Dime a Dozen #96: Presence

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Jason Moore

Nylea’s Presence turns your Pauper lands into super lands, enabling 5/5s for 3 mana and 5 damage burn spells for 2 mana. Enjoy watching Jason demonstrate this in a 5-round League.

In the past I’ve found Domain to be good, but not good enough for my taste (as in too far away from Tier 1).

Now that Eternal Masters is bringing Kird Ape to online Pauper, my interest in the related threat Wild Nacatl has been renewed. Four Mulldrifters and multiple practice matches later, I’m left with a version of Domain that feels quite competitive.

The first three or four matches are pretty hairy, but stick with me because the deck starts to prove itself in the later rounds. The testing went even better, so I think this iteration of the deck (particularly one featuring Mulldrifter) has real potential.

Rancor was boarded out almost every time, so it’s possible I want to replace those with something else at 1 mana. I’m actually considering Young Wolf in order to soak up edicts.

Enjoy!

 

  1. Maybe cut the Rancor’s and Aura Gnarlid’s for a small Heliod’s Pilgrim package. You already have the Presence and Growth to fetch, maybe a singleton Armadillo Cloak and one other Aura to go with 2 Heliod’s Pilgrim. Possibly a Fists of the Ironwood for said Edict Protection and to give your Rioters trample? Or maybe a removal spell in Pacifism/Arrest?

  2. VanillaVillain – That doesn’t sound half bad! I would ideally like to keep some 1-mana spells in to save the curve though…please lemme know if you have any ideas there. I just might have to try that Pilgrim toolbox out…

  3. Hi my friend!

    Round 1 game 2:

    At 15:10 you made a small mistake best play at that point would be matca and not nylea, you gave him a clear shot for spellstutter .

    17:12 another sutile mistake: best move would be to play squadron hawks as bait. If opponent counters it you play matca, if opponent let it resolve, then cast another hawks, either forcing a counterspell on a bad card or making a double block against ninja possible.

    I think you had a chance of actually winning with those slightly different moves.

  5. Hi Jason,

    First off, I am a big fan of your series and so happy that there are other pauper players willing to experiment. ^.^

    Secondly, two questions: a) do you see Kird Ape in this deck once it becomes legal for its efficiency and b) if so, where do you see it/what would you cut? the deck seems very refined and focused, so your perspective from play is key.

  6. Good stuff – rancor looks good to me at 2, personally I think the helo-pilgrim tech mentioned above is a strong suggestion. I’d also run Journeys main (probably 2) but that’s just me…

  7. I have been looking for good Aura’s to go with the Heliod’s Pilgrim I mentioned above, really haven’t found anything exciting though…and def. nothing as remotely playable as Rancor at 1cmc. A new suggestion would be to still cut the Gnarlid’s for Pilgrim’s straight up, keep a singleton Rancor, and replace one Rancor with Armadillo Cloak. Cloaking up a fully powered Nacatl or Rioters seems really good against aggro matchups like Goblins, Stompy and Affinity. Not so good against the control decks since most have edicts these days, but I guess that’s where Rancor is somewhat better as it turns small threats large.

  8. Jack – Thank you very much for supporting me!
    A) I’m skeptical about Kird Ape fitting into this exact framework – Perhaps there is a more aggressive, strictly “Zoo” variant that can work?
    B) Because it would be a slightly different take, we would likely top the curve off at 3 (Rioters) and lose the top end (Aura Gnarlid/Mulldrifter) otherwise.

    deluxeicoff – Solid suggestions, man. Much appreciated!

    VanillaVillain – That might end up being the way to go, thanks!

  9. Hey Jason, just wanted to say that I think you found something truly great in your mardu control list…the fact that you out valued that dimir teachings deck is incredible…keep working at the list and I’m sure you will get even better results!

  11. Built the deck the other day for about 3 tix and absolutely love it. Most fun I’ve had outside my old school stompy deck.

    I took out the Aura Gnarlids and Rancors for 4x Naturalize. I rarely find that card useless.

    I’ve been testing some main deck Drake Familiars and Coiling Oracles in place of the Mulldrifters only because I don’t like throwing away a creature for two cards, especially a flyer, when I Evoke it.

    If Naturalize does end up being useless then I just side in Journey to Nowhere.

    Thanks again for the deck idea and videos!