Armchair Generals Hosts: The Pauper League: Week 3 and 4

The competitive Pauper scene continues to heat up in Armchair's league, with players battling it out each week. After the diverse and exciting metagame showcased in Weeks 1 and 2, where decks like Dimir Faeries, Izzet Terror, and Rakdos Aggro were prominent, Weeks 3 and 4 introduced even more variety—some familiar, others a bit more unconventional.

Week 3 saw a standout performance from Armin Jesersky, who brought a fresh and powerful take on Selesnya Auras. His deck proved incredibly effective, dominating both my Faeries (thanks to its resilience against hexproof creatures) and newcomer Egon's Rakdos Rats. While Egon’s deck managed to put up more of a fight, Armin's deck's sheer power and versatility were hard to match. The standout feature of Armin's build was its ability to consistently power up its one-cost hexproof creatures using cards like Ethereal Armor and Armadillo Cloak. The deck's aggression and staying power made it a formidable opponent that I wasn’t fully prepared to handle.

Another highlight of the week was Egon's Rakdos Rats deck, which offered a unique twist on the Rakdos Sacrifice archetype. Drawing from cards in the Wilds of Eldraine set, Egon focused heavily on the Bargain mechanic, sacrificing key cards like Hopeless Nightmare for extra value. The deck featured powerful exile removal with Torch the Tower, hand disruption, and token generators like Ratcatcher Trainee. His approach was a breath of fresh air, combining well-known mechanics with innovative new cards to create something both effective and fun to watch. It’s not every day you see a deck like this, and it’s clear that Egon has put a lot of thought into crafting a unique strategy.

Both Armin's Selesnya Auras and Egon's Rakdos Rats offered exciting insights into the diversity of Pauper's competitive landscape, and it’s clear that the meta is continuing to evolve in fascinating ways.

Week 4 of Armchair's Competitive Pauper League felt like a trip back to the start of the season, as Ray once again showed his dominance with his powerful Golgari Dredge deck. It’s clear that Ray’s strategy is hard to beat, especially when he’s able to Exhume powerful creatures from The Lord of the Rings set, bringing them back with the added value of landcycling. His deck's sheer consistency and ability to bring threats back from the graveyard proved once again why Golgari Dredge is such a force in the league.

As for me, I stuck with my tried-and-true Dimir Faeries, continuing to control the game and maintain a solid ranking in the league. The deck has served me well so far, and it’s been satisfying to see the strategy continue to perform at a high level.

Meanwhile, both Quinton and Brendan decided to mix things up this week with some interesting deck choices. Quinton opted for a Simic Merfolk deck, focusing on gaining value from the Explore mechanic from Ixalan. By ramping up lands and placing +1/+1 counters on his creatures, They were able to steadily build a board that could overwhelm opponents. Brendan, on the other hand, went in a different direction with a Zombie Kindred deck, using cards like Gempalm Polluter to cycle through his graveyard and create an army of zombies that flooded the board. The synergy of his deck allowed him to deal massive damage while taking advantage of his graveyard’s value.

Both Quinton’s and Brendan’s decks were fun and unique takes on the metagame. They showed that you don’t need to strictly follow the popular strategies to be successful in Pauper. In fact, sometimes creating a deck that’s enjoyable to pilot can be just as effective as sticking to the meta. These two decks proved that innovation and personal flair can bring success, reminding us that the Pauper format is as much about creativity and fun as it is about competition.

The current Scoreboard

 Below you'll find the decks lists that we've seen so far:

Dimir Faeries

Orzhov Midrange

Izzet Spellslinger (Brendon)

Gruul Midrange 

Gruul Domain

Golgari Dredge

Rakdos Discard

 Izzet Spellslinger (Carlo)