The surge of the peeps that have shown interest in the Magic: the Gathering trading card game has made me decide to return to the Standard Pauper tournament series. It was a good thing for them to experience the tournament scene at the entry-level.

After creating the MTG Iloilo Pauper Facebook group with my friend Arthur, I then surveyed them on when would be the best time that they will be available for a Standard Pauper tournament. The majority voted on Saturday morning and so I immediately set the schedule to be this week’s Saturday, April 8th. I gave them the details of a free tournament entry for first-time participants and will be having card pack freebies as well as foil promo cards for each of them. My colleague Franco also donated a few Rare cards and promo foils.

Saturday morning arrived and I was running late as I needed to drop by LBC first for the package that I will be sending to a buyer in Manila. After that, I instantly went to Rei’s place and saw the new players there as well as some of the tournament regulars that we Pauper players had before.

Eight players signed in for the tournament and after three rounds of gameplay, here are the top 3 finishers:

1st, Zea (Blue Red Tempo)
2nd, Jared (Red White Aggro)
3rd, Andrew (Blue Red Artifacts)

Here are some of the scenes during the course of the MTG Standard Pauper tournament. Click here.

Overall it was a successful event and the players really enjoyed the experience. We have planned to have another one this coming Black Saturday (as it is Holy Week already) and hopefully we can gather more players and more interesting builds in the format.

That is a wrap. Until the next post.

I was able to obtain a spare time earlier today to brew a Standard Pauper deck to add in my current lineup of decks for the upcoming Pauper tournaments. This recent brew was referenced from the Allies theme in Battle for Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch sets. I initially experienced the power of this archetype when we played Boros Allies on the last 2HG Prerelease. I have thought that it will be possible for a pauper version. Access to Black as a third color opens the door to card options such as Kalastria Healer and solid spot removals like Unholy Hunger.

Below’s decklist is the first version:

Creatures
3 Zada’s Commando
1 Ponyback Brigade
4 Kalastria Healer
4 Kalastria Nightwatch
4 Ondu War Cleric
3 Goblin Freerunner
1 Goblin Heelcutter
2 Cliffside Lookout
3 Makindi Patrol

Spells
2 Shoulder to Shoulder
1 Unholy Hunger
1 Flatten
2 Bathe in Dragonfire
2 Read the Bones
1 Reach of Shadows
1 Boulder Salvo
1 Boiling Earth

Lands
3 Wind-Scarred Crag
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Scoured Barrens
3 Bloodfell Caves
4 Swamp
4 Mountain
3 Plains

I will be testing the deck tomorrow at the MtG Iloilo Standard Pauper tournament which I will also be the main organizer. We will check how the Allies synergy works.

The return of Standard Pauper tournament last Wednesday was met at a minimum, and that was at 8 players. It was just a short three-round event with me and teammate Arthur on the top two. I played Blue Black Exploit midrange and had two close matches with the Carbo twins; first against Christian playing Mono Red and Allen playing Sultai Dredge. It was still a fun deck to play but then again I had to try some new deck recipes with components from the new Battle for Zendikar set.

The decks we will be trying for tonight are:
-Blue Red Tempo
-Red Green Landfall

This current build of U/R is somewhat similar to that of the Theros-Khans Standard era but is somehow updated with creatures from Magic Origins and Battle for Zendikar. I am interested on how the new Landfall deck will run as compared to its time in the previous Zendikar build. The list looks decent but we shall see in the actual gameplay.

Until the next post.

We are bringing back the Standard Pauper tournament! This is good news to those who are in still in a limited budget to complete a competitive Standard deck but willing to experience and join the local tourneys. October is the semester break month for most of the college students and these players will have enough time to test and battle their pauper decks after the Theros block has rotated out.

My rotation-ready deck so far was Mardu Tokens. Maybe I can create pauper version of Sultai Delve or Sultai Sacrifice with Blisterpods and stuff.

I have decided to hold it on the old schedule of Wednesday night 6pm this coming October 21st at Rei’s Place. The event details below:

Wednesday Night Pauper Tourney
October 21, 2015, 6pm.
Format: Standard Pauper (All Commons)
The following card sets are currently permitted in the Standard format: Battle for Zendikar, Magic Origins, Dragons of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, Khans of Tarkir
Entry fee: 50php
Prizes: Battle for Zendikar Booster packs (quantity depending on player attendance)

For updates, you can check here at our Magic the Gathering Iloilo Community page.

A short recap on last Wednesday night’s Standard Pauper tournament: I decided to try the stompy Formidable Green decklist from PDC Magic and the result was outstanding as it reflected a similar tournament result on the website.

The deck can curve out pretty well and overpower most of the creatures in the format.

There were ten players present and four Swiss rounds were organized. I went 4-0 defeating a mirror match, Grixis Control, Sultai Dredge, and Black White Warriors. Here is my decklist.

Formidable Green
Standard Pauper

Maindeck
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Stampeding Elk Herd
4 Swordwise Centaur
3 Alpine Grizzly
2 Glade Watcher
4 Nylea’s Disciple
4 Atarka Beastbreaker
3 Dragon-Scarred Bear
1 Sedge Scorpion

4 Epic Confrontation
3 Aspect of Hydra
2 Hunter’s Ambush

2 Evolving Wilds
20 Forest

Sideboard
2 Savage Punch
2 Leafcrown Dryad
2 Hunter’s Ambush
4 Ranger’s Guile
2 Sedge Scorpion
1 Hunt the Weak
1 Plummet
1 Return to the Earth

We were back on schedule for the new players’ sanctioned tournaments and yesterday’s event was the first step. Standard Pauper was the right format for these players to enjoy a firsthand tournament experience in the local MtG community.

Last night’s turnout was a success as twelve players went to play and battle with the Commons in Standard. It was a four-round tournament and good thing TO Rei was there to help in managing the pairings, matchup results, and stuff.

I have brought three additional decks to help out with the attendance and to give the other players ideas on the possible archetypes in the current metagame of the format. The deck I played was White Black Tokens which is a popular Tier 1 deck from the tournaments in the PDC Magic site.

I won the first-round match against Red White Heroics but was swiftly defeated by the same archetype in the second round with a Temur Battle Rage pump combo in both games. Round three was against Red Green which I barely won the third game because of his misplay (a misread on Selfless Cathar’s ability). The last round matchup was a pseudo-mirror match but I was able to outplay her with combat tricks and Harsh Sustenance on the dome.

My final record was 3-1 and got me Fourth place. Here is the rest of the Top 4:

MtG Iloilo Tournament Results
Standard Pauper (April 1, 2015)
Top 4:
1st, Allen Paul (Sultai Dredge)
2nd, Ric (Red White Heroics)
3rd, Arthur (Mono Red Aggro)
4th, Mark Ian (WB Tokens)

I am looking forward to another high attendance on the next Wednesday schedule and hopefully, more new players will come out of their kitchen tables and participate. Big thanks to the Carbo brothers for bringing their friends to the event and also thanks to the regulars, Franco, Nonoy and Ric, and to my teammate Arthur for joining and making this tournament a success.

On future tourneys, I think we can have raffle prizes and additional bonuses for the top finishers (maybe a deckbox or sleeves). I guess we’ll need someone to sponsor those.

Lastly, here are the pics from the tournament.

So we have scheduled a tournament this coming Wednesday to accommodate the new players who would want to experience their first competitive event. The format is Standard Pauper and today I started to build some decks to be borrowed by these new peeps.

First up is the White Black Tokens deck in which I copied the list from PDC Magic and did a few changes with cards from Dragons of Tarkir. A preview of the deck is on the banner above.

Next is a Green White Convoke deck which I based on an Intro Pack in Magic 2015. With the extra cards from the boosters I have purchased before, it was just easy to complete the deck.

The third deck done is the Red White version of Heroics, and I have added Rebound cards from DTK for improved efficiency of Heroic triggers. Here is the reference list.

Lastly, I have built a Mono Red aggro deck for a teammate. The changes were simple, like switching Swiftspear to Valley Dasher; Stoke the Flames to Collateral Damage, and adding back the heroic Akroan Crusader.

I am hoping for at least ten players for tomorrow’s tournament so it will be a four-round event, with the Carbo brothers bringing their recruits. This will be their first stepping stone to becoming the future players of the community. Let us just hope it will happen.

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.