Pauper: Inside Out - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Inside Out and its combo with Tireless Tribe is one of the most classic strategies in Pauper and suffered changes that eventually took it off the Metagame radar: the deck never recovered from the banning of Gush and Daze, two cards that fueled its strategy.

One of my memories of the period when Arcum’s Astrolabe was legal in Pauper was of including the combo in a Jeskai Ephemerate shell - the combination of Mulldrifter with the key card and the number of draws possible with Kor Skyfisher and Astrolabe were enough to establish the combo and help keep a hand full to discard. Today, with the current speed of Pauper, it is difficult to imagine that this version still works.

But the Tribe Combo lives on! Its current iteration uses Whiteout with snowy terrains to fill its controller's hand at combo-kill time, and with a Metagame as fast as it is today, it's possible to get some results with it!

This is the same decklist that seasonofmists used to win a Pauper Challenge in late October. The numbers seem appropriate, and there haven't been any significant changes in the Metagame that would warrant altering it, given that each card serves a specific purpose.

Recent additions to the archetype include Escape Tunnel as the primary means of clearing the path for Tireless Tribe to attack. Perilous Landscape was also another important addition, as an Evolving Wilds with benefits.

Maindeck

Our combo. It involves attacking with Tireless Tribe without it being blocked and, before the damage, casting Inside Out to invert its power and toughness. Then, its controller must discard cards from their hand for Tireless Tribe's ability, with a minimum of five cards for 21 damage. Yes, this combo requires six cards.

It sounds like a lot, and it really is: Inside Out's weakness is, first, how vulnerable Tireless Tribe is to removal and, second, that it requires a lot of resources to function - but we have ways around these obstacles.

Whiteout is our way to fill our hand at any point in the game. With it, you can discard it with Tireless Tribe, sacrifice a snow land to return it to your hand and repeat the process, filling the gaps left by the missing cards in its owner's hand.

Squadron Hawk is our other way of filling our hand. With it, we “draw” three cards for two mana. It also interacts with Brainstorm and provides protection against Chainer’s Edict and other sacrifice effects.

For removal, we have Circular Logic as a piece that we can use during the combo to increase the power of Tireless Tribe while countering a removal and Dispel is the format’s cheapest answer to Instants like Galvanic Blast and Snuff Out.

Prismatic Strands doubles in function: it holds the clock of Aggro decks, especially monocolored beatdown, while also protecting Tireless Tribe from damage-based removal.

Brainstorm and Preordain are two classic cards from Pauper's blue decks that allow us to dig through the deck searching for the key cards we need while they replenish themselves in their owner's hand. They are complemented by Impulse, which, despite costing two mana, allows us to search up to four cards from the top for what we need in the game.

Wedding Invitation replaces Shadow Rift in the combo. It can be cast at any time and replenishes itself in its owner's hand. With Escape Tunnel, there are rare occasions when we regret using it instead of Shadow Rift and there are games where it is not even necessary.

Escape Tunnel offers, in addition to manafixing, the possibility of having Tireless Tribe attack unhindered to execute the combo. It is common to prefer to leave it on the board rather than sacrifice it to search for a land when we already have enough mana.

Perilous Landscape is an improved version of Evolving Wilds because it generates mana the turn it enters, and this makes a difference in some games. Its Cycling ability will never be used.

Sideboard

Dust to Dust and Hydroblast are almost mandatory in the current Metagame where Kuldotha Red and Affinity remain at the top of the format, Hydroblast also enters a dozen other matchups, such as Madness Burn or Gruul Ramp.

Standard Bearer and Stern Dismissal are inclusions designed for games against Broodscale Combo, with both having roles in other games where bouncing opponents' creatures doesn't generate positive Tempo or Card Advantage for them, or where Standard Bearer acts as additional protection for Tireless Tribe or as a means of delaying the opponent's plans.

The idea of ​​having a "grind" card is sometimes a joke, but it makes sense in this list: there are games where we trade too many resources to keep a full hand without relying on additional means of drawing cards, and Deep Analysis offers that while also being able to be discarded by Tireless Tribe to generate positive value.

Kuldotha Red

IN

OUT

Grixis Affinity

IN

OUT

Golgari Broodscale

IN

OUT

Rakdos Madness

IN

OUT

Elves

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!