Pauper: Five Decks to Start Playing this Format in 2024!

Pauper is one of Magic's most accessible formats, and it is an excellent gateway for players. Even the oldest players can find what they're looking for in the game in this format.

Pauper's competitive scene went through highs and lows in 2023, but, after the recent Monastery Swiftspear ban (which made Mono-Red a bit weaker), this format finally breathes again. It is a great time to start playing this format, be it through Magic Online or tabletop.

Mono-Red

Even after the last ban, this deck is incredibly strong, and is an excellent option for this format in 2024. Now, it takes on an approach that is more distant from classic Burn, and closer to an extremely efficient, fast-paced Aggro.

Goblin Tomb Raider arrived right after the most recent ban, and managed, to a certain point, to replace Monastery Swiftspear in recent lists. The difference between them is obvious, and this deck needed to adapt, focusing more on low-cost spells and playing threats on board at a rapid pace through the Kuldotha Rebirth and Goblin Bushwhacker explosion.

Azorius Affinity

Affinity is still a strong, and very present, competitor in the metagame. The Grixis version lost space with the arrival of All That Glitters in this format, and gave way to a more Aggro version, which, instead, was divided into Jeskai Affinity and Azorius Affinity.

In this article, I'll show you Azorius Affinity, which, I believe, is the most consistent version nowadays. Jeskai has an interesting idea, but its splash makes its mana base a bit inconsistent.

The Azorius version focuses on playing several threats on the board in one or two turns, and creating card advantage with Moon-Circuit Hacker and Thoughtcast, finishing the game with a gigantic creature enchanted with Glitters.

Izzet Control

For Control decks, we have what, I believe, is currently the best Ux version. Izzet Control is a deck that primarily plays on the low curves, and can extract value while it limits its opponent's resources through counters and removals. This deck is only possible because Murmuring Mystic was released in this format, and this card, bit by bit, took a space that was exclusive to Terror Decks with Tolarian Terror before.

This format still houses Terror Decks, but the UR Control advantage over these strategies is that this deck excludes the mechanics that focus on the graveyard and opens itself to a game plan that is dedicated to the value of the Monarch and the 1/1 Bird tokens.

Tolarian Terror is an extremely powerful creature, but the strategies focused on it seem too fragile at the time. A more reactive approach can not only surprise your opponent, but also develop itself better in a Control game plan.

Jeskai Ephemerate

Still talking about Control decks, we have Jeskai Ephemerate, a deck that is timidly returning to this format's spotlights. In the hands of skilled players, it proved to be a worthy competitor, and also got new tools, such as Goliath Paladin, Kenku Artificer and, more recently, Lórien Revealed and Murmuring Mystic.

Just like UR Control, this deck plans to control the game through removals and counters, like Skred and Counterspell, but there is a mini-lock included through the powerful interaction between Archaeomancer and Ephemerate. This interaction allows you to reuse the spells in your graveyard and abuse ETB effects, such as Mulldrifter, which can create an absurd card advantage in the shape of a 2/2 creature with Flying.

Cleansing Wildfire and indestructible artifact-lands are the heart of this deck, and allow you to speed up the mana curve, fix mana, and create card advantage in this process, which is everything this deck needs to abuse its spells.

Even though this deck is susceptible to this format's traditional hates nowadays, I believe it is one of the best options for those who enjoy this game style.

Dimir Faeries

The classic and elegant style hasn't died. Dimir Faeries returns to this format's spotlights with new tools, and is extremely efficient in this metagame, even outshining Ux Terror and Control decks.

The idea behind this deck is to take advantage of the synergy between Faeries and Ninja of the Deep Hours' ability, creating extreme value while you protect your strategy with counters and the best removals this format can offer.

Spellstutter is one of the best cards in this deck, and it is a pretty convincing reason to play this list. Considering it is a creature that gets more powerful according to the number of Faeries in play, and considering the curve in which Pauper plays currently, this card seems even better, and can counter from a Lightning Bolt to a Murmuring Mystic. All this, added to the fact you can reuse Stutters with our Ninja's ability, places this card at the center of this deck's strategy.

Pauper still has excellent options for those who want to start playing this format in 2024 and give it their all, but I wanted to bring the lists that have pleased me the most currently, besides bringing decks that have great odds of performing well in the hands of those who pilot them masterfully.

One more article is finished. I hope you liked it. Leave your questions, suggestions and feedback in the comment section; I'll try to answer all.

See you next time!