This weekend is RIW’s fifth 1K qualifier for the end of year 5K Invitational. Today I’m going to share metagame updates as well as the list I would play. I’ll be in the booth with Brian DeMars so I still plan to be up to date on the format.
If you can’t make it on Saturday, all of the action can be found on twitch.tv/riwhobbies. The replays of the tournament have had great traffic as this is one of the largest independent Pauper circuits in the United States. I’m expecting about sixty players.
We’re now in the back half of the qualifier season for the 5K invitational; there are enough points awarded to top finishers to have plenty of seats still up for grabs.
JUNE 29 BANNED AND RESTRICTED ANNOUNCEMENT
Excellent ban. Basking Broodscale and Sadistic Glee proved to be too format-warping in recent memory so I applaud WOTC for taking swift action on the Seeker of Skybreak and Hawkeye’s Bow combo. It was immediately winning MTGO challenges with versions that likely had even more room to be tuned in the future.
Hawkeye’s Bow can still act as a two card combo with Tidewater Minion, but a five mana creature is slow enough to be safe in the format.
Paupergeddon: Summer Edition 2026 also takes place this weekend. I’m happy the results aren’t going to feature the Seeker of Skybreak and Hawkeye’s Bow combo so we can use the results for a longer period of time. Most decks are worth about a hundred bucks so I appreciate that WOTC is willing to snuff out archetypes that will likely be too powerful or warping without waiting for months.
The Paupergeddon website is well equipped for in-depth analysis so I’m once again looking forward to pouring over the breakdowns.
Sneaky Snacker is on the ban radar for WOTC and we may see that removed from the format in the coming months. If Snacker gets the banhammer in the future I would expect less Red Madness and more Rally Red.
Here’s a recent seven day snapshot of the Pauper metagame from MTGGoldfish:
While Mono Red Madness remains at the top of the food chain I do expect some shakeups in the lesser played decks thanks to the Seeker/Bow combo entering and leaving the format.
Jund and Grixis Affinity are putting up results making it an awkward time to be soft to Krark-Clan Shaman. Time will tell if this continues in the post Seeker/Bow metagame as Krark was quite the insulation against dying to a 2/1.
White decks, Jeskai Ephemerate and Familiars, only make up 10% of the top metagame meaning there aren’t as many Dust to Dusts in sideboards; bridges are relatively safe for now.
Dimir Faeries making up a decent chunk of the metagame is surprising. This is the type of deck favored by stronger players, such as Barff, so I wouldn’t pick it up cold.
Photo credit: Mtggoldfish.com
Traditional Blue Faerie decks suffer against midrange strategies, but splashing black allows for Thorn of the Black Rose and Snuff Out. Agony Warp also helps against Guardian of the Guildpact out of Naya Gates. Campfire as a colorless life gain spell is interesting and we may see more of this in the future where Weather the Storm isn’t an option.
Red Rally has been doing well on the RIW 1K Pauper circuit in the hands of Chad Kay and is broadly eating some metagame share from Red Madness. This can open up some room for Elves to compete while being less likely to face the worst matchup.
I’m more bearish on Blue Terror as it preyed on Red Madness at the expense of having a bad matchup against Elves. I don’t mind the Dimir Terror strategy at the moment because Unexpected Fangs helps against Red Rally and Snuff Out to kill green creatures.
There are many Magic Online results taken into account for the MTGGoldfish metagame breakdown and I expect RIW’s Pauper 1K to be more varied. Paper Magic is less efficient than Magic Online because the players are less sensitive to weekly metagame shifts and want to play what’s familiar.
The archetype experts are also the most dialed into the format so even tier 2 decks have a shot to crack the top 8 with enough practice.
WHAT WOULD I PLAY? JUND WILDFIRE
An uptick in Rally Red to combat Mono Red Madness bodes well for Jund Wildfire. We also saw a whopping four copies of Dimir Terror, for an 80% top 8 conversion, in RIW’s fourth Pauper 1K and I like the matchup against 5/5s.
It has been a few months since Walker735 made his version of Jund the default so I’m now seeing more variation in the sideboards performing well on Magic Online. There were a few months where every Jund Wildfire list was Walker’s deck card for card. Josh Bouse also took down RIW’s third Pauper 1K with that very deck:
Photo credit: mtgdecks.net
I made a brief switch to Ancient Grudge for sideboard artifact hate due to the Seeker/Bow combo, but am now back to Heritage Reclamation.
Heritage Reclamation is also a solid singleton against Elves to kill Nyxborn Hydra or exile a Generous Ent in the graveyard to prevent Masked Vandal from exiling an artifact land.
Jeskai Wildfire and Dimir Faeries are pushing blue decks toward the top making Pyroblast more appealing. It’s also reasonable to play another Heritage Reclamation/Troublemaker Ouphe over the third Pyroblast. Toxin Analysis helps against Bogles and White Heroic so I felt safer cutting to one piece of enchantment removal.
Here’s the list I would play:
Photo credit: Mtggoldfish.com
I still favor the 21st land to keep more hands. The deck rarely floods out with so much card draw. Colors can be an issue in Jund so a higher overall amount of mana sources help.
Pauper remains in a healthy state with the Seeker of Skybreak ban. This weekend is one of the biggest times in Pauper with both Paupergeddon and RIW’s fifth 1K of the year. I’m excited to be part of the team to tell the story as it unfolds.
What do you think is going to win RIW’s 1K and Paupergeddon this weekend? Let me know in the comments.
