Pauper Deck of the Week: Blue-Black Sticker Infect

Every Wednesday Insight is taking a quick look at one of the top-performing, most peculiar, or simply sweetest Pauper decks among recent results. Why have pump spells grow a creature temporarily when you can permanently change its stats? Such is the power of stickers, an upgrade fit for the new reality of the format!

Blue-Black Sticker Infect, created by the Italian Giorgio Venditti, GiorgioCombo on Magic Online, is quite different from traditional Infect builds. It lacks the disposable pump spells, so no or . Instead it uses spells that protect the whole game plan, giving it more resilience and a plan better suited to the current environment. A full set of both and are made larger by changing their power and toughness permanently via and stickers.

Command Performance only adds two tickets, thus the selected sheets need the best effects for such a cost. The optimized selection should have five sheets that grant 5/1 and two that grant 4/2 for two tickets. The other three offer worse stats, just 2/X, but additional evasive ability for when the air gets too crowded for the Stinger. At the start of each game, when you randomly select three out of your ten sheets, there is a 91.67% chance of having at least one with 5/1 stats and a 70.83% chance of having at least one evasive sheet. The odds of getting all the worst sheets power wise are less than one percent.

This version plays more like a mild-paced combo deck than the traditional green builds. Though you can still have a creature by turn two, a sticker by turn three, and threaten lethal on the next turn. No need to spend more resources, just sit there with open mana for , , or . Often you should even look to delay development by a turn to deal with opposing interaction, meaning a turn three creature so you can hold up protection, and then add a sticker later when the coast is clear. Cards like will be key at setting these lines up.

Another relevant buff effect is the package. It doesn't require many detours in the deck design, and it can be activated whenever needed. Sadly you need to tap three lands in total for the buff, but it can easily threaten a lethal attack and will be important in many matches.

French player Hikorzik played the highlighted list and decided to go with extra protection in . Other current builds run both as counterspell and for its transmute capabilities, which can find all the relevant cards: creatures, , and Apostle's Blessing, and even things like for postboard games.

Blue-Black Sticker Infect piloted by Hikorzik, 1st at Goupiya Tournament in Anthony, France, September 26
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