There have been a lot of mechanics printed over the years. While some are quite interesting, others end up missing the mark. One of the more polarizing mechanics that is rarely in the spotlight is Splice onto Arcane.
Splice onto Arcane is a rather strange mechanic that allows you to add a spell’s effect to an Arcane spell without actually casting the card. The fact that Splice onto Arcane only works with a select group of Arcane instants and sorceries means the mechanic doesn’t show up in Constructed often.
However, since the unbanning of High Tide in Pauper, Splice onto Arcane has quickly become one of the most important mechanics in the format. The combination of High Tide, Psychic Puppetry, and various Arcane spells allows you to generate huge sums of mana on your combo turn. Boasting multiple Magic Online Pauper Challenge top eight finishes already, High Tide combo is the real deal, and Splice onto Arcane is a big reason why.
High Tide Combo
The High Tide combo in Pauper revolves around using Psychic Puppetry to untap your lands that all tap for additional mana after High Tide resolves. During the first few turns of the game, your main goal is simply to hit your land drops and dig for High Tide and Psychic Puppetry. The less pressure you’re under, the more time you have to set things up, and the more Islands you’ll have in play to work with.
Generally, during your combo turns, you’ll want to cast multiple copies of High Tide. Each copy stacks, so after casting two copies, each Island taps for three mana, and so on.
From there, you can start casting a variety of Arcane spells with the intention of Splicing Psychic Puppetry onto each one. Even though Peer Through Depths and Ideas Unbound cost two mana to cast, by Splicing Psychic Puppetry onto either, you get to untap one of your Islands in the process. Psychic Puppetry will stay in your hand, and with two copies of High Tide already resolved, these are mana neutral plays.
Both of these Arcane spells as well as Reach Through Mists do a good job digging for extra Arcane spells as well as additional copies of Psychic Puppetry or High Tide. As you continue to chain Arcane spells, over time, you’ll start Splicing multiple copies of Psychic Puppetry onto each one. By doing so, you can start floating lots of blue mana with your lands and untapping multiple at a time.
With such a high density of cantrips and card draw at your disposal, you’ll be able to churn through your deck and generate boatloads of mana in short order. Eventually, you’ll use all of your excess mana to Replicate Stream of Thought enough times to deck the opponent. Once you pass the turn, they’ll lose by trying to draw from an empty library.
Consistency is Key
This combo may seem a bit convoluted and tough to pull off, especially because you need to have High Tides ready to go before you can combo off. Thanks to Pauper’s slew of elite cantrips, card selection spells, and tutors, though, this deck is actually very consistent.
In the cantrip and card selection section, Brainstorm and Preordain serve as cheap ways to smooth out your draws. These cards make it a lot easier to consistently hit your land drops each turn as well, which is incredibly important.
Speaking of hitting your land drops, the addition of Lorien Revealed is a game changer for this style of deck in Pauper. Lorien Revealed synergizes with Brainstorm by letting you shuffle away cards you don’t want, and later in the game, can be used as a card advantage spell in conjunction with High Tide. Lorien Revealed lets you get away with running less lands in your deck, which helps prevent you from flooding while assembling your combo pieces.
Perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle besides High Tide and Psychic Puppetry, though, is Merchant Scroll as a tutor. Merchant Scroll is restricted in Vintage for a reason but doesn’t see a ton of Pauper play. After all, the range of elite blue instants you can search for is much smaller in a format dedicated to only commons.
Well, High Tide changes that. Merchant Scroll makes it much more likely that you’ll find multiple copies of High Tide or Psychic Puppetry in the early stages of the game to make your combo turns as trivial as possible.
Hard to Hate Out
The immediate success High Tide decks are having in Pauper is a bit concerning. There’s still a lot of room for innovation within the archetype, and it’s impressive how well this deck is suited to play through hate.
Traditionally, combo decks are a bit vulnerable to Counterspells. This is especially true for a deck with all blue spells, considering the presence of Blast effects in Pauper. Yet, one card completely changes the narrative: Gigadrowse.
Gigadrowse makes it very difficult to play super defensively against High Tide combo.
Sitting behind a wall of interaction won’t get the job done if your High Tide opponent Replicates Gigadrowse a bunch of times on your end step. Countering each copy still taps you down on mana. Once your lands are tapped, you’re at the mercy of your High Tide opponent.
This doesn’t mean that High Tide is an unbeatable archetype. Instead, what it means is that you’re forced to apply pressure to have a good chance of winning. High Tide combo has so many slots dedicated to card selection, combo pieces, and Arcane spells. This comes at the cost of disruptive elements, so a fast draw from mono-red aggro or an assertive Affinity hand backed up by Duress can get the job done.
Still, both those archetypes took a hit with the most recent ban announcement. For right now, High Tide looks very strong, but not too powerful for the format to handle. It’s still very early in the “new” Pauper environment, however. It’ll be worth monitoring to see if this archetype continues to pick up steam.
