Time to talk pauper cube and all the commons from Streets of New Capenna that we now have access to!
In this post I will be writing about all the cards people may be considering for a pauper cube environment. While I'll be drawing a lot of context from my own Pauper Twobert, I'll be less focused on whether these cards make it into my own cube and more on whether I think they're worth testing in most environments. Let's get started!
Boon of Safety
The Good: Protection spells see a lot more play in pauper cubes than in unrestricted ones. Gods Willing is my 1-mana protection spell of choice and this isn't too far off. Unlike other protection spells, you can fire off Boon of Safety proactively to use your mana efficiently and still get the full effect of the card. If you have a counters theme going, a cheap shield counter can be quite powerful with mechanics such as proliferate.
The Bad: Unfortunately you lose a lot of utility going from protection to a shield counter. There are a number of popular bounce and -X/-X effects in pauper cubes that don't care about shield counters. Out of the 7 black kill spells I run in my pauper twobert, shield counters only actually save your creature from 2 of them.
The Verdict: While not among the best protection spells in general, your particular environment will determine just how effective shield counters are and Boon of Safety is certainly worth considering.
Inspiring Overseer
The Good: This was a slam dunk for unrestricted cubes and it is only more so here. The rate on this card is just amazing at common, a 2/1 with evasion that immediately replaces itself for 3-mana is a base case that will see this card slot into any deck with white. Add in some blink effects or a Bonesplitter and you've got yourself a winning strategy.
The Bad: Nothing to say here, this is the best 3-drop in white for pauper cube in my book.
The Verdict: An absolute slam dunk that should play well in just about any environment.
Raffine's Informant
The Good: Speaking of good rate, a 2-mana 2/1 that loots isn't half bad either and was previously reserved for an uncommon slot in Professor of Symbology. While nothing exciting or flashy, Raffine's Informant is simply a cheap creature that's on or above rate and gives you some card selection.
The Bad: Not much to criticize here, it won't be the best 2-drop, but not every 2-drop has to be.
The Verdict: This card is definitely playable and I imagine it would only not make the cut in smaller cubes that just don't have the slots to run everything.
Echo Inspector
The Good: Like the previous card, Echo Inspector is generally an on-rate creature that provides some card selection. 4-mana 3/4 flier is generally going to be pretty good and if this comes out as a 2/3, that's just the price you pay to get rid of a useless land in hand.
The Bad: Unlike our previous card, this doesn't come super cheap and there are quite a lot of better options available for this slot. At this point all my blue 4-drops are straight 2-for-1s and the looting here just isn't as good.
The Verdict: I think this could be an option if you have a counters theme or just quite a large cube, but in general I think this is below most blue 4-drops in playability.
Expendable Lackey
The Good: So this is a very cheap creature that "draws" you a card when it dies, there's really not many 1-drop creatures that do that.
The Bad: The card it draws isn't very impactful. Take a card like Mother Bear where a 2-mana 2/2 is useful enough and the card it "draws" you when it dies is below rate but certainly far from embarrassing and even very welcome most of the time. Compared to that, a vanilla 1-mana 1/1 and a 2-mana 1/1 unblockable leaves a lot to be desired.
The Verdict: I think this is going to be a pass for most pauper cubes, although if supported properly I could see this being pretty good in a tempo-oriented archetype.
Make Disappear
The Good: As I mentioned in my last blog post, Quench+Upside is generally good enough. This will be Counterspell a good amount of time and when it's not, you have the option of spending some additional resources to make it do what you want.
The Bad: In the same vein as 1-mana burn spells, 2-mana counters are in this weird subsection of cards where the standard is actually the same in pauper as in unrestricted. While this card is certainly at a power level more than good enough for a pauper environment, we just also have all the best options better than this.
The Verdict: If you're looking for your 8th best 2-mana counterspell at common, I think this is it. For reference I'd run Arcane Denial, Condescend, Counterspell, Daze, Lose Focus, Mana Leak, and Miscalculation before it.
Witness Protection
The Good: Very cheap unrestricted removal. If you're running Bind the Monster, this is certainly worth considering either over or alongside it. I kind of view this as a 1-mana Oblivion Ring, however the cost you pay for it being 2 mana cheaper is leaving behind a 1/1 for your opponent to make use of.
The Bad: Like oblivion ring, you play this for the unrestricted removal and the downside is giving your opponent an out to get their threat back and that can sometimes be devastating.
The Verdict: I think this is going to be very good in pauper cubes. Unrestricted removal this cheap isn't something we have an abundance of. At my personal cube size of 240, I don't really dedicate many slots to enchantment removal and I think that's going to make this a slam dunk in my cube, Oblivion Ring certainly does well enough.
Girder Goons
The Good: Gravedigger has been rate I've been happy with for pauper cubes for quite some time and that makes Girder Goons' blitz cost very appealing. That's the case where your opponent has a 5/5 that can wall a 4/4 attacker though, if they don't have that then you get the extra bonus of dealing a fifth of their health in damage or killing a creature of their choice making this card a 3-for-1.
The Bad: Unlike Gravedigger you lose out on the blink synergies and rebuying a threat from your graveyard is generally going to be better than a random card off the top of your deck.
The Verdict: I think this is definitely worth testing in most pauper cubes and I'm excited to see how it plays.
Maestros Initiate
The Good: I'd put this in the same category as Mother Bear. Although I think I'd rather have a 2-mana 2/2 than a 3-mana 3/1, the body is serviceable and the graveyard ability is pretty good since you're able to activate it at instant speed.
The Bad: There's not much wrong here, of course the body and activated ability are fairly under rate but that's just the price you pay for guaranteed card advantage on a creature.
The Verdict: Pretty boring but certainly worth testing in most environments. It's worth mentioning here that I do these reviews in set number order and that usually equates to each color and color pairing getting its own section, however this card is very much a UB or BR card that you'd never play in a black deck without either red or blue.
Goldhound
The Good: Red 1-drops at common really aren't that impressive and this one is a welcome sight. First Strike and Menace make this really hard to block if you get any sort of equipment on it and being able to ramp you later in the game is a great use case.
The Bad: It's hard to ask for 2 power on 1-drops at common but it always feels bad how much worse 1 power is. I think they could have given this haste and it wouldn't have been too good, and I say that completely selfishly for pauper cubes with no regards to SNC limited.
The Verdict: I like this one and think it's one of the better 1-drops in red. I'd definitely at least test this one out.
Mayhem Patrol
The Good: A bear with menace is a fine thing to curve into on turn 2, slap on an ability to cycle it later in the game when it's outclassed and we got ourselves a winner. This even has some cute ways to eek out a little more value like pumping a flying creature when you blitz it in.
The Bad: Unlike a lot of 2-drops in red, you generally get no value if this thing eats a burn spell after you cast it.
The Verdict: I think this card is worth testing and while not as synergistic or aggressive as some other options, I can definitely see this card performing well in some cubes.
Jewel Thief
The Good: This card is extremely pushed and is absolutely a slam dunk for any pauper cube.
The Bad: I'd be hard pressed to think of something more I'd want Jewel Thief to do.
The Verdict: This card is simple, has clean play patterns, and is absolutely bonkers. I'd run it in any pauper cube.
Body Dropper
The Good: Hey a multicolored card! Each color pairing has about 40 commons at this point in time and not all of them are worth considering so I'll take any options I can find. Body Dropper is a perfect 2-drop for the aggressive RB aristocrats deck and it very neatly signposts its existence.
The Bad: I really don't think there's much to say here other than it's not good enough outside the aristocrats deck.
The Verdict: An awesome option to have for a fun and popular archetype.
Pauper Horizon Lands
The Good: These rock and I was not expecting to get something like them so soon after the campuses of Strixhaven. Like the campuses, these offer a great lategame mana sink to hopefully turn a little bit of flood into some more gas.
The Bad: Only sad thing here is that it's another unfinished cycle, but the fact that it's an unfinished ally cycle makes them pair perfectly with the unfinished enemy cycle of campuses.
The Verdict: Absolute slam dunks. Wizards has obviously been trying to step up their game when it comes to the utility of lands at common and I'm excited to see what we get in the future.
Pauper Shard Fetches
The Good: I'm blown away that pauper has gotten 2 great fixing land cycles in one set. While gainlands have been getting pushed out of my cube for better options, I still think that 1 life is generally underestimated. Delve is one of the more powerful mechanics pauper gets access to and that has always given Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse some really relevant upside.
The Bad: Again, only bad thing I have to say about this cycle is that it's unfinished and we really don't have any Wedge options to balance it out with.
The Verdict: These cards are great, I only see them not making it if you're concerned about 4+ color piles or if you just don't want uneven fixing across colors.
Overall I'm a lot happier with set so pauper cubes than I was for unrestricted. While not boasting a large number of considerations, the quality is certainly there. We got 2 mythic commons in Inspiring Overseer and Jewel Thief, a good archetype specific multicolor card in Body Dropper, and 2 amazing land cycles. Thanks for reading and happy cubing!
