Have you ever wondered what in the world to do with all those cards that you may have accumulated over the months or years collecting Magic: The Gathering cards to build the best Standard Deck? Maybe you love to draft or, chances are you’re a beast at your LGS’ FNM and you just rake in the prize packs week after week, pulling the rares and tossing all those pitiful commons in a shoebox that you keep in your closet or under your bed. And then one day you’re cleaning up and it becomes apparent that you have a problem lot of cards you’re not playing with. Well hopefully you haven’t just thrown them away because I’d like to share with you, the greatest eternal format (in my humble opinion) that Magic: The Gathering has to offer; Pauper.
Pauper is, dollar for dollar, the most enjoyable and surprisingly playable format I’ve found. And the best part is, you probably already have a deck in your closet or under your bed and you don’t even know it. Tier 1 decks in Standard, although slowly decreasing in price, are still around $300 range. The top Modern Decks average a steady $1000!! Vintage and Legacy? Forget about it. I’d rather buy a new motorcycle. What if I told you, you could get a top ‘Tier’ deck for under $40? And that’s if you don’t have a single card. Truth. At the time of this writing, you can get yourself into a sick little Slivers deck for about $38. Without making it shiny and chrome, read; foily-woily, you can play one of the most expensive deck for as little as $75! I’ve spent more on a single card!
The best part about Pauper is the ‘meta’ hasn’t really been solved like it has in most of the other formats. There are quite literally thousands of dusty old cards from way way back that most people have forgotten about. Card interactions that no one is playing. And if you’ve been playing and collecting cards for even a little while, you can probably put together a spicy little brew that no one will see coming. Want to swing for 40 with trample? Equip a few Adventuring Gear to a Territorial Baloth, crack some Evolving Wilds, add some shenanigans and top it off with a Temur Battlerage and boom; 40 with trample out of nowhere! Maybe you just want to race with Burn or by playing spells with Cipher onto unblockable creatures. You can do it in Pauper. There are so many great decks out there just waiting to be discovered.
So, how do you get started? I’m glad you asked. First, clean out the couch and collect all that spare change. You get some money and I’m sure someone will appreciate a clean place to sit. Next, look through your old cards. The older the better, because way back in the olden days cards were, on average, much more powerful than the ones that get printed now. If you really want to find some power, start with all the commons on the ban lists of the more established formats. Recent bannings got you in the dumps? Don’t sweat it, pull those Gitaxian Probes out of the waste basket, they’re still legal in Pauper! Sure Wizards of The Coast does have a ban list for Pauper so, before you take that sweet new list out for a spin at your Local Game Store, make sure you’re not packing contraband cardboard!
Next, surf the web or your favorite MtG site for some ideas on your favorite archetypical deck, and if they’re worth their salt, they’ll have a whole section for this fantastic format. My personal favorite is the one named after those tasty little orange crackers! Reddit has it’s own Pauper community, check out the boards. Once you have a list, head on down to your LGS and give them the first crack at filling it for you. That’s important, make sure you always support your local game store first. I’d also encourage participating in limited format events. It’s like a two for one. We all know what it’s like to crack open a fresh new pack and skip right to the back to see if we pulled that hot new Mythic or Rare, only to find rubbish more often that not. But, what if you changed your perspective? Now instead of missing out on a slim chance of nailing the one card, you instead are able to see 10 sweet new cards to try out in one of your many Pauper decks. I’ll tell you what, it feels a ton better that way.
Hopefully, I’ve been able to at least pique your curiosity about this format and maybe you’re thinking about all that playset of Thermo-Alchemists you’d do something with. Well, there’s the beginnings of a great burn deck ready to go, and who knows, maybe I’ll see you at the shop on Pauper night. Now, if I could just figure out what to do with all these basic lands...
