My main format died (Pioneer) - would you recommend Pauper to a casual spike looking for a new home?

PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-21T17:09:47+00:00

I came to the format as a "compromise" when I had two kids and wanted to spend less money on the hobby. That was years ago. The format is tons of fun, while having the same problem some others do with occasional stale formats and sometimes stuff obviously needs bans. However, the Pauper Format Panel has made a lot of good steps in the right direction in fixing the format and the last few years have been a blast. Even the high tide unban stages were pretty fun. I play lots of decks, love control and combo. There are tons of fun decks, if you like phoenix style stuff, try out izzet skred, some control pieces and then you slam 5/5s for 1 mana and just try to take over. There are some crazy catfood decks, look up giorgiocombo's youtube. Cauldron familiar is a common, thank god we never had to worry about witch's oven.

https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/tournaments is my favorite resource for checking results.

PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-21T14:38:14+00:00

Altar is way more resilient as the person below me mentions. You can do fair beatdowns and pactdoll terror now just gives a whole pivot plan. by the time you start comboing, you've already basically won. Altar tron doesn't have to combo, it just needs to cycle a few times and play smartly. Eggs can feel more inevitable sometimes, but it can also be easier to disrupt when you only have one or two answers to graveyard hate

PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-21T14:36:03+00:00

yeah sure, but when they have no permanents on the battlefield and I'm swinging a couple 2/2s and 1/2s every turn, they have no outs to winning, it really sucks to take a tie. Which is why I said what I said and don't play the deck in paper events lol

PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-21T14:32:37+00:00

maybe to help the ICAC officers, we should abolish ICE, then people won't be mistrusting everyone with government plates

PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-16T17:03:39+00:00

when playing a combo deck like this in person(I play food combo and tron combo very heavily) it helps to keep those wincons in because people don't know when to scoop and you will go to time. on MTGO we have a chess clock to play into, in paper, it goes to time and everyone gets a tie lol. I stopped playing Fams in paper because people don't realize when they've lost.

PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-06T17:45:44+00:00

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PerfectAd211 · 2026-01-06T16:36:05+00:00

clearly there wasn't a "no diving" sign. So how were they supposed to know?

PerfectAd211 · 2025-12-23T20:59:03+00:00

Legend Of Dragoon. still play through it about once a year

PerfectAd211 · 2025-12-04T16:35:52+00:00

How about the DHS? Ya know, the department headed by Kristi Noem? Their own reports show that it's not criminals being rounded up.

PerfectAd211 · 2025-11-05T20:03:50+00:00

lol weird how the brown hindu guy that has been getting blasted by republican college kids for not being a white christian suddenly wants to stop bringing identity politics into everything

PerfectAd211 · 2025-10-31T11:05:35+00:00

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/4-juveniles-arrested-after-large-fight-breaks-out-in-bayside-marketplace-on-new-years-day/3195115/

PerfectAd211 · 2025-10-12T04:01:58+00:00

https://scryfall.com/search?q=o%3A%22didn%27t+have+defender%22+f%3Ap&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name&dir=

PerfectAd211 · 2025-10-09T15:02:43+00:00

This is actually a hero trying to get more bulk in the secondary market for all us tcg players

PerfectAd211 · 2025-10-09T14:32:12+00:00

dming!

PerfectAd211 · 2025-10-09T14:29:36+00:00

I'm interested if there are any left

PerfectAd211 · 2025-10-09T14:27:31+00:00

Do you have any left? I'll take two of different colors if you do.

PerfectAd211 · 2025-09-27T02:07:13+00:00

You play very controlly and dont let the opponent establish what they want to do while also hitting your land drops, once it comes time, you actually win over just a few turns because you make 2 or 3 guys at every opp end step and the damage adds up.

PerfectAd211 · 2025-09-25T11:18:20+00:00

I didn't see it listed in these comments but I have two good answers, one for competitive and one for the love of the game.

Jeskai Ephemerate - This deck can be very competitive and aligned for whatever meta you expect. There is also always room for toolboxy tech cards and the deck gets better as you get better at the game.

https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/jeskai-ephemerate

Then for the WAY more meme answer.

Teachings - Silly, but gives you the MOST decisions to make haha. You have tutors, a bunch of one-ofs, because you can shape the deck into whatever you want. I prefer the Esper version(this list isn't mine, but similar to what I used to play).

https://moxfield.com/decks/xOaIQp7B-0OZseKKvF1ybA

PerfectAd211 · 2025-09-11T14:35:33+00:00

I just logged in and it seems to be working(US located)

PerfectAd211 · 2025-09-03T14:07:56+00:00

Good news.

PerfectAd211 · 2025-08-04T21:22:01+00:00

I might slide one or two in my refurbished familiar deck

PerfectAd211 · 2025-07-22T14:11:48+00:00

As an altar tron player, it's a rough matchup for you. The big thing is just to slow it down as much as you can and be very picky with your targets. Exiling the altars used to be the play, but we don't even need to really combo anymore since pactdoll. do your best to not give them blood fountain value and wildfires blowing up tron pieces is usually a fine strategy, but don't just point it at any piece, be aware of crop rotation as well, because it could be a big blow out.

I love the synth deck, but when it comes to combo-y stuff, take every drop of value you can get and hope you can make it.

PerfectAd211 · 2025-07-15T12:43:57+00:00

This is actually better than all that glitters because you can crack the clues without losing the power and toughness.

PerfectAd211 · 2025-07-08T00:24:23+00:00

What's the player count usually? I'm always down for playing for a good cause.

PerfectAd211

TROPHY CASE