From Glee to Wildfire: Paupergeddon Lecco 2025 in Review

If there’s one thing Pauper players can agree on, it’s that the metagame is diverse and never sleeps. Just when you think one archetype has settled in at the top, the format shifts—and Paupergeddon Lecco 2025 proved that in full force.

In this early look at the tournament results, we’re comparing Lecco 2025 to Roma 2024—two of the largest Pauper events to date—to spot emerging patterns, shifting powerhouses, and what they might mean for the months ahead. 

While the meta will likely change in the coming weeks thanks to the new set, Tarkir Dragonstorm, this event’s first impression gives us plenty to talk about, especially with the breakout performance of Jund Wildfire.

Table of Contents

1. The Roma 2024 Snapshot: Glee on Top
2. Enter Lecco 2025: Fire in the Sky
3. The Glee That Wouldn’t Die
4. What It Means for the Format (So Far)
5. Wrap Up

The Roma 2024 Snapshot: Glee on Top

Let’s rewind to November 2024 in Rome. At that time, Golgari Glee was the name of the game.

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The deck, built around Sadistic Glee and Basking Broodscale, found the perfect balance of combo and grind. It even won the whole event.

But Glee wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. It made a sizable appearance across the Top 32, with numerous variations: straight BG builds, splashes for red, and sideboard pivots that could go from midrange to control, of course, to win with the namesake combo ultimately. 

It wasn’t flashy but efficient—exactly the kind of deck Pauper rewards when you expect a diverse field.

Decks like Mono Blue Faeries and Mono Blue Terror also appeared, but none commanded the same presence as Glee.

Enter Lecco 2025: Fire in the Sky

Fast forward to March 2025, and the Pauper metagame has taken a turn, straight into the chaos of Jund Wildfire. At Lecco, Jund decks weren’t just present. They were dominant, taking multiple Top 8 spots and even reaching the finals.

The new Jund builds weren’t updated Glee variants. They leaned hard into resource denial and value recursion, built around cards like:

• Writhing Chrysalis: The best creature in Pauper.

• Refurbished Familiar: The second best creature in Pauper.

• Deadly Dispute: The BEST card in Pauper.

• And of course,Cleansing Wildfire, the card I hate the most (because we can’t ban bridges due to its existence).

Personal preferences aside, it’s a no-brainer to pick the best cards in a format and expect that the deck can function, and this is exactly what Wildfire is all about.

Of course, the meta is diverse enough that other decks are extremely good, but Jund Wildfire is built to beat almost everything it can throw at it.

While the deck dominance in the top 8 was clear, the deck that eventually came on top was a version of Golgari Gardens piloted by Lorenzo Montana.

Not sure if it was a split or a straight-out win, but making it to the finals is outstanding, and this deck built around Pactdoll Terror as a new win condition for a deck is surprisingly very good. Congrats Lorenzo!

The Glee That Wouldn’t Die

Despite Wildfire’s rise, Glee didn’t vanish. In fact, multiple BG and BGr Glee decks made the Top 32 and even the Top 16. That says something about the archetype’s staying power. Its ability to adjust—tweaking removal packages, testing splash colors, and even maindecking graveyard hate—has helped it remain relevant even as the meta shifts.

What we’re seeing isn’t just one deck falling and another rising. It’s the evolution of the metagame.

What It Means for the Format (So Far)

The takeaway? Pauper is diverse—but powerful. There’s innovation at the top, but also a warning. It's worth watching when one archetype takes multiple Top 8 slots at the largest Pauper tournament of the year.

While this is just a first glance, the dominance of Deadly Dispute decks has been going on for a while now, and one can’t help but wonder if it really needs a ban.

The argument is that a wide variety of decks run it as their main card draw engine, and whenever a meta is shaped around a single card, that's no good.

• Grixis Affinity

• Jund Broodscale

• Golgari Broodscale

• Jund Wildfire

• Tron

• Rakdos Madness (Some)

• Mono-Black Sacrifice

• Mono-Black Pactdoll

• GlintBlade

• Cycle Storm

• Golgari Gardens

• Jund Gardens

One thing to take into mind is that Deadly Dispute decks won’t cease to exist, as opposed to let’s say, ban bridges, which will automatically destroy Cleansing Wildfire strategies. 

But even if Deadly Dispute were removed from the format, the core shells using it wouldn’t disappear entirely. They’d adapt—maybe slower, maybe less explosive—but they wouldn’t vanish.

Wrap Up

Not sure if the meta is about to shift with Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but I am very hyped to see what the set has to bring to Pauper.

Keep in mind that since its very close to release and its closer to the next B&R, I expect the PFP will, again, wait to see how the format develops after the set, so don’t get your hopes to high to see a card banned. I could be wrong, but we will see on March 31st.

Thanks for reading!

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