[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":798},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness":3,"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness-surround":114,"authors-\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness":120,"linked-\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness":132},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":99,"date":100,"decks":101,"description":102,"extension":103,"location":95,"meta":104,"navigation":105,"path":106,"published":105,"seo":107,"sitemap":108,"stem":109,"tags":110,"thumbnail":112,"__hash__":113},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness.md","A Descent into Madness","Paolo Donfrancesco",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":94},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,28,31,34,39,42,50,53,58,61,66,77,81,84,88,91],[11,12,13],"p",{},"This Monday, many competitive Pauper players were shocked to learn about Seeker of Skybreak's ban. It was the fastest-ever action in the format's history, pre-bans excluded, and it raised questions about the Pauper Format Panel's methodology. In this article, I won't focus much on establishing whether the Seeker combo was too strong or not, because that’s not what the PFP’s statement is about. I will highlight the flaws in the philosophy that led the PFP to the ban, and I will draw some general conclusions from how the whole story unfolded.",[15,16,18],"h1",{"id":17},"the-pfp-statement","The PFP statement",[11,20,21],{},"Let’s start breaking down the official announcement.",[23,24,25],"article-quote",{},[11,26,27],{},"The Naya Gates deck has won all three Magic Online challenges at the time of writing this article, and sideboards are full of cards to help fight against this deck.",[11,29,30],{},"Three Challenges over two days aren't a meaningful sample for evaluating a new deck. The results are highly sensitive to variance, and they tell us almost nothing about how the metagame can adapt. But let’s discuss the second part of this sentence, which I find ambiguous. I will address both possible meanings:",[11,32,33],{},"The format is naturally well-equipped to fight the Seeker combo.\nI agree that the format has good counterplay to the combo. This would be an argument against banning Seeker. I assume this is meant to contrast with the three Challenge wins. In other words, despite all the available hate, Seeker still won. But tool availability isn’t the only factor: players also need time to learn how to play against a brand-new combo deck and how to sideboard correctly. I think that the combo was only a modest boost to the existing Naya Gates deck. The Challenge results from Friday through Sunday already seemed to support this conclusion. Unfortunately, those events fell outside the time window considered by the PFP.\nThe format’s sideboards were warped to fight Naya Seeker.\nIf this is the intended meaning, then the statement isn’t consistent with the available decklists. Most lists didn’t change after Bow’s release.",[23,35,36],{},[11,37,38],{},"After a lot of discussion over the past two weeks, we have decided that cheap and easy-to-run two-card combinations are not something we think are healthy for Pauper. If they're more expensive to cast or require more pieces, that can be fine—I want to stress that combos themselves are not something we are against—but letting players run eight cards that can be easily slotted into a deck a la Broodscale (or Splinter Twin) and that can combo this quickly is a play pattern that we want to keep out of the format.",[11,40,41],{},"This statement is just unrealistic. They say they aren’t against combo per se, but how can a combo deck ever be tier 1 while complying with their standards?\nCreature combo decks requiring multiple pieces, such as Goblin Combo and Walls Combo, have succeeded in the past. The format, however, has become much more powerful. Today, a creature combo deck that needs three or more cards is unlikely to become a serious tier 1 contender. If two-card combos are ruled out on principle, relevant creature combo decks effectively disappear from Pauper.\nThis is particularly alarming because in a creature-centric format like Pauper, creature-based combo decks are the most honest and interactive combo decks that I can imagine. If even those are banned for philosophical reasons, I can’t imagine other kinds of combo decks surviving in tier 1.\nOn the other hand, the PFP let a spell-based combo deck like High Tide survive for 8 months, giving it a lot more leeway than Seeker of Skybreak, despite being a significantly less interactable combo deck. So I might be missing something about their hierarchy of values. But they did eventually ban High Tide, so I doubt we’re going to see spell-based combo decks in the future.\nThat still doesn't cover every possibility.  We also have graveyard-based combo decks such as Cycling Storm, and mixed combo decks such as Gruul Storm, which uses both creatures and spells. Suppose one of these decks received enough support to become tier 1. Would the PFP allow it to remain legal? Maybe. They haven't explicitly taken a stance against these archetypes. Then again, I'd place them somewhere between Seeker\u002FBroodscale and High Tide\u002FChatterstorm on the spectrum of fairness. If Seeker and Broodscale are already considered unacceptable on principle, it's hard to imagine Cycling Storm or Gruul Storm surviving for long as tier 1 decks.\nYou might recall that I’m not against philosophically motivated bans, as I wanted a High Tide ban on that basis. But spell-based combo decks are the only kind of combo deck that I wouldn’t allow in Pauper, due to a lack of relevant interaction in the format. In my opinion, other kinds of combo decks should receive the same scrutiny as any Pauper deck, i.e. only get banned if they are too strong. I’m not against combo in general. The PFP claims to be in the same boat, but its actions speak differently.\nA healthy Magic ecosystem needs combo decks. Moreover, Pauper is many players' first introduction to competitive Magic and is a great place to learn Magic fundamentals. For me, that education included learning how to play both with and against combo decks. I hope future players get the same opportunity.",[23,43,44,47],{},[11,45,46],{},"Now, let's look at question two: What are the odds we ban a card on August 10 if we don't ban one now?",[11,48,49],{},"Well, given our discussion around the first question, we would say the odds are extremely high.",[11,51,52],{},"This confirms that the Seeker ban doesn’t have power level in mind. It’s a ban on principle, and I fundamentally disagree with that, for the reasons stated above.",[23,54,55],{},[11,56,57],{},"In a format like Pauper, which can stay consistent for long stretches of time, having something new show up, even if temporarily, can be nice.",[11,59,60],{},"This is another important point. The last time a new tier 1 deck emerged was in April 2025, with Mono Red Madness, more than one year ago. And the last time that a new card gave rise to a new tier 1 deck was with MH3, more than two years ago.\nA stable format certainly has its upsides, but some change is required to keep players engaged. The discontinuation of Masters sets, draftable Commander sets, and Modern Horizons has left Pauper players with few opportunities to receive new cards that can compete with the established staples for the foreseeable future.\nIn this situation, the rare additions to the format are particularly cherished, and banning a new combo without even giving it a chance to show whether and how powerful it is leaves many players utterly demoralized and disenfranchised.",[23,62,63],{},[11,64,65],{},"While we've been looking at Sneaky Snacker for a while, having this deck showing up and be yet another Snacker deck was not lost on us. And while it was still right for us to ban the combo given our goal of avoiding cheap and resilient two-card combos, we want to take a very serious look at Snacker.",[11,67,68,69,76],{},"I talked about the Snacker situation in ",[70,71,75],"a",{"href":72,"rel":73},"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.pauperwave.org\u002Farticles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries",[74],"nofollow","my last article",". I don’t have a strong opinion on a Snacker ban, but I’m glad it’s being discussed. I think the ban would be reasonable because Snacker heavily warps the meta, but I worry about the potential consequences, which are very hard to predict. After mono red got two cards banned in recent times, Snacker is the last thing keeping some version of mono red competitively viable.",[15,78,80],{"id":79},"descending-into-madness","Descending into Madness",[11,82,83],{},"The most troubling part of how the PFP handled Hawkeye’s Bow is how they fueled widespread panic on the internet. The card wasn’t even out yet, and the PFP was asking on social media whether it should be banned. Nobody I know was particularly worried during spoiler season. To me, it felt like the PFP was waving the ban hammer in search of a problem.\nThis situation generated the biggest mobilization of internet commenters I’ve ever seen in the context of Pauper. Every social media platform was flooded with comments demanding a ban or talking as if the ban was a foregone conclusion. I could tell that most of those people weren’t familiar with Pauper, as I kept reading outlandish takes that revealed a lack of basic format knowledge.\nNow, not being knowledgeable in Pauper isn’t a sin. It’s always great to see new people discovering the format. I just wonder what is to be gained from asking the internet how to manage the format, when it’s well established that internet commenters often overestimate their knowledge of any topic.\nMaybe the fact that the panel members are all public figures is an incentive for them to seek external validation. Anonymity would better serve those who manage a format.",[15,85,87],{"id":86},"the-maturity-of-pauper","The Maturity of Pauper",[11,89,90],{},"The PFP took over when Pauper was still a very niche format. In recent years, Pauper has grown a lot and is now the first or second most popular 60-card format in several regions of the world, regularly bringing around a thousand people together for Paupergeddon.\nWe should give the PFP their flowers for being part of this period of massive growth for the format. Nonetheless, I’d be happy to see Pauper take a step further and go back to being managed by Wizards of the Coast, like every real 60-card format.\nThis would grant anonymity to the decision-makers, but it would also save them from a strange conundrum that current PFP members find themselves in. Because PFP members are active players, people naturally expect them to participate in major tournaments to stay connected with the format. At the same time, the increasing stakes of those events would create a perception of a conflict of interest. WotC employees wouldn't face the same tension.",[11,92,93],{},"The Seeker ban exposed structural problems in the way Pauper is managed: incoherent and unrealistic principles, public pressure influencing decision-making, and panel members placed in an inherently awkward position. As the format continues to grow, a better framework should be found.",{"title":95,"searchDepth":96,"depth":97,"links":98},"",2,3,[],"article","2026-07-05",[],"Commento al Ban di Seeker","md",{},true,"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness",{"title":5,"description":102},{"loc":106},"articles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness",[111],"Meta","\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Fdescent into madness.jpeg","R2cWjunqARwxuvRm4sht6rV_rNMCOLreBql9Pp--6Vk",[115,119],{"title":116,"path":117,"stem":118,"description":102,"published":105,"children":-1},"Cronaca di uno sprazzo effimero","\u002Farticles\u002F2026-06-30-ban-seeker","articles\u002F2026-06-30-ban-seeker",null,[121],{"id":122,"avatar":123,"bio":124,"description":125,"extension":126,"meta":127,"name":6,"nickname":128,"socials":119,"stem":129,"url":130,"__hash__":131},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fdonfrancesco-paolo.yml","\u002Fassets\u002Favatars\u002Fpaolo-donfrancesco.jpg","Walker735 on Magic Online. Pauper player and brewer from Florence, Italy. Golden Pigs member. Logic master's student.","Brewer from Florence","yml",{},"Walker735","authors\u002Fdonfrancesco-paolo","\u002Fauthors\u002Fpaolo-donfrancesco","GnDbMm8o7Xs3jIruBZ159ykNUciVuBevL-SMB-skmkE",{"links":133,"globalNormalizedLocationValues":741,"relatedAuthors":783},[134,212,501],{"id":135,"title":116,"author":136,"body":137,"category":99,"date":204,"decks":205,"description":102,"extension":103,"location":95,"meta":206,"navigation":105,"path":117,"published":105,"seo":207,"sitemap":208,"stem":118,"tags":209,"thumbnail":210,"__hash__":211},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-06-30-ban-seeker.md","Pietro Bragioto",{"type":8,"value":138,"toc":202},[139,143,146,149,152,155,158,161,164,168,171,174,177,180,183,186,189,193,196,199],[15,140,142],{"id":141},"una-doverosa-premessa","Una doverosa premessa",[11,144,145],{},"Una reazione gigantesca della community alla banlist appena trascorsa ed, in mezzo a tutto questo polverone, mi è tornata voglia di scrivere un piccolo articolo dicendo la mia.",[11,147,148],{},"Premetto con una doverosa osservazione che sta diventando sempre più evidente con il passare delle banlist, Pauper è un formato privilegiato ad avere un Format Panel.\nSi può condividere o meno l'operato del Pauper Panel e si può contestare la competenza sul formato di una discreta parte dei suoi membri, ma l'averlo fa una differenza abissale.",[11,150,151],{},"Guardo ad altri non-rotating format e vedo tutta una serie di situazioni accadute negli ultimi anni tranquillamente evitabili con la presenza di un panel dedicato:",[11,153,154],{},"Modern: sban folle per smuovere le acque di Mox Opal, carta che prima ha dato man forte al dominio di Underworld Breach ed attualmente è protagonista delle partenze Nuts di Affinity, attuale top dog \u002F best deck del formato, un trial unban ci può anche stare per quanto folle, tuttavia sono basito di come questa carta sia ancora legale;",[11,156,157],{},"Vintage: Fantasticar è di una pericolosità inaudita e per molte voci autorevoli sarà protagonista di una emergency restriction nel prossimo futuro, nel mentre come ziofrancone fa continuamente notare nel formato sono ancora inspiegabilmente legali in 4x sia Flow State che Stock Up;",[11,159,160],{},"Legacy: è abbastanza oscura e comincamente divertente la gestione della banlist con picchi di comicità, tra tutti il curioso caso del Troll di Khazad-dum, nel prossimo futuro si potrà ammirare Arcanista 2.0 in versione blu che non sarà preventivamente bannato dato che non c'è un Panel che intervenga come nel caso di Cranial Ram aka l'erede di Cranial Plating.",[11,162,163],{},"Questo discorso non vuole essere travisato: non sto comparando Pauper con gli altri formato facendo la poco matura gara di chi sia il più bello del reame, da spettatore appasionato dei suddetti formati mi piange molto il cuore quando vedo situazioni ridicole ampiamente evitabili con un Panel.",[15,165,167],{"id":166},"linee-per-una-direzione","Linee per una direzione",[11,169,170],{},"L'articolo esteso e molto aperto sul decision making di Gavin ha fatto tanti e doverosi giri di parole che si possono riassumere in: il PFP ha preso una linea chiara.\nNessun combo a due carte assemblabile con una certa consistenza a turno 3.",[11,172,173],{},"Si potrebbero fare molte discussioni sul paragone con la bannata Glee-Varano, su banniamo Snacker e vediamo, su metagame futuri che si adattano, sulla shell ideale che sia full combo oppure Gates, sulla tempistica del ban ecc. ecc.\nTutte discussioni inutili dato che a monte si è presa la chiara linea che il playpattern non va bene in Pauper.",[11,175,176],{},"Passare all'azione ora o ad Agosto vedendo cosa succede online e al Geddon? Irrilevante, in Pauper non vogliamo queste combo.\nIl suo successo dipende dalla build con Sancker? Comunque la combo a due carte non appartiene al formato.\nIl formato avrebbe potuto assorbire la combo con il tempo? Non importa, quella combo anche se Tier 1.5 o 2 non sarebbe accettabile in ogni caso.",[11,178,179],{},"Onestamente non mi sarebbe dispiaciuto farmi un Paupergeddon con la nuova combo anche sapendo che questa sarebbe stata bannata alla banlist successiva, tuttavia non posso far a meno che apprezzare una presa netta di posizione del Panel, un tracciare delle linee che mi dimostra forza e visione.",[11,181,182],{},"E' tutto ciò che, aldilà di alcune sostanziali divergenze di opinione, ho sempre voluto dal Panel: la forza di tracciare delle linee chiare e un minimo di visione, finalmente dopo qualche anno abbiamo fatto passi avanti in tal senso.",[11,184,185],{},"Sulla linea guida degli early 2-cards combo andrebbero fatte delle precisazioni: Spy è accettabile perchè non ha la consistenza necessaria, non perchè trovare una carta sia più difficile che trovarne due ovviamente, ma per il suo mulligan-rate a dir poco ballerino ed uno sviluppo che non sempre arriva liscio liscio ad avere accesso alle fatidiche 4 terre; Boros Tribe è accettabile in quanto passa dalla combact pur propronendo la kill già da turno 2.",[11,187,188],{},"Un caso che esula da questa casistica e suscita la mia curiosità è RG Storm: non si può parlare di 2 card combo, serve per forza una creatura che sconti per partire ma può proporre in modo abbastanza consistente una kill a turno 3 o 4 se indisturbato.\nVedremo se nel prossimo futuro si dimostrerà arginabile o fuoco di paglia.",[15,190,192],{"id":191},"una-sgranocchiata-prolungata","Una sgranocchiata prolungata",[11,194,195],{},"In ogni dieta che si rispetti, si tende a ridurre o aliminare l'arte dello sgranocchiare spuntini fuori pasto, soprattutto se lo sgranocchiare è una abitudine e non un contentino sporadico.\nQui mi sembra che stiamo sgranocchiando sempre più frequentemente e con più voracia dall'uscita di MH3 ossia svariate mensilità fa.",[11,197,198],{},"Capisco e rispetto la volontà di non fare multipli ban nella stessa finestra per studiare meglio gli effetti della singola dicisione senza contaminazioni, tuttavia è abbastanza palese che Sneaky Snacker sarà la prossima carta su cui il PFP sarà chiamato a decidere.",[11,200,201],{},"Ad Agosto si deciderà se il fare un effetto \"scarto e pesco 2\" di secondo con annesso un body 2-1 come bonus, sia una caratteristica peculiare del formato che impedisce approcci troppo passivi ai classici bolloni Pauper oppure sia il caso di tracciare una linea che lasci fuori dal formato ulteriori sgranocchiate selvagge.",{"title":95,"searchDepth":96,"depth":97,"links":203},[],"2026-06-30",[],{},{"title":116,"description":102},{"loc":117},[111],"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Fseeker-of-skybreak.jpg","6pXdWHFUEQtiXk7H2Vw5HoIJZtKn4uVOvEWBW014UwA",{"id":213,"title":214,"author":6,"body":215,"category":99,"date":491,"decks":492,"description":95,"extension":103,"location":95,"meta":493,"navigation":105,"path":494,"published":105,"seo":495,"sitemap":496,"stem":497,"tags":498,"thumbnail":499,"__hash__":500},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries.md","The War of the Faeries",{"type":8,"value":216,"toc":489},[217,220,229,306,312,317,329,340,353,362,381,387,401,404,430,445,459,477],[11,218,219],{},"The current Pauper format is very diverse and cannot be oversimplified to fit a narrative.\nBut it can still be interesting to zoom in on a widespread dynamic, describe it, and discuss how it should affect deckbuilding.",[11,221,222,223,228],{},"Let's start by looking at the two most popular creatures in the format, according to ",[70,224,227],{"href":225,"rel":226},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mtggoldfish.com\u002Fformat-staples\u002Fpauper",[74],"MtgGoldfish"," as of today:",[230,231,232,253],"table",{},[233,234,235],"thead",{},[236,237,238,241,244,247,250],"tr",{},[239,240],"th",{},[239,242,243],{},"Card",[239,245,246],{},"Cost",[239,248,249],{},"% of Decks",[239,251,252],{},"# Played",[254,255,256,284],"tbody",{},[236,257,258,262,269,278,281],{},[259,260,261],"td",{},"1",[259,263,264],{},[265,266],"magic-card-tooltip",{"image":267,"name":268},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F6\u002F2\u002F62103ceb-b16d-48ea-af42-d3df88d1ee4c.jpg?1562918100","Faerie Macabre",[259,270,271,274,275],{},[272,273],"magic-card-mana-symbol",{"symbol":261}," ",[272,276],{"symbol":277},"bb",[259,279,280],{},"24",[259,282,283],{},"2.3",[236,285,286,289,295,300,303],{},[259,287,288],{},"2",[259,290,291],{},[265,292],{"image":293,"name":294},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F0\u002Fe\u002F0e3aedae-e4bb-48e3-9f8b-bea0430df306.jpg?1717332127","Sneaky Snacker",[259,296,297],{},[272,298],{"symbol":299},"ub",[259,301,302],{},"22",[259,304,305],{},"4",[11,307,308,309,311],{},"After its release, it took a while for ",[265,310],{"image":293,"name":294}," to be widely adopted, but it has now established itself as one of the most influential threats in the metagame, due to its popularity and resilience to interaction.",[11,313,314,316],{},[265,315],{"image":293,"name":294}," is seeing play in two of the main pillars of the meta: Mono Red and Terror, but it's increasingly spreading to brews, like Naya Gates, Boros Tribe, Boros Moxite, or Mono Red Dredge.",[11,318,319,320,322,323,325,326,328],{},"Reactive decks struggle to answer ",[265,321],{"image":293,"name":294}," with commonly played interactions, but leaving ",[265,324],{"image":293,"name":294}," unanswered spells certain death, as it will eat either life points or other resources every turn.\nWhen you ask yourself why a certain reactive deck isn't played anymore, the first thing you should consider is how that deck would beat a T2 ",[265,327],{"image":293,"name":294},".\nIf you can't find a convincing answer, you now know why you don't see the deck around.",[11,330,331,332,334,335,339],{},"So, ",[265,333],{"image":293,"name":294}," demands running some specific solutions, which is one of the main reasons for the big uptick in ",[265,336],{"image":337,"name":338},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fe\u002F5\u002Fe5892a23-efae-4731-9b8f-41c87960fe93.jpg?1562442193","Nihil Spellbomb"," during the last year.\nBut",[341,342,343,347],"ol",{},[344,345,346],"li",{},"not every reactive deck is black;",[344,348,349,350,352],{},"even 4 ",[265,351],{"image":337,"name":338},"s is not enough.",[11,354,355,356,358,359,361],{},"Why did I say (2)? Because if a reanimated ",[265,357],{"image":293,"name":294}," kills your deck, you need very high chances of preventing it.\nYou can't leave it to chance.\nSeeing a ",[265,360],{"image":293,"name":294}," on the opposite side should be a rare occurrence if you built your deck correctly.",[11,363,364,365,367,368,370,371,375,376,380],{},"Regarding (1), the most common way to prevent ",[265,366],{"image":293,"name":294}," from hitting the board in non-black decks is countermagic.\nIf you manage to counter every rummage effect, ",[265,369],{"image":293,"name":294}," won't be a problem.\nThis is one of the main reasons why ",[265,372],{"image":373,"name":374},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F4\u002Fc\u002F4c9c9b16-5567-4473-95e6-622292f77336.jpg?1580013995","Hydroblast"," and ",[265,377],{"image":378,"name":379},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F2\u002Ff\u002F2f51f88f-f662-4572-a371-9a77718ed079.jpg?1562434032","Blue Elemental Blast"," are so popular.",[11,382,383,384,386],{},"While countermagic is undeniably good against ",[265,385],{"image":293,"name":294}," strategies, I think that the Pauper playerbase, me included, might have focused too much on the rummage engine and less on the main payoff.\nPre-MH3, I was used to easily beating Rakdos Madness by countering or discarding their rummage spells and destroying their blood tokens.\nI was trained in that incredibly effective play pattern through years of gameplay.\nSo, when Mono Red Madness came out, I naturally enacted the same strategy, for example, focusing on running discard spells in Jund.\nHow did I change my perspective?",[11,388,389,390,392,393,395,396,400],{},"At the last Paupergeddon, the Golden Pigs team decided to bring Elves.\nWhile we were preparing for the tournament, GiorgioCombo described to me the plan that I should've enacted against Mono Red Madness: they cannot be allowed to keep a permanent source of damage on the field.\n",[265,391],{"image":293,"name":294},"s must be exiled with ",[265,394],{"image":267,"name":268},", and pingers must be killed on sight with ",[265,397],{"image":398,"name":399},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002F9\u002Fb999eb47-b842-47f1-be91-c79fc46e1896.jpg?1726328518","Monstrous Emergence"," and Lignify.\nWhile the Elves vs R Madness matchup was broadly considered a lost cause by the playerbase, I ended up facing R Madness four times (+ BR once) at the tournament and beating all of them.",[11,402,403],{},"The strategy clicked: their actual engine is their creatures that keep generating free damage.\nIf you keep them away from their creatures, then your lifegain becomes card advantage, as it's supposed to be in a burn matchup.",[11,405,406,407,409,410,414,415,375,419,423,424,426,427,429],{},"So, what other options do we have to deal with ",[265,408],{"image":293,"name":294},"? We've seen nonblack reactive decks adopt some creative solutions.\nFor example, we saw ",[265,411],{"image":412,"name":413},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002F3\u002Fb3d6027c-813f-46df-95b4-e2e305a67620.jpg?1692938564","Torch the Tower"," in UR Control and Jeskai Ephemerate.\nBroadly speaking, ",[265,416],{"image":417,"name":418},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F3\u002F4\u002F34b64d10-c012-4370-b475-755c4025a348.jpg?1689999447","Campfire",[265,420],{"image":421,"name":422},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fc\u002F7\u002Fc74e13eb-6f82-4db1-9d0d-8310f48d9f6d.jpg?1631589551","Desert"," can also be considered solutions to ",[265,425],{"image":293,"name":294},".\nThey're usually adopted by Gardens, but they aren't actually bound to the black color.\nAnyway, they are pretty mediocre at answering ",[265,428],{"image":293,"name":294}," specifically.",[11,431,432,433,435,436,438,439,441,442,444],{},"There is a card that is available to any deck and deals very well with ",[265,434],{"image":293,"name":294},", and it's the most played creature that I was showing at the beginning: ",[265,437],{"image":267,"name":268},".\nIt costs zero mana, it's uncounterable, and it deals with the threat permanently.\nIts main downside is that when the opponent uses a rummage card and a ",[265,440],{"image":293,"name":294}," to draw two cards, and you respond with ",[265,443],{"image":267,"name":268},", they keep the same number of cards, while you're down one.",[11,446,447,448,450,451,453,454,458],{},"Now, on one hand, if the ",[265,449],{"image":293,"name":294}," deck is Madness, you will recoup this resource loss by turning lifegain into card advantage, as I wrote above.\nIf you're facing a different ",[265,452],{"image":293,"name":294}," deck, trading down on cards will be more painful, but still very much worth it.\nHopefully, Legacy players will forgive me if I bring up ",[265,455],{"image":456,"name":457},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.scryfall.com\u002Fcards\u002Fnamed?exact=Force%20of%20Will&format=image","Force of Will",", but that card is a perfect example to show that when you're facing an incredibly dangerous threat, you can be ok with two-for-oneing yourself to answer it, especially if you're trading up on mana in the exchange.\nYou spent zero mana, while the opponent spent two mana for nothing.",[11,460,461,462,464,465,467,468,470,471,473,474,476],{},"As we saw, ",[265,463],{"image":267,"name":268}," is already the most played creature.\nBut my suggestion is still for everybody to closely examine their deck and its current answers to ",[265,466],{"image":293,"name":294},", and ask themselves if they could use a few ",[265,469],{"image":267,"name":268},"s to be safer against the ",[265,472],{"image":293,"name":294}," menace.\nJund Wildfire didn't use to run Faerie Macabre, but I added it a few weeks ago, and it proved to be a great addition to beat the omnipresent ",[265,475],{"image":293,"name":294}," decks.\nSince then, my teammate, seasonofmists, and I have had a lot of success with the same 75.",[11,478,479,480,482,483,485,486,488],{},"Since the next B&R announcement is approaching, I want to clarify that the goal of this article is not to \"normalize\" ",[265,481],{"image":293,"name":294}," by suggesting that the format can comfortably handle it thanks to ",[265,484],{"image":267,"name":268},".\nWhenever Pauper reaches a point where _ ",[265,487],{"image":456,"name":457}," effects_ become necessary, it raises legitimate concerns about the health of the format.\nMy aim, however, was to provide useful deckbuilding insight rather than engage in unproductive ban discourse.\nI'll leave readers to draw their own conclusions on that front.",{"title":95,"searchDepth":96,"depth":97,"links":490},[],"2026-05-15",[],{},"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries",{"title":214,"description":95},{"loc":494},"articles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries",[111],"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Ffaerie-macabre-and-sneaky-snaker.png","AYxnNgcMtk-GiY4pvgR3KgsrUmG6VLqIopLepx34OEw",{"id":502,"title":503,"author":136,"body":504,"category":99,"date":730,"decks":731,"description":732,"extension":103,"location":95,"meta":733,"navigation":105,"path":734,"published":105,"seo":735,"sitemap":736,"stem":737,"tags":738,"thumbnail":739,"__hash__":740},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-01-15-pyroblast-hydroblast-meta-decline.md","8 Pyro e 8 Hydro: libertà o declino?",{"type":8,"value":505,"toc":725},[506,510,521,546,559,565,575,580,585,591,597,600,608,611,615,618,626,629,637,651,654,666,678,682,686,700,706,713,721],[15,507,509],{"id":508},"introduzione","Introduzione",[11,511,512,513,517,518,520],{},"27 Giugno 2019: giorno dell'unificazione ufficiale del Pauper, la fusione tra l'online e il cartaceo comportò vari cambiamenti tra i quali la legalità di ",[265,514],{"image":515,"name":516},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F7\u002F0\u002F70a45e9b-699e-425a-9f3d-267274830d3e.jpg?1562436618","Red Elemental Blast"," e ",[265,519],{"image":378,"name":379},", per gli amici \"Reb\" e \"Beb\".",[11,522,523,524,528,529,531,532,536,537,541,542,545],{},"Questo comportava la possibilità, da lì in poi, di giocare 8 ",[265,525],{"image":526,"name":527},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002F0\u002Fb029eb9a-dd7a-40c2-96c4-0063d9cc002c.jpg?1580014621","Pyroblast"," e 8 ",[265,530],{"image":373,"name":374}," di side, carte devastanti in alcuni ",[533,534,535],"em",{},"matchup"," perchè fornivano ad un mana un ",[265,538],{"image":539,"name":540},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F4\u002Ff\u002F4f616706-ec97-4923-bb1e-11a69fbaa1f8.jpg?1751282477","Counterspell"," e allo stesso tempo una Removal per permamente specifico.\nQuesta flessibilità per il costo di mana minimo andava inoltre a rompere la ",[533,543,544],{},"color pie",": il blu notoriamente non distrugge le creature e il rosso in teoria non dovrebbe counterare.",[11,547,548,549,554,555,558],{},"Nell'anno del Signore 2026, un losco figuro dal nome Andrea Simonetta, in una delle ultime puntate del ",[70,550,553],{"href":551,"rel":552},"https:\u002F\u002Fopen.spotify.com\u002Fshow\u002F17FI6eC5rdW2Hz7fKmWRqF",[74],"Bojuka Pod",", mi ha riportato alla mente un ",[533,556,557],{},"hot take"," che feci all'epoca che, al contrario delle sparate di Walker, è invecchiato piuttosto bene.",[11,560,561,562,564],{},"L'",[533,563,557],{}," in questione era piuttosto semplice:",[23,566,567],{},[11,568,569,570,528,572,574],{},"8 ",[265,571],{"image":526,"name":527},[265,573],{"image":373,"name":374}," avrebbero rovinato il gioco portando ad un impoverimento di gameplay e nel deckbuilding della sideboard.",[576,577],"magic-card-art-crop",{":crop":578,"card":579},"{\"height\":\"xl\",\"position\":\"bottom\"}","Blue Elemental Blast (CED)",[581,582,584],"h2",{"id":583},"la-smentita-del-primo-periodo","La smentita del primo periodo",[11,586,587,588,590],{},"I detrattori accusarono questo take di essere esagerato perchè una sideboard non si sarebbe mai potuta permettere di giocare troppe blaste per la grande varietà del formato, al massimo si sarebbe arrivati a 6 blaste per ribaltare un ",[533,589,535],{}," particolamente negativo e particolarmente in meta ma con grandi sacrifici di spazio nella side.\nAvere l'opzione di andare sopra le 4 blaste avrebbe avuto un effetto benefico perchè semmai un mazzo a base blu avesse cominciato a fare troppo il prepotente nel meta, si avrebbe avuto la possibilità di rimetterlo al suo posto aumentando a dismisura le Pyro di side.\nRiassumendo, non solo per i detrattori ciò non avrebbe rappresentato un problema ed avrebbe solo fornito una simpatica possibilità, ma sarebbe potuta essere una utile valvola di auto-regolamentazione per il formato alle prese con meta polarizzati.",[11,592,593,594,596],{},"Nel primo periodo l'evoluzione del meta sembrava dare ragione a questa visione, quasi nessun mazzo andava oltre le 4 blaste di un colore e Boros \u002F Mono Red \u002F Tron avevano la possibilità di andare a 5 o 6 ",[265,595],{"image":526,"name":527}," per combattere meta blu-centrici.",[11,598,599],{},"Le blaste in tutto questo periodo avevano spesso la funzione di rallenatare le partite andando a rafforzare il post side di mazzi a più colori a scapito dei mazzi dritti: nello specifico della prima frangia facevano parte Affinity, Tron, Ux Faeries, Boros in contrasto a Mono Red Burn e Mono U Faeries.",[11,601,602,603,517,605,607],{},"Affinity, che riesce tuttora a compensare allo svantaggio tempo delle Tapland con risposte economiche di cui ",[265,604],{"image":373,"name":374},[265,606],{"image":526,"name":527}," fanno da regine, è l'esempio perfetto di come questo genere di carte in side possa mettere una pezza alle debolezze strutturali del mazzo andando al contempo a costituire un hate devastante e mirato.",[576,609],{":crop":578,"card":610},"Red Elemental Blast (CED)",[581,612,614],{"id":613},"la-maturazione-odierna","La maturazione odierna",[11,616,617],{},"Il meta odierno è costituito da qualche Tier 1 e una selva caotica di Tier 1,5 e Tier 2, una vera e propria giungla come il formato Modern ai tempi d'oro del 2017-18.\nRispetto al primo periodo dopo l'unificazione, si può notare che i mazzi monocolor come Terror, Mono Red e Elfi hanno acquisito una fetta importante nella zona alta della piramide, proponendo manabase stappate e potenti piani proattivi.",[11,619,620,621,528,623,625],{},"Secondo la logica dei detrattori, non dovrebbe esserci alcun problema con Mono Red e Mono Blu così in alto dato che il Pauper ha accesso a 8 ",[265,622],{"image":373,"name":374},[265,624],{"image":526,"name":527},", tuttavia, più che la concorrenza, sono i monocolor stessi a sfruttare le potenziali 8 blaste sia per proteggersi che per combattere la controparte.",[11,627,628],{},"Jund, Tron, Affinity, Familiar e Cawgate sono tutti esempi di alta fascia che non possono permettersi di alzare troppo le blaste perchè, essendo mazzi spesso nel ruolo reatttivo, devono avere risposte variegate per un meta variegato e spesso non possono andare oltre le 4-5 Hydro\u002FPyro.\nNon ci sono solo Mono Red e Terror da rispettare ma anche mazzi proattivi come Elfi, Spia, Monsters per restare sui Tier 1.5, Mono U Faeries, Bogle e Mono White se si comincia a guardare ai tier 2; per non parlare del rispetto da dare ad altri mazzi reattivi ossia tra di loro",[23,630,631,634],{},[11,632,633],{},"Quante blaste hai giocato in side?",[11,635,636],{},"Tutte e 8 di entrambe i colori, non si sa mai",[11,638,639,640,642,643,645,646,650],{},"D'altra parte vediamo sempre più spesso liste di Mono Blue Terror che giocano a 6 Hydro, mentre i player di Mono Red si stanno lentamente svegliando dal loro letargo e stanno scoprendo l'ebrezza di poter listare 8 ",[265,641],{"image":526,"name":527}," in side: da due anni ripeto che qualsiasi Mono Red, eccezzion fatta per Rally, è da giocare con 8 ",[265,644],{"image":526,"name":527},", ",[70,647,649],{"href":648},"2025-12-06-tutorial-pingers","Pingers"," ha fatto un bel salto in avanti con quest approccio e in Madness la vera follia è tagliarle.",[11,652,653],{},"Siamo passati dalle blaste che aiutavano i mazzi reattivi ai giorni d'oggi dove queste proteggono i mazzi proattivi con la maggiore efficenza possibile aiutandoli a rimanere in cima alla catena: non serve per forza avere una side avriegata per un meta variegato quando tu sei il mazzo aggressivo per eccellenza, una carta che fa sì che il bastone di oppo non si infili nelle tue ruote è ok, se quella carta nel frattempo mette i bastoni nelle ruote di oppo quella carta diventa incredibile.",[11,655,656,657,659,660,662,663,665],{},"Mono Red Madness è l'esempio perfetto: la sua più grande debolezza sono i counter sui peschini e 8 ",[265,658],{"image":526,"name":527}," al posto di qualche botto sono il miglior modo di fronteggiare gli U-Based dato che fare peschino ",[265,661],{"image":526,"name":527}," di terzo è spesso chiave di volta della partita, counterarare una ",[265,664],{"image":373,"name":374}," su Cecchino o Kessig è sfizioso, distruggere un terror o chiudere la ripartenza ad oppo dopo uno scambio di risorse counterando Lorien è la ciliegina.",[11,667,668,669,671,672,674,675,677],{},"Nel mentre Terror aumenta a sua volta le ",[265,670],{"image":373,"name":374}," per fronteggiare le 8 ",[265,673],{"image":526,"name":527}," dei mazzi mono rossi, per poter andare a contrastare il peschino protetto di madness o la presenza in board di ",[70,676,649],{"href":648}," che si sta dimostrando uan vera spina nel fianco se ingrana.",[576,679],{":crop":680,"card":681},"{\"height\":\"xl\",\"position\":\"top\"}","Hydroblast (ICE)",[581,683,685],{"id":684},"conclusione","Conclusione",[11,687,688,689,691,692,528,694,696,697,699],{},"Siamo arrivati ad un punto dove l'",[533,690,557],{}," è maturato e la possibilità di giocare 8 ",[265,693],{"image":526,"name":527},[265,695],{"image":373,"name":374}," difende l'oppressore anzichè combatterlo promuovendo uno stile di gioco sempre più drittoe aggressivo andando sempre più spesso a rompere la ",[533,698,544],{}," trasformando i post side sempre più spesso in una poco interessante guerra di blaste.",[11,701,702,703,705],{},"Noto a più riprese come ultimamente lo spazio di side a disposizione di ",[70,704,649],{"href":648},", ma soprattutto di Mono U Terror sia cannibalizzato dal dover giocare forzatamente dalle 6 blaste in sù precludendomi la possibilità di carte più spicy ed incastri di gran lunga più interessanti e stimolanti.",[11,707,708,709,712],{},"Con la speranza che la situazione degeneri ulteriormente e che ci si renda conto della povertà di gameplay a cui inevitabilmente porta la presenza di 8 blaste, spero che al PFP venga l'illuminazione divina e si torni a limitarle al 4x.\nConcludo da dove ho inziato, ossia da quella puntata del ",[70,710,553],{"href":551,"rel":711},[74],", parafrasando la risposta scherzosa, ma nemmeno troppo, del vincitore dell'ultimo Paupergeddon Giovanni Postorino alla classica domanda sulla side:",[23,714,715],{},[11,716,717,718,720],{},"La side? 8 ",[265,719],{"image":526,"name":527}," e 7 carte a caso, l'importante è avere 8 blaste!",[576,722],{":crop":723,"card":724},"{\"height\":\"xl\",\"position\":\"center\"}","Pyroblast (ICE)",{"title":95,"searchDepth":96,"depth":97,"links":726},[727,728,729],{"id":583,"depth":96,"text":584},{"id":613,"depth":96,"text":614},{"id":684,"depth":96,"text":685},"2026-01-15",[],"Riflessioni sull'impatto di Pyroblast e Hydroblast nel meta Pauper moderno",{},"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-01-15-pyroblast-hydroblast-meta-decline",{"title":503,"description":732},{"loc":734},"articles\u002F2026-01-15-pyroblast-hydroblast-meta-decline",[111],"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Fcmm-81-counterspell.jpg","eIr9OCgkYVXBTuVRoTkvNTVksKdo28V_urMniVOJS2U",[742,743,744,745,746,747,748,749,750,751,752,753,754,755,756,757,758,759,760,761,762,763,764,765,766,767,768,769,770,771,772,773,774,775,776,777,778,779,780,781,782],"pisa","roma","lecco","lucca","amsterdam","cento","torino","ravenna","castellanza","milano","modena","rivoli","aquila","alto adige","cuneo","senigallia","lodi","brescia","firenze","piacenza","japan","adria","asti","bologna","versilia","vittorio veneto","sanremo","livorno","messina","mediavalle e garfagnana","novara","vicenza","genova","ferrara","caserta","la spezia","l'aquila","treviso","gaeta","lecce","sarzana",[784,796],{"id":785,"avatar":786,"bio":787,"description":788,"extension":126,"meta":789,"name":136,"nickname":790,"socials":791,"stem":793,"url":794,"__hash__":795},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fbragioto-pietro.yml","\u002Fassets\u002Favatars\u002Fpietro-bragioto.jpg","Scribacchino di liste e report vari, saltuariamente scrivo qualche articolo interessante. Due volte l'anno provo la conquista dei Paupergeddon di Milano\u002FLecco e Firenze\u002FPisa, finora con discreti risultati.","Scribacchino di liste",{},"crila-peoty",{"twitter":792},"https:\u002F\u002Fx.com\u002Fbragioto","authors\u002Fbragioto-pietro","\u002Fauthors\u002Fpietro-bragioto","sz69sqfJxuwxe2SGvRz_Rcns34Ut0BNuKckxABG5FHQ",{"id":122,"avatar":123,"bio":124,"description":125,"extension":126,"meta":797,"name":6,"nickname":128,"socials":119,"stem":129,"url":130,"__hash__":131},{},1783225844782]