The final Challenge of 2018 showed exactly how much can change in a year. At the start of 2018. Pauper was dominated by Boros Monarch and Izzet Delver. And as the page turns to 2019, a new Delver variant and new Boros deck have turned the format on its ear.
I'm only being slightly sarcastic. While there has been some serious innovation in the last 365 days, the best two decks at the moment and variants of decks that have been successful for years. This is the way of non-rotating formats. Inertia is real and it takes more than one or two new cards to upset the order of things. However as we dig deeper into these results a few things become clear. First, Dimir Delver is perceived to be the threat of the format. Despite some saying that the deck is overrated, decks did adjust to the threat. We saw more copies of Journey to Nowhere, maindeck copies of Relic of Progenitus, and an increase in the prevalence of Pyroblast.
No deck is unbeatable, especially when hate is everywhere. But despite all this there were three copies of Dimir Delver in the Top 8. Another copy should have made it over Dinrova Tron, except that player apparently dropped from the event between the final round of Swiss and the Quarterfinals.
How popular was Pyroblast? The card made appearances in 15 sideboards. In two of those instances, there were maindeck copies as well. All told there were ten decks with access to four Pyroblasts after Game One and another four with access to three. It isn't uncommon for sideboard bullets to make their ways into maindecks in unhealthy metagames to deal with problematic cards - one only needs to look at Vintage and Legacy to see some examples.
This is certainly exploitable. You can forgo stack control entirely and dodge both Pyroblast and Hydroblast. Doing so puts you at a disadvantage however - every deck in the Top 8 had access to some form of stack control.
When a format locks you in to playing either red or blue, there may be something wrong with the format.
The threshold for 2% this week rounds up to three appearances. Despite not making a Top 32 last week Stompy holds on to the third spit. Still, Dimir Delver and Boros Bully are half a Top 8 clear of the remaining top decks. As more attention gets paid to Pauper, especially with a slot in the Magic Online Championship on the line, the chances of this remaining the status quo diminishes.
Pauper is at a crossroads. It can either remain a small community happy to exist in its corner, or it can flourish beyond our borders.
I think you all know which side I fall on.
1 comment:
When every reef is bared and every wave is dust—only then shall I rest.
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