Dork Rituals: The Pauper Project #4

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Gattison

1 March 2018

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Dork Rituals: The Pauper Project

Issue 4: One-Drop to Rule Them All

Hello fellow TappedOut.users, thanks for coming back to Dork Rituals: The Pauper Project. My name is still Gattison, I still maintain the Obscure List of Obscure Lists, I still write theme songs for Magic decks, and I still like puns too much. I'm on a mission to brew 32+ different paper pauper decks, one of each color combination (including 4-color & colorless), and I want to geek-out about it with you as I go.

I talked a little bit already about Brainstorm, Ponder and Preordain already, but it was such a hit I wanted to do it again. So that means I have to reboot the series, start over at issue one, and maybe this time, as an added bonus, we'll have Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne as teenagers in high school together... and they're both in love with Lois Lane!!! Sounds like a hit to me! ::pukes::

Just kidding, no reboots here, but seriously though, I am going to talk some more about those three cards, but I'm not going to rehash the fact that other formats treat them differently (by banning or restricting them) than we do in pauper. Instead I want to look at arguably the best draw cards in the pauper format, the blue ones that only cost a single .

Anyway, I considered adding Gitaxian Probe to this list, but it doesn't actually give you any additional information about the top of your deck, unlike the list above. Instead, Probe gives you information about the opponent's hand in addition to the card drawn. This is the realm of Clairvoyance, Peek and Sorcerous Sight, so Probe is really just a cantrip, not a true "draw spell." The fact that it can be cast for "free" (which in reality means paying 2 life instead of ) is what makes it so paupular... what? Paupular? Pau--no? Sorry.

I also considered adding the rarely seen Shared Discovery to this list, because now that Treasure Cruise is banned in MTGO pauper, shared discover is the only straight "draw three" card left in pauper. But there's probably a reason that it's rarely seen, because it is highly conditional, you must have four untapped creatures to spare in order to cast it. Also, that makes it an additional cost, not an alternative casting cost (in fact it states such explicitly right on the card), so Shared Discovery doesn't actually cost just one , it costs more, in the form of needing creatures already in play. You can't play this card turn one, so it falls short of being listed among the best.

Finally, Slowly Ponder--I mean Portent, excuse me--was actually on the list for a few minutes before I decided against it as well. When you cast Portent, you have to wait for the card. You cannot chain into another cantrip with it, increasing any Storm-count or Prowess-like ability. Nor can you continue to dig right now for the answer you need to the threats at hand. This distinction, I feel, sets it also apart from the top tier of powertrippers. Yes, it replaces itself, but it does so slowly, leaving you down one card for the rest of the turn.

This leaves us with the six offenders listed above. Each of these cards costs a single mana, the inevitable one, and each of them gets you information from the top of your library in addition to drawing you a card. Except for Sleight of Hand, which functions almost the same, but with a distinct difference, so we'll save that one for later.

I'll start with a little group of three that all seem to want to do the same thing, but in their own, unique way. Get out your Serum Visions, Preordains and Wee-ordain--I mean, Opt, excuse me--and start looking at them folks. All three of these cards involve scrying and drawing a card. Serum Visions is notable for allowing you to draw first, and then scry, setting up your next two draws with something desirable or something... else. In conjunction with other cantrips, chaining them together for Storm or Prowess count, or just digging for your combo pieces, Serum Visions can work wonders, but.... That's not really what you want. With a lot of scrying going on in your deck, then you might actually know what the top card of your library is, therefore that Serum Visions might not be a risk at all. But, what if you draw another unneeded land then scry two, revealing one or two cards that you could actually use right now?

That's where I feel Preordain, and even Reverse Visions--I mean, Opt, excuse me--can be much better. These two allow you to scry first, which is a big difference. With Preordain and Watered-Down Visions--I mean, Opt, excuse me--in the scenario above, you could have scryed away that redundant land on top of your deck, digging past it to those two better cards much faster. As a sidenote, consider how powerful the effect of scrying two before you draw must be when Serum Visions is allowed in the Modern format, but Preordain isn't. Their little brother, Opt--I mean, Opt, excuse me--which does the same thing as Preordain, just one scry less, is allowed in Modern, and Preordain still isn't. Even though you can still dig up to three cards deep into your library if need be with Serum Visions, you still can't do anything with that information on those two scryed cards just yet. Getting information ahead of time is always better.

If you're looking to purchase these cards (in paper), then all of them except for Opt's most recent printing in Ixalan will cost you over $2.00 (US). Serum Visions, still legal in Modern is currently in the $2-$3 range, and Preordain--generally accepted as the preferred choice for pauper, of the three--both can be found for around $4-$5 right now. Meanwhile Opt's first printing is valued at just over two bucks in paper. Opt from Ixalan is currently somewhere in the .75 cents (US) range. I suspect that if there wasn't a recent surge in interest in Pauper (3 different ChannelFireball GPs in January of this year) all these cards would have a lower price tag.

And as a final note before I move on, I want to touch on the types of decks these three cards can be good in. Unlike Ponder and Brainstorm, which I'll talk about coming up, Opt, Preordain and Serum Visions all allow you to scry, which I'm sure you know means looking at cards on top of your library, and deciding whether you want to leave them there, or move them to the bottom of your library. This is draw fixing, not hand-sculpting, like with Brainstorm. Scrying things away does not synergize very well with shuffle effects (which I'll get into later), because the unwanted cards you scry to the bottom could resurface after a shuffling of your deck. Too many cards like Evolving Wilds, Ash Barrens and Squadron Hawk in your deck could reduce the value you can obtain from casting a Preordain unless you're prepared to deal with that fact in some way. In a format such as pauper, where fates are often sealed by Turns 4 or 5, cards like these that help maximize the efficiency of your first few turns can be incredibly helpful.

Next we move on to Fast Portent--I mean Ponder, excuse me--whose printings hover between $2.00 and $3.00 (US). I'm going to talk about Ponder alone, because I want to talk about Sleight of Hand and Brainstorm separately. Ponder is a fun little card that I almost always enjoy playing. It's a challenge and a mental workout, deciding how to order those three cards so that you draw the card you need now, and set up your next two draws to be most advantageous. Or if you even should at all. Ponder has a special little option that allows you to shuffle away the three cards you just looked at, granting you access to a mysterious _fourth_! However, it's imPortent to remember that while Ponder is faster-acting than Portent, there are still advantages to using the latter, such as setting up Miracle-casting of Thunderous Wrath on your opponent's turn. Or perhaps alongside some form of forced mill and draw/discard strategy maybe? Thus ensuring your opponent only draws chaff as you mill them out? We'll see. Ponder only draws you one card, but it let's you choose from among the top three--you look at the top three, pick the one you want now, put it back on top and draw it, meanwhile you put the card you want on your next turn beneath that, and the final card beneath _that_. You can cast Preordain afterwards to scry away one or both of the other cards, if you want/need to, and draw a fourth card. You can cast a Brainstorm, put two dead cards in your hand on top of your deck, then cast Ponder to look beneath them at a third card. If you don't want that card either, you can decide to shuffle now, getting rid of those unwanted cards and drawing another. If your opponent casts a spell that you _need_ to respond to now, you can respond by casting Ponder, which will in effect increase your hand-size by three cards, and out of those up to ten cards you can hopefully find a suitable answer. If the answer is one of the cards Ponder let you look at, put that card back on top of the other two then draw it. Then cast it.

Next up, the _different_ one, Ultimate Scry--I mean Sleight of Hand, excuse me. Not a draw spell, not even a true cantrip, because it doesn't, technically, _draw_ you a card. Sleight of Hand does something special, that quite frankly, doesn't really matter all that much in pauper. It does _not_ draw a card, but it still puts an extra card in your hand. Instead you "look" at two, then "put" one into your hand going completely _around_ the draw mechanic. By using these two words, specifically, instead of the word "draw," Sleight of Hand circumvents things in other formats like Underworld Dreams--things that trigger off of you actually _drawing_ a card. The worst you can do in pauper with this card is _not_ trigger your own Jace's Erasure with it. Which your opponent probably won't even mind. So, what Sleight of Hand is good for in _pauper_ is to cast the ultimate _scry_. It's not "scry 1, then scry 1 again," and it's not "scry 2." No, this is different. This will put a card in your hand, unlike any other scry out there. Look at the top two cards of your library, keep one and then "scry away" the other to the bottom of your library. Even if both cards are good, one should be more advantageous to you _currently_ and therefore would take precedence and be the one you choose to keep. The other less advantageous card, gets sent away, and even if it was your alternate wincon, at least it's still in your deck. You could shuffle and hopefully draw it again. Presuming of course the "better selection" you made was actually a misplay, but this is all very worst-case-scenario talk. Sleight of Hand is also Ray of Erasure 5-8, or vice versa, which itself is Thought Scour 9-12... because Mental Notes are numbers 5-8. But who really needs sixteen Thought Scours? Hm. Maybe I'll accept that challenge one day. In pauper, there are similar things to Sleight of Hand already, and with paper printings for this card starting at around $5.00 (US) and going all the way up to $10, I feel for the paper pauper player there are enough options that this card won't be necessary for a deck very often. On the other hand, the card seem to be pretty cheap on MTGO, so it still deserves a mention here. I feel the high price tag here can be attributed to the fact that it is actually legal in almost everything--Modern, Vintage, Legacy, EDH/Commander and of course Pauper, and also because it's an older card with two printings in Portal sets that hasn't seen a reprint in a while. This card reminds me of Thought Scour, Mental Note and Ray of Erasure, but unlike those three, Sleight of Hand does not put anything in your graveyard, instead the unwanted card remains in the deck, for later use, if need be. A slight difference, since reanimation is so easy in pauper, but one that is worth taking note of.

So that leaves us now with Brainstorm, an amazingly versatile card that many pauper players may underestimate at first. Remember last article when I told you that there is an [entire book](http://www.eternalcentral.com/product/understandinggush3e/) written about the card Gush? Well Brainstorm is one of the other "most complicated" cards in Magic: The Gathering. There are several, very good articles written on this card, its many misplays, advice on maximizing its potential and other, more intricate uses of this card. They are, again, from the Legacy player's perspective, but still, some of the skills and advice can translate to pauper. I'll link them below in this article's Highlights. Basic advice that Legacy players give each other is typically something along the lines of, "you're Brainstorming wrong," and "never ever Brainstorm on turn one--unless you have to," and "Brainstorm is always too good to cast now." If it seems a little self-contradictory, good, because Brainstorm is a complicated card, and there is a lot to consider each time you cast it, if you want to maximize its potential. They say you don't want to Brainstorm on Turn 1 because Brainstorm can resculpt your hand by drawing you three new cards, then letting you put _any_ two cards in your hand back on top of your library. You obviously pick two cards that won't help you now and put them on top of your library. On Turn 1, even if you're on the draw, and you saw your opponent's first turn land play and one-drop, do you really have enough information to select the best cards to keep and return yet? In pauper you actually might. I'd dare say it's far more possible than in Legacy, where this advice comes from, but the theory is still sound. The longer you wait to cast Brainstorm, the more information you have to make better decisions about which cards to keep and get rid of. If you want to be a more efficient pauper player, try reading the articles I link in the Highlights section below. If you want a taste of what you can get there, consider the following couple scenarios. You cast a Brainstorm with a Thought Scour in-hand also after your draw step because you need answers now or your opponent will win on their next turn. Casting it _after_ your draw step gives you access to four new cards this turn. You pick two cards that definitely can't help you now, like an extra land and a -drop 1/1 chump, or two non-flying creatures when you're opponent only has flyers. These cards go on top of your library and Brainstorm finishes resolving. Then you cast Thought Scour (or Mental Note), targeting yourself. Make _yourself_ mill those two useless cards to your graveyard and then dig past them to a third, brand new, potentially useful third card. What you basically just did is for you drew four cards and discarded two, netting you five new cards total this turn. You could also forgo the Thought Scour and instead just , sac', crack an Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, or any other pauper fetchland, after a Brainstorm. With this Legacy trick you shuffle away the garbage you didn't want in your hand, so that the next card you draw is _not_ going to be the exact same card you just tried to get rid of. Sometimes if a card is dead this turn, it will be the whole game and so you don't want to have to stare at it again. You want to use it, even if that means trading it for a better option. How about this one, another classic Legacy trick that we can use in pauper as well. Your opponent is on the draw and casts Duress first turn. You wisely have an untapped Island and a Brainstorm in hand. You also have a couple non-creature, non-land cards that you do not want your opponent to make you discard. Cast Brainstorm in response, draw three extra cards, then put the two cards you want to keep safe from Duress on top of your library. Now, not only have you successfully protected your important cards from removal, but you have also hidden them from view by Duress, thus your opponent _still_ has no knowledge that you even have those cards. You have kept valuable _information_ from the opponent, and they are now less able to effectively anticipate and/or inhibit your gameplan. You also know what your next two draws are now, and meanwhile you one-for-oned your opponent's Duress with a card you _don't need_ (or better yet, maybe they whiffed completely). The choice on what to keep in-hand and what to hide on top your deck in this situation is a whole other conversation though, requiring knowledge of your meta, your opponent's deck and the strengths and weakness of your own deck. Such decisions require a lot of intricate thought and planning, and in a casual setting it's not as important, but at public events where prizes are on the line, you want to win, and avoid misplays and unwise decisions. Despite Brainstorm's versatility, and its importance to the Legacy format, its power is diminished in the pauper format. As I mentioned above, in a format where a player's fate is often decided by turns four or five, a card like Brainstorm is ill-suited to a player's needs for efficiency in the earliest turns. Cards like Preordain and Ponder often get chosen first by pauper players because whereas Brainstorm's power scales up as the game progress, the other cards always maintain the same level of power throughout the game, but it is slightly higher right out of the gate. That isn't to say that Brainstorm is weak in pauper, instead I mean to say that Brainstorm's full potential is harder to realize in comparison to the rest of the top powertrips. Faster decks might want to consider other options before selecting Brainstorm, but other decks may find it preferable for exactly all these reasons. Interestingly, Brainstorm, out of all these powertrips, has the most printings on cardboard, but was never introduced to Modern. It's basically "soft-banned" from the format, and Standard as well, because I doubt we'll ever see Brainstorm in Standard, and therefore we'll never see it in Modern either, which is understandable, honestly. Regardless though, where the other top powertrips weigh in around three-four (US) dollars a piece or more and have a handful of printings each, Brainstorm has _nine_ printings, and can be found anywhere from just under a buck, to just over. Plus it was recently spoiled for _Masters 25_. So even if you might prefer a Preordain, Brainstorm is available, and accessible to the pauper player building a paper deck. Plus you can experiment with all of its many different uses. Remember, you don't _have_ to shuffle away the two cards you put back like they do in Legacy. You _can_ just use it as a budget Ponder, without the optional shuffle-effect, if you want. Whatever works for you, in the end, really. Well, I could probably write an entire article on Brainstorm alone, and I more than likely _will_ one day so... stay tuned for that, I guess. But not yet. I just wrote two articles in a row about cards, and I'm a guy. My hands and feet are cold. Thanks for staying with me so far, and I hope you're enjoying yourselves and learning a lot, like I am. As always feel free to respond in the comments below to anything discussed in the article above, especially if you feel I might have missed something important, or gotten something wrong. Or if you just have something you want to contribute. Remember, my main goal is to create good, productive discussions about pauper, so don't hold back. Questions are always welcome also, because you just don't know until you ask. This time I want to know what some of your favorite , -drop cantrips are and why. Which of these cantrips do you feel are better for which types of decks? Do you feel any of these cards should not be considered "powertrips?" Conversely, do you think we should add something to this list? Is there a place in paper pauper for Sleight of Hand, or are the other powertrips just better at that price? Now I'll leave you with the traditional Pauper Highlights, and until next time, stay safe everybody!