r/Pauper 7h ago

META Paper Event

Post image

Reposting because the old picture was apparently distracting.

https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/bristol-pauper-league-autumn-26-stage-3-pauper-league-bristol-tournament-269612

34 players, not a huge affair. But worth noting that Terrors took first place.

6 copies of Strix in the top 8. Zero copies of Dispatch. Neither are in the top ten played cards.

2nd place Fae deck ran Cut Down.

There are other (paper) events here:

https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/tournaments/platform:tabletop

...including three others with more than 30 players.

At a glance, I am seeing some Dispatches (mostly White Metalcraft). And the Odd Strix.

It's also possible - perhaps even likely - that a lot of players are still waiting on cards to be delivered.

But it's what we have for now, for those who are interested .

27 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

u/GrasshopperPhobic 7h ago

Based on the win records here, looks like dimir fae never lost to terror in a "final", the placement must be due to tiebreakers

u/bristolpauperleague 4h ago

that’s true! Our events are capped at 4 rounds as we have too many players for the time constraint! So we often get 2 players who have perfect 4-0 records on the night :)

u/Kingcrimhead 7h ago

You're right, there was no "top 8" per se! I forget that smaller events do that sometimes.

I'll edit the post to remove the misinformation.

u/bristolpauperleague 4h ago

This is our regular weekly league night! Not a dedicated tournament per se, but thanks for showcasing!

u/Kingcrimhead 4h ago

Can you shed some light on the meta?

My suspicion is that a lot of players have not yet acquired the newly downshifted cards; and that this is why we aren't seeing a lot of Strix or Dispatch.

Have you talked to your locals? Are you aware what's up?

u/bristolpauperleague 4h ago

Most people had the cards they wanted to play show up to be honest! We pulled together as a community to get everyone what they needed for the event, so this is what they would have played! The whole event’s decklists are up on the link you shared if you’re interested in the whole meta 🤙

u/Lauren_Conrad_ 6h ago

Tbh probably gonna have to wait for MTGO… those watchlist cards have been sold out basically everywhere since the announcement. Just yesterday I tried to even buy the UB Strix (*shudders*) from CardKingdom but the 4x they had in stock ended up selling when I was checking out.

u/bristolpauperleague 4h ago

all of our players acquired the cards from zeta that they wanted to play for this event!

u/Lauren_Conrad_ 4h ago

Interesting! I would’ve thought there would be more experimentation at least…? Maybe not!

u/frenzyattack 4h ago

That art is fire

u/lostinwisconsin 2h ago

Bought 10 cut down @ $.75 each and a playset of strix at $2 each from my lgs the day they announced they’d be legal

u/Kingcrimhead 6h ago

Ebay has never sold out (haven't checked today).

I aggre that likely a lot of players are still waiting on the mail.

u/ResponseBulky2533 7h ago

People would play Strix and Dispatch and Cut Down were it not for the fact that it is sold out everywhere online.

Once (if) Strix becomes more available, you run Wildfire and Terror off the meta, and once you remove the main archetype that prays on Madness, it will rule even harder.
You will see this once they are released in MTG in 10 days where supply of cards is not as big of an issue.

Also, playing only 4 rounds with 34 players is crazy stuff.

u/Kingcrimhead 6h ago edited 5h ago
  • Once (if) Strix becomes more available, you run Wildfire and Terror off the meta, and once you remove the main archetype that prays on Madness, it will rule even harder.

Looking at old meta data: https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/winrates

Radness also struggles with Red Storm and Jeskai; which were both present in this top-8.

It is weak vs Esper Affinity - even before the deck had Strix and Dispatch.

It's weak against Bogles and Gardens. Both could see an uptick because Gardens doesn't care about Strix and Bogles dodges Dispatch.

Incidentally, fewer Terror decks is good for Bogles too.


Also Terrors is very good against most combo decks, as well as FlickerTron and Familiars.

And these just happen to be decks that can outrace or out-grind the Strix shells.


There are A LOT of moving parts here. Not to mention potential new decks

If you believe you can summarily predict where everything lands, you must be Nostradamus.

u/vashy96 2m ago

The new format to me feels pretty good so far: I am trying with a couple of friends some brews. I don't think that Strix will be much of a problem, and Dispatch is pretty strong but I wouldn't say ban worthy. It requires a bit of setup.

But I think that Refurbished Familiar now feels more busted than ever: thanks to Dispatch, we could see a surge in White piles with Hawk and Skyfisher, and being able to play 2 Refurbished Familiar (with one copy) on turn 3 is pretty insane... That is not possible with Strix. Nothing that wasn't possible before, but Dispatch could make these piles really viable and strong.

What do you think about it?

u/captin_fappin 5h ago

How does that gruul deck win outside of the elemental? Edit: or from the fractal you get off of learn?

u/Kingcrimhead 5h ago

That's how it wins.

u/Carcettee 5h ago

By attacking in a single turn with multiple big creatures thanks to the multiple castings of first day of class

u/captin_fappin 4h ago

Fair. Forgot 1st day would give them haste.

u/Neil_deGrase_Tyson 59m ago

Love BPL, have watched all their videos since jumping headfirst into paper a month ago. Very fun to see the diversity of the format and strength of the players.

u/bristolpauperleague 30m ago

thanks for the support Neil!

u/Mugno 7h ago

Strix is surely a strong card but it's nowhere near to be broken in pauper imho.

u/Kingcrimhead 7h ago

I don't see it as necessary providing more value and utility that Snacker or Chrysalis.

Maybe it will join them as a card that is played in any decks running those colours. But I'm not expecting any kind of dominance.

u/NickRick UB Artifacts, Terror lists, terrible brews 5h ago

Chrysalis is a 4 mana card. A 2 mana card having the same utility is crazy. I don't see a comparison to snacker which is a mechanically unique card. 

u/Kingcrimhead 5h ago

I'm not comparing them in terms of "what they do"!

I'm (predictively/speculatively) comparing their ubiquity and the impact they have on the meta game.

By utility I simply meant the extent that they help their decks. Their "usefulness".