The November 24th Pauper Challenge looked rather different than the three prior events. There was only one Flicker Tron deck in the Top 8 and the archetype was not in the winner's circle. Instead it was one of two Stompy decks in the Top 32 - both in the Top 8 - that edged out a version of Boros Monarch that appears to have been built to beat the mirror.
These results should be heartening. Tron was held in check by an abundance of strategies that are strong against the deck. Stompy, Elves, and Burn are all decks that attack Tron from slightly different angles. The second most popular deck - Izzet Faeries - has also adjusted and now has it's own end game lock in Deprive and Mystic Sanctuary. While not a slam dunk against Tron, access to true counters can help disrupt the loop that would otherwise lock a player out of a game.
And here is the part where I say that the results of the Challenge are not totally reflective of the wider Pauper metagame. Shortly after I tweeted out the image to the left I got a reply:
Top Tron players refused to play it because its boring— PR0boszcz (@PR0boszczMTG) November 25, 2019
There are a few ways to look at the claim. No one can deny the fact that some well known Tron pilots stayed out of the Challenge. If you have been hanging out in Discord I manage you will have no doubt seen Hellsau, and to a lesser extent, Birbman bemoaning how good the deck is - with Hellsau feeling locked into play the strategy in the Format Championship even though they hate it.
But to quote a musical that is culturally relevant, you had to be in the room where it happened.
More on this in a bit.
Because these players did not play there is no way to know if they would have won in this field. It is possible that they would have won and it is also possible they would have lost. But the tweet above unintentionally questions the veracity of the results. This tournament doesn't count because Tron wasn't played.
What is true? Has Tron taken a hit or is it just a blip on the radar and the prison deck is going to come back in force before the December 16th Banned and Restricted announcement?
I'm not sure it matters. What does is that these discussions about Pauper need to come out of the shadows. While all social platforms are opt-in, Twitter at least puts the discourse in front of folks who make Magic. So if you have opinions on Pauper let people know using the #mtgpauper hashtag.
Because shouting into the void of a Discord with people who agree with you doesn't affect change. It just makes you look like you're shouting.
Pauper continues to grow in popularity and I want to continue to be at the forefront of the metagame. If you like the work I do, please consider becoming a Patron. Thank you!
1 comment:
What I'm more concerned about is Tron flying under the radar during the next B&R announcement if nobody plays it. It's almost like they're trying to avoid getting it banned so that when the next big tournament happens, they'll have a shoe-in deck.
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