Card Highlight: All That Glitters in Pauper

The Commander Masters set has graced us with a “Hidden Pauper Masters” in the collection, bringing several new additions to Pauper - among which we can point All That Glitters as one of the most interesting.

In today's article, I'll go over where this card could fit in the format, highlighting the main strategies that can extract the most value that All That Glitters can offer, as well as showing some initial decklist ideas with the new card.

All That Glitters is an enchantment-aura that gives +1/+1 to enchanted creature for each artifact and enchantment you control.

A card that alone may seem harmless, but if we look at Pauper we can see how impactful this card can be in a format where we have two decks focused on auras and a powerful artifact base, and which is used in a wide variety of strategies.

The format is currently all focused on strategies involving artifacts, either as a fundamental part of the strategy, as in Affinity, or just as parts that improve some decks, as is the case of decks that incorporated Deadly Dispute and some artifacts only for the value that this synergy generates.

Affinity is the archetype that best uses artifacts in its favor, having creatures that can be made practically for free, like Myr Enforcer and Frogmite.

Perhaps it may seem difficult for Grixis Affinity to incorporate All That Glitters, but nothing prevents other versions that already existed from returning, such as the old Jeskai Affinity, for example, a version that leaves the Control plan aside and walks closer to an aggro, using creatures like Ardent Recruit and Thraben Inspector.

This version can use Fling again as a win condition by sacrificing a creature enchanted with All That Glitters or even use Gingerbrute, which has a kind of evasion, to be able to attack and finish the opponent.

Another creature that will be able to interact well with the new card is Kenku Artificer, which is used in Affinity to turn indestructible lands into 3/3 creatures with flying. Imagine a 10/10 with flying and indestructible!

Another deck involving artifacts that could incorporate the new card is UW Cyborgs, that looks like Jeskai Affinity, but relies more on small creatures like Auriok Sunchaser and Glint Hawk to attack.

The decklist also makes use of Ornithopter, which is an excellent target for All That Glitters.

But it's not just in artifact decks that this card can shine. Aura-focused aggros will also be able to use it.

Bogles and Mono-White Heroic are similar decks, each with their own characteristics, but both can incorporate All That Glitters, and can even adopt artifact lands to maximize the power of the new aura. Heroic will gain more firepower and consistency, embracing creatures like Vault Skirge for good.

In Bogles, in addition to white auras, we also have green auras like Rancor and Ancestral Mask. With All That Glitters, the deck will gain one more piece that speeds up your game plan. The problem here is to adjust the correct proportion between Ancestral Mask and the new card so that the deck doesn't end up losing consistency.

I don't think Ancestral Mask will stop being used, as it is a very powerful card and can end the game many times. I believe that Ethereal Armor, due to its low cost, should keep the four copies and that Mask and Glitters share slots.

As for the mana base, I don't see much room to use many artifact lands, as this opens up space for the deck to take unnecessary hate, but maybe using some copies of Thornglint Bridge is not a problem and can improve the use of the aura.

Pauper is not having an easy time. A few specific strategies have shaped the format since Modern Horizons 2.

Affinity became an absurdly consistent deck with the arrival of bridges and gained more and more cards while suffering multiple bans, but still remained at the top of the format.

All That Glitters may provide a new invasion of strategies that abuse artifacts in the format, mainly strategies involving Kenku Artificer and the indestructible lands, but I don't believe Affinity can become more oppressive than it already is. The archetype has lost all of its most efficient cards, and even if it goes back to using Fling, there are many ways to deal with it.

Pauper also has efficient tools to deal with artifacts and has already adapted for this. So even though the format faces a new rise of Affinity, there are cards like Cast into the Fire and Dust to Dust to deal with the indestructible lands.

As for Auras and Heroic, I don't see how these decks can become overwhelming. Mono-White will get an upgrade, but it still needs more powerful cards to become a big threat.

Bogles, on the other hand, which is a deck that is currently better positioned, has its natural predators and can still be regulated and kept under control.

I believe that more strategies may emerge that try to encompass both artifacts and auras, but only the tests will be able to tell if any new decks will emerge.

All That Glitters is an excellent addition to the format and comes along with other cards that promise to change Pauper metagame completely. Other Aggro decks, besides Mono-Red, will have a new chance and new artifact-oriented strategies may emerge. It is still necessary to test these possibilities to see what changes this card will really bring, but I am very anxious and full of ideas.

See you in the next article!