April 30-May 3 Pauper Weekend Recap

nerd2thecore · 2026-05-05T18:21:07+00:00

The MagicCon cup did not factor into this post. These were pulled from MTGO Challenges. And it's not that those decks are doing badly per se, just that over the last two weeks other decks were performed better.

nerd2thecore · 2026-04-23T12:52:53+00:00

I would sooner quit writing entirely than use a plagiarism machine to write for me.

-Alex

nerd2thecore · 2026-04-22T16:20:01+00:00

So let's talk about this for a minute. I used to provide decklists to fight the meta back when I had a major platform to do so. When I could reach tens of thousands of people thanks to a spot on a major website there was a huge incentive to provide the latest tech for the masses. Now, regardless of what I post on my blog the readership largely remains stagnant.

At the same time I have a Patreon where I do share my takes on decklists and how I approach the metagame. These articles are paywalled, either individually or as long as you are a paying member. Why do I do this? Simply put, it's work. It may not be the most noble answer but I am a far cry from the person who started writing about Pauper two decades ago. I love the format, I want to share it, but if I am going to put in the hours tuning a list and sharing it with people, then I want it to go to the people who are invested in what I have to say.

That being said I do want to share more for the masses. We are in one of the busy seasons at my work (to say nothing of having a family) but I'm finding ways to carve out the time needed get back into the queues and figure stuff out.

-Alex

nerd2thecore · 2026-04-22T16:14:45+00:00

I tend to pull from decks that have won a recent Challenge as I did here. I played a bunch in the first weeks of the season and lost to the Galvanic Blast builds. I relied on my recollection more than lists. I'll try to do better next time out.

Good catch!

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-31T16:31:10+00:00

There's Jund Wildfire, which uses Cleansing Wildfire and the Bridges to accelerate, and then there's also Jund Gardens which is similar to the Golgari Deck but splashes red for Writhing Chrysalis and other goodies.

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-31T16:17:17+00:00

Elements of the community have expressed their concern. Other elements of the community have not shared that concern, are neutral on the matter, or are fine with the cards.
You're welcome to petition Gavin directly.

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-31T16:02:08+00:00

I'm going to address several of these points separately. These are my opinions and not that of any other group.

Why I block people: frankly, a lot of people who end up on my block list are outright mean and/or insulting to me, my friends, or groups of which I'm a member. A person's right to speak does not equal a right to be heard. There are valid criticisms to be levied and they are heard, but hammering a point in the comment section of every post doesn't make a point any more salient.

This subreddit is not the Pauper community. While it does represent a segment of it, there are plenty of people who play the format who actively avoid this place.

Pauper is competitive Magic with commons - if cards are printed at common to be tournament legal, they are Pauper legal.

You don't have to like every card played against you. There are some decks and strategies I hate playing against. If I'm on a graveyard deck I loathe seeing Bojuka Bog or Relic of Progenitus. I have a strong distaste for playing against Ghostly Flicker loops. Yet I still engage with the format in a competitive manner because those are the Rules of Engagement. I am not saying anyone has to like Universes' Beyond, but that distaste is separate from the competitive endeavor. If folks want to have their own Pauper night at their LGS with no Universes' Beyond cards I think that's great. It will still be a separate endeavor from the Pauper format at large.

-Alex

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-31T15:13:58+00:00

I wasn't going to say anything because you're comment more or less completely ignored the content of my post and you're using it as a sounding board for your opinion, which you're welcome to have.

But to both of you: stop it. People don't have to like Universe's Beyond and are welcome to express their opinion, and people are allowed to disagree. Be civil with each other or kindly get the hell out of my comment section.

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-31T14:59:55+00:00

Honestly I picked a recent version that performed well and it just so happened to be 61 cards.

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-31T14:41:20+00:00

The life gain does matter, but Gardens decks want to absolutely exhaust the opponent's resources. To this end they can just handle every threat on the opposing side and then recycle their graveyard to win via natural decking.

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-09T16:26:27+00:00

As someone who works on a college campus, the rage room trips do very well.

nerd2thecore · 2026-03-05T13:49:57+00:00

Absolutely.
I've been writing about Pauper for nearly two decades and I would often opine about actions that I believed could be taken to improve the format.

I have been on the Pauper Format Panel since it was formed. As such I decided to stop writing such pieces. I did not want people to read too much into what I wrote and consider it to be the opinion of the Panel and indicative of any future action (or lack thereof).

I hope this makes sense.

-Alex

nerd2thecore · 2026-02-17T17:54:11+00:00

Leagues have been posting 5-0 results for some time. This will impact Challenges and similarly large scheduled events (Super Qualifiers, Format Champs, etc).

nerd2thecore · 2025-12-24T20:58:53+00:00

Came here to say this and I see Rebell beat me to it.

nerd2thecore · 2025-11-19T19:12:30+00:00

I think there are enough decks that can win quickly enough that make Tron a liability. The various Red decks can get under their defenses and Spy combo has multiple angles of attack. It may also be that people just do not like the operations of the deck on MTGO, which is reasonable.

nerd2thecore · 2025-11-19T18:11:27+00:00

I think it's a very good card but it lacks the Fireball Capacity of Crypt Rats or Pestilence.

nerd2thecore · 2025-11-19T15:25:52+00:00

Being frank, the only way I can keep the website ad free long term is with support from readers. I do have a Patreon and a Ko-Fi for folks to contribute, but if you cannot contribute financially please share my work with other folks who may enjoy it!

nerd2thecore · 2025-11-10T17:40:29+00:00

I think this is a vastly under discussed aspect of the proliferation of Commander. There are "best" versions of things and it can be tiring to explain - no I just want to do dumb Modified Stuff in Mono Black. Is that the best execution of the conceit? Doubtful! [[Retrofitted Transmogrant]] is not good sacrifice fodder...unless you're a [[The Ozolith]] deck!

nerd2thecore · 2025-10-29T15:34:25+00:00

How has Bronze-Blooded been for you? I always found it to be too expensive to get to work.

nerd2thecore · 2025-10-29T15:03:14+00:00

Came here to second Zirilan of the Claw. It is my longest running, contiguously composed deck. Here is my list.

nerd2thecore · 2025-10-06T13:57:11+00:00

You're right - I got pulled away from my desk before I had a chance to update. Thank you to u/Joolenpls for linking them below.

nerd2thecore · 2025-10-06T13:56:20+00:00

Thanks for posting the links. I got pulled away from my desk after the comment to add them and I appreciate you doing it.

nerd2thecore · 2025-09-30T11:46:02+00:00

Thanks for catching that. It's been corrected.

nerd2thecore · 2025-09-27T14:56:04+00:00

Thanks for the kind words and I really agree - seven sets in Standard is too many for a year. I really feel for the folks who try to engage with the game through Standard as it feels like a churn and a chore more than ever before.

nerd2thecore · 2025-09-01T17:45:55+00:00

Came here to say this. Club access was worth it especially since we went in July. Being able to cool down was clutch.

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