Pauper Playables in Duskmourn

This weekend is the release of the latest Magic: the Gathering set, Duskmourn, and with it, another batch of commons for us to upgrade our decks in the Pauper format. The Pauper format has had a lot of upheaval this year, but Duskmourn is likely to pale in impact when compared to the powerhouse that was Modern Horizons 3.

However, even with a less format warping release, Duskmourn still has plenty of cards that we will be playing as early as this weekend. There are a couple of cards that will absolutely see play, as they act as strict upgrades in some cases. There are also a few cards that are interesting, but aren’t obvious inclusions in the format right off the bat. Let’s get into the cards I believe will see play in Pauper from Duskmourn.

The Definitely Playables

Clockwork Percusionist is one of the cards that instantly has a home in the Pauper format. This little monkey is a logical fit into the staple meta deck of Kuldotha Red. It has everything that deck wants.

It’s an aggressive red creature that provides card advantage and has that ever-important typing of Artifact. Pairing this with Kuldotha Rebirth gives you the virtual card advantage of Implement of Combustion, with cheaper and potentially more damage. I imagine Mono-red pilots will replace the Implement with this Monkey as soon as they can acquire a playset.

Grab the Prize is the latest in Wizard’s ongoing love of 2 mana draw two with tweaked upsides and downsides. We have seen that they often see play in Pauper. Deadly Despite is basically an institution, and we still see others like Fanatical Offering, Reckoner’s Bargain, Demand Answers… the list goes on and on.

A major difference with this card, is that its downside is actually an upside already for the Tier 2 deck of Madness Burn. Discarding a nonland like we want to deal extra damage, and still cast my cards for their madness cost? Count me in!

Most Madness Burn decks currently run some number of Demand Answers and Highway Robbery. I personally think this card replaces any amount of Demand Answers first, because Highway Robbery provides some sequencing upsides with its Plot cost, readying us for a big following turn.

Interesting for the Format

So the first card on the maybe list is actually 10 cards! These lands were spoiled on the earlier side of Duskmourn’s spoiler season, and opinions were certainly split. I think these cards offer potentially flexibility in midrange decks, specifically those playing Snuff Out.

While getting down to 13 life isn’t as easy here as in other formats like Modern, it’s not impossible to consider these lands playable in a deck that re-evaluates other previously written off, life-paying spells.

BOO! Did I get ya? What if this jump scare also came with 10 poison counters? Would that *really* scare ya!

Seriously though, this card might invigorate an infect deck that’s been non-existent as a combat centric deck for a while now. I’m already thinking of the interaction of Jump Scare and Embiggen to really dial up the pressure. Together these turn a seemingly mundane Glistener Elf into a 9/9 or a Lost Leonin into a 10/9 at instant speed!

The final maybe on my list of Pauper playables from Duskmourn is this new Oblivion Ring variant, Trapped in the Screen. There’s a couple of reasons to love this strictly better version.

First, this card can hit your opponent’s artifact lands. This could mean cutting a Grixis Affinity player off a color. This is flexibility beyond simply removing a major issue, such as a Cryptic Serpent or another large threat.

Additionally, this card has added protection against one of Pauper’s new favorite catch-all solutions, Thraben Charm. This means, compared to other cards with similar effects, it’s a little more resilient against the common interaction of the format.

Before I go I also just want to say that we are going to see a major influx of other new enchantments (like Unable to Scream) into the Pauper format with the release of Duskmourn. That means that it’s probably worthwhile to revisit and re-evaluate some of the enchantment centric cards from earlier releases, as some have probably gotten a little better. Are any of these playable? Only time can tell, but some that caught my eye at first glance include; Grim Guardian, Slumbering Keepguard, and Hopeless Nightmare to name a few.

Duskmourn is sure to add a couple of new cards to the format, and getting your hands on these commons aren’t always as easy as you might think. That’s why we are excited to have a ton of commons available to be ordered right now! We know that Magic players care about far more than just the hot new Mythic these days, but hurry, our supply is limited and these must-have Pauper cards won’t be here for long.