The Power of Pauper: Jace in Pauper?!
Joe Dyer hosts a weekly rundown of Magic: The Gathering’s Pauper format, and this week he’s looking at Reality Fracture, the set that brings a Planeswalker mechanic into a format that has never seen one before. Pauper is a budget-friendly subset of Magic that bans all but common-rarity cards, and Planeswalkers are typically too expensive to fit. Dyer is wondering whether the new Empower mechanic changes that.
The New Jace Token
The Empower mechanic creates a Jace token with a loyalty of four. Each activation lets you surveil one card and draw one card, and the token gains counters each time you activate it. If you already have a Jace token in play, you add counters to that one instead of putting a new one into play. Dyer admits the rate on the commons is rough, but he’s curious whether any of them will actually work.
He’s not sold on the whole set. He wasn’t “super impressed” with Reality Fracture for Pauper, which he says might make the Jace mechanic a good thing rather than a problem.
Commons Worth Watching
Dyer runs through a list of commons from Reality Fracture, noting that he hasn’t ranked them in any particular order. Some stand out:
- Mindseeker Oculus is a 2/1 for three mana that makes a 4 loyalty Jace token. You can bounce it back onto the battlefield with Kor Skyfisher and do it again. The Jace token gets to surveil once and draw a card before it goes away.
- No Admittance is a Lightning Bolt-style spell that costs an extra mana and doesn’t make a Jace. Dyer thinks the extra cost isn’t worth it.
- Chandra’s Emberling is a Kiln Fiend-like creature with haste. Dyer sees it fitting into a few Prowess-y decks.
- Something Worth Saving looks a lot like Malevolent Rumble, but Rumble ramps you slightly. Dyer wonders if eight of this effect will see play.
- Surgical Precision is a flexible spell that destroys a target or draws a card. Dyer likes how adaptable it is.
- Divining Duelist does a lot for three mana. Dyer wonders if there’s combo potential hiding in it.
- Sureshot Sower kills a flying creature by pitching itself from hand. Dyer calls it kind of cool.
- Infinite Coursework doesn’t stack with the Unprepared mechanic, so there’s no upside to using it.
- Blessed Ghoul can rebuy itself from the graveyard. It’s probably too slow, but it’s a fun effect.
- Extended Absence is exile-based removal, but Dyer thinks it doesn’t do enough.
- Silence the Echo has a sacrifice rider, which makes it interesting.
- Twinned Vision can flashback for two cards by pitching one. Finding a way to cast it from outside your hand would be sweet.
- Ferocity of the Hunt has flash and returns the creature when it dies. Dyer likes the idea of putting it on a Bogle with deathtouch.
- Sphinx’s Approach is a rare good one, but Dyer isn’t sure how to build it. Getting a Goliath Sphinx into play sounds worth trying.
MTGO Decklist Data
Dyer collected data from six events running the first week of the Zeta Set being legal in Pauper. Around 316 decklist entries came in, which he calls pretty solid. The graphical data shows what decks people actually played.
| Deck | Copies | Non-Mirror Win Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Esper Affinity | 41 | 47.7% |
| Mono Red Madness | 39 | 50.8% |
| Dimir Faeries | 24 | 42.9% |
| Elves | 21 | 61.8% |
| Mono Blue Terror | 20 | 52% |
Esper Affinity led the pack with 41 copies. Its initial win rate was around 47.7% non-mirror. Dyer thinks the low win rate is partly because people are still figuring out how to build the deck — whether to include Strix, Dispatch, or both. He expects the win rate to stabilize as the deck finds its footing.
Mono Red Madness stayed popular at 39 copies, with a reasonable 50.8% win rate. Dyer says it’s no surprise that an aggressive deck remains strong in a format full of Strixes and Dispatch. Vandalblast helps.
Dimir Faeries came in third at 24 copies. It had a 42.9% win rate despite several good-looking Top 8 appearances. Dyer thinks the deck wants to bounce its creatures with ninjutsu, which is good value. Like Affinity, he expects it to take time to settle into a final form.
Elves was the standout performer, with a 61.8% win rate and 21 copies. Dyer thinks it will continue to be a great deck because it deals with many threats and is very aggressive.
Mono Blue Terror rounded out the top five at 20 copies, with a 52% win rate. Dyer will be watching it going forward, given how good it has been in Pauper.
What Strix and Dispatch Mean for Pauper
The Zeta Set added two powerful tools to Pauper. Dyer describes them as tools that have changed the metagame quickly.
Decks Are Still Experimenting
Dyer’s takeaway is that Pauper is still finding its shape with these new cards. Decks are experimenting, win rates are bouncing, and the format is unsettled.
The Format’s Future
Dyer closes by asking readers how their first week of Pauper with Zeta cards went. He wants to hear whether Strix and Dispatch got them down.
The review’s core question is whether Planeswalkers can actually work in Pauper. Dyer hasn’t settled on an answer yet, but he’s doing the work to find one.
The full recap is available on Dyer’s channel, where he breaks down each card and deck in detail. For now, the verdict is still out on Jace.
Source material: “The Power of Pauper: Jace in Pauper?!,” MTGGoldfish.
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