The March 3 Pauper Challenge was the second major Pauper tournament to take place last weekend. Out at MagicFest Los Angeles, the first ever Pauper Mythic Qualifier was held and - spoiler alert - Hexproof won. The build had a near immediate impact as the Forest- Crumbling Vestige build went on to make the Top 8 of the Challenge as well. I'll have more about this historic event in the coming weeks but something of note: both events had eight distinct archetypes in their respective Top 8s. Across the 16 decks, there were only two repeat strategies - Dimir Delver and Hexproof.
More on this later.
The six round challenge saw a repudiation of Burn. Despite putting up strong results for a few weeks the strategy crashed and, well, burned on Sunday. Looking at the composition of the different decks this week it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. The winning Tribe list had maindeck Seeker of the Way while the Orzhov decks were packing Lone Missionary, Arashin Cleric, and Aven Riftwatcher. Lifegain was abundant enough to keep Lightning Bolt.dek out of the Top 16 and give us a moderate reprieve from getting our faces charred.
Hexproof had a breakout week. One appearance in the Top 8 and two more in the Top 16, these decks are moving away from Blossoming Sands in favor of adding Unbridled Growth and Crumbling Vestige to facilitate their non-green cards. While this does leave the deck somewhat vulnerable to Leave no Trace, it is an interesting innovation and could help bolster Bogles for the next few events.
This is the winning Tribe Combo list from Theflotist. They went undefeated in the Swiss and only dropped a game in the Top 8. The first appearance for Tribe in Ravnica Allegiance season was a good one and this deck brought some tech. First, Seeker of the Way gives the deck another threat while also padding the life total against Burn. To do this the deck cuts Augur of Bolas which is an interesting choice. I am not as high on Augur as many other Pauper players are but cutting it from Tribe, which leans hard on Gush and Inside Out, is a bold choice. Still, with 19 one mana cantrips it is possible the deck sees enough cards that it just doesn't need Augur to help.
Dive Down is back as a way to protect Tireless Tribe while also providing another bit of damage. Dive Down is one of those cards that isn't game breaking but does just enough that it should see more play.
The eighth place list from Kazuya3 is an interesting take on midrange. A blue-white value deck, it wants to use Momentary Blink and Angelic Renewal to get as much value as possible out of Mulldrfiter. Custodi Squire is a nice top end here. That being said, I'd like to see another land somewhere to support the 7 five drops. I would also be interested in seeing another threat of some sort to help close out the game.
Summary Judgment sees its first serious play in this build. The spell has the advantage of being able to hit both Delver of Secrets and Gurmag Angler. Unlike Sunlance, it doesn't get blanked by Kor Skyfisher and Palace Sentinels. All in all, it's an interesting option that should be seeing more play than it does at the moment.
The shaded area are decks that have a Top 8 appearance but fall beneath the 2% volume threshold.
Dimir Delver and Boros Monarch are still having a fantastic seasons. Orzhov Monarch is also creeping up the standings despite not being nearly as popular as the other decks.
So back to the lingering point. Two Top 8s and 14 archetypes. Does this mean the format is healthy? I don't know. There's a chance it's healthier than I've been saying but I still think there's something to be desired. Decks like Dimir Delver and Boros Monarch - cards like Gush and Palace Sentinels - are fine when they aren't omnipresent and oppressive. If (and this is a big if) the results from a modified Swiss tournament (cut to Top 8 after 5 rounds, not the 9 it would have been in full Swiss) and the Challenges hold up, combined with Modern Horizons coming, it could be that Pauper is going to be alright.
We'll have to check back next week.
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