The Pauper Experience
by Oliver Mastilero
Hello Guys and Happy New Year to All! It’s a fresh start of the year and to start the year with a bang I’m going to introduce to you a new format that is now becoming popular in MTGO. Introducing… Pauper Format!
MTG is a game that really requires you to spend a lot of cash in order for you to have the best deck to play with. In competitive MTG like joining the tournaments, you are obliged to have the powerful cards (which are Rares and Mythic Rares) for you to win games and bring home the title.
But what if you really love playing Magic but you don’t have the budget for those tournament staple cards? Well, Pauper Magic is the right format for you.
What is Pauper Magic anyway?
Pauper Magic is a game-format of Magic: The Gathering in which only commons are legal. This obviously excludes Uncommons, Rares and Mythic Rare cards from the decks. Pauper format is similar to formats in regular Magic such as Standard (Type 2), Block Constructed, Extended (Type 1.5), Legacy or Vintage.
Pauper Magic is often confused with Peasant Magic which is a different format entirely.
Pauper Deck Construction
The usual rules for Constructed decks apply, a minimum deck size of 60 cards in the main deck, an optional 15-card sideboard, and so on. If a common version of a particular card was ever released on Magic, any versions of that card printed at other rarities are also legal in a specific format.
Unfortunately, not all cards like Oblivion Ring have only one rarity. There are plenty of cards which not only appeared in several sets, they also have different rarities!
To be legal in a specific Pauper format, a card has to exist as a Common in any of the legal sets in that format.
For Example:
Mogg Fanatic exists as a Common in Tempest and as an Uncommon in 10th Edition. Then it’s not legal in Extended-Pauper since it has not appeared as a common in an Extended legal set but can be played in Legacy-Pauper in which Tempest is a legal set in that format.
Chromatic Star exists as a Common in Timespiral and as an Uncommon in 10th Edition. Since it appeared as a Common in an Extended legal set (Timespiral), it is legal for Extended-Pauper but not valid in Standard-Pauper.
Demolish exists as an Uncommon in Odyssey, Core Sets - 8th and 9th Edition and as a Common in 10th Edition. Then it’s legal in all formats because it existed as a common in 10th Edition which is a legal set in all format.
The Month Ender Standard-Pauper Tournament
Recently last January 31, there was a Month Ender Standard-Pauper Tournament held at MSIS. Though I was not able to join that day because of other non-Magic activities, I’m still going to bring you the winning deck piloted by my officemate John Paul Imperial.
UW Control by John Paul Imperial
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It happened we are on the same shift so my friend Mao suggested that I give JP a short interview about his thoughts of the tournament. So here’s how the interview went…
Me: Hail to you Champion! Why did you choose this deck?
JP: Because of Deft Duelist. I notice that most decks in this format (all commons) rely on creatures as their win condition, so I decided to play with Deft Duelist to oppose those who bring tons of spot removals.
Me: What is the deck’s name?
JP: UW control
Me: How many rounds you play and what’s your record?
JP: I played a total of 5 rounds. 4 rounds eliminations and semifinals. We decided to draw the finals. My final record was 4-0-2
Me: What do you think is the best card in Standard-Pauper Format?
JP: Mulldrifter
Me: I have seen you using UG Tempo deck days before the tournament, is this really your tactic? Why did you switch your deck?
JP: It wasn’t really planned that way. I only decided to change decks because after play testing with other players I noticed that most decks are weak against hand disruption, so Ithought about strengthening my deck by opposing discarders and using tough creatures to delay early threats. You’ll notice that I used 4 courier’s capsule… hehehe
Me: Will Conflux have a great impact in Standard-Pauper Format? What common cards in Conflux you’ll expect to have an impact and why?
JP: I haven’t taken each card into consideration seriously yet, but I do have some thoughts about how domain based decks will make an impact because it welcomes all cards without color restrictions.
That was my short interview with the champ and I could not agree more about his opinion on Conflux. New decks will be rising like the domain base deck featuring the Matca Rioters, Might of Alara, Exploding Borders and Armillary Sphere. I also like the new fixer in the form of Rupture Spire, thank God it’s common and this land will solve mana issues. Overall I like the Conflux set specially their common cards; plenty are playable and could help upgrade other decks.
Pauper Format is a lot of fun to play with, especially when it comes to deck building. You don’t even need to spend a lot on cards because Commons are cheap and easy to find. Most Commons cost around 5-10 Pesos so constructing a deck will only cost you just about 100-300 pesos, cheapness isn’t it?
There is no definite metagame in Standard-Pauper yet since the format is still raw to everyone. There are lots of decks to breakthrough and play test so be creative and explore the power of commons. In Pauper Format, you don’t need to worry on the availability of the cards and those overpriced cardboards (Hot Rares/Mythics). What matters is the enjoyment you get playing MTG with your friends.
Until next time guys! 
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