I’ve returned from my Pokemon adventures, and I’m here to share all the things I’ve learned. I’ve mastered the art of curveballs, found many friendly gatherings, and best of all, milled myself into a state of pure joy. While there are many things I seek out still, such as broken egg people and giant scythe grasshoppers, I have also befriended goat men and imps. Let’s meet some of my new friends, and watch them in action, YouTube style. While the results were sadly the same at 3-2, the deck preformed well for me in my most recent league. Here’s what I entered with:

Here’s an MTGoldfish link.

You may notice it’s pretty similar to the earlier version of the deck. I believe there’s a total of 8 cards that changed. So what’s diffrent? The deck is now much more focused on playing into the metagame. Our good old friend Peregrine Drake has done a lot of interesting things to the format. Instant speed removal is mandatory if you can’t kill quickly. A reliance on Lightning Bolt is on the up tick. My changes reflect both of those.

Previously, Satyr Wayfinder was a 1-of. I’ve gone all the way up to 4, which might be a little extreme. But why? First of all, it’s mana fixing, and in Pauper, even 2 color decks need mana fixing outside of lands. It also powers out Gurmag Angler, which is up to a 3-of. Mono-Black Control is dropping lower and lower in the metagame, meaning there’s less decks that can cast, and also kill an Angler. People just don’t need to worry about it much. So I’m loading up all the decaying fish I can find and making everyone smell it. With a Wayfinder, a turn 4 Angler is very conceivable.

Grisly Salvage is a newcomer to the deck meant to compliment Wayfinder. It’s only a 1-of, and it replaces a single copy of Night’s Whisper. Trying to find the balance between Salvage, Whisper, and Wayfinder has been very interesting. I have no idea how many of each I want, but I want them all! Stinkweed Imp is also a 1-of now, because it’s so synergistic with the smell of Gurmag Angler.

Alright, so we have Anglers and friends that seek to make his meal sooner. What else has changed? The value of removal. Oubliette is not having its’ best days. Since it can’t kill a Drake, I’ve given it the boot for now. Instead, a single Murder and Swat have come in. Why aren’t these just Doom Blade, and why in the world would i play Swat? Mono-Black is still a deck, even if it’s not at the top of it’s game. I don’t want to overload on too many dead cards for a matchup, even if I’m not playing the most efficient removal as a result. A healthy mix of instant speed removal has felt pretty good. Swat is not as bad as it looks. It kills the majority of threats, such as Drake, Spire Golem, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and Kiln fiend(kind of), while also nuking utility creatures like Mnemonic Wall. Being able to cycle a removal spell away when it’s not needed is nice flexibility. Maybe it’s too cute, but it’s not as ugly as it looks, because, uh, you can be cute and ugly too…I guess.

Many of the changes have lead to one very noticeable downside. Gray Merchant is not a powerhouse in this deck. So it’s now a 2-of. With the addition of mono-green creatures and the loss of the Oubs, it’s just not as reliable. That is a very real cost, but I’ve still been happy to draw them now and then, they’re just not the focal point of the deck.

On the other hand, Putrid Leech is still a powerhouse. Have I said that yet?





There have been some Sideboard changes as well, but nothing unusual. You can check them out on the MTGoldfish link, or in the videos. So check out the videos, and try the deck out, it’s only $11 on MTGO!

The full playlist

Round 5 (sorry, max of 5 videos on a post).