Hello!
Something really cool is about to happen in Pauper.
The first real Dual Lands we have for Pauper.
Yes, all the other Dual Lands are indeed Dual Lands. But they were not searchable as these ones are neither they had the Dual-Type these ones have.
And that makes a really big difference…
Search a Land
These lands may be searched. That’s a whole new level.
The Ramp.
These spells work great for the new Snow Duals.
Into The North turns to be a great card for Pauper. It can Ramp and Fix colors for any deck that uses these Duals in a xxG shell.
Farseek also works with any of the new Duals since they have the Dual-type that makes them searchable. And it also Ramps and Fixes just like the previous card.
These cards can see play in Pauper. Farseek was used in its Standard days in a deck that was named Farseek Jund. That deck was then renamed into Jund Midrange but still used this card to Ramp (and Fix) in Turn#2 to allow a 4-Drop in Turn#3. And that deck had a lot of great 4-Drops.
There is also Spoils of Victory that does the same as the previous two cards but costs 2G.
Land Grant may grab one of the Snow Duals that also have the Forest type.
Not as great as the Ramp spells because it only trades itself for a Land and does not put it into play.
For this line of play we also have Safewright Quest, for a G/W it may search for a Forest or Plains and put it into your hand. And Gaea’s Bounty, costs 2G and searches for two Forest cards and puts them into your hand.
Forest-Exclusive Ramp spells.
Any of these cards may search for one (or more) Dual with the Forest type while they also do other stuff.
The not-Green-exclusive cards that also search for Lands.
And to finish the list,
the Landcycling. Not the Basic Landcycling but the Specific-Type-Cycling.
There are plenty more creatures with this ability.
And some of them may not be effective at all. But others may be somehow effective.
All in all, these are all cards that allows you to search for a specific Land according to its type. If that Land is a Dual, is paired with another color, and then it’s just like in real Magic: The Gathering formats *cofcof* where you can search and play a Land card that has double-types and double-colors.
Land Benefits
What cards will benefit the most of these Lands?
Obvious card is obvious.
Right now Skred is costing 1 USD and 3 tix.
Unless WOTC prints it in this new set, even as an Uncommon, expect to see a rise in its price.
Being Snow Lands, the new Duals improve the Snow permanent count for Skred and turns it into a juicier spot-removal card than it already is.
Skred will not be exclusive to the Izzet Skred or Skred Faeries decks anymore. No.
With the inclusion of these Lands in the meta, every deck that runs xxR can turn its manabase into Snow mana and make use of this powerful spell. Or decks that didn’t used xR may splash some of these Duals and use Snow Basics to use this spell. Why not?!
Cast Down is the go-to spot-removal spell in the format right now. But with the inclusion of these Lands I don’t see why Skred will not take its place as the go-to removal card in the format.
Another card that gains something out of the new Duals is Defile.
Its bonus does not climb as high as Skred but the additional Land types improve the count for this card. Any Dual with Swamp counts as a Swamp so… yeah. This is a card that is being predominantly played in Mono-Black decks and may now be used in some xB decks or Mono-Black splashing other colors with Dual-Swamps.
Two more cards that are used in Mono-Black decks and may now may be played in xB decks or, as wrote above, turning Mono-Black shells into xB, splashing one or more colors for more options.
The old Domain cards.
Only the second was scarcely used in some specific Domain decks. But now 4ColorGreen or even some 5c Good Stuff decks may use the Rioters as a 4/4 or 5/5 for its cheap CMC:3.
Tribal Flames has the potential to become into a “deal 5 damage to the face” for just 1R in said decks, which is not that bad at all.
But these two will see seldom play.
I don’t think Domain may gain what it needs to become a meta contender.
The Return of the Classics.
Ape is a 1-Drop 2/3 creature in the right scenario.
It is a callback to the old days… but even in Pauper, a 2/3 for R is a bit bland.
Now, Wild Nacatl is something else.
May I remind you that this card was once banned in Modern. Yes, Modern. The format that has Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile.
This creature can easily become a Turn#2 3/3 1-Drop… and go!
It’s a cheap threat that benefits a lot from Dual Land types and never has seen much of the table in Pauper. Mostly due to the lack of real Dual Lands, Dual Lands that have Dual types to pump its ability. Until now.
The Naya Lightsaber VS Jund Midrange Clash
Remember this article’s title? Yup, that’s the place where I want to go.
Back in 2009, a young André Coimbra defeated David Reitbauer, with a build by Mike Flores called the Naya Lightsaber. It was a deck tuned to beat the metadeck of that moment: Jund Midrange.
The power of this deck relies in the Cascade trigger from BBE and the draw power of Ranger of Eos.
A typical line of play would be playing an early Nacatl and controlling the board with one of the eight removal spells the deck has. And then Cascading a hasty 3/2 with something else.
There are a lot of micro-synergies in this deck.
Noble Hierarch could RampFix something big like a Baneslayer Angel or an Ajani while still Exalting an established threat.
BBE could Cascade into Woolly Thoctar and make a scary board presence.
Ranger of Eos could fetch a 3/3 that costs G or a Scute Mob that would force a spot-removal or it would mean Game Over.
The deck is fun to play and covers all the spots.
I mentioned it because one of the main threats of this deck is Wild Nacatl. And Naya being a good Shard for Pauper, this deck can somehow be ported into the format.
Yes, we don’t have Planeswalkers in Pauper neither bombs like the Baneslayer. But now we can at least play a real Magic’s multicolored deck without losing to Color-Screw and gaining some benefits in the mix.
But what about Jund?
Well, Jund can also make some use out of the new Lands. It will trade here and there, just like the Naya build. But it can maintain most of its integrity as a Pauper port.
One of the threats of this deck is Putrid Leech, a common creature from the time Magic had good common Creatures.
This deck also had that same BBE Cascade engine from the Naya version with a more extensive removal package.
Most of these cards, except Planeswalkers and scary bombs, are Common.
Again, these cards come from an era where Commons were really playable and not just pack-fillers as they are today. Also, the power level was indeed something that was tested and balanced for the sake of the game environment and not for the sake of sales.
Nowadays, M:TG is a milking-the-cow engine with its rarity counterparts where most cards are pretty much redundant except for the Standard format. And then they are washed away by rotation into the pit of forgetfulness, aka the Bulk Box.
The Naya Port
How to port the Naya Lightsaber?
Both these decks had some CA engines like the BBE’s Cascade engine.
Gaining two cards out of one is a great CA move. We can only achieve it in Pauper with lesser cards or really mana-expensive cards. So no, I’ll not go into the Cascade builds that are populating the format right now because they are counter-productive compared to what we want to achieve with these builds.
Threats
As shown before, Wild Nacatl would be a great threat. A 3/3 for G is something to think about.
A good threat in the format is also Guardian of the Guildpact. It’s not a big creature neither a cheap one but it can stick on the table and dodge most of the removal in the current metagame.
In a more Aggro build, maybe another small-bomb from that same time and place Nacatl lived, Scab-Clan Mauler, a possible 3/3 Trample for RG if its Bloodthirst is triggered.
The new Crimson Fleet Commodore may act in two ways, a good threat if it stays in the field, being a 5/2 Trample it represents damage but it is also easily dealt or traded, and a creature to conquer Monarch, which is a big thing these days.
And CA related, two not-so-much-of-a-threat but good creatures are Penumbra Spider, that stops Faeries and Birds and soaks up spot-removal, and Palace Sentinels, to conquer Monarch and provide a good blocker.
Throw in Llanowar Visionary as an auto-replaceable 2/2 body and you have a nice Pauper CA engine going on.
Removal
The Lightsaber just used 8 removal cards and a backup Planeswalker.
We can trade PtE for Skred since Skred can be a better card than PtE. It does not exile its target but it also does not give a Land for your opponent.
Bolts are fine to use in this deck since they are Common and a Pauper staple.
We can also include a sort of catch-all card like Oblivion Ring to remove not only creatures but also other permanents that may disrupt our game.
Apart from the amount of Burn that R can provide us, W can also offer some removal like Journey to Nowhere, or Celestial Flare against Hexproof creatures.
Also against Hexproof/Aura decks, Fiery Cannonade can wipe the board in a go-wide situation the Flare could not resolve.
Tools
Other tools this deck may use are, of course, the Pulse of Murasa engine to recover some of the lost bodies, the Monarch ones or the CA ones (Llanowar Visionary or Penumbra Spider).
A tool that never gets old is Rancor. It can turn a simple 2/X into a 4/X Trample. Or turn a Nacatl into a 5/3 Trample.
And last but not least, if the plan is more Midrange than Aggro, Into the North. Not only it fixes mana and improves Nacatls but it also ramps. And playing it Turn#2 allows a Turn#3 4-Drop in the right scenario, meaning you can (re)gain Monarch in Turn#3 and go further.
The Jund Port
I’ve talked about Jund a lot in this blog. It’s my favorite Shard and offers lines just as I like to play.
It’s also my pet project.
I’ve been trying to push more and more the Jund archetype into some serious metagame contender.
Threats
The 2009 Jund deck used 4x Putrid Leech. There’s nothing wrong with that in Pauper.
It may also use some threats from the Naya version as well, like Scab-Clan Mauler or Llanowar Visionary. And it may also use the CA engine from the Penumbra Spider.
Adding to this is Bone Picker. May be a cheap threat along some of the cheap removal in the deck. Or after some trades are made during combat.
Thorn of the Black Rose is the Monarch go-to card along with the Commodore as well.
If the curve gets a bit slower we can think in a threat that sticks in the field, like Rubbleback Rhino, a 3/4 Hexproof creature that can benefit from a later Rancor or just swing as it is if the board is clean.
And Gurmag Angler is still a card. Even more of a card when you play it in a deck filled with tools like ramp spells that go to the bin after being used.
Removal
This is where this deck shines.
It gives the same benefits to Skred but it can also boost Defile as I wrote before.
It can also use Cast Down. And Edicts to deal with Hexproof stuff.
Don’t forget Terminate that can catch GotG.
Fiery Cannonade may also be an option as other well known B spells that deal with go-wide strategies.
Against Artifacts, R and G have some answers and some may even be mainboarded, like Abrade.
Against Auras, only post-SB and using G cards for the effect.
Tools
It shares the same tools with its Naya cousin, with the exception of Blightning that is also used as a full-set in the 2009 version. I honestly don’t see it being a full-set in Pauper but a 2x/3x could work.
Black also offers some graveyard recurrence and spot-discard that can be used and abused in SB against Burn and Control decks. Cards like Duress or Wrench Mind are more than welcome.
If the deck tends to be a bit slower maybe consider more ramp spells and turn it into a Farseek Jund shell, pointing into CMC:4 or even higher CMC, using cheap removal and one or two cheap threats and having the rest as big beaters and CA enablers.
Bonus Round, the Cascade!
This is just food for thoughts… but… the Jund and even the Naya versions may port the current Cascade build.
I think Jund is more suited for it since it can run more spot-removal. Also, having access to discard spells can slow things on the opposite side of the table until your Cascading threats hit the table.
Adding more of an original Farseek Jund feel to the deck, that ramped into a BBE but instead of doing it, it holds one or more turns, controlling the field and then dropping our new favorite Cascade Dinosaur/Pirate.
The new Snow Duals will surely change the aspect of Pauper.
Pauper was and still is known as a mono-colored environment with one powerful multi-colored deck, Tron. And some dual-colored-splashed decks here and there.
With the inclusion of the Blue Monarchs, things became a bit shaken and still are.
I think this inclusion is something that we really needed for so long.
The Thriving Lands were a great inclusion to the format but these ones… these ones are really Dual Lands in their purpose. And they can really be played and make an impact in this format.
Because they’re not just Duals, they’re Snow Duals as well. Even without that many cards that would benefit from Snow permanents, Skred is a really powerful card in the format and it will be even more powerful. Or more widely played.
Also, these new Lands allow Mono-decks to splash colors for stuff. A Corrupt Control or a Mono B Control deck will not lose anything if it includes a couple of these Lands to gain access to something splashable.
The only negative aspect I see with these Lands is the abundance of Good Stuff decks that might appear in the meta. And if 4c or 5c became predominant.
I honestly think not because tempo is still one of the main aspects in this game and specially in this format but… time will tell. Playing tapped Dual Lands is not something everyone wants but it the rewards of doing it covers the risks… why not?!
That’s it!
Have a Snowy New Year!
Common Cause 
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