1. I actually think you’re on the right track with a mill strategy. It works best when it’s not expected, of course. And I’m pretty sure it’s never expected in pauper…

    Looking forward to the videos of this.

  3. The reason I went Azorius Chancery over guildgate is simply down to it’s ability to put a card back in your hand – this helps rebuild your hand for a more effective whirpool. The same goes for gush. When your left with only 1 card left in your hand a topdeck gush gives you the ability to whirpool 4 cards instead of 11 – its often the difference between winning and losing a match. btw i often whirpool on turn two – whirpool rider allows you to take mana heavy starts knowing that you can get a redraw on turn 2.

    Looking forward to seeing how everything pans out!

  5. yessir – Appreciate the feedback.

    #1Fan – I explained that in the article. Though Bing has shed some light on the Karoos for us with his comment.

    Bing – Okay, that makes much more sense. I shouldn’t have overlooked those benefits! Keeping all lands and Rider is interesting, there is a very tiny risk of the opponent countering though.

  6. Hey Jason, I really liked this article this week. I really like this idea you have for the article series, and you should keep it up. My one suggestion would be would you mind posting your finalized lists so we can see how they look with all the changes you made.

    Also with all the mono-colored aggro I think prismatic strands is really good in this type of deck. The hawks even allow you to use it as a moments peace.

  7. shaffawaffa5 – Glad you enjoyed it! I’ll be sure to include updated lists in the future installments. I will also try to make room for Strands.

  8. Curse is fine but Erasure has a much bigger payoff that any deck it’s in should be tuned to exploit with a ton of draw spells. The only time it seems less effective than Curse would be if the deck replied on spells that functionally drew cards but didn’t actually use the word “draw”.

    I really like the idea of Words of Wisdom/Vision Skeins/Lat-Nam’s Legacy/Accumulated Knowledge in whatever combination in a Jace’s Erasure/Whirlpool Rider deck. You are overloaded at the 2-drop spot technically but the draw spells would hopefully not be your turn 2 play. Filling out a lowish curve with some cheaper draw spells (Brainstorm should be in any Erasure deck), permission (obvious perfect synergy of Counterspell or Mana Leak with the trio of 2-drop draw spells), and your choice of ways-to-not-die (splashing black for removal and Crypt Incursion, splashing green for fog effects, splashing white for lesser fog effects and Stonehorn Dignitary if you want to Ghostly Flicker with Mnemonic Wall/Archaeomancer).

    UW with Hawks, maybe 1 or 2 Dignitary, Prismatic Strands (might I say I love the thought of grabbing Hawks and dumping Strands in the yard at EOT from a full hand?) and a few fog effects looks the most stable. I’m more tempted by UB with Crypt Incursion myself.

    One of the biggest issues to focus on is minimizing the space the actual mill cards take up in your deck without lowering your capacity to mill below the efficient threshold. It requires a fair bit of testing, as there is a lot of tension between critical mass of mill and cards that actually effect the board.

    #ReprintHedronCrabAtCommon

  9. Since the banning of cloudpost I’ve began to work on a UW rogue list.
    This is what I got (it placed 2nd and 1st on two consecutive live local tourneys):

    2 Man’o'war
    4 Ninja of the deep Hours
    4 Mulldrifter
    4 Kor Skyfisher
    4 Aven Riftwatcher
    3 Lone Missionary
    2 Safehold Elite
    1 Deputy of Aquittals

    4 Preordain
    4 Accumulated Knowloedge
    3 Cloudshift
    3 Momentary Blink

    4 Azorius Guildgate
    2 Secluded Steppe
    8 Plains
    8 Island

    SB:
    2 Crimson Acolyte
    4 Obsidian Acolyte
    2 Prismatic Strands
    4/3 Hydroblast
    3/4 Curfew

    Optional: Vedalken Wizard

    So this is a rogue blink fish list. Lots of life gain, lots of card advantage and lots of interactions and possibilities. It takes a while to master the deck, but the idea is not hard to grasp. The KEY principle is the mana curve! You have to be very careful to take full advantage of the lands you have!
    MBC, Goblins, Faeries, Stompy are favorable matches
    I’m not sure about Eye Candy and Affinity
    Slivers seem to be pretty bad

    Anyway, I’m away from the online pauper community and I don’t really know what is playing the most right now. Feel free to test the deck (it’s powerful) and let me know if you decide to post the results =)

    Best,