As we slowly roll through the first few days of 2025, the frozen river of MTG news is beginning to thaw. The big story from last weekend was obviously the first-ever Magic Spotlight event. Titled Spotlight: Foundations, this tournament drew over 1,400 Standard players to Atlanta, Georgia, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that there’s still life in the format yet. Interestingly at the same time, nearly 5,000 miles away, the MTG Damnation Fest event in Pisa was doing the same thing for Pauper.
While not on the same level in terms of raw numbers, the fact that the event had over 310 attendees is still incredibly impressive. Coming hot on the heels of Mark Rosewater’s statement on the unlikelihood of a Pauper Pro Tour, it feels particularly timely. Pauper is clearly in a great place right now, and that should be a cause for celebration. Whether you enjoy clashing with commons yourself or not.
Over 310 Pauper Players At MTG Damnation Pisa!
You’d be forgiven for having missed the memo on Damnation Fest Pisa this weekend. Spotlight: Foundations, aptly enough, hogged most of the spotlight over the two days. This event was arguably far more interesting, however, particularly for those outside of North America.
I mentioned the Pauper event above, but it bears repeating here. A total of 314 players showed up to play in the event according to MTG Decks. That’s a staggering figure, given how niche paper Pauper is typically considered as an MTG format. In fact, Mark Rosewater himself referred to it as a “casual” format just last week. This figure flies in the face of that assertion.
Even compared to the other MTG formats represented at Damnation Fest Pisa, Pauper looked pretty impressive. Premodern got 57 players, Legacy got 130, and Modern got 340. With Modern essentially ‘rotating’ last month, hype for the format is high at present. That Pauper got just 26 fewer players despite no real recent changes hammers home its popularity as a format.
Pauper is largely played on MTGO day-to-day, which is where the perception that it’s not a ‘real’ competitive format stems from. That, and the fact that it’s never been the subject of a major event like a Grand Prix or Pro Tour. Despite that, its overall presence is pretty solid. Pauper Leagues fire every single day, and Challenges are very regular as well. There’s clearly a big appetite for Pauper out there, as this weekend’s event highlights wonderfully. A big part of that, undoubtedly, is the enviable health of the current Pauper metagame.
A Mixed-Up Metagame
Back in December, Gavin Verhey released an episode of Good Morning Magic addressing the current state of the Pauper format. This came the same day as a major ban update for other formats and was intended to explain the lack of changes to Pauper. Verhey’s explanation? That Pauper was, simply, in a very good place. Top decks like Mono-Red and Glee Combo certainly existed, but their win rates weren’t particularly problematic.
This proved true at Damnation Pisa this weekend, where every facet of the MTG Pauper meta had its chance to shine. Marco Candela won the event on Glee Combo, but the top eight also featured Jund Wildfire, Affinity, Gardens, and Kuldotha Red. Six different strategies in the top eight is something to be celebrated. Further down, things were even more diverse.
Classics like Mono-Blue Faeries and Wall Combo also made appearances, alongside more offbeat strategies like Turbo Fog and Bogles. Though there were clear ‘best decks’ based on the final tournament results, the sheer volume of decks sitting around the 3-5% play rate mark was hugely encouraging.
This is the big advantage of eternal, non-rotating formats like Pauper. A deep pool of older cards allows for a wide range of viable decks, which in turn allows for a lot of player expression both in and out of games. While Modern theoretically offers something similar, the advent of Horizons sets has, ironically, greatly reduced the horizon of possibility for the format. Just a few top decks are really viable now, even with the recent bans and unbans. Legacy and Vintage remain largely as stagnant as ever, too.
Pauper, by comparison, feels like a haven of innovation. Though a lot of the decks are well-established, the sheer variety keeps it feeling fresh. Fresh enough to attract 314 players, anyway.
You’re Gonna Be Pauper-ular
So Pauper has the numbers and it has the meta, but does it have what it takes to become a full-on format like Standard or Modern? That’s a big question and not an easy one to answer.
While the attendance at Damnation Pisa was certainly impressive, there does seem to be a regional slant to MTG Pauper events in general. As Andrea Mengucci noted on Twitter in response to the success of this weekend’s event: “Pauper is sooo big in Italy it’s crazy! Today at Damnation Pisa there was a Legacy Main Event and a Pauper side event and the Pauper has 330 players.”
Many in the comments agreed with him, with Mario (AKA Pauper Hive) pointing out that another big Pauper event is coming to Bilbao in Spain in less than two weeks time. Clearly, the format is thriving in Europe. There’s also a notable Pauper presence in Brazil, which has long been recognized. Outside of these small pockets, however, Pauper isn’t quite as much of a force elsewhere.
Part of this is pure economics. Due to the high price of goods in countries like Brazil, Pauper is the only accessible format for many. In countries like the United States, where this is less of an issue, there’s less interest in Pauper. This, in turn, leads to fewer big Pauper events being run in the US, which lowers the format’s player ceiling significantly.
Could this change? Possibly, but it would likely need a push from Wizards itself. Given how Mark Rosewater has been talking about Pauper lately, I don’t think it’s particularly likely.
