Exploring the Impact of LEONARDO! on Pauper Meta

Howdy folks! It's time yet again for another edition of The Power of Pauper! This week, we're looking at how good LEONARDO! is doing for Pauper in its first week and how cards from it are impacting the format. In addition, we've got some Challenges from this past week to explore.

Teenage Mutant Pauper Turtles#

We've got a week into Pauper with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being on MTGO, and it's clear there is some definite impact on the format from this set. The biggest one? LEONARDO! This is a card I figured would be great in Pauper, specifically in the Mono White Aggro builds. Those decks tend to go rather wide, especially when you consider stuff like Battle Screech, and you're already bouncing stuff with Kor Skyfisher and a lot of evasive threats. This is literally a Lava Axe in white that just closes a game out for one white mana, and you can then bounce it with Skyfisher to do it again, which is absurd. It's even better if you attack with Skyfisher and sneak LEONARDO! in.

Another solid upside of this card is that it is Legendary. While that might seem like a downgrade in most formats, in Pauper, it's a huge upside because one of the most popular pieces of generally unconditional removal in the format is Cast Down, and having a Lava Axe that can't be hit by Cast Down is incredibly good. This one is making waves in the current format, and it has rapidly improved the overall performance of Mono White Aggro. I expect we'll keep seeing it going forward.

The other big card making waves is Utrom Monitor. This is a card we absolutely expected to do well in various Affinity shells, mainly because it's a really powerful one mana 3/3 flier. That being said, this card's price is currently a huge concern because it's only available in Treasure Chests, making it rough. I hope that this is somewhat addressed via drop rate in chests going forward to help bring the price down, as increasing the supply can only ever be good for Pauper.

Another card I saw that I thought was sweet was Raphael, Tough Turtle. Goblins Combo is definitely a deck that I am not surprised to see this card show up in. It gives the deck another way to win that doesn't need to use Makeshift Munitions, solely off ETB triggers, which is pretty sweet. I don't know how much this will move the needle of Goblins Combo in the current format, but I love giving cards to unique decks like this.

Finally, I saw some cool new action in the Orzhov Glintblade decks. Having a sneak card you can pick up something like Kor Skyfisher with and it also having a relevant trigger is sweet. Also, having a four-mana kill spell on an artifact is really sweet.

This set certainly has some interesting cards that have already impacted the format, but I suspect long-term that the major players will absolutely just be LEONARDO! and Utrom Monitor. LEONARDO! is definitely shifting some things and making waves, and it is super interesting how many effects the Mono White Aggro deck has gotten over time.

Pauper Challenge Results#

The first Challenge event of the week had 44 players. The Top 8 included:

1. Izzet Faeries
2. Mono Red Madness
3. Elves
4. Elves
5. card-ref:Dredge
6. Azorius Gates
7. Mono White Aggro
8. Azorius Familiars

At the end of the event, it was Izzet Faeries that won.

In the second Challenge event, Bogles took the top spot, while Gruul Ramp placed second. The final Challenge of the week saw Mono Red Madness taking first place, with Mono White Aggro in second.

Wrapping Up#

That's all the time we have this week folks! Thanks for your continued support. Join us next week as we continue our journey into Pauper! What are your thoughts on LEONARDO!? Let us know in the comments!