Reality Fracture (FRA) is here and Jace has broken the Multiverse.

It's been a few months but now, Pauper finally gets a new in-universe set. Today, we're going to see what impact we can expect to have on the format and check out some of the top cards.

There's dozens of new Commons and even a revolutionary new mechanic to explore. What will make the cut this time around?

Mechanics

Reality Fracture brings a lot of new mechanics and game elements. It's worth noting that despite being a core element of the set, no Echoed Pair Legendary Creatures appear at Common. There are, however, three other mechanics to examine.

Empower Jace

The big new mechanic of FRA is one that could end up significant for Pauper: Empower Jace.

This is a variant on Amass where instead of making a Creature token, you make a Planeswalker token. In this case, a Jace token with:

• -1 Loyalty: Surveil 1.
• -3 Loyalty: Draw a card.

Most importantly, though, it means that for the first time, Planeswalkers are coming to Pauper. This makes it a little difficult to gauge in the context of the format.

Given how you make the Jace token, you need to consider other cards that interact with the mechanic. For example, the big one people are talking about is Protege's Awakening.

With this card, you draw a card and then Empower Jace 6. That means over the next two turns, you can draw two cards, draw a card and let Jace soak up some damage, or draw a card and do some Surveiling.

There's simply a lot going on there that makes it a bit harder to evaluate. The early speculation is that this will be great in Turbo Fog and select Control decks. Some players have discussed it in Poison Storm as well, but I'm less convinced given how slow this card takes to get going.

Tam's Resistance and Mindseeker Oculus play in a similar way. These won't make your Jace token nearly as large, but four Loyalty is still solid. You can Surveil 1 and draw a card or Surveil multiple times. It all depends on what you're looking for in the decks you're playing.

Now compare to cards like Solve for Disappointment, No Admittance, or Inspired Tethermage:

Empower Jace 1 or 2 is very little. You'll generate a very small token that can only Surveil. Given how underwhelming the base effect is without the Surveiling, this isn't that good.

However, on something like Inspired Tethermage, it becomes a number that can add up. If you have the mana, you can repeatedly Empower Jace 2, making a bigger Planeswalker every time. As you do, you also make a really big Creature.

There are very few decks that have the mana to activate that repeatedly. Pauper's Elves is the most obvious thanks to Priest of Titania, but it's questionable if it's good enough to be playable. It's better to just draw multiple cards off a Winding Way, Lead the Stampede, or Distant Melody followed up by smashing your opponent's face.

There is one other small thing to bring up here: removal spells.

Several classic spells either deal damage or kill Planeswalkers outright. Many are less impactful than other kill spells, like how Annihilating Glare requires you to sacrifice an Artifact or Creature. Now that there's something to hit on the Planeswalker side, these might get a little better.

This set even has two new Planeswalker kill spells: Extended Absence and Silence the Echo. Both are more costly than some of these other options, though and likely won't see play.

With how underwhelming the Jace token looks, I'm doubtful any of the Planeswalker removal will see a bump in play. The token isn't super strong, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. It's a bit more interesting to think of the possibilities if Wizards revisits this mechanic with another Planeswalker in the future.

Prepare

Next up is the return of Prepare. This mechanic first appeared in Secrets of Strixhaven (SOS) on a handful of Creatures. It allows you to cast the spell on the Prepare Creature if it's Prepared. Once you cast the spell, the Creature becomes Unprepared.

This time, all nine Prepared Creatures cast one of five simple spells. This helps keep complexity down in an intricate set, but it makes things a bit underwhelming for Pauper.

The two Theorix ones, Void Extrapolator and Theorix Metamage, are probably the two most relevant options. Both have a spell that lets you mill three cards, which is great for self-mill strategies. Even better, they power up further once you hit seven cards in your graveyard.

The others options either do a bit too little or cost too much to be worthwhile.

Heartwood Tokens

The last mechanic from this set is the creation of Heartwood tokens.

These Artifact tokens tap for either or . Unlike Treasure or Gold, these tokens are permanent mana rocks. That means you can use them over and over for as long as they're on the battlefield.

Only one card in the set has these at Common and it's also through a Prepared Creature.

A 2/2 just isn't going to cut it in Pauper most of the time. Worse still, a three-mana ramp spell also won't do anything.

A good comparison is Studious First-Year. This card had some very early buzz for being a Creature that you could play on turn one and then Rampant Growth on your second turn.

That's way better than Konstrari Improviser, even as a 1/1 that gets picked off easily. Even that card hasn't made a dent in the format. If that's not cutting it, it's not looking good for the Improviser.

Cycles

Planeswalker Dual Lands

The first cycle is this new set of ten Dual Lands, one for each color pair.

Each of these is flavored off of the Echoverse's Hexhaven and comes into play tapped unless you control a Planeswalker.

Coming into play untapped is a rare thing in Pauper, so that raises some eyebrows. However, with Empower Jace creating the format's only Planeswalkers, it's not likely that these are ever going to be entering untapped.

This may change in the future, so it's worth picking up a few copies where you can. For right now, though, I wouldn't bank on these Lands seeing much play.

Basic Landcyclers

The second major cycle is another round of Basic Landcyclers. Cards like these have become commonplace in the last few years.

Sadly, the two-mana cost to Cycle these makes them likely worse than the one-drops from The Lord of the Rings (LTR).

There is a difference, though: each of these allows you to find any Basic Land. The LTR ones let you find dual lands, though, and the non-Cycling sides are a bit more versatile than these options. I'd still stick with the ones currently being played in the format.

White Cards for Pauper

Fateshaper Aspirant

Typically, Fateshaper Aspirant is the type of card that's best avoided.

for a 3/4 with so-so abilities isn't really where Pauper wants to be. With the increase in Legendary Creatures, though, it could have some surprising usefulness.

After all, two of the best Common Legends right now are Leonardo, Big Brother and Spider-Man, Web-Slinger. Both of those are the same color as the Aspirant.

It's unlikely this is worth playing over other options. If we continue to see strong Legendary Commons, this could be worth revisiting later.

Predictive Preparations

Predictive Preparations is a new take on an old classic.

Travel Preparations was a classic of Innistrad Limited and has shown up once in a blue moon in Pauper. This new version allows you to play it in Mono-White, with the downside being a higher Flashback cost.

If you're playing Heroic, this can be a great way to trigger multiple Creatures at once. However, that deck is full of cheap target spells and is relatively threat light. The chances that you'll have multiple Creatures to target is low, making the usefulness of this questionable.

Shatterwing Pegasus

Next up in a long line of classic Commons is Shatterwing Pegasus.

There are multiple small White Creatures that allow you to buff your team for around just about five mana. By my guess, none of these have ever seen play. This Pegasus is the first of these that I can find with Flying, but even that likely won't be enough to make this playable.

Surgical Precision

There's just one catch that makes this spell not as great as it sounds: it's a Sorcery. Surgical Precision is a removal spell or a cantrip on one card.

Generally, spells like this are the sort of thing you want as an Instant. That way you get the most flexibility possible at your opponent's end step. This is what makes Destroy Evil so flexible.

There's a lot of good stuff going on here so there's a chance of it seeing some play in small numbers. It's much more likely that it won't be great and better removal and/or card draw spells will be used instead.

Unflinching Hortimancer

Unflinching Hortimancer is basically a smaller Ajani's Pridemate with a little protection.

Those stats make it pretty good in a deck that's dedicated to gaining life. Celestial Unicorn existed before this, but three mana is much more than the two this card costs.

Players have really latched onto brewing with Pest Mascot, so Unflinching Hortimancer will definitely have a cult following as well. While players will have fun with this, it'll be a low tier option in the format. That means it'll be great at local events but likely stay under the radar at high level tournaments.

Blue Cards for Pauper

Cryotheory Adept

This next one is a great example of a cheap Prowess threat.

Cards like this have been tearing up other formats lately, but it's been a long time since Prowess was really good in Pauper. Despite being the best Prowess option in Pauper, Seeker of the Way's results have been infrequent this year.

The only thing that makes Cryotheory Adept a little nicer is that you can exile it from the graveyard to tap something with a stun counter. At that point, Sleep of the Dead is probably more effective at tapping things down.

Divining Duelist

This is one of the cards that has gotten a bit of hype thanks to a Special Guest (SPG) card in the set.

Fans of Limited can sometimes open a Splinter Twin in their packs. If so, this can create an infinite combo. This attention led to some Pauper players wondering what you can do with this.

Glamermite was printed earlier this year in Lorwyn Eclipsed (ECL) and saw no play. That's with having a relevant Creature type as well (Faerie) while being a callback to a similar card, Pestermite.

Divining Duelist lacks Flying and the draw/discard ability probably isn't good enough to make up for that. Even though this can be a Limited bomb, it's nowhere near that good in Pauper.

Icy Reception

This one is a soft Counterspell, or a counter that can be stopped if your opponent has the mana to pay for it.

Normally, cards like Icy Reception aren't very playable, especially when it can only counter Creatures. The modality of being able to weaken a big aggressive threat if you can't counter anything is fine, but nothing special. That makes this an interesting pair of abilities that probably see no play.

Sphinx's Approach

We're getting the new Hexhaven version of Dragon's Approach with this set: Sphinx's Approach.

Dragon's Approach never saw any play in Pauper due to the format's selection of Dragons being rather weak. However, there is one really big Sphinx in the format: Goliath Sphinx.

The only real downside to Goliath Sphinx is that it has no protection, despite being huge. One well-timed Cast Down or Snuff Out can take it out, bringing your whole strategy crumbling down.

This kind of deck will be a fun fringe build-around but won't likely do much beyond that.

Surveillance Phantasm

For just , Surveillance Phantasm brings some surprising stats.

A 2/3 with Flying and Vigilance is no joke, even with Defender as the default. However, the format is full of cards that can Scry and Surveil. Both Preordain and Faerie Seer see quite a bit of play. It's probably not a stretch to run cards like Consider either.

If you build around this well, the stats are right to make this a solid threat. Even better, if you have nothing to do later in the game, you can pay to Surveil and set up your draws.

Black Cards for Pauper

Cast Away Doubt

We've got a handful of spells that draw you two cards and make players lose two life. Cast Away Doubt is just our latest entry.

Usually, these would only impact you, but recent options have allowed you to hit your opponents as well. Risky Shortcut has seen basically no play and is functionally the same as this.

While there's a slim chance players will run it in fringe Black Burn strategies, it's unlikely to be playable anywhere else.

Screeching Soulbreaker

Reality Fracture brings a new version of cards like Pulse Tracker and Sanguine Syphoner. Both make your opponents lose one life when they attack but, neither has proven to be particularly strong.

Screeching Soulbreaker has Flying and a higher toughness. That means it can block better and it survives being hit by a Lightning Bolt. The damage output may be too low, but this certainly looks the best of this batch of Creatures.

Theoretical Necromancer

Theoretical Necromancer can be a solid way to deal damage and then get a Creature back later.

There's just one problem: Bonebind Orator is an arguably better rate for the same general effect. A 2/2 is slightly more resilient than a 4/1, which makes it stand a higher chance of getting multiple hits in. Even then, the Orator has only shown up in a handful of fringe builds of Spy Combo, so it's unlikely

Red Cards for Pauper

Artifist Acumen

Despite reading well, Artifist Acumen is just a functional reprint of Warlord's Fury.

That card very rarely shows up in Hot Dogs decks, so if you want to change it up, you can run this. In general, though, you won't see this one very much, as there's not really any point to running five-to-eight copies.

Chandra's Emberling

Speaking of Hot Dogs, Chandra's Emberling is the latest Kiln Fiend variant.

The best comparison for this card is Spellgorger Weird, which is the same thing but lacks Haste. Spellgorger Weird saw very minor fringe play after it was printed in War of the Spark (WAR) but that was seven years ago now.

It's possible the Haste makes this viable, but most Hot Dogs fans will likely stick to Kiln Fiend and Festival Crasher.

Heartstring Puller

Heartstring Puller is a surprising amount of power for .

Normally, this sort of effect comes in White and makes you two 2/2s. Here, you get five power and the Heartstring Puller even Tramples.

That cost is pretty high, but there's enough here to be at least a little interested if you can bounce or flicker it. The Elf synergies are basically non-existent, though, so don't even think about playing it in Elves.

Skilled Battlecarver

Normally, these aren't worth mentioning since they're picked off easily. However, the combination of First Strike and being able to power itself up means you can take out lots of Creatures or hit your opponents for a lot.

Overall, Skilled Battlecarver is an interesting take on a First Strike Creature.

In a world of Lava Dart and numerous other quality removal spells, though, it still likely doesn't make the cut.

Green Cards for Pauper

Bestial Incursion

We've seen plenty of cards like Bestial Incursion before.

Shadowbeast Sighting is the most obvious, but even Trumpeting Herd has some similarities. This is the best rate among several of these, but it's still pretty rough for the amount of power you're getting.

Budding Insurgent

Budding Insurgent is yet another evolution on a classic style of card.

This is basically a bigger version of Guerrilla Gorilla, which is a similar option to Voracious Varmint or Undergrowth Leopard.

The tradeoff here is that you can't sacrifice the Insurgent at Instant speed. It's also still in Lightning Bolt Range, making it a tough pill to swallow if it gets removed. This means the Varmint or the Leopard are still the best options if you want this kind of effect.

Compel Brutality

Compel Brutality brings yet another Bite Down effect to Pauper.

Generally, this isn't worth covering. Bite Down is useless and the core aspect of Compel Brutality is basically that.

However, this version has the option to make your Planeswalker do the damage. If Empower Jace becomes a thing, this could pair well with it or any other future Empower Planeswalkers.

Greenhouse Propagator

This is a pretty expensive mana dork.

Pauper is a format full of cheap Elves that tap for a mana or untap Lands. That said, Llanowar Visionary has seen play despite being an expensive version of this.

What made that so appealing, though, was that it drew you a card. Even if your opponent removed it, you still got your card back, which benefitted you. Greenhouse Propagator gains you life instead as you play more Creatures. It's a different animal, but if you really want that life, it may be something to consider.

Something Worth Saving

Something Worth Saving is a great way to fill your graveyard.

If you're a fan of decks like Dredge, Tortured Existence, or even Naya Gates, this is exactly the sort of thing you'll want access to. Cache Grab has seen some play in decks like these and in the context of Pauper, Something Worth Saving is just better.

Cache Grab can gain you more life if you have a Squirrel. In Pauper, though, you usually don't.

There's another version of these coming up in Star Trek (TRK) that's already been previewed, though. That means there's going to be some pretty stiff competition for the best version of this effect.

Wrecking Gecko

There's been some chatter about Wrecking Gecko.

The thought is that it can be a good mana sink for high-value decks. However, we get a lot of these and they're rarely ever good enough. Decks like Elves and Walls have better mana sinks and something like Gruul Ramp would rather just play better threats.

That makes this a pretty easy pass.

Gold Cards for Pauper

Blessed Ghoul

If you're looking for a great way to repeatedly use a Creature, Blessed Ghoul definitely fits the bill.

Cards like Sanitarium Skeleton have been doing this for years, but this one has two benefits compared to previous versions.

First, it has Lifelink, which makes it great to stabilize against Aggro decks. Second, it being hybrid makes this the cheapest version of this effect in White. Players will need to find a place to make it work, but if they can, this can be a solid roleplayer.

Charge the Sanctum

Charge the Sanctum is a pretty interesting Trumpet Blast.

We've seen many of these effects over the years and they've been pretty unplayable. However, they're usually only in Mono-Red and don't bleed over into White. White's pump effects are a bit more efficient and it's also got access to Rally the Peasants.

What makes Charge the Sanctum stand out, though, is the flexibility. You can either mass pump your board or go all in on a single Creature. The rate is probably still far too high to be reliably playable, but it could be a one-of in certain lists.

Ferocity of the Hunt

If you're a fan of Bogles, this card seems like a slam-dunk inclusion.

Very few Auras at Common grant Deathtouch. Besides this, there are only two that grant it in this strategy: Aspect of Gorgon and Sultai Runemark. Ferocity of the Hunt is cheaper than both and in a color that Bogles commonly plays.

There's a few reasons to love Ferocity of the Hunt. At a base level, you can Flash it in to kill blocking threats. It can also be used as protection, allowing your Creature to survive even if it dies. You'll still have to suit it up with new Auras, but given how Creature-light Bogles is, this can be a big deal.

The more subtle element of this card is the way Deathtouch interacts with Trample, which Rancor and Armadillo Cloak grant. If your Creature has Deathtouch, you only need to deal one damage to each blocker. That means you can Trample over for even more damage.

This is unlikely to be a four-of in the deck, but one or two copies should be tested in the 75.

Twinned Vision

Twinned Vision is a neat take on Think Twice.

Getting more cards rocks, even if you have to discard as part of its Flashback cost. This isn't even the newest thing, as we just got Plunder the Trollshaws in The Hobbit (HOB).

There's two things going for this. First, unlike Think Twice and Plunder the Trollshaws, this can be played in a Mono-Red deck. That makes it stack up rather interestingly. Some decks can also take advantage of the discard cost to Flashback, especially ones using Sneaky Snacker.

It'll be interesting to see where this fits, but it seems like a solid addition to this type of card.

Colorless for Pauper

Medic's Kitesail

This one is an upgrade on a classic.

Medic's Kitesail is quite literally just Kitesail reprinted with an additional bit of upside. Whenever the equipped Creature attacks, you gain a life.

Kitesail was never really a playable card, and while the life gain is nice, it's too little to matter most of the time. Leave this on the sidelines where it belongs.

Murmuring Volume

Murmuring Volume is the latest mana rock to draw you cards.

Previously, Network Terminal saw occasional play for this sort of ability. However, this was in an era where both Prophetic Prism and Bonder's Ornament were banned.

Now both of those cards are unbanned and the format also recently gained access to Giant's Boulder as well. Unless you really want to discard cards, you simply shouldn't be playing this when there's several better options.

Room of Refuge

Cave of Temptation and its functional reprint, Captivating Cave, have been used rarely as mana fixers that can turn into a power boost late.

Room of Refuge is similar but has two core differences.

The first of these is that it locks you into a color. This isn't great but offsets the cost to filter mana. The more important element is that it enters tapped. Coming in untapped is critical for just about any deck, and the mana filtration is far more valuable to the format's many Tron builds.

Stick with the classics this time.

Conclusion

Reality Fracture looks like it's going to have an interesting impact on Pauper.

Very few cards are obviously good with some neat build-arounds for fringe strategies. However, the set also brings Planeswalkers to Pauper for the first time, which will be novel to watch play out.

It's going to be fun to see how things adapt as Pauper adjusts to these cards and the new Zeta Set.

Paige Smith

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