Pauper: Orzhov Glintblade - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Among the many Pauper decks in the Tier 1.5 category, Glintblade is one of the most interactive with both its own list and its opponents. Originating from the interaction between Glint Hawk and Tithing Blade and improved by the arrival of Refurbished Familiar in Modern Horizons 3, its mix of efficient ETBs made it one of the best versions of the Kor Skyfisher archetypes in the format in early 2025.

This list is very close to the standard recently adopted for Glintblade. There are some flexible slots like Dawnbringer Cleric, Novice Inspector, Suffocating Fumes and even Deadly Dispute, but you would have to rebuild the entire list for a different Metagame to change these cards.

Perhaps the choice of using Cleric or Fumes in the maindeck could be replaced by other options like Blood Fountain or Ichor Wellspring for more interactions with Dispute, or more removal to make the deck more attrition-oriented, or even Ephemerate to reuse ETBs and protect creatures.

The sideboard, on the other hand, is very targeted. You can change it to put other cards against more specific matchups, but each of the slots above is dedicated to dealing with Affinity, Broodscale, Kuldotha Red and Faeries matchups with cards that, for the most part, can be used in other games.

Maindeck

The heart of the deck and the reason to play Glintblade.

Refurbished Familiar has significantly improved the variants of the Kor Skyfisher archetypes and boosted the case for going artifact-focused over creatures with efficient ETBs and Pestilence, now stuck in the past. Its mix of cheap disruption that later turns into card advantage and coupled with a creature with evasion for just makes it the best possible target for your bounces.

Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher have been playing together in this strategy since 2014, and with Refurbished Familiar and Tithing Blade, Glint Hawk's interaction with black cards has improved considerably compared to past versions.

Thraben Inspector and Novice Inspector guarantee artifacts on the board from turn one, are cheap blockers, and can be returned to the hand with Kor Skyfisher. Novice Inspector is a flexible slot and other sources of artifacts can be used in its place, such as Blood Fountain or Ichor Wellspring.

Dawnbringer Cleric is an excellent Meta Call because all of its abilities matter in any matchup: the life gain and 1/3 body help to hold off Kuldotha Red, destroying enchantments plays an important role against Broodscale Combo and to deal with Makeshift Munitions and Bogles, and the ability to exile cards from the graveyard provides extra time against Tolarian Terror decks, Dredge or even Jeskai Ephemerate.

Lembas is our main source of value with Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher after Refurbished Familiar, and the fact that he can be sacrificed to gain life is an important advantage against Kuldotha Red.

Omen of the Dead has an interaction with Kor Skyfisher where we can use it to return a copy of Kor from the graveyard, return Omen to the hand and use it again to return another Kor Skyfisher, repeating until we have all of them in our hand or in play, adding inevitability to the deck and a way to deal with removal.

Between the Thraben Inspector tokens, Thraben Inspector itself, Lembas and other options, we have enough cards to extract value from Deadly Dispute as one of our sources of card advantage. Three copies seems like a good number, but we can go up to four if necessary.

Tithing Blade gives Glintblade its name and operates as a removal that we can reuse over and over with Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher. Ideally, we'll use it to destroy larger creatures while Suffocating Fumes, which can be recycled in games without many X/1s on the board, deals with the small creatures.

Cast Down is the best unconditional removal in Pauper today. Four copies seem essential to deal with any big threats in the format.

Thraben Charm has a triple function in the list: it is a removal if we have enough creatures in play, it responds to Sadistic Glee in the best possible way, and it can also exile the graveyard against Terror or Dredge.

Since we depend on Affinity to play Refurbished Familiar for the lowest cost as possible, twelve artifact lands in the colors and are essential to ensure the deck's consistency. These will be complemented by Orzhov Basilica and its interaction with lands that have relevant ETB effects, such as Bojuka Bog and Radiant Fountain.

Sideboard

Our most linear answers.

Dust to Dust is essential for games against Affinity, and resolving it on turn three can win games. Even if it doesn't happen, a clean answer against Myr Enforcer and lands transformed by Kenku Artificer while generating a two-for-one is always welcome.

Trespasser’s Curse stops the Basking Broodscale and Sadistic Glee combo by punishing the opponent every time a creature comes into play. It also has useful applications against Elves, which get countless creatures on the board quickly, and against some versions of Familiars that rely heavily on infinite life loops to generate inevitability.

Lone Missionary is an extra breath of fresh air against Kuldotha Red and other Aggro in the format. It can be Arashin Cleric or more copies of Dawnbringer Cleric, but the two extra life points and the fact that it trades with Goblin Tomb Raider make a big difference in a list with Kor Skyfisher.

Duress is a universal answer against combos and even Midranges where we want to remove sources of card advantage from the opponent's hand to extract more value from Refurbished Familiar. The information it provides from the opponent's hand is also essential to know how to sequence your spells in the following turns.

Arms of Hadar is the best sweeper we have for Glintblade because it doesn't destroy our creatures, and we have enough ways to hold the game with removals and blockers until we reach four mana. It works against Kuldotha Red, but also against Elves, Bogles and other archetypes with a good number of small creatures.

Grixis Affinity

IN

OUT

Kuldotha Red

IN

OUT

Jund Broodscale

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Terror

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Faeries

IN

OUT

Elves

IN

OUT

Turbo Fog

IN

OUT

Izzet Terror

IN

OUT

Bogles

IN

OUT

Glintblade

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!