If you think I’m going to link that song, you’d be sorely mistaken. Instead I want to take some time to talk about the dearth of good removal in Pauper. Do I have your attention yet? Pauper is home to some fantastic creature removal – Skred, Lightning Bolt, Cast Down, Chainer’s Edict, Snuff Out, SavageContinue reading “Pauper’s Problem with Material”
Author Archives: Alex Ullman
March 26-27 Pauper Weekend Recap
Sorry for the delay in this one folks – a busy week at work and a wedding anniversary takes precedence over my pontificating on Pauper. And the extra few days has given me some time to reflect on this Twitter post from Monday. While I believed the format to be in a good place atContinue reading “March 26-27 Pauper Weekend Recap”
March 19-20 Pauper Weekend in Review
Here’s a number: 70.83%. That’s the percentage of Top 8 decks from the Saturday and Sunday Challenges, as well as the Super Qualifier that store their card advantage on the board. These cards can be stored either in of Clue or Treasure Tokens, or in the form of Ichor Wellspring and Experimental Synthesizer. The natureContinue reading “March 19-20 Pauper Weekend in Review”
The Snow-Covered Island Problem
I’ve had this idea rattling around in my head for some time now so I decided to put it to the digital paper. If you like this kind of content, please let me know (and consider becoming a Patron) to support more writing in this vein moving forward. In a match of Pauper against anContinue reading “The Snow-Covered Island Problem”
March 12-13 Pauper Weekend Recap
Pauper just had its first set of Challenges after the most recent bans and things turned out close to expectations with Dimir Faeries having an excellent weekend (including a win on Saturday) while Grixis Affinity (winning on Sunday), Bogles, and Boros all putting up solid results. It is far too early to read too muchContinue reading “March 12-13 Pauper Weekend Recap”
One Engine Just Won’t Do
The March 5-6 Pauper Weekend Recap There were Challenges on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, but the results are now a relic thanks to Monday’s bans that will take Galvanic Relay Storm out of the format and require Affinity to reconfigure itself. The chart below represents every deck that had at least 5 Top 32Continue reading “One Engine Just Won’t Do”
The Shifting Nature of Pauper’s Card Advantage
Pauper is undergoing a radical change in the way card advantage flows and for the first time it is not clear what color is number one. In order to understand what is going on it is important to first know that for the vast majority of Pauper’s history the best way to gain card advantageContinue reading “The Shifting Nature of Pauper’s Card Advantage”
February 26-27 Pauper Weekend Recap
The February 26 and February 27 Pauper Challenges helped to clarify the current state of the format. While there is valid concern about the current Galvanic Relay Storm deck running around the format, the results are telling another cautionary tale. Rakdos decks – both Affinity and Storm – are helping to shape the format threeContinue reading “February 26-27 Pauper Weekend Recap”
February 19-20 Pauper Weekend Recap
The post-Neon Dynasty metagame is starting to take shape and would you believe a one mana artifact is once again setting the Pauper world ablaze? Saturday’s Challenge saw Rakdos Affinity split the finals with Stompy while Sunday’s Challenge was taken down by Rakdos Storm. But when we look at the top of the metagame weContinue reading “February 19-20 Pauper Weekend Recap”
February 12-13 Pauper Weekend Recap
This past weekend saw the first Pauper Challenges where Neon Dynasty was legal. The set is jam packed with power and over the Saturday and Sunday Challenges seven new cards made the Top 32 cut. In a surprise to almost no one, Moon-Circuit Hacker was the most popular Neon Dynasty card last weekend. Various FaerieContinue reading “February 12-13 Pauper Weekend Recap”
NerdtotheCore 