Lost of Caverns released this weekend and I've been thinking long and hard about which cards are likely to make an impact in my precious Pauper format. There's surprisingly a lot to like in this set for us Pauper players, and the set is going to be far more impactful than I thought it was going to be. Something to note is that LCI is a mechanic focused set this time around so we didn't get the tribal focus that we got the first time on Ixalan. As such, pretty much all of the cards we're going to be talking about in our Top list, plus the Honorable Mentions are support cards rather than stand alone cards. These cards are powerful given the right shell. As a brewer this has made spolier season and the first week of brewing exciting. Tons of tweaks for meta decks and brews that I've had cooking that just needed one more indregient.
5. Cave Cycle
Getting new cycles is always exciting, especially if it's new lands to spice up Pauper mana bases. Cascade on a land activation is really strong even if it's expensive and attatched to a tapped land. These could see play in slow midrange decks or could be experimented with in a Cave-Tron build with Kaslem's Stonetree. I predict that these will see play in small amounts if they find a home, as two color midrange decks like Orzhov Ephemerate are already tight on tapped land slots. A criticism against caves is that they lack immediate value that makes them hard to compete with Kabira Crossroads and Bojuka Bog, and they don't play well with bounce lands. However, I still think these will see some amount of play and they do get better if the format slows down. I saw a lot of chatter about building around these in a deck with Dread Return and creatures with landcycling. The idea here is that the only Dscover target is Return so you'll always hit it and renimate a fatty. I think that plan is too slow and clunky. You have to build your deck in a way that completely sacrifices the early game and isn't competitive. That being said, homies are welcome to cook and perhaps depletion lands could help that strategy. I also find it funny that Name Sticker Goblin can activate Hidden Volcano by itself.
4. Relic's Roar
Infect is slowly making a comeback. I've tested Mono-Green Infect in the past but I recently took up Alex Ullmen's list. Blue allows you to sculpt your perfect hand with Brainstorm and Preordain until you can swing for lethal with pump and protection spells. Relic's Roar is a huge gain because it instant kills with Embiggen. Giving Glistener Elf and Blighted Agent the dinosaur and artifact typing means that Embiggen grants +6/+6 on top of the base 4/3. Back this up with Snakeskin Veil and Tamiyo's Safekeeping and your're good to go. Given that [[Relic's Roars]] don't stack in multiples, the optimal number will likely be as a two-of.
3. Fanatical Offering
Fanatical Offering is amoung the mighty company of Deadly Dispute and Reckoner's Bargain. Deadly Dispute is far superior than its counterparts, but the others still have plenty of uses. Going forward as deck builders we will be having to choose between Bargain and Offering. Bargain will probably be correct most of the time as long as Burn is dominating the MTGO meta. However, leaving behind an artifact Map token that keeps your Affinity count up is a huge upside in Grixis Affinity. Using it to put a +1/+1 counter on Myr Enforcer to trade with Tolarian Terror and to get out of Galvanic Blast range is serious game as well. From a brewing perspective this is another tool for us Mirkwood Bats gamers.
2. Goblin Tomb Raider
Finally some supprt for Mono-Red! Jokes aside, this card is very strong but I don't think it's going to make Red anymore broken. The one-drop slot in Red is very crowded with Voldaren Epicure, Goblin Blast-Runner, and our Queen Monastery Swiftspear. Goblin Tomb Raider is probably going to fall short on this stacked roster, so where does this guy see play? Mono-Red Synth has Great Furnace and Lotus Petal to turn this on reliably. Personally, this was the missing ingredient in my Mono-Red Equipment deck so we'll be jamming this with Great Furnace and Bonesaw. Something worth noting is if this hasty goblin does gain a lot of traction we may see a shift away from Fiery Cannonade to Breath Weapon.
1. Tithing Blade/Consuming Sepulcher
Tithing Blade is big hype. Chainer's Edict has always been a mainstay in the Pauper meta and is very relevant with Terror decks and the resurgence of Bogles. A Chainer's Edict that you can pick up with Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher is absolutely cracked. Pauper is full of Artifact synergies at the moment. You can sac this to Deadly Dispute or Rowan's Grim Search. It adds to your Affinity count. It even adds devotion for Gray Merchant of Asphodel for all of you boomers still holding on to Mono-Black. Plus, this flips into a slow win condition for grindy match ups. This card does it all and it is the best card in the set for Pauper. Your boy is going to be cheffing it up with this card.
Those were my picks for the best cards from Lost Caverns of Ixalan for Pauper. I also posted a Honorable Mentions for the rest of the cards that I'm excited to brew with. If you like what we do here, then subscribe to our YouTube Channel where we post MTGO Leagues. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you get notified whenever a new article gets posted. Thanks so much for reading and for joining the Fellowship.
Comments