Paupularity Contest #2: GG's Fire-Field Ogre

Zoners. The day has come. The first decklist I am going to share on TGZ. And, fittingly it is my own brew. Let's just call last week the soft opening of my new Pauper Commander series Paupularity Contest. Today is the grand opening! In this series we are going to look at a new decklist each time. My goal is showcase the awesome diversity, power, and fun of Pauper. And maybe, just maybe it'll be enough to get more people on board, because this format is so sweet. Every should really be playing it.

So, without further ado, let us begin. RELEASE THE DECKLIST!

COMMANDER:
Fire-Field Ogre

31 LANDS
Quicksand
Terramorphic Expanse
Evolving Wilds
Transguild Promenade
Rupture Spire
Dimir Guildgate
Rakdos Guildgate
Izzet Guildgate
Dimir Aqueduct
Rakdos Carnarium
Izzet Boilerworks
Esper Panorama
Jund Panorama
Grixis Panorama
Bojuka Bog
Halimar Depths
Remote Isle
Polluted Mire
Smoldering Crater
Lonely Sandbar
Barren Moor
Forgotten Cave
5 Island
3 Swamp
2 Mountain

10 ARTIFACTS
Darksteel Ingot
Prophetic Prism
Dimir Signet
Rakdos Signet
Izzet Signet
Mistvein Borderpost
Veinfire Borderpost
Pristine Talisman
Darksteel Pendant
Bonesplitter
Whispersilk Cloak

36 INSTANTS AND SORCERIES
Lab Rats
Strangling Soot
Rolling Thunder
Rock Slide
Siphon Life
Evincar's Justice
Firebolt
Fires of Undeath
Pyrotechnics
Death Denied
Logic Knot
Eyeblight's Ending
Muddle the Mixture
Mind Games
Memory Lapse
Ray of Command
Raven's Crime
Oona's Grace
Wrecking Ball
Blightning
Recoil
Soul Manipulation
Deep Analysis
Capsize
Jilt
Exclude
Compulsive Research
Terminate
Condescend
Shattering Pulse
Deny Reality
Mystical Teachings
Disturbed Burial
Merchant Scroll
Counterspell
Ashes to Ashes

22 CREATURES
Stinkweed Imp
Twisted Abomination
Faceless Butcher
Skinthinner
Macetail Hystrodon
Shoreline Ranger
Ingeous Pouncer
Izzet Chronarch
Mist Raven
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Sea-gate Oracle
Halimar Wavewatch
Steamcore Weird
Rathi Trapper
Bloodrite Invoker
Merfolk Looter
Thought Courier
Mulldrifter
Okiba-gang Shinobi
Gryff Vanguard
Aethersnipe
Ulamog's Crusher

Some Comments on the card choices: What fixing should I use? What's the land count? Why do I have so few threats? Where is all the card draw? Where is the discard? Why am I not playing card X? Chances are the answer to all of these questions is wrapped up in this: I change this list frequently. Sometimes I get up to 38 lands. Some times I play half a dozen equipment. Sometimes I don't use any counters. Sometimes I want Hymn to Tourach. Sometimes I only play cards that cantrip. Part of the fun of a singleton format is keeping things fresh. There simply isn't enough of a metagame to 'optimize' a deck list for any practical purpose. I play cards until I get tired of them, then switch 'em out for something I have been itching to try. I don't take this list as seriously as my regular Commander decks.

STRENGTHS
Ogre is the only option for a pure Grixis General so it is a more popular choice, but that's all relative. Pauper Commander is incredibly diverse and you're unlikely to be playing any mirror matches. Four power is the water mark for trading with all but the biggest creatures in the format. First Strike is an extremely relevant ability. It makes combat stressful and often requires some sort of team blocking to stop. Unearth is super sick on a general. You get to re-buy it every time you re-buy it. This will help you force through 21 pretty quickly. For decks that don't have enough removal Ogre will just become The Abyss as they are forced to chump every turn.

Grixis is a very powerful and attractive color combination. You get the best board sweepers in the format: Rolling Thunder and Evincar's Justice; All the counterspells, card draw, and removal you could ask for; and access to things like Ponder or Brainstorm that can fix draws and help shore up a three color mana base. You're also getting some cards that are just viciously annoying to play against: Stinkweed Imp, Raven's Crime, and Capsize. There is also potential to get very aggressive. A tempo-oriented deck full of bounce and pseudo-Nekrataals can often hamstring an opponent long enough to sneak in lethal damage. Ground stalls are also easy to solve with cards like Distortion Strike, Artful Dodge, and Falter. Exploit your access to fliers; they are pretty great.

WEAKNESSES
Ogre only has 2 toughness, which is pretty low. Basically any nonblack removal can nail it. White removal like Pacifism is particularly brutal. CMC 4 is in the middle of the road, so it is possible to fall behind early and get blanked late. You have to commit to building your deck towards one angle or the other. This card just isn't flexible enough to switch gears mid-game. Without the right fixing, 3 color decks can be problematic. To get the proper fixing, three color decks tend to be pretty slow; often needing ETB tapped lands or artifact mana to cast their spells.

Grixis is somewhat lacking in quality beaters. There is a lot of stuff with interactive ETB abilities or attached card advantage, but the reality is that these guys are smaller than the field. 4 Toughness is the bar you want to get over and there aren't too many creatures that get there. This list is playing very few creatures to begin with. Decks that have exhaustive amounts of superior threats or removal can leave you high and dry in the late game. Look out for threats that present multiple bodies as an answer to targeted removal: e.g. Maul Splicer from Green. Opposing Blue decks have the advantage of interacting favorably with our most powerful spells. Getting a Capsize or Disturbed Burial countered will be crippling.

OPPORTUNITIES
We want to square off against decks like Eternal Witness, Trostani's Summoner, Jetting Glasskite, etc. Decks that present minimal disruption and try to leverage late game plays, Buyback, or derpy threats are easy pickings for the home team.

Ogre is well positioned against other midrange decks. This list is skewed toward late game control, letting us set up inevitability with a Buyback spell or game breaking recursion play. Also, decks that want to small ball the game will run straight into our powerful board sweepers. Voltron decks that pack bunches of equipment or auras are going to have a very tough time getting anything assembled. We simply have too many ways to interact and can put up road blocks every step of the way.  We have answers to most things, it's just a question of what to get with Merchant Scroll or Teachings: Capsize is the usual target, but it doesn't solve everything. Oona's Grace will let you cycle into more action and more specific answers like Raven's Crime or a Cloak.

THREATS
Commanders we don't want to battle: Silver Knight, Calciderm, Duskmantle Guildmage, etc.

We really just don't want to see anyone who has more redundancy than us. Card advantage isn't that tough to deal with, but if they have enough threats that we have to trade ours off in combat then we could be in a bind. We don't really have enough duders to play that game. Too many counterspells means we won't be able to count on a Buyback spell or board sweeper to save us. Threats that are protected from our colors are super annoying to get rid of and are mostly unblockable. Also, decks that force us to discard a bunch or destroy our mana base can usually create an unwinnable position by locking us out of doing anything useful. This rarely happens, because people are scared to play mill in EDH (mostly because it is generally bad), but we are slow enough to actually get killed by mill decks that have sufficient board control.

Alrighty! That's all for today zoners. Let me know what you think about the article, the deck, the theory of relativity, or anything else that strikes your fancy in the comments.