
1 Shrivel
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Syphon Life
Card choices:
Lands:
I use Swiftwater and Backwater as main lands because they provide blue mana and gives 1 life, which is pretty important in this deck. Evolving Wilds is the fetchland, and the single Bojuka Bog is relevant in sometimes, but it can be replaced by something else.
Other card options: Terramorphic Expanse, Izzet Boilerworks, Dimir Aqueduct, Radiant Fountain
Win Conditions:
Gurmag Angler is the perfect critter in Pauper. A giant 5/5 body with a relative easy cost to play in the midgame. This is your main threat if you want to win the game as fast as possible. Curse of the Bloody Tome is the second win condition and the slower one. This takes a while to win you the game, but it's effective against most decks. Only green and white decks can remove it consistently.
Other card options: Mulldrifter, Sultai Scavenger, Delver of Secrets
Draw Spells:
Preordain is the best cantrip for card filtering. Accumulated Knowledge is great, and it gets better as the games drag out (our main gameplan).
Other card options: Brainstorm, Ponder, Think Twice, Deep Analysis
Removal:
Firebolt is the best removal sorcery in Pauper, as it can be used twice for value. This card is extremely important for this deck, as it deals with early threats from your opponent's side. Chainer's Edict follows the same reasoning, cheap removal that's re-usable. This card is great against decks with few creatures like Tron and GW Auras. Terminate is the best creature removal in the format. Electrickery and Diabolic Edict are silver bullets that can be found with Mystical Teachings, and can be important in some cases.
Other card options: Lightning Bolt, Doom Blade, Magma Spray, Electrostatic Bolt, Wail of the Nim, Strangling Soot, Agony Warp, Ghastly Demise
Permission:
4 Counterspell is a staple in this format, play no less than 4. Exclude is the second best permission, as it counters your opponent's threats and gives you a draw.
Other card options: Mana Leak, Rune Snag, Deprive
Tutor and Utility:
2 Pristine Talisman is ESSENTIAL in this deck, but 2 is the golden number. This card makes you gain 1 life every turn, while helping you with additional mana. Don't cut this card if you expect to win against Burn or Goblins. Mystical Teaching can be upped to 2 in numbers, maybe cut an Exclude for it. It's the basic tutor for instants in Pauper, it can save you from almost any situation if you have the mana avaliable.
Other card options: Forbidden Alchemy
Sideboard:
This one is pretty straight foward... Pyroblast because Mono Blue Delver is probably the most common deck in Pauper (and one of the strongest, also). Negate to replace your removal against decks where you don't need removal, like GW Auras, Burn and some other combo stuff. Crypt Incursion is ESSENTIAL in the sideboard, as it can help you recover lots of life after removing all your opponent's creatures. Also great against decks that abuse the graveyard recursion like Grim Harvest and Tortured Existence decks. Shattering Pulse is great against affinity, as it is recursive by nature and can be fetched with Teachings. Shrivel is another great card against GW Auras and swarm decks like Goblins and Elves. The extra Curse of the Bloody Tome comes when you need to speed up the kill, and against other Control decks as well. Syphon Life is my personal choice for an alternate win condition that helps you gain some life when you're in trouble.
Other card options: Hydroblast, Gorilla Shaman, Echoing Truth
Give this deck a try, you'll be surprised how good it is.
I play 3 Mnemonic Wall because it's an integral part of the combo. Often I was able to draw 10~15 cards in one turn, but couldn't find Mnemonic Wall to make the loops and just had to ship the turn. The possible drawback is opening with 2 of them in your hand, very annoying indeed.
20 Lands has been enough, sometimes I have to mulligan because of Aqueduct and Chancery being my only lands, but that's fine. It has been working.
@Obermeir Graveyard hate is only relevant in the combo turn, so I suggest something instant speed or that can respond at instant speed (like Relic of Progenitus, Nihil Spellbomb, Faerie Macabre). The key to beat this deck is to either be lightning fast and finish before the deck can establish the mana, or fight with discard and hold your removal to an important time (for example: in respose to Snap into Cloud of Faeries, or responding Ghostly Flicker targeting Mnemonic Wall).
Esper Familiar Combo is a UWB Combo deck that relies on the "Familiar" creatures to reduce the cost of your blue spells to fuel a powerful draw engine that ultimately mills your foe's deck. This deck has evolved from the old Temporal Fissure Storm (that has pretty much the same engine, but a less powerful finisher [well, Temporal Fissure is banned now]).
Card choices:
Core:
Cloud of Faeries - this is one of the combo pieces, use Cloud of Faeries to untap lands (mainly those who produce UB or UW). Don't forget to always tap both lands before resolving Cloud of Faeries.
Snap - This one is awesome, bounce your foe's creatures to gain tempo to establish your mana, or to loop Cloud of Faeries and generate a lot of mana. Again, don't forget to tap both lands before resolving Snap.
Sunscape Familiar - This is the main Familiar in the deck. As a 0/3 Wall, this creature can hold off aggro decks, to buy you some time to estabilish your manabase and card filtering.
Nightscape Familiar - This is the second Familiar. He regenerates, which can be relevant sometimes, but as a 1/1, he's much weaker.
Mnemonic Wall - This one is a core card as well. You pretty much can't win without it. Use it to recover Ghostly Flicker (or any other important card) to make the loop going. I play this over Archeomancer for two reasons: Once you have 4 Familiars out (a pretty dream situation, actually), this card only costs 1 (Archeomancer would cost 2), and 0/4 Defender is more useful than a 1/2.
Sage's Row Denizen - This one is the main kill condition. Once you've established the infinite combo flicking blue creatures (usually Mnemonic Wall and Cloud of Faeries/Mulldrifter), you can mill your opponent's deck in the spot.
Ghostly Flicker - This card allows the infinite loops with Mnemonic Wall. On your combo turn, one of the targets must always be Mnemonic Wall, as it will be able to recover Ghostly Flicker, and the second target should be Cloud of Faeries to add infinite mana or Mulldrifter to draw your deck (or even Lone Missionary out of the sideboard, to gain infinite life).
Dimir Aqueduct - UB tapping land, necessary for the combo with Cloud of Faries and Snap
Azorious Chancery - UW tapping land, read above.
Draw Engine:
Compulsive Research - On your combo turn, any land after your land drop is irrelevant, so use this card to full potential. Probably the best draw spell in the deck.
Mulldrifter - This card is a staple in pauper for a good reason. In this deck, he's a freaking beast. Evoke is a alternative manacost, so you can also reduce Evoke costs with the Familiar creatures. If you have 2 Familiar out, Evoke Mulldrifter for 1 mana and draw 2 cards (Ancestral Recall much?)
Preordain - This card is the best at filtering our topdecks, as well as sculpting our hand in the early turns.
Foresee - This card is a powerful Preordain, that gets much cheaper once you got some Familiars.
Deep Analysis - DA is awesome, Flashback being an alternative cost also gets reduced by Familiars, don't forget to use this.
Utility:
Reaping the Graves - This card is necessary in the maindeck. You can't win without Sage's Row Denizen (unless you plan to attack with Mulldrifters for the win, lol). If Sage gets discarded or killed in any case, Reaping the Graves allows you to recover him, as well as evoked Mulldrifters.
Sideboard:
Lone Missionary - Gaining 4 life and a blocker is pretty necessary against fast aggro decks like Goblins and Mono Green Aggro. Also great synergy with Ghostly Flicker.
Duress - Take out that removal spell or Counterspell that will break your combo. Great against control decks.
Dispel - Also against removal and Counterspells, but fighting on the stack.
Hydroblast - Against Goblins/Burn, probably our worst matchup.
Prismatic Strands - Against any aggro, Strands can also mess up some combos like Kiln Fiend, etc.
Capsize - Awesome sideboard card against control decks. Also a similiar with Temporal Fissure, once you have enough mana, just bounce your foe's board entirely.
Echoing Decay - Good against aggro and token decks.
My latest list is the following:
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Terramorphic Expanse
6 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Dimir Aqueduct
3 Azorius Chancery
Creatures [21]
4 Cloud of Faries
4 Mulldrifter
4 Sunscape Familiar
3 Nightscape Familiar
3 Mnemonic Wall
2 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Sage's Row Denizen
4 Preordain
4 Compulsive Research
4 Snap
3 Ghostly Flicker
2 Foresee
1 Deep Analysis
1 Reaping the Graves
3 Hydroblast
3 Lone Missionary
3 Duress
2 Dispel
2 Echoing Decay
1 Prismatic Strands
1 Capsize
Later i'll make some matchup analysis and cards that didn't make the cut for maindeck.
Thanks for Reading
@LED vs LEDless lists
I play LED version, and it has been pretty good. If I were to play LEDless, in a Deathrite Shaman era, I'd START the deck with 4 Firestorm maindeck, which doubles in Discard Outlet + Removal.
Something like this:
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mana Confluence
4 Cephalid Coliseum
2 City of Brass
Dredgers [12]
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Thug
Draw Spells [11]
4 Careful Study
4 Faithless Looting
3 Breakthrough
4 Firestorm
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Bridge from Below
1 Dread Return
Creatures [10]
3 Putrid Imp
4 Narcomoeba
3 Ichorid
4 Nature's Claim
3 Unmask (Thoughtseize?)
2 Wispmare
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Dread Return
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Ancient Grudge
As for my Dredge list, I play the following:
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Mana Confluence
4 Cephalid Coliseum
1 City of Brass
Dredgers [12]
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Thug
Creatures [12]
4 Ichorid
4 Street Wraith
4 Narcomoeba
4 Faithless Looting
4 Careful Study
3 Breakthrough
Good Stuff [12]
4 Bridge from Below
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Firestorm
3 Nature's Claim
2 Wispmare
2 Ingot Chewer
2 Dread Return
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 City of Brass
It's basically Quadlazer, but I swapped Putrid Imps for Street Wraith, and 1 Breakthrough for an extra land. Street Wraith has been awesome. It's black for Ichorid fodder, doesn't require mana, and can mess up with Deathrite Shaman. The only drawback is that the lack of Putrid Imp might make you go for DDD plan on the draw against some matches.
Don't you like Gitaxian Probe? I think it's pretty awesome in this deck. "Free" pump, cantrips, and gives us information. Knowing what your opponent's hand opens up lines of play.
My list:
4 Izzet Guildgate
8 Island
6 Mountain
Creatures [12]
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Nivix Cyclops
4 Kiln Fiend
Spells [30]
4 Assault Strobe
4 Artful Dodge
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mizzium Skin
1 Shadow Rift
1 Reckless Charge
3 Stormbound Geist
2 Dispel
2 Pyroblast
2 Hydroblast
2 Gorilla Shaman
2 Electrickery
2 Flaring Pain
Mizzium Skin is THE nuts in this deck. Apostle's Blessing gives protection, but costing 2 life in a deck that already runs 4 Gitaxian Probes seems pretty bad against fast aggro. Mizzum Skin can also save more creatures with Overload. People tend to hold back removal against this deck in order to X-for-1 against us (casting removal in response to our buffs). Mizzium Skin has caught many people with their pants off.
I find it better than permission effects, because our game 1 is basically getting the damage through. Post-board, when people usually overload with removal, Dispel and the Elemental Blats can take care of other dangerous stuff.
Actually, to win MBC, you should aim your counters to two stuff: Removal to your Delver (mainly the lifegain ones), and these three creatures: Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Crypt Rats and Cuombajj Witches.
The key to win this match is to put pressure early, while they're developing their mana and drawing off Sign in Blood, then counter everything that's relevant.
Bounce is actually terrible against them. All their creatures except Crypt and Cuombajj have ETB triggers, so you have to fight them in the stack, rather than in play.
Lands [17]
17 Island
Creatures [11]
4 Cloud of Faeries
3 Archeomancer
3 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Sage's Row Denizen
Spells [32]
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Snap
4 High Tide
4 Ponder
4 Impulse
3 Ideas Unbound
3 Ghostly Flicker
2 Deep Analysis
2 Rewind
1 Oon's Grace
1 Capsize
Sideboard [15]
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Hydroblast
3 Counterspell
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
Sideboard transforms the deck into Delver Blue, which can be nice against some matchups.