Pauper: Eldrazi Ponza - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Gruul Ponza has existed in Pauper for some time, possibly thanks to creatures with cascade.

This deck's main game plan is to accelerate your mana curve through ramp and mana dorks to attack your opponent's mana base, and thus prevent them from casting their spells. To do that, this deck uses spells that destroy lands.

This strategy has had its ups and lows in Pauper ever since it came up, and always came back whenever it got new cards. Recently, after Modern Horizons 3 came along, it came up again with new tools that gave it more consistency and firepower.

Currently, there are two versions of this deck in this format. One focuses on land disruption, and another focuses on ramp and creatures. I picked the first one because I believe it dominates the game with its multiple, big creatures just like the ramp version, but also destroys lands as a bonus. This might end many games without you ever having to put any creature on the board.

Eldrazis are one of this list's strengths.

Eldrazi Repurposer is a 3-drop that ramps when you cast it and when it dies, and is also a 3/3, which is relevant in combat.

Writhing Chrysalis is simply absurd, as it takes advantage of Eldrazi tokens to get stronger. It also has reach and ramps, so it's perfect to put all our plans in motion.

Malevolent Rumble is another new addition from MH3. It gets us almost anything in our deck, and also creates a token, which is quite helpful.

You need to have either one of these two plans in mind when you're considering your starting hand: destroy your opponent's lands, accelerate an Avenging Hunter, and abuse the Initiative, or do the same with one of your cascade cards.

In any case, you'll need ways to do that as fast as possible. So, avoid hands with too many lands, or cards that you can't cast unless you draw other cards.

A good starting hand should look like the following:

Vs. Rakdos Burn

Rakdos is one of the most popular decks right now, and has been performing well in tournaments, conquering excellent results. Sneaky Snacker is just another weapon that interacts really well with its game plan.

In this matchup, you'll need oppressive hands that act fast. Make the most out of your creatures, particularly Chrysalis, which blocks flying creatures, and make sure you're not vulnerable to burn.

Post-side, your LD is more effective because of Deglamer, and Gorilla Shaman might also be useful to get rid of blood tokens.

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Vs. Grixis Affinity

I consider Affinity a good matchup for Eldrazi Ponza. Even though their lands are indestructible, they struggle with big creatures and also use many lands that are, indeed, destructible. As long as you play a good sequence of strategies, Affinity will hardly return to the game in time.

One more time, your side will be incredibly helpful in this matchup, as it will give you all the artifact hates it possibly can.

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Vs. Bogles

Bogles is another popular deck in the current meta. It benefits heavily from Malevolent Rumble, in the same way as Gruul does. It might also be quite fast in some matches, but, in others, your opponent will need to take some time to set up, and that's your opening.

Disabling your opponent's white mana is incredibly important, as well as sticking creatures on the board that are big enough to deal with your opponent's creatures. Despite fair, Bolges can be incredibly oppressive, so be careful.

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Vs. Walls Combo/Cascade

Walls and Elves are two of the worst decks to face with Eldrazi Ponza. That's because both decks have Quirion Ranger, a creature that, on its own, really disrupts our game plan. Dealing with a Quirion on turn 1 with a hand full of LDs is painful, and, even if that doesn't happen, it's still really dangerous because Ponza doesn't have removals in its main deck. Even the removals in our sideboard aren't enough to deal with their barriers, and stop Walls' game plan.

The idea, then, is to be fast. Put them on a clock as fast as possible and pressure them before they can play their combo or start vomiting creatures, as this deck now has a hard combo version and a version that focuses on cascade (which can also play as a combo deck).

Playing Avenging Hunter early on is a good strategy because Walls, ideally, only starts putting threats on the board on turn 4, and our deck can play Hunter before that.

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Vs. Eldrazi Ramp / Ponza

The mirror is always interesting. In this case, both the ramp version and the traditional version will play the same way, though Eldrazi Ramp is slightly disadvantaged, as it only has 4 LDs, and sometimes none. With this in mind, follow the traditional game plan and focuses on destroying your opponent's lands. You have to prevent them from accelerating their own curve.

Playing Avenging Hunter early on is once again an extremely powerful play. Be careful, though, because if your opponent already has creatures on their board, or if they play their own Hunter, the game might turn sour for you.

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Eldrazi Ponza has become the most important deck in Pauper in these past two weeks after MH3 came along, and has been a true sheriff, suppressing broken strategies and opening up the way for fair decks. It seems like now Pauper is in its "green deck era", and this strategy is one of the strongest options.

What do you think of this deck? Tell us all your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!