Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty introduced many new playables to the Pauper format. But one card sticks out and towers above all the rest. It's found a home in a variety of archetypes and adds precious value everywhere it goes. The Synthesizer is no longer experimental but already a proven staple!
Pauper players currently get to enjoy a whole bunch of new additions, like , , or . But the one that sees the most play is definitely , which earned a place in many archetypes. In this article, we take a look at three lists, in which the Synthesizer plays a crucial role.
In general, when you think of , you should recall another similar, powerful, and ultimately banned card: . Although the Synthesizer has a more difficult cost, which makes it impossible to play in any deck, it shares many of the same features. Both are cheap artifacts that replace themselves. Worth noting is that exiles a card also when it leaves the battlefield, so it perfectly synergizes with cards like , , or . It can also sacrifice itself and give us a body that will trade with a , , or .
Storm
| Black-Red Storm by Raptor56, 1st at Pauper Challenge, February 20 |
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We are starting at the most interesting position here, a strong pretender to Pauper's throne. The deck is extremely fast, can go off on turns two or three, and consistently combos out on turns four or five. The goal is to put onto the battlefield and keep casting spells, which allows it to deal damage to the opponent. With the help of , , and of course , we can easily go through our whole deck in few turns.
Additionally, it's really resilient against hate. Black-Red Storm does not care about its graveyard as much as Cycling Storm and can absolutely push through a few counters after sideboarding in and . Synthesizer grants us additional draw in key turns and also provides the best fuel there is for .
Affinity
| Black-Red Affinity by Hamuda, 4th at Pauper Challenge, February 20 |
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Whoever thought that banning and would make Affinity unplayable was wrong. The latest additions—more artifact lands, , then , and now plus Synthesizer—let the deck stay on top of the metagame. It remains just as versatile and can attack opponents from two angles: big robot beatdown and / burn.
A lot of different ways to draw cards keep the deck going and make it really consistent. being a cheap artifact is also important in this archetype. Affinity can unlock the full potential of the Synthesizer, as it benefits from its enter-the-battlefield trigger, from its presence, from its leave-the-battlefield trigger, and occassionally even from its activated ability.
Boros
| Boros Aggro by galeogiao, 6th at Pauper Challenge, February 19 |
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A bit of a forgotten archetype, the former Boros Monarch, which was pushed out by Boros Bully, comes back in a more aggressive shape. It now eschews and and focuses almost exclusively on juggling , , and Synthesizer. The lowered mana curve enables the deck to play every exiled card by right away. With and bouncing it over and over again, it can generate enormous card advantage and keep mounting pressure.
As you can see, quickly found its place in the Pauper metagame. It synergizes well with numerous strategies in the format. Players keep trying it in new decks, and I can't wait to see more decklists with Synthesizer and other cards from Neon Dynasty.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily Cardmarket's.
