#thraben standard bearer

[mtg-art-daily]

Thraben Standard Bearer

The uncorrupted rallied under Thalia's leadership and Sigarda's banner.

Artist: Volkan Baǵa

[thecornwall]

Cornwall's Random Card of the Day #850: Thraben Standard Bearer

Thraben Standard Bearer is a common from Eldritch Moon, seen here in its Jumpstart printing.

The thing I can most point out on this guy is that he is a one-mana-cheaper version of Icatian Crier, albeit one which makes one less token. That dude was a spellshaper, and this guy basically does the same thing. Both blocks these creatures are from had Madness in them to help make the discard a bit more palatable.

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday 27: White Nickle

I’m back after a long hiatus with another edition of Tuesday Brewsday. It’s been one wild week keeping up with all the new toys pauper received from Kaldheim, as well as the fiasco that is GME & AMC stocks (you should hold and shoot for the moon btw XD). I figured after this much excitement I might as well keep the ball rolling and use this opportunity to talk about my favorite pauper deck of all time, White Weenie! It’s a deck that is very near and dear to my heart, it was my first 5-0 league finish ever recorded, and my specific build has had its share of fame thanks to Pauperganda. Without further ado, here is the deck list for White N1CKLE!

Mainboard:

4 Deftblade Elite

4 Thraben Inspector

4 Codespell Cleric

3 Battlefield Raptor

4 Kor Skyfisher

4 Squadron Hawk

3 Cavalry Drillmaster

2 Funeral Longboat

4 Cartouche of Solidarity

3 Sentinel's Eyes

4 Journey to Nowhere

1 Secluded Steppe

17 Plains

Sideboard:

3 Gut Shot

4 Mana Tithe

2 Fragmentize

3 Standard Bearer

2 Test of Faith

1 Aura Fracture

Initially, when I was designing White Nickle, I was striving for a deck that could play like a removal deck and an aggro deck in the same strategy. It couldn’t feel forced, and needed to flow organically. I took a lot of inspiration from the roles Deftblade Elite played in Heroic decks. If a player could land a Deftblate Elite and protect it, often enough the opponent would never be able to stick a relevant creature or push through damage on the ground. Heroic is great deck, but I wanted to rely on the strength of many rather than a few. When Cavalry Drillmaster was printed in M19, it flew under the radar. The only reason I took notice was because it counted as a decent attacking creature, gave Deftblade Elite some punch, and helped push through damage if I needed it. The result was a deck that played aggro and loved to beat up other aggro decks at the same time.

Fast forward a couple of years and now White Nickle has a few more toys. The deck has evolved for the better thanks to Battlefield Raptor, Codespell Cleric, Funeral Longboat, and Sentinel’s Eyes. Battlefield Raptor can outright shut faerie decks down, especially when paired up with Sentinel’s Eyes. With as many one drops the deck runs, Codespell Cleric has no problem meeting the condition to give a creature a +1/+1 counter. Let’s not forget that if you have three mana and a Skyfisher in hand, you can bounce the Cleric and recast again for that sweet value! Funeral Longboat and Sentinel’s Eyes are ways the deck can keep chugging along in the face of removal. These two cards are the main reasons behind moving away from the 2/2 fliers and adopting my beloved Squadron Hawks. I love this card in Boros Bully and it definitely deserved a home in White Nickle.

Another change I’ve had to made was to address Fiery Cannonade. Before the deck only had to worry about Electrickery which didn’t really hamper the deck at its core. A two damage sweeper is a game changer though. Since Codespell Cleric, Sentinel’s Eyes, and Cartouche of Solidarity all have vigilance in common it only felt right to include Ramosian Rally. This spell can finish out games or protect your creatures, and most of the time it’s a free spell to cast as long as you have a creature to tap. Hell, I’ve even used it like a better version of Snuff Out when I had a Deftblade Elite on the field with first strike and only one point of power away from killing the other creature. It’s another spell that feels natural when you realize just how many creatures you have on the battlefield in some games.

I’ve taken a different approach this time around when it comes to the sideboard. I’ve given up all hope of beating Tron, so I’ve ditched Last Breath and Relic of Progenitus. Now, I board in Mana Tithe and pray I can get a fast enough start and draw a Mana Tithe hoping my opponent over extends their mana. Mana Tithe is actually pretty deece in a lot of matches especially when they least expect it game 2 or 3.

Standard Bearer is my all time favorite sideboard card in a creature based white deck. This card can shut down Stompy, Heroic, Burn, Hexproof, and Elves. Maybe not all of the time everytme, but enough of a hassle for opponents to deal with for me to want to include it.

Fragmentize is handy because it hits most things you need it to early in the game, and if you’re up against Hexproof or Heroic then you can bring in Aura Fracture at the expense of your own lands.

Test of Faith is a surprise card you don’t see very often. I love it because it doesn’t just protect a creature, but helps the aggressive gameplan as well. Casting it on Deftblade Elite or Standard Bearer is just magical.

Become the predator, not the prey! Rule the battlefield with an Iron Fist and try to avoid those pesky dignitaries, cannonades, and pray for a clear day without fog. I hope you have enjoyed these blogs/articles. I’m always open to feedback and simply want to provide the best content I can. I’m always open to collaborate on a deck as well. Please visit and like/follow my Facebook page pauperpedia, a fan page dedicated to bringing you links to daily articles, videos, and podcast from other content creators covering Pauper. You can also email me at Pauperpedia@gmail.com if any of you have submissions as well. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!

[commandollar]

Pauper Commander: Extricator of Sin

(click here for the tappedout link)

I had fallen out of playing PDH for a while, mostly because I was just busy with life. With the onset of bills and such, however, I found myself falling for the format once again. This was not the first deck I recently built, but is nonetheless one of my favorites.

How the deck works: Run over your opponent with as many Eldrazi Horrors as you can create. The entire deck is fine-tuned to work with EoS’s abilities, to get Delirium as quickly as possible (I’ve managed to get Delirium on turn 3 with this deck [it was glorious!]), and start wrecking house. Cards that either have their own sacrifice ability or benefit you from going to the graveyard(there’s 10 in the deck) really make this deck flow. Artifact creatures alone make up 1/2 of Delirium, and having 8 creatures that also are artifacts (as well as one that is an enchantment creature) really speeds up the process.

Artifacts like Ichor and Mycosynth Wellspring are awesome, and an easy pick for EoS’s ETB trigger. If for some reason you don’t yet have Delirium, possibly being one card shy, a trick a friend pointed out to me (which I now frequently use) is to sacrifice a land, since EoS says you may sacrifice another permanent. You can get lands into the graveyard by other means though, namely Terramorphic Expanse/Evolving Wilds, Lunarch Mantle, and Thraben Standard Bearer. There are a flurry of instants to help both in gaining Delirium and combat. Out of the entire 99 card deck, there are 20 ways alone to draw, deck thin or scry, helping you filter through the card(s) you may need.

The game starts when this deck gets Delirium, so graveyard hate is crippling to this deck (Bojuka Bog, I’m looking at you). After that, it’s just a short hop to play EoS, and start building your horrific army. EoS flipped relies solely on sacrificing creatures, so the deck is equipped with dudes that make dudes (8), as well as all the common Populate cards (Eyes in the Skies, Rootborn Defenses, Trostani’s Judgement and Wake the Reflections) to make your life easier-and your opponents far more difficult.

How the deck plays: EoS is fairly straightforward, and has very little problem building steam. Having the tokens be 3/2′s and get vigilance when Sin turns to Flesh gives you an advantage in combat, especially when larger creatures typically cost more mana to summon and boards are often filled with 1/1′s to chump block. 

Prior to building EoS, the top PDH deck in my playgroup was a Young Pyromancer deck, tuned to drop tons of tokens early-on and overwhelming other players with burn that simultaneously created an elemental. I doubt any other deck could hope to outpace the frightening speed at which YP can generate tokens, but when facing several vigilant 3/2′s (and often a 3/5), the combat game quickly turned in my favor. Even when I don’t have EoS on field, the fact that my deck willingly throws creatures into combat to die makes others pause. 

This, however, is just based on facing the top-tier deck in our playgroup in a 1v1 setting; the deck was first tested out against others but quickly displayed the need for stronger competition. The deck has yet to be tested in a true multiplayer setting (more than three players), but it seems powerful enough to be considered a threat that the other three+ players would focus on, at least until the board thinned considerably. 

The deck has three threats or weaknesses: 1) Graveyard hate. There are about 25 cards that could be used in the format, so it’s a decent threat, including Bojuka Bog, Relic of Progenitus  Tormod’s Crypt, and Nihil Spellbomb, all which exile entire graveyards. 2) Decks focused on summoning lots of bigger creatures. While 3/2 vigilance is pretty dangerous, it simply can’t compete with a 4/4 or bigger, especially when multiple large creatures are on the field at once. 3) Flicker. Being able to bounce the tokens really shuts down the deck, and it’s hard to recover from consistent flickering.

And that is the basics of the deck! Token-based, with consistent ways to both fuel and re-fuel the commander! Like/comment/reblog to let me know what you thought about this!

What are your thoughts on EoS as a PDH Commander? Should there be any additions/removals to this deck? 

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Thraben Standard Bearer

The uncorrupted rallied under Thalia's leadership and Sigarda's banner.

Artist: Volkan Baǵa TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday 26: Eyeing Bully with Deluxeicoff

For over a month now I’ve been playing Boros Bully a lot, and have been fairly successful. I’ve topped 16 a challenge, came in third place in the Facebook league, Won a PCT event while coming in 2nd and top 8 in two others. The whole time I was thinking if there was any room for improvements and implemented some ideas. Whenever you want to make changes to a deck however, you need to go back and see what works and the reasoning behind why certain cards are in the deck. Since I wanted to write about the deck regarding this, I thought there was no better person to consult than the original deck designer himself, Deluxeicoff. I asked him four questions about the deck, but first, here is the mainboard decklist I’ve fallen in love with.

1 Sentinel's Eyes

4 Faithless Looting

4 Thraben Inspector

4 Seeker of the Way

4 Squadron Hawk

1 Guardian of the Guildpact

2 Palace Sentinels

4 Battle Screech

2 Rally the Peasants

4 Prismatic Strands

1 Firebolt

1 Electrickery

4 Lightning Bolt

2 Journey to Nowhere

1 Oblivion Ring

1 Secluded Steppe

4 Boros Garrison

6 Mountain

6 Plains

4 Wind-Scarred Crag

So what did the original creator of Bully have to say about his beloved Delver killer?

Q1: Originally you didn’t run Palace Sentinels. What was your reasoning and do you still stand by this?  

A1: Bully was an aggro deck at its start and the metagame at the time didn't have too much Tron, so using Raise the Alarm EOT had A LOT of play options/surprises and game wins...from the obvious fueling battle screech out of the blue, to blocking, to having a double answer to fling with opponents countermagic - its combination with prismatic strands was paramount and I still feel this build is the right call given the metagame and/or shifts in it.  Remember, I placed 3rd in a challenge on its debut, and was a shoe-in for the win if I had one more second.  My last round in the top 8 was vs. familiars and I timed out with lethal on the stack - MEGA frustrating... Palace Sentinels slows the deck down, but is necessary vs. Tron... but I'm still not sure since the addition of it didn't make the match THAT much better, just a bit - moreover the ability to protect monarch via strands is usually the angle.  More importantly was my lack of using Thraben Inspectors - that was a design miss on my end, I leaned heavily on sacred cats for their brutal efficiency and re-use-ability. I've liked Guaridan of the Guildpact mix with Monarch, but I'd never play more than two Palace Sentinels personally.  Just a few weeks later, I placed 2nd in the Rags to Riches tournament in Seattle using 2 Palace main. It has been awesome to see the variations of the list over the last year or so - no right answers, just cool tweaks for the given state of the game. 

Q2: Are there any new cards that would improve the deck?  

A2: From my original design, there is now an instant that does the same thing - but I feel your recent addition of one Sentinel's Eyes is very 'on-brand.'  The DNA of the deck is Faithless Looting - pitching stuff in your yard that can come back makes faithless looting feel like a cheap Treasure Cruise.  Future expansions continue to come, pay attention to abilities like retrace and embalm, escape etc..,  I feel the lack of "Seal of Fire" is a bad call in most lists - this card isn't "NEW" but it is often overlooked...once out, it is an un-counterable option to about 90% of the critters in Pauper.

Q3: What decks typically give this one a hard time? What is the strategy you find best to beat those decks?  

A3: Tron was and is always an issue...decks with recursion locks.  A combination of Monarch, Flaring Pain, graveyard hate, sheer aggro pumps and/or land destruction are all decent ways to attack, but it is usually a hard matchup...which is why I like the surprise value in Raise the Alarm/more aggro approach.  As much as I like to have a 'GOTCHA!" card - Tron is too resilient, and in the end, it is often best to be the problem.  Also, at Pauper's first ProTour LA - I went undefeated -(after a first round scoop due to my lands mysteriously vanishing and taking a loss to start.)  In that list, I ran COP Black - because Nasty's build of Gurmag/Dimir build was very popular, but I had success vs. it with that simple addition...Guardian's of the Guild don't hurt much either there :)

Q4: If WOTC let you design a card for Bully, what would it be and what would it replace?

A4:  Hmm...it would need to be a sideboard card vs. Tron...flexible and have some interaction with the graveyard.

I really enjoyed getting Deluxeicoff’s take on Boros Bully. I still remember the Rags to Riches event held by Card Kingdom in Seattle where I got to share a drink and hang out with him to play some pauper before the event started. If you ever find yourself with some free time on Saturday, Deluxeicoff broadcasts his Pauperganda show via Twitch at 9 am pst. He also has a YouTube channel, a Facebook page, and if you want to support him go donate through buymeacoffee.

So what are my hot takes on the deck and what have I tried to implement? I’ve been loving the fact that Bully can beat practically any aggro strategy out there. With the uncommonly strong (pun intended) Seeker of the Way combined with Prismatic Strands, it’s easy to recover and then take the game away through the air with Battle Screech and Rally the Peasants. Whenever I see a turn 1 island, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I have the upper hand in the match. Considering Delver decks are on the uptick and Tron is seldom seen in leagues or community run events, I’d say Bully is in a good spot right now.

Recently I’ve tried out some new cards in the deck to see if they improved upon the ole Bully on the block. I started out by moving towards a more artifact centered deck so I could run Galvanic Blast alongside Lightning Bolt. I did this by removing Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, and one Guardian of the Guildpact. My reasoning behind this was that it could give the deck more reach and have a shot a taking out Tron once they have a fog lock. In the end I didn’t really like the mashup between Monarch and Bully the deck resembled. Stumbling on mana or constantly having an underpowered blast in the face of artifact removal was harsh. I also felt like the change made some matchups worse like Affinity or UB Delver where I wish I still had Journey to Nowhere. Maybe I just cut the wrong cards to make room for Galvanic Blast, but in my opinion it just made the deck awkward.

Next I tried playing with two copies of Underworld Rage-Hound. I remembered way back when the deck played with Sanctuary Cat, it was such a great feeling to have access to a creature that not only spat in the face of removal, but pitching it to Faithless Looting never felt like a feel bad moment. The problem I ran into though was the same one that plagued the cat, there was no evasion to push through damage. Worse, having to attack every turn really took away its potential as a road block. The only positive I saw when playing Underworld Rage-Hound was when I faced a Tron deck, and even then it eventually got stonehorned. Too many creatures can block it and kill it, and Gurmag Angler just plain eats it.

After that I wanted to explore the escape mechanic further. I had see the success Sentinel’s eyes was having in decks like Hexproof and Heroic and wondered if a deck like this could embrace it al well. So far I’ve really like the inclusion of one copy of Sentinel’s Eyes. Being able to cast it from the graveyard by exiling a mere two cards and paying one white mana has been amazing. It instantly turns any of your birds into a threat, or gives your Seeker of the Way some added oomph. Another feature of Sentinel’s Eyes is that it gives the creature vigilance which Prismatic Strands loves. I really think Sentinel’s Eyes has a home here, but you might want to play around with the card you take out. The deck usually runs 2 Guardian of the Guildpact, but I’ve cut one to make room for it. I could see the deck maybe cutting a Firebolt or Lightning Bolt, possibly even Oblivion Ring instead. Only time and more “eyes” on the deck will tell.

1 Electrickery

1 Flaring Pain

1 Leave No Trace

3 Pyroblast

1 Ramosian Rally

2 Red Elemental Blast

2 Shenanigans

1 Standard Bearer

1 Oblivion Ring

1 Aura Fracture

1 Tormod's Crypt

My sideboard is a bit different than you might see. When it comes to my artifact removal, as much as I love Gorilla Shaman, I think Shenanigans plays really well with the deck’s plan. That’s why I run two, so I can increase the odds of a backbreaking turn two play against affinity.

I’ve always loved Aura Fracture in my white decks. A lot of the time this deck will have excess mana to pitch to Aura Fracture. Being able to continually destroys an enchantment can keep opposing Journey to Nowheres at bay and Hexproof from turning their Bogle into something even Ulamog would be scared of.

On that note I also love Standard Bearer. One of the decks that I hate losing to constantly is Elves. Standard Bearer can shut down their game plan of making huge elves with Timberwatch Elf. It also helps in the burn matchup by eating a bolt. Tireless Tribe has a hard time getting through it without Gut Shot as well. There are a plethora of reasons to run Standard Bearer, which is why I can’t not include.

The last oddball I run is a lone copy of Tormod’s Crypt. I like this over Relic of Progenitus for the reason that it doesn’t hit my graveyard when sacrificed. Being able to cast it for free is another boon when I absolutely need to find it and burn through two faithless lootings leaving me tapped out. It’s happened before and I was sure glad I was running that over Nihil Spellbomb.

That about sums it up. Get out there and bully your opponent in the best way, by swinging for lethal with a rally of birds. I hope you have enjoyed these blogs/articles. I’m always open to feedback and simply want to provide the best content I can. I’m always open to collaborate on a deck as well. Please visit and like/follow my Facebook page pauperpedia, a fan page dedicated to bringing you links to daily articles, videos, and podcast covering Pauper. You can also email me at Pauperpedia@gmail.com if any of you have submissions as well. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday 12: Royal Mardu

Throughout the years Pauper has seen many Boros decks rise to prominence and evolve around the metagame. First there was Kuldotha Boros, a heavy artifact synergistic deck that utilized the Glint Hawk/Kor Skyfisher engine combined with Prophetic Prism and Ichor Wellspring. The idea was that you could control the board with removal from Lightning Bolt, Galvanic Blast, and Journey to Nowhere, then hit em hard with your arsenal of creatures which included the 3 goblins Kuldotha Rebirth created when you sacrificed Ichor Wellspring or another artifact. Then WOTC dropped a huge bomb that would forever change the format when they introduced the Monarch mechanic with Palace Sentinels. This permanent monarch token that can only be exchanged through combat damage, made Boros Monarch the premier midrange deck. It went away with the aggressive Kuldotha Rebirth for more of a grind you out style of approach. It added Prismatic Strands and Alchemist Vial as a way to keep the Monarch allowing you to oppress your peasant opponent through card advantage. Not long after that Deluxeicoff tweaked the build to better fight Delver decks and thus Boros Bully was born. This deck went back to its aggressive roots by adding in Battle Screech, Seeker of the Way, a recurrent threat in Sacred Cat, and Rally the Peasants. Instead of the typical Glint Hawk/Kor Skyfisher draw engine, the deck relied on Faithless Looting to further its graveyard based synergies. Lately however, Tron has risen to prominence as the boogeyman deck to beat. From this we’ve seen the typical Boros Monarch shell evolve to incorporate black spells. Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Castigate, and Bojuka Bog are all great weapons to have as a midrange deck to help beat Tron. I’ve taken a close look at the deck and added my own unnecessary twists, fallen in love with a new Theros Beyond Death card, and have come up with my go to competitive deck for the future.

2 Bojuka Bog

4 Boros Garrison

4 Ash Barrens

8 Snow-Covered Plains

3 Snow-Covered Mountain

1 Snow-Covered Swamp

4 Thraben Inspector

4 Kor Skyfisher

3 Aven Riftwatcher

2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

2 Palace Sentinels

1 Battle Screech

1 Custodi Squire

4 Lightning Bolt

3 Skred

2 Journey to Nowhere

2 Prismatic Strands

3 Golden Egg

4 Prophetic Prism

1 Omen of the Dead

2 Castigate

This time out I want to talk about the manabase I’ve come up with first. Boros decks have relied on Artifact lands in the past so they could use Galvanic Blast as a way to deal four damage to any target. However, against burn or any deck running Gorilla Shaman, this would really set you back if you started to get your lands blown up and you miss a key land drop. Now that I’ve added black to the deck, I thought it would be better to move away from the artifact lands so that I could run Ash Barrens and smooth out the three color manabase as best I can. I’m also able to run Snow-Covered lands which make it possible to run Skred, which can be just as good as Galvanic Blast when it comes to instant speed removal.

I’m running two copies of Bojuka Bog as an uncounterable way to exile the opponent’s graveyard. With Kor Skyfisher and Boros Garrison, you can repeatedly do this throughout the game, wreaking havoc on graveyard based decks. Boros Garrison is beautiful in this deck as it allows you to not only buyback Bojuka Bog, but plays nicely with Ash Barrens and effectively gives you more lands than 22 the deck runs. Since most of our spells are white, I found running eight Snow-Covered Plains to be a good number. This gives us 16 potential white sources for mana not including the filtering you get from Prophetic Prism. Playing three Snow-Covered mountains gives us 11 sources making it so that when we need red mana for removal, it’s almost always available. Finally we have one Snow-Covered Swamp which brings our black mana sources to a total potential of seven, which isn’t bad for a splash color.

Kor Skyfisher is the cornerstone of the deck. The clause forcing you to return a permanent to your hand was designed to be a bad thing. This is clearly evident by the 2/3 stat line along with flying for a creature that only costs two mana. However, if you combine it with value cards with decent enters the battlefield effects, Skyfisher becomes one of the best flying creatures in the game. Bouncing Thraben Inspector will give you another clue, Aven Riftwatcher will grant you two life and an additional two life when you replay it, Golden Egg & Prophetic Prism will draw you a card, Omen of the Dead will return a creature from your graveyard to your hand, and Palace Sentinels will reset the monarch.

Speaking of Palace Sentinels, this is another key creature. When Sentinels enters the battlefield, you become the monarch. This mechanic gives legs to midrange decks allowing that sweet card advantage at no cost to quicken their gameplan to end the game. With a solid 2/4 body, Palace Sentinels is a good blocker against aggressive decks as well.

The rest of the creatures are all value based. Thraben Inspector is a great one drop that can draw you a card whenever you pay two generic mana to sacrifice the clue token it leaves behind. Aven Riftwatcher is a 2/3 flyer for three mana that gains you two life when it enters and leaves the battlefield. Custodi Squire is a great late game creature that effectively returns another creature, enchantment, or artifact from your graveyard to your hand. Sometimes if you’re lucky, due to MTGO’s poor interface, your opponent will pick a different card in your graveyard from the one you picked and you’ll get both. Lastly, the crème de la crème Okiba-Gang Shinobi can return all of those creatures to your hand if they attack in unblocked and you use its Ninjitsu ability. When this 3/2 creature deals combat damage to your opponent they discard two cards. If you’re able to slam this card and pave the road for its attacks, your opponent will be hard pressed to recover especially if you’re the monarch too.

Lightning Bolt is the best Instant spell in the deck. For one red mana you can deal three damage to anything, but most of the time I’ve found it common to be used as creature removal. Skred is the other instant speed removal spell, dealing damage equal to the amount of Snow-Covered permanents (11 total) we control. Journey to Nowhere pulls mop up duty for creatures outside the scope of Lightning Bolt and Skred. This enchantment exiles target creature for as long as it stays on the battlefield. Castigate is a great reason to splash black. This nuisance of a card exiles a spell of your choice from your opponent’s hand. If you’re able to nab a piece from any flicker loop based decks, it makes it a lot harder on them to beat you. Lastly, you have Prismatic Strands which not only prevents damage from a color of your choice till the end of turn, but can be used as your best removal spell if played right. The flashback ability on this card makes it broken and prevents players from attacking in when they see it in your graveyard.

Rounding out the rest of the spells are our utility spells. Omen of the Dead is a card I absolutely fell in love with when I saw the new Theros Beyond Death cards. A raise dead effect that not only can scry two cards later on, but can be repeatedly replayed by Kor Skyfisher or Custodi Squire is amazing, and I’m confident this is a great home for it. Golden Egg, another recent card from the previous set, draw us a card when it enters the battlefield. Then we can sacrifice it for one generic mana to filter any color we want, or pay two generic mana and gain three life. Prophetic Prism also draws a card when it enters the battlefield, but this one filters mana without having to be sacrificed. Then there is the one of Battle Screech. This card can turn the tide of battle by creating four 1/1 flying bird tokens which can help you hold onto the monarch, or push through the final damage you need to close out the game.

2 Electrickery

2 Gorilla Shaman

3 Pyroblast

2 Red Elemental Blast

2 Relic of Progenitus

2 Standard Bearer

1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi

1 Patrician's Scorn

As a midrange deck, you will almost always fold up shop to Tron. Some go about this by completely ignoring the match up and strengthen their sideboard for even matchups even more, others like me decide to fight and dedicate probably more than they should. To fight the Tron nemesis I bring in Okiba-Gang Shinobi, all the Pyroblast & Red Elemental Blasts, and the Relics. Even with all that, it’s still an uphill battle if your opponent has the nuts and is on the play.

Patrician’s Scorn is there for Hexproof and Heroic. Pair it with the Standard Bearers and you have a fighting chance.

Against Affinity and other Monarch decks that rely on artifact lands, Gorilla Shaman gives you a major edge in winning the game.

Lastly, against Burn and Stompy you’ll want to bring in Standard Bearers. You’ll also want to bring in Electrickery when facing Stompy, Elves, or any go wide strategy.

We shall see if this deck really does bring me closer to Pauper Royalty over the next couple of months. I’m going to start grinding leagues and Sunday challenges, so wish me luck. If you have any brews you’d like me to write about, please email them to pauperpedia@gmail.com. As always, I play the decks in the free tournaments hosted by gatherling every Tuesday night, and do a quick report on how the deck fared the following day on my Pauperpedia Facebook page. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday: 03

Veterans

Yesterday was Veterans Day here in America, a day we celebrate our service members in the armed forces past and present. We honor their sacrifices and give thanks for all they do to keep our freedom. In spirit of yesterday’s holiday I decided to brew up a soldiers deck. When people think of tribes in pauper, there are only three that really come to mind; Slivers, Elves, and Zombies. Soldiers have gotten some love in the past, but let’s be honest, going mono white and not abusing the likes of Glint Hawk or Kor Skyfisher isn’t as appealing. However, all hope is not lost, and in fact with the right luck soldiers can come out very aggressive and be hard to stop.

4 Elite Vanguard

4 Cartouche of Solidarity

4 Thraben Inspector

3 War Falcon

1 Recrut the Worthy

4 Kor Skyfisher

4 Veteran Armorsmith

3 Loyal Cathar

4 Veteran Swordsmith

1 Rhox Veteran

3 Guardians' Pledge

4 Journey to Nowhere

18 Plains

3 Secluded Steppe

Starting out with our one drop creatures the deck runs play sets of Elite Vanguard, Thraben Inspector, 3 copies of War Falcon, and a lone copy Recruit the Worthy. It always feels good to play our Elite Vanguard on turn one and immediately put on the pressure, especially if we have a Cartouche of Solidarity (which we run 4 of) to put on it the following turn. Thraben Inspector is just a great value creature that will draw a card later on with the clue it creates and the 1/2 body for a one drop is just icing on the soldier cake. War Falcon is a conditional attacker, only being able to do so if we have a soldier on the battlefield. We run 24 other soldiers though so most of the time it won’t be an issue, and worst case scenario it can still be a deadly blocker. Just remember, Cartouche of Solidarity puts out a warrior token, so don’t make the mistake of suiting it up turn 2 and expect to attack if you don’t have another 1 drop soldier. Recruit the Worthy is there as a late game mana sink and a way to play around sorcery speed removal. It’s nice being able to play a soldier every turn mid to late game if you have no other options and hoping to top deck a Guardians’ Pledge.

Next up on the firing line we are running play sets of Kor Skyfisher, Veteran Armorsmith, and 3 copies of Loyal Cathar. The ever popular Skyfisher fits nicely in the deck and can do a variety of things for us. It can bounce a Cartouche of Solidarity back to our hand to be replayed and get another 1/1, return a Thraben Inspector for more card advantage from the clue it creates, return a Secluded Steppe to be cycled, or replay a Loyal Cathar that has already died once to further put a wrench in pesky control players’ plans. Veteran Armorer is half a lord that boosts all our creatures’ toughness so we don’t get blown up by electrickery or die to other small creatures our opponent may have. Loyal Cathar is probably one of my favorite creatures when you’re up against edict heavy decks. The fact they have to kill it twice, sometimes more if you buy it back with Kor Skyfisher, makes it an all star in certain matchups.

Our three drop creature is the deck’s payoff to running soldiers. Veteran Swordsmith gives all other soldiers +1/0 and makes for some really aggressive lines of play. It feels great to go turn 1 Elite Vanguard, turn 2 Raise the Alarm, and turn 3 Veteran Swordsmith and attack for a bunch.

Last, but certainly not least is what I like to refer to as the deck’s general. Rhox Veteran is a newcomer to the format having been introduced in Modern Horizons. The battle cry ability on the creature is amazing being able to pump your team’s power every attack, and being able to tap down a blocker can be crucial to getting in damage or forcing unfavorable blocks.

Do you like surprising your opponent with a burst of power and sneak away with a win? How about clearing out your opponents board with a 3 mana sweeper? Well Guardians’ Pledge is the answer you’re looking for. Giving your creatures +2/+2 at instant speed is like firing a howitzer at your opponent’s face. Honestly, this should go in every white aggro deck possible as it just opens up so many lines of play to frustrate your opponents and end games quickly. Running 4 copies seemed like too many, but any less than 3 I felt like I never saw it enough.

Sometimes it isn’t enough to be aggressive and you need to take care of some creatures on the other side of the trenches. What better way to do so than sending them on a Journey to Nowhere. That’s why we’re running a full play set, simply because it is the best unconditional removal spell white has to offer in pauper.

The lands come as no surprise and are pretty basic. We’re running 21 to better our odds at consistently playing our 2 and 3 drops. 3 copies of Secluded Steppe are there in case we draw one late game, the cycling ability makes it so that we can try to draw into something more relevant to the situation.

3 Standard Bearer

3 Take Heart

1 Patrician's Scorn

2 Relic of Progenitus

3 Viridian Longbow

2 Prismatic Strands

1 Loyal Cathar

The sideboard includes options to try and fight Burn, Fog Tron, and other aggro decks. Standard Bearer pulls major duty and can be brought in against Burn, Hexproof, Stompy, and Elves. Take Heart is a newish card that I’m trying out. It’s a decent combat trick that not only furthers your gameplan by getting in more damage or killing a blocker, but nets you life gain against aggro or Burn. Viridian Longbow is my attempt at trying to beat the Fog lock Tron puts you in, allowing you to deal the last remaining points of damage outside of combat. Relic of Progenitus is another weapon used to fight Tron, but can also come in handy against TortEx or graveyard synergy based decks. Loyal Cathar is strictly brought in against removal heavy decks since forcing them to have multiple removal spells for 1 creature is the path to victory. Patrician’s Scorn is primarily there for Hexproof, but getting rid of a Pestilence or annoying auras your opponent might have is nice too. Prismatic Strands is probably my favorite sideboard card of all and is brought in against Burn and Elves, as well as opposing aggro decks when you’re on the draw.

Hopefully these soldiers serve as well for you and me as our real soldiers have served their country. If you have any brews you’d like me to write about, please email them to pauperpedia@gmail.com. As always, I play the decks in the free tournaments hosted by gatherling every Tuesday night and do a quick report on how the deck fared. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!

[mtgbracket]

Round of 16384 - Batch 138

Batch 138 voting is now open. The following polls are currently open:

Batch 138 Batch 137 Batch 136 Batch 135 Batch 134 Batch 133 Batch 132

Batch 131 results will be up soon.

The full list of matchups for today is:

Fists of the Anvil vs Six-y Beast Dragon Whelp vs Carpet of Flowers Scaled Hulk vs Blades of Velis Vel Eastern Paladin vs Leap of Flame Thraben Standard Bearer vs Memory Sluice Ob Nixilis, the Fallen vs Reconstruction Gravebane Zombie vs Nature's Claim Shared Animosity vs People of the Woods Harsh Deceiver vs Ashes to Ashes Kytheon, Hero of Akros vs Knight of Stromgald Viridian Revel vs Visions of Brutality Thawing Glaciers vs Lifeblood Hydra Mob Mentality vs Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Avatar of Fury vs Sunder from Within Wings of Velis Vel vs Goblin Grenade Plated Slagwurm vs Nacatl Hunt-Pride Grafted Wargear vs Lingering Death Fyndhorn Bow vs Torrential Gearhulk Autumn Willow vs Tears of Valakut Solemn Simulacrum vs Sivvi's Valor Gisa and Geralf vs Birds of Paradise Mistform Seaswift vs Maul Splicer Frost Raptor vs Contagion Engine Encase in Ice vs Psychosis Crawler Serum Visions vs Credit Voucher Razorverge Thicket vs Callous Oppressor Thundermare vs Satyr Hoplite Horizon Drake vs Sapphire Leech Rekindled Flame vs Vesuva Titania's Chosen vs Demonic Rising Bribery vs Kobold Overlord Vengeful Firebrand vs Mana Bloom

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday 06: Robot Chicken

Today’s deck is a combination of Boros Artifacts, recently piloted to great success by Frucile https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2377653#online, and mono white cyborgs with Squadron Hawk thrown in. Why Squadron Hawk you might ask? Well, mostly because it’s my favorite white creature, but if you’re looking for a real answer it’s because of the draw 3 cards attached to it. When Arcum’s Astrolabe was legal Frucile’s deck was able to be hyper aggressive and still be able to draw cards. With Astrolabe out of the picture I wanted something that could still draw cards and keep that aggressive nature. My first option was to go traditional with Thraben Inspector, but then the deck started to turn into a bad versions of all the Boros Decks. So I threw in a playset of the draw chickens (Squadron Hawks) and have been clucking happily ever since.

4 Court Homunculus

4 Gingerbrute

4 Glint Hawk

4 Auriok Sunchaser

4 Kor Skyfisher

4 Squadron Hawk

2 Bonesplitter

4 Navigator's Compass

4 Prophetic Prism

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Galvanic Blast

4 Ancient Den

2 Darksteel Citadel

4 Great Furnace

1 Mountain

7 Plains

Whereas Frucile’s list ran Ardent Recruit, I like Auriok Sunchaser better. The deck definitely hinges on finding two to three lands a lot more this way, but I prefer the evasion attached to my creatures. So in the 1 drop I’m running playsets of Gingerbrute, Court Homunculus, and Glint Hawk. I really like Gingerbrute in this build because of how aggressive and evasive it can be, especially with a bonesplitter attached to it. It even makes the burn matchup one we’re favored against. Court Homunculus is another artifact creature necessary to run to achieve metalcraft, the added bonus of it being a 2/2 most of the time is great as well. Glint Hawk is another aggressive one drop with the caveat that we need to return an artifact back to our hand. This actually fits our gameplan though because we will often bounce our artifact lands to be replayed as a pseudo land drop, bounce Prophetic Prism to draw a card, Navigator’s Compass to gain 3 life, or Gingerbrute because it has haste.

Auriok Sunchaser, Kor Skyfisher, and Squadron Hawk make up the deck’s evasive 2 drop slot. Having a 3/3 flyer or a 2/3 flyer for just 2 mana is bananas in this format and really makes the deck hard to beat when it draws well. Throw in the draw chicken for good measure and you’re in business the next few turns with a creature to play.

Bonesplitter, Navigator’s Compass, and Prophetic Prism are the deck’s non-creature/land artifacts the deck needs and loves to run. Bonesplitter turns all our evasive creatures into very threatening clocks. Navigator’s Compass has been scoffed at in the community because it doesn’t cantrip like Arcum’s Astrolabe. However, I really like the fact it can turn an otherwise miserable burn matchup into a favorable one, allows us to race with other Aggro decks, filters our mana, and sets up metalcraft. Not bad for one mana even if it doesn’t draw us a card. Prophetic Prism is a card I’m sure we’re all familiar with by now. This filtering mana rock that draws you a card is essential in any Glint Hawk/Kor Skyfisher build and is your primary target under normal conditions.

The burn package is pretty simple, playsets of Galvanic Blast and Lightning Bolt. These notorious all stars can help finish off your opponent if they start to stabilize the board after taking early damage, or can remove scary threats from staying on the battlefield. Achieving metalcraft is something this deck can easily achieve as early as turn 2 making Galvanic Blast a stellar card.

Since we don’t need to run snow lands for Astrolabe and we have the luxury of running 8 artifacts that can filter, the deck can afford to run a couple Darksteel Citadels to further our chances of achieving metalcraft. Great Furnace and Ancient den are our artifact lands essential to the gameplan. Since the deck runs on mostly white with red being the support color, You almost always want to see a white mana source in your opening hand, so the deck runs 7 plains and only 1 mountain to better those odds.

3 Standard Bearer

1 Leave No Trace

1 Orim's Thunder

1 Gorilla Shaman

4 Pyroblast

2 Electrickery

3 Suture Priest

The sideboard tries to attack decks like Hexproof, Elves, and Stompy by bringing in Standard Bearer and Electrickery. Leave No Trace is good against Hexproof and is also a good idea against the Elves matchup to counter their Spidersilk Armor.

Orim’s Thunder is my pet card in any Boros deck giving you a great 2 for 1 against Affinity, and Gorilla Shaman can eat all their lands to help you win. Be sure to try and mulligan aggressively if you don’t see these in your opening hand and it’s not fast enough to race Affinity.

I haven’t caught on to the trend of playing Red Elemental Blast yet, mostly because I can’t afford to, and I already have Pyroblast in my collection so that’s what I’m sticking to. UR Delver is making a resurgence and Pyroblast is the perfect answer when facing down snow covered islands and mountains. They are also handy against Tron as an attempt to put a stop to their shenanigans. To assist you in that matchup are 3 copies of Suture Priest which will help eat their life total and prevent them from abusing flickers... Just hope they don’t cast a timely Weather the Storm.

Robot Chicken was always a fun show to watch, and hopefully it will be a fun deck to play. If you have any brews you’d like me to write about, please email them to pauperpedia@gmail.com. As always, I play the decks in the free tournaments hosted by gatherling every Tuesday night, and do a quick report on how the deck fared the following day on my Facebook page. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!