I wrapped up my series about pauper decks a couple weeks ago, but I've been considering new ways to upgrade or even replace them.
The soldier deck is slow, perhaps unavoidably so, just because of how white decks play. It's pretty resilient, though, and if it can survive long enough, it will win. I made some adjustments to gain life, including cards with lifelink like... well, Lifelink. I think instead of trying to ramp mana, this will work best if I can stay ahead of life loss until I am in a position to win. It also shows Lifelink in a new light without the vampiric sense in the black deck.
This deck is an outlier, more a demonstration of a deck archetype than a good example of how blue typically plays. I may add some uncommon-rarity cards and convert it from pauper to peasant instead. Mill is a niche deck mechanic already, and limiting it to commons only really hobbles it in my opinion. If you know any competitive options, though, I'll look into it. I could also splash some black to expand its options in commons, perhaps.
As for pure mono-blue pauper, at present I'm leaning toward a merfolk deck using islandwalk to evade being blocked while using counterspells to control the opponent's tempo, but it is very much a work in progress.
Does anything really need to change here? It's messy, but it just works so far. However, the themes of death, disease, curses, and the undead might be a bit off-putting for some players. I'd like to see what else I can build, but inspiration has yet to strike. If you play black, what unconventional cards and deck designs might you suggest? If there's a way to build a black deck that is effective while looking almost cute and friendly in the card art, I might do it for laughs.
Now we have a deck where I took more definite action. I did a little more research into the competitive pauper meta, and mono-red is one of the strongest deck archetypes out there, but I don't want to completely overshadow the others in this mini-cycle I'm building. I do want to lean more into burn and less into combat.
I ran across another card to ping my opponents: Thermo-Alchemist. Tap to ping. Cast an instant or sorcery spell. Tap to ping again. Repeat as often as possible each turn.
Either Reckless Impulse or Wrenn's Resolve add more card options to play for a turn while triggering the Firebrand Archer and Thermo-Alchemist
I think I'll move Nyxborn Rollicker, Renegade Tactics, and Weapon Surge into the sideboard as I add more burn spells, but I don't plan to go crazy with the artifact combos I learned are used to boost competitive red pauper decks in the current meta. This deck is already quite strong compared to the others.
So far, this deck still just needs more consistency. I may need to rethink how many copies of certain cards I include, and try to find more interaction or card draw. I might look for more copies of Wirewood Savage, for example. I'm happy with Slughterhorn so far though. Perhaps versatility using more bloodrush and kicker cards might be the way to go.
If you're not on Hive yet, I invite you to join through InLeo or PeakD. If you use either of my referral links, I'll even try to delegate some Hive Power to help you get started.
