Paupularity Contest #1: The Underview

Hey Zoners, it's your old Grandpa Growth and I am here to bring you a brand new series where I talk exclusively about the Pauper variant(s) of Commander. Let's start by talking about rules.

100 card singleton. Only commons, except your Commander, which is an Uncommon creature card, but doesn't necessarily need to be legendary although it could be. I am mostly going to be talking about this variant. I like it because it gives you near infinite options to choose as your general, there are just a lot of competitive quality cards out there to build around. Other options are:

1. Using a regular commander (legendary creature, any rarity), but all common 99. I won't spend much time talking about this because you are going to have a lot of similarity to regular Commander decks. Or potentially just taking a decent Pauper deck and sticking an overplayed Commander at the top, e.g. Rhys, or Sharuum.

2. Playing with one of the actual common legendary creatures as your commander. This just doesn't really work out because there are so few. Unless you want to grind Ramirez mirrors for a couple years this just isn't a thing.

So the way I am going to run the paupularity contest is to show you a decklist, talk about card choices, and do your basic SWOT analysis. Today though, I am going to kick things off with an overview of some high profile cards you can expect to see floating around the format, the staples if you will.

The Ravnica bounce lands are excellent fixing and a source of card advantage. These, along with the new RTR block guild gates, represent a strong reason to play multicolor decks. Particularly Esper, Bant, and Jund. 

Card advantage is a bit harder to come by in Pauper formats and you usually have to work harder to achieve it. Pack land destruction to deny your opponents access to mana and blow them out when they commit to a bounce land. Keep in mind that common LD shows up in Green, Black, Red, and Blue can use effects like Boomerang to stall their opponents development.





This card is the premier top-end threat in the format. It is enormous, often requiring double or triple blocking. It generates pure card advantage. It is colorless, so there is no reason not to bring it to the party every time. Investing this much mana into a creature can be difficult since the format tends to have a lower overall mana curve and games typically end through combat damage. Keep in mind that this is vulnerable to removal and a huge target for Threaten effects, so protect it accordingly. Keeping a Crusher crushing will end the game in short order.



Buyback spells are very difficult to deal with and stand alone atop the mountain of end game cards in the format. Consistent card advantage, raw power, and the promise of inevitability make most any buyback spell an auto-include. Do yourself a favor and look over the full selection of Buyback spells in Gatherer. Play the cards in your color and be aware of the cards in other colors so you will know what opposing decks have to work with.

Not all of these spells are created equal: Sprout Swarm is pretty much just straight up better than Lab Rats. Shattering Pulse isn't going to win the game, but you have to keep them all in mind. These cards show up a lot in Pauper Commander. The best ways to fight against them are counter spells, but sometimes you are going to have to get creative. Make targets illegal with your own removal or protection from color effects. Making targets illegal still counters the spell and denies your opponent the option of using attrition to beat you.

Evoke creatures present options. The power of choice has proven extremely valuable throughout the history of Magic. This is of the utmost importance in Pauper where versatility is at a minimum. Look for creatures with Evoke and Kicker, as they present threats with the benefit of added utility when necessary. The drifter, Ingot Chewer, and the newly minted (at common) Walker of the Grove will all be big time players. Look for creatures with these abilities as well as other things that give added value like Unearth.







This card is everywhere. Play it. Prepare for it. It is the best equipment in the format, which is really saying something. So many games revolve around creature combat. Simply being able to make your threats better than the opponent's is invaluable. In my opinion, you must play this, you must play Vulshok Morningstar, and you must play Whispersilk Cloak. There are several other common equipments that may be appropriate to any given deck, e.g. Opaline Bracers, but that is a choice you are going to have to make on your own.

Games of Pauper Commander tend to go late. Without overpowered threats to instantly close games, things tend to drag on. Having something to do with your mana is important in a board stall. In this case, a 5/5 First Strike is much better than a 1/1 blanker. Level up dudes are expensive and slow. They are also very much worth playing. Don't get left holding the bag on this one.










The story up to this point has been all about how to milk more value from your cards. I am happy to inform you that: we have more of the same. Retrace is insane. You don't need more than 9 lands ever, typically not more than 8. Any lands you draw after that are dead. Retrace can let you turn that into a tangible benefit. The newly common Siphon Life directly kills your opponent. Cenn's Enlistment advances your board. Oona's Grace cycles and makes every land you draw into a cycling land. Sick. Most of these are playable in regular Commander so there is no excuse for leaving them on the sidelines in Pauper.







While we are on the topic of late-game mana sinks: Activated abilities are good. It is hard to find better uses for your mana than the two-fer set of invoker cycles. These cards are nothing special at face value, but represent the promise of breaking the game once you have entered the big mana phase. Don't leave home without every one of these guys. The more colors the better; it just means you get to have more ways to use your mana in the late game than your opponent.

So long for now Zoners. Next time were going to dig right into the deck lists and start talking about how the format plays. We'll be getting things rolling with my very own Grixis brew. See you then!

-GG