Pauper: Mono Black Artifacts - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Aetherdrift may not have made any major changes to Pauper. Overall, the first expansion of the year has done very little to the competitive Metagame, and no major archetypes have adopted cards from the set.

In the lower tiers, however, a new creature has sparked the creation of new artifact-based archetypes: Pactdoll Terror. In the same color as Deadly Dispute, Blood Fountain and Refurbished Familiar, this card has promoted a new type of combo using artifact ETBs to drain the opponent's life.

In this article, we present the attrition version of Mono Black Artifacts, which forgoes Tron lands in favor of a more Midrange-oriented plan!

This is the same list used by the player Cesta in a Pauper league in early March. While the most popular versions of this deck are betting on using Tron lands with Ashnod’s Altar and Myr Retriever for infinite damage with Pactdoll Terror, I really like this “purer” take on a Mono Black artifact deck - a color that, previously, didn’t tend to interact so well with this type of permanent.

Our plan here is more traditionally Midrange than it seems. We want to play artifacts, generate card advantage with our draws, and use creatures like Glaze Fiend and Pactdoll Terror to end the game, with Fiend being our explosive early game while Terror ensures a steady stream of damage as we reuse the creatures we used with Blood Fountain.

Just like Black Gardens, this list has a slight splash of for Weather the Storm that can be cast with Deadly Dispute and Khalni Garden - a useful chump block in the first turns that doubles as fodder for Dispute or Fanatical Offering.

Another important point to highlight about Mono Black Artifacts is how fun this deck is. I don't believe it's capable of becoming a major competitor in the current Metagame, but it can guarantee good wins while its micro-interactions bring it close to those traditional Mono-Black variants with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, which for many years were very famous in Brazil, but with that essential touch of power creep that artifact support has received in Pauper in recent years.

Maindeck

Our threats.

Glaze Fiend has been a card that many have tried to make work for years, and Mono Black Artifacts is a step closer to what is needed for it. With a Blood Fountain, it is already a 4/5 and adding any other artifact or draw effect that puts artifacts on the board, it already creates a considerable clock.

Pactdoll Terror is our late-game. All the plays that reinforce Glaze Fiend work with it to drain the opponent's life, and the sequencing we mentioned above already guarantees a Lightning Helix against the opponent, while a 3/4 body offers a relevant clock.

Refurbished Familiar is virtually a one-drop with two power and an evasive body that either drains an opponent's resource or provides card advantage if the opponent has no cards in hand.

Our Artifacts.

The interaction of Ichor Wellspring with Deadly Dispute and Fanatical Offering is why these cards have become so popular in Pauper. Having a "draw 3" that puts another artifact on the board is a great way to maintain our resource parity while interacting with our core mechanics.

Blood Fountain is the other key card in the deck. In addition to putting two artifacts into play, it ensures that we keep our board as the game goes on, since we can use it to reuse our creatures, ensuring that the damage flow continues with Pactdoll Terror.

Nihil Spellbomb is a response to graveyard-based decks that doubles as an artifact and a cantrip.

The interaction.

Duress in the maindeck ensures that we have ways to deal with problems from the first turn onwards. With Broodscale Combo being one of the best decks in the core pieces in Mono Red and Affinity, having this way to get information and take these cards out in Game 1 is important.

Snuff Out and Spinning Darkness are our free spells. Since we are greedy in mana with our permanents and interactions, having six cards that we can play while tapped ensures that we don't fall behind in the game.

Cast Down is an unconditional removal in the maindeck that gains more sideboard slots, and can deal with any creature that doesn't have protection or hexproof.

Six artifact lands provide more consistent triggers for Glaze Fiend and Pactdoll Terror, and enable Fanatical Offering and Deadly Dispute more often.

Khalni Garden guarantees a body on the board from turn one, which we can use as a source for a ramp with Deadly Dispute to a Pactdoll Terror on turn three, or as a chump block against Kuldotha Red and other Aggro.

Bojuka Bog is a one-of that also works as an extra answer against graveyards.

Sideboard

Tithing Blade is our main answer against Bogles. It can also work in games against Tolarian Terror lists.

The extra copies of Cast Down are our answer against these same Tolarian Terror decks, against Gruul Ramp, Broodscale and even Affinity, but it doesn't usually work as well in games where paying two mana to deal with a creature is redundant, like against Kuldotha Red.

Drown in Sorrow is our sweeper against go-wide decks like Faeries, Kuldotha Red and White Weenie and has utility against Bogles when we need to get some creatures out before using Tithing Blade, or to clear a board of relatively weak creatures.

Crypt Rats works in the same logic, but can be replayed with Blood Fountain.

Weather the Storm is the reason for our splash for and is mainly used against Kuldotha Red and Madness Burn, but there are situations where using it as a side-in against Bogles or Dredge works since they are games where “one or two turns” in which we survive can make a difference.

Nihil Spellbomb is our standard answer against graveyards and complements the maindeck copy. It is used against Terror, Dredge, Tron, other graveyard-based archetypes and can be used against Affinity to deal with their Blood Fountain, which is usually an important resource in attrition games.

Thorn of the Black Rose works against non-interactive games where combat is not a threat, or in attrition games against Jund Wildfire and can be useful against Gruul Ramp. It's my least favorite card on the list, but it's important when we need more sources of card advantage - and it's not like we have better choices.

Kuldotha Red

IN

OUT

Grixis Affinity

IN

OUT

Jund Broodscale

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Faeries

IN

OUT

Bogles

IN

OUT

Dredge

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!