Pauper Commander

[Guardman]

The last question of Maro's most recent article made me wonder how Pauper Commander could work, as it is sort of a neat idea. For one it brings down the power level greatly as, for example, their is no Sol Ring and allows for a lower power-level game. The big question though is how would you do commander's since there are almost no common legendary creatures?

The first idea I had was to create a list of common creatures that are legendary for sake of the format. That seemed overly complicated. The second was to just create common legendaries for pauper, but that seemed like too much work (and I am doing this more as it's neat to see if it could work rather than actually try to make it happen). The third idea (which I think is best) is to allow any legendary creature that has been printed as a common or an uncommon. This allows for a pretty decent list of 143 commanders, and many more possible combinations with all of the new partners. (Basically this allows for any card printed at common or a legendary creature printed at uncommon to be in the format)

|[card]&type=+[%22Legendary%22]+[%22Creature%22]]Uncommon, Common Commander Search

List of Commanders

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

White 22

1 Alharu, Solemn Ritualist

1 Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist

1 Baird, Steward of Argive

1 Bushi Tenderfoot

1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon

1 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun

1 Faithful Squire

1 Guan Yu, Sainted Warrior

1 Hikari, Twilight Guardian

1 Keleth, Sunmane Familiar

1 Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"

1 Kwende, Pride of Femeref

1 Nagao, Bound by Honor

1 Pianna, Nomad Captain

1 Prava of the Steel Legion

1 Radiant, Archangel

1 Radiant, Serra Archangel

1 Rashka the Slayer

1 Rebbec, Architect of Ascension

1 Sidar Jabari

1 Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw

1 Zhang Fei, Fierce Warrior

Blue 18

1 Alirios, Enraptured

1 Brinelin, the Moon Kraken

1 Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea

1 Callow Jushi

1 Esior, Wardwing Familiar

1 Ghost of Ramirez DePietro

1 Glacian, Powerstone Engineer

1 Jalira, Master Polymorphist

1 Lu Meng, Wu General

1 Lu Xun, Scholar General

1 Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

1 Reveka, Wizard Savant

1 Siani, Eye of the Storm

1 Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep

1 Student of Elements

1 Sun Ce, Young Conquerer

1 Syr Elenora, the Discerning

1 Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive

Black 17

1 Armix, Filigree Thrasher

1 Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar

1 Hired Muscle

1 Ihsan's Shade

1 Irini Sengir

1 Keskit, the Flesh Sculptor

1 Miara, Thorn of the Glade

1 Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel

1 Nezumi Graverobber

1 Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker

1 Syr Konrad, the Grim

1 Tormod, the Desecrator

1 Tymaret, Chosen from Death

1 Urgoros, the Empty One

1 Whisper, Blood Liturgist

1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

1 Yargle, Glutton of Urborg

Red 16

1 Alena, Kessig Trapper

1 Anax, Hardened in the Forge

1 Breeches, Brazen Plunderer

1 Brothers Yamazaki

1 Chandler

1 Cunning Bandit

1 Dargo, the Shipwrecker

1 Eron the Relentless

1 Initiate of Blood

1 Joven

1 Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar

1 Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh

1 Syr Carah, the Bold

1 Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith

1 Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

1 Zada, Hedron Grinder

Green 15

1 Anara, Wolvid Familiar

1 Budoka Pupil

1 Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood

1 Grunn, the Lonely King

1 Halana, Kessig Ranger

1 Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer

1 Iwamori of the Open Fist

1 Mowu, Loyal Companion

1 Numa, Joraga Chieftain

1 Orochi Eggwatcher

1 Renata, Called to the Hunt

1 Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro

1 Slurrk, All-Ingesting

1 Sosuke, Son of Seshiro

1 Syr Faren, the Hengehammer

Azorius 6

1 Hunding Gjornersen

1 Jedit Ojanen

1 Kangee, Sky Warden

1 Kasimir the Lone Wolf

1 Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage

1 Tobias Andrion

Orzhov 2

1 Arvad the Cursed

1 Thalisse, Reverent Medium

Dimir 8

1 Araumi of the Dead Tide

1 Nebuchadnezzar

1 Princess Lucrezia

1 Ramirez DePietro

1 Ramses Overdark

1 Riven Turnbull

1 Rona, Disciple of Gix

1 Sivitri Scarzam

Izzet 2

1 Adeliz, the Cinder Wind

1 Captain Vargus Wrath

Rakdos 9

1 Axelrod Gunnarson

1 Barktooth Warbeard

1 Bladewing the Risen

1 Boris Devilboon

1 Garna, the Bloodflame

1 Juri, Master of the Revue

1 Lady Orca

1 Pavel Maliki

1 Tor Wauki

Golgari 2

1 Abomination of Llanowar

1 Slimefoot, the Stowaway

Gruul 11

1 Grumgully, the Generous

1 Hallar, the Firefletcher

1 Jerrard of the Closed Fist

1 Livonya Silone

1 Marhault Elsdragon

1 Rosheen Meanderer

1 Stangg

1 Sunastian Falconer

1 The Lady of the Mountain

1 Tuknir Deathlock

1 Tuya Bearclaw

Boros 2

1 Reyav, Master Smith

1 Tiana, Ship's Caretaker

Selesnya 9

1 Hamza, Guardian of Arashin

1 Jasmine Boreal

1 Kei Takahashi

1 Lady Caleria

1 Lord Magnus

1 Shanna, Sisay's Legacy

1 Siona, Captain of the Pyleas

1 Sir Shandlar of Eberyn

1 Torsten Von Ursus

Simic 3

1 Eutropia the Twice-Favored

1 Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty

1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Esper 1

1 Lady Evangela

Jund 1

1 Bartel Runeaxe

Bant 1

1 Ragnar

Approximate Total Cost:

I also included a few other "tweaks" to expand the roster of commanders a bit. First, flip cards can be your commander if the flipped side is legendary. Second, for Brothers Yamazaki, you can have two copies as your commander, and any deck with a red color identity can play two copies in their deck, because this needs to happen just because.

Overall it's a pretty diverse list with a bunch of interesting (and some not-so-interesting *cough*Legends*cough*) options, including a three three-colored commanders thanks to Masters Editions.

Overall I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this idea.

[Treamayne]

This is a (fairly) common variant on MTGO (where Pauper itself has a very strong presence). Just as you describe, the MTGO version allows any Legendary creature printed at Common or Uncommon (including the plethora of pre-Mirage commanders reprinted at common or uncommon in the Master's sets an other editions only release on MTGO). Unfortunately, if does not allow flip or transform cards that are not legendary in their primary face.

[Guardman]

This is a (fairly) common variant on MTGO (where Pauper itself has a very strong presence). Just as you describe, the MTGO version allows any Legendary creature printed at Common or Uncommon (including the plethora of pre-Mirage commanders reprinted at common or uncommon in the Master's sets an other editions only release on MTGO). Unfortunately, if does not allow flip or transform cards that are not legendary in their primary face.

Huh. You learn new stuff everyday.

Also boo on no flip legends. I always wanted to use Bushi Tenderfoot // Kenzo the Hardhearted as a Voltron Commander.

[Treamayne]

Huh. You learn new stuff everyday.

Also boo on no flip legends. I always wanted to use Bushi Tenderfoot // Kenzo the Hardhearted as a Voltron Commander.

Well, MTGO can't really support "house rule" style changes (although, back in the day, the Multi-player room did support things like attack left/attack right/FFA, Spell Ranges, etc.).

[rogerandover]

PDH is a thing, and been so for a pretty long time actually. There isn't any sanctioned rules, but the general consensus is to use an uncommon creature (don't have to be legendary) as your commander. It's a really fun format, which is much more approachable then regular EDH, and while there is talk about cPDH, the powerlevel isn't as diverse. While some commanders is "kill on sight" like EDH, it's more balanced because you're likely to play targeted removal a lot more, simply because PDH lags sweepers.

If the format sounds interesting, you can check out this site: https://www.pdhhomebase.ca/ and join the discord server which is very active.

[Mimicvat]

I imagine it has much the same problem as multiplayer Tiny Leaders did, which was cluttered boardstates with no way to clear them. This would combine with a long time issue in pauper which was how incredibly %$#% strong blue is compared to the other colors. That was certainly the case a few years back, maybe its improved lately. I'd give it a go but it would be hard to convince other people to play it.

Edit: Looked into the PDH group, real shame that you can't run any uncommon in the MTGO version honestly. Would be a real selling point over vanilla EDH instead of just making it a low power EDH variation.

[rogerandover]

Indeed, you have to play blue, if you want the strongest deck. Zada is pretty close up there, though.
But PDH is mostly a more "true" casual format then EDH and I think most people playing PDH don't mind cluttered boardstates. You do also play with lower life of 30 and commanderdamage is 16. The most widely used archtypes being voltron, control/combo or tokens. Sure, two boards filled with tokens can slow the game down, but it's nowhere as long as some EDH games tend to be. Every EDH deck runs at least some kind of reset bottom and PDH lags this so the time for someone to simply just take over the game, is in my experience much quicker.

A big selling point for me is the entry barrier, most decks can be aquired for around 50$, and still get to play Ancestral Recall and Time Walk

[PrimevalCommander]

I've been playing PDH with uncommon non-legends off and on for years now. Pretty fun format and for $10-$20 you can build a very solid deck. Boardstates can get messy, but it takes you back to the old days before Cyclonic Rift or Craterhoof Behemoth. You have to craft your victory with limited pump spells, voltron/evasion, or control. There are only a small handful of meaningful boardwipes, which makes them powerful, yet rare in any one game. All the new uncommon partners have greatly expanded the options for interesting pauper decks and I plan on building one around these.

With limited visibility it is best to start in an intimate playgroup where you can set some ground rules. There is no official ban list, but some cards are poor fits for the format; Capsize being one. Excellent format for new players because you can get to a playable powerlevel with essentially free cards. I've gifted an entire deck and only been out maybe $15.

[Moonlighter]

Few board wipes! Have you met my Crypt Rats deck? It's pretty much ways to make the rats indestructible, or give them lifelink, or both, etc. It was a good time the one chance I got to play it before COVID shut down my groups. I also built a Spellheart Chimera deck, which is more voltron than anything. Rhystic Study is common, which is kill on sight. I'm hoping to hold onto the decks I've made to try and get my group in - I love that it's got a different pace.