I started playing Magic in the spring of 1998, right in the middle of Tempest block. My first ever purchase was a 5th Edition starter and two packs of Weatherlight. To this day, I have a soft spot for Weatherlight, a set that is not regarded as particularly powerful or noteworthy.
As strong as that attachment is, I have a much, much stronger bond to Odyssey block. The Torment prerelease in 2002 was my first sanctioned tournament, and set me on the path of (semi-)competitive play. A few months later, I won my first FNM (Odyssey-Odyssey-Torment draft), and was truly hooked. I drafted more Odyssey than any other block since, as evidenced by the stacks of Chainflingers and Cephalid Looters in my bulk boxes.
Anyone who played Standard during this era knows that the format was largely defined by two fundamentally "Odyssey" decks: U/G Madness and Psychatog. While I was certainly more of an U/G Madness player at the time, I think it is Psychatog that most clearly encapsulates that particular moment in Magic history.
I've thought about building a pauper EDH list around ol' Dr. Teeth, sure I have. However, I was hesitant, mostly because I already have a pauper deck (Child of Alara, a modified version of d0su's venerable list) and I wasn't sure about the idea of a uncommon, non-legendary general gaining acceptance at my local store.
And then the decision was taken out of my hands. You see, one of my best friends came down to NJ this past weekend and he brought me a little something. Calling this guy one of my best friends is something of an understatement. Back in 6th grade, just more than half my life ago, he was one of the kids I first saw playing this neat little card game called Magic: The Gathering. Well, what did he bring me? A signed DCI foil Psychatog.
Below is the rough sketch that I came up for a control-oriented 1v1 pauper Psychatog build. As a ground rule, I build under the belief that if a card has ever been printed as a common, it counts as a common: Scrivener, for example.
The general idea is to play a controlling game, with permission, discard and spot removal. I know that discard is usually considered a fool's errand in EDH due to the multitude of ways to exploit the graveyard, but the few discard spells I've included seem too powerful to exclude.
The goal is to grind out card advantage/quality with the abundance of recursion spells and utility creatures, while filling up the graveyard.
Eventually, you'll aim to kill with a Shadow Rifted or Distortion Striked Psychatog. As a back up plan, Consume Spirit/Drain life double as spot-removal and alternate win conditions, especially if you get the recursive Mnemonic Wall action going.
Obviously, you're going to more or less roll to heavy graveyard hate, but when can you do?
I'm very eager to get feedback/suggestions. Understand that this deck is more a labor of love than anything that I think will be exceptionally strong.
Thank you for your kind words in the OP. I think I may have teared up a bit.
I have nothing to add. I spent a couple of hours going through old Standard 'Tog lists and looking for any cards you may have missed with almost no luck at all. Every time I thought of a card to add (like Shadow Rift or Probe) you already had it in there.
I think it currently may be skewed a bit to the 1v1 match-up, like you said. Do you think that you'll be running it out primarily in a 1v1 situation, or are you going to plan on doing some multi-player pauper EDH?
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"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
Looks really fun. Tog seems like a great Pauper general. If you wanted to increase your tutoring ability you could always include Shred Memory and Dimir House Guard . Train of Thought is an awesome draw spell late game when you've got plenty of mana. Additionally I've really been enjoying Darksteel Pendant in my Esper Pauper EDH.
How about Sink into Takenuma? Seems like you could get your opponent to discard, fill up your hand with swamps, discard them and exile them for 'tog pumps...
I got really excited about Pauper EDH when some friends at my local shop started playing it. I really wanted to set down a good set of rules though, especially after the High Tide shenanigans from regular paper Pauper (involving 'Un' cards). These are the rules that I, at least, feel people should go by, and therefor based my deck around:
1.) The cards that are legal in a Pauper EDH deck, other than the General, can consist only of cards legal in the Magic Online Pauper format, as determined by this web page.
2.) A Pauper EDH General can be any common creature card legal in the Magic Online Pauper format, as determined by the first rule, or any uncommon creature card legal in the Vintage format.
My list is in my signature however. It is more of a control based list, that intends to clear the board and stabilize before it allows Mr. Teeth to swing for victory.
Nice list. I'm definitely going to be putting one together myself pretty soon.
Maybe try out Artful Dodge? It's similar to Distortion Strike when you discard it, but it can be flashbacked off of getting dumped by Imp or something.
There is also Writ of Passage that can play like Artful Dodge. Forecast it then pitch it to Tog after blocks. Or just keep it around to do it as much as you want.
It's weird, as Strip Mine and Maze of Ith were also printed at C1 rarity, which was they considered later to be uncommon. But in this case, they decided that Merchant Scroll was fine at common. This allows it to be legal in paper pauper but not online where it only saw print in 8th edition.
It's weird, as Strip Mine and Maze of Ith were also printed at C1 rarity, which was they considered later to be uncommon. But in this case, they decided that Merchant Scroll was fine at common. This allows it to be legal in paper pauper but not online where it only saw print in 8th edition.
Alrighty then. I rarely use gatherer so it's not a surprise I missed this then
One card I have used in other decks with the almighty Dr. Teeth when he is an assisting creature rather than the main star to great effect is Rite of Consumption if the board is locked and I don't have an easy way out. Black Fling + life gain? Yes please.
Yeah, I wish there was a Pauper-legal effect that let it either get flash or flashback. Still amusing to consider pumping 'Tog via discards, blowing him up, then repeating the process next turn with recursion of the spell via Mnemonic Wall and exiling the grave...
On another note, why not add Archaeomancer as another version of the wall? Same effect for one-manna less, or is the double UU in its mana cost the problem?
Is there any particular reason black pauper decks don't run Devour Flesh? It's great removal that bypasses things like Invisible Stalker. I haven't seen it in a single black pauper deck.
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As strong as that attachment is, I have a much, much stronger bond to Odyssey block. The Torment prerelease in 2002 was my first sanctioned tournament, and set me on the path of (semi-)competitive play. A few months later, I won my first FNM (Odyssey-Odyssey-Torment draft), and was truly hooked. I drafted more Odyssey than any other block since, as evidenced by the stacks of Chainflingers and Cephalid Looters in my bulk boxes.
Anyone who played Standard during this era knows that the format was largely defined by two fundamentally "Odyssey" decks: U/G Madness and Psychatog. While I was certainly more of an U/G Madness player at the time, I think it is Psychatog that most clearly encapsulates that particular moment in Magic history.
I've thought about building a pauper EDH list around ol' Dr. Teeth, sure I have. However, I was hesitant, mostly because I already have a pauper deck (Child of Alara, a modified version of d0su's venerable list) and I wasn't sure about the idea of a uncommon, non-legendary general gaining acceptance at my local store.
And then the decision was taken out of my hands. You see, one of my best friends came down to NJ this past weekend and he brought me a little something. Calling this guy one of my best friends is something of an understatement. Back in 6th grade, just more than half my life ago, he was one of the kids I first saw playing this neat little card game called Magic: The Gathering. Well, what did he bring me? A signed DCI foil Psychatog.
Below is the rough sketch that I came up for a control-oriented 1v1 pauper Psychatog build. As a ground rule, I build under the belief that if a card has ever been printed as a common, it counts as a common: Scrivener, for example.
1 Psychatog
Lands:
1 Barren Moor
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Command Tower
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Halimar Depths
1 Haunted Fengraf
14 Island
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Polluted Mire
1 Remote Isle
12 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Creatures:
1 Aether Adept
1 Archaeomancer
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Cavern Harpy
1 Chittering Rats
1 Crypt Rats
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Gravedigger
1 Grave Scrabbler
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Mulldrifter
1 Nightscape Familiar
1 Scrivener
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Dimir Cluestone
1 Expedition Map
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Whispersilk Cloak
Enchantments:
1 Flood
1 Rhystic Study
1 Tortured Existence
Instants and Sorceries:
1 Bone to Ash
1 Brainstorm
1 Cancel
1 Capsize
1 Careful Study
1 Condescend
1 Counterspell
1 Death Denied
1 Deep Analysis
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Distortion Strike
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Divination
1 Drain Life
1 Exclude
1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Frantic Search
1 Ghastly Demise
1 Ghostly Flicker
1 Grim Harvest
1 Gush
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Perplex
1 Pilfered Plans
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Probe
1 Recoil
1 Shadow Rift
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Tainted Strike
Notes:
The general idea is to play a controlling game, with permission, discard and spot removal. I know that discard is usually considered a fool's errand in EDH due to the multitude of ways to exploit the graveyard, but the few discard spells I've included seem too powerful to exclude.
The goal is to grind out card advantage/quality with the abundance of recursion spells and utility creatures, while filling up the graveyard.
Eventually, you'll aim to kill with a Shadow Rifted or Distortion Striked Psychatog. As a back up plan, Consume Spirit/Drain life double as spot-removal and alternate win conditions, especially if you get the recursive Mnemonic Wall action going.
Obviously, you're going to more or less roll to heavy graveyard hate, but when can you do?
I'm very eager to get feedback/suggestions. Understand that this deck is more a labor of love than anything that I think will be exceptionally strong.
--EDH--
GSasaya, Orochi AscendantG
BGThelon of HavenwoodBG
WUBRGChild of AlaraWUBRG
--Pauper EDH--
UBPsychatogUB
--MTGO EDH--
BRGSek'Kuar, DeathkeeperBRG
I have nothing to add. I spent a couple of hours going through old Standard 'Tog lists and looking for any cards you may have missed with almost no luck at all. Every time I thought of a card to add (like Shadow Rift or Probe) you already had it in there.
I think it currently may be skewed a bit to the 1v1 match-up, like you said. Do you think that you'll be running it out primarily in a 1v1 situation, or are you going to plan on doing some multi-player pauper EDH?
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
1.) The cards that are legal in a Pauper EDH deck, other than the General, can consist only of cards legal in the Magic Online Pauper format, as determined by this web page.
2.) A Pauper EDH General can be any common creature card legal in the Magic Online Pauper format, as determined by the first rule, or any uncommon creature card legal in the Vintage format.
My list is in my signature however. It is more of a control based list, that intends to clear the board and stabilize before it allows Mr. Teeth to swing for victory.
Maybe try out Artful Dodge? It's similar to Distortion Strike when you discard it, but it can be flashbacked off of getting dumped by Imp or something.
Brine Shaman is another to keep an eye out for.
Unfortunately, I don't believe Merchant Scroll is legal. Man, I'd love to be able to play that.
Draft my Cube!
If going by the rule that "as long as it was printed once at common" then merchant scroll is legal due to it's printing in Homelands.
http://magiccards.info/hl/en/42.html
It's weird, as Strip Mine and Maze of Ith were also printed at C1 rarity, which was they considered later to be uncommon. But in this case, they decided that Merchant Scroll was fine at common. This allows it to be legal in paper pauper but not online where it only saw print in 8th edition.
Even a member of the Commander Rules Committee uses Merchant Scroll in his Pauper Sivitri Scarzam deck.
Alrighty then. I rarely use gatherer so it's not a surprise I missed this then
Thanks for the info!
Mogis, God of Slaughter
Daxos of Meletis
..
Azusa - Derevi - Glissa - Mizzix - Sharuum - Wanderer - Wort
On another note, why not add Archaeomancer as another version of the wall? Same effect for one-manna less, or is the double UU in its mana cost the problem?
Mogis, God of Slaughter
Daxos of Meletis
What about Frantic Search?