I Think It's Thursday...But It's Freakin' Friday!

Sorry about the missed post yesterday, folks.  I think I've got a good excuse: I was re-acquainting myself with the hosting process for running Standard Pauper tournaments on Magic Online!

And the SPDC 19.37 and Last Chance Qualifier event did fire and go off without a hitch.  I'm happy to report we had just enough players to make it a real tournament, there were no client or computer freezes on my end, and hosting has become kind of like riding a bike.  This bodes very well for the future of the SPDC series.

You can see how the tournament played out in the Gatherling Metagame Report.  Despite a low turnout, there are still interesting developments for the format we haven't seen in the MPDC series yet.  Blue-White Control has won for the first time during Theros-era Standard Pauper, thanks to GodZo's innovations and piloting with Azorius Fortress.

But DrChrisBakerDC's Izzet Razor-Burn put up a good fight in the finals after a strong performance all night.  I'll bet DrChris will have something to say about his build over at his Draft Brewery pauper blog...

Oooh, lookie here!  Read up on this awesome new archetype from the horse's mouth :-)

As for me, I can say I've been thinking about crafting a "bigger" Izzet strategy to face both Dimir Mill and Monoblack while still holding fast against the aggro strategies also gunning for those two.  Also, I'm looking for other ways to abuse the card in common to Mill and the new Azorius and Izzet builds: Archaeomancer!  Much more on her to come.  For now, though, I'm just glad the event went smoothly and I'm looking forward to hosting the next one.

Speaking of which, SPDC Season 19 Worlds will take place the next time I think it's Thursday.  Hopefully it's not freakin' Friday by the time the time that happens!  Seriously, though, I will keep players posted in the coming days as to the particulars of next Thursday's event.  As for now, I'm off to figure out how to craft a trophy for GodZo to commemorate this victory. Thanks for playing and following along.  Peace,

- C

Wacky Wednesdays - Pauper Dailies Whacked!

It's a great time for the Standard Pauper tournament scene - the revived MPDC series is halfway through its new season and the revival of SPDC starts tomorrow!  But Classic Pauper players just got whacked by Wizards big time.

I did not notice Monday's announcement as I was too focused on Standard Pauper, but apparently Wizards has completely pulled support for Classic Pauper Daily Events on MTGO.  The Pauper community is all abuzz about this (check out this long thread on Reddit) and the vast majority of them are not happy.  Not one little bit.  They are correct in saying this is whack.

I can't add much to the discusion because I rarely play Classic Pauper and have never participated in a DE.  The Player Run Events offered by PDCMagic have always served my Magic gaming needs.  But I acknowledge that Dailies have a huge following and that Pauper Dailies in particular have a strong following and legacy on Magic Online.  Classic Pauper players often experiment with Standard, so this inadvertently affects us, too.

I will only say that this is also blow to Standard Pauper players.  Many of us are hoping for the same kind of official support for our format that Classic Pauper recieves.  I was even more optimistic this was on the way when we got our filter a short while ago.  But now that WotC is pulling support for the big Pauper format, I'm not as hopeful that Standard Pauper will get any Dailies anytime soon.  I hope Classic gets theirs back as soon as possible.

In the meantime, some are suggesting that PREs are a good way to fill the void.  If Wizards is going to actively destroy opportunities to play Pauper, then by golly, us Pauper players are just going to have to actively create new opportunities ourselves.  Sure, it requires players to step up to host, but I've found before that hosting is a fun and rewarding challenge.  I'm up for it again, with accidentally good timing.  So if you're a Classic Pauper player whose Daily just got whacked  (thanks, Wizards!) then I encourage you to stop by the Anything Goes room tomorrow at 8:30 PM, Eastern Time, for the Standard Pauper Deck Challenge event!

Until then, I offer my condolences to Classic Pauper players everywhere.  Give Standard Pauper a try while we wait for Wizards to get their act together.  See you soon and have a Wacky Wednesday! Peace,

- C

Monday Musings: Return to Hosting for SPDC

Welcome to the third week of blogging on Cabel the Pauper.  It's Monday and the MPDC Standard Pauper tournament is about to start.  I'm looking to outdo myself with Boros Aggro and Auras once again.  But that's really not what's got me so excited this week.  I'm guns-a-blazing getting ready to return to hosting Standard Pauper events myself by reviving the dormant and long-running SPDC series!

Right now, there is only one Standard Pauper weekly Player Run Event on Magic Online.  MPDC is run on Mondays at 2:00 pm Eastern because this caters to Europeans during their evening down time from work and family.  But it used to be that PDCMagic would run two Standard Pauper tournaments, and this series was the first.  "SPDC" stands for "Standard Pauper Deck Challenge" and first began in 2006.  Many hosts have lead this Thursday night event to provide a convenient time slot for American players to get the same chance to play competitive Standard Pauper for prizes.  And glory!

But for the past few months, the current season has been without a host.  Now, just at the time when a new Standard Pauper Clan arises and the old host of MPDC, gwyned, returns to regular events, it seems fitting that if I've got Thursday nights free and clear to provide that opportunity once again.  So I'm bringing back SPDC!

PDCMagic will continue to sponsor the series with 15 tix worth of prizes each tournament.  We'll be using the PDCMagic.com Gatherling feature for registration, reporting, and deck list posting just like MPDC.  And I'll keep things at the traditional time slot, that is Thursdays at 9:00 PM, Eastern Time.

And I'm getting started this week with the SPDC 19.37 & LCQ event!

More info is sure to follow.  After I "sleeve up" my deck for today's event!  I hope to see you there and wish you good luck & good games.  Peace,

- C