Grixis Affinity Pauper Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide
.jpg)
Ever since Modern Horizons 2 introduced the Indestructible Bridges, Grixis Affinity has arguably been the best Pauper deck in the meta—and it hasn’t let up since.
It’s wild to think that a single deck has been dominating the format for almost over seven years! Today, we’ll break down exactly why that’s the case, the steps taken to keep it in check, and why those efforts have ultimately failed—if anything, the archetype has only gotten stronger with each new set.
Whether you're looking for a sideboard guide, a deep dive into deck tech, or just want to know why Grixis Affinity remains the best deck in Pauper, this article has you covered.
Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Grixis Affinity Pauper Deck Overview
Grixis Affinity—or really, Affinity in general—is a deck that leans on its namesake mechanic to cast overpriced spells for cheap. I say "overpriced" because, let’s be honest, paying five mana for a Divination would be ridiculous. But here’s the trick: Affinity reduces that cost by one colorless mana for each artifact you control.
Since this includes all kinds of artifacts—like Seat of the Synod—it’s easy to build a high density of artifacts early in the game. Think about it: if you play a Vault of Whispers and a Blood Fountain on turn one, that’s already three artifacts on board. Suddenly, Frogmite only costs a single mana!
And that’s just one of many powerful interactions this deck has. To fully understand how it all comes together, we need to break down the key cards that make the strategy work.
Best Card Choices for Grixis Affinity in Pauper
A notable exclusion from recent Affinity decks is [card]Frogmite[/card], a staple from the deck that is no longer as popular. The deck moved from being a deck with aggressive starts to one that can outvalue you and still kill you with larger threats like [card]Myr Enforcer[/card].
The Creatures
[cards]{{Refurbished Familiar}}{{Myr Enforcer}}[/cards]
[card]Refurbished Familiar[/card] can be seen as taking the place of [card]Frogmite[/card] in the deck. Both have the same power and mana value, but while [card]Refurbished Familiar[/card] can’t be cast for free like [card]Frogmite[/card] can, it makes up for it by being an evasive threat that disrupts your opponent’s plans. In grindy matchups, it even provides card advantage. After all, a 2/1 one-mana flyer that you can chain together is pretty strong, especially when it helps you keep your hand full.
While [card]Refurbished Familiar[/card] might not win the game on its own, [card]Myr Enforcer[/card] definitely will. A 4/4 is just too much for most Pauper creatures to handle.
[cards]{{Krark-Clan Shaman}}[/cards]
Now, if there’s something big across from you, [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card] and [card]Toxin Analysis[/card] are more than ready to take it down, clearing the way for your larger threats and securing the win.
Finally, in the creature department, [card]Kenku Artificer[/card] can turn an indestructible land into a deadly 3/3 flyer, which can either attack or at the very least stall your opponent’s bigger threats.
So, sure, Affinity has some pretty strong creatures, but you might think you can outvalue them with card advantage, right?
Well, nope…
The Card Advantage
[cards]{{Ichor Wellspring}}{{Deadly Dispute}}{{Reckoner’s Bargain}}[/cards]
[card]Ichor Wellspring[/card] has been a staple in Affinity for quite a while, providing extra card advantage when paired with sacrifice outlets like [card]Atog[/card], [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card], and [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card]. However, with the release of [card]Deadly Dispute[/card], the dynamic has completely changed. Now, you can spend just two mana to draw three cards and create a Treasure token, essentially giving you the Pauper equivalent of [card]Ancestral Recall[/card].
[card]Reckoner’s Bargain[/card] offers a similar effect, but instead of generating a token, you gain life. This is huge for stabilizing against aggressive decks. More importantly, when you sacrifice something like [card]Myr Enforcer[/card], the life gain becomes massive, making it a valuable tool in your arsenal.
The Removal
[cards]{{Galvanic Blast}}[/cards]
Of course, no deck is complete without its fair share of removal, and in that department, [card]Galvanic Blast[/card] is a strictly better [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] in an artifact-heavy deck.
[cards]{{Cast Down}}[/cards]
That said, there are times when [card]Galvanic Blast[/card] just won't cut it—especially when you're up against heavy hitters like [card]Tolarian Terror[/card], [card]Gurmag Angler[/card], or, heaven forbid, [card]Writhing Chrysalis[/card]. This is where [card]Cast Down[/card] shines, offering Pauper's best unconditional removal right now.
Last but not least, let’s talk briefly about some other key cards on the deck.
Other Key Cards
[cards]{{Blood Fountain}}[/cards]
[card]Blood Fountain[/card] may not seem impressive at first, but it plays a wide variety of functions onto the deck.
Serves as an Affinity enabler in early portions of the game
Blood Tokens can be used to loot away extra lands or dead cards
For four Mana, you can return any two creatures from your graveyard to your hand, which can be translated into you trading your creatures more aggressively and still getting the upper hand.
Tokens, and the Fountain itself can be used as sacrifice objects for card advantage cards like [card]Deadly Dispute[/card] or [card]Reckoner’s Bargain[/card].
[cards]{{Makeshift Munitions}}{{Blood Fountain}}{{Nihil Spellbomb}}[/cards]
On the other hand, [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card] can clear pesky creatures like [card]Faerie Seer[/card] off the board. Ultimately, it’s also used to deal with the final points of damage to your opponents. Plus, it makes artifact hate almost useless since you can always turn your artifacts into [card]Lava Dart[/card]s with some mana.
Finally, [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card] serves as an inexpensive way to hate graveyard-based decks like Jund Dredge or Dimir Terror. At the very least, you can cash it in for extra value with [card]Deadly Dispute[/card], letting you draw an extra card in the process.
Now, we need to cover the sideboard strategy for this awesome deck, but before we do that, let’s take a quick look at the history of Grixis Affinity and how it became such a dominant force in Pauper.
A Brief History of Affinity in MTG Pauper
The Affinity mechanic, introduced in Mirrodin, is the core of this strategy. Now, I will discuss what I remember from when I started playing the format back in 2010.
First iterations of Affinity
[cards]{{Atog}}{{Fling}}{{Carapace Forger}}[/cards]
The first versions of the deck were decent but far from overpowered. Back then, Affinity relied on [card]Atog[/card] and [card]Fling[/card] as its main win condition, with a Temur splash to run [card]Carapace Forger[/card]—a solid beater that could hit the battlefield for cheap.
Also, did you know that [card]Tolarian Terror[/card] had a spiritual predecessor in Pauper long before its release? Well, not exactly—but [card]Gearseeker Serpent[/card] filled a similar role. Like our friendly blue serpent, it could be cast for a significant discount, thanks to Affinity for Artifacts.
Mana fixing wasn’t as reliable back then, so the deck had to rely on now-banned cards like [card]Prophetic Prism[/card] and [card]Chromatic Star[/card] to cast its spells. Its mana base was purely Mirrodin artifact lands, alongside [card]Darksteel Citadel[/card]—the original indestructible land.
One of the few ways to generate card advantage was through [card]Thoughtcast[/card], but the deck was kept in check by two major factors:
[card]Hydroblast[/card]: This card has always been a staple in Pauper, and since blue decks were fairly popular, it was an effective way to stop an opposing [card]Atog[/card] before it could do any real damage.
[card]Gorilla Shaman[/card]: If this card hit the battlefield, it usually meant game over. It could systematically destroy all of Affinity’s lands, crippling the deck’s ability to function. Other artifact hate—like [card]Gleeful Sabotage[/card] in Mono-Green Stompy—was effective too, but [card]Gorilla Shaman[/card] was the king of the steel jungle and the best hate card available against Affinity.
Interestingly, while [card]Disciple of the Vault[/card] already existed at the time, it wasn’t played because there was no real reason to run it.
And then… Modern Horizons 2 changed everything.
Post Modern Horizons 2 Affinity
When this dreaded set dropped, it introduced two game-changing things to the format:
[card]Chatterstorm[/card]
A MASSIVE card pool for Affinity
[cards]{{Drossforge Bridge}}{{Silverbluff Bridge}}{{Mistvault Bridge}}[/cards]
And trust me, I’m not exaggerating about the second point. Not only did we get dual-colored artifact lands, but they were also indestructible. These new duals came in all ten color combinations, just like you’d expect.
[cards]{{Etherium Spinner}}{{Sojourner’s Companion}}[/cards]
On top of that, cards like [card]Etherium Spinner[/card] and [card]Sojourner’s Companion[/card] pushed Affinity from a Tier 2 or Tier 3 deck straight to the top of the meta. It quickly became the dominant deck in the format.
While [card]Sojourner’s Companion[/card] (along with [card]Chatterstorm[/card]) eventually got banned, Affinity’s real strength lies in its core mechanics. The indestructible lands made traditional artifact hate almost useless—suddenly, destroy effects didn’t cut it anymore. The only reliable answers were cards like [card]Deglamer[/card] or [card]Dust to Dust[/card], but those were mostly outside the colors of other top-tier decks.
Ever since then, Affinity has only continued to rise—and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.
Unsuccessful Affinity Bans & Better Tools each set
With [card]Sojourner’s Companion[/card] gone, Affinity shifted back to an older strategy:
[card]Atog[/card] + [card]Fling[/card]: A classic combo that could instantly win by sacrificing artifacts for massive damage.
Faster, More Aggressive Playstyle: Instead of grinding value, Affinity raced to a turn 3 or 4 win.
[cards]{{Sojourner’s Companion}}{{Atog}}[/cards]
By January 2022, it was clear that Atog had to be sacrificed. Wizards banned [card]Atog[/card], which finally changed the deck’s structure.
Losing [card]Atog[/card] didn’t kill Affinity—it just evolved. The deck shifted into a more Grixis control-oriented build, taking a slower approach.
[cards]{{Disciple of the Vault}}[/cards]
Now, Affinity decks focused on amassing a huge board of artifacts and sacrificing them with [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card] triggers on the stack, all while [card]Disciple of the Vault[/card] was still in play.
Keep in mind, this was just part of the plan. Affinity still needed to deal with early-game pressure from [card]Frogmite[/card] and [card]Myr Enforcer[/card], which were already tough to deal with early in the game.
Eventually, [card]Disciple of the Vault[/card] was banned in March 2022. And from that point forward, it became clear that any new cards supporting Affinity could be problematic. Since artifacts appear in almost every set, it was only a matter of time before another payoff card would come out and need banning.
[cards]{{All That Glitters}}{{Cranial Ram}}[/cards]
That’s exactly what happened with [card]All That Glitters[/card] and [card]Cranial Ram[/card], which turned out to be way too powerful in a format that wasn’t equipped to handle artifacts efficiently.
To make matters worse, Affinity kept getting better tools like Deadly Dispute and Reckoner's Bargain, both of which let you cash in artifacts for extra value. Then there’s [card]Blood Fountain[/card], which generates two artifacts for just one mana and can even return your free creatures to your hand for only four mana.
[cards]{{Kenku Artificer}}{{Refurbished Familiar}}[/cards]
And let's not forget [card]Kenku Artificer[/card], which gave yet another way to abuse indestructible lands or [card]Refurbished Familiar[/card] a new Affinity creature that now packs evasion and hand disruption.
All these pieces combined made Affinity a nightmare to play against. It was hard to outvalue them, and even harder to get rid of their recursive and indestructible threats.
Now, you might be wondering: why did the folks in charge of the format keep banning win conditions instead of tackling the root causes, like the indestructible bridges?
Tips and Tricks for Playing Grixis Affinity in Pauper
When you're playing a new deck, there are a few interactions to keep in mind, and some will pop up pretty often.
I somewhat covered this, but I want to emphasize it: You MUST hold priority when using [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card], as otherwise, your creature will die before you get to kill any larger threat.
With [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card] triggers on the stack, before the last one resolves, remember that you can sacrifice it to the likes of [card]Deadly Dispute[/card] to get an extra value from it and at worst, with [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card].
Against aggressive decks, your focus should be on resolving key creatures that can block rather than set up with your value spells. Remember, [card]Myr Enforcer[/card] into [card]Reckoner’s Bargain[/card] is a giant tempo swing in your favor.
Don’t worry about trading aggressively, as [card]Blood Fountain[/card] will let you return your key threats later.
Grixis Affinity Pauper Sideboard Guide
The following are suggestions on how to approach games with the deck, though they clearly reflect my own preferences based on my personal experience with the deck, so you’ll notice some different recommendations here than what you might be used to.
Gruul Ramp
IN: 1 [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card], 2 [card]Cast Down[/card]
OUT: 2 [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card], 1 [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card]
I feel like Gruul Ramp is a very favorable match. You’re bringing in [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card] to wipe out mana dorks and [card]Cast Down[/card] to deal with big threats.
Broodscale Combo
IN: 2 [card]Cast Down[/card], 1 [card]Toxin Analysis[/card], 2 [card]Duress[/card], 1 [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card]
OUT: 2 [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card], 1 [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card], 1 [card]Kenku Artificer[/card], 1 [card]Thoughtcast[/card], 1 [card]Blood Fountain[/card]
Against Broodscale, you gotta stop the combo—[card]Cast Down[/card] and [card]Toxin Analysis[/card] handle creatures, [card]Duress[/card] hits key spells, and [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card] helps against tokens. You trim some less impactful cards like Nihil Spellbomb and [card]Kenku Artificer[/card].
Mono Red Aggro (Kuldotha)
IN: 1 [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card], 3 [card]Blue Elemental Blast[/card],
OUT: 2 [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card], 1 [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card], 1 [card]Kenku Artificer[/card]
[card]Blue Elemental Blast[/card] is a must against burn, and [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card] helps clear the board.
Dimir Terror
IN: 3 [card]Red Elemental Blast[/card], 1 [card]Duress[/card], 1 [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card]
OUT: 4 [card]Galvanic Blast[/card], 1 [card]Makeshift Munitions[/card]
[card]Red Elemental Blast[/card] is great against counterspells, [card]Duress[/card] disrupts their game plan, and [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card] keeps Terror in check. [card]Galvanic Blast[/card] doesn’t hit much relevant, so it gets the boot.
Dimir Faeries
IN: 3 [card]Red Elemental Blast[/card], 2 [card]Breath Weapon[/card], 2 [card]Cast Down[/card]
OUT: 3 [card]Krark-Clan Shaman[/card], 2 [card]Toxin Analysis[/card], 2 [card]Nihil Spellbomb[/card]
Against Dimir Faeries, [card]Red Elemental Blast[/card] deals with blue spells, [card]Breath Weapon[/card] clears faeries, and [card]Cast Down[/card] handles their bigger threats.
Wrap Up
Grixis Affinity is a powerhouse deck that blends raw aggression with incredible card advantage. Its ability to flood the board with efficient threats and grind through removal with recursive value makes it one of the most resilient decks in the current Pauper meta, if not the best deck. While it has its weaknesses—particularly against dedicated artifact hate—its adaptability and sheer efficiency keep it at the top of the meta. If you're looking for a deck that rewards tight play, generates insane value, and can win from seemingly lost positions, Grixis Affinity is a fantastic choice!
Where to Play Pauper?
While most games happen on MTGO, the presence of IRL communities is also significant. Because of this, I've listed a series of places that run Pauper events, and you can check if you live nearby or are traveling around these areas.
.png)
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment