[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":828},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker":3,"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker-surround":104,"authors-\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker":111,"linked-\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker":125},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":84,"date":85,"decks":86,"description":87,"extension":88,"location":76,"meta":89,"navigation":90,"path":91,"published":90,"readingTime":92,"seo":97,"sitemap":98,"stem":99,"tags":100,"thumbnail":102,"__hash__":103},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker.md","4 Questions with Walker","Pietro Bragioto",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":75},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,25,28,32,35,38,49,52,55,58,62,65,69,72],[11,12,13],"p",{},"With the recent win of the Pauper Showcase Qualifier event, Walker735 aka Paolo Donfrancesco qualified for the Pro Tour, the MOCS and the Regional.\nA true Godtracker of Jund!",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"lets-start-with-jund-i-want-you-to-weight-the-factors-of-your-deck-choice-best-deck-pet-deck-and-expertise-do-you-choose-jund-only-because-you-think-it-is-the-best-deck-in-pauper-right-now-or-because-of-the-comfort-pick-factor","Let's start with Jund, I want you to weight the factors of your deck choice: best deck, pet deck and expertise. Do you choose Jund only because you think it is the best deck in Pauper right now or because of the comfort pick factor?",[11,20,21],{},"Both. On one hand, with only four days to prepare for the event, Jund was the only deck I could confidently play at these stakes. I have about 1.5k matches with Jund, while with most other Pauper decks my experience ranges between 10 and 200 matches. So, if I have a pet deck, it's definitely Jund. You could even call it my \"baby\", since I had the biggest role in the deck's development from the start.",[11,23,24],{},"On the other hand, the reason why I've played a disproportionate amount of matches with Jund is that it has consistently been among the top three best Pauper decks during the last two years, even occupying the #1 spot for most of the time. I like Jund's play style, but believe me: it gets boring after you play a thousand times against the same decks. At most tournaments, I simply can't justify playing anything else.",[11,26,27],{},"When you play an invitational where you know the names of all your opponents, there is always the possibility of making a meta call and bring a deck that is good against them. But the existence of Jund basically nullifies this possibility, because rather than playing a weaker deck that should be well-positioned, you can simply adapt Jund's flex slots to beat what you're expecting to face.",[15,29,31],{"id":30},"what-do-you-think-of-qualification-system-we-have-right-now","What do you think of qualification system we have right now?",[11,33,34],{},"I've always been a big fan of the MOCS circuit on Magic Online. Having the champions of each format battle against each other for such high stakes is very exciting, and the very idea of a format champion is a huge goal for the players of that format.",[11,36,37],{},"Many people chase the MOCS qualification for the cash and invites it brings. Now that I'm here, I care about those things too, but for 6 years, I've dreamt of winning the Pauper Showcase Qualifier because I wanted to be the best Pauper player, and I only considered the cash to be a way of guaranteeing the prestige of this title.",[11,39,40,41,48],{},"When I had just started playing Pauper, the amazing Pauper Player's Podcast by Frucile published the interviews to the top4 players of that year's Showcase Qualifier (it was actually called Pauper Championship at the time). I'll link here the interview to the champion Kirblinxy, but from there, you can also check out the other three ",[42,43,47],"a",{"href":44,"rel":45},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=4bxBwIpLLZQ",[46],"nofollow","ep. 18-20",".",[11,50,51],{},"These interviews inspired me to take the format more seriously and try to get in that position. For the first time, something like that felt achievable because I only needed to play a 50$ deck from the comfort of my home (as delusional as that was).",[11,53,54],{},"I have fond memories of when I played my first Showcase Qualifier by renting for a day the only computer station at a casino in Dublin, because it was the only facility that would stay open through the night. And I like nerding on this stuff so much that I recently asked Kirblinxy to make a spreadsheet with the historical data of Pauper Showcase Qualifiers.",[11,56,57],{},"The only critique I have for the current showcase system is that I don't like Last Chance events. Nobody likes single-elimination tournaments, and for good reason. But I do understand that it's a way for Daybreak to make players burn play points, and that has an overall positive effect on the game's economy.",[15,59,61],{"id":60},"how-are-you-going-to-live-the-mocs-and-the-pt-preparation-tryharding-all-the-formats-place-your-bet-in-a-specific-portion-letìs-say-modern-or-chill-your-way","How are you going to live the MOCS and the PT preparation? Tryharding all the formats, place your bet in a specific portion letìs say Modern or chill your way?",[11,63,64],{},"While it's true that I've barely played other formats, having checked all my boxes in Pauper makes me willing to find new goals, and the invites to the MOCS and the Pro Tour will challenge me in new ways.\nI'm sure that those tournaments will be great experiences even if I don't win a single match, but I don't want to go there just as a tourist. I want to get there well-prepared. It will be hard and it will be very different from what I'm used to, but I'm willing to try and put in the work.\nFinding a team will be essential, I hope that someone will be willing to take me in, but I'll have to ask around and see how that works.",[15,66,68],{"id":67},"are-you-satisfied-of-the-current-state-of-pauper-in-the-competitive-world","Are you satisfied of the current state of Pauper in the competitive world?",[11,70,71],{},"This is the hardest question. Pauper is home to all kinds of players, thanks to a perfect balance of competitive and community-driven elements.\nAs much as I like the idea of having more opportunities in Pauper, upsetting the current balance would carry the danger of ruining the vibes and make Pauper unrecognizable.",[11,73,74],{},"A solution that I'd be willing to entertain would be to have just 2-3 more PT slots per year come from Pauper.\nEnough to entice some Pauper players, but not enough to make the average Pauper tournament participant be someone who is specifically looking for an invite.",{"title":76,"searchDepth":77,"depth":78,"links":79},"",2,3,[80,81,82,83],{"id":17,"depth":77,"text":18},{"id":30,"depth":77,"text":31},{"id":60,"depth":77,"text":61},{"id":67,"depth":77,"text":68},"article","2026-07-29",[],"Showcase Qualifier Winner","md",{},true,"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker",{"text":93,"minutes":94,"time":95,"words":96},"5 min read",4.425,265500,885,{"title":5,"description":87},{"loc":91},"articles\u002F2026-07-29-intervista-walker",[101],"Meta","\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Farb-55-godtracker-of-jund.jpg","pEVNiSn6DYApafQU-W6oGYpqKm1_h_zR4WxRWT0smCY",[105,110],{"title":106,"path":107,"stem":108,"description":109,"published":90,"children":-1},"A Descent into Madness","\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness","articles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness","Commento al Ban di Seeker",null,[112],{"id":113,"avatar":114,"bio":115,"description":116,"extension":117,"meta":118,"name":6,"nickname":119,"socials":120,"stem":122,"url":123,"__hash__":124},"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","yml",{},"crila-peoty",{"twitter":121},"https:\u002F\u002Fx.com\u002Fbragioto","authors\u002Fbragioto-pietro","\u002Fauthors\u002Fpietro-bragioto","sz69sqfJxuwxe2SGvRz_Rcns34Ut0BNuKckxABG5FHQ",{"links":126,"globalNormalizedLocationValues":772,"relatedAuthors":815},[127,399,484],{"id":128,"title":106,"author":129,"body":130,"category":84,"date":386,"decks":387,"description":109,"extension":88,"location":76,"meta":388,"navigation":90,"path":107,"published":90,"readingTime":389,"seo":394,"sitemap":395,"stem":108,"tags":396,"thumbnail":397,"__hash__":398},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-07-05-descent-into-madness.md","Paolo Donfrancesco",{"type":8,"value":131,"toc":378},[132,135,144,150,155,160,163,169,172,206,221,224,227,230,241,262,268,271,279,285,290,293,296,299,314,329,333,339,342,345,348,352,355,358,361,367,371],[15,133,106],{"id":134},"a-descent-into-madness",[11,136,137,138,143],{},"This Monday, many competitive Pauper players were shocked to learn about ",[139,140],"magic-card-tooltip",{"image":141,"name":142},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fd\u002F1\u002Fd1f20175-8bfa-417a-912b-d6d472f091ab.jpg?1783945414","Seeker of Skybreak"," 's ban.\nIt was the fastest-ever action in the format's history, pre-bans excluded, and it raised questions about the Pauper Format Panel's methodology.",[11,145,146,147,149],{},"In this article, I won't focus much on establishing whether the ",[139,148],{"image":141,"name":142}," combo was too strong or not, because that's not what the Pauper Format Panel's statement is about.\nI will highlight the flaws in the philosophy that led the Pauper Format Panel to the ban, and I will draw some general conclusions from how the whole story unfolded.",[151,152],"magic-cards",{":cards":153,"caption":154},"[\"Hawkeye's Bow\",\"Seeker of Skybreak ()\"]","Seeker of Skybreak's combo",[156,157,159],"h3",{"id":158},"the-pauper-format-panel-statement","The Pauper Format Panel Statement",[11,161,162],{},"Let's start breaking down the official announcement.",[164,165,166],"article-quote",{},[11,167,168],{},"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.",[11,170,171],{},"Three Challenges over two days aren't a meaningful sample for evaluating a new deck.\nThe results are highly sensitive to variance, and they tell us almost nothing about how the metagame can adapt.\nBut let's discuss the second part of this sentence, which I find ambiguous.\nI will address both possible meanings:",[173,174,175,193],"ul",{},[176,177,178,179,181,182],"li",{},"The format is naturally well-equipped to fight the ",[139,180],{"image":141,"name":142}," combo.",[173,183,184],{},[176,185,186,187,189,190,192],{},"I agree that the format has good counterplay to the combo.\nThis would be an argument against banning ",[139,188],{"image":141,"name":142},".\nI assume this is meant to contrast with the three Challenge wins.\nIn other words, despite all the available hate, ",[139,191],{"image":141,"name":142}," still won.\nBut 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.\nI think that the combo was only a modest boost to the existing Naya Gates deck.\nThe Challenge results from Friday through Sunday already seemed to support this conclusion.\nUnfortunately, those events fell outside the time window considered by the Pauper Format Panel.",[176,194,195,196],{},"The format's sideboards were warped to fight Naya Seeker of Skybreak.",[173,197,198],{},[176,199,200,201,205],{},"If this is the intended meaning, then the statement isn't consistent with the available decklists.\nMost lists didn't change after ",[139,202],{"image":203,"name":204},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F4\u002F8\u002F485be72b-d784-4886-bb3a-48cff8f781c6.jpg?1783902931","Hawkeye's Bow","'s release.",[164,207,208],{},[11,209,210,211,215,216,220],{},"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.\nIf 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 ",[139,212],{"image":213,"name":214},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F5\u002Ff\u002F5feba5d6-99a6-4e9b-8a7d-90d955868fc3.jpg?1783911263","Basking Broodscale"," (or ",[139,217],{"image":218,"name":219},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F5\u002F8\u002F580fbbf8-ba7e-4889-a5ea-d066f3ea8cea.jpg?1783938401","Splinter Twin",") and that can combo this quickly is a play pattern that we want to keep out of the format.",[11,222,223],{},"This statement is just unrealistic.\nThey say they aren't against combo per se, but how can a combo deck ever be tier 1 while complying with their standards?",[11,225,226],{},"Creature combo decks requiring multiple pieces, such as Goblin Combo and Walls Combo, have succeeded in the past.\nThe format, however, has become much more powerful.\nToday, a creature combo deck that needs three or more cards is unlikely to become a serious tier 1 contender.\nIf two-card combos are ruled out on principle, relevant creature combo decks effectively disappear from Pauper.",[11,228,229],{},"This 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.\nIf even those are banned for philosophical reasons, I can't imagine other kinds of combo decks surviving in tier 1.",[11,231,232,233,235,236,240],{},"On the other hand, the Pauper Format Panel let a spell-based combo deck like High Tide survive for 8 months, giving it a lot more leeway than ",[139,234],{"image":141,"name":142},", despite being a significantly less interactable combo deck.\nSo I might be missing something about their hierarchy of values.\nBut they did eventually ban ",[139,237],{"image":238,"name":239},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002Fa\u002Fbabd2248-5517-4b7b-a159-9a1f7b5583c8.jpg?1783918492","High Tide",", so I doubt we're going to see spell-based combo decks in the future.",[11,242,243,244,246,247,249,250,246,252,256,257,249,259,261],{},"That still doesn't cover every possibility.\nWe also have graveyard-based combo decks such as Cycling Storm, and mixed combo decks such as Gruul Storm, which uses both creatures and spells.\nSuppose one of these decks received enough support to become tier 1.\nWould the Pauper Format Panel allow it to remain legal? Maybe.\nThey haven't explicitly taken a stance against these archetypes.\nThen again, I'd place them somewhere between ",[139,245],{"image":141,"name":142}," or ",[139,248],{"image":213,"name":214}," and ",[139,251],{"image":238,"name":239},[139,253],{"image":254,"name":255},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002F3\u002Fb34f0ac1-6894-4761-b62c-b85d927acf09.jpg?1783926835","Chatterstorm"," on the spectrum of fairness.\nIf ",[139,258],{"image":141,"name":142},[139,260],{"image":213,"name":214}," are already considered unacceptable on principle, it's hard to imagine Cycling Storm or Gruul Storm surviving for long as tier 1 decks.",[11,263,264,265,267],{},"You might recall that I'm not against philosophically motivated bans, as I wanted a ",[139,266],{"image":238,"name":239}," ban on that basis.\nBut 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.\nIn my opinion, other kinds of combo decks should receive the same scrutiny as any Pauper deck, i.e.\nonly get banned if they are too strong.\nI'm not against combo in general.\nThe Pauper Format Panel claims to be in the same boat, but its actions speak differently.",[11,269,270],{},"A healthy Magic ecosystem needs combo decks.\nMoreover, Pauper is many players' first introduction to competitive Magic and is a great place to learn Magic fundamentals.\nFor me, that education included learning how to play both with and against combo decks.\nI hope future players get the same opportunity.",[164,272,273,276],{},[11,274,275],{},"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?",[11,277,278],{},"Well, given our discussion around the first question, we would say the odds are extremely high.",[11,280,281,282,284],{},"This confirms that the ",[139,283],{"image":141,"name":142}," ban doesn't have power level in mind.\nIt's a ban on principle, and I fundamentally disagree with that, for the reasons stated above.",[164,286,287],{},[11,288,289],{},"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.",[11,291,292],{},"This is another important point.\nThe last time a new tier 1 deck emerged was in April 2025, with Mono Red Madness, more than one year ago.\nAnd the last time that a new card gave rise to a new tier 1 deck was with MH3, more than two years ago.",[11,294,295],{},"A stable format certainly has its upsides, but some change is required to keep players engaged.\nThe 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.",[11,297,298],{},"In 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.",[164,300,301],{},[11,302,303,304,308,309,311,312,48],{},"While we've been looking at ",[139,305],{"image":306,"name":307},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F0\u002Fe\u002F0e3aedae-e4bb-48e3-9f8b-bea0430df306.jpg?1783911245","Sneaky Snacker"," for a while, having this deck showing up and be yet another ",[139,310],{"image":306,"name":307}," deck was not lost on us.\nAnd 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 ",[139,313],{"image":306,"name":307},[11,315,316,317,319,320,322,323,325,326,328],{},"I talked about the ",[139,318],{"image":306,"name":307}," situation in my last article.\nI don't have a strong opinion on a ",[139,321],{"image":306,"name":307}," ban, but I'm glad it's being discussed.\nI think the ban would be reasonable because ",[139,324],{"image":306,"name":307}," heavily warps the meta, but I worry about the potential consequences, which are very hard to predict.\nAfter mono red got two cards banned in recent times, ",[139,327],{"image":306,"name":307}," is the last thing keeping some version of mono red competitively viable.",[156,330,332],{"id":331},"descending-into-madness","Descending into Madness",[11,334,335,336,338],{},"The most troubling part of how the Pauper Format Panel handled ",[139,337],{"image":203,"name":204}," is how they fueled widespread panic on the internet.\nThe card wasn't even out yet, and the Pauper Format Panel was asking on social media whether it should be banned.\nNobody I know was particularly worried during spoiler season.\nTo me, it felt like the Pauper Format Panel was waving the ban hammer in search of a problem.",[11,340,341],{},"This situation generated the biggest mobilization of internet commenters I've ever seen in the context of Pauper.\nEvery social media platform was flooded with comments demanding a ban or talking as if the ban was a foregone conclusion.\nI 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.",[11,343,344],{},"Now, not being knowledgeable in Pauper isn't a sin.\nIt's always great to see new people discovering the format.\nI 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.",[11,346,347],{},"Maybe the fact that the panel members are all public figures is an incentive for them to seek external validation.\nAnonymity would better serve those who manage a format.",[156,349,351],{"id":350},"the-maturity-of-pauper","The Maturity of Pauper",[11,353,354],{},"The Pauper Format Panel took over when Pauper was still a very niche format.\nIn 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.",[11,356,357],{},"We should give the Pauper Format Panel their flowers for being part of this period of massive growth for the format.\nNonetheless, 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.",[11,359,360],{},"This would grant anonymity to the decision-makers, but it would also save them from a strange conundrum that current Pauper Format Panel members find themselves in.\nBecause Pauper Format Panel members are active players, people naturally expect them to participate in major tournaments to stay connected with the format.\nAt the same time, the increasing stakes of those events would create a perception of a conflict of interest.\nWotC employees wouldn't face the same tension.",[11,362,363,364,366],{},"The ",[139,365],{"image":141,"name":142}," 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.\nAs the format continues to grow, a better framework should be found.",[156,368,370],{"id":369},"read-next","Read next",[11,372,373],{},[42,374,377],{"href":375,"rel":376},"https:\u002F\u002Fmagic.wizards.com\u002Fen\u002Fnews\u002Fannouncements\u002Fexplanation-of-pauper-seeker-of-skybreak-ban-for-june-29-2026",[46],"Explanation of Pauper Seeker of Skybreak Ban for June 29, 2026",{"title":76,"searchDepth":77,"depth":78,"links":379},[380],{"id":134,"depth":77,"text":106,"children":381},[382,383,384,385],{"id":158,"depth":78,"text":159},{"id":331,"depth":78,"text":332},{"id":350,"depth":78,"text":351},{"id":369,"depth":78,"text":370},"2026-07-05",[],{},{"text":390,"minutes":391,"time":392,"words":393},"9 min read",8.2,492000,1640,{"title":106,"description":109},{"loc":107},[101],"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Fdescent into madness.jpeg","VWyD0qiIcAIRRM_aZmWi0C1u3u6uwdf9YZQbvfQZo1M",{"id":400,"title":401,"author":6,"body":402,"category":84,"date":470,"decks":471,"description":109,"extension":88,"location":76,"meta":472,"navigation":90,"path":473,"published":90,"readingTime":474,"seo":478,"sitemap":479,"stem":480,"tags":481,"thumbnail":482,"__hash__":483},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-06-30-ban-seeker.md","Cronaca di uno sprazzo effimero",{"type":8,"value":403,"toc":468},[404,409,412,415,418,421,424,427,430,434,437,440,443,446,449,452,455,459,462,465],[405,406,408],"h1",{"id":407},"una-doverosa-premessa","Una doverosa premessa",[11,410,411],{},"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.",[11,413,414],{},"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.",[11,416,417],{},"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:",[11,419,420],{},"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;",[11,422,423],{},"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;",[11,425,426],{},"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.",[11,428,429],{},"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.",[405,431,433],{"id":432},"linee-per-una-direzione","Linee per una direzione",[11,435,436],{},"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.",[11,438,439],{},"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.",[11,441,442],{},"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.",[11,444,445],{},"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.",[11,447,448],{},"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.",[11,450,451],{},"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.",[11,453,454],{},"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.",[405,456,458],{"id":457},"una-sgranocchiata-prolungata","Una sgranocchiata prolungata",[11,460,461],{},"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.",[11,463,464],{},"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.",[11,466,467],{},"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":76,"searchDepth":77,"depth":78,"links":469},[],"2026-06-30",[],{},"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-06-30-ban-seeker",{"text":93,"minutes":475,"time":476,"words":477},4.185,251100,837,{"title":401,"description":109},{"loc":473},"articles\u002F2026-06-30-ban-seeker",[101],"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Fseeker-of-skybreak.jpg","Etbb2K-L2vDISPQHz7Kf8HM5HxYmIJIP9XpLDN_lPiU",{"id":485,"title":486,"author":129,"body":487,"category":84,"date":758,"decks":759,"description":76,"extension":88,"location":76,"meta":760,"navigation":90,"path":761,"published":90,"readingTime":762,"seo":766,"sitemap":767,"stem":768,"tags":769,"thumbnail":770,"__hash__":771},"articles\u002Farticles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries.md","The War of the Faeries",{"type":8,"value":488,"toc":756},[489,492,501,575,581,586,598,609,621,630,648,654,668,671,697,712,726,744],[11,490,491],{},"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.",[11,493,494,495,500],{},"Let's start by looking at the two most popular creatures in the format, according to ",[42,496,499],{"href":497,"rel":498},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mtggoldfish.com\u002Fformat-staples\u002Fpauper",[46],"MtgGoldfish"," as of today:",[502,503,504,525],"table",{},[505,506,507],"thead",{},[508,509,510,513,516,519,522],"tr",{},[511,512],"th",{},[511,514,515],{},"Card",[511,517,518],{},"Cost",[511,520,521],{},"% of Decks",[511,523,524],{},"# Played",[526,527,528,555],"tbody",{},[508,529,530,534,540,549,552],{},[531,532,533],"td",{},"1",[531,535,536],{},[139,537],{"image":538,"name":539},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F6\u002F2\u002F62103ceb-b16d-48ea-af42-d3df88d1ee4c.jpg?1783938752","Faerie Macabre",[531,541,542,545,546],{},[543,544],"magic-card-mana-symbol",{"symbol":533}," ",[543,547],{"symbol":548},"bb",[531,550,551],{},"24",[531,553,554],{},"2.3",[508,556,557,560,564,569,572],{},[531,558,559],{},"2",[531,561,562],{},[139,563],{"image":306,"name":307},[531,565,566],{},[543,567],{"symbol":568},"ub",[531,570,571],{},"22",[531,573,574],{},"4",[11,576,577,578,580],{},"After its release, it took a while for ",[139,579],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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.",[11,582,583,585],{},[139,584],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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.",[11,587,588,589,591,592,594,595,597],{},"Reactive decks struggle to answer ",[139,590],{"image":306,"name":307}," with commonly played interactions, but leaving ",[139,593],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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 ",[139,596],{"image":306,"name":307},".\nIf you can't find a convincing answer, you now know why you don't see the deck around.",[11,599,600,601,603,604,608],{},"So, ",[139,602],{"image":306,"name":307}," demands running some specific solutions, which is one of the main reasons for the big uptick in ",[139,605],{"image":606,"name":607},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fe\u002F5\u002Fe5892a23-efae-4731-9b8f-41c87960fe93.jpg?1783935110","Nihil Spellbomb"," during the last year.\nBut",[610,611,612,615],"ol",{},[176,613,614],{},"not every reactive deck is black;",[176,616,617,618,620],{},"even 4 ",[139,619],{"image":606,"name":607},"s is not enough.",[11,622,623,624,626,627,629],{},"Why did I say (2)? Because if a reanimated ",[139,625],{"image":306,"name":307}," kills your deck, you need very high chances of preventing it.\nYou can't leave it to chance.\nSeeing a ",[139,628],{"image":306,"name":307}," on the opposite side should be a rare occurrence if you built your deck correctly.",[11,631,632,633,635,636,638,639,249,643,647],{},"Regarding (1), the most common way to prevent ",[139,634],{"image":306,"name":307}," from hitting the board in non-black decks is countermagic.\nIf you manage to counter every rummage effect, ",[139,637],{"image":306,"name":307}," won't be a problem.\nThis is one of the main reasons why ",[139,640],{"image":641,"name":642},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F4\u002Fc\u002F4c9c9b16-5567-4473-95e6-622292f77336.jpg?1783937613","Hydroblast",[139,644],{"image":645,"name":646},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F2\u002Ff\u002F2f51f88f-f662-4572-a371-9a77718ed079.jpg?1783935184","Blue Elemental Blast"," are so popular.",[11,649,650,651,653],{},"While countermagic is undeniably good against ",[139,652],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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?",[11,655,656,657,659,660,662,663,667],{},"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",[139,658],{"image":306,"name":307},"s must be exiled with ",[139,661],{"image":538,"name":539},", and pingers must be killed on sight with ",[139,664],{"image":665,"name":666},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002F9\u002Fb999eb47-b842-47f1-be91-c79fc46e1896.jpg?1783909451","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.",[11,669,670],{},"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.",[11,672,673,674,676,677,681,682,249,686,690,691,693,694,696],{},"So, what other options do we have to deal with ",[139,675],{"image":306,"name":307},"? We've seen nonblack reactive decks adopt some creative solutions.\nFor example, we saw ",[139,678],{"image":679,"name":680},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fb\u002F3\u002Fb3d6027c-813f-46df-95b4-e2e305a67620.jpg?1783915088","Torch the Tower"," in UR Control and Jeskai Ephemerate.\nBroadly speaking, ",[139,683],{"image":684,"name":685},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F3\u002F4\u002F34b64d10-c012-4370-b475-755c4025a348.jpg?1783915603","Campfire",[139,687],{"image":688,"name":689},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002Fc\u002F7\u002Fc74e13eb-6f82-4db1-9d0d-8310f48d9f6d.jpg?1783926159","Desert"," can also be considered solutions to ",[139,692],{"image":306,"name":307},".\nThey're usually adopted by Gardens, but they aren't actually bound to the black color.\nAnyway, they are pretty mediocre at answering ",[139,695],{"image":306,"name":307}," specifically.",[11,698,699,700,702,703,705,706,708,709,711],{},"There is a card that is available to any deck and deals very well with ",[139,701],{"image":306,"name":307},", and it's the most played creature that I was showing at the beginning: ",[139,704],{"image":538,"name":539},".\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 ",[139,707],{"image":306,"name":307}," to draw two cards, and you respond with ",[139,710],{"image":538,"name":539},", they keep the same number of cards, while you're down one.",[11,713,714,715,717,718,720,721,725],{},"Now, on one hand, if the ",[139,716],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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 ",[139,719],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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 ",[139,722],{"image":723,"name":724},"https:\u002F\u002Fcards.scryfall.io\u002Fnormal\u002Ffront\u002F8\u002F9\u002F89f612d6-7c59-4a7b-a87d-45f789e88ba5.jpg?1783918494","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.",[11,727,728,729,731,732,734,735,737,738,740,741,743],{},"As we saw, ",[139,730],{"image":538,"name":539}," is already the most played creature.\nBut my suggestion is still for everybody to closely examine their deck and its current answers to ",[139,733],{"image":306,"name":307},", and ask themselves if they could use a few ",[139,736],{"image":538,"name":539},"s to be safer against the ",[139,739],{"image":306,"name":307}," 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 ",[139,742],{"image":306,"name":307}," decks.\nSince then, my teammate, seasonofmists, and I have had a lot of success with the same 75.",[11,745,746,747,749,750,752,753,755],{},"Since the next B&R announcement is approaching, I want to clarify that the goal of this article is not to \"normalize\" ",[139,748],{"image":306,"name":307}," by suggesting that the format can comfortably handle it thanks to ",[139,751],{"image":538,"name":539},".\nWhenever Pauper reaches a point where _ ",[139,754],{"image":723,"name":724}," 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":76,"searchDepth":77,"depth":78,"links":757},[],"2026-05-15",[],{},"\u002Farticles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries",{"text":93,"minutes":763,"time":764,"words":765},4.715,282900,943,{"title":486,"description":76},{"loc":761},"articles\u002F2026-05-15-the-war-of-the-faeries",[101],"\u002Fassets\u002Fblog\u002Farts\u002Ffaerie-macabre-and-sneaky-snaker.png","uhhs3JL3rwWS_q-6jYH4o64zlxYfgPmji9v4N0kfKHg",[773,774,775,776,777,778,779,780,781,782,783,784,785,786,787,788,789,790,791,792,793,794,795,796,797,798,799,800,801,802,803,804,805,806,807,808,809,810,811,812,813,814],"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","rovigo",[816,819],{"id":113,"avatar":114,"bio":115,"description":116,"extension":117,"meta":817,"name":6,"nickname":119,"socials":818,"stem":122,"url":123,"__hash__":124},{},{"twitter":121},{"id":820,"avatar":821,"bio":822,"description":823,"extension":117,"meta":824,"name":129,"nickname":823,"socials":110,"stem":825,"url":826,"__hash__":827},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fdonfrancesco-paolo.yml","\u002Fassets\u002Favatars\u002Fpaolo-donfrancesco.jpg","Walker735 on Magic Online. Golden Pigs member and Paupergeddon finalist.","Walker735",{},"authors\u002Fdonfrancesco-paolo","\u002Fauthors\u002Fpaolo-donfrancesco","bWa9MMM18Q7oFkz060ZdC4oEGnyN46vPpp5KLM5zvSs",1785314707254]