Another beautiful day at RIW Hobbies in Livonia, Michigan, another Pauper Championship Series tournament in the books. I’m writing this the day after, so forgive me if some details remain fuzzy or missing. I decided to pilot a barely tested version of a favorite deck of mine, “Glintblade/Orzhov/Blades of Glory/BW/I Pick Things Up and I Put Them Down,” aka BW Blade!
In the swiss rounds, I went 5-1-1, losing to a friend playing a spicy Dimir Sewer-veillance Cam combo deck and intentionally drawing the last round to lock in Top 8. Below, I will give some in-depth analysis on card selection and then a brief overview of how the tournament went for me to provide a sort of deck primer and short tournament report all in one. I hope you enjoy it!
“I PICK THINGS UP AND I PUT THEM DOWN” BW BLADE
| Main Deck |
Sideboard |
| Quantity |
Card |
Quantity |
Card |
| 4 |
Glint Hawk |
3 |
Arms of Hadar |
| 3 |
Novice Inspector |
2 |
Ashes to Ashes |
| 2 |
Thraben Inspector |
2 |
Thorn of the Black Rose |
| 4 |
Kor Skyfisher |
2 |
Relic of Progenitus |
| 3 |
Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising |
1 |
Thraben Charm |
| 1 |
Spider-Man, Web-Slinger |
1 |
Standard Bearer |
| 1 |
Mukotai Ambusher |
2 |
Dawnbringer Cleric |
| 4 |
Refurbished Familiar |
2 |
Hallow |
| 3 |
Duress |
|
|
| 2 |
Cast Down |
|
|
| 1 |
Go for the Throat |
|
|
| 1 |
Thraben Charm |
|
|
| 1 |
Suffocating Fumes |
|
|
| 3 |
Grim Bauble |
|
|
| 3 |
Lembas |
|
|
| 3 |
Tithing |
This archetype is by no means new to Pauper. It has been around with various levels of success for years, usually ending up somewhere in the Tier 2 basket. I’ve been playing different forms of the deck since Tithing Blade was printed. There are many different playable cards, and therefore, many different directions you can take it. Since TMNT was released recently, there was one card I was excited to try in the deck: Oroku Saki, Shredder Rising.
Thinking about how Oroku might best fit in this deck, there were a couple of things I wanted to see.I wanted to make sure I had a high enough density of early creatures that were reasonable to return to hand and still gain value. This is how I ended up at 5 Inspectors (Thraben + Novice). The second thing I wanted was some sort of protection. Normal protection spells such as Apostle’s Blessing or Benevolent Bodyguard simply do not fit the archetype’s overall game plan of being a value engine. This is where Duress comes into the picture. Duress can help rip a removal spell from your opponent’s hand and potentially give you more hits with Oroku, playing almost like a mono blue/Dimir Faerie list discarding their removal as opposed to countering it.
The rest of the shell is pretty standard for the archetype; Glint Hawk, Kor Skyfisher, Tithing Blade, Grim Bauble, Lembas, and friends all make for some very value-oriented plays due to the recursive nature. Adding the sneaky Oroku, web-slinging Spider-Man, and Mukotai Ambusher provides even more value creatures, but I decided it was best to keep these to a minimum and, between the three cards, a total of 5 felt right. I didn’t want to end up in situations where you are just bouncing your other bounce creatures every turn and not gaining any real value.
GLINT HAWK / KOR SKYFISHER
These birds are the heart of the deck; they pick things up so you can put them down – and gain value.
This card is busted, so I’d like to play it as many times in a game as I possibly can.
THRABENS (NOVICE + INSPECTOR)
Thrabens serve a few roles in the deck. They are an early attacker for getting down ninjas or an early blocker for the red decks. They also help make Refurbished Familiar cheaper and help ensure you are always doing something with any leftover mana each turn.
OROKU SAKI, SHREDDER RISING
Like Ninja of the Deep Hours, this guy needs to be answered immediately, or the game gets out of control quickly. Unlike Ninja of the Deep Hours, Oroku cannot be Cast Down or Snuffed Out, which is a pretty big upside. The fact that he dies to Lava Dart is a big downside and part of the reason why all 3 copies come out against the red decks.
SPIDER-MAN, WEB-SLINGER / MUKOTAI AMBUSHER
I was somewhat hesitant to play Spider-Man, but having a 3/3 body has proven to be nice. It helps provide a faster clock in a deck that historically does not have a fast clock. Mukotai, being a 3/2 helps in that same vein as well, but is also just a nice way to make the red opponents squirm.
Aside from helping to protect your team, Duress performs many functions in this deck. Currently, there are very few decks that Duress is bad against. Even the creature-based decks play Lead the Stampede and Winding Way, which are exactly the targets you want to hit. Prior to last year’s Pauper Invitational, I play-tested Glintblade for an absurd amount of hours. I ultimately decided that no matter how I configured it, I was not going to beat Golgari Gardens or Spy Combo, two decks that were almost guaranteed to be there. These play testing sessions ultimately made me decide to play a different deck for the event, but they did yield some valuable results; Duress is great in your bad matchups.
CAST DOWN / GO FOR THE THROAT / THRABEN CHARM
The deck prefers to rely on the recurring removal spells of Tithing Blade and Grim Bauble, but sometimes you still want an instant speed kill anything. I was expecting to see a lot of mono-white showing up featuring Leonardo, Big Brother, which is why I thought it best to diversify the removal suite. The other modes of Thraben Charm are also relevant in certain matchups, and I do like having a main deck answer to cards like Journey to Nowhere.
Omen + Skyfisher = Grind town
GRIM BAUBLE / TITHING BLADE
Recurrable removal is fantastic, even if they are conditional. These two cards help keep the value train going while ensuring nobody is blocking Oroku.
Some lists cut Lembas entirely or only play 1 or 2 copies. While I would like to jump on board with that, the problem is control and combo decks that don’t play many creatures. You really need something to be doing on a proactive basis that allows you to deploy your attackers against decks that don’t have creatures. Lembas is one of many options available, but also probably the best option. It lets you dig for whatever you need in the moment, and can help you survive the red decks. I would not go below 3 Lembas.
It’s a delicate balance with the number of artifact lands to play. On one side, you want to maximize them for early Refurbish Familiar deployment, and on the other, you want to minimize your exposure to hateful cards like Dust to Dust. I normally prefer to play less, but with this list lacking Blood Fountain and only playing 5 inspectors, I felt like 9 was the right balance. I also prefer that the artifact lands I am playing come into play untapped so that I can reap the benefits of playing and reduced price Refurb immediately. I think the cost of coming into play tapped is a high cost that feels even worse when your opponent plays Cast into the Fire and sets you back an entire turn.
SCOURED BARRENS / RADIANT FOUNTAIN
Life gain in land form helps in the red matchups, but you can also pick them up and put them down with Kor Skyfisher and Orzhov Basilica.
ORZHOV BASILICA / BOJUKA BOG
Basilica is just another thing to help provide card advantage, as well as allowing you some recursive tools in the mana base. Since most decks have some sort of graveyard synergy, I want to see Bojuka Bog in most games, and sometimes I want to be able to pick it up and put it down multiple times, such as against Tolarian Terror and Sneaky Snacker decks.
Three is probably one too many, but the fear of mono-white being popular and Elves having a potential resurgence made me opt for the third copy. I never brought in more than 2, but also did not play either of those matchups.
My prior play-testing showed that I lose to Jund Wildfire because of Chrysalis. The Jund player has ways to bring them back after they have died to Cast Down, so I wanted something a little more permanent. Ashes to Ashes is also on theme by providing the card advantage. While the drawback of losing 5 is a real cost, in the matchups you want Ashes, it is not a big deal. If red decks weren’t so popular, I would consider playing some number of this card in the main deck.
Thorn is a mid-range game breaker, and a great way to keep up with the card advantage of the control decks.
Graveyard lovers are everywhere; this is the best way to ruin their day.
Charm is a versatile answer that could potentially be a second copy in the main deck.
This was a last minute addition that can be absolutely back breaking against certain decks. It did come in handy in my top 8 matchup vs. Caw-Gates.
DAWNBRINGER CLERIC / HALLOW
These are my main answers to the red decks, while Dawnbringer has some other utility that can be nice. Hallow is a hedge against the red decks playing Searing Blaze. Searing Blaze is really good against this deck, and Hallow turns that card into a nice life boost. It is otherwise great if you’re expecting a lot of burn, but it is probably the most flexible slot in the sideboard.
CARDS NOT SEEN IN THIS LIST
Fanatical Offering / Eviscerator’s Insight / Reckoner’s Bargain
The lesser Deadly Dispute effects are great cards, but in this deck, I have always been of the mindset I do not want to sacrifice my value permanents to draw cards. I like the value of being able to blank an opponent’s removal spell, but I never want to be holding up 2 mana to do so. These types of effects do help dig for specific answers, which is helpful, but I opted to try to durdle less and attack more.
Great card for making Refurb cheaper and late-game grind value. I decided to cut Blood Fountain from the list completely because 4 mana to gain value is not where I wanted to be. I put together the list on the premise that I want everything to be as low-cost as possible, and Oment of the Dead seemed to fill this role better.
The main deck setup doesn’t have too difficult a time with the red decks. I would rather play a more versatile option in Dawnbringer Cleric than a narrow answer in a matchup that isn’t bad to begin with.
Grixis affinity is not very popular in our local meta, so I have limited testing against the deck. In my experience, the matchup is winnable without a very narrowly playable haymaker such as Dust to Dust. Revoke Existence might be a better option as it is a card that is also fine to sideboard in against Jund, but still isn’t helping to shore up a bad matchup.
Let me tell you, I love Okiba-Gang Shinobi. Any black deck that could possibly play this card, I usually fit at least 1 in the 75. I made the disciplined decision to cut this card from the deck entirely. The best matchups for Okiba are control matches. In control matches, however, it is very easy for your opponent to kill a 3/2. I also think that 4 mana is a bit too high for this effect now that we have other viable options in Oroku and Spider-Man.
Round 1: Win v Nick on Golgari Gardens
This matchup is a grindfest. In game 1, I feel pretty unfavored as a lot of the removal I am playing is pretty worthless, and his late-game grind is better than mine. After getting to a board state where my clock isn’t beating his lifegain and his campfire shows me I will deck out first, I scoop it up to save the clock for post-board games. Nick mulligans a couple of times, and Thorn of the Black Rose helps me keep up with his card advantage. Game 3 is super close, and I barely grind out the win in extra turns.
Round 2: Loss v Jon on Dimir Sew-veillance Cam Combo
Game 1, he brings down some fast beats with Steelfin Whale and Thopters off of Etherium Spinner. I was stuck at 3 lands for a while and just barely couldn’t keep up with his board. In Game 2, he gets down a spinner, and I don’t have an answer for it right away, and it spirals out of control very quickly.
Round 3: Win v Dustyn on Spy Combo
Reigning champ Dustyn brought his winning deck for another go at it, and I already know I am in trouble, as this matchup is not favorable. He mulligans twice in game 1 on the play and three times in game 2. The mulligans paired with some discard somehow allow me to win. I knew at any moment he could have just top-decked a Spy and won, but that didn’t happen.
Round 4: Win v Tony on Rally Red
I somehow stabilized and won game 1. Game 2, he had all the fast guys and just went too wide too quickly with multiple Rally at the Hornburgs and Goblin Bushwhackers. In Game 3, he was stuck at 1 land for a few turns, and that gave me the time to get ahead on the board and keep my life total high.
Round 5: Win v Josh on Jund Wildfire
A very grindy 3 games against Josh, resulting in me winning out thanks to his Avenging Hunters. Twice, he played the hunter when I had very little board presence, and I responded by killing his guys, taking his removal with Duress, and playing a flying creature to take the initiative.
Round 6: Win v Jason on Rakdos Madness
Turn 1 Duress in game 1 discarding his draw/discard outlet gives me some time to set up more value plays. Grim Bauble answers some Kitchen Imps, and the value train gets there. In game 2, turn 1, Duress does some work as I present a slow clock and kill all his guys. Spider-Man then comes down to present a real clock. After several turns, I’m at 13 life, looking at his handful of cards, thinking I’m about to lose when he extends the handshake.
Round 7: Intentional Draw v AJ
Top 8: Win v Jonah on Caw-Gates
These games are a little less clear in my memory, as it was late in the day and I was tired after grinding 6 rounds of swiss. I do recall that in both games, he did not find a Basilisk Gate. I was able to gain some pretty massive value with Oroku by getting in a few hits. Duress took his Counterspells, and Grim Bauble ate Squadron Hawks like it was a delicacy, allowing Oroku to do his work.
Top 4: Loss v AJ on Gray Merchant Ephemerate
This matchup can be found on the RIW Twitch stream at , so I will give a short summary. Game 1, I kept a 2 land hand and didn’t see a third one until it was too late, Gray Merchant number 5 and 6 did me in. In Game 2, I have a quick clock, and AJ digs a lot and eventually finds a Drown in Sorrow that turns the game around for him just in time. Never seeing the deck before, I was not expecting a Drown in Sorrow. I think his rogue factor beat my rogue factor. https://www.twitch.tv/riwhobbies
ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID, NEVER A BRIDE…
I had a lot of fun at the event and really enjoyed playing this deck. Very happy I was able to snag another top prize, but slightly unhappy that I am trophyless. Considering I did not play against the same deck twice, it seems the pauper meta is very diverse, and that’s something to be pleased with. The RIW team always manages to put on awesome events, and this one was no different. I look forward to my next shot at taking home a trophy at the next Pauper Championship Series tournament.
