Friday, September 4. It was a calm morning like any other—and then a bomb was dropped on the Pauper community. Out of nowhere, we got a surprise reveal of cards coming to the format from “MH4”, also known as the Zeta Set.
Link here if you missed it:
Here are the 12 downshifts coming to Pauper:
- Dispatch
- Return to Dust
- Serra Angel
- Narcomoeba
- An Offer You Can’t Refuse
- Cut Down
- Sengir Vampire
- Price of Progress
- Vandalblast
- Gigantosaurus
- Baleful Strix
- Soul-Guide Lantern
At first, I saw how much power these cards were bringing to the format and thought, “Oh dear, this is a bomb.” But after dissecting the set, I feel like it’s a good bomb—a bath bomb, if you will.
Let’s start with the two pre-bans: Narcomoeba and Price of Progress. To me, these two are obvious outliers, even within this group, and I think banning them preemptively was the right move. I look at Legacy Balustrade Spy decks using Narcomoeba, and I don’t see the Pauper version needing that additional power. Price of Progress being able to deal six or more damage just feels like too much on rate alone to be okay.
Let’s look at Serra Angel and Sengir Vampire. These feel like complimentary coleslaw at a barbecue restaurant. Some people love it, but nobody’s favorite is coleslaw. That said, I would love to be proven wrong and see these old-school all-stars make waves.
Here is my TL;DR for this drop: Does a new card add something your deck was missing?
One-mana exile removal that can’t be removed by Disenchant effects like Journey to Nowhere can, doesn’t gain the opponent life, and—importantly—can remove blockers before combat. Many existing removal effects require creatures to be attacking or blocking first.
Metalcraft is relatively easy to achieve in Pauper because of the abundance of artifact lands and spells. Dispatch is also an instant, so Archaeomancer and Ephemerate loops can get it back repeatedly.
What existing decks might this help?
Boros, Metalcraft White Weenie, Jeskai Ephemerate, BW Blade, Tron, and Jeskai Affinity featuring Giant’s Boulder.
Most recently, there has been a Four-Color Boulder Pile deck by “TheJunkDog” that looks like the new way of doing business. Is Giant’s Boulder the new Arcum’s Astrolabe.
Pauper League – 09-02-2026, 5-0
Pauper Challenge 32 – 09-07-2026, 1st Place, 8-1
One mana, no life loss, and it plays well with non-Swamp mana bases. Cut Down can kill Kessig Flamebreather, Walls, Augur of Bolas, Kor Skyfisher, Outlaw Medic, Balustrade Spy, and more.
I think I’m coming around to liking this card more, but as we stand on the edge of battle, I’m still a skeptic. If your deck needs early pressure relief and you don’t have a Swamp-heavy mana base, this will help in certain matchups. Its inability to hit Chrysalis, Utrom, and Leonardo most of the time makes it a tougher sell overall.
What existing decks might this help?
UB Faeries, possibly Affinity, Jund, BW Blade sideboards, and Gardens.
This is one I’m high on, as I’m sure many others are. It’s a Commander all-star and Pauper’s very own Shatterstorm—except it can also be used as a one-for-one removal spell in the early to midgame.
For five mana, its overload cost destroys all artifacts you don’t control, potentially wiping out opposing artifact creatures, artifact lands, and trinkets. Five mana is a lot to pay, however, and Bridges won’t be destroyed because they’re indestructible. That includes Bridges animated by Kenku Artificer.
Still, this is a great spell to ramp into.
It’s also a red sorcery, so Hydroblast and Envelop can tag it after sideboarding.
What existing decks might this help?
Jeskai Ephemerate, Tron, Gruul, Madness, Jund Wildfire, Grixis Affinity, Ruby Storm, Boros, Snacker Gates, and maybe Rally.
This is another card I’m high on, although I don’t think everyone shares that opinion.
Previously, we had Relic of Progenitus, Nihil Spellbomb, Tormod’s Crypt, Thraben Charm, and Crop Rotation into Bojuka Bog for instant-speed graveyard interaction. The missing piece was that if you weren’t playing black and cared about preserving your own graveyard, you were left with graveyard hate that cost you an entire card—or you had to rely solely on countermagic.
For example, Terror can now play its own graveyard hate without going down a full card to do it. Another significant feature is that Soul-Guide Lantern can wipe out an opponent’s graveyard without requiring any additional mana. It can’t both clear the graveyard and draw a card for one mana like Nihil Spellbomb can, but it is a brand-new tool for the right deck.
Soul-Guide Lantern exiles one target card when it enters and then leaves a second action available for no additional mana, which can force an opponent to act. The Lantern occupies a special spot between Relic and Spellbomb that I think adds an interesting new play pattern to the format—especially decks that previously lacked ideal graveyard interaction.
What existing decks might this help?
Terror, Rally, Madness, Snacker Gates, Jeskai Ephemerate, and Faeries. Maybe many more—this one is harder to put my finger on.
Return to Dust isn’t as efficient as Dust to Dust at dealing with Bridges, but it also hits enchantments, is an instant, and can be cast with only one legal target.
I’m not going to go nuts over this one, but it can make plays like exiling a Makeshift Munitions or Journey to Nowhere during the late game while also hitting an artifact. It could be a more flexible sideboard slot that provides some Bogles coverage, and it can exile cards like Nyxborn Hydra and Bonder’s Ornament.
I can easily see this becoming a solid sideboard card that covers a lot of ground, like Ken Griffey Jr. or Curtis Granderson.
AN OFFER YOU CAN’T REFUSE
It can counter your own spell, such as Weather the Storm, as part of a combo. It can also function as a one-mana Negate or a one-mana hard counter in the right situation.
It’s Pauper’s Swan Song, so decks that don’t care about the downside will have a new tool.
It’s big, it’s green, and it roars.
This sharp-toothed monster requires five green pips, which is tough, but maybe Elves or Gruul can pull it off. Just play a turn-three 10/10 and say, “What are you going to do about it?”
I can’t think of a more Pauper card than this. It’s an artifact. It has an enters-the-battlefield effect. It replaces itself, so the opportunity cost is low. This is one card I will honestly be surprised to see stick around long-term, so smoke ’em while you’ve got ’em.
Despite appearing obnoxious at first glance, this card feels surprisingly difficult to place into current decks. It plays well with Ninjas, blocks Terror dead, flies up to stop Affinity’s aerial assault, and trades with Tron’s big creatures. It does everything, right?
It isn’t especially impressive in a purely aggressive sense. Refurbished Familiar would also compete with it for the leadoff position on turn two. I think one major question is whether it goes into standard Grixis Affinity. Maybe a better question is: What will Affinity decks look like with or without Strix?
Grixis? Blue-Black Ninja builds? Esper? Four-color? Do we see a complete disregard for human life and end up with five-color Boulder piles?
Baleful Strix looks too good not to make a big splash. It feels like new decks will emerge that can take advantage of every aspect of the card. I think even UB hard control could enter the format with it. The card also pairs well with Ninjas, Glint Hawk, and Krark-Clan Shaman.
What existing decks might this help?
UB Terror, UB Affinity, UB Fae, Four-Color Boulder/Affinity piles, and more.
PAUPER CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREPARATION
With all that said, we have a Pauper tournament coming up and some questions to answer ahead of it.
What deck should we play? How should we build our main decks and sideboards to account for these powerful new cards? Which new cards belong in our decks—and perhaps more importantly, what comes out to make room for them?
Zeta is bringing a lot of efficient answers into Pauper, and I think it’s important to point out both sides of that. Midrange and control benefit from these cards, but conversely, the right aggro decks suddenly have excellent blocker removal in Cut Down and Dispatch.
Personally, I’m looking at cards like Kenku Artificer because of how well they play into Strix and Vandalblast, as well as the expected uptick in Affinity. End the Festivities and Cast into the Fire hit both Refurbished Familiar and Baleful Strix, so I might play more of those in Rally.
Spellstutter Sprite counters Dispatch, Cut Down, Vandalblast, An Offer You Can’t Refuse, Glint Hawk, Expedition Map, Giant’s Boulder, and more. A deck like Jeskai Ephemerate could adapt by playing Dispatch, ramping into Vandalblast, and using Kenku Artificer to help finish games more quickly.
The decks I’m thinking about are BW Blade, Metalcraft White Weenie, Mono-Red, Jeskai Ephemerate, and Four-Color Boulder Pile.
Aside from the Zeta cards stealing the spotlight, Tron lands, Giant’s Boulder, and Bramble Wurm decks are on fire right now—and they still seem to be ascending.
Another thing that’s ascending right now is Pauper. If you’re still on the fence, jump in. The water is fine.
FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW BUSTED HOTNESS
At this week’s Pauper Wednesday at RIW, Nick Sobczak took down the 4-0 with Esper Affinity. Nick has been putting in work developing Affinity technologies for months now, and this format is primed for some new technology.
With zeta not going live on MTGO until the week of September 23, it’s exciting to see the paper format take shape ahead of the upcoming championship series event. Many people this week were feeling out the new cards, and many were on Baleful Strix decks.
