Pauper: Mono White Aggro - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

A few years ago, if someone had told me that White Weenie would be a viable, competitive deck in Pauper that would outperform Boros Bully or Boros Synthesizer in the format, I would have thought they were daydreaming. But Magic is a game of unpredictability, and here we are in 2024 with White Weenie being not only a contender in the format but perhaps one of the best Meta Calls in Pauper history!

The addition of Novice Inspector and cards like Thraben Charm this year certainly helped catapult the archetype into one of the top ten most played decks in Pauper today, and in this article, we delve into its current iteration and how it aims to respond to each of the current Metagame's top contenders!

This is the decklist I've been using on Magic Online. There are changes to one-ofs in each league, but this would be the version I'd take to a Challenge in the past two weeks.

Mono White Aggro (or White Weenie) is an extremely concise deck in its game plan and follows the same old line: cheap creatures with useful ETBs and/or disruptive effects against the current Metagame. Where before we had Icatian Javelineers as a one-drop to deal with a fairie, today we have Lunarch Veteran to hold Kuldotha Red, and if before we had Kor Sanctifiers to deal with enchantments, today Thraben Charm has the same function and still deals with creatures or graveyards.

Overall, Mono White Aggro is excellent for Pauper in 2024, but suffers from the same old problems: cheap sweepers, excessive removal and game plans that it has a hard time interacting with - you can't beat Familiars, Turbo Fog or Gardens even if you dedicate too many slots against them. But since these archetypes are relatively low in the Metagame today, we have a clear path of which strategies we want to win and, from there, build our maindeck and especially our sideboard.

Maindeck

What makes Mono White attractive today is also that we have never drawn so many cards in white Aggro in Pauper before. With the addition of Novice Inspector, we have eight one-drops that generate Clues when they come into play, in addition to Raffine’s Informant as a cheap drop that draw cards, and Militia Bugler offers a certain level of card selection for a decent cost and a good body for combat.

Another important point is how interactive our cards are with the game plan.

Kor Skyfisher basically reuses any ETB, so it offers us more range in the game in addition to an aggressive body to pressure early. Battle Screech and Prismatic Strands were staples that motivated the creation of Boros Billy, and now they reappear in Mono White with good interactions with Raffine’s Informant to generate virtual card advantage and still have a 3/2 for two mana.

Thraben Charm was another motivator for the deck to leave Tier 2 or 3. With it, we have almost unconditional removal, a hate against powerful enchantments like Sadistic Glee or Ethereal Armor, and an answer to strategies like Reanimator and Tolarian Terror variants, being such a flexible piece that it deserves four slots in the maindeck.

Lunarch Veteran is our main weapon against Kuldotha Red and other Aggro decks, in addition to offering a 2-for-1 against removal and/or even an efficient chump block exchange to gain a few extra turns.

Suture Priest is a flexible slot that would otherwise be a Lone Missionary or a land. Its ability basically “locks” Basking Broodscale and Sadistic Glee and if it continues to grow in the Meta, it will probably become a four-of.

Guardians’ Pledge is the Rally the Peasants we have, and we can use it both for a lethal attack with Battle Screech tokens and to protect our creatures from sweepers like Drown in Sorrow or Breath Weapon. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well against Krark-Clan Shaman.

Eagles of the North is basically a Plains with upsides. There are rare moments when we cast it, but if we do, we gain a significant advantage at the board.

Idyllic Grange doesn't require many concessions to be used in this list as a one-of to match up with Eagles of the North and its +1/+1 counter can be the difference between victory and defeat in some games.

Sideboard

We still live in a world with a lot of Affinity, so a Dust to Dust set is still a must-have in any white deck in Pauper today. Don't fall into the trap of using it against Kuldotha Red or strategies where artifacts are not a central and essential focus for their list to function.

Revoke Existence is the backup for Dust to Dust. It also comes in against Bogles and/or archetypes with key enchantments that we need to deal with, but it is terrible against Sadistic Glee due to its sorcery speed.

Destroy Evil is our answer against Sadistic Glee and also a removal against creatures from Mono Blue/Dimir/Izzet Terror, Gruul Ramp, Gardens and Midrange archetypes.

Standard Bearer continues to be an ideal hate against Bogles that also works against Broodscale Combo. It suffers against most removals in the format and especially against Drown in Sorrow, one of Broodscale's main hates against our deck.

To that end, we have Coalition Honor Guard to evade Drown in Sorrow, but it's also a target for Snuff Out, so we need a fast clock in this matchup. Honor Guard also works against Kuldotha Red because it forces a 2-for-1 trade or a Galvanic Blast - and in either case, we're at an advantage.

Our flexible slots can be whatever you prefer.

Suture Priest is a good answer against Broodscale Combo and also has its uses against Kuldotha Red, but it's not the best card for the matchup because it encourages overextending yourself with Battle Screech - which can be answered with End the Festivities.

Holy Light is a one-of that also comes in against Kuldotha Red, but has Elves as its main target - a game that we can't win without it and/or that requires a very timely use of Thraben Charms.

Prismatic Strands is a way to gain up to two extra turns against Aggro in general and/or protect our creatures from red sweepers.

Golgari Broodscale

IN

OUT

Jund Broodscale

IN

OUT

Grixis Affinity

IN

OUT

Kuldotha Red

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Terror

IN

OUT

Gruul Ramp

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!