Landfall is a mechanic that has always interested me but for Pauper it’s always seemed a bit lacking and other strategies are established which makes building an impactful deck difficult.
Which colours ?
We realistically have three colours available to us White, Red and Green. I’ve decided to go Red Green as whilst Steppe Lynx is a great card I wanted the aggressive red creatures and the support of green’s spells that can secure us more lands.
So onto the deck and my choices
Main Deck
- 4 Makindi Sliderunner
- 4 Akoum Hellhound
- 4 Plated Geopede
- 4 Snapping Gnarlid
- 4 Burning Tree Emissary
- 4 Territorial Scythecat
- 2 Territorial Baloth
I like the aggressive profile of the deck and keeping the mana costs lower, Burning Tree Emissary is added as it is just so efficient and can effectively be a free creature. My main worry is the weakness to Suffocating Fumes or Evincar’s Justice.
- 3 Rancor
- 3 Ram Through
- 3 Winding Way
- 3 Crop Rotation
I’ve gone for Rancor as a pump ability and also will stop chump blocking.
Winding Way allows for the drawing of extra lands or creatures.
Ram Through is going to be removal of choice with Rancor and Scythecat meaning we can meet the Trample requirement.
Crop Rotation allows for additional land drops and fixing If needed.
- 3 Evolving Wilds
- 2 Gruul Turf
- 7 Forest
- 7 Mountain
- 3 Terramorphic Expanse
Traditionally pauper decks run a low number of lands which is one of the challenges of the deck. Whilst we can search out the lands we want with the likes of Evolving Wilds will be coming in tapped hence the lower mana curve on creatures.
Gruul Turf will help us play the Territorial Baloth and also by returning a land creates another Landfall for future turns.
Sideboard
- 3 Searing Blaze
- 3 Ground Swell
- 2 Mutagenic Growth
- 3 Abrade
- 4 Red Elemental Blast
Searing Blaze and Ground Swell both play well off Landfall so they can make useful additions for the sideboard.
Mutagenic Growth being playable with Phyrexian mana gets the nod over Vines of Vastwood which I do like but the double green casting cost may be prohibitive on occasions.
Abrade is a nice flexible card for artefact removal and creatures.
Red Elemental Blast is really useful against the Blue matchups.
With increased lockdown restrictions and access to play at LGS my testing has been limited as I’m predominately a paper rather than MTGO player. Against our home Gauntlet it has done reasonably well but feels a bit slower than say Stompy.
The deck is fun to play and potentially explosive.
On_Common_Ground 