Is Magic better because of the New World Order?
The New World Order (NWO) might evoke memories of perhaps past their time Macho Man and Hulk Hogan. For Magicians, the NWO is a new design initiative discussed here. While Magic might be better as a whole, Pauper will likely suffer from the simplifying of commons. It is great for Limited and teaching players about Magic, but for those of us who game with commons, there is a worry that the NWO is a sign that fewer cards will make an impact.
All that being said, simpler does not mean less powerful. If M13 is any indication, then the commons in the pipeline might not be format defining but rather serve to give certain decks a serious shot in the arm.
Ajani’s Sunstriker is certainly a pushed card. A 2/2 lifelink for two is nothing to sneeze at. If Goblins was the best deck in the format, this would be the go-to two-drop for white decks. As it stands, white needs more from its two-drops. The competition is steep with Squadron Hawk, Loyal Cathar, and Kor Skyfisher all providing some form of card advantage. Sunstriker is a fine aggressive card, but unless the Pauper presents a dominant beatdown strategy (similar to Goblins), the Sunstriker will continue to ride the pine.
Attended Knight is an example of why simple does not mean less powerful. The Knight provides three power for three mana across two creatures. Unlike other token producers in white, this falls right on the curve for White Weenie style decks. However, traditional White Weenie has a plan for turn 3, and it involves casting a Razor Golem (better power to cost ratio) or a Squadron Hawk (pure card advantage). The Knight can shine, however, in the “rogue” Soldiers lists that have been floating around. These decks take the best Soldiers from White Weenie and go for Lords like Veteran Swordsmith and neat effects like Gempalm Avenger. However, these decks eschew some of the more powerful WW options like the aforementioned Hawks and Golems for more tribally synergistic options. Attended Knight can recoup some of the card advantage lost by not running Hawks, but this is not a better option than White Weenie as your creatures are pretty poor on their own.
Captain’s Call generates three tokens (and three power) for four mana at sorcery speed. White already has access to Raise the Alarm and Gather the Townsfolk, which see no play. At the same price, green has access to Ambassador Oak, which is four power spread across two creatures that sees no play either. If a deck ever arises to take advantage of tokens then Captain’s Call has a serious chance of making the cut, but as it stands there is no incentive. In Pauper, your four-mana spell better get you close to winning the game (see Tendrils of Corruption or Guardian of the Guildpact).
War Falcon is a card to get excited about. Looking at White Weenie, there are already a significant number of Soldiers and Knights that see play, including:
- Icatian Javelineers
- Doomed Traveler
- Soltari Trooper
- Kor Skyfisher
- Order of Leitbur
- Loyal Cathar
- Leonin Skyhunter
- Knight of Sursi
It does not take too much warping of a standard White Weenie list to get four of the Flyin’ Lions into the deck. Shaving some number of Razor Golems and Guardians is the likely choice in order to add the Falcon and some additional Soldiers and Knights. The reason this shift is in White Weenie’s best interest is that even if it never attacks, War Falcon can still block and trade with a flipped Delver of Secrets. This is huge, as Falcon can sneak under all the countermagic in the world by coming down turn 1. The only other one-drop in Pauper that can trade with Delver on defense is Oona’s Gatewarden, and that one does not have the advantage of being able to attack. If the right balance of creature types can be found, I fully anticipate the Flyin’ Lion to be a serious player.
Creatures (31)
- 4 Icatian Javelineers
- 3 Soltari Trooper
- 2 Benevolent Bodyguard
- 4 Kor Skyfisher
- 4 Squadron Hawk
- 1 Gideon's Lawkeeper
- 2 Doomed Traveler
- 3 Thraben Sentry
- 4 Loyal Cathar
- 4 War Falcon
Lands (22)
- 22 Plains
Spells (7)
Archaeomancer is ever-so-slightly more aggressive Mnemonic Wall. Currently, the Wall sees play in Temporal Fissure based Storm decks as a way to fetch back an important piece or constantly rebuy the Fissure using one of the Storm triggers and in certain builds of U/B Cloudpost decks as a companion to Chittering Rats and Ghostly Flicker, pulling the ultimate “flip-the-table” to deny every draw step from now until the end of the game. Archaeomancer has one big strike against it: the UU in the casting cost. Temporal Storm decks manage their mana carefully and the UU will not be a hindrance, but the deck does not gain anything from being a turn faster with the Regrow effect. The Post decks already have to stretch their mana to accommodate BB and lean heavily on Prophetic Prism. The Wall is cheaper in action thanks to the Cloudpost engine, so Archaeomancer is not likely to see heavy play. However, if a deck wants this effect at four, it can do just that now.
Bloodhunter Bat is most comparable to Blind Hunter. The Hunter saw play at the top of end decks that won via Nightsky Mimic and a Nip Gwyllion carrying an Edge of the Divinity. The fact that the Hunter triggered the Mimic and wielded the Edge well qualified it for the “helps win the game” clause of four-mana spells. Couple this with the fact that Blind Hunter could drain for an additional two thanks to haunt and it was a solid card in the right deck. Bloodhunter Bat is easier to cast but lacks haunt. It also lacks synergies with any existing decks—the most successful Rats decks want creatures that cost three or less thanks to Unearth—and is too slow currently to make an impact. Black currently lacks the tools for a true control deck (why does this sound familiar?) and if such a deck were to return, the top end would feature game-enders like Corrupt and Consume Spirit.
Liliana’s Shade is another four-drop, but this one comes with some bonuses. First, it draws a card—yes that card is a Swamp, but in Mono-Black Control, Swamps are the cards you want to be drawing often. Back in the days of player run Pauper events, I was a proponent of Twisted Abomination in Mono-Black; it helped fix mana draws early and could dominate a game late. Shade can do both of these things at the same time. Shades as win conditions are not without precedent: for a discrete moment, MBC would run Snow-Covered Swamps and Chilling Shade as an evasive and hard to kill win condition. It is not so hard to believe that Liliana’s Shade could occupy a similar spot. When coupled with copious removal, it is not hard to imagine the Shade acting as a pseudo Abyss, eating every blocker until it finally connects—similar to how Shade of Trokair used to act in White Weenie (albeit coming down due to tap outs). If black control makes a comeback, Liliana’s Shade could be a vital piece of the puzzle.
Spells (29)
Murder is a fantastic name for a card, but it costs three. There are so many other options at two in Pauper from Doom Blade to Grasp of Darkness that handle just about anything, so Murder is going to be sidelined. Even if black became a dominant color, black itself has simply better and cheaper answers for the threats.
Vile Rebirth is a great sideboard card for a problem that does not exist. Currently, the only decks that utilize the graveyard as a resource for creatures are MBC/Rats and Tortured Existence based decks—both of which lurk on the fringes of competition. Beckon Apparition exists and creates a creature with evasion. All that being said, I am still excited for Vile Rebirth. For the cost of a card, you can counter an opponent’s Unearth, putting you up two cards (while both players have spent a spell, you are up a Zombie and your opponent is down the Rat effect). This could be key in the Rats mirror, if that ever happens.
Searing Spear is another three damage spell for two mana. Burn is an outlier deck at best, but this does replace some number of Volcanic Hammers in those decks.
Smelt is not the first one-mana artifact destruction spell in red; that honor goes to Overload. Currently, decks with access to Mountains opt for either Smash to Smithereens (for damage) or Shattering Pulse (for multiple killings). That being said, being able to destroy any artifact for a lowly one mana is pretty good. As long as Affinity exists, this is a one-mana Stone Rain / Doom Blade split card. For that reason, I expect this card to find a spot in many sideboards, specifically in decks with access to Mystical Teachings and tight Storm builds (nuking opposing Chromatic Spheres seems like a nice application).
Wild Guess is a fascinating card. It is a fantastic filtering spell that is hindered by its casting cost. Currently, the decks that benefit most from Wild Guess are the various Storm combo decks that can afford to ditch a land during the kill turn. If Reanimator ever catches on as a serious deck (which is a challenge given only one strong Pauper spell in Exhume), Wild Guess becomes a great way to dump a creature into the graveyard. If the fringe Tortured Existence decks bias themselves towards Red, it is possible that Wild Guess could earn some slots over Faithless Looting. Make no mistake: the Guess is a powerful card, but it lacks a home.
Lands (14)
Spells (46)
Bond Beetle reminds me of Khalni Garden. Both are 0/1 creatures that “cost” one green. Garden saw play in certain builds of Stompy as a way to absorb some early damage (this fell out of favor with the fall of aggro). Beetle provides the same body but also one power worth of haste. Stompy can make good use of this boost as it already runs Skarrgan Pit-Skulk, and some builds lean on Wandering Wolf and Silhana Ledge-Walker. While the one-drop slot in Stompy is competitive, Bond Beetle provides a decent bonus that can also carry a Rancor if called upon. Full disclosure: I have won games by attacking with 0/1 Plant tokens for multiple turns, only to double Groundswell for victory on an unblocked, innocuous little flower.
I (along with Seth Burn) have recently made a significant change to my cube: we have gotten rid of multicolor balance. This means cards that saw little to no play (like Duergar Assailant) are cut without replacement. The cube is still maintaining a regular color balance. For now, if a gold card is good enough, it makes the cut (within reason). I am going to see how this plays out and will adjust in the future.
Here are the cards from M13 I am looking forward to testing for Pauper Cube:
Attended Knight: Three power for three mana with a relevant combat ability.
Archaeomancer: Enters the battlefield abilities are always good, and this one is no exception.
Downpour: Interesting blue combat ability.
Bloodhunter Bat: Too slow for Constructed, but a serious house in Limited.
Duty-Bound Dead: Exalted is a strong ability in my cube to help break stalemates. Black has no shortage of evasive creatures, which plays nicely with exalted. Being a one-drop is nice since it provides damage on turn 2 and pumps any turn 2 creatures. This also is not a dead drop late and can hold off one large attacker. I am a fan.
Dragon Hatchling: Strong two drop that makes use of excess Mountains.
Krenko’s Command: I do love tokens. Boros has emerged as the premier beatdown strategy in my cube thanks to tokens and Kruin Striker. Command provides redundancy with Dragon Fodder and plays nicely with both aggro and control strategies.
Searing Spear: Hey look, another great burn spell!
Bond Beetle: Trusted Forcemage has proven to be a house, but Timberland Guide has not even made the cube’s bench. I have high hopes for Bond Beetle based mostly on its status as a good one-drop.
Sentinel Spider: My cube loves Spiders. This will probably replace Plated Spider, but if the vigilance creates too many stalled game states, it might not stay for long.
For those of you keeping track, here are my recommendations for cards to definitely pick up for Pauper:
4 Ajani’s Sunstriker
4 War Falcon
4 Liliana’s Shade
4 Searing Spear
4 Smelt
4 Wild Guess
Is the New World Order a bad thing? These commons are far more elegant and simple than those that came before, but they are no less powerful (and might be stronger). While I am not thrilled with knowing I will not likely see a common pinger or Reanimation spell any time soon, if cards like Wild Guess continue to be common, I’ll be happy.
Keep slingin’ commons-
-Alex
SpikeBoyM on Magic Online
The Colors of Pauper: