The Pauper Series: What To Know For 2025

Written by Eric Ratkowski

Hello, Eternal Magic: The Gathering (MTG) players. This article series discusses Pauper, the eternal format in which only common rarity cards are legal, and focuses on the format’s foundational cards and strategies.

The main intention is not to introduce new Magic players to Pauper, although they hopefully find it accessible and enjoyable. Rather, entrenched eternal format MTG players may be surprised at the interactivity, power level, and brewing potential within Pauper.

Pauper is a 60-card constructed format on the Eternal continuum with Vintage, Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer. The critical deck-building restriction is that only cards printed at the common rarity are legal. Similar to Vintage and Legacy, cards from every MTG set printed are allowed. There is a supported ban list, of which the unique Pauper Format Panel (PFP) provides expertise to Wizards of the Coast (WotC) to inform their decisions on whether to ban or unban cards.

Pauper is extremely popular in Italy and Brazil. In 2024, Paupergeddon had over 600 registered players. The always-excellent Andrea Mengucci creates Pauper content, as do legacy-format stalwarts Brian “BoshnRoll” Coval and Bryant Cook of The Epic Storm. Kirblinxy, Kalikaiz, and Pauperganda are Pauper-focused content creators. Pauper is around.

Pauper Power Level

Power level is an ambiguous and often subjective evaluation. There are cards legal in Pauper that are restricted in Vintage — Brainstorm, and until recently, Ponder. Legacy staples, including Brainstorm, Lightning Bolt, Dark Ritual, Lorien Revealed, Snuff Out, Pyroblast, Troll of Khazad-dum, and fringe-playables like Delver of Secrets, Hydroblast, Thoughtcast, Duress, and Plains are legal. Banned Modern cards, including non-bridge artifact lands, Dread Return, Simian Spirit Guide, and Violent Outburst, are legal, as are Modern staples, such as Counterspell, Malevolent Rumble, and Galvanic Discharge. 

Even Pioneer features cards banned from Pauper (e.g., Monastery Swiftspear) or are playable if not staples, in both formats — Burning-Tree Emissary, Llanowar Elves, and Deadly Dispute. Notably, Pauper has a glass-cannon turn-one combo deck that utilizes Balustrade Spy, which has been banned from Pioneer.

Even without the flashy rares and mythics that define most archetypes in other formats, Pauper's sheer mass of powerful cards provides a high bar for strategies to succeed in competitive environments.

Discussion Philosophy

I’m not an acclaimed Pauper expert. I’m an enthusiast who keeps a close eye on the format.

You will have to win your next local Pauper 2K (cents) yourself, though the information I provide may prove helpful for exploiting weaknesses in the meta. Hopefully, it influences how to spike with superior skills in managing resources and/or generating tempo. 

As such, what I write about may have changed since this article’s publication. You may find decklists with improved technology or rogue cards. The Pauper card pool is vast. There are always new limited all-stars from formats past that true grinders will bust out to gain advantage. 

This article attempts to explain why certain cards are included main deck and the rationale for sideboard construction. Those more versed in certain metagames like the local Milan Pauper scene or online challenges adjust accordingly. Just because every Red deck in a challenge top 8 has four End the Festivities in the sideboard does not guarantee that the next Red deck you face will, too. 

Finally, while bans may be mentioned, I’ll try not to pass judgment. That’s for the PFP to solve. Mentions of a card(s) suggest it's powerful. There is a reason why many of the same cards appear repeatedly among top decks.

Pauper Decks & Archetypes

Pauper is built around powerful synergies and accruing value over time. It can be fast, as some of the most potent fast mana ever printed is legal — Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Rite of Flame, Simian Spirit Guide. However, every aggressive storm card is banned. What that fast mana can leverage is limited and often underwhelming. Instead of a big game-winning play, decks usually combine multiple engines and pillars of the format to outmuscle opponents. 

When evaluating a Pauper deck, identify which engines it uses and when its advantage becomes overwhelming. Often, the metagame’s decks jockey for position with different mixtures of speed and value. They draw cards, spend mana, and apply pressure to the board as efficiently as possible. In particular, artifact synergies are prominent and powerful; look for them among the top decks or consider why a deck has chosen not to include them.

Mono Red

Mono-Red variations are consistently at the top of the Pauper metagame, which takes advantage of a single-color mana base and the sheer mass of damage-causing red spells available. Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning are the primary drivers, supplemented by Lava Spike and Fireblast. 

Most contemporary Mono-Red decks also use artifact synergies to leverage Galvanic Blast, Goblin Tomb Raider, and Kuldotha Rebirth. The artifacts that enable these are the almost-free Great Furnace and the pseudo-card-advantage engines of Clockwork Percussionist, Experimental Synthesizer, Implement of Combustion, and Blood tokens produced by Voldaren Epicure. Decks sacrificing artifacts to make goblins often include Goblin Bushwhacker, Goblin Blast-Runner, and Goblin Grenade.

Another avenue Mono-Red decks can follow is “pinger” burn, which features Kessig Flamebreather, Firebrand Archer, and Thermo-Alchemist. Leaning more heavily into spells, this variation of Mono Red can play other forms of card advantage, such as Wrenn’s Resolve and Reckless Impulse. 

Experimental Synthesizer is incredibly effective at generating value if used correctly with hits, Clockwork Percussionist, Voldaren Epicure, and Implement of Combustion smooth draws. Galvanic Blast is often on the edge of ban discussion since artifacts, as mentioned repeatedly, are easy to include and offer a vast range of effects. Most notably, artifact lands provide easier access to metalcraft, albeit with the implicit downside of being soft to artifact hate. 

In summary, Mono Red deals a ton of damage to overwhelm opponents quickly. There is no non-combo deck that is faster. In exchange, Mono Red cannot grind as effectively as most Pauper decks — a tale as old as time for burn decks. What may surprise old hands is the deceptive amount of staying power this deck has. This deck demands attention, and a competitive deck will almost always dedicate sideboard slots to it.

Affinity

The Affinity mechanic has been abused since its introduction via the Mirrodin block in 2003. Several cards have been banned in Pauper because of Affinity, including Sojourner’s Companion and non-Affinity payoffs, such as Cranial Plating, Cranial Ram,