Sundays are our time to relax and play other Magic formats. We resumed these sessions about two weeks ago, hanging around the same ol’ Coffee Break in Smallville. Commander was the format introduced to teach the new players and also to give the community exposure to those who might be interested in learning Magic (the Gathering).

Another format that we’ve decided to bring back was Pauper Standard. Pauper rules means that only the Common card in Standard are to be used. Last Sunday, I’ve decided to brew a Pauper deck based on the popular Devotion to Black deck in Standard. Here is what I’ve came up with:

Lands
12 Swamp
8 Plains
4 Orzhov Guildgate

Creatures
3 Baleful Eidolon
2 Dutiful Thrull
4 Tithe Drinker
3 Disciple of Phenax
2 Kingpin’s Pet
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2 Auramancer

Spells
2 Mark of the Vampire
2 Read the Bones
3 Quag Sickness
3 Pacifism
2 Grisly Spectacle
4 Pharika’s Cure

The first version I’ve tested two weeks ago was just mono Black, but then I’ve realized that some color splashing is needed in the deck. There was a reference I browsed from PDCMagic that was Blue Black and with a playset of Archaeomancer. That moment flashed back a mini combo that I used to do in Magic2014 Limited. The cards were Auramancer & Quag Sickness, and that made me decide that White is the splash color. And what would be the best Guild for those colors? The controlling Orzhov syndicate of course.

Extort seem to be a powerful mechanic to use in the deck, in addition to the gray merchant’s soul drain, making your late game play powerful.

I’ve tested the deck versus Mono Red Aggro, Mono Green and Green White Heroic and the results are outstanding. You just grind them with early removals and with the deathtouch Baleful Eidolon while Extorting to their life totals.

My next plan is to create an Orzhov aggro pseudo-midrange Standard deck for Tithe Drinker. She seemed to be an efficient two-drop as well as a late game Extort finisher. We’ll see what shenanigans I can come up with.

That is a wrap. Until next post.