Hello, Nation! Today, I want to show you a Commander deck that I recently built around an old-school common Legend. Since that Legend is one of the five Legendary creatures printed as a common, it made sense to move my deck into the realm of Pauper.

Lots of people have an iconic deck. Many of you probably have one. You love it. You add cards and take them out, and you keep modifying it over time. It’s your deck. It’s your baby. I have two: Abe’s Deck of Happiness and Joy, and Equinaut.

When I was a student at WVU, I remember a few people playing at the Mountainlair (the student center on campus). They were older students. I headed over and played with Brad. Brad was an engineering student, and he didn’t have a bunch of different decks. He just had one deck. He loved it. He didn’t use sleeves, and he didn’t bother with major cards. All he did was play his deck as much as he could.

This deck was called The Wasteland. It was a and construction. Whenever a new set would come out, Brad would look for the occasional card to add to his deck to pull out a nonperformer. Money was no object to Brad as far as The Wasteland went. If he wanted it, he would get it. He would wait until someone played him with a card, and if he liked it, he would have it the next day.

I remember playing him with a deck that used the recently released Bosium Strip. The next time I saw him, The Wasteland had added a Strip as well.

Brad would get whatever he wanted, and then would play it into the ground. He had Deserts from Arabian Nights that were as worn out as an old shoe. He didn’t care. I don’t remember all of the cards in the deck, but I do remember Sengir Vampire, Desert, Lightning Bolt, Terror, and Tor Wauki. Whenever he played his Legends Tor Wauki, he’d tap it and lower his voice to make this little half-chant, half-song. Then he’d untap it again and get it ready. He loved that Tor Wauki!

I also remember him building a U/W control deck with counters and removal. My friend Bill and I looked at each other in awe. Brad built another deck! What was wrong with the universe? I had never seen him trade for any other cards. I don’t know where he got them. He played it for about two or three days, and then went back to The Wasteland. It wasn’t his style.

I was thinking about Brad’s The Wasteland recently. I wondered if he still played Magic. Does he still play The Wasteland? What does it look like now? Does it still have Tor Wauki in it?

When I was thinking about that, I decided to build a Commander deck around Tor Wauki. Since TW is common, I figured I should go whole hog and embrace Pauper.

I did some research and found many different ways of building a Pauper Commander deck. There have been five Legendary creatures printed at common. They were from Chronicles, and were reprints of Legends cards. There’s one in each friendly color combination—Sivitri Scarzam, Tor Wauki, Tobias Andrion, Marhault Elsdragon, and Kei Takahashi. Because these were printed in real life as common, every version of Pauper Commander I found allows these.

Then there was a lot of disagreement. Some thought you should be able to play any Legendary creature of any rarity, as long as it was in the flavor of Pauper. Probably not Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, then. My guess is that Commanders like Mirri, Cat Warrior would be more acceptable. Another group felt that you should be able to add any uncommon Commander, but that was all. If you wanted one of the random uncommons, then they aren’t that out of flavor, so go ahead. Another group thought that if it had been printed as a common online, it should count. These last two groups agreed on many cards. Both would allow Barktooth Warbeard, Jedit Ojanen, Jerrard of the Closed Fist, Lady Orca, Ramirez DePietro, Sir Shandlar of Eberyn, Torsten Von Ursus, and The Lady of the Mountain.

You have to admit, there is a certain interest in playing an original Legends Commander, since the format was originally named after the iconic Legendary creatures from the set.

Whichever rules you embrace, Tor Wauki is on the list, so I am making him my Commander dude, for this Paupertastic Commander deck.

"The Wasteland"

• Creatures (38)
• 1 Anarchist
• 1 Blisterstick Shaman
• 1 Cackling Fiend
• 1 Cadaver Imp
• 1 Chainflinger
• 1 Chartooth Cougar
• 1 Crypt Rats
• 1 Dauthi Marauder
• 1 Faceless Butcher
• 1 Flamewave Invoker
• 1 Ghitu Slinger
• 1 Gorilla Shaman
• 1 Gravedigger
• 1 Hearth Kami
• 1 Heartstabber Mosquito
• 1 Igneous Pouncer
• 1 Ingot Chewer
• 1 Jagwasp Swarm
• 1 Lava Zombie
• 1 Liliana's Specter
• 1 Manic Vandal
• 1 Mogg Fanatic
• 1 Mournwhelk
• 1 Null Champion
• 1 Phyrexian Debaser
• 1 Phyrexian Rager
• 1 Pit Keeper
• 1 Rathi Trapper
• 1 Ravenous Rats
• 1 Ridge Rannet
• 1 Shock Troops
• 1 Skinthinner
• 1 Skirk Marauder
• 1 Sootfeather Flock
• 1 Soul Scourge
• 1 Twisted Abomination
• 1 Warren Pilferers
• 1 Tor Wauki

• Spells (25)
• 1 Agonizing Demise
• 1 Chandra's Outrage
• 1 Death Denied
• 1 Fiery Fall
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Rend Flesh
• 1 Shattering Pulse
• 1 Terminate
• 1 Wrecking Ball
• 1 Absorb Vis
• 1 Blightning
• 1 Fireball
• 1 Firebolt
• 1 Pyrotechnics
• 1 Rolling Thunder
• 1 Soul Burn
• 1 Syphon Mind
• 1 Urborg Uprising
• 1 Armillary Sphere
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Kitesail
• 1 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 1 Rakdos Signet
• 1 Strider Harness
• 1 Veinfire Borderpost

• Lands (37)
• 14 Mountain
• 14 Swamp
• 1 Barren Moor
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Desert
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Forgotten Cave
• 1 Polluted Mire
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Smoldering Crater
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

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With twenty-eight basics, nine nonbasics, and five artifacts that make mana or search for lands, plus five land cyclers, there is a lot of mana-making in this deck. I hope that we have enough.

In Pauper, you realize quickly that the raw card-advantage cards in other formats do not exist here. You won’t see Wrath of God wipe up a dozen creatures or Recurring Insight drawing eight cards. This is not the land of Mind Twist, Twilight's Call, Akroma's Vengeance, Wheel of Fortune, or Replenish.

As such, you need to take card advantage where you can get it. Take Anarchist. Not only does it resemble Brad’s Bosium Strip, it also should always get you something good back. It’s one card that becomes two. It fits in perfectly!

There are many creatures that are perfect card advantage. The obvious ones are the Gravedigger creatures. I played every copy of a Gravedigger I could find. Warren Pilferers? Check. Cadaver Imp? Check. Gravedigger itself? Check. Pit Keeper? Check. The others were all uncommon or rarer.

There are many others that have an enters-the-battlefield ability. Some deal damage (Ghitu Slinger, Blisterstick Shaman). I hope they can kill a creature, but if not, you can just go to someone’s head. You also have a few that ETB with discard (Mournwhelk, Cackling Fiend, Liliana's Specter, Ravenous Rats). They are clear card advantage as well. Phyrexian Rager will draw you card, so that’s pure advantage. We even have a pair of ETB artifact destroyers in Ingot Chewer and Manic Vandal.

Some other ETB cards have to do things to make them fully work. While Faceless Butcher exiles a creature, it’s only a temporary measure. Heartstabber Mosquito can certainly take down an opposing creature, but you have to pay the kicker. Lava Zombie forces you to bounce a Black or Red creature of your own, but if you have one of these many ETB creatures, you can use it again.

Not all control comes from ETB abilities. I also want some creatures that do things once they are in play. Both Mogg Fanatic and Shock Troops can sacrifice for damage if needed. If you need to add some damage to a Lightning Bolt or that Blisterstick Shaman to kill something, these can jump in.

I intentionally chose not to turn this into a Tim deck, so I didn’t toss in every possible Tim, but I still like Chainflinger. The ability to dole out 2 damage is on a different level from Prodigal Pyromancer and his friends. Crypt Rats is one of the few sweepers in the commons. I had to play it! I chose not to play another (Swirling Sandstorm), as it is too unreliable.

When my creatures are tending to burn and kill things, I wanted an answer when I had something I couldn’t burn or kill. Rathi Trapper plays that role admirably. It can lock down a creature until you find removal. It also serves as a way to keep a creature away that finds a way to stay alive. I almost wish I found a space for Blightspeaker.

I have some more artifact kill beyond the two ETB creatures. Gorilla Shaman can clean off noncreature artifacts as long as I have mana. Hearth Kami can sacrifice to kill an artifact as long as I have mana as well. Both add to my density of creatures while giving me more options, and that’s what I like when I play any Highlander deck—options.

I also have a late-game powerhouse in Flamewave Invoker. You regularly have 8 mana to activate it and start nailing foes for 5 damage an activation. It’s the only one of the Invokers in my colors I feel worthy of playing, but perhaps you’ll find space for more.

I do have a trio of morph creatures, including two that add to my removal suite. Skirk Marauder wants to Shock you while Skinthinner wants to trim the fat off your skin. Can you say ouch? I also added Sootfeather Flock to give me an aerial beater as well as another morph creature to confuzzle your foes.

Speaking about beaters, let’s talk about the red zone and attacking. With the general small size of creatures in Pauper, I focused more on killing creatures than having my own beaters. That doesn’t mean they aren’t any beaters, because there are a few here and there. We just don’t have too many creatures whose sole role is to swing.

Dauthi Marauder is an ideal way to sneak through a defense for 3 a turn. I wanted a few flyers, so besides Sootfeather Flock, I included Soul Scourge, Jagwasp Swarm, and Phyrexian Debaser. The Debaser can also tap and sac to Disfigure a creature. I like making my removal redundant, but it’s included more for flying than the removal ability. I also have a few flyers from abilities—the Heartstabber Mosquito, Cadaver Imp, and Liliana's Specter.

Besides flyers, I have a few creatures on the ground that can break through a stalemate or a defense. Ridge Rannet is included both for its ability to cycle and to look like a Craw Wurm. Many of the land cyclers are good for this, too. Only Igneous Pouncer with its glass-jaw defense is in question. Another major breaker is Null Champion. Put a few level counters on it, and you will be breaking through anything.

This deck once had five pieces of equipment, but they got reduced to just the two. Strider Harness not only gives +1/+1 to a creature but Haste for a very cheap equip cost. In this deck, that can be quite powerful. The other one is Kitesail, which helps you go airborne. In the common slots, these colors are not that flying-heavy. I included flyers where I could, but Kitesail can really help you go over your enemies.

We’ve got spells, too! Some are special removal spells. With so many creatures based in removal, I only felt the need to run ten removal spells, and most are played for their card-advantage ability. Let’s look first at those that are not. I want instant removal in case of a surprise, so we have Terminate, Wrecking Ball, Rend Flesh, Agonizing Demise, Fiery Fall, Chandra's Outrage, and Lightning Bolt. These add to the other removal to make sure you have a clean road to swing with your small creatures.

The rest of the removal spells are card advantage or do something new. Pyrotechnics can kill several creatures, and thus yield you some advantage. Note that I am playing it over similar effects like Arc Lightning precisely because of its card-advantage potential. Another one is Fireball, which is both an spell and a way to kill multiple things. Rolling Thunder is the best example, as it can kill four or five enemy creatures with regularity. Also an spell is Soul Burn, which is played more for life gain and burning than card advantage. Finally, Shattering Pulse, with its Buyback, is a great artifact-neutralizer that yields significant card advantage.

What spells are left? When playing against multiple players, Syphon Mind is one of the best card-drawing spells in common. When you are not, it’s still a two-for-one. Blightning is simply awesome, and needs no ink from me to sell you on that fact. Death Denied can return a large number of creatures to your hand, and is another of the best card-drawing spells in the environment. Finally, Urborg Uprising is essentially an Ancestral Recall here. You can’t argue with that!

Of the lands, I made sure I included a Desert in homage to Brad’s original deck. The rest are natural and noncontroversial. The mana artifacts are similarly unassailable. Who thinks Rakdos Signet is bad in a Pauper Tor Wauki deck?

Cards I took out included Corrupt, Flayer Husk, Vulshok Morningstar, Geth's Verdict, Diabolic Edict, Goblin Matron, Brainspoil, Sever Soul, and Dimir House Guard. They were too inconsistent or not at the power level of the other cards.

One card we have to discuss is the notable lack of Tortured Existence. Not only is it a great card, but it is very cheap to play and activate. I thought about it, but it would be the lone enchantment in the deck and clearly a target of any enchantment removal a foe might have. It’s good to have a decided lack of certain permanents when you can, because it can help to get virtual card advantage.

I hope that you enjoyed today’s deck and perhaps found a few cards or ideas to try out. The Wasteland seems pretty cool to play.

See you next week,

Abe Sargent