Pauper: A Retrospective and the Format's Metagame in 2024

Tier 1

Grixis Affinity

Grixis Affinity takes over a spot in Pauper today that, for years, belonged to Faeries - the best deck in the format while it is balanced. It is a sensitive position because absolutely any support for it can break the equation to the point that it has been the biggest motivator of recent bans in the format.

Its mix of card advantage, cheating on mana costs and the amount of resources and efficient removals make it one of the best options in the current Metagame and should remain so until another deck takes its crown - either by being completely broken, or just more efficient in its functions.

Broodscale Combo

Once an all-in on the colors, the Broodscale Combo has evolved and is now closer to a Midrange with a free win button than a fully focused combo, but its core remains the same, having powerful sources of card advantage like Deadly Dispute coupled with efficient protections like Tamiyo’s Safekeeping.

Its strategy involves the interaction between Basking Broodscale and Sadistic Glee, where by enchanting Broodscale, Glee grants a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature dies. Simply sacrifice any creature to place this counter and trigger the creature's ability, placing an Eldrazi token that can be sacrificed for mana, leading to a loop of infinite mana and infinite power - these can be used later with Makeshift Munitions for infinite damage or with Writhing Chrysalis for more creatures with infinite power.

This is probably the most worrying deck in Pauper today. Its current results do not present an oppressive spot in the Metagame, but strategies like this tend to evolve and, as new tools come out, there may be a moment where it responds too well to hate and/or closes the combo too consistently for there to be answers without turning the entire format around itself - if this happens, a ban in Sadistic Glee is very likely.

Kuldotha Red

Once the best deck in the format, Kuldotha Red now plays the role of policing the Metagame - it keeps very fancy strategies in check and demands that every archetype has ways to interact at the beginning of the game so as not to be run over.

Its other role in Pauper today is to punish inconsistent strategies and/or not allow very slow hands to have any advantage. Kuldotha Red prevents Tron or any Lock proposal from having too much space, while it can be easily answered by some archetypes when it has too much spotlight in the Metagame.

Gruul Ramp

Returning to the format thanks to Modern Horizons 3, Gruul Ramp is Pauper's main go big today and competes with Grixis Affinity in the proposal of being explosive and full of card advantage sources. Here, the idea is less about having cards in hand and more about creating an unbeatable board position with big creatures that bring other creatures or spells with them using the Cascade ability.

Another advantage of Gruul Ramp is its versatility of answers. In the same deck, we have Deglamer and Cast into the Fire, Pyroblast and Breath Weapon, guaranteeing it a relatively fair game against different matchups.

Tier 1.5

Madness Burn

Madness Burn gained Sneaky Snacker as a complementary threat to Kitchen Imp, which invalidates most of the opponent's removals while forcing the difficult decision of whether to keep them or dedicate more slots to cards to deal with their spells in games 2 and 3. The addition of Demand Answers and Highway Robbery has greatly increased its consistency and put it in a privileged spot in the current Metagame.

Mono Blue Delver

With the rise of Gruul Ramp, Madness Burn, and its good answers to Affinity and Broodscale Combo, Mono Blue Delver has become one of the best options for Pauper with a fast, consistent plan that holds the game for enough turns until its creatures close out the game.

Mono White Aggro

With the addition of Novice Inspector for more consistency and sources of card advantage, and also Thraben Charm as an efficient answer for several games, Mono White Aggro presents itself as another of the best Meta Calls in the format today, both in its maindeck and in Sideboard cards that include timeless staples like Dust to Dust and Standard Bearer.

Dimir Control / Dimir Faeries / Dimir Terror

With different variants between lists more focused on Faeries, Tolarian Terror or individual value engines, reactive decks in Dimir colors are well positioned in the Metagame today and have remained so for almost the entire year, with their respective adaptations to the current format.

Snuff Out is still one of the best removals, and Counterspell is another timeless Pauper staple. Blue-based fans, in general, end up betting on one of these variants and the amount of card advantage generated allows for good slot flexibility and an extensive use of one-ofs for specific matchups.

Tier 2

Bogles

Malevolent Rumble did a good job of putting Bogles back on the radar with a card that offers both an enchantment and/or creature, as well as a token to enchant and/or sacrifice for Chainer’s Edict or Tithing Blade. Another reason for its rise recently was how Broodscale Combo initially started out as a non-interactive deck, where Bogles could simply be faster to win the game.

Elves

Elves is one among Pauper’s seasonal strategies: its presence in the format is intrinsically tied to how interactive the environment is and the number of sweepers present in the sideboards, especially two-damage ones like Breath Weapon or Drown in Sorrow.

This is an archetype that was absent from the format for months in 2024, but has recently risen to take on the more all-in versions of Broodscale Combo, Bogles, and other decks that are more focused on their own game plan.

Reanimator

Reanimator also depends on how prepared the Metagame is to deal with it: the more graveyard hate, the harder it is to execute its game plan, and it has no other strategy other than this to win. It is another deck that has gained ground in Pauper recently due to the less interactive nature of games caused by Broodscale Combo.

Cycling Storm

Cycling Storm basically follows the same patterns as Reanimator and tends to lose to the same hates and with the same difficulty of interaction. It also preys on non-interactive Metagames, but its game plan is so different and difficult to deal with by traditional means that it can snatch tournament victories simply because the opponent doesn't know how or when to respond to its plays.

Golgari/Jund Gardens

Golgari Gardens has lost much of its space in the Metagame with the rise of Broodscale Combo and Gruul Ramp as a potential competitor that tries to do the same as it, only better and with more impact on the board. Even so, both the version and the Jund variant promoted by the player Pavelval still present good results and have some presence in the Challenges.

Caw-Gates

Caw Gates is well positioned when the format gets more aggressive, and Sacred Cat can get the most value out of Basilisk Gate. Its combination with a highly flexible Sideboard thanks to Commander Legends gates make it an almost timeless option in the format's Metagame, but the Pauper environment today is hostile to Control decks.

Jeskai Ephemerate

Jeskai Ephemerate takes advantage of Cleansing Wildfire's interaction with Artifact Duals to accelerate mana and start controlling the game through loops between Ephemerate and Archaeomancer, but has trouble establishing this setup in enough time while its opponent tries to close the combo, rush in with low-cost Goblins, or extract as much value as it does with its interactions with artifacts.

Familiars

Familiars started the year well in Pauper due to its versatility in dealing with Affinity and Kuldotha Red when those were the best decks in the format, but it declined after the ban of All That Glitters and the current Metagame is not very favorable for it as long as Broodscale Combo exists. In addition, this is one of the hardest archetypes to pilot in Pauper today, especially on Magic Online.

Tier 3

Walls

Walls Combo benefits from non-interactive Metagames and formats where the main removals are damage-based, being well-positioned when there are no dedicated Sideboard slots against it. It can suffer from some consistency issues against red removals when the opponent knows what to remove and when to remove them, and as the number of Snuff Out and Cast Down increases, its place in the competitive scene becomes smaller.

Orzhov Blade

Orzhov Blade was the replacement of Experimental Synthesizer for Refurbished Familiar in the Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher lists. While it is still a valid proposition in the format, it has serious problems keeping up with Pauper's sources of card advantage in 2024 and requires a bit more support to find a place in the Metagame today.

Boros Synthesizer

Boros Synthesizer was the best deck in Pauper for a month before All That Glitters was banned. Since then, it has had trouble returning to the format because Glint Hawk interactions are slow by today's Metagame standards, and it hasn't produced many results since the release of Modern Horizons 3.

Izzet Control

Izzet Control recently emerged in Pauper as a response to the current Metagame, made some results in Challenges, but soon disappeared. Its space today is uncertain and competes with Dimir variants, which are better positioned.

Kiln Fiend

Kiln Fiend is a peculiar archetype. It appears in different variants with all kinds of splash or in Mono Red versions, makes a result, and disappears. It is the right choice for very unprepared Metagames and loses traction if something doesn't go as planned, when it can't pressure enough or when it faces lists with many cheap removals. Today, it lacks consistency. Tomorrow, it might have a play or two that will break Pauper.

The future of Pauper or Magic is always uncertain. Power creep is a reality, Metagames evolve, lists become too strong or disappear, there is no shortage of variables that can entirely change a format. Today, however, some points are clear and we can discuss them.

The main ones are about numbers, especially when we talk about Affinity, Kuldotha Red and, more recently, Broodscale Combo. Together, they represent over 30% of the format in the last three months, with the oldest ones being the main decks to remain in the double-digit pattern throughout the year. Consequently, players always see the format as broken because outside of two or three other strategies, the rest cannot keep up.

While this logic makes sense, it is not an inherent symptom of Pauper, but also of every competitive Magic format. Look at any non-rotating format today, and you'll see this symptom reproduced in most of them: one or two always have higher numbers than the rest without necessarily breaking the Metagame - it's a consequence of power creep, and it's not going to change any time soon.

Affinity is the best deck in the format today and occupies a space that, for years, belonged to Faeries and Delver. In fact, the risks involved in launching artifacts or powerful interactions with artifacts today are very similar to those of releasing stronger blue cards in pre-MH2 Magic. Fall from Favor, Mystic Sanctuary and Foil are just a few examples from the past. Discussing the banning of Artifact Lands is a recurring theme and will continue to happen as long as Affinity occupies this space or until something happens that actually leads to their ban.

Kuldotha Red is the other cause of constant concern and complaints. It has some non-interactive games when your list is too slow, or you draw the wrong half of your deck - that's the inherent nature of Mono Red in any competitive format. Today, it plays the role of policing the Metagame, and despite the controversies, it's good to have a deck like it in that position. Additions need to be watched, and some mechanics like Monarch or lists like Tron or Turbo Fog have ceased to exist due to the increased speed of the Metagame, but the overall space where it is today is healthy.

Finally, Broodscale Combo will be the biggest unknown in the coming months. Pauper has a history with these archetypes, and they don't end well: either more efficient answers are missing, or it adapts too much to the answers and starts to oppress the format. Its numbers are worth keeping an eye on because it nearly achieved in just a few months a similar number to what Affinity and Kuldotha Red achieved in a year, and if it starts suppressing other archetypes without giving room for “rotation” among them, we will have an unbalanced Metagame.

In addition to Duskmourn, 2024 will also bring us Foundations, the first Magic Core Set in years. Maybe things will change with these two expansions, or maybe we will have to wait until 2025 to have other substantial additions in the format.

Thanks for reading!