Hi everybody, For me the best part of this new Pioneer sensation is the wide range of possibilities to try while the format is still open. And here I bring a different approach from what I’ve seen of midrange decks so far. I remember that on the first week of pioneer on my LGS, I’ve seen everybody saying that “if you’re playing midrange, you are playing green/blue and 4 Okos” and that kinda pissed me off. Later that day I was already thinking about possibilities for a midrange sheel without blue or green, just to show that I’m no loko for not playing Okos hahaha. Looking at the submitted deck on CardsRealm, I found this unfinished list and loved the idea. [deck](17295) Mardu Pyromancer was always a strategy that I liked in Modern, and the fact that after such a long time I would use some of my “BW Tokens” cards only made me more excited for this brew. After looking for what cards I had at home and/or wasn’t expensive at my LGS, I came up with this deck list, which was the one I used on the 2nd week of pioneer: [deck](17814) You can see one of the matches I had (and a lot of misplays I made hahahaha) in the video below. This match ended up in a draw, with my opponent holding at 1 life in the end. [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW9u8NlnsVA&feature=emb_title) [card](Blessed Alliance) impressed me. The card was way better than I expected, helping me as a removal+4 life against aggro decks and also as a untap two +1/+0 lifelink tokens to protect Sorin and gain even more life. On the other hand, [card](Magma Jet) and [card](Crackling Doom) were not that good. 2 mana for 2 damage is not what you want to do on Pioneer, and without green the mana fixing is hard for a 3 color card. I ended up in the first place that day with a (3-0-1) result!! Played against Monogreen Stompy, Jund Soulflayer and two Sultai Midranges. Like in Modern, the traditional midrange decks have problems to deal with token generation. But against unfair decks like [card](Soulflayer), the opposite happens, and I only won because of lucky topdecks and some misplays from my oponent (video of this match below). I was happy to see that my deck could withstand such an aggressive match like against Stompy. [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXw50LVpsb4) Well, with the experience I got with this tournament and with no more [card](Saheeli Rai)+[card](Felidar Guardian) combo on the format, I updated the list: [deck](19533) As you can see, no more [card](Rakdos Charm) to play against Copycats. Since the field in my LGS is very aggressive, I decided to try 1 [card](Sweltering Suns), 1 [card](Collective Brutality) and 1 [card](Kaya, Orzhov Usurper) on the main deck. Again, I had problems dealing with unfair decks. Playing against Izzet Phoenix, all the sideboard came during the match, but it wasn’t enough. The other matches were ok. [card](Sorin, Solemn Visitor) saved me twice against Izzet Ensouls. [card](Sweltering Suns) ended with the Monored Prowess in both matches, and the token generation + [card](Ashiok, Dream Render) was too much for the Golgari [card](Seasons Past) to deal. For next week, I adapted my deck to have a better match against those unfair decks. I will try to use [card](Declaration in Stone) to deal with the [card](Arclight Phoenix) deck and also I’m curious to see if [card](Chandra, Acolyte of Flame) will be worth the spot in the maindeck. Here is the List I will try: [deck](19766) Hope you liked this. Feel free to post any questions and/or advices. I’m having lots of fun updating this deck and I will insist on that for the time being in Pioneer. =)

Hey guys, this is Ari and today we will start a new series here at Cards Realm. To start TOP 5, I will list the best green creatures in pauper. But before I have a very quick message. For those who aren't yet familiar with [link](https://www.manadelver.wordpress.com)(projeto Mana Delver), we have a biweekly podcast where I invite community members to talk about various topics from Magic. Our podcast is available for Android and iOS apps and you can also find us on Deezer and Spotify. Be sure to check out our podcast. Now let's get down to business, because this top 5 promises to be so good that we had to make room for an honorable mention... Although it's not among the top 5 green creatures in Pauper, this card plays a lot on Standard Tron Deck. Its cost isn't so high for Tron, and besides having a respectful body, this creature gains a lot of life, often 10 life points will be more than enough to end all opponent's chances of winning the game, so [card](Fangren Marauder) deserves to be cited in this article as our honorable mention. [image](https://cdn.cardsrealm.com/images/cartas/en/mbs-mirrodin-besieged-fangren-marauder-79.jpg) *Fifth place* This creature plays a lot on artifact-based decks, especially the well-known Affinity Pauper. [card](Carapace Forger) 's Metal Mastery ability makes, most of the times, possible to cast a 4/4 creature in the second round. Do you have any idea how aggressive this is? Not all removals deal with this creature, if it is not removed by the opponent it is likely to be the strongest creature on the table the next turn, attacking for four damage on the opponent or forcing him to make an unfavorable block. The [card](Carapace Forger) just isn't better positioned in this Top 5 just because it plays on specific artifact decks... [image](https://cdn.cardsrealm.com/images/cartas/en/som-scars-of-mirrodin-carapace-forger-114.jpg) *Fourth place* This creature can be used on many decks, one of them is the aristocratic BG that abuses sacrifice mechanics, where it is sacrificed to increase the power of other creatures. In addition, it is of utmost importance to the sideboard of combo decks that suffer greatly from sacrifice, protecting the main deck creatures by sacrificing the [card](Young Wolf) that returns with Undying. Its higher quality is to have the opponent spend 2 removals on a single creature, thereby reducing the advantage that the deck control has over creature-based decks, while preserving the gas of its main deck, Stompy. And when he is enchanted with Rancor, he becomes one of his opponent's biggest challenges. Another match where [card](Young Wolf) shines is against Infect. Although the infect is not a competitive deck, Young Wolf disrupts the deck because infecting creatures deal damage in the form of -1 / -1 counters causing Young Wolf to always return to the battlefield with a counter + 1 / + 1, giving the best possible use for your Immortal ability. [image](https://cdn.cardsrealm.com/images/cartas/en/dka-dark-ascension-young-wolf-134.jpg) *Third place* Very important for aggressive decks because of its low cost and good body. [card](Nettle Sentinel) costs 1 green mana, is a 2/2 warrior elf that doesn't untap in its untap phase, but can be untapped whenever you cast a green spell. Let's take a closer look at its second ability as it is very important for [card](Nettle Sentinel) to be Pauper's third best green creature. This ability decreases or practically nullifies the cards drawback, as it is not at all difficult for you to cast something to untap it and make it fit for attack. Remember that the magic doesn't even have to be resolved, just casted. It is common for you to attack with Nettle Sentinel and untap it on the same turn to have one more blocker. In addition to the speed and aggressiveness already mentioned, this same ability makes Nettle Sentinel important for the formats mini combos as well. We can name a few classic interactions such as generating multiple manas with Birchlore Rangers on the field and equipping the sentry with Viridian Longbow to deal damage several times. [image](https://cdn.cardsrealm.com/images/cartas/en/a25-masters-25-nettle-sentinel-182.jpg) *Second place* Hexproof is a skill that doesn't allow the creature to be targeted by its opponents' spells or abilities. In other words, this skill is essential for a deck like GW Auras for example. [card](Silhana Ledgewalker) is essential in this deck for two reasons, the first one we already mentioned: hexproof. The second reason is its evasion, as well as not being easily removed, the opponent will also have difficulty blocking it, as Silhana can only be blocked by flying creatures. Besides that, to justify Silhana's second place in our top 5, she has recently become very important in the Mono G Stompy strategy that has been using four copies of Elephant Guide in addition to the Rancors, meaning that Silhana Megazord provides greater chances of victory in tricky matches for Stompy's traditional aggressive strategy. [image](https://cdn.cardsrealm.com/images/cartas/en/gpt-guildpact-silhana-ledgewalker-94.jpg) *First place* And finally it's time to reveal the first place in our top 5. [card](Quirion Ranger) costs 1 green mana, and is a 1/1 elf who has the following ability: "Return a forest you control to its owner's hand: Untap target creature. Use this ability only once for each turn " Why is this ability so good? I'm going to explain. Quirion usually plays on fast decks, meaning they have few land and low mana creatures. On this type of deck, Qurion allows you to decrease the number of lands and increase the number of creatures or spells without risking being out of lands. This type of deck can benefit very well from the drawback of the card. It is common for you to generate a mana, return a forest to your hand, and play it again for additional mana. To give you an idea of ​​how positive this drawback is for the deck, sometimes the target of Quirion's ability ends up being a creature that is already untapped, just so that this additional mana can be generated. But untapping a creature is a very powerful ability that allows the most diverse interactions: In Elves, for example, there are several creatures that activate an ability when tapped. Quirion allows these abilities to be used more than once. In Stompy, in addition to speeding up your game, Quirion allows you to attack with a creature and untap it to have a blocker available. [image](https://cdn.cardsrealm.com/images/cartas/en/vis-visions-quirion-ranger-117.jpg) What now? We have reached the end of the article and you probably have something to comment on it right? How about leaving your Top 5 in the comment session? I hope you enjoyed the article and see you next time o/.

Arinaldo

Analista de Sistemas em São Paulo. Jogador e produtor de conteúdo sobre MTG. Criador e apresentador do Canal e Podcast Mana Delver. Apesar de ser apaixonado pelo Pauper, também joga e aprecia todos os outros formatos.

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