Want to learn more about the metrics I use in tracking the metagame? You can find an explainer here.
The other day I was driving my child to a birthday party. Given the circumstances of alternate side parking I was also driving their friend and said friend’s father. My phone was connected to the speaker and my kid asked me to play “Everything is Alright“. The other father, misunderstanding the request, burst into Bob Marley. T on my commute to work I started to wonder about my taste in music. One friend described it as “depressed dad” music – punk and adjacent genres from the late 80s until today – but something occurred to me as a song ostensibly written for teenagers blared in my ears. The music I listen to describes dreams and the way things could be, even if they aren’t there yet.
This describes my relationship to Pauper over the years. Following the format for nearly two decades I always saw Pauper for what it could be – what it has recently achieved. A fully realized format that is played around the world. How cool is that? And yet there’s that dissatisfied part of my brain that pokes and prods, telling me that things could be even better. Why settle? Never settle.
Okay so a lot happened in the past few weeks. It was Thanksgiving in the United States and the several days out of the office meant my body slowed down enough to be hit with a nasty cold, which knocked me out for a few days. Since our last check in there have been eight Magic Online Challenges as well as the winter iteration of Paupergeddon and Brazilian Pauper Nationals. While the stats I collect and track come from Magic Online today’s discussion will pull from the totality of events.
We start with the re-ascent of Blue Terror. Over the past few weeks the deck has put up strong numbers on the digital client and leads the field with a dozen Top 8 finishes. It also notched a Top 8 finish at Paupergeddon. Cheap threats and countermagic remain a powerful combination. So much so that Dimir builds have started to crop up again, While some of these decks lean on both Gurmag Angler and Tolarian Terror, a few stick with a single large threat and instead pad out the deck with value like Abandon Attachments and Sneaky Snacker, Thorn of the Black Rose, or Murmuring Mystic.
The surge in Blue Terror has not knocked Golgari Gardens from its number two spot. The deck continues to perform well on Magic Online but was completely absent from the Top 16s of both major paper tournaments. The midrange archetype spans two man builds – one that leans more into green for Avenging Hunter and another that plays closer to “destroy all monsters” control – but the conceit of converting material into cards remains the same. Midrange decks thrive on established metagames and while the Magic Online meta is largely stable, the size and scope of tabletop events can often mean bringing the wrong set of answers which in turn can lead to these decks stumbling.
One deck which had a fantastic showing in the physical realm was Azorius Familiars. A deck that often exists on the fringe of the digital landscape due to the number of clicks needed to win the game, Familiars is a powerhouse. Using Ghostly Flicker or Ephemerate with Archaeomancer, the strategy can see a ton of cards while also creating a dominating board position thanks to Murmuring Mystic. The deck also can create an abundance of mana thanks to Snap. While more vulnerable to graveyard hate than the recently banned High Tide, a skilled Familiars player can maneuver around this angle of attack. That being said there are more copies of Bojuka Bog and Relic of Progenitus running around today than at any point in my memory and any graveyard combo deck has their work cut out for them.
The last deck I want to talk about is Spy Walls. Despite being the villain of the week often during the summer, the deck has largely fallen off. Online the deck has ten total Top 32 appearances in a dozen events and has a single Top 8 to its credit this season. Whether the success of Spy was a symptom of High Tide and the lack of the other combo deck has meant more focus can be placed on Dread Return decks or the deck just needs to adapt for a new metagame remains to be seen. I know I won’t be ignoring the graveyard anytime soon.
Power Rankings
Dropped from rankings: Faeries, Rally Red, Spy Walls
10. Elves (-4)
9. Boros Snacker (Not Ranked)
8. Jund Wildfire (-1)
7. Dimir Terror (Not Ranked)
6. Madness Burn (-2)
5. Rakdos Madness (+5)
4. Azorius Familiars (Not Ranked)
3. Grixis Affinity (-2)
2. Golgari Gardens
1. Blue Terror (+4)
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