Pauper is one of the best budget formats around. It's easy to buy into and thanks to the general affordability, it's quite easy to obtain multiple decks as well. Despite this affordability, there are a number of cards that are quite expensive, difficult to access copies of, or both.

Recently, I dug into this issue a little bit by talking about ten Pauper staples that were in real need of reprints. However, there are far more cards that need to be reprinted. As such, I'm back to cover another ten cards in need of reprints for the Pauper format!

Just like last time, I'm going to focus primarily on cards printed before Eighth Edition. This is because these older sets often had lower print runs compared to today, making card availability much slimmer. So, I'm once again going to focus on cards that need meaningful reprints.

For this criteria, the following do not qualify as what I would consider "meaningful reprints:"

• Commander decks (unless printed in several)
• Secret Lairs
• Mystery Boosters
• The List
• Special Guests
• Select bonus sheets (Final Fantasy, Marvel)
• Jumpstart
• Promos

What I do count as meaningful reprints are when cards show up in Standard releases, a bonus sheet card in each of those packs, or a special ancillary release like Battlebond or a Masters set. Generally, I'm looking for ones that had reprints within the last decade. A card reprinted in Modern Masters 2013 or similar may not be quite as available as it was then, after all.

Without further ado, let's get to the list!

Honorable Mention: Blood Celebrant

Blood Celebrant is a great example of an honorable mention. It's also a fantastic showcase of a Pauper card that just so happens to have a good bit of Commander play to it as well. In reality, this one doesn't show up too often, but the one deck that it does really wants it. Thanks to the demand from Commander and only a single printing in Legions, Blood Celebrant could really use a reprint to make sure Cycle Storm fans are able to play the deck in an optimal fashion.

10. Tortured Existence

Realistically, Tortured Existence is probably low enough on the playability scale that it could simply show up as an honorable mention. Though TortEx decks continue to be niche fan favorites, they hardly show up to the degree they once did. Despite this, though, The card has had only one real printing in addition to The List and happens to be a Commander staple that caused it to spike earlier in the year. Given that, more copies would go a long way to help those who want to check it out - few though they may be.

9. Birchlore Rangers

This Elves staple may read a little weird showing up on a list like this given how it's cheap compared to most of the other cards here. Copies can be obtained for less than a dollar, but the problem is that it was only printed in one set: Onslaught. Given that set's age and the fact that Elves decks often play four copies of Birchlore Rangers, four copies is practically a must. A reprint here would do wonders for accessibility and could be great for a setting heavy with Elves.

8. Mercadian Masques Depletion Lands (Remote Farm, Saprazzan Skerry, Peat Bog, Sandstone Needle, Hickory Woodlot)

The five depletion lands from Mercadian Masques are another great example of a fairly niche card that becomes a major player from time to time. Combo decks have been using these for years, notably during Storm eras like with Grapeshot and Chatterstorm, as well as Turbo Initiative lists. While their usefulness comes and goes, they're currently quite decent in the format's Poison Storm list. Most have never seen a single reprint either, so getting some more into the ecosystem would be great for the format and perhaps others as well.

7. Standard Bearer

Standard Bearer is one of the best sideboard options of all time that is very uniquely Pauper. Its main utility is to stop decks like Bogles, Heroic, and Elves from going off (plus, once upon a time, Mono-Green Stompy). These days it even has some additional utility thanks to being able to impact the matchup vs. High Tide. With only one real printing plus inclusion in Mystery Booster 2, Standard Bearer is due for a real reprint to get more copies into the hands of players everywhere who need it.

6. Sunscape Familiar

Sunscape Familiar is one of the few cards to have an entire deck named after it: Familiars! It's also only had one true printing in Planeshift, as well as a minor and difficult to obtain printing in Mystery Booster 2. Familiars is an extremely strong deck, and cost reducers are popular in numerous formats as well. As such, offering players more opportunities to get their hands on this sweet creature can go quite a long way...even if it means more people have to put up with Familiars decks in the process.

5. Exhume

Reanimator decks have been popular since Magic's early days when there was only Animate Dead to resurrect some truly monstrous baddies. Pauper players also enjoy trying to find things to bring back and ways to do so with ease. Exhume is perhaps one of the best ways to do this, despite Pauper Reanimator lists being largely fringe players, and it is another card with multi-format applications as well. Reprinting this would give more players the opportunity to tinker with the card as well as for more Cube and Legacy enthusiasts to pick up copies.

4. Flaring Pain

Due to the lack of more intense options available at higher rarities to lock down boards, Fog effects are quite common in Pauper. You'll see lots of them, which makes a card like Flaring Pain so important for a number of decks. The most obvious space for this card is in Red Aggro decks, but it also sees plenty of play in decks like Bogles, Elves, Spy Combo, and more as a way to ensure that your damage makes it through. The card was only printed in Judgment and Mystery Booster 2, making it yet another card that could use a significant injection into the ecosystem.

3. Darkness

Darkness has long been a popular Fog card in a variety of formats, particularly due to the unique strangeness of a Mono-Black Fog effect. This card shows up a modest amount in Pauper as well, most recently in the current Golgari-based versions of the Turbo Fog strategy. Aside from a Special Guest and Warhammer 40,000 printing, it's only ever been released in two sets: Legends and Time Spiral. In both of those two latter instances, the artist is well known for being quite problematic. A more major reprint would make this expensive Fog way more accessible for the masochist Turbo Fog players who revel in their opponents' suffering.

2. Reaping the Graves

Reaping the Graves remains one of the few playable storm cards in the format. Though its uses are fairly limited, often relegated to one-ofs in decks, it does still have one major home in Cycle Storm. This lets you get back tons of creatures en masse at once, making it a critical piece to many decks even when it shows up in small numbers. With only one real printing in Scourge and another in Mystery Booster 2, this card needs another serious printing somewhere to inject more copies into the format.

1. Lotus Petal

Is Lotus Petal a truly dominant card in the Pauper format? Not really, no, though it has its moments in some particularly intense decks historically. Despite this, players everywhere love finding new ways to utilize this powerful artifact in all kinds of decks and the price point of the card is a real barrier to entry. Given how a serious reprint would also benefit formats like Commander, Cube, Legacy, and even Vintage, it's a wonder that the card hasn't gotten a real serious reprint even in a Masters-style set. A reprint of this would benefit everyone not only in Pauper but Magic as a whole tremendously, which is what makes it an easy top choice for this list.

Paige Smith

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