Pauper Meta Report - Pauper Most Enjoyable Decks to Play
Table of Contents
My favorite decks in Pauper
In my latest post, I described which decks I hated playing the most and pointed out that depending on your playstyle, you will get annoyed rightfully if those became the most popular archetypes of the meta.
Today, it's the other way around, as I will show you the decks I enjoy playing the most and how I perceive the meta based on those.
Spoiler alert: this does not mean they are the best decks, but they are the ones I prefer playing.
Black Sacrifice
I generally like playing this kind of deck because it combines both the aggressive and value approaches, as your main goal is to add threats to the field that can benefit from sacrificing fodder creatures. This creates multiple lines of play that turn into craftier ways of winning games. rather than the traditional turn one Monastery Swiftspear and win.
Jund Cascade
As its creator, this has to be one of my favorite decks. The ability to cascade from an Annoyed Altisaur into a Boarding Party into another threat is what this deck offers. Right now, it's not very popular on the meta, given how fast it has become, and it's worth noting that it lost one of its better ramp cards when Bonder's Ornament was banned for all the wrong reasons. Still, It’s a deck I like to play occasionally.
Caw-Gates
If I want to get serious, I would go with my trusty Squadron Hawks. This deck has the tools it needs to surprise the meta and while it has some horrible matches against some decks like familiars, it can go toe to toe against the rest of the field, and it is not surprising to me that it has been growing in popularity recently. Basilisk Gate is a house.
Tortex
Speaking of Basilisk Gate, a deck that can also utilize it in a similar way is Tortex. I enjoy toolbox strategies, and to my knowledge, there's no better toolbox deck in Pauper than this one. It allows you to use your graveyard as an extra hand, providing you with the creature you need at the right moment. Also, as a fun fact, this deck is the reason I would love to see Shriekmaw downshifted.
Any Brew
As you might have guessed, I appreciate any competitive brew that can secure wins against the current meta. One of my challenges is getting bored of repeatedly playing the same deck. Consequently, I constantly seek out new strategies rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel by testing the 100th iteration of the same deck. From control and combo to aggro, I've explored them all on my channel. New sets typically feel like Christmas to me as I evaluate if previously barely playable cards can now be incorporated with the new ones.
However, remember that I play to win, meaning that I respect the current power meta-level, and I tend to dispatch brews that are not well suited for at least beating 2/3 of the top decks and have a decent plan against the rest of the field.
Top Decks of the Week
Last week, I missed this report because I was still recovering from a bug, and also I didn't see any major changes based on meta performance.
When I left, Burn was dominating left and right, and Sticker Goblin was causing havoc in the meta. As it turns out, the Challenges results presents another face to it. This week, one of my favorite decks managed to put three copies of it in the Saturday Challenge: Caw-Gates.
As I've explained, it's a well-suited deck for the current meta, and it has the tool to dominate most of the matches as long as the field is not plagued by familiar or Ponza Players.
Sunday followed the same trend. However, while there were a few copies of Caw-Gates, the winner of the Challenge was Burn.
At this point, If I were to see the meta from a challenge perspective, I would wrongly infer that Burn is not a problem. However, if you pick up each of the top 8 decks granularly, you will see that each has its fair share of 5-6 slots dedicated to beating the burn deck between the main and sideboard.
Deck of the Week Award
This list is very similar to my original Turbo Initiative list, with the difference that it runs Goliath Paladin to access the full Initiative suit currently available on Pauper. That said, I don't love the Boarding party as while it's powerful if you cascade into a Goliath Paladin or Avenging Hunter, you also could just cascade into a Lotus Petal or a Rite of Flame, and since I'm an unlucky person, I can see that happening to me a lot.
Wrap Up
At this point, If I am being transparent as always, I am unsure if Burn is a problem. YES, it's the best deck of the format, but also the most hated one, so it's there in the limbo where you either build your deck around it and win every match or get paired against all the other decks that aim to do so and lose.
There's also the feeling that Pauper's power creep has risen a lot in the last two years, and that's not fixable. Some refer to Pauper as Legacy-lite, and while at first I was not sure, now I can start seeing it.
Thanks a lot for reading until now, and we will catch up with more content through the rest of the week. Take care, and we will meet again next time!
Where to Play Pauper?
I have compiled a list of places to play Pauper, mostly IRL. The address may vary, but it's a helpful place to start and check if some of them are near you. They may not play Pauper every day, so it's always a good idea to ask before traveling.
If you want your Pauper LGS added, send an email with the details to:
davidroyale@pauperbrews.com
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