Do we have a pauper thread?

[lavafrogg]

I really hate going over to salvation for pauper discussion.

[Baumeister]

I have not seen one on this site although I wish there was a place for Pauper decks here. Especially eternal paper Pauper because there really isn't a good forum on the internet discussing updated decklists and new tech. Is there a way to request adding a Pauper section?

[Dice_Box]

There is, but how much use do you really think it will get?

[Baumeister]

Honestly, I have no idea. Just taking a casual look around the internet at other forums devoted to discussing Pauper in its many forms shows that there isn't a whole lot of activity. Obviously, that doesn't bode well for anything picking up steam here.

Furthermore, Pauper is pretty much only a format due to there being so many online events that fire for it (although, less so due to recent Wizards policy changes). I can't really recall brick and mortars stores I've visited even entertaining the idea of running events.

I will put my two cents in and say that Paper Pauper is a deep and rewarding format to play and seems to fit right in line with the ideology here at The Source for enabling high-level discussion of deck and card choices for games. Even more so with the card pool available to those who choose to play with real cards.

If it helps, I have a number of Pauper decks built that I regularly play with friends and have a good deal of experience with this format. Obviously, there needs to be interest, but given enough time, I can put together primers to provide a spot to discuss decklists.

[Bed Decks Palyer]

If it helps, I have a number of Pauper decks built that I regularly play with friends and have a good deal of experience with this format. Obviously, there needs to be interest, but given enough time, I can put together primers to provide a spot to discuss decklists.

I'd be interested.

[Baumeister]

Much appreciated! I think in order to have a chance at a Pauper Section, we would need to garner the attention of the "higher ups" on the site. So tell your friends, tell your family! Let's see if we can generate some buzz.

[lavafrogg]

Much appreciated! I think in order to have a chance at a Pauper Section, we would need to garner the attention of the "higher ups" on the site. So tell your friends, tell your family! Let's see if we can generate some buzz.

I'll second the buzz.

[Soldier of Fortune]

I'll third the buzz.

I've actually started putting together a battle box of Paper Pauper decks (with no banlist) to play with friends. Every once in awhile we get tired of jamming Legacy, Cube and Vintage so this seemed like a fun and quirky format to try.

Does anyone here have any experience playing Paper Pauper with no ban list?

[Baumeister]

Does anyone here have any experience playing Paper Pauper with no ban list?

Paper Pauper has no ban list and that's all I play. There are some extremely high-powered cards but I've found that tight play and a little luck can swing the games in your favor. There are obviously cards that demand to be built around, but the format is oddly balanced. 8-Post is probably the best deck in the format, but it is also the most difficult to play correctly 100% of the time.

[lavafrogg]

Paper Pauper has no ban list and that's all I play. There are some extremely high-powered cards but I've found that tight play and a little luck can swing the games in your favor. There are obviously cards that demand to be built around, but the format is oddly balanced. 8-Post is probably the best deck in the format, but it is also the most difficult to play correctly 100% of the time.

Isn't high tide with temporal fissure easily the best deck in a no ban list format? Just get to play the best commons in blue... High tide, frantic search, merchant scroll, ghostly flicker, cloud of fairies..... Mnemonic wall thrown in for fun?

[Baumeister]

Isn't high tide with temporal fissure easily the best deck in a no ban list format? Just get to play the best commons in blue... High tide, frantic search, merchant scroll, ghostly flicker, cloud of fairies..... Mnemonic wall thrown in for fun?

Yes and no. The deck is extremely strong and resilient, but it is slow compared to some of the other decks in the format. Also, with Sinkhole and Hymn to Tourach legal, there is more opposition to fight through. In order to combat resource denial, you must slow down and become more resilient. In order to fight against Storm and fast aggro like Goblins, you have to streamline and increase the speed of the deck. It's difficult to strike a good balance.

8-Post has cards that are live at every point in the game making it much more consistent. It also gets to take advantage of the Mnemonic Wall/Ghostly Flicker engine, just not with endless amounts of mana (close, though). Honestly, I thought Temporal Fissure was going to be the best deck in the format, and it's really good, but there is quite a bit of competition.

[lavafrogg]

Yes and no. The deck is extremely strong and resilient, but it is slow compared to some of the other decks in the format. Also, with Sinkhole and Hymn to Tourach legal, there is more opposition to fight through. In order to combat resource denial, you must slow down and become more resilient. In order to fight against Storm and fast aggro like Goblins, you have to streamline and increase the speed of the deck. It's difficult to strike a good balance.

8-Post has cards that are live at every point in the game making it much more consistent. It also gets to take advantage of the Mnemonic Wall/Ghostly Flicker engine, just not with endless amounts of mana (close, though). Honestly, I thought Temporal Fissure was going to be the best deck in the format, and it's really good, but there is quite a bit of competition.

Cloud of fairies and cloud post combo decks use lands that come into play tapped and/or Karoo lands to go off. I can't see how that is more stable than basic islands with access to frantic search. I will play high tide against any gauntlet you can make and we can track the results.

[Baumeister]

Cloud of fairies and cloud post combo decks use lands that come into play tapped and/or Karoo lands to go off. I can't see how that is more stable than basic islands with access to frantic search. I will play high tide against any gauntlet you can make and we can track the results.

Do you have a decklist? I'm curious to see how streamlined your list is. And yes! I'm looking to assemble the 16 most powerful decks (two 800 count boxes) in the format at any given time. I figured Esper Temporal Fissure was the best version of that deck because it feels more consistent, but perhaps High Tide is just strictly better due to speed. Either way, I'd love to be proven wrong.

[lavafrogg]

The format is paper pauper with no banned list, right?

With:

Treasure Cruise
Cloudpost
Cranial Plating
Empty the Warrens
Frantic Search
Grapeshot
Invigorate
Temporal Fissure
Cloud of Faeries

Being the current online banned list it is obvious that combo is going to be way too fast for any non affinity aggro deck. Affinity gets cranial plating and kills on turn 4, High tide gets cloud of faeries, frantic search, treasure cruise and temporal fissure and kills on turn 3. The pauper perfect storm gets to be a deck again and kills on turn 3. Nothing else is fast enough to outrace the combo decks so decks will be forced to run heavy disruption.

So your format would be:

Combo:
High Tide
Pauper Perfect Storm

Aggro:
Affinity

Control:
Delver/Faeries
Mono Black Dark Ritual and Hymn and Stuff

Nothing else would be viable as it would just lose to the swarms of combo decks that would be everywhere.

I think the current pauper format is mostly balanced, aggro might be a little too powerful but all 3 archetypes are represented on a regular basis.

Aggro:
Stompy
Goblins
Elves
Affinity
White Weenie

Combo:
Izzet Blitz
Reanimator
Boggles
Infect

Control:
Tron and Variants
Delver
Boros Kitty/Variants
Teachings
MBC

In addition to a strong tier 2/3 with fan favorites such as reanimator, Rock Variants, RG Aggro, Madness Variants and pretty much anything else you would like to see. If I was building 16 pauper decks I would chose the current format over a non banned list anyday.