Can we have any big Paper events for pauper in the future? Still wish to see some variety than just commander every Friday 😅

Occasionally Smogon (they organize the Pokemon singles metagame) will run a "suspect test", where they set up a separate public ladder where a single (or small selection of pokemon) is banned/unbanned for like a week to assess metagame impact. Any chance we might see something like that in future for situations like high tide?

Firstly, thank you for keeping the dialogue for the beloved format in such an open space, it's great to hear your thoughts. Secondly, in case you did not know in the UK this last Sunday there was the Norther Pauper Open where 51 players battled it out, I think that was the largest event outside a GP in England (Walls combo took it down). Shout out to Geek Retreat Leeds for putting it on, there was a player from Germany who came over, I came up from Kent, there were players from Cambridge, Sheffield, Newcastle, Darlington, all over. Nothing more to say, just to know there are people all over who still are keen to play big events like this.

These videos communicat so well! I really wish Wizards could make these for all formats!

Even just a video announcing "nothing" is super interesting, thanks! This kind of communication is risky in case it makes people mad coz they expect things, so thanks a lot for doing it.

I appreciate you touching upon albeit briefly the paper pauper scene. As someone who exclusively plays paper, it’s nice to feel seen. The meta in paper can be different and in my opinion more diverse, and I hope to see that be taken in to consideration when making these decisions.

All well explained! Thank you, the only thing I don't understand is why in 2023 we can't have pain lands or at least tri-lands tapped. I think the format is extremely ready for this. Keep up the good work! Greetings from Italy

I really appreciate you communicating the thought process of the committee, even though there aren’t any changes.

A good way to push the format for paper is make a pauper masters set that's draftable, everything will be pauper legal but you can put the expensive cards in the rare slot, and also getting much needed reprints of expensive commons at the same time

You know it's a good day when Gavin spotlights some Pauper *rubs hands*

Thank you for making these, the communication between the pauper comitee and the community was the main reason i picked up the format because i found it amazing, and so far it has been a blast, we slowly have been growing the number of players in our lgs for weekly pauper events and it has quickly become my favorite format

Hello, I am from the Philippines and we are proud to say that we have a very Healthy Pauper Community here in Manila, Philippines and other surrounding areas. Pauper in Paper that is. The META is getting interesting every time we get a new set. Players never run out of ideas on how to add the new usable commons and create bombs and combos out of them. Creativity is endless! We have regular Sunday tournaments that have 18 players (above) attendees. We also hold special events like Pauper Trio Teamfight and Expansion Based events. We have established solid attendance and an extremely competitive envirobnment for more than a year now and we have gathered enough data that may be substantial to your study and analysis. If you need some help from this side of the world, we are willing and able to share what we have. PAUPER is Definitely Alive and kickin'! Kudos!🎉🎉🎉

Thanks, nice to hear directly how wotc is managing my favorite format. Really enjoying the format rn.

Gavin thanks for mentioning events like Paupergeddon. I would also hope you acknowledging results from such big events and discuss more about it. Firstly there are huge turn out of players showing love of the format. The last being more than 600 players. Secondly paper meta is often vastly different from online and poses an interesting contrast.

Question re: Initiative. Would you mind elaborating in why you are keeping white and green ones in the format, they are not that oppresive like the other ones, but they still create rather imbalanced gameplay and snowball pretty hard

Hey ​@GoodMorningMagic I really like this kind of videos because they show transparency in the changes or in this case the lack of them that happen in the format. My only concern with Pauper right now is that a few cards line Avenging Hunter or Boarding Party are just too expensive in MTGO because they weren't introduced properly as other commons that you could open in booster packs. Any plans on how to fix this issue?

I love the exercise of discretion, all well reasoned. I would still like to see high tide but respect the decision.

Would be lovely to see some staples with new and affordable reprints, such as Snuff Out, Utopia Sprawl, Titania Priest, Lotus Petal, etc...

Thanks for the update!

Love the pauper update videos! A pauper game play video would be sweet sometime

Thanks for keeping the attention on pauper as a format! See you in Pisa, at the paupergeddon!

The thing about pauper rn is that there is few space left for brewing, decks don't feel like their own thing, but an attempt to "counter" at least 2 of the 3 most popular decks

I sure hope Hymn will be reconsidered at some point, since it's still my all time favorite Magic card and I really miss playing it in paper Mono Black Control! I don't particularly care about Sinkhole or High Tide, but MBC just hasn't been the same since it lost Hymn.

im glad you are still keeping watch and didn't throw away this committee aside

I'm extremely glad to hear that unbanning High Tide is still on the table, I completely understand not wanting to take the risk right now and I would like to thank you guys for the transparency, it's very much appreciated.

I had a quick question. My local scene had a paper pauper event and I knew fairies would be a prominent deck there so I had a deck containing Earthbind so that I could waste their flyers and help my own get through. The problem is when I cast Earthbind, I was told the card was banned in pauper. I had verified before the tournament that it wasn't but I was still DQed from the tournament. Is it banned or is it possible my local game store didn't like the card for the art or that they are just using cards that are available on MTGO? My local store won't provide a clear answer but I want to know if I was truly in the wrong.

I hope Slivers will get some tools for pauper in Commander Masters.

I could see hymn being unbanned. It is just slow and its mana requirements are pretty restrictive. It also would help the card advantage hungry format that pauper is. I have been seeing a lot of decks like affinity, gardens, and even some midrangy control shells just spiral out of control thanks to the overwhelming card advantage that we have in pauper now. Like don't cut the one mana cantripy stuff, I would focus on cards like deadly dispute or reckoner's bargain. I have been seeing an influx of those two recently. It is very tough though, cause on one hand you need card advantage to keep it healthy, but too much is unhealthy. I have mixed feelings about it.

Nice! Have fun in Pisa!

I really appreciate these updates and want them for other formats too! Any chance that can happen?

I dream of having a copy of you for legacy. Great Content for Magic!

I echo what cjgonzalez954 said. We need to have some pauper supported events in paper magic.

good video with no real changes, but the information on the decision is nice

I do think Pauper needs a reshape. I don't think it is enough variety, variety is when you have 30 decks playing, not 8. Since more strong cards are being released for pauper in the last years, trying to decrease general power level asking for bans has not been an great option. So we need more strong options to face against new strong decks. So unban Gush would be a good thing. I played a lot when we had it and gitaxian probe and daze (and then because of Foil with UB two drops) were the real problem. Cantrips, in general. Also the ban of enablers, cantrips and fixing is quite often better than banning payoffs, because then you don't kill archetypes like these: Izzet Blitz, a very fast deck, UW Inside Out, another combo deck that can pressure pretty well, new blue value decks and strenghtens Ux faeries are decks that starts existing when we have Gush back. Also a storm card unbanned it is needed. Because why throw away and entire archetype in terms of competitive play? Or having only a result every 2 or 3 months if so? Pauper needs more archetypes and there are other options of cards that would only make the storm decks WEAKER but still working, like banning manamorphose or lotus petal. Mostly enablers, cantrips, fixing, etc but never the payoff or an essencial card... (ex: Galvanic Relay) In other words, a storm archetype rework Also, besides unbans, the rework of forgotten archetypes. A good example of a great release in this direction: a green Auramancer. Or a weaker Eternal Witness. Cause this would make Tortured Existence decks way better, if you know the deck then you know what I'm talking about. This is the kind of card that seems like the few people that thinks of pauper don't mind thinking about There are tons of examples of decks waiting to find its spot at the competitive metagame But the release only focus on what is already strong I think these are three things pauper could have, gush unbanned, remake of storm archetype and decent releases for tier 3 decks. Pauper can have more diversity, it is not even close. Just like modern had a few times in its metagame before modern horizons with more than 30 decks playing simultaneously

The thing that bums me out about pauper is that I feel like it used to be less permanent based and more about having powerful spells. But now it feels like it's shifting to become more permanent based.

Hey, as a WotC member, do you think at some point Pauper could be a OP format ? I would love to play GP like in Pauper. At thenmoment Pauper in paper is almost dead in France.

Tangentially related to pauper: what are the chances of a downshift from rare to common for the temple/scry lands? I have a pauper cube that they would be very fun in, but I am committed to keeping it pauper

Why does 'The Ring Tempts you' mechanic have no negatives associated with it? Surely that would be much more flavourful as then it would represent the corruption of the ring and the cost of using it? As it stand the mechanic is interesting, however it misses big on the flavour.

Always find these interesting.

Gavin! I play almost exclusively pauper, and the metagame seems pretty good at the moment, even with affinity being a little too good. The best thing that could possible happen for the format is *PLEASE GIVE US BIG PAUPER EVENTS*. It would be literally amazing for the format.

So glad to see pauper in the discussion, worried about legacy now though…

To what extent does skill-based gameplay affect your ban decisions? i.e. the player with the higher ELO is more likely to win (and less likely to lose due to variance such as flood/screw). I'd argue the current pauper format is much less skill intensive than it used to be, a trend that started with Experimental Synthesizer.

I’ve just built my first ever pauper deck ! It’s B/G food deck 🥘 😁 I really wanted to play Tempting Witch

I'm a huge fan of Unbans. They're rarely used in other formats, and we have many cards that have never even seen the light of day

Gavin is a very good communicator

Why isn't there a pauper like format in Arena?

I'm still looking at deadly dispute for a ban. The logic of there being so many replacements for it is missing that none of them also leave something behind and fix your mana for a turn

Wizards should defenitely put their shoulders behind the european pauper scene and help its scene grow at other places as big as it is in Italy. Still feel as if it's the least supported or promoted format by the company. If i see these paupergeddon events I really see what "could be" with a bit more love and care. Good organisation, coverage, publicity, prizes, etc. Moreso, make the format even more accesible. There are still so many cards that arent easy to get access to due to them only being printed in 1 odd set eg dust to dust, thermokarst, etc. As high prices on some cards like lotus petal or snuff out.

As a paper player I don't know why the format should be so beholden to MTGO players

You should downshift Veil of Summer, knock Black/Blue down a peg while buffing green.

A couple admits 1) Walls won a challenge only once back in November - this results are after swiss but pre top8 2) Most played deck in challenges is Burn - whoever told you this is Faeries is wrong

It’s probably too late for this but can you please reprint Witch’s Clinic in the Eldraine commander decks? The set symbol for Strixhaven commander is an issue for some people with Trypophobia.

I do believe things such as the entire concept of Initiative and Monarch should be watched closely, and likely removed via bannings as well. As I've seen others state, it feels as though Monarch was designed for 4-player play, where the "Monarch" wasn't being "hogged" by a single player such as in the 1-vs-1 matches that Pauper includes. It's a unique scenario as the Initiative and Monarch mechanics don't (or can't) show up in the other, "more powerful" formats to test how it would play out. Personally, if Initiative was going to be mostly banned in Red, Blue, and Black as an effort to remove the problematic mechanic, I believe it should have been removed entirely in one fell swoop. I could have understood possibly leaving the mechanic for White and Green in the idea that the colors could use the performance boost, and that Initiative as mechanic fit closer to their color identities, but when the mechanic was given to every color, I'm not readily able to "buy into" that idea. It seems the initiative mechanic still crops up as an issue in "Green and something (Red/White) Ponza," and I've also seen Selesnya (Green/White) decks that just focus on using what Initiative cards that exist left in combination with the land destruction cards such as Thermokrast and Mwonvuli Acid-Moss. I believe if all of the "protect the queen" mechanics such as Monarch, or the token tracking mechanic of Initiative (which some have compared to have a planeswalker) should be removed, as they provide "stacking benefits" that don't function well with the landscape of Pauper. Speaking of the "landscape" of Pauper, I believe a design philosophy that the "threats in Pauper are always weaker than the answers" or that the "answers in Pauper are always more powerful" is what allows many to describe the great feeling that Pauper has of somehow managing to be both a "durdily and like high-school magic" format, while still being highly competitive, having many new decks, and seemingly having the highest brewed (rogue) deck percentages of any format (showing that brewing into the format is easier than most simply due to the relative landscape?) mtgdecks.net/Pauper. Overall, what I believe people like about Pauper is that you have more "breathing room" as many of the permanents and threats don't "play themselves" and answers are easily found. I would keep an eye focused closely on cards like Monastery Swiftspear, which I recall having periods in time in Modern were players even asked for a ban. If the card was an issue in a much more "powerful" format (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iLuCeMSjtt3Ycp8.html), then it should be under heavy scrutiny to make sure it doesn't warp the environment of Pauper, and this should go for any card that has a similar reputation of being "powerful" in other formats that then gets added to Pauper. Pauper's "power" is simultaneously powerful due to the answers and interactions, but seemingly "weak" and "durdly" when it comes to the threats and permaments, this is something I believe should be preserved using a "fine tooth comb."

I'd like to see switched swift spear, bridges, and sprite all banned. Think pauper would be much better off, or at least raise the power level up since with unbannings to make it more balanced

I would like to ask for Unban of Sinkhole, but someone really hates that card. It is banned twice on the pauper ban list.

Almost a quater decks in the format play monastery swiftspear, the card is too strong in mono red/hot dogs leading to almost everyone playing life gain mainboard, and even that is not enough as they can routinely kill on turn 4 even though interaction. Decks like familiars give pauper a bad name cause they just dumpster aggro decks and the games takes super long

I don't know uf there is a reason for this but i know that pauper isn't a legiable format for store championships, that is dad mostly because where i live cards are expensive and we play a ton of pauper, just a thougt Sorry for the grammar english isn't my main language

mono red mata 3 turno affinit faz 1 batracoide e dois myr turno 2 concordo q tem cartas nessa ban list q e complicado mas tem coisa q nao faz nem mais sentido estar ali

These arguments about hymn and sinkhole are really thought provoking. Having cards that can create unfun non games really suck don't they. (Glances and artifact lands and swiftspear)

Dear Lord we need an approach like this for modern! Sometimes it looks diverse but it’s not… leagues are always the same decks over and over!

solta o prisma, o esvaziar os viveiros a aaracroka desses 3 so o esvaziar os viveiros pode ser considerado de fato um risco solta isso por 3 a 4 meses e ve talvez o drake q e lento com esse meta rapido pode nem surtir efeito

Im really liking br madness

I think PAUPER should be heavily promoted towards new players, it’s fun, simple, and budget friendly. This in turn would help new players learn and eventually grow into other formats.

I don't like Pauper but I love how Gavin handles the format.

That's cool and all, but what's the reasoning behind giving red FOUR MORE RECKLESS IMPULSE?!

We need this for Modern

I would definitely love to know if you're already keeping an eye on the "The Ring Tempts You" mechanic from LotR. As there are some pretty strong looking commons in that set and I have worries about that mechanic warping the format like initiative did.

I’ll add another voice to the crowd of “more paper pauper!”

I tuned out all of the video except the four seconds where Gavin literally said "...tons of metagaming-changing Pauper cards are in Commander Masters..." so that is my only takeaway from the video.

When are we getting a pauper pro tour? It would be so much better than standard. (I really dislike rotating formats)

I don't understand why Adrian Gray Marsden, perhaps better known by his MTGO handle deluxeicoff, isn't on the PFP. HIs work for PureMTGO and his channel, Pauperganda, have inspired more Pauper innovations and have birthed more new Pauper decks than anyone in the game. Pauper wouldn't be anything close to what it is were it not for AGM.

I agree with waiting to ban anything right now and I love these videos and solid communication!!! Great video and agree that overall format of pauper is pretty solid right now. Although I would give anything to have Hymn in the format!

Pauper pro tour when !!??

Why is Energy Refractor legal but Prophetic Prism banned? I don’t get it. Great video btw, I love Pauper and thanks for taking good care of it..

bogles mentioned \o/

2:49 a deck called what

Serra angel and shivan dragon in pauper please

legal mas e sempre isso papo furado sobre desbanir mas nunca assume o risco bota uma de volta e vemos como fica no caso da unban na mais fraquinha e deixa por uns meses pra ver

When did "fun" become a cause for keeping a card banned or unbanned? I'm genuinely curious. It also seems like if something is unfun, and unbanned, it's likely to stay unbanned until it becomes too powerful. Currently if something is unfun, banned and possibly powerful, then that's enough to stay banned.

Reprint snuff out

Hymn and Sinkhole would make black easily tier 0. High tide I think is just to dangerous to unban since it will eventually break something.

Make Pauper an every day thing on Arena!

Looking back on this it's actually mind-boggling to me that you said pauper was healthy. Sure, there's plenty of decks being played on magic online, but most of those end up being bad and getting trounced by the 5-6 playable decks. Not even to mention that one of those decks, Burn, has been far too dominant for years now. And I say that as someone who loves burn.

today the deck that bugs me the most is for sure gruul ponza. leads to a lot of unfun no games with land destruction and the deck is so easy to play and streamlined it looks like you could be playing vs an IA. not to talk about sitting behind initiative.

I'm still playing Boros Metalcraft in the year of our lord 2023. Bonesplitter go brrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Good.

This is nice and all, but what about Legacy? It sounds like WotC is abandoning that format, and I'd like to hear about that.

As someone who only plays Arena but loves watching Pauper content, thank you so much for the update, I wish we got these insights for all formats! The card I'm a bit confused on is Hymn to Tourach, though. I understand it's a strong card, but from watching other people play with it it seems like it creates positive play experiences on both sides of the table? Like, obviously casting Hymn is fun, but being on the other side of Hymn seems fun too! There's the clench as you see it, the " please don't hit the good cards" prayer, and either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, in miniature. It's an exciting card! Basically, there's good variance and bad variance, and this seems like more good variance. Could you elaborate on why you can to this conclusion? Do other people not feel the same way? Thank you so much!

There's a ton of diversity in paper, too. I went to a Pauper $1k this past weekend, winner was UW Inside Out combo, tons of ponza and initiative, and I think only 1 burn deck.

Pauper pro tour??

I think that banning Chain Lightning might be worth it because I’m pretty sure only burn plays it, plus it wouldn’t hurt too much since burn has a lot of things to potentially replace it with.

Less interested in unbans and more interested in downshifting. Mirage slow fetches and Alara trilands are at the top of my list. Even scry lands would be low power in pauper

Please consider making (slightly watered down) versions of the cards you don’t want to unban. How about a slightly different version like a conditional sink hole. Hymn was a main part of my mono black control deck, which isn’t viable after the ban hammer anymore. How about a new version of Chittering Rats, to make up for this? Please get creative with new sets!

Pauper is doing great.

Cmon, print Prized Amalgam (or something weaker) for pauper pls 😊 pauper lacks a graveyard deck

Can we just get more cards on arena so we can play the decks we WANT?

Bring combo back in the format. Ban Spellstutter but unban Gush and Gitaxian Probe.

Paupergeddon in manila would be nice😂😂😂

I'd like to petition to have these updates called "Paup talks."

It's extremely debatable picking those 3 cards from the ban list to discuss. Doesnt make any sense to me even coming from some of the most experienced people with the format.