The Pauper format got a big surprise last week: Zeta Set cards became legal on Magic Online. The cards that came down from Zeta, minus the banned ones, hit the digital battlefield on 9/23. That means Narcomoeba and Price of Progress stayed out, but the rest of the set joined the ranks. The question everyone is asking is simple: did the format survive?
Joe Dyer, who runs The Power of Pauper: Zeta Legal on MTGO!, has spent the week tracking the early numbers. His verdict is cautious but cheerful. The format is still standing, and the new cards are doing exactly what everyone expected. Some decks are thriving. Some are struggling. And Giant’s Boulder might be the real villain of the story.
Zetans Arrive
The cards that came down from Zeta Set include Baleful Strix, Dispatch, Cut Down, and Vandalblast. Those four were the ones on Pauper’s watch list, and they showed up in the league results immediately. Dyer notes that the cards he expected to see in the initial results are indeed the ones that showed up. Strix, Dispatch, and Cut Down all saw a great deal of play across a variety of decks.
Dimir Faeries was one of the early adopters. Strix fits the deck well because it is a hard card to block and easy to bring back to hand with ninjutsu. Recasting it for sheer value produces a steady stream of cards, which makes for an interesting dynamic for the deck.
Esper Affinity Emerges
One deck that Dyer tracked closely is Esper Affinity. It showed up in the first Challenge event, but it has not appeared in the leagues yet. Dyer gives it time, noting that the deck’s presence in the Challenge suggests it is finding a home.
Esper Affinity plays all of the big cards: Strix, Dispatch, and Cut Down. The deck’s success in the Challenge is notable, though Dyer cautions that the format is still settling in. The early data is promising, but the jury is still out on how the deck will hold up over time.
Dispatch Finds Homes Everywhere
Dispatch saw play in some unexpected places beyond Esper Affinity. Boros Moxite and Mono White Aggro both used the card, and Dyer thinks it is better than people might think. Mono White Aggro, in particular, uses Ancient Den and Darksteel Citadel to enable Dispatch, which Dyer calls “kind of groovy.”
Moxite decks also get to play a pair of Soul-Guide Lantern, which Dyer describes as “sick.” The card is easier to enable than many expected, and it pairs well with the artifact-heavy strategies that already populate the deck.
Vandalblast Cools Off
The other big card on the watch list was Vandalblast. Dyer admits that it did not see a ton of play in the league results so far. He has a feeling this card will be the tamest of the four big cards on Pauper’s watch list. In fact, he almost says that Soul-Guide Lantern could be a better sideboard card than Vandalblast.
Dyer ranks the cards right now as Strix strongest, followed by Dispatch, Cut Down, and then Vandalblast. But he is quick to note that those rankings could change as time goes on. The format is young, and the data is thin.
Giant’s Boulder Surprise
The hot take from Dyer is that Pauper’s real problem long-term might not be any of these cards. His lukewarm prediction is that Giant’s Boulder is possibly more problematic than all of them combined. That is a bold call, and it cuts against the conventional wisdom that the big four were the danger zone.
Giant’s Boulder appears in multiple top decks from the Challenge. The card filters colors and provides scrying, which Dyer says is really good to bounce with Skyfisher and Glint Hawk. Its presence in the top decks suggests it is doing real work.
The Challenge Results
The primary Challenge covered was the first one where Zeta cards were legal. It had 59 players, and the Top 32 decklists and data sheet are available online. Despite not showing up at all in the initial league results, Esper Affinity was the most played deck of this first Challenge.
Its overall win rate was around 51.43%, which Dyer calls “kind of super reasonable.” Elves and Mono Red Madness cooked hard in the event, both having strong 60+% non-mirror win rates. Decks like Mono Blue Terror and Dimir Faeries did subpar, while the Metalcraft Aggro deck did exceedingly poor.
The Top 8 was dominated by aggro decks. Elves took up three of the spots, and Mono Red Madness won the event.
| Deck | Top 8 Finish | Key Zeta Card |
|---|---|---|
| Mono Red Madness | Won | None (standard tech) |
| Elves | Second | None (standard tech) |
| Esper Affinity | Made Top 8 | Strix, Dispatch, Cut Down |
Around the Web
The source links to some paper play from Colorado Pauper, which is experimenting with Zeta cards. Pauperganda is Kiln Fiend Infecting, and Heartyshow is Madness. These are small-scale experiments, but they show the format’s curiosity.
The spice corner highlights a 4C Pestilence list, which Dyer calls “sick.” The list is a departure from standard Pauper fare, and it shows the format’s willingness to try new combinations.
What Comes Next
The Reality Fracture set review is coming next week, along with the first full week of results with Zeta Set. Dyer wants to know what readers have seen. Have you been playing with these cards on MTGO yet? What has your experience been?
The format is still figuring itself out. Dyer is uncertain about how long-term the impact of these cards will actually be. Will Strix actually be banned? Is Dispatch actually a problem? He thinks only time will truly tell.
The early signs are positive. The format is alive, and the new cards are being played. The meta is shifting.
Here is what Dyer is watching:
- Strix in Dimir Faeries and Esper Affinity
- Dispatch in Mono White Aggro and Boros Moxite
- Vandalblast in sideboards everywhere
- Giant’s Boulder in the top decks
The Pauper community is paying attention. The data is coming in.
Source material: “The Power of Pauper: Zeta Legal on MTGO!,” MTGGoldfish.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.