[Pauper EDH] Gelectrode

[Aggro_zombies]

I've seen Pauper EDH handled in one of two ways: either your general can be any uncommon creature, or your general has to be one of the common/uncommon legendary creatures. A quick Gatherer search revealed that the latter was unappealing, so I'm going with the former because I can run one of my favorite creatures as a general.

General: Gelectrode

Card Selection:
1 Fathom Seer
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Omenspeaker
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Mulldrifter
1 Prescient Chimera

1 Brainstorm
1 Faithless Looting
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Think Twice
1 Compulsive Research
1 Deep Analysis
1 Gush

Removal:
1 Waterfront Bouncer
1 AEther Adept
1 Bogardan Firefiend
1 Crackling Triton
1 Man-o'-War
1 Mist Raven
1 Steamcore Weird
1 Pitchburn Devils
1 AEthersnipe

1 Flame Jab
1 Flame Slash
1 Repeal
1 Skred
1 Echoing Truth
1 Into the Roil
1 Jilt
1 Arc Lightning
1 Capsize
1 Staggershock
1 Chandra's Outrage

Counters:
1 Condescend
1 Arcane Denial
1 Counterspell
1 Memory Lapse
1 Exclude
1 Rewind

Finishers:
1 Halimar Wavewatch
1 Infiltrator il-Kor
1 Nivix Cyclops
1 Wee Dragonauts
1 Spire Golem
1 Errant Ephemeron

1 Rolling Thunder

Durdles, Shenanigans, and Other:
1 Frostburn Weird
1 Goblin Electromancer
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Pestermite
1 Archaeomancer
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Mnemonic Wall

1 Diminish
1 Mind Games
1 Ghostly Flicker

Mana:
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Izzet Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Izzet Cluestone
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Rupture Spire
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Command Tower
1 Remote Isle
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
14 Snow-Covered Island
11 Snow-Covered Mountain

I briefly considered taking a more aggro/tempo-oriented route, but that deck is probably better off with another general, perhaps Nivix Guildmage, Minotaur Illusionist, or Shrewd Hatchling. I wanted this to be a more controlling deck, and I wanted it to star Gelectrode because I love me some Gelectrode. The result is a deck that uses Gelectrode to get extra value off of one-for-one removal spells while beating down with some brawly dudes or recurring Rolling Thunder to burn people out.

[Davran]

I've always wanted to try this format...but I can barely get anyone around here interested in "regular" EDH, so pauper is similarly dead.

I like what you've done with this list.

Is Looter il-Kor worthy of inclusion here? It's maybe more exciting than Fathom Seer?

I also have a bit of a thing for Spire Monitor in pauper because of the flash. The body:cost ratio isn't too bad either, and it does fly.

Fall of the Hammer has been pretty great in limited...maybe it's useful here too, especially with your general being a pinger?

[TsumiBand]

Might want to up the number of Flashback and/or Retrace cards as well. I believe golden oldies like Think Twice and Oona's Grace sit at common. Hidden Strings would be a hilariously bad combo with Gelectrode (you cast the copy, after all).

No Kiln Fiend? :( :( :( :( :( You've got the Dragonauts and the Cyclops guy what does the same thing :( :( :( :(

:(

Also, and this could totally be terrible, but -- there's those guys from Innistrad Block that are all undercosted as shit and have "As an additional cost to play this, exile a creature card from your graveyard". Some of those guys look fairly stronger than some of your chosen beaters. I dunno about Steamcore Weird for example.

[(nameless one)]

If you can produce tons of mana, Gelectrode can combo with Ophidian Eye.

I have drafted a cube with Gelectrode/Guttersnipe and Ophidian Eye/Curiosity and a bunch of rituals/untap spells. It was fragile but fun.

[FTW]

No love for the basics like Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning?

Hidden Strings only triggers off combat damage, so not as combo-y as desired.

But Freed from the Real is pretty ridiculous on Gelectrode.

More dig spells like Impulse and Peer Through Depths? Think Twice and Oona's Grace seem good for reusability.

I like Ghitu Slinger better than Firefiend, since it's easier to control the triggers with your bounce, flickering, etc.

[Aggro_zombies]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

I forgot that Ophidian Eye was common, since Curiosity never was. It's probably pretty good here. A friend also pointed out that Train of Thought is a good way to draw a ton of cards in these colors, although the copies don't work with Gelectrode.

Looter il-Kor would be better in a more aggressive UR deck. As it is, I'm not running any ways to pump its power, so it's just ping for one, loot. Spire Monitor and Faerie Invaders seem like reasonably beefy finishers, though.

Speaking of finishers, I left out Kiln Fiend because it has two toughness and no evasion. I could add cards like Artful Dodge and Distortion Strike, but I'm not sure those are good enough in a multiplayer format with forty starting life. Maybe it's better to start with less life in Pauper EDH, but killing someone with a Kiln Fiend on turn four or five still seems unrealistic.

I wasn't sure about Bolt and Chain Lightning. I've never actually played Pauper EDH before, so I don't know what sort of creatures will end up getting played and whether one-for-ones like Bolt are worth running unless they're way ahead of the curve (like Flame Slash). It's possible that I just don't have enough removal to efficiently take out mid-sized creatures without having to rely on my general, in which case Bolt and Chain make more sense.

Ghitu Slinger is a good catch.

I had Oona's Grace in but it was one of the last cuts. Draw and filtering are probably more important for a deck like this than raw burn, but the difference between three for Grace and one for Flame Jab seemed pretty big. Grace may be better than Think Twice - since getting two cards out of it costs only one more mana and needing to discard lands is worth being able to "flash it back" more than once - but it seems hugely inefficient. I guess the idea is that it's okay if I just have three mana lying around and a land in hand, and I shouldn't be aiming to cast it as often as possible. I may just make the swap from TT to Grace, but I want to test Train of Thought first.

Other cards I'm considering: Muddle the Mixture, Kaervek's Torch (also apparently a common).

[Aggro_zombies]

Updated list:

1 Merfolk Looter
1 Omenspeaker
1 Thought Courier
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Mulldrifter
1 Prescient Chimera
1 Brainstorm
1 Faithless Looting
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Think Twice
1 Train of Thought
1 Compulsive Research
1 Oona's Grace
1 Ophidian Eye
1 Deep Analysis

1 Waterfront Bouncer
1 Aether Adept
1 Ghitu Slinger
1 Man-o'-War
1 Steamcore Weird
1 Pitchburn Devils
1 Aethersnipe
1 Flame Jab
1 Flame Slash
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Repeal
1 Skred
1 Jilt
1 Arc Lightning
1 Capsize
1 Staggershock
1 Chandra's Outrage

1 Counterspell
1 Memory Lapse
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Exclude
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Rewind

1 Nivix Cyclops
1 Wee Dragonauts
1 Faerie Invaders
1 Spire Monitor
1 Errant Ephemeron
1 Rolling Thunder

1 Goblin Electromancer
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Archaeomancer
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Diminish
1 Mind Games
1 Ghostly Flicker

1 Iron Myr
1 Silver Myr
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Izzet Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Izzet Cluestone

1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Rupture Spire
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Remote Isle
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
15 Snow-Covered Island
12 Snow-Covered Mountain

General: Gelectrode

Notable changes:
1) Restructured the draw suite. Now more looting.

2) More lands: the deck seems very mana-hungry.

3) Cut some of the more questionable defensive creatures, like Pestermite and Frostburn Weird, in favor of solid offensive/defensive guys like Faerie Invaders.