Article Learning From Pauper—The Aristocrats
- Thread starter Eric Chan
- Start date
Just reread the article and wanted to talk about it some more.
In terms of supporting these types of decks, what ratios of each card type (traveler, fodder, and aristocrat) should we aim for? My intuition is that you want more fodder and travelers than aristocrats as they can likely better fit in other strategies like going wide with tokens or providing control decks some cheap rockblocks against beatdown decks.
It also seems like fodder and travelers can be somewhat interchangeable as sacrifice targets as both provide ways of netting extra value from sac outlets relative to their costs, but maybe there's something I'm missing there.
In terms of supporting these types of decks, what ratios of each card type (traveler, fodder, and aristocrat) should we aim for? My intuition is that you want more fodder and travelers than aristocrats as they can likely better fit in other strategies like going wide with tokens or providing control decks some cheap rockblocks against beatdown decks.
It also seems like fodder and travelers can be somewhat interchangeable as sacrifice targets as both provide ways of netting extra value from sac outlets relative to their costs, but maybe there's something I'm missing there.
Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
They are somewhat interchangeable, and that exact distinction was something I had to clarify for myself when I was writing the article. After playing tons of pauper goblins, I think the distinction is, to some extent, also a product of the way the cards practically function within the deck itself.
So, for example, in pauper goblins you are more inclined to think of mogg war marshal primarily as a tool for fueling sacrifice interactions, and setting up plays revolving around sacrifice interactions, while goblin arsonist is something we are more interesting in getting straight value from: perhaps to ping some critical threat, keep an X/2 at bay, act as edict fodder.
Gravecrawler is more like marshal in the sense that its key to fueling sacrifice based plays, while the primary interest in running doomed traveler is getting an evasive 1/1 flyer. I can't verify this relationship directly from gameplay, but since the creator of the deck signed off on these distinctions, I am willing to assume that this is how those hairs were originally split, and it seems in line with my own experiences with a similar deck.
Obviously, even within the context of these decks in constructed play, the relationship isn't going to be 100%, but I think its pretty clear that in terms of sacrifice fodder functionality, both mogg war marshal and gravecrawler are much more powerful than either doomed traveler or goblin arsonist.
In cube, the variances of the draft and deck construction means that its more likely for those lines to be blurred due to a reasonable degree of role interchangeability, but a focused source of fodder should also feel like it stands out more in that role. For example, I break singleton with great reluctance, and one of the few spots where I am willing to do so is for mogg war marshal, and more typical riptide lists have traditionally reserved 2-3 slots for some mix of gravecrawler or bloodsoaked champion.
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As for ratios, I can't provide exact numbers other than the observations above. In general, I favor flexible cards that help a color section retain a broad range, but haven't traditionally gone too much out of my way to provide dedicated sources of fodder. The mogg war marshals work fine, but I also have an undying creature in green (young wolf), young pyromancer in red, and golgari brownscale is great fodder for bigger mana versions of the deck. Everyone else seemed to arrive independently at a similar number with 2-3 recurring graveler/champions + a few other similar cards (undying/persist/young pyro). Another good fodder card, in white, is promise of bunrei, which probably represents another way to setup the deck that hasn't really been explored.
This is probably reflective of the degree to which the two roles can interchange in cube.
For travelers, I wasn't very scientific with those numbers. There are a lot of sacrifice for value creatures sprinkled throughout the cube, from traditional death trigger cards like goblin arsonist, to a variety of echo, vanishing, fading, and evoke creatures. I found that death trigger creatures that meet a cube's specs, can be somewhat thin to find, but if you expand your criteria out to look at it from the opposite direction, there are a ton of creatures that you can cast for value and are going to die anyways. Its also worth noting that I run a bunch of 3CC or less cantriping value creatures (civic wayfinder, sylvan ranger, phyrexian ranger) which also work great in this deck.
Playable aristocrat cards are few and far between, so I just generally run what I can. I would like to have a couple more reasonable sacrifice outlets, especially in red.
So, for example, in pauper goblins you are more inclined to think of mogg war marshal primarily as a tool for fueling sacrifice interactions, and setting up plays revolving around sacrifice interactions, while goblin arsonist is something we are more interesting in getting straight value from: perhaps to ping some critical threat, keep an X/2 at bay, act as edict fodder.
Gravecrawler is more like marshal in the sense that its key to fueling sacrifice based plays, while the primary interest in running doomed traveler is getting an evasive 1/1 flyer. I can't verify this relationship directly from gameplay, but since the creator of the deck signed off on these distinctions, I am willing to assume that this is how those hairs were originally split, and it seems in line with my own experiences with a similar deck.
Obviously, even within the context of these decks in constructed play, the relationship isn't going to be 100%, but I think its pretty clear that in terms of sacrifice fodder functionality, both mogg war marshal and gravecrawler are much more powerful than either doomed traveler or goblin arsonist.
In cube, the variances of the draft and deck construction means that its more likely for those lines to be blurred due to a reasonable degree of role interchangeability, but a focused source of fodder should also feel like it stands out more in that role. For example, I break singleton with great reluctance, and one of the few spots where I am willing to do so is for mogg war marshal, and more typical riptide lists have traditionally reserved 2-3 slots for some mix of gravecrawler or bloodsoaked champion.
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As for ratios, I can't provide exact numbers other than the observations above. In general, I favor flexible cards that help a color section retain a broad range, but haven't traditionally gone too much out of my way to provide dedicated sources of fodder. The mogg war marshals work fine, but I also have an undying creature in green (young wolf), young pyromancer in red, and golgari brownscale is great fodder for bigger mana versions of the deck. Everyone else seemed to arrive independently at a similar number with 2-3 recurring graveler/champions + a few other similar cards (undying/persist/young pyro). Another good fodder card, in white, is promise of bunrei, which probably represents another way to setup the deck that hasn't really been explored.
This is probably reflective of the degree to which the two roles can interchange in cube.
For travelers, I wasn't very scientific with those numbers. There are a lot of sacrifice for value creatures sprinkled throughout the cube, from traditional death trigger cards like goblin arsonist, to a variety of echo, vanishing, fading, and evoke creatures. I found that death trigger creatures that meet a cube's specs, can be somewhat thin to find, but if you expand your criteria out to look at it from the opposite direction, there are a ton of creatures that you can cast for value and are going to die anyways. Its also worth noting that I run a bunch of 3CC or less cantriping value creatures (civic wayfinder, sylvan ranger, phyrexian ranger) which also work great in this deck.
Playable aristocrat cards are few and far between, so I just generally run what I can. I would like to have a couple more reasonable sacrifice outlets, especially in red.