The Battle for Zendikar season has closed. With its ending we also say goodbye to Cloud of Faeries and hello to Oath of the Gatewatch. While the format is sure to change moving forward its immediate future is far more likely to be influenced by its recent past.

Even in the wake of an addition to the ban list Pauper is slow to evolve. Comparatively low stakes combined with a relatively flat power level makes it change glacial. It will take some time for ripples from the removal of Cloud of Faeries to fully be realized. Until then the best place to look for the shape of the format to come will be the decks that performed best in Battle for Zendikar. Here is every archetype that made up at least 3% of the undefeated field over the season’s four months. These numbers include over six weeks of three-round Daily Event results with the rest made up of decks from the Pauper League.

Delver 18.46% Esper Combo 8.74% Kuldotha Jeskai 7.74% Dimir Delver 5.84% MBC 5.84% Burn 5.43% Affinity 5.39% Izzet Blitz 4.76% Temur Tron 4.48% Dimir Teachings 4.35% Stompy 4.08% WW Tokens 3.13%

Just missing the cut were Goblins at 2.99% and Elves at 2.91% of the undefeated metagame. Delver had 64 decks go all the way compared to Tokens’ 23. Just from looking at these results one can infer that everything, except the top two decks, are going to get better. Early on it would follow that Kuldotha Jeskai and other Kor Skyfisher based decks would succeed. But why?

In the past Mono-Black Control would find itself behind both Delver and Esper Combo but those decks were focused on maximizing Chittering Rats and Unearth. These decks were heavy on disruption and relied on a flexible removal package. Over time the deck became less reactive and more focused on building devotion for Gray Merchant of Asphodel. What resulted was a suite of kill spells that while still potent, was less focused on targeting specific threats. The format saw a decline in the number of Geth’s Verdicts and Victim of Nights and an increase in Chainer’s Edict and Oubliette. Mono-Black became a deck almost wholly concerned with resolving a game winning Gray Merchant. In essence it became a combo deck that played out on board and lost some of its interactive elements that helped propel it to the third slot. Gray Merchant accomplished many of the same things as removal in that it helped to obsolete attacks and handle smaller creatures like goblins and Nettle Sentinels.

So there was a void opened for a deck that was designed to build incremental advantages over time and use pinpoint removal to clear a path. Kuldotha Jeskai filled this space by using the duo of Lightning Bolt and Galvanic Blast to not only remove beaters from the battlefield but to also finish what Kor Skyfisher and Glint Hawk had started. Enabled by the Khans of Tarkir Gain Lands, Kuldotha Jeskai asserted itself as the attrition deck of the format. Instead of Unearthing a Chittering Rats, the play was drawing extra cards off of Prophetic Prism with a Skyfisher or Hawk. Using these interactions to accrue cards the deck could establish a defensive position with Skyfisher or go over the top with burn.

Early on then, it would make sense for Kor Skyfisher to be at the top. And through the first three reported days it is, with four Kuldotha Jeskai decks, a Reality Acid based deck, and one that eschewed Kuldotha Rebirth for Gurmag Anglers and Chainer’s Edict. These decks pack extra spells into their key cards which allow them to increase the density of their action. Without a natural predator, Kor Skyfisher has taken the lead early.

Right behind Kuldotha Jeskai is a glut of decks representing three disparate strategies. First up is supremely strong linear strategy in Affinity. The redundancy of multiple 4/4 threats backed up with Galvanic Blast and an Atog/Fling or Temur Battle Rage combo is a great way to attack an unprepared metagame. Epitomizing the idea of being the threat early, Affinity is able to capitalize on a wide open metagame. The lack of a clear top deck has allowed players to experiment with a variety of strategies. Affinity, with its laser focus and high power level can overcome these decks to establish itself early.

Both Kudoltha Jeskai and Affinity share a weakness in reliance on Artifact Lands. While the former can operate without the Mirrodin commons, doing so forces the deck to set its tempo back even more than normal and can strand Glint Hawks in hand. As I have mentioned previously I fully expect decks to adopt sideboard copies of Gorilla Shaman as a way to combat these decks. If a red-green deck emerges, I also anticipate seeing more slots devoted to Ancient Grudge. Even though these cards were present before they did little to stall the two best decks. Now that Artifacts are key elements to the top - not only powering their draws but turning on one of their best spells - it follows that the strongest answers to the permanent will see more play.



Goblins is a not a deck I expected to see near the top early. The deck full of little red beaters was a fringe contender last season but held back by Esper Combo. With access to Sparksmith, Lightning Bolt, and Death Spark, Goblins could hold its own against Delver. The issue is that despite the deck’s best efforts it could not overcome the best combo deck in the format. Goblins’ early success is somewhat surprising however, as it also struggles against Kuldotha Jeskai and its copious incidental lifegain.



So why has it done well early? Similar to Affinity, Goblins is a synergy driven deck that has access to some of the best reach in the format. Against players attempting to feel out the edges and trying to understand the new lay of the land, a deck that can effectively go wide and close the game with burn may catch some unprepared. Goblins may also benefit from players skimping on cheap removal, normally slotted for Delver, or those who are overcompensating for Affinity.

Finally we come to Dimir Teachings. This deck gained popularity last season but was never a top contender. In a format as diverse as Pauper it was possible for Teachings’ answers to line up poorly with the threats presented. Over the course of the last four months the deck evolved into two distinct camps - those that won with Gurmag Angler and those that relied on Curse of the Bloody Tome or (Evincar’s Justice) in conjunction with Pristine Talisman and ignored creatures. Out of the three decks of this stripe represented thus far, two fall into the latter camp; one featured a single Twisted Abomination. The third entry is something that was far too slow for the old Pauper. Leaning more on creatures, this deck features those old best friends (back again) Mnemonic Wall and Ghostly Flicker. Only instead of generating mana, this time they are used in concert with Chittering Rats to deny draw steps. Time will tell if this package is strong enough to contend but it certainly provides an interesting wrinkle to the format.



Moving forward if I wanted to metagame I would absolutely try to focus my energies on Artifacts and the graveyard. Leaning hard on Gain Lands makes defending against aggressive strategies slightly easier and using sideboard slots to fight the top of the current format sounds like a recipe for wins. Of course it is still early and things can change. Few cards from Oath of the Gatewatch have seen play and there is remains the large backlog of cards from previously releases to test out. So the next few weeks should prove interesting.

Keep slingin’ commons-

-Alex



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