Augur of Bolas seems to me like the strongest new common in the set. It slots right into existing decks and is a candidate to replace Sea Gate Oracle. Of course, the Augur can miss but costing one mana less (giving a critical round of blocking) probably outweighs that fact. I think Augur of Bolas will see plenty of play in the format.
Burning-Tree Emissary has no RG home in Pauper. It is a Modern-playable card and a powerful one at that. I think we will have an exciting experimentation time but that RG in itself is too weak to make an impact in Pauper. There is a slight possibility that this enables some sort of combo shenanigans. Of course the card can prove useful in mono-green decks, possibly Stompy.
Any cards you think will see play?
Hey bro! Nice to read your thoughts again. Couple questions:
ReplyDelete1. No love for Mortician Beetle?
2. The tittle says New Pauper commons in Modern Masters, and you said there are only three downgrades that get you excited: Spell Pierce, Burning-Tree Shaman and Augur of Bolas... but Spell Pierce has been common since its first printing, it wasn't downshifted. Why so?
Saludos desde España!
You are correct about point #2. I did not check my sources properly. Fixed the article.
DeleteNo, I don't feel Mortician Beetle is a relevant card. It could go into a tier 3 archetype - the Pauper Gauntlet winner Aristocrats but that deck needs sacrifice outlets and what would you cut for the Beetle? To make beetle work you need 3 creatures in play (one outlet, one sacrifice fodder and the beetle) and that is a tall order against any control deck and even if you manage to make all that happen, all you get is a measly +1/+1 counter whereas you could win the game with something like Project X.
Now we have a couple of days of data of the format and it is super discouraging. I might have been wrong about Magma Jet (at least it is being tested) but the only other card seeing play as far as I can see is 3 5-0s with Burning-Tree Emissary and nothing else