Pauper: Glee Combo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Basking Broodscale inspired a new combo in Pauper, with Sadistic Glee. Glee Combo can both lean towards Goblins Combo and midrange strategies similar to Affinity.

The versatility and explosion of this combo dominated Pauper in the last few weeks, and, it quickly became the best deck in the format because of its speed. It completely changed the metagame.

In this article, we'll go through the most combo-centric version of this deck, and set aside the Jund version, which focuses a bit less on the combo itself.

The heart of this deck is in the interaction between Broodscale and Glee. Broodscale's ability, Adapt, puts a +1/+1 counter on it and creates an Eldrazi Spawn token for you. Sadistic Glee, in turn, gives the enchant creature a +1/+1 counter any time a creature is put into the graveyard from the battlefield. This is what creates an infinite loop; you'll sacrifice the Eldrazi token, create , and trigger Glee's ability again. Then, you'll get another +1/+1 counter for Broodscale and another Eldrazi token.

As a result, you'll get infinite mana and infinite counters, so your dearly beloved Lizard, Broodscale, will have infinite attack power and toughness. Or, you can go for a more interesting and inevitable win condition with Nadier's Nightblade, which will drain your opponent's life whenever you sacrifice a token. With infinite colorless mana, you can also use Energy Refractor to cast any spell you want, and then get the card you need to win the game.

In addition, Haunted Cloak wins you the game through infinite combat damage if you can't find or put Nightblade in play.

To support this strategy, we added a few spells for card advantage. They also have some synergy with the main mechanics in this deck, like Deadly Dispute, which is the best card draw in black and fixes your mana, but also triggers Sadistic Glee. Malevolent Rumble, for instance, will get any permanent in your deck for you and put an Eldarzi token on the board at the same time.

Eviscerator's Insight will give you some card advantage, as well as recursion. As for Tamiyo's Safekeeping, it will protect your combo pieces.

Vs. Grixis Affinity

This matchup can be quite complicated because Affinity plays for value and can easily drown their opponents in resources. Krark-Clan Shaman and the new interaction with Toxin Analysis are also very problematic.

However, Affinity's early game is a lot slower and its setup needs a few turns. You can explore this window of time to get your combo and win the match.

Troublemaker Ouphe and Deglamer on turn 2 against tapped lands is a good start. Often, Affinity starts the game with very few lands, and that vulnerability might lead you to victory, particularly if you remove their access to their most important colors. Furthermore, Kenku Artificer is difficult to deal with, and these two cards might help.

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Vs. Kuldotha Red

This is an incredibly problematic match. Mono-Red is too fast and burn makes everything harder, particularly in game 1. Your strategy will be to play around your opponent, who wants to destroy all your life points, and won't let any window of opportunity go unchecked. Manage your resources well and make the most out of cards like Drown in Sorrow and Weather the Storm in your sideboard.

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Vs. Gruul Ponza

I believe this is a favorable match. Gruul Ponza mostly wants to remove your mana base and struggles against creatures, so all you need to do is keep putting lands on the board and survive their land destruction. Tamiyo's Safekeeping is great for that, as she protects your lands, and that's why I prefer her to Snakeskin Veil.

Once you set up your combo, you don't need to worry about your opponent's board anymore, as they'll hardly be able to interact effectively, and the game will be in your hands. If you can't find the card you need to win the game, and the enemy board is full of huge creatures, you can still enchant your tokens with Glee and build a bigger board with your combo. Evolution Witness is a great way to do that, as, with it in the combo, you'll have infinite recursion.

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Vs. Mono-U Delver

This match is a bit difficult. Blue is always problematic to face, particularly as Mono-Blue can finish the game quite fast and draws a lot of cards. A transformed Delver of Secrets early on might be quite problematic, and bounces like Boomerang and Snap also work really well against Glee.

Duress is great to remove their counters, and, post-side, we have Snuff Out to deal with their Serpents.

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Vs. Mono-W Aggro

Mono-White Aggro, more popularly known as White Weenie, has performed well in Pauper lately. It is an interesting option that plays well into nearly most archetypes in this format. Despite all of that, I believe this is a favorable match for Glee.

Nadier's Nightblade is the perfect win con in this matchup, as it goes through Prismatic Strands without any issues. The biggest problem is their removals. White Aggro got a lot more popular after Thraben Charm started popping up in it, and this card, besides extremely versatile, can interact with all the threats in Glee Combo.

Tamiyo's Safekeeping is once again crucial. Duress is also great, as it interacts directly with your opponent's resources.

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Glee Combo is one of the best decks in Pauper nowadays. We once again have a combo at the top of the rankings, and it is also one of the pillars of the current metagame. I strongly recommend this deck, not only because it's a solid option competitively, but because it is a bit less complex than other combos, and has a different game style.

Do you enjoy lists like these? Would you change anything? Tell us all your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!