I'm kind of surprised to see that no one's mentioned Infernal Plunge at all. It allows for pretty ridiculous turn two plays, with a little luck of course. It and One with Nothing are the closest thing we're going to get to Lion's Eye Diamond, and the "drawback" that both cards have is hardly a drawback for a deck like this.
This list isn't tested (yet) but it's what I've been brewing:
The manabase is a total pile and needs a lot of work. Again, this isn't tested yet, but it seems like it has very explosive potential.
I also really like the One With Nothing list. Modern is slow enough to where I feel a more brutal approach (like with OwN or Plunge) will seal out game 1's the majority of the time, like in Legacy. Games 2/3 will be a little easier with cards like Plunge, Tymaret, and Gargadon because they give you uncounterable sac outlets. I'll report back once I've done some real world testing.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'm going to try to stick with the themes I have but eventually do want to try some others (like counters). More good one and two drop creatures will make their way to the cube, too.
Can you give me a few of the more powerful commons I'm missing? I'd like to consider adding some more powerful cards to all the nonblue colors.
I know three of the better commons that aren't in are Gitaxian Probe, Tortured Existence, and Delver of Secrets. Tortured Existence will be added in as soon as I get a copy. The other two are not in because I thought they might make blue too good.
Hello cube veterans! Fairly inexperienced at making cubes and wanted some guidance. Here's my cube.
I'm looking to get some opinions on a cube I just revamped. My goal is to make aggro and control viable for all color combos yet still have archetypes other color groups can fall into. I've only drafted this cube once but blue seemed a bit better than the rest of the colors (I did get passed Mulldrifter and Treasure Cruise though...). My playgroup is anywhere between 4 and 8 people.
Here's what I was thinking for archetypes across groups of colors. I obviously don't want to have to force players to go more than 2 colors, so please tell me if the thematic overlap is too much. When I said Tokens is viable for Naya colors I mean any of the Naya colors can conceivably build a token deck.
If you have any advice for archetypes or just general changes to the cube I'd love to hear them. I'm not sure whether focusing more on strong two color synergies is better than allowing for some wiggle room within archetypes. Like I said my group has only drafted this iteration once so we don't have a ton of feedback yet. Thanks a lot!
Seems like Satyr Wayfinder would be better than Mulch, as it gives you another body for Dread Return. There's also Grisly Salvage which mills 1 more than Mulch. I like the deck by the way! Do you find that 3 fatties is enough?
Also maybe consider Golgari Grave-Troll. It doubles as both a fatty and a sweet dredger.
Miracle Grow has always been one of my favorite decks. I want to build a more up-to-date version to use with my friends for casual games. Unfortunately, I don't have access to two of the most powerful (and expensive) cards in the deck: Tropical Island and Force of Will. Breeding Pool will do over Trop but I don't think Disrupting Shoal is nearly as good as FoW... but I guess we'll find out!
The other thing is that I don't really want to run Gush. That card just breaks this deck (and many others) right in half and would put this deck way over the power level of the other decks I play with. Unfortunately I'm going to have to use Fathom Seer in its place for the sake of fairness.
With the addition of cards like Treasure Cruise and Delver of Secrets, I feel like this deck can be pretty good. Here's my rough draft.
I'm sure most people know the idea behind this deck. Play a dude, protect it, and land Winter Orb when they tap out. TC to refill (in place of Gush).
This deck is untested as of right now. The counterspell suite looks like a bit of a mess because I'm really not sure what's best. Also unsure about the number of creatures (is 9 too few? should I run something like Nimble Mongoose?) and the draw (might be too much?). 9 creatures might actually end up being okay, as all three creatures in the deck can win the game by themselves pretty easily. Fetches are also questionable, as they don't discard to Foil as normal Islands do, but they help feed Cruise and thin out the deck.
Isn't affinity pretty strong in a format with such a small banned list? It only loses MoE and Springleaf Drum from its Legacy iteration.
Something like:
Obviously a super rough draft but it seems like this would wreck just about everything. Also consider that affinity has an absolutely massive list of cards to choose from that I didn't even mention. It has removal and reach (Dispatch, Galvanic Blast, Shrapnel Blast), other good fatties (Enforcer, Carapace Forger, Sunchaser), and tons of other utility and random stuff (Hoverguards, Blinkmoth/Inkmoth, Welding Jar, Steel Overseer, Ensoul Artifact, etc etc) If BYOS becomes a thing I most likely see myself playing some iteration of affinity. But to be safe, I think realistically banning either plating, the colored artifact lands, ravager, or some combo of those cards would keep affinity from wrecking everything.
That being said, BYOS has always been one of my favorite formats to even just brainstorm about. I really hope it catches on more.
Edit: MUD seems pretty disgusting in this format too. Tempest/Mirrodin gives us access to Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Wasteland, Lotus Petal, MOX Diamond, Cloudpost, and artifact lands all for mana. We also get some of the best artifact lock pieces and finishers in Trinisphere, Chalice, Sphere of Resistance, Crucible of Worlds, Silent Arbiter, Sundering Titan, Staff of Domination, Duplicant, and a ton more I know I'm missing from Mirrodin block (including all of Affinity's goodies). To top it off we get Ensoul Artifact from M15 as well as Blood Moon/Urza lands from 8th and the various artifact fatties and Voltaic Key in other core sets. No Forgemaster, Tinker, or Metalworker, but it still seems like it has potential to be busted.
I made a thread about a deck sorta similar to this in the online Pauper forum. link here. Here's what I'm working with right now. (the thread decklist is out of date; I'll update it sometime soon)
Instead of the madness shell, it just tries to dump a boatload of cards into the graveyard as quickly as possible and hopes to get a beater out in the first two turns of the game. It's fairly consistent but also pretty fragile. Not sure yet what I can do to help make the deck a little more rigid while still maintaining its speed, though I do think Grim Discovery is a good start.
I don't really play pauper much, but looking through my collection of commons, as well as the KTK spoilers, makes me think that a turbo-delve deck can be a thing maybe. I haven't done any testing really, but the deck seems to goldfish well. I'll go over the deck, card choices, and other possible inclusions.
8 self-mill cantrips: these are basically dark ritual for the best cards in our deck. 8 is probably too many but definitely makes for some hilarious plays.
G.Probe/Street Wraith: "free" cantrips. Street Wraith can also be played in a pinch and comes back with Grim Discovery.
4 Ponder: A good amount of time this acts kind of like brainstorm: pick the best of 3 cards and mill/shuffle the others away. Makes me think Brainstorm might actually be better here, but I dunno.
2 Careful Study: bins extra lands but ultimately is card disadvantage. This card would probably work way better in a deck with Deep Analysis or dredgers.
Delve cards: 4 TC is necessary to make this deck work. You won't be casting it turn 1 very often, but a turn 2-3 TC usually enables a big dude a turn or two later. I find 6 delve dudes enough, as I don't want them clogging my hand too much.
Delver of Secrets: duh
Grim Discovery: This SEEMS like it's a really, really good card. Get back a threat and re-use a fetch? Like most of these choices though, I have no real testing so I can't say for sure that it's good.
Manabase: Lotus Petal essentially gives us two mana for some spells, along with helping us cast the two splashed creatures in our deck. I have yet to have mana problems with the current manabase.
There are a TON of cards I feel have potential in a deck like this. I'll list a few of my favorites:
Perilous Research. Eat an extra land and draw 2? That's almost as good as Cruise! Not sure if it fits yet though. Brainstorm. With all the milling and the fetches, Brainstorm might be better than both Ponder and Careful Study. Not sure though.
Dredgers (Moldervine Cloak, Greater Mossdog, etc). Getting a dredger in the bin first turn would indeed make the deck take off, but I feel that would hurt the overall consistency of the deck if it shifted focus to binning dredgers. I have yet to test it though.
Countermagic (Daze, Mana Leak, etc). Running a deck like this with next to no protection is probably a bad idea. Some cantrips (CS, maybe a few mill cantrips) can probably be taken out for some countermagic. Deep Analysis and other flashback cards. Running Probe, Wraith, AND this is probably too much, but it synergizes well with Careful Study and the whole milling plan. Gush. More of a lategame card for sure, but if we absolutely need more card draw in the deck this is probably the way to go.
Retrace cards (Oona's Grace, etc). These might be too expensive to matter, but they do exist. Maybe as a 1-of this wouldn't be bad. Commune with the Gods, Scout the Borders, Mulch, and Satyr Wayfinder. The big problem with these cards is that we generally don't want to see more than 2-3 lands hit play per game. They're great at milling but that's about it. They also make the mana less stable, being green cards in a deck with very few sources of green. They COULD end up being very good, solid cards, but on paper they seem a bit slow. Cloud of Faeries and Snap. Cloud of Faeries I feel doesn't really have a place in a deck like this, but Snap might. Given that it's a free spell that can remove a troublesome blocker (Spire Golem), it seems like this could easily find its way into the deck. Ghastly Demise seems to be the best removal for a deck like this, if needed. Probably better suited as a card for the board though.
Speaking of the sideboard, I have no idea what pauper sideboards usually look like, but I'd imagine a board for this deck would have some number of Annul, Ghastly Demise, Relic of Progenitus, Duress, Negate, Golgari Brownscale, and other pauper goodies I don't know about.
Regardless of the deck's potential in Pauper, this is a deck I will most assuredly be building for casual play. I hope this can turn into something real in Pauper though!
I won't be using any other decks to face off against these (unless the prospective new players start to build their own). The only other decks I have are out-of-date Legacy decks. haha
I changed a lot of the decklists around some more, adding a few more early game spells and varying up everything a little bit overall.
I've also updated the first post with the new lists.
My issue with that is that no one really has time to invest in a single player game to learn a multiplayer game. I'd rather just spend a half hour one day teaching everyone, letting them pick their favorite deck(s) to keep, then have them modify them from there.
Thanks for all the help guys!
I took a bunch of your suggestions to heart. I've moved away from "pauper" and incorporated some uncommons into the decks, and increased the mana curves of all the decks. Here's the new and updated lists for everything:
I wanted to make some decks to help my friends learn Magic. I started to build ten decks (one for each color pair) but then realized that some were much much better than others.
Most of the cards I have are pre-Innistrad. I have no problems with buying new cards as long as it's commons and/or cheap uncommons.
The "rules" I want to try to follow:
-All commons/cheap uncommons. I don't want to spend too much.
-If possible, limited duplicates between decks. I don't want every R/x deck to start with 4 Lightning Bolt, or every U/x deck to start with 4 Mulldrifters. I understand that there are some cards that are just better than others, but I want to do my best to have a diverse set of cards within the ten decks.
-I also want to try to avoid cards that are too "unfun." The big ones that comes to mind in the pauper world are Delver and Guardian of the Guildpact. Autowin combos should also be avoided.
-I know this is difficult, but I would like for all decks to be playable in both 1v1s and in multiplayer games. Right now all the decks are very 1v1 focused, but I would like to get away from that just a bit. I'm terrible at building multiplayer decks, and I know they function way different than 1v1 decks, but I just want them to be playable in multiplayer on a relatively even level.
Here is what I have so far for each deck of each color:
B/U is definitely the best of the bunch. It can drag on games forever and almost always wins if the game goes past turn 6 or so. I'd like to swap some cards out to make it a bit weaker.
G/W is the weakest. I don't know of any good commons to ramp into besides the Eldrazi one, which I don't want to use.
R/B sometimes seems underwhelming. It's very inconsistent. I'd like to make it just a bit less all in and just a bit more consistent in the late game.
The rest... I am really not sure of.
Seems to me like Spirit Loop would be better than Spirit Link.
I also agree with everyone else that Godhead of Awe seems like a much better alternative to Divinity of Pride.
edit: just realized Spirit Loop only works on your own creatures. I'll go ahead and stand by the PtE choice then. Targeted removal in multiplayer is sometimes a necessity, and it works great with Land Tax.
Or, if you decide to keep Spirit Link and run some more creature enchantments, you can always run Tallowisp.
The deck concept is simple: ramp up to Jokulhaups/Obliterate, wipe the board, land a big dude, and start wiping people out. I picked Tinder Wall and Wild Cantor as accelerants because they help your finishers (Lhurgoyf/Bonehoard) get bigger. Every little bit helps. Plus, you never know when you're going to win a game because a Wild Cantor was able to carry your Bonehoard.
Fertile Ground is there just to be cute with Darksteel Citadel if possible.
Darksteel Pendant is a cheap replacement for Sensei's Divining Top and works well off of just one Darksteel Citadel/Ingot.
This list isn't tested (yet) but it's what I've been brewing:
4 Gemstone Mine
2 Dakmor Salvage
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Golgari Thug
2 Life from the Loam
4 Bridge from Below
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoeba
4 Greater Gargadon
4 Infernal Plunge
1 Rally the Peasants
4 Burning Inquiry
2 Dangerous Wager
The manabase is a total pile and needs a lot of work. Again, this isn't tested yet, but it seems like it has very explosive potential.
I also really like the One With Nothing list. Modern is slow enough to where I feel a more brutal approach (like with OwN or Plunge) will seal out game 1's the majority of the time, like in Legacy. Games 2/3 will be a little easier with cards like Plunge, Tymaret, and Gargadon because they give you uncounterable sac outlets. I'll report back once I've done some real world testing.
I know three of the better commons that aren't in are Gitaxian Probe, Tortured Existence, and Delver of Secrets. Tortured Existence will be added in as soon as I get a copy. The other two are not in because I thought they might make blue too good.
I'm looking to get some opinions on a cube I just revamped. My goal is to make aggro and control viable for all color combos yet still have archetypes other color groups can fall into. I've only drafted this cube once but blue seemed a bit better than the rest of the colors (I did get passed Mulldrifter and Treasure Cruise though...). My playgroup is anywhere between 4 and 8 people.
Here's what I was thinking for archetypes across groups of colors. I obviously don't want to have to force players to go more than 2 colors, so please tell me if the thematic overlap is too much. When I said Tokens is viable for Naya colors I mean any of the Naya colors can conceivably build a token deck.
Tokens: WRG
graveyard: UBG
Aggro-combo/storm/yolo: WUR
Voltron/hexproof: WBG
Ramp: URG
Fliers/evasion: WUB
If you have any advice for archetypes or just general changes to the cube I'd love to hear them. I'm not sure whether focusing more on strong two color synergies is better than allowing for some wiggle room within archetypes. Like I said my group has only drafted this iteration once so we don't have a ton of feedback yet. Thanks a lot!
Also maybe consider Golgari Grave-Troll. It doubles as both a fatty and a sweet dredger.
The other thing is that I don't really want to run Gush. That card just breaks this deck (and many others) right in half and would put this deck way over the power level of the other decks I play with. Unfortunately I'm going to have to use Fathom Seer in its place for the sake of fairness.
With the addition of cards like Treasure Cruise and Delver of Secrets, I feel like this deck can be pretty good. Here's my rough draft.
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Quirion Dryad
1 Chasm Skulker
2 Fathom Seer
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
1 Opt
2 Treasure Cruise
4 Daze
3 Spell Pierce
2 Counterspell
2 Disrupting Shoal
2 Foil
4 Winter Orb
2 Vapor Snag
1 Echoing Truth
4 Breeding Pool
3 Island
4 blue fetches
4 Land Grant
I'm sure most people know the idea behind this deck. Play a dude, protect it, and land Winter Orb when they tap out. TC to refill (in place of Gush).
This deck is untested as of right now. The counterspell suite looks like a bit of a mess because I'm really not sure what's best. Also unsure about the number of creatures (is 9 too few? should I run something like Nimble Mongoose?) and the draw (might be too much?). 9 creatures might actually end up being okay, as all three creatures in the deck can win the game by themselves pretty easily. Fetches are also questionable, as they don't discard to Foil as normal Islands do, but they help feed Cruise and thin out the deck.
Any advice from seasoned Gro veterans?
Something like:
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Furnace/Den/Tree
3 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Frogmite
4 Ornithopter
3 Memnite
4 Etched Champion
4 Paradise Mantle or AEther Vial
4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Obviously a super rough draft but it seems like this would wreck just about everything. Also consider that affinity has an absolutely massive list of cards to choose from that I didn't even mention. It has removal and reach (Dispatch, Galvanic Blast, Shrapnel Blast), other good fatties (Enforcer, Carapace Forger, Sunchaser), and tons of other utility and random stuff (Hoverguards, Blinkmoth/Inkmoth, Welding Jar, Steel Overseer, Ensoul Artifact, etc etc) If BYOS becomes a thing I most likely see myself playing some iteration of affinity. But to be safe, I think realistically banning either plating, the colored artifact lands, ravager, or some combo of those cards would keep affinity from wrecking everything.
That being said, BYOS has always been one of my favorite formats to even just brainstorm about. I really hope it catches on more.
Edit: MUD seems pretty disgusting in this format too. Tempest/Mirrodin gives us access to Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Wasteland, Lotus Petal, MOX Diamond, Cloudpost, and artifact lands all for mana. We also get some of the best artifact lock pieces and finishers in Trinisphere, Chalice, Sphere of Resistance, Crucible of Worlds, Silent Arbiter, Sundering Titan, Staff of Domination, Duplicant, and a ton more I know I'm missing from Mirrodin block (including all of Affinity's goodies). To top it off we get Ensoul Artifact from M15 as well as Blood Moon/Urza lands from 8th and the various artifact fatties and Voltaic Key in other core sets. No Forgemaster, Tinker, or Metalworker, but it still seems like it has potential to be busted.
4x Mental Note
2x Snap
4x Thought Scour
4x Gitaxian Probe
2x Grim Discovery
4x Treasure Cruise
4x Hooting Mandrills
4x Street Wraith
3x Sultai Scavenger
4x Lotus Petal
2x Forest
10x Island
2x Swamp
Instead of the madness shell, it just tries to dump a boatload of cards into the graveyard as quickly as possible and hopes to get a beater out in the first two turns of the game. It's fairly consistent but also pretty fragile. Not sure yet what I can do to help make the deck a little more rigid while still maintaining its speed, though I do think Grim Discovery is a good start.
4x Evolving Wilds
2x Forest
10x Island
2x Swamp
Instant
4x Mental Note
4x Thought Scour
4x Gitaxian Probe
2x Grim Discovery
2x Careful Study
4x Ponder
4x Treasure Cruise
4x Lotus Petal
Creature
4x Delver of Secrets
3x Hooting Mandrills
4x Street Wraith
3x Sultai Scavenger
So let's start from the top:
8 self-mill cantrips: these are basically dark ritual for the best cards in our deck. 8 is probably too many but definitely makes for some hilarious plays.
G.Probe/Street Wraith: "free" cantrips. Street Wraith can also be played in a pinch and comes back with Grim Discovery.
4 Ponder: A good amount of time this acts kind of like brainstorm: pick the best of 3 cards and mill/shuffle the others away. Makes me think Brainstorm might actually be better here, but I dunno.
2 Careful Study: bins extra lands but ultimately is card disadvantage. This card would probably work way better in a deck with Deep Analysis or dredgers.
Delve cards: 4 TC is necessary to make this deck work. You won't be casting it turn 1 very often, but a turn 2-3 TC usually enables a big dude a turn or two later. I find 6 delve dudes enough, as I don't want them clogging my hand too much.
Delver of Secrets: duh
Grim Discovery: This SEEMS like it's a really, really good card. Get back a threat and re-use a fetch? Like most of these choices though, I have no real testing so I can't say for sure that it's good.
Manabase: Lotus Petal essentially gives us two mana for some spells, along with helping us cast the two splashed creatures in our deck. I have yet to have mana problems with the current manabase.
There are a TON of cards I feel have potential in a deck like this. I'll list a few of my favorites:
Perilous Research. Eat an extra land and draw 2? That's almost as good as Cruise! Not sure if it fits yet though.
Brainstorm. With all the milling and the fetches, Brainstorm might be better than both Ponder and Careful Study. Not sure though.
Dredgers (Moldervine Cloak, Greater Mossdog, etc). Getting a dredger in the bin first turn would indeed make the deck take off, but I feel that would hurt the overall consistency of the deck if it shifted focus to binning dredgers. I have yet to test it though.
Countermagic (Daze, Mana Leak, etc). Running a deck like this with next to no protection is probably a bad idea. Some cantrips (CS, maybe a few mill cantrips) can probably be taken out for some countermagic.
Deep Analysis and other flashback cards. Running Probe, Wraith, AND this is probably too much, but it synergizes well with Careful Study and the whole milling plan.
Gush. More of a lategame card for sure, but if we absolutely need more card draw in the deck this is probably the way to go.
Retrace cards (Oona's Grace, etc). These might be too expensive to matter, but they do exist. Maybe as a 1-of this wouldn't be bad.
Commune with the Gods, Scout the Borders, Mulch, and Satyr Wayfinder. The big problem with these cards is that we generally don't want to see more than 2-3 lands hit play per game. They're great at milling but that's about it. They also make the mana less stable, being green cards in a deck with very few sources of green. They COULD end up being very good, solid cards, but on paper they seem a bit slow.
Cloud of Faeries and Snap. Cloud of Faeries I feel doesn't really have a place in a deck like this, but Snap might. Given that it's a free spell that can remove a troublesome blocker (Spire Golem), it seems like this could easily find its way into the deck.
Ghastly Demise seems to be the best removal for a deck like this, if needed. Probably better suited as a card for the board though.
Speaking of the sideboard, I have no idea what pauper sideboards usually look like, but I'd imagine a board for this deck would have some number of Annul, Ghastly Demise, Relic of Progenitus, Duress, Negate, Golgari Brownscale, and other pauper goodies I don't know about.
Regardless of the deck's potential in Pauper, this is a deck I will most assuredly be building for casual play. I hope this can turn into something real in Pauper though!
I changed a lot of the decklists around some more, adding a few more early game spells and varying up everything a little bit overall.
I've also updated the first post with the new lists.
11 Island
4 Plains
1 Ancient Den
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Azorius Guildgate
Creatures 15
4 Arctic Aven
4 Trinket Mage
4 Spire Golem
3 Harbor Serpent
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Leonin Scimitar
1 Flayer Husk
1 Elixir of Immortality
Counters 8
3 Essence Scatter
2 Hindering Light
3 Counterspell
4 Serum Visions
3 Jace's Ingenuity
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Dimir Guildgate
4 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Island
12 Swamp
3 Dimir Signet
3 Twisted Abomination
2 Skeletal Wurm
4 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Mulldrifter
3 Harbor Bandit
3 Terror
3 Nausea
4 Agony Warp
2 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Careful Consideration
3 Exsanguinate
11 Mountain
7 Swamp
4 Rakdos Guildgate
Creatures 25
4 Goblin Deathraiders
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Phyrexian Rager
3 Rakdos Ragemutt
3 Ashenmoor Gouger
3 Shambling Remains
4 Daggerdrone Imp
3 Civic Saber
Spells 10
2 Fireball
3 Arc Lightning
3 Auger Spree
2 Wrecking Ball
11 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Gruul Guildgate
Creatures 20
4 Flinthoof Boar
2 Mogg Flunkies
2 Dragon Whelp
3 Civic Wayfinder
2 Streetbreaker Wurm
2 Garruk's Packleader
3 Primal Huntbeast
2 Vastwood Gorger
4 Rampant Growth
2 Cultivate
2 Overrun
3 Steam Blast
3 Colossal Might
3 Thunderbolt
13 Forest
6 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
Creatures 26
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Steward of Valeron
4 Selesnya Guildmage
2 Risen Sanctuary
2 Pelakka Wurm
2 Kabira Vindicator
2 Bountiful Harvest
2 Sentinel Spider
3 Naturalize
3 Journey to Nowhere
3 Hunter's Insight
2 Crystal Ball
7 Mountains
6 Plains
2 Teetering Peaks
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Naya Panorama
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Skyknight Legionnaire
2 Sunhome Guildmage
3 Serra Angel
2 Searing Blaze
3 Incinerate
2 Charge Across the Araba
4 Burst Lightning
3 Adventuring Gear
2 Barrel Down Sokenzan
8 Swamp
11 Forest
4 Golgari Guildgate
Creatures 26
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Llanowar Dead
3 Putrid Leech
3 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Gravedigger
4 Golgari Rotwurm
2 Sprout Swarm
3 Citanul Woodreaders
2 Symbiotic Beast
2 Bone Splinters
1 Grim Harvest
3 Terror
3 Consume Strength
2 Death Denied
8 Island
4 Izzet Guildgate
10 Mountain
Creatures 13
4 Goblin Electromancer
3 Steamcore Weird
3 Stormbound Geist
3 Frostburn Weird
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Burst Lightning
2 Fireball
2 Mystic Retrieval
3 Desperate Ravings
1 Secrets of the Dead
2 Electrickery
2 Essence Backlash
3 Mana Leak
2 Burning Vengeance
3 Think Twice
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
7 Island
Creatures 22
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Looter il-Kor
2 Springing Tiger
2 Golgari Brownscale
2 Stitched Drake
2 Mana Leak
2 Counterspell
4 Compulsive Research
4 Deep Analysis
2 Prey Upon
3 Piracy Charm
4 Orzhov Guildgate
8 Plains
10 Swamp
3 Orzhov Signet
2 Pristine Talisman
2 Sengir Vampire
4 Mourning Thrull
2 Agent of Masks
3 Seraph of Dawn
3 Kemba's Skyguard
4 Sign in Blood
3 Faith's Fetters
3 Doom Blade
2 Last Gasp
2 Infest
3 Edge of the Divinity
2 Syphon Mind
I took a bunch of your suggestions to heart. I've moved away from "pauper" and incorporated some uncommons into the decks, and increased the mana curves of all the decks. Here's the new and updated lists for everything:
11 Island
4 Plains
1 Ancient Den
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Azorius Guildgate
Creatures 15
4 Arctic Aven
4 Trinket Mage
4 Spire Golem
3 Harbor Serpent
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Leonin Scimitar
1 Flayer Husk
1 Elixir of Immortality
Counters 8
3 Essence Scatter
2 Hindering Light
3 Counterspell
4 Serum Visions
3 Jace's Ingenuity
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Dimir Guildgate
4 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Island
12 Swamp
3 Dimir Signet
3 Twisted Abomination
2 Terrus Wurm
4 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Mulldrifter
3 Harbor Bandit
3 Terror
3 Nausea
4 Agony Warp
2 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Careful Consideration
3 Exsanguinate
11 Mountain
7 Swamp
4 Rakdos Guildgate
Creatures 25
4 Goblin Deathraiders
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Phyrexian Rager
3 Rakdos Ragemutt
3 Ashenmoor Gouger
3 Shambling Remains
4 Daggerdrone Imp
3 Civic Saber
Spells 10
2 Fireball
3 Arc Lightning
3 Auger Spree
2 Wrecking Ball
11 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Gruul Guildgate
Creatures 19
4 Flinthoof Boar
2 Mogg Flunkies
2 Dragon Whelp
2 Civic Wayfinder
2 Streetbreaker Wurm
2 Garruk's Packleader
3 Primal Huntbeast
2 Vastwood Gorger
4 Rampant Growth
2 Cultivate
3 Overrun
3 Steam Blast
3 Colossal Might
3 Thunderbolt
13 Forest
6 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
Creatures 26
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Steward of Valeron
4 Selesnya Guildmage
2 Risen Sacntuary
2 Pelakka Wurm
2 Kabira Vindicator
2 Pale Recluse
2 Sentinel Spider
3 Naturalize
3 Journey to Nowhere
3 Hunter's Insight
2 Crystal Ball
7 Mountains
6 Plains
2 Teetering Peaks
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Naya Panorama
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Skyknight Legionnaire
2 Sunhome Guildmage
3 Serra Angel
2 Searing Blaze
3 Incinerate
2 Charge Across the Araba
4 Burst Lightning
3 Adventuring Gear
2 Barrel Down Sokenzan
8 Swamp
11 Forest
4 Golgari Guildgate
Creatures 26
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Llanowar Dead
4 Putrid Leech
2 Civic Wayfinder
2 Gravedigger
4 Golgari Rotwurm
2 Sprout Swarm
3 Citanul Woodreaders
2 Symbiotic Beast
2 Bone Splinters
1 Grim Harvest
3 Terror
3 Consume Strength
2 Death Denied
8 Island
4 Izzet Guildgate
10 Mountain
Creatures
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Steamcore Weird
4 Stormbound Geist
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Burst Lightning
2 Fireball
3 Desperate Ravings
2 Electrickery
2 Essence Backlash
4 Mana Leak
2 Staggershock
3 Think Twice
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
7 Island
Creatures 22
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Looter il-Kor
2 Springing Tiger
2 Golgari Brownscale
2 Stitched Drake
2 Mana Leak
2 Counterspell
4 Compulsive Research
4 Deep Analysis
2 Prey Upon
3 Piracy Charm
4 Orzhov Guildgate
8 Plains
10 Swamp
3 Orzhov Signet
2 Pristine Talisman
2 Sengir Vampire
2 Phyrexian Gargantua
2 Agent of Masks
2 Skeletal Wurm
3 Seraph of Dawn
3 Kemba's Skyguard
4 Sign in Blood
4 Faith's Fetters
3 Doom Blade
3 Last Gasp
3 Infest
2 Syphon Mind
I have yet to playtest any of these lists; I'm going to wait for the new set to come out before buying any cards.
Please let me know what you think of the new lists and if anything seems off or could be improved.
Thanks!
Most of the cards I have are pre-Innistrad. I have no problems with buying new cards as long as it's commons and/or cheap uncommons.
The "rules" I want to try to follow:
-All commons/cheap uncommons. I don't want to spend too much.
-If possible, limited duplicates between decks. I don't want every R/x deck to start with 4 Lightning Bolt, or every U/x deck to start with 4 Mulldrifters. I understand that there are some cards that are just better than others, but I want to do my best to have a diverse set of cards within the ten decks.
-I also want to try to avoid cards that are too "unfun." The big ones that comes to mind in the pauper world are Delver and Guardian of the Guildpact. Autowin combos should also be avoided.
-I know this is difficult, but I would like for all decks to be playable in both 1v1s and in multiplayer games. Right now all the decks are very 1v1 focused, but I would like to get away from that just a bit. I'm terrible at building multiplayer decks, and I know they function way different than 1v1 decks, but I just want them to be playable in multiplayer on a relatively even level.
Here is what I have so far for each deck of each color:
11 Island
4 Plains
1 Ancient Den
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Azorius Guildgate
Creatures 15
4 Arctic Aven
4 Trinket Mage
4 Spire Golem
3 Harbor Serpent
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Leonin Scimitar
1 Flayer Husk
1 Elixir of Immortality
Counters 8
3 Essence Scatter
2 Hindering Light
3 Counterspell
4 Serum Visions
3 Jace's Ingenuity
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Dimir Guildgate
4 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Island
12 Swamp
3 Dimir Signet
3 Twisted Abomination
2 Skeletal Wurm
4 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Mulldrifter
3 Harbor Bandit
3 Terror
3 Nausea
4 Agony Warp
2 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Careful Consideration
3 Exsanguinate
11 Mountain
7 Swamp
4 Rakdos Guildgate
Creatures 25
4 Goblin Deathraiders
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Phyrexian Rager
3 Rakdos Ragemutt
3 Ashenmoor Gouger
3 Shambling Remains
4 Daggerdrone Imp
3 Civic Saber
Spells 10
2 Fireball
3 Arc Lightning
3 Auger Spree
2 Wrecking Ball
11 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Gruul Guildgate
Creatures 20
4 Flinthoof Boar
2 Mogg Flunkies
2 Dragon Whelp
3 Civic Wayfinder
2 Streetbreaker Wurm
2 Garruk's Packleader
3 Primal Huntbeast
2 Vastwood Gorger
4 Rampant Growth
2 Cultivate
2 Overrun
3 Steam Blast
3 Colossal Might
3 Thunderbolt
13 Forest
6 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
Creatures 26
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Steward of Valeron
4 Selesnya Guildmage
2 Risen Sanctuary
2 Pelakka Wurm
2 Kabira Vindicator
2 Bountiful Harvest
2 Sentinel Spider
3 Naturalize
3 Journey to Nowhere
3 Hunter's Insight
2 Crystal Ball
7 Mountains
6 Plains
2 Teetering Peaks
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Naya Panorama
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Skyknight Legionnaire
2 Sunhome Guildmage
3 Serra Angel
2 Searing Blaze
3 Incinerate
2 Charge Across the Araba
4 Burst Lightning
3 Adventuring Gear
2 Barrel Down Sokenzan
8 Swamp
11 Forest
4 Golgari Guildgate
Creatures 26
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Llanowar Dead
3 Putrid Leech
3 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Gravedigger
4 Golgari Rotwurm
2 Sprout Swarm
3 Citanul Woodreaders
2 Symbiotic Beast
2 Bone Splinters
1 Grim Harvest
3 Terror
3 Consume Strength
2 Death Denied
8 Island
4 Izzet Guildgate
10 Mountain
Creatures 13
4 Goblin Electromancer
3 Steamcore Weird
3 Stormbound Geist
3 Frostburn Weird
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Burst Lightning
2 Fireball
2 Mystic Retrieval
3 Desperate Ravings
1 Secrets of the Dead
2 Electrickery
2 Essence Backlash
3 Mana Leak
2 Burning Vengeance
3 Think Twice
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
7 Island
Creatures 22
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Looter il-Kor
2 Springing Tiger
2 Golgari Brownscale
2 Stitched Drake
2 Mana Leak
2 Counterspell
4 Compulsive Research
4 Deep Analysis
2 Prey Upon
3 Piracy Charm
4 Orzhov Guildgate
8 Plains
10 Swamp
3 Orzhov Signet
2 Pristine Talisman
2 Sengir Vampire
4 Mourning Thrull
2 Agent of Masks
3 Seraph of Dawn
3 Kemba's Skyguard
4 Sign in Blood
3 Faith's Fetters
3 Doom Blade
2 Last Gasp
2 Infest
3 Edge of the Divinity
2 Syphon Mind
Some thoughts on some of the decks:
B/U is definitely the best of the bunch. It can drag on games forever and almost always wins if the game goes past turn 6 or so. I'd like to swap some cards out to make it a bit weaker.
G/W is the weakest. I don't know of any good commons to ramp into besides the Eldrazi one, which I don't want to use.
R/B sometimes seems underwhelming. It's very inconsistent. I'd like to make it just a bit less all in and just a bit more consistent in the late game.
The rest... I am really not sure of.
Thanks for reading this wall of text!
I also agree with everyone else that Godhead of Awe seems like a much better alternative to Divinity of Pride.
edit: just realized Spirit Loop only works on your own creatures. I'll go ahead and stand by the PtE choice then. Targeted removal in multiplayer is sometimes a necessity, and it works great with Land Tax.
Or, if you decide to keep Spirit Link and run some more creature enchantments, you can always run Tallowisp.
R/G Jokulhaups: $21.44
10 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Sandstone Needle
4 Jokulhaups
2 Obliterate
4 Darksteel Ingot
4 Fertile Ground
3 Darksteel Pendant
4 Moment's Peace
4 Tinder Wall
4 Lhurgoyf
4 Wild Cantor
4 Bonehoard
The deck concept is simple: ramp up to Jokulhaups/Obliterate, wipe the board, land a big dude, and start wiping people out. I picked Tinder Wall and Wild Cantor as accelerants because they help your finishers (Lhurgoyf/Bonehoard) get bigger. Every little bit helps. Plus, you never know when you're going to win a game because a Wild Cantor was able to carry your Bonehoard.
Fertile Ground is there just to be cute with Darksteel Citadel if possible.
Darksteel Pendant is a cheap replacement for Sensei's Divining Top and works well off of just one Darksteel Citadel/Ingot.