The final Pauper Playoff for 2019 took place on December 1st and Elves won the day. C_is_fore_cookie is a master of the archetype and went through Izzet Faeries, Azorius Familairs, and Flicker Tron on their way to the winner’s circle.
There are some notable omissions in this list – Nettle Sentinel for one – as well as relying on Viridian Longbow rather than Harsh Sustenance to get the job done against Moment’s Peace and Stonehorn Dignitary. Cookie also upped the land count to a whopping 14 and came prepared to defend their army with Hydroblast for sweepers, Spidersilk Armor for sweepers, and Wrap in Vigor for Sweepers. Cookie also opted to eschew Winding Way in favor of four Lead the Stampede and four Distant Melody, possibly in deference to their creature-less sideboard.
The rest of the Top 16 broke down along fairly standard lines. Tron was the most popular archetype, while it was slightly less successful than Boros Monarch (which had the lone 7-0 record). That Boros Monarch list also omitted Alchemist’s Vial entirely for other artifacts and added a copy of Gurmag Angler as a way to close out games.
After a week with almost no Tron in the Top 32, four copies made it to the Top 16, split between Top 8 and Top 16. Clearly the deck is still good, as when the stakes were higher it came out of hiding. And while Elves did win the day it remains a vulnerable strategy.
Moving into this weekend, I would be looking to beat both Boros Monarch and Tron. Considering that Affinity has a fine matchup with both I would also be looking for a way to combat the machine. No questions asked removal like Doom Blade look good at the moment if and only if you can back it up with a reasonable clock.
NerdtotheCore 