[Top 10] MTG Arena Best Pauper Decks

Updated:

20 May 2021

When you hear Pauper in MTG, you automatically think ‘cheap decks’. This is not always true in paper MTG but in the Arena, it is probably the cheapest game to play in terms of deck building. You get to discover hidden gems with Pauper as you can only play cards that are common in rarity. This article lists down the 10 best Pauper decks that you can try on the Arena for cheap.

10. Mono-Blue Control

What’s good about this deck?

With the goal of not allowing anything to resolve, Mono-Blue Control is a good Pauper deck for all you control freaks
- The majority of the spells in this deck are counterspells with the other cards set to disable the opponent from utilizing their creatures
- Playing this deck can get you concessions out of frustrations. If you don’t get that, you can always close out the late game with cards like Brine Giant and Frostpeak Yeti for a beatdown victory

Decklist

4 Bubble Snare
4 So Tiny
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Essence Scatter
4 Frantic Inventory
3 Pilfering Hawk
2 Cancel
4 Didn’t Say Please
3 Thirst for Meaning
4 Behold the Multiverse
2 Frostpeak Yeti
4 Brine Giant
2 Mystic Sanctuary
20 Snow-Covered Island

9. GW Auras

What’s good about this deck?

Auras are highly synergistic decks in Standard and Historic so getting a Pauper version means this is equally as good in the current meta
- The main aim of this deck is to get even just one creature and stack all the enchantments on it
- If you get that creature to stick even for just a single combat phase, you are already way ahead of your opponent

Decklist

4 Jade Guardian
4 Jungleborn Pioneer
4 Ancestral Mask
4 Squire’s Devotion
4 Bound in Gold
4 Urban Utopia
4 Angelic Gift
4 Sentinel’s Eyes
4 Cartouche of Solidarity
4 Blossoming Sands
11 Plains
9 Forest

8. Mono-Green Stompy

What’s good about this deck?

A huge army, in terms of power and toughness, in the early game can always result in an easy victory
- Just like in other mono-green decks in both Standard and Historic, this stompy deck aims to ramp in your first few turns
- If you get a decent ramp in the early game, you can easily play your big creatures and swing for massive amounts of damage every turn

Decklist

4 Llanowar Elves
4 Druid of the Cowl
4 Llanowar Visionary
4 Vivien’s Grizzly
4 Fierce Witchstalker
4 Nylea’s Huntmaster
3 Voracious Typhon
3 Silverback Shaman
4 Ram Through
2 Sudden Spinnerets
2 Desert of the Indomitable
4 Tranquil Thicket
18 Forest

7. UW Fliers

What’s good about this deck?

Cheap cards with great interactions are the winning points of this deck
- Launching out an all-out attack on the air can be a difficult thing to deal with in most pauper battles so having an army of fliers gives you a massive edge
- This deck also has a decent amount of control aspects with counterspells, card draw, and anti-creature aggression cards

Decklist

4 Healer’s Hawk
4 Faerie Miscreant
4 Transcendent Envoy
4 Faerie Duelist
4 Cloudkin Seer
4 Parhelion Patrol
2 Daybreak Chimera
3 Arrester’s Zeal
4 Pacifism
4 Lofty Denial
3 Candlelight Vigil
4 Azorious Guildgate
4 Tranquil Cove
8 Plains
4 Island

6. White Weenies

What’s good about this deck?

Most components of White Weenies in Standard and Historic are commons so this deck has almost equaled the power of its Standard and Historic iterations
- This means that this deck only had a few changes which translate to an equally powerful deck
- Its cheap interactions allow you to have dynamic turns that can help you assemble your army quickly

Decklist

4 Healer’s Hawk
4 Faerie Guidemother
4 Law-Rune Enforcer
4 Silverbeak Griffin
4 Territorial Hammerskull
4 Trusted Pegasus
4 Daybreak Chimera
4 Silverflame Ritual
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Pacifism
4 Secluded Steppe
16 Plains

5. Mono-Black Control

What’s good about this deck?

This deck provides a solid gameplan with plenty of interactions
- With a mixture of creatures and control mechanics, it is a solid deck that can exchange blows with any other deck
- Gray Merchant of Asphodel provides a solid win condition when all other win conditions fail

Decklist

4 Dusk Legion Zealot
4 Elderfang Disciple
4 Underworld Charger
3 Blade Juggler
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2 Ill-Gotten Inheritance
2 Duress
2 Feed the Swarm
4 Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty
4 Grasp of Darkness
3 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Bojuka Bog
4 Witch’s Cottage
18 Swamp

4. Cycling

What’s good about this deck?

Cycling was once a superpower in the Standard and Historic metagame
- In Pauper, Cycling can create a world of problems for your opponent. You get a lot of value from cycling because of your creatures
- The only downside of this is the absence of Zenith Flare but you can still do a lot with your creatures

Decklist

4 Drannith Healer
4 Drannith Stinger
4 Snare Tactician
4 Prickly Marmoset
4 Imposing Vantasaur
4 Desert Cerodon
4 Frostveil Ambush
4 Startling Development
4 Memory Leak
4 Go for Blood
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Forgotten Cave
9 Mountain
9 Plains

3. Red Deck Wins

What’s good about this deck?

No list is complete without a mono-red deck at the top spots.
- Red Deck Wins is a tried and tested deck in any given format
- Its aggressive nature allows you to play more games as you get to win a lot faster
- This deck utilizes Seven Dwarves which, if not dealt with immediately, can deal a boatload of damage

Decklist

7 Seven Dwarves
4 Underworld Rage-Hound
4 Rimrock Knight
4 Goblin Arsonist
3 Raging Goblin
3 Spellgorger Weird
4 Shock
4 Roil Eruption
3 Demon Bolt
2 Open the Omenpaths
22 Mountain

2. Burn

What’s good about this deck?

Another mono-red deck, Burn utilizes spells instead of creatures so that you won’t have to worry about your board state
- As I said, you won’t have to worry about your board state as long as you also deal with your opponent’s board state
- This is also a good anti-aggro deck since you can simply ping down the opponent’s creatures before they even get to attack

Decklist

4 Viashino Pyromancer
4 Fanatical Firebrand
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Scorch Spitter
4 Spear Spewer
4 Thermo-Alchemist
4 Skewer the Critics
4 Shock
4 Roil Eruption
20 Mountain

1. BR Spells

What’s good about this deck?

Probably the most over-powered Pauper deck in the list
- Izzet Spells is a solid powerhouse in the Pauper format since the cheap spells that you put in other decks are all common which means that you can play all of them here
- Moreover, the presence of Thermo-Alchemist and Goblin Electromancer means you get a lot of value extracted even from just a single spell you cast

Decklist