Pauper Top Decks: Delver Edition

It's been a while since my original Pauper Top Deck Averages article, and it's high time for an update!

For my Top Decks articles I calculate averages of the most successful decks according to the MTGO Daily Events. Today's update uses a much smaller data set than the original, but all of the data is fresh. This data set spans 44 Constructed Pauper Daily Events from Dec 5th to Dec 14th. Every deck that scored 3-1 or better in those events is included. There were 403 decks total.

Let's jump in!

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#1 White Weenie	count: 52
-- main -- 20.6 Plains 2.9 Benevolent Bodyguard 2.9 Guardian of the Guildpact 3.8 Icatian Javelineers 2.7 Kor Sanctifiers 4.0 Kor Skyfisher 4.0 Razor Golem 4.0 Squadron Hawk 3.7 Suture Priest 3.6 Bonesplitter 2.6 Journey to Nowhere 2.3 Prismatic Strands 2.5 Unmake 0.3 Knight of Sursi 0.7 Leonin Skyhunter 0.4 Lone Missionary 0.2 Order of Leitbur 0.3 Secluded Steppe 0.2 Mana Tithe	-- sideboard -- 1.7 Benevolent Unicorn 2.7 Crimson Acolyte 2.4 Dust to Dust 2.8 Holy Light 1.8 Standard Bearer 0.7 Obsidian Acolyte 0.2 Serrated Arrows

White Weenie is still the deck to beat. I find it hard to hate on this honest deck.

#2 Goblins	count: 47
-- main -- 16.4 Mountain 0.4 Teetering Peaks 4.0 Goblin Bushwhacker 4.0 Goblin Cohort 3.9 Goblin Sledder 3.9 Mogg Conscripts 3.2 Mogg Flunkies 3.8 Mogg Raider 3.9 Mogg War Marshal 3.2 Sparksmith 3.6 Chain Lightning 2.0 Death Spark 1.0 Fireblast 4.0 Lightning Bolt 1.0 Jackal Familiar 1.4 Goblin Arsonist	-- sideboard -- 1.7 Flaring Pain 2.2 Gorilla Shaman 3.1 Pyroblast 2.4 Seismic Shudder 1.6 Smash to Smithereens 1.1 Sylvok Lifestaff 0.3 Flame Jab 0.6 Flame Slash 0.3 Molten Rain 0.5 Raze 0.3 Martyr of Ashes

Goblins are back! To be fair, they weren't really missing, but they're up from #6 to #2. Moving right along...

#3 Blue Control

count: 45

-- main -- 16.8 Island 1.2 Quicksand 3.5 Cloud of Faeries 3.9 Delver of Secrets 3.7 Ninja of the Deep Hours 0.3 Pestermite 3.8 Spellstutter Sprite 3.2 Brainstorm 4.0 Counterspell 0.4 Deprive 3.1 Force Spike 3.0 Gitaxian Probe 0.7 Piracy Charm 3.3 Snap 1.1 Think Twice 1.2 Spire Golem 1.0 Exclude 2.1 Preordain 0.3 Opt 0.9 Phantasmal Bear 0.4 Stitched Drake 0.4 Gush 0.6 Daze 0.3 Accumulated Knowledge

-- sideboard -- 3.6 Echoing Truth 3.3 Hydroblast 0.2 Relic of Progenitus 0.9 Sea Sprite 1.1 Dispel 0.7 Serrated Arrows 2.6 Weatherseed Faeries 0.2 Disrupt 0.5 Boomerang 0.5 Curse of Chains 0.7 Steel Sabotage

Who's that in monoblue control? With 3.9 copies of Delver of Secrets, the only spell people use more in this deck is Counterspell.

#4 Affinity

count: 39

-- main -- 4.0 Great Furnace 4.0 Seat of the Synod 3.8 Tree of Tales 3.9 Vault of Whispers 4.0 Atog 3.8 Carapace Forger 3.8 Disciple of the Vault 4.0 Frogmite 4.0 Myr Enforcer 1.1 Chromatic Sphere 4.0 Chromatic Star 1.5 Fling 4.0 Galvanic Blast 0.5 Scale of Chiss-Goria 3.7 Springleaf Drum 4.0 Thoughtcast 0.8 Ancient Den 1.3 Somber Hoverguard 1.2 Prophetic Prism 0.4 Rush of Knowledge 1.2 Darksteel Citadel 0.2 Terrarion

-- sideboard -- 1.0 Ancient Grudge 0.3 Auriok Sunchaser 3.0 Duress 1.4 Gorilla Shaman 2.6 Hydroblast 2.9 Krark-Clan Shaman 0.7 Raze 1.4 Pyroblast 1.1 Scar

Affinity still puts up good numbers. Hasn't changed much since metalcraft.

#5 Infect	count: 33
-- main -- 16.3 Forest 4.0 Blight Mamba 2.0 Cystbearer 4.0 Glistener Elf 4.0 Ichorclaw Myr 3.7 Groundswell 3.9 Invigorate 1.9 Lotus Petal 3.6 Mutagenic Growth 4.0 Rancor 1.0 Ranger's Guile 4.0 Vines of Vastwood 1.3 Tranquil Thicket 2.1 Apostle's Blessing 2.3 Predator's Strike 1.4 Gitaxian Probe 0.2 Land Grant 0.2 Llanowar Augur 0.2 Briar Shield	-- sideboard -- 2.6 Hornet Sting 2.7 Nature's Claim 1.4 Rot Wolf 2.6 Sandstorm 1.4 Corpse Cur 0.8 Viridian Longbow 0.5 Fog 0.4 Gather Courage 0.5 Leeching Bite 0.2 Scattershot Archer

Infect is down from #3. Still a decent chunk of the field, and still all but replaced mono green stompy.

#6 UR Post

count: 28

-- main -- 4.0 Cloudpost 4.0 Glimmerpost 8.0 Island 5.5 Mountain 1.3 Terramorphic Expanse 0.8 Mnemonic Wall 2.9 Mulldrifter 1.8 Sea Gate Oracle 1.0 Capsize 1.2 Compulsive Research 2.3 Condescend 0.9 Counterspell 1.0 Deep Analysis 1.0 Firebolt 2.9 Flame Slash 1.1 Forbidden Alchemy 2.6 Lightning Bolt 1.8 Mystical Teachings 0.9 Negate 3.0 Preordain 0.6 Prohibit 3.5 Prophetic Prism 1.1 Rolling Thunder 0.4 Staggershock 0.4 Izzet Boilerworks 0.5 Echoing Truth 0.4 Evolving Wilds 0.6 Expedition Map 1.5 Mana Leak 0.4 Mysteries of the Deep 0.8 Steamcore Weird 0.4 Think Twice

-- sideboard -- 1.5 Ancient Grudge 1.0 Curfew 0.3 Geistflame 2.2 Hydroblast 2.6 Pyroblast 1.9 Seismic Shudder 0.4 Serrated Arrows 1.1 Ulamog's Crusher 0.4 Dispel 1.5 Earth Rift 0.5 Shattering Pulse 1.2 Stone Rain 0.2 Piracy Charm 0.2 Gorilla Shaman

My data gets a little weird here. For some reason the UR Post decks split in two. They look pretty similar. It might have split because of a variety of quantity diffs (one set uses 3 of this and 1 of that and vice versa). The bulk of the diffs might actually be in the sideboard. In any case, the sum of the two sets is an impressive 41 decks which would place UR Post as a whole around #4.

#7 Storm	count: 18
-- main -- 6.6 Island 4.2 Mountain 2.6 Terramorphic Expanse 3.9 Goblin Bushwhacker 3.9 Brainstorm 4.0 Desperate Ritual 4.0 Empty the Warrens 3.8 Gitaxian Probe 2.2 Gush 2.8 Lava Dart 3.6 Lotus Petal 4.0 Ponder 4.0 Preordain 4.0 Rite of Flame 3.9 Seething Song 0.4 Pyretic Ritual 2.7 Manamorphose 1.4 Evolving Wilds 0.6 Forgotten Cave	-- sideboard -- 0.8 Deep Analysis 3.3 Dispel 1.2 Echoing Truth 3.2 Hydroblast 0.6 Goblin Sledder 1.4 Flaring Pain 1.2 Pyroblast 0.7 Gorilla Shaman

Storm. No comment.

#8 Red Storm	count: 17
-- main -- 4.0 Forgotten Cave 11.0 Mountain 4.0 Goblin Bushwhacker 4.0 Kiln Fiend 4.0 Desperate Ritual 4.0 Empty the Warrens 0.9 Fireblast 4.0 Gitaxian Probe 4.0 Lava Dart 3.6 Lotus Petal 4.0 Manamorphose 4.0 Rite of Flame 2.6 Seal of Fire 2.0 Seething Song 4.0 Spark Spray 0.8 Pyretic Ritual	-- sideboard -- 2.0 Flaring Pain 3.5 Gorilla Shaman 3.9 Martyr of Ashes 3.3 Mogg Raider 0.6 Goblin Sledder 0.2 Smash to Smithereens 0.4 Pyroblast

An aggro/Storm hybrid. But mostly Storm.

#9 Grapeshot Storm	count: 16
-- main -- 3.3 Ancient Spring 2.6 Geothermal Crevice 2.4 Irrigation Ditch 4.0 Sulfur Vent 3.6 Cabal Ritual 3.4 Chromatic Star 4.0 Dark Ritual 3.9 Empty the Warrens 3.8 Grapeshot 3.2 Ideas Unbound 4.0 Lotus Petal 4.0 Manamorphose 2.2 Ponder 0.8 Preordain 4.0 Rite of Flame 0.6 Seething Song 3.2 Sign in Blood 1.5 Goblin Bushwhacker 2.0 Chromatic Sphere 1.1 Compulsive Research 3.3 Gitaxian Probe	-- sideboard -- 2.1 Deep Analysis 2.9 Duress 1.8 Echoing Truth 1.7 Flaring Pain 0.8 Shred Memory 0.8 Izzet Boilerworks 1.0 Pyroblast 0.8 Spark Spray 0.4 Innocent Blood 0.2 Riot Spikes 0.2 Holy Day 0.2 Unsummon

The large change in lands splits this one off from the other Storm build. This one also uses Grapeshot.

#10 Delver Aggro	count: 15
-- main -- 15.9 Island 4.0 Delver of Secrets 4.0 Phantasmal Bear 4.0 Porcelain Legionnaire 2.5 Stitched Drake 4.0 Counterspell 4.0 Daze 3.4 Dispel 2.1 Echoing Truth 4.0 Gitaxian Probe 2.8 Gush 4.0 Piracy Charm 4.0 Preordain 1.1 Snap 0.3 Opt 1.9 Vapor Snag	-- sideboard -- 1.1 Annul 4.0 Hydroblast 1.7 Ninja of the Deep Hours 2.3 Perilous Myr 0.3 Curse of Chains 1.5 Steel Sabotage 0.7 Serrated Arrows 0.4 Diminish

What is this? "Delver Control" was really just the old monoblue control deck with 4 copies of Delver, but this really looks like something different. This is what they call "tempo". It's very fast aggro backed up with a bunch of countermagic. The low mana curve and cantrips allow a low land count. I pronounce this deck of the month.

#11 UR Post V2

count: 13

-- main -- 4.0 Cloudpost 4.0 Glimmerpost 8.5 Island 5.1 Mountain 1.2 Terramorphic Expanse 3.5 Mulldrifter 0.8 Ulamog's Crusher 1.0 Capsize 3.5 Compulsive Research 1.5 Deep Analysis 1.5 Echoing Truth 1.2 Expedition Map 2.5 Firebolt 3.5 Flame Slash 1.4 Geistflame 0.7 Negate 2.5 Prohibit 3.8 Prophetic Prism 1.0 Rolling Thunder 0.5 Mana Leak 3.1 Preordain 0.2 Izzet Boilerworks 0.5 Mnemonic Wall 1.1 Condescend 0.4 Counterspell 1.2 Lightning Bolt 0.6 Mystical Teachings 0.7 Evolving Wilds 0.4 Serrated Arrows 0.3 Sea Gate Oracle

-- sideboard -- 1.7 Earth Rift 1.7 Gorilla Shaman 3.2 Hydroblast 3.6 Pyroblast 2.5 Stone Rain 1.0 Seismic Shudder 0.2 Fade Away

Here's the other UR Post.

#12 G Post	count: 9
-- main -- 4.0 Cloudpost 11.8 Forest 4.0 Glimmerpost 0.7 Quicksand 3.7 Tranquil Thicket 4.0 Aurochs Herd 2.7 Llanowar Elves 4.0 Llanowar Sentinel 4.0 Overgrown Battlement 3.3 Penumbra Spider 2.7 Ulamog's Crusher 3.0 Wall of Roots 4.0 Serrated Arrows 2.6 Sprout Swarm 3.2 Thermokarst 0.3 Fangren Marauder 0.3 Fierce Empath 0.7 Wall of Tanglecord 0.2 Crop Rotation 1.1 Reap and Sow	-- sideboard -- 3.2 Gleeful Sabotage 4.0 Matsu-Tribe Sniper 3.1 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss 4.0 Sandstorm 0.3 Grazing Gladehart

G Post maintains it spot near the bottom of the Top Decks.

#13 UB Post

count: 7

-- main -- 4.0 Cloudpost 4.0 Glimmerpost 7.0 Island 2.7 Shimmering Grotto 4.6 Swamp 1.3 Terramorphic Expanse 0.9 Mnemonic Wall 3.7 Mulldrifter 1.1 Ulamog's Crusher 1.9 Agony Warp 1.0 Capsize 2.7 Condescend 1.4 Counterspell 1.0 Diabolic Edict 1.9 Doom Blade 3.0 Echoing Decay 1.0 Grim Harvest 4.0 Innocent Blood 1.0 Kaervek's Torch 0.7 Mana Leak 0.3 Mysteries of the Deep 2.0 Mystical Teachings 2.6 Preordain 2.6 Probe 3.0 Prophetic Prism 1.0 Forbidden Alchemy 0.4 Bojuka Bog 0.3 Prohibit 0.3 Twisted Abomination 0.6 Accumulated Knowledge

-- sideboard -- 1.7 Augur of Skulls 2.6 Dispel 3.1 Duress 0.9 Fade Away 1.7 Nausea 1.7 Weatherseed Faeries 0.6 Calcite Snapper 0.4 Hydroblast 0.3 Serrated Arrows

This looks a bit different too. I built a GB Post deck recently and I'm glad to see a somewhat similar idea here. Cloudpost is so powerful.

#14 Familar Storm	count: 6
-- main -- 3.0 Azorius Chancery 3.0 Dimir Aqueduct 2.3 Evolving Wilds 6.8 Island 2.0 Plains 1.7 Swamp 3.0 Terramorphic Expanse 4.0 Cloud of Faeries 1.0 Mnemonic Wall 3.0 Mulldrifter 4.0 Nightscape Familiar 3.0 Sea Gate Oracle 4.0 Sunscape Familiar 4.0 Compulsive Research 3.0 Deep Analysis 1.8 Foresee 1.3 Scarscale Ritual 4.0 Snap 2.0 Springleaf Drum 3.0 Temporal Fissure	-- sideboard -- 0.3 Benevolent Unicorn 1.0 Divine Offering 3.0 Echoing Decay 1.5 Hydroblast 3.3 Lone Missionary 2.3 Prismatic Strands 2.0 Duress 1.5 Snuff Out

Death by Temporal Fissure. Disgusting.

#15 U Post	count: 6
-- main -- 4.0 Cloudpost 4.0 Glimmerpost 14.2 Island 4.0 Mulldrifter 3.7 Sea Gate Oracle 2.3 Ulamog's Crusher 1.7 Capsize 3.0 Condescend 4.0 Counterspell 2.7 Deep Analysis 2.7 Echoing Truth 4.0 Expedition Map 4.0 Mana Leak 2.3 Piracy Charm 3.3 Preordain 3.2 Serrated Arrows 0.8 Oona's Gatewarden 0.7 Accumulated Knowledge 0.3 Think Twice	-- sideboard -- 0.3 Crookclaw Transmuter 1.3 Hindering Touch 3.3 Hydroblast 2.7 Wall of Tanglecord 0.7 Ice Cage 0.3 Boomerang 0.3 Curse of Chains 1.0 Dispel

Yet another variety of Cloudpost. What are missing now? Mono red post? Mono white post? RW Post? I challenge somebody to 3-1 a daily with a different color post deck. I like the U Post version by the way. No nasty land destruction, or burning everything you drop. Just mana, draw, and crushers. Capsize on repeat is a little dirty, but hey this isn't the casual room. Do what you gotta do.

#16 Delver Illusions	count: 5
-- main -- 18.0 Island 2.4 Calcite Snapper 4.0 Delver of Secrets 3.8 Fathom Seer 4.0 Krovikan Mist 4.0 Phantasmal Bear 3.0 Stitched Drake 4.0 Counterspell 3.2 Daze 3.2 Gitaxian Probe 3.4 Piracy Charm 4.0 Ponder 0.6 Ninja of the Deep Hours 1.6 Spellstutter Sprite 0.8 Brainstorm 0.4 Force Spike	-- sideboard -- 3.0 Echoing Truth 3.4 Hydroblast 0.8 Steel Sabotage 1.6 Think Twice 3.2 Thornwind Faeries 1.0 Dispel 0.8 Sea Sprite 0.4 Serrated Arrows

Finally, we have another Delver build. This one is really cool too. Fathom Seer and Krovikan Mist? Pauper has a new tribe!

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Notable decks missing from the top 16: MBC, RDW, Tortured Existence/Dead Dog.

Most used cards overall (excludes basic land):
1) Hydroblast (597)
2) Gitaxian Probe (472)
3) Preordain (451)
4) Pyroblast (398)
5) Counterspell (395)
6) Goblin Bushwhacker (362)
7) Echoing Truth (353)
8) Lightning Bolt (299)
9) Cloudpost (288)
10) Glimmerpost (288)
11) Delver of Secrets (284)
12) Gorilla Shaman (277)
13) Lotus Petal (260)
14) Duress (256)
15) Dispel (249)
16) Mulldrifter (248)
17) Prophetic Prism (242)
18) Mogg Raider (240)
19) Chromatic Star (230)
20) Brainstorm (229)