Pauper: Glee Food Combo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Glee Combo is one of the best Pauper decks nowadays, as well as the best combo deck in the format. There are many lists we can build around Sadistic Glee and Basking Broodscale.

Counting the Jund and Golgari versions, this deck was a big portion of the metagame in all recent tournaments. Two players made it to the top 8 of the last Pauper Qualifier in Magic Online with it.

After Modern Horizons 3 came out, this deck spent some time absolutely dominating Leagues and Challenges, but, as the metagame adapted, Glee's presence diminished.

Though it is still one of the most popular and successful decks in the format, Glee has its bad matches. Furthermore, now that Duskmourn has come out and Mono-Red with Clockwork Percussionist exploded in popularity, it is a bit more fragile, particularly because it is vulnerable against Red Aggro.

With this in mind, I developed a version that is supposed to both improve the Kuldotha match and perform better in the new metagame. It is also supposed to beat the new decks that came along to prey on Mono-Red now that it is so popular.

Glee Food uses the traditional Golgari base from the combo, the artifact draw engine + Deadly Dispute, and the other card advantage spells, but also includes the Food mechanic. Pieces like Lembas and Cauldron Familiar will play critical roles in a few matches, and will also give us more resources.

The Food mechanic improves the Mono-Red matchup as well as the deck's draw engine. It also filters the top of your deck and enables a few absurd win conditions, like the Basking Broodscale + Sadistic Glee infinite mana combo. In this case, you'll use a second Glee to enchant Evolution Witness while there's a Candy Trail on the board or your hand. Then, sacrifice Candy Trail to get 3 life and draw 1 card, put it back in your hand with Witness, and create an infinite loop of life and card draw. You'll be able to draw your entire deck until you find Nadier's Nightblade to finish the game, or, if you find Energy Refractor, just cast everything in your hand. Another win condition is enchanting Gingerbrute with a second Glee while this combo is active to deal unblockable damage infinitely with Gingerbrute's ability.

Heaped Harvest is new to the format, so it has only started seeing play in a few lists more recently. A green, 3-mana artifact might not seem that interesting, considering Glee's regular mana curve is not as steep, but its ramp ability and the fantastic synergy it has with Cauldron Familiar makes it necessary in our build. It lets us fix our mana so we can use Writhing Chrysalis without many issues. Chrysalis, in turn, is not that popular in Pauper, but it is incredibly strong because it can deal with flying creatures and blocks most threats easily. We also have more options for our sideboard because we use red.

The hand above seems interesting, considering it can give us card advantage and the best pieces in the combo, but we'll have to draw an artifact, or something else to use as fuel for Fanatical Offering. Depending on our opponent, this hand can be too risky.

Now this hand is a bit smoother and has more synergies. It also gives you a safer start: with it, you can develop your game plan more freely until you get what you need. I'd most likely keep it.

Vs.Kuldotha Red

This is the matchup that inspired me to create this version of the deck. Against Kuldotha, you'll need as much lifegain as possible and barriers that can block the damage dealt by enemy creatures.

Game 1 is a lot more complicated than game 2, considering Kuldotha Rebirth + Goblin Bushwhacker on turn 3, a scary play, is a constant threat. Chrysalis is excellent and Familiar holds off the game.

In this matchup, you'll play more like a control deck than a combo, and will thus control the game through the value you'll create from your draws and lifegain.

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Vs.Grixis Affinity

Affinity is always a threat, even though it's not as popular as the other decks. The most problematic thing in this matchup is the speed in which it develops its game plan, and Krark-Clan Shaman, which can make the matchup completely miserable for Glee. In game 2, we'll play great hates, but always keep in mind that Krark means the end of the game in nearly all situations.

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Vs. Turbo Fog

This is a fantastic matchup. A new version of Fog started popping up because of how popular Aggro decks are right now, with cards like Crypt Rats and the Gates mana base. However, your opponent doesn't have many ways to stop the combo, and you'll have lots of openings.

Against both the traditional version and the Golgari version, you'll need to develop your game plan well and force your opponent to block and create an opening so you can finish them with your combo. The greatest issue might be Standard Bearer, which shows up in a few Golgari versions, but you can handle this too.

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Against the Golgari Fog version:

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Against the Simic Fog version:

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Vs. Mono Blue Terror

Counterspell and the like are always challenging to deal with, even more alongside powerful creatures like Delver of Secrets and Tolarian Terror. Mono-U Terror is one of the worst matchups for Glee, but, with Chrysalis and your sideboard, you can make this matchup a bit less complicated. Play around their counters and be careful with the Delver game clock, as they both can kill you quite fast.

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Vs. Glee Combo

The mirror is one of the most fun and interesting matchups to play, and knowing how to play it is critical. Against either the Jund or the Golgari version, you'll need to keep in mind it is a race to see who enables their combo first, and you'll also need to worry about their interactions.

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Against the Jund Glee version:

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Against the Golgari Glee version:

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Thank you for reading, and see you next time!