With a new year ahead of us, the possibilities for Pauper are almost countless. We still don't know what novelties the seven Magic: The Gathering releases might bring to the format, nor how the Metagame will shape itself to the changes of each set, but 2026 could be a good year to revisit some archetypes.
One such deck worthy of a second chance is a personal favorite of mine: Dimir Delver. Any player who lived through the times of Foil and Gush in this archetype has either good or terrible memories of those days, and while it was the catalyst for the famous Blue Monday, the deck remains a benchmark when we discuss mana efficiency.
The Decklist
Maindeck
This is a Tempo deck, and its main goal is to dictate the pace of the match. In this version, we have three distinct but complementary game plans: the first is to put Delver of Secrets on the board, flip it, and have it carry the victory as we answer everything the opponent presents as a threat to our clock.
The second plan involves using the well-known strategy of filling the graveyard for Tolarian Terror and casting it as a 5/5 that, with removals and disruption, will end the game in a few turns.
The highlight, however, is the third line: Dimir Delver draws many cards and puts many cards into its graveyard, and Sneaky Snacker benefits from these elements to become a recurring threat—especially alongside the new Abandon Attachments.
To fuel our game plans, we rely heavily on the interaction between Brainstorm and Mental Note/Thought Scour to remove useless cards from the top and ensure our draw quality while also accelerating our strategy.
Abandon Attachments is the big new addition for the deck. The card offers a "discard one, draw two" effect in blue at instant speed, facilitating the Sneaky Snacker trigger while also feeding the graveyard for Tolarian Terror.
In the card advantage package, Deep Analysis triggers Sneaky Snacker straight from the graveyard and functions as up to a "draw 4" in longer games, while Lorien Revealed is commonly used to fetch Islands, but if the game goes too long, it provides more resources.
Counterspell protects threats, prevents key plays, and maintains the game's pace when we're ahead, currently being the best stack interaction in the format.
Spell Pierce works best in the early turns or in counter wars, allowing us to have more aggressive openings with our cards without fearing spot removal or more explosive spells as much.
Snuff Out allows advancing our game plan without giving up interacting with the board. The four-life cost can be very high against some Aggro decks, but it's a decent price to pay in Midrange and Tempo matchups.
Cast Down complements Snuff Out as board interaction against larger creatures for two mana at instant speed. Essential for the early game, but without losing utility as the game goes on.
Suffocating Fumes is our maindeck mini-sweeper and handles Faeries, Elves, and some of Mono Red Rally's creatures while also being another source of draw in other matchups.
Ice Tunnel and Contaminated Aquifer can be fetched with Lorien Revealed and ensure consistency in accessing black mana and casting Snuff Out for free.
Sideboard
Hydroblast remains the best interaction against red decks in the format, dealing with any permanent or spell for the lowest possible cost.
The sideboard Suffocating Fumes complements our interaction package in games where Snuff Out tends to lose value.
Unexpected Fangs is lethal alongside Tolarian Terror and can permanently prevent an opponent from winning the game when we're gaining six life every turn.
Steel Sabotage is our answer against Affinity, also serving as a pseudo-Time Walk against Bridges.
Annul complements the artifact-hate package while also working against Bogles.
Nihil Spellbomb handles graveyard-based decks and/or those with many recursion tools to circumvent our removal.
Sideboard Guide
Mono Red Rally
IN
OUT
Madness Burn
IN
OUT
Grixis Affinity
IN
OUT
Faeries
IN
OUT
Mono Blue Terror
IN
OUT
Bogles
IN
OUT
Elves
IN
OUT
Spy Combo
IN
OUT
Wrapping Up
That's all for today!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Thanks for reading!
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