Pauper has changed quite a bit in the last few weeks. The banning of Peregrine Drake has essentially added four new sets of commons for folks to play with and try out. Because of this, we’ve seen a resurgence in people brewing, the Pauper Friendly League has been stacked, and a variety of cards from Eternal Masters, the Shadows over Innistrad block and Kaladesh have been tested in both established archetypes and new takes.

So which deck should you pick out?

Pauper has traditionally been a more midrange-leaning format, with the restriction of rarity making sweepers a rare and valuable commodity, spot removal in spades with creatures that vary in power level. For those reasons, there are a number of popular and powerful midrange strategies to choose from when sleeving up your commons. The current most popular is the UB Flicker deck, which can play a grindy control game with a combo finish, or just out-value most opponents. The ability to leverage Archaeomancer to get back a Counterspell when board control is established cannot be understated, however, the combo of Chittering Rats , Ghostly Flicker and Archaeomancer certainly bring about an end to the game if needed.

UB Flicker is the newest in a long line of Dimir flavored midrange strategies that have been popular since before Dismal Backwater was printed. Mulldrifter is perhaps the best creature in the format, and is utilized quite well in this list. Sea Gate Oracle and Counterspell give the deck game against early, aggressive strategies while black provides an abundance of removal spells. From Disfigure and Dead Weight to Doom Blade , Echoing Decay and Chainer’s Edict, the removal suite can be tweaked depending on the metagame, which brings us to our next deck.

Boros Midrange and Boros Tokens are two decks that I’ve lumped together. While both lists play Kuldotha Rebirth , Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher alongside Thraben Inspector and two-mana cantripping artifacts, they approach the game in a slightly different way. Boros Midrange, also known as Boros Kitty, leans heavier on removal spells to clear the way, fliers getting in and burn to finish the game, whereas Boros Tokens, with Battle Screech , and the recently downshifted Rally the Peasants , can win the game with a few fliers and a copy of the flashback Innistrad instant.

These decks have evolved from the older “kitty” decks that played a grindy game, sometimes splashed blue for Mulldrifter and even black for Gurmag Angler and Chainer’s Edict. The presence of Peregrine Drake pushed those original iterations out, forcing pilots of this style of deck to go on the aggressive. The three-color variants are almost completely absent from the current metagame, but their impact is definitely felt, with both Echoing Decay and Echoing Truth becoming premier removal spells if you want to succeed in league play against the threat of goblin and bird tokens.

Delver is also as strong as ever. Recently surging and now holding the biggest share of the Pauper metagame, the classic standby is still an efficient machine when it comes to putting on a quick clock and backing it up with permission. The UR Delver deck is also a newer flavor, splashing red for Lightning Bolt and Flame Slash while keeping the faerie package that makes Spellstutter Sprite shine. Some Izzet versions have even gone so far as to cut Delver of Secrets from the list to play a more controlling game with Sea Gate Oracle and Mulldrifter.

So where do we go from here?

With the rise of new decks, some classic Pauper strategies, such as Affinity have taken a slight step back. Affinity has always seen an immense amount of hate in post-sideboard games, with the Boros decks leaning on the artifact land-smashing power of Gorilla Shaman , and the immense amount of spot removal seen in the UB Flicker, as well as other UB control variants, difficult to overcome. Affinity still has some of the most explosive draws, capable of putting an incredible amount of power on the board as early as turn three, and sometimes effectively ending the game on turn four. Coupled with this is the ability to attack from a completely different angle thanks to Atog and Fling . The one-two punch of Atog, a board of artifacts and Fling allows Affinity to win from almost nowhere.

Of course, other popular options are still extremely viable and put up results, such as Stompy and various flavors of Tron, ranging from your classic RUG Tron, to mono-colored versions that folks have been brewing with.

Predicting metagame shifts can be tricky, and while I won’t claim to be the expert on keeping up with what decks are popular, my best guess would be a rise in aggressive, non-interact strategies moving forward. Decks such as GW Hexproof and Izzet Blitz thrive when the removal is targeted, edicts are rare, and Tron is popular. All of this brews a perfect storm for which pilots can play game-ending threats turns two and three, protect them and win on turn four or five.

Izzet Blitz was a deck that became especially popular during the rise of the Peregrine Drake meta. With decks forced to be proactive, and “go under” the counterspells played in the top decks, Blitz did it better than most. With all of Pauper’s best cantrips, coupled with the raw power of Gush , Izzet Blitz is far more resilient than most people give it credit for. A turn-one Delver of Secrets spells ill-fortune for those going tapped land into tapped land and Temur Battle Rage can often end games before an opponent has time to interact. Mutagenic Growth makes Disfigure a bad choice, and the recent cut of Chainer’s Edict in favor of Echoing Decay and other spot removal makes the protection spells played in Izzet Blitz even more effective. The popularity of a variety of Tron builds, employing what is largely a slow, more controlling game plan, is also ripe ground for Izzet Blitz to succeed.

Finally, the access to some of the format’s best sideboard cards in Pyroblast , Hydroblast and Gorilla Shaman make the deck a potent choice in today’s midrange grindfest.

A deck that is starting to muscle its way up is GW Hexproof. While in the early days of the post-Peregrine Drake meta, this deck often found itself against Mono Black featuring anywhere from four to eight edict effects in the mainboard, current lists have opted for more spot removal. Hexproof thrives on this. A control deck cannot rely on three or four Chainer’s Edicts alone to effectively beat Hexproof. Khalni Garden , Young Wolf , and the ability to put multiple threats out, while turning one into a Voltron monstrosity make the deck difficult to play against. While Mulldrifter is a fantastic card, it does little in the wake of a first-strike, trampling, lifelink 10/10.

Moving forward, I’m looking forward to see what people are brewing, and succeeding with in league play. Aether Revolt has a few spicy choices that should provide interesting twists on existing strategies, with Kaladesh, the Shadows over Innistrad block and Eternal Masters all providing powerful options for players.

Keep brewing, cracking those clues from Thraben Inspector and crewing up your Renegade Freighters.

Finally, be sure to check the Pauper Classic Tuesday classic Pauper tournament hosted every Tuesday evening at 8 P.M. EST and sponsored by MTGOTraders.com. This is a great free tournament where you can hone your skills with a favorite deck, play against a number of skilled pilots and enjoy an FNM atmosphere while slinging commons, and winning prizes. Check it out over at www.gatherling.com

Thanks for reading.

Christopher Oliver/PujolsTheDestroyer on MTGO

Twitter - @CGOliver1989