As a long time Pauper enjoyer but only occasional player, now is the time to write my first blog entry on my experience on the biggest ever Pauper Tournament in Germany. I think I have read all blog posts so far and love the pictures in mind that unfold, when reliving the best of Paper Pauper experiences – but so far I always had enough excuses to avoid to do the full write-up. But not so now!
Beforehand I want to say, that the whole tournament was an absolute dream – big ups to everybody involved in organizing, advertising, setting up the video, preparing the prices, putting up the venue etc. etc. – it has once again showed, what an incredible bunch of people have come together in the Pauper to the People Crew!
Before the event I had spent several sleepless evenings, wondering about what deck to play, what matchups to prepare for and what, whatever the deck, should be the 15th sideboard card. I had been trying out different Kor Skyfisher Variations, U Fae and U Terror with middling results beforehand and decided to return to good ol’ Grixis Affinity, which had served me well at Common Cause in May with a Top 16 finish. Back then I had been playing two copies of Pactdoll Terror in the Main to stabilize against red decks. More or less last second I decided to go with the time and try out the Black Mages Rod technology, as I already felt quite secure against the suite of Burn decks and wanted to have a solution in the Ichor Wellspring/draw two mirrors. I was debating to prepare harder for combo decks, which had been quite present in the Lega Pauper Lipsia and especially because High Tide had given me two rough defeats at the end of otherwise succesful tournaments. This would have meant running Metallic Rebukes in the Main and some Duresses in the Sideboard, but I dropped that idea last minute to go for a pretty stock list and sideboard, as I expected more midrange and less combo.
Here is the list: https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/grixis-affinity-decklist-by-lou-anton-hauser-2672482 (Unfortunately, when writing this report I noticed, that apparently I didn’t save this last change in my Spicerack Decklist, so in the online decklist I still had two Duress in the list, instead of the Extract a Confessions. I had handed in the correct paper decklist, but neither I nor the judges noticed it – I am really sorry about this mistake!)
Anyhow – the only „spice“ in the list was a one off Faerie Macabre in the Sideboard, to be extra prepared against Spy Decks and in the Blood Fountain Mirror. The Card ended up helping somewhere completely different, but more on this in a few seconds.
On to the match: As usual I start off in a hurry beforehand, making last minute fixes to the deck (I had registered 4 Hydroblast and noticed last second, that I had put 3 Hydroblast and 1 Blue Elemental Blast into the Board, but I found it luckiliy) and then rode to the venue with my good friend and long term Pauper companion Atte. Arriving at the venue was a blast already, as basically all Friends I had made playing Magic were around and the vibes were super good, sun was shining and I was absolutely stoked to play a whole long day of Pauper.
Round 1 vs Castro on High Tide, on the draw
Pairings are up and we sit down for the first round. My opponent is a super nice guy. But he starts the game with Island into Preordain. Even though my hopes were high, a feeling of dread trickles into my thoughts. This probably means: High Tide. I immediately regret my decision to take out the combo hate and my hopes start to dwindle – please don’t let it start like this. My hand was reasonable with a good curve and two Refurbished Familiars, but game one is pretty difficult. Turn two he plays a Merchant Scroll and there is no question – I am about to get tided. I play my familiars, draw my cards and when I get him close enough to lethal, he starts comboing off. In the process of comboing he goes down to only one card in hand + two Psychic Puppetry, so in hope of him fizzling I watch the process, he finds Peer Through Depth with Peer Through Depth, finds Ideas Unbound and so forth and I proceed to lose game one.
I board in 5 Pyroblast and one Faerie Macabre and proceed to win game two quite clearly with some Familiars and 2 Pyroblasts and a costly blunder on his side, missing that I had an untapped red land available after his Gigadrows.
Game three I think I had one Pyroblast in the starting hand and quickly draw the second one. I counter a Pieces of the Puzzle and two turns later a hard cast Lorien Revealed, whilst playing some Rods and Familiars. I get him down to quite a low life total but have got no more counter magic in hand. My only Interation is a Faerie Macabre. He is forced to try to combo off, but is always constrained on mana and cards and is eventually forced to clear a Brainstorm with one Stream of Thought. We both realise, that he cannot loop his deck and generate enough mana for the Kill if I have the Faerie Macabre exiling one Stream of Thought – which I have. I gain hope – maybe I can steal this one. Or at least that’s what I think. He then declares, that he thinks, there is a way to play around it. I am confused and kind of frightened. My regained faith is dwindling. He works his way through his deck. He puts Stream of Thought on the Stack. I discard Faerie Macabre, exiling the other Stream. With the first copy of Stream of Thought on the Stack, he shuffles Muddle the Mixture back into his deck of roughly 10 cards, to then cast Peer Through Depth trying to find the Muddle to counter the original Copy of Stream of Thought to then be able to shuffle it back into the deck…
Pause… He looks at the top five cards… there is no Muddle. Five minutes in over time and in the first extra turn I win. I am relieved, but I am trembling.
Game 2 vs Zimone on Flickertron
Due to overtime there is basically no break before round two, I am matched against fellow PttP Player Zimone, they are on Flicker Tron. I am still stressed to the max from last game and my body is nearly shaking, I don’t know if from stress or from cold. I put on my super warm jacket and we get ready for the match. Zimone is playing a super nice all altered Deck, but begins with a slow start with Tron nowhere in sight. I fiend Rods and Refurbs and most importantly all three Spellbombs, blanking the Mnemonic Wall and buying me time, before the lock can be assembled. The second Black Mages Rod seals the deal and I quickly ping her down. I board in 5 Pyroblast and a Faerie Macabre again. They have to mulligan to five and I can start with a seven with two Pyroblasts in Hand. I snap off the first Pyroblast at first chance and counter an Impulse, making them stumble a bit in their next turn and letting me build up some pressure. They topdeck into tron a little bit later, but their Mystical Teachings is met by my second Pyroblast, letting me push through the last damage necessary to finish the game for an unexpectedly quick 2-0 and giving me some well needed time to recover and have some lunch.
Game 3 vs Jannes on Grixis Affinity
Jannes is another local, and even though we haven’t played before, I know that he at least used to play Grixis Affinity. A few moments later it is apparent: we are playing the mirror. While I find good mana and all the Rods and all the card draw, he finds Makeshift Munitions, Refurbs and Myr Enforcers. I am fighting to stabilize on board but have to make a few unprofitable blocks, and slowly get dwindled down by their pings and getting closer and closer to death by Munitions. I never have enough Mana available to re-equip the Rods because I am drawing through my deck like a madman. Jannes doesn’t have any Artifacts to sacrifice for value, so he is forced to sacrifice either lands or creatures to get rid of my Heroes and Rats so I still have some hope to turn the corner. He tries to Krark into Toxin my first Enforcer, which I can bargain away, bringing me back to a little more comfortable 15 life. In the end I concede at six life, with all four Reckoners Bargain cast and with a little less than thirty minutes remaining on the clock.
I am getting a bit nervous to time out, knowing that I need to win two more games.
Game two I don’t really remember, except that we both had rods in play and I found better mana and cycled through my deck quite easily. Game three starts with roundabout fifteen minutes on the clock and I am playing pedal to the metal. We both start on double Refurb and Rod, we are both trying to race but I manage to find more threats and removal, allowing me to push my gameplan. At 10 Jannes decides not to block my Enforcer with a rod and a Refurb with his Hero Token, putting him down to three and in lethal range of my Galvanic Blast. We got there!
Round 4 vs Luca on Gruul Ramp
I am matched against Luca, who has been mastering Gruul Ramp in every economy, even in a world dominated by Broodscales he has put up impressive results with the deck, so I am pretty sure to be facing a big bunch of huge Monsters. So that means, KCS + deathtouch or bust, right?! My first seven is absolutely reasonable, with lots of card draw and some Refurbs, but no interaction whatsoever. Luca starts on the play and is gracious to me and starts off rather slow, building up his mana and rumbling in the first two turns. I manage to find a Toxin Analysis and start eating away at his hand with my Refurbs. He lands a Chrysalis, quickly followed up with a Hydra X=5 on a Spawn and starts on pushing. I find a Galvanic Blast and trade Refurb+Blast for the Chrysalis but fail to find the KCS. After taking one more hit I decide that I’ll try to trade Refurb+Toxin for the first half of the Hydra – but Luca responds with a Ram Through for the full blowout and killing me with exactsies – gg rough beats. I board in two Extract a confessions for a Spellbomb and the Munitions.
Game two we both start on six, but Luca starts slow again and I can get on the board with a Rod, an Enforcer and two Refurbs pretty quickly. He can only play one 3/3 a turn and I start swinging out with the team, even trading off my Enforcers against his 3/3, having a Blood Fountain at the ready. I take down game two and for game three we are asked to the feature match area.
He lands an early Chrysalis into a Jewel Thief while I am still setting up my board. He follows it up with a small Hydra on the Jewel Thief, which I can answer with a Galvanic Blast. I then stabilize the Board with an Enforcer and a KCS. With no profitable attacks he is forced to stay back and even commit further into my KCS, allowing me to draw some cards and empty his hand with my Refurbs. With the discard on his last card in hand he is forced to play his Ram Through, making the Chrysalis fight my KCS – so this forces the action on my side. I don’t have the deathtouch combo and no Artifacts to sac profitably, so I decide on sacrificing a Rod, a Land and a Spellbomb, to clear his board except for the Chrysalis and letting my Enforcer and Refurfbs survive. I then proceed to draw two cards, find an Extract a confession and remove his Chrysalis. He draws a Land for turn and concedes against my full hand and board presence. I am super stoked to take another one down, after these three super tight and enjoyable games. But immediately after walking away from the table it slowly crawls into my consciousness… I draw two. Why did I draw two? I was not supposed too, but in the stress of the action I somehow messed up, as mostly in this deck you do not draw one, you draw two… I was pretty bummed to make such a mistake to my advantage, and additionally on camera against a good friend. At least it was not game deciding as I was already in a comfortable position and would have drawn the card a turn later. Nonetheless it annoyed me to throw shadow on these otherwise super nice matches. But anyhow – the show must go on.
Round 5 against Moritz on Jund Wildfire
Again, another PttP local – but now with an undoubtedly bad matchup for me. To make things worse, I know that Moritz is a super sharp player and won’t be making any mistakes to take advantage of. I land an early Rod, we both exchange some Refurbs, but no Chrysalis from Moritz. Instead several Landscapes are being cycled, in search for action. I slowly dwindle down his life-total, cycling through my deck at high velocity while he fails to find his Wellsprings and has to trade of serious resources in order to fire off his draw two’s. When he finds the first Chrysalis I can trade it off with a Rat and a Galvanic Blast, always having the Spellbomb at the ready to block any recursion. Once I put the Makeshift Munitons on the stack he is forced to concede.
To be honest, the details of the second game are lost in the blur of a long day of tournament. I cycled through my deck whilst pinging away with my Rod, whilst Moritz was struggling super hard to find any action, and flooding out pretty badly. In the end I managed to hit him for five with an Enforcer with a Rod and putting him dead on board. I can barely believe it.
Round 6 against Günni on Mono Red Rally
My next opponent is another local legend, Günni, an above average Lightning Bolt enjoyer, who has been playing Pauper for a good ten years, always keeping his calm and playing to his outs perfectly. I was really stoked to face him in such a high stakes match, but also glad, that I was very well prepared for the matchup. He starts on the play with a Percussionist, I play a bridge, he follows up with a rally, I follow with untap land into blood fountain + KCS – the absolute dream. I decide to take the next hit of three, bringing me down to 13, forcing him to find removal for my KCS before he can play to the board any further. Instead, he plays a Reckless Impulse, finding a Galvanic Blast and another Percussionist – and no third land. Next turn I get to drop an Enforcer and keeping a Galvanic Blast in Hand - I have now established full control over the battlefield, exactly as I had imagined. In his turn, he put’s the Percussionist on the stack, so I am forced to pop the KCS to prevent him from getting metalcraft in order to protect my Enforcer. With a second KCS in hand I can take over the board and swiftly close out the game.
After sideboarding, I am even better prepared: 4 Hydroblast, 2 Breath Weapon and one Unexpected Fangs come into the mix. Between the rounds we are joking about the matchup and discussing about how many tomb raiders are necessary to assuredly win the game. We agree on three Tomb Raiders and a Great Furnace. We proceed to draw our hands, I have a pretty perfect seven, with three lands, a Breath Weapon, a KCS and a Rod. Günni Mulligans two six. Günni Mulligans to five, laughs, and keeps. I feel invincible.
Great Furnace, Tomb Raider. 18. My turn, I play my only red Bridge. He plays another Tomb Raider, attacks. 14. No land drop for Günni. I go to my turn and play a vault of whispers and a Rod. He attacks, I trade with a Tomb Raider, go to 12. He then plays a land – Burning Tree Emissary into Cast into the Fire my Bridge – my only red source. Suddenly, I don’t feel invincible anymore. I play a Blood Fountain and my second bridge, it is blue black. He plays ANOTHER Cast into Fire and hits me down to 8. I rummage away my blood and manage to find another red bridge. There is still hope – I am not dead yet! He goes to his turn and drops ANOTHER Goblin Tomb Raider and hits me down to 2.
I got to my turn, play a Vault of Whispers and can finally hold up the Breath Weapon. I just need to fade a burn spell. In combat I wipe his board, and he plays… nothing. I can barely believe it. I play a Thoughtcast, find a Hydroblast (but am tapped out of blue) and drop an Enforcer. Günni continues to draw blank and now I am slowly regaining hope. Apparently he has got no burnspells nor relevant creatures in hand, but maybe a Pyroblast to push through the last damage… An unblockable Gingerbrute brings me down to 1, but I answer it with a KCS a turn later, now sitting comfortably on two Hydroblasts in Hand. He casts an Epicure for the last point of damage, but I counter it and he is dead on the crack back. What an insane game.
Round 7 vs JeMi on White Weenie
At this point, JeMi and I were the only 6-0 players in the tournament – so we were bound to finally face in the finals. JeMi is an absolute beast on his pet deck White Weenies, but also a super chill guy and a fellow dad (haha), so I was really happy to face him in the finals – even though I knew that the matchup is really rough for me. Game one he starts rather slow and I have a few Refurbs. My plan is to empty his hand, find a spellbomb to exile his strands and Battle Screech in the graveyard and thensomehow taking over the game. Turns out, I don’t find a spellbomb and also I don’t manage to take over the game. I find an enforcer and try to gain a little time by giving him Lifelink with Toxin, maybe that gives me enough time to find a munitions and deal with the flyers… but JeMi has the perfectly timed Thraben Charm and finishes me off elegantly with an additional Choco Mog and a whole bunch of flyers.
I board in two Breath Weapon, Unexpected Fangs and the Faerie Macabre. I have to mull to five, still failing to find the Breath Weapon, but I get into the game quite well, drawing the cards back, Playing some Refurbs, and Blasting down a Skyfisher. He has a few Squadron Hawks and Inspectors and is pecking away at my lifetotal, suspiciously keeping up three mana and signalling a prismatic strands. I have the ground covered with a Myr Enforcer a KCS when he slams a Choco Mog, putting me under some serious pressure. Here he puts me into a difficult spot, as he is still signalling the Prismatic Strands and me having no Artifacts to sac for Value. I end up activating KCS for 2, letting the Choco Mog live. Next turn I try to bloud Fountain the KCS and a refurb back, but he answers it with a perfectly timed Thraben Charm. He follows this up with a Dust to dust on my Enforcer, which I can answer with a Bargain, but the Choco Mog keeps on beeting down, bringing me to 8. I find a Galvanic Blast to deal with the Choco Mog, but am down to 5 now. I find a Refurb and try to suit it up with the unexpected Fangs, but this gets answered by another Thraben Charm. I fall down to 3. Now is my last Chance and I have nothing left in Hand, but if I find the Breath Weapon, i can still turn it around. eMi is empty handed, so no Strands to worry about. This could be the comeback of the Century. I find… a Wellspring. Into a Refurb, I draw another card. Another wellspring. But now I don’t have the mana to cast a Breath Weapon, even if I find it. That’s game, and what a game it was.
Thanks again for this wonderful day, to all people organizing and participating and see you next time around – great games were played, mistakes were made and all together it was an absolute blast!