Deluxeicoff is a long time Pauper player and deck brewer. This past weekend they put up a Top 8 and followed it up with a 5-0 league run with one of their builds. Let’s take a gander:
There’s a lot going on in this list, all in the service for resolving 3/3s. This deck runs a minimal land count, but needs to hit one land and likely a Springleaf Drum to operate. It has no cantrips but plenty of cheap draw two effects that, ideally, can be resolved turn two. The deck can get off to some explosive starts for sure but relies on Ardent Recruit and Auriok Sunchaser to seal the deal. Still, there are only three cards in the maindeck that effectively cost more than one mana – the removal spells – and they exist to clear out the final few blockers.
Here’s my biggest concern with a deck like this: removal. A card like Gorilla Shaman or Ancient Grudge can really put a damped on your plans. This says nothing about Abrade which handles every threat and more than half the lands in this deck.
Clearly this deck can win and there is a good core here for sure. But there are a lot of pinch points here where the entire house of cards can come crumbling down. What would I do? I’d find slots for more land and swap some of the removal for Vedalken Certarchs. I would also try to find a way to leverage the Ornithopters – like Ninjas.
NerdtotheCore 