Pauper Deck of the Week: Black Gardens

Black Gardens is a classic midrange deck: Kill creatures, make a couple of two-for-one trades, and win the game with some higher-cost creature. The original version was created by the player uspdudes back in 2022, well known for his unorthodox takes on established archetypes. He took the obsolete monoblack removal piles of that era, updated some cards with the latest releases, and added , which was actually the technology that allowed the deck to function! The addition was so important that it was included as a set in an otherwise monoblack deck: The Garden gives you a token to sacrifice to or as well as a chumpblocker, particularly relevant when was downshifted.

The format kept changing, the initiative mechanic came to the format, and the deck started to take more advantage of the green splash. All these developments finally paid off on May 7 this year when Leobertucci piloted the deck to victory at a Challenge. The current versions of the deck tend to focus on emblems, mostly the initiative, using to make you circle through the , but the lists also run some . This means controlling the board is key because losing these emblems can make your opponent win the game on the spot.

In the first stages of the game you need to be wary of the opponent's creatures. While you have interesting early options in cards like and , you have to be careful not to let your opponent go too wide. The deck runs , but it is a three-drop that requires a steep activation cost. Most of the decks in the format have better early plays than you and can use those to snowball the game to the point where the Rats will be too slow. Thus you need to be patient and focus on being more reactive. The ideal play is a turn one because it enables you to hold up or on turn two. It can also soak up some damage by blocking an early . These sort of lines are the path to gain time until you can reach the midgame where you are at your most powerful.

When you finally get to sneak in a Hunter or Black Rose, you probably should because the emblem triggers are absurdly good at closing the game. Note that you have free removal like or , which you don't want to waste too soon as they are essential for defending the emblems.

One aspect Pauper's midrange decks share is that many card choices are contingent on the meta. You should be aware of some of the alternatives. The version that won the Challenge ran more removal than you normally see. Some builds also include cards like:

• sustains you and allows you to grind better in the midgame. It also is a decent blocker to deal with creating an .

• is, thanks to deathtouch, a powerful defense against or . If you don't care about the opposing creatures, it doubles as a good sacrifice due to its death trigger.

• or or even give you faster wrath options against Elves, Monoblue Faeries, , or even Monogreen Stompy.

As you can see there are tons of alternatives to build the deck, which enables you to imprint your personality onto your design. But understand the necessities of the meta and the strengths and weaknesses of the archetype. If you master those, you are bound to have success with Black Gardens!

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