Magic: the Gathering

Deck Guide

Pauper: Jeskai Utrom Affinity - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

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Jeskai Affinity gained Utrom Monitor and Sewer-Veillance Cam in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, solidifying its position as the variant that best blends Tempo and card advantage in the same list!

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revised by Tabata Marques

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Utrom Monitor has become one of Pauper's most controversial recent additions. Not necessarily due to its power level, but because it was printed exclusively in a product outside the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleslink outside website booster packs, driving up its price significantly both in paper and on MTGO. Wizards of the Coast announced on March 23 that they plan to increase the card's availability on the digital platform.

While the paper problem isn't as easily fixed, the MTGO boost will let Utrom Monitor get tested more extensively in the coming months. That makes it a good time to see which archetypes are using it most efficiently in the current Pauper Metagame—and Jeskai Affinity is a strong candidate for the top spot.

The Decklist

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This is essentially a Skyfisher deck with Affinity mechanics. It leans on the classic interaction between Experimental Synthesizer and Glint Hawk / Kor Skyfisher, doubling down on it with Cryogen Relic and the recent Sewer-Veillance Cam, keeping the tradition of these lists being known for "never running out of cards."

The Affinity package feeds into and complements these loops. Skyfisher decks have historically struggled to close out games—unless they have a bomb like All That Glitters—and Myr Enforcer helps a lot with applying pressure. Meanwhile, Utrom Monitor adds to the evasive threats and makes Krark-Clan Shaman a much more lethal one-sided sweeper in Jeskai Affinity than it ever was before TMNT.

Maindeck

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This deck is built around the classic Kor Skyfisher and Glint Hawk synergy with artifacts that have ETB or LTB triggers to generate card advantage. On top of that, both are cheap flyers that can start applying pressure in the early turns.

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The ETB effects mostly come down to extra draws from Prophetic Prism, Cryogen Relic, and Experimental Synthesizer, though each has its own specific utility during a match—tapping a creature for a turn, fixing mana, or putting more bodies on the board.

Sewer-veillance Cam is a new addition to the archetype, working as a hybrid between a Tempo play to remove blockers and a source of card advantage in longer games.

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The Affinity payoffs.

Myr Enforcer remains one of the best free bodies a dedicated artifact deck can ask for, and it significantly boosts our pressure if we can keep the board clear.

Utrom Monitor adds to both the artifact count and the evasive threat suite, feeling almost like a Delver of Secrets on the board.

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To round out the artifact synergy package, we can easily turn on Galvanic Blast for cheap removal and extra reach. Thoughtcast becomes another cheap source of card advantage.

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Since many of our artifacts also generate value when they leave play, sacrificing them gives the same benefits we get from the creatures.

Krark-Clan Shaman is the best one-sided sweeper in this list. Nearly all of our creatures fly, so we can pop multiple artifacts to control the board or create an advantage that's difficult to overcome.

Makeshift Munitions provides spot control of the board, but it also turns any artifact—lands included—into material for reach in the late game.

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The full set of artifact lands helps keep consistency without giving up our game plan. Like any Affinity deck, our mana base is extremely vulnerable to Dust to Dust, so sequence your lands carefully against White Weenie.

Sideboard

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The 8-Blasts remain essential for dealing with the current Metagame. We could up the numbers with Red Elemental Blast and Blue Elemental Blast, but four of each feels ideal if we want to allocate slots to other matchups.

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Relic of Progenitus and Thraben Charm are our graveyard answers. Charm also doubles as enchantment and creature removal, giving us our only one-for-one answer to Writhing Chrysalis.

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Breath Weapon clears the board against Elves, White Weenie, and any other go-wide strategy with small creatures.

Gorilla Shaman comes in as a one-of in the Affinity mirror. We could consider Dust to Dust in this slot, but paying Magic Symbol WMagic Symbol W early in this list is a huge challenge.

Sideboard Guide

Mono Red Rally

IN

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OUT

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Mono Blue Terror

IN

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OUT

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Spy Combo

IN

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OUT

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Madness Burn

IN

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OUT

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Faeries

IN

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OUT

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Elves

IN

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OUT

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White Weenie

IN

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OUT

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Grixis Affinity

IN

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OUT

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Wrapping Up

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!