Welcome the ninth episode of “Science of Pauper”! It is time for the second part of the M13 set analysis. Thank you, my dear readership, for bearing with me through the reprints. I would also thank you for sticking with me despite of four articles of theoretical theory now. While I am at it, I would also like to give a shout out to the Pauper to the People podcast team which had me on to promote “Science of Pauper” in their last episode (episode 65).
New cards
White
Ajani’s Sunstriker. This creature is like a Grizzly Bear with lifelink. Yet again, you will not win games by gaining life. There are stronger abilities on creatures with the same (converted) mana cost, such as Loyal Cathar or Leonin Skyhunter.
Attended Knight. Two creatures for one card? Sounds good to me, especially when of them is a 2/2 First Striker. This card may actually find a few slots in White Weenie lists helping to swarm out a little bit more. However, I am still a bit uncertain as I would currently evaluate Ballynock Cohort higher which has not seen any play so far.
Battleflight Eagle. A functional reprint of Welkin Guide is simply too clunky to be played in Constructed.
Captain’s Call. This card has a decent mana cost-power level – ratio. If combined with Veteran Armorsmith and/or Veteran Sword and alike, the token hoard becomes a real threat. However, I prefer Cenn’s Enlistment that has a stronger late game by converting each land into two 1/1s.
Griffin Protector. This synergizes very well with token generators like the previous card. Otherwise, it is not aggressive enough for the Classic Pauper environment.
Guardian Lions. There is no space for an effective Defender for five mana.
Show of Valor. Although I like to play with combat tricks, white offers removal that is more versatile than stats pumping instants.
War Falcon. Now that is an aggressive card. Two power in the air for only one mana? Awesome. Its conditional Pacifism is rather easy to circumvent for White Weenie. I expect this card to be heavily tested once M13 is released. It has to be remained if it really changes the lists.
Warclamp Mastiff. This is a functional reprint of Tundra Wolves which has not seen any play.
Blue
Archaeomancer. This is a smaller but monocolored version of Izzet Chronarch that also costs one mana less than comparable creatures (Mnemonic Wall). The only two archetypes these kind of cards see play in are UR Cloudpost and Temporal Fissure combo. Both decks usually are not limited by the amout of mana accessible, thereby rendering its discount virtually irrelevant. The decreased toughness and the consequential fragility make Archeomancer an inefficient (chump) blocker and therefore inferior to the Wall.
Downpour. This card can be used as a pseudo-version of either Fog or Falter. On the first sight, it may seem like a playable card, but on second thoughts, you do not want to spend any slot for Downpour. Bouncing an attacker or potential blocker (at end of turn) is usually a better way to clear the way.
Encrust. On paper, Encrust is an extended version of Narcolepsy. However for Pauper, there is only one artifact I can think of that one would want to shut down by freezing rather than bouncing: Serrated Arrows. But the slight increase in versatility does not justify the higher casting cost.
Faerie Invaders. This is a functional reprint of Spire Monitor which has not seen any play yet. I would consider it rather unplayable due to its high mana cost except for a heavy control build around Mystical Teachings (in the same lines like I have introduced in episode 3 and 4).
Hydrosurge. Temporarily reducing the power is just not worth a slot in the 75.
Mind Sculpt. Milling your opponent is a fun way to win a game. There have been attempts to apply Turbo Fog to Pauper. With increasing number of mill cards, this idea may be viable (soon).
Tricks of the Trade. An Aura for four mana has to offer some serious impact which Tricks of the Trade does not. Sure, it looks pretty appealing to suit it up on a Ninja of the Deep Hours, thereby dealing four damage and drawing another card each turn. However, in reality it is rather a Time Walk and a two for one trade for your opponent.
Watercourser. A 2/3 Flowstone creature for three mana is inferior to Calcite Snapper most of the time.
Black
Bloodhunter Bat. A Blind Hunter that traded Haunt for being monocolored. Both are quite powerful creatures that can turn the race in your favor or simply “burn” the last few points for the win. However, I think that the original is stronger.
Crippling Blight. An aggressive-intended pseudo-removal Aura is inferior to cards like Dead Weight most of the time. Denying an opposing creature instead of killing it directly seems like a bad idea.
Duty-Bound Dead. A 0/2 with regeneration represents a fine blocker which conflicts with the rather aggressive ability Exalted.
Liliana’s Shade. This card almost got me. Chilling Shade was the finisher of choice back in the days in MBC. This Shade brings its own pump by letting you search up a Swamp, thereby helping to get to the critical land count of six for Corrupt. However, acting like a vanilla 1/1 on the turn it enters the battlefield, is probably too fragile. Moreover, with {BB} in its mana cost, it cannot be the black pseudo-Civic Wayfinder.
Mark of the Vampire. And yet again, another Aura that grants abilities that neither win you the game, nor affecting the board state.
Murder. Spot removal has always been black’s speciality which did not suffer in Pauper. After Terror came Doom Blade, which was (partially) replaced by Victim of Night. All of them are conditional. Now black has access to a removal spell that kills any creature of any size of your choice: Murder. However, I am still uncertain if it will make its way to the maindecks. It requires two black mana to be cast and costing three mana in total does not help at all. Moreover, MBC – the archetype of which most players probably think of first when it comes to black cards – already has a pretty clogged three mana slot. I would also claim MBC has sufficient efficient removal, so that Murder will be a two-of in the sideboard at best.
Servant of Nefarox. Even though this creature represents some serious pressure by threatening four damage a turn, it is too fragile with only one toughness.
Vile Rebirth. Now that is a card I see a lot of potential in. I normally try to dedicate three to four slots of the sideboard to graveyard hate. There are a lot of decks that somehow benefit from having cards in their discard pile. Black has obviously Raise Dead and other Reanimate effects; blue and red offer some powerful Flashback spells, such as Deep Analysis or Firebolt. With Tortured Existence on the rise again, Vile Rebirth’s limitation to exiling creatures only seems sufficient. Furthermore, it can delay a Stitched Drake when playing against blue (Delver of Secrets) builds. If there is nothing relevant to exile from a graveyard, simply recycle a dead creature from your side into a 2/2 Zombie for only one mana.
Red
Chandra’s Fury. A one-sided mini-Pyroclasm in addition to Scorching Missile for the cost of Lava Axe? Sounds cost effective, but still too costly to be played competitively.
Craterize. This is an over-costed Stone Rain, so no.
Dragon Hatchling. A Firebreathing mini-dragon for two mana seems reasonable costed. However, it is simply too mana intensive to see play in competitive play.
Goblin Battle Jester. Even though its triggered ability would be quite relevant in a Goblin deck, the mana cost of four makes it too unreliable to cast and therefore inferior to Intimidator Initiate (which anyways would be a one-of at best).
Krenko’s Command. A functional reprint of Dragon Fodder which is inferior to Mogg War Marshal most of the times.
Reckless Brute. A one toughness creature that has to attack each turn? Nope. No, not even with Haste.
Rummaging Goblin. This creature could be a one-of in a Goblin build. Despite being an over-costed Merfolk Looter with the red looting ability, it may pay of to turn lands into additional draws.
Searing Spear. This card is strictly worse than Incinerate, despite having the same effect most of the time. However, there are some
Smelt. Despite the well-known advantages of instant vs sorcery speed, I would rather go for Ingot Chewer if I had to go with an one mana Shatter effect.
Wild Guess. Despite being a sorcery and requiring two colored mana instead of just one, I evaluate Wild Guess higher than Dangerous Wager. The former can be played as a pseudo-Divination/Sign in Blood from the very beginning of the game while the latter mentioned is only profitable when low on cards in hand. Having to discard your whole hand renders Dangerous Wager’s instant speed rather irrelevant.
Green
Bond Beetle. I do not know of any deck that abuses +1/+1 counters. I would think Timberland Guide to be a better choice anyways due to its additional point of power.
Primal Huntbeast. Despite not having a specific deck in mind, Primal Huntbeast is a card I like. A 3/3 body for four mana seems quite underwhelming, especially considering it is a green creature. However, combined with Auras (I usually do not like except when playing with Hexproof creatures for example) like Seton’s Desire, it can represent some serious threat for your opponent.
Ranger’s Path. Due to the lack of dual lands in Pauper, Skyshroud Claim is simply better.
Sentinel Spider. Despite being probably too highly costed to be played in the maindeck, I could potentially see a couple of copies in the sideboard. Green does have a weakness against flying creatures and a 4/4 body with Reach for five mana is ok. Having Vigilance on top of it makes it a card to consider.
Serpent’s gift. A pseudo-Bone Splinters for three mana at instant speed is considered worse than Snakeform.
Spiked Baloth. Its low toughness of two makes it too fragile for trample to have a significant impact at four mana.
Timberpack Wolf. As of right now, I would consider Timberpack Wolf to be too unreliable as a potent threat. I do admit if there are multiples on the battlefield, the damage dealt can quickly get out of hand. This high risk – high reward may be sufficient to make Timberpack Wolf playable.
Yeva’s Forcemage. I would evaluate a constant buff of +1/+1 (Trusted Forcemage) higher than a temporal +2/+2.
We are finally done. If I did not make myself clear, if there are terms I used that you are not familiar with, and/or if you do not agree with my opinion, please let me know in the comments section. I appreciate any (constructive) comment.
That’s it. Stay clean!
High_Gene
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