Written by We are back for Round 4 of the Top 10 Pauper Cube Picks and today we have Artifacts. This is a great topic as these cards are universal for the most part and can go into any color strategy. Read on to see whats in store.
BLINDING SOULEATER
The universal tapper that can go into any deck. This is perfectly costed with an above average toughness which makes it that much more appealing. 2 Life is menial when you can win the game or put it within reach after a perfectly timed attack. Also, this can be grabbed with either choice of Remember the Fallen.
PILGRIM’S EYE
This guy is not really raw power but a 1/1 flier that can help smooth your mana is a must get when you see it. All it needs is a good piece of equipment or aura to bring in the real beats. Like most every other card on this list, it fits perfectly into any strategy.
PITH DRILLER
I see people passing this a lot and I know they dont know how powerful it is for many reasons. Having a 4 toughness is very key to winning a lot of long games with the upside to deal 2 damage as well. The come in to play ability, putting a -1/-1 counter on a creature, can take down a lot of pesky x/1’s with reusable abilities or just shrink an opposing x/4 guy so yours wins the fight. I have played with this guy a lot and paying the 2 life to cast him on turn 4 when you have an aggressive deck is so worth it. Be happy when the guy next to you passes it so you get it.
EXECUTIONER’S CAPSULE
A wonderful one drop that can do more than just kill an opposing creature. I will run this out early every time since it puts your opponent on the back foot when they see it. I’ve had people not cast their bombs because they didn’t want it to immediately die to the capsule. They would say they had a way to deal with the capsule or thye were just waiting for a different threat you could kill. Whatever the case, this is what you want, fear in your opponent.
SERRATED ARROWS
Serrated Arrows sees consistent play in Online Pauper and for good reason. This thing can desecrate an army single handedly or take down a giant in a few turns. It is a little slow but that never stops me from taking it first as basically a three for one at any point in the game is back breaking for your opponent.
SANCTUM GARGOYLE
This guy combos well with a ton of cards and is a flying beater. He can work as a narrow Gravedigger, getting back a Hexplate Golem, Pith Driller, or similar. My favorite is getting back an Executioner’s Capsule or a used up Serrated Arrows to demolish your opponent farther into the ground.
BLAZING TORCH
The protection is almost irrelevant most of the time but I have seen it get through a team on the other side. The best part is this can be fetched up with Trinket Mage. Its cheap to cast and cheap to equip. The only downside is its a one bullet hit so make it count. The upside, it can hit a player or a creature.
BONESPLITTER
This card plus any creature will win you games. The creature died? Re-equip and keep on winning. Cheap cost with a cheap equip leaves you with mana to do other things on your turn as well. If you draft the infect deck, this might be the best card in it (Rancor is #2). No Infect but you drafted Fliers? Bonesplitter loves fliers.
WHISPERSILK CLOAK
So the last Pauper Cube draft I was in, I lost to this card. It was equipped to a Seraph of Dawn which already had a Trollhide on it. I would have won if my opponent didn’t top deck this beating of a card as I had a massive army with a flier that was out racing his life gain. Besides the bad beat story, this card is everything you want in a game ender. It allows you to sneak in the last few points of damage (or infect) or just protect a creature with an amazing ability.
PRISTINE TALISMAN
In the beginning I was not picking this as high as I do now. After seeing other people play with it and trying it out myself, I can for sure say its worth taking over a lot of stuff. The 1 life a turn can make it where you have all the time in world to win or draw your Fireball effect. It can also get you to the right amount of mana to cast a large fatty. Either way be happy I am letting you in on the goods so you can crush next time.
This is the end of my initial 4 part intro into cards to potentialy first pick for Pauper Cube Draft (Creatures, Artifacts, Sorceries and Instants). Of course this all based upon personal opinion but having drafted this cube a lot I have seen a lot of things work and some things do not work. I try and remember to ask my opponents after each match what they first picked, first pack to get an idea what they wanted to do or if they even played that card. Hopefully this will give you some insight into my cube or any other pauper cube as all the cards I talked about should easily be in any Pauper or Peasant cube. Let me know what other Top 10’s for Pauper Cube you want to see.
Adam Arndt
MTGO: AdamRA4
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