Paupularity Contest: Theros Spoileez

We have had some great preview cards streaming in from the Theros.

This is looking to be a power house set chock full of high quality cards for every format. We have a confirmed Thoughtseize reprint, which completely needed to happen, tons of new legendary creatures, and new threat centric mechanics: Heroic, Monstrous, and Bestow.

There is going to be plenty of discussion of the new mythics and potential generals here on The General Zone as well as other places around the MtG blogosphere, plus I will be authoring our regularly scheduled set review as soon as the full spoiler drops so I am going to leave those discussions for other days/commentators.

Today I am going to take a look at the first round of Common spoilers and tell you what I can't wait to jam into my Pauper decks/cube.

To kick things off we have the latest iteration in a long line of Green Impulse effects. Grisly Salvage in RTR block was one of the best versions of this card ever and was almost as good as the original. Being multicolor though, it was a little restrictive so it isn't ever going to see much play in Pauper.

This has more of a chance, but isn't as strong of a card. It is easier to cast, but not being an Instant hurts. Also, picking up a land is much better than an Enchantment in my book, so that is definitely a downgrade.

For limited, this is an appropriate change since the theme of the block is Enchantments. This will find an easy home in my pauper cube where green card draw is difficult to come by. This -> Citanul Woodreaders. Living the dream.


Oh boy...WE HAVE A ONE DROP! This is craziness. They block you go to pump it and get a token even if they have a response. This is just oozing value.

This could very well be the best Red one drop in Pauper. I know, I know, it is too early to start voting for Heisman, but this guy is going to be doing work. Seeing this guy really makes me wish Heroic triggered off of abilities and also your opponents junk as well.

That would be pretty insane, no? Bonesplitter this, get a guy. They kill it, you get another guy. Now they have to deal with two 1/1 instead of just the one and you still have the equipment? How sick would that nonsense have been? Probably too sick. I imagine they changed it for this reason exactly, although I haven't seen any equipment spoiled yet.

You might not have heard this, but I am huge fan of drawing cards. I loved Night's Whisper and I am still waiting for a reprint at common. I love Sign in Blood and the flexibility/reach it gave Pauper Storm decks.

This is probably too expensive for constructed Pauper, but in Pauper Commander and C/Ube it is ridiculous. Don't underestimate how good Scry is.

This is light years ahead of Divination, something that it will take Magic online drafters weeks to figure out. Beat them over the head with it until they figure it out. That's flavor. Educate people about the game with a card that models learning knowledge from the remains of the dead. I should get paid more for this kind of stuff.


In-depth analysis here: Sea Gate Oracle was good. Being cheaper is a plus, but getting to draw a card is a definite down side and kind of a bargain at 1 colorless mana (assuming you get to pick the card in both cases here). In EDH and P. Cube you are probably fine waiting an extra turn for an extra card. You will at most be taking 3 for that privelage.

In constructed Pauper you could be taking as much as 5 or 6, but the mono Blue Pauper decks were already playing Sea Gate Oracle and loving it. Altogether I think that this card is worst, but not by a whole lot. Time will tell if that conclusion is correct because I will be playing a good bit of this card I suspect.

Yes, more things to compete with Squadron Hawk! Just what I needed. This card is good no doubt. Very aggressive, evasive and an excellent topdeck on a stalled board. There are a whole slew of playable humans in Pauper so this guy jumping 3-4 of your dudes per turn isn't much of a stretch.

White Weenie/ Ramosian Rally decks want this I think. Although they are already very clogged at the two spot, like pretty much every good Pauper deck. If it isn't a straight up home run then it definitely has potential looking forward to this one.

Well, that's all I've got for today, but that is just barely scratching the surface of Theros. Five indestructible gods, three different planewalkers, a functional reprint of Searing Spear...jeez. This set was given the juice. No one is going to argue that. I expect this to rival Worldwake and Innistrad as some of the highest selling boosters of all time. Get them while they are hot kids, this set is going to get pricey fast.