Over its lifespan, MTG Arena has seen the creation of multiple brand-new formats. Alchemy, Explorer, and Timeless have all been willed into existence by players throughout the years. Each one of these has been warmly received and has continued to receive support through new sets and anthologies. Explorer is even getting Pioneer Masters all to itself later this year!
While there are many ways to play MTG on Arena, some players want more. Specifically, there’s a rising demand for a format from a temporary event to stop being so temporary. The format in question is Pauper, or any variant of it such as Historic Pauper, which was this week’s Midweek Magic event on MTG Arena.
Pauper Please
Pauper is arguably the people’s format. By only using common cards, Pauper is incredibly cheap and easy to get into. The skill ceiling in the format is also quite high since MTG has no end of powerful Common cards. While it can often be left wanting support, Pauper contains a lot of interesting and enjoyable archetypes.
The same is true for MTG Arena’s variant of pauper, Historic Pauper. Rolling around whenever Wizards sees fit as a Midweek Magic event, this format is beloved, but not exceptionally playable. Given the fun that can be had, however, some MTG players are looking to change that with memes.
Recently, Jaegerbalm busted out an old Bernie Sanders meme on Reddit to once again ask for a Historic Pauper permanent queue. In the comments on this post, many MTG players were quick to agree that this needs to happen. Failing getting Historic Pauper, No-Comparison8472 commented that anything would do.
“Or standard pauper. Any pauper really”
No-Comparison8472
Alternatively, some MTG players, such as MNoya, requested that Artisan be made into a full-fledged permanent format. Regardless of which format is the right choice, it’s clear that players want a budget-friendly and competitive format to enjoy. In theory, players could get exactly what they want, provided there’s enough support.
Back in late 2023, Wizards of the Coast experimented with no-banlist events which MTG players absolutely adored. After two goes around to refine the format, Wizards eventually announced Timeless, and the rest is history. Theoretically, the same could happen to Pauper on MTG Arena, however, these Midweek Magic events aren’t exactly new.
An Unlikely Scenario
Unfortunately, as much as many MTG players seem to want a budget-oriented format, Wizards hasn’t complied with their requests. Players have been requesting Pauper to become real for multiple years, and Wizards hasn’t budged. This ultimately makes it seem rather unlikely that Wizards will suddenly change their tune without an immense amount of pressure.
Some MTG players suspect that there’s an ulterior motive as to why this hasn’t happened yet. HairyKraken, for instance, suggests it will never happen as Wizards wants players using rare wildcards. If there’s a fun and cheap format that everyone can play, buying packs for rares and wildcards could become less common.
While this explanation does seem to make sense to many players, the real reason behind the inaction is far simpler. Back in August, Wizards revealed a boatload of information and plans about MTG Arena during a WeeklyMTG Livestream. Here, Wizards plainly explained why the Pauper format hasn’t come to MTG Arena yet.
“There aren’t, right now. Pauper, when we run it, tends to have a very big initial spike and then a pretty speedy drop-off.”
Ian Duke
This statement from Duke simply reveals the harsh truth of the matter, Pauper isn’t popular enough. While it certainly has its fans, it seems to not have the staying power to demand a spot as a permanent format. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Pauper might not even be a fitting name for a commons-only format on MTG Arena.
“I would feel really weird calling a format on Arena Pauper because the spirit of that format is so heavily defined by a lot of cards that we don’t have at common.”
Ian Duke
To showcase this problem, we can just look at Frogmite. Introduced as a Special Guest in Bloomburrow, this card is a mythic on MTG Arena. On paper, however, Frogmite is just common and is subsequently popular in Legacy. You can find Frogmite in a lot of Grixis Affinity Pauper decks.
A Silver Lining
So, it looks like Pauper won’t be coming to MTG Arena as a permanent format anytime soon. While this is bad news for the format’s fans, there is a silver lining to this whole situation. With enough coordination, there’s nothing stopping MTG Arena players from making their own format.
To sate their appetite for high-powered budget decks, that’s exactly what some Arena players have been doing. As Hyku notes on Reddit, there are tournaments and Discord servers set up dedicated to keeping the format alive. So, if you want to play Pauper on Arena, you’re more than welcome to do so. You just have to jump through a few hoops first to make it happen.
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