THIS IS THE PAUPER CUBE AVAILABLE FROM WIZARDS OF THE COAST FROM MARCH 11 - MARCH 18, 2020. I'M DOCUMENTING IT HERE SO PEOPLE CAN
USE IT AS A POTENTIAL DATABASE TO START THEIR OWN PAUPER CUBE.
THE ARCHETYPES
Every archetype should feel familiar if you've played Magic long enough—after all, a cube built from commons is built using those
bread-and-butter Limited staples you've used dozens of times drafting each set! But taking an eye to ensure there's synergy
between their chosen colors and strategies is something any cube designer should do.
WHITE-BLUE TEMPO
White-Blue decks can play out in a number of ways but will always be best focused on enters-the-battlefield creatures providing
value, then backing them up with bounce spells, protection tricks, and counterspells. Kor Skyfisher is a meme within the community
and led to "flicker" effects like Ghostly Flicker being added, so have fun drawing cards as many times as possible off
Mulldrifter!
BLUE-BLACK CONTROL
No format would be complete without a control archetype, and blue-black is the classic combination. Pestilence and Evincar's
Justice are two of the few sweeper effects that can wipe out small creatures, but chaining removal spells and card draw effects
also gets the job done. Naiad of Hidden Coves is a nice touch from Theros Beyond Death to make it easier to play all those spells
on your opponent's turns and provides a sturdy 3 toughness against tokens.
BLACK-RED SACRIFICE
Token-making effects are plentiful in every color except blue, but black-red makes the most of it. Aggressive removal and burn
spells (Lightning Bolt and Doom Blade are commons) may be iconic, but pushing damage through with Hissing Iguanar or Raid
Bombardment and a pile of Goblin and Zombie tokens is great too.
RED-GREEN TOKENS
If going wide with tokens and having the option to go tall with larger creatures suits your style, red-green has plenty to work
with. Saprolings and Goblins are plentiful and can accelerate out faster than any other colors with Burning-Tree Emissary leading
the way. With Wildfire Elemental or Trumpet Blast to work with, you can set up truly monstrous combat steps.
GREEN-WHITE TOKENS
Green-white is Selesnya territory, and tokens abound here too. Building up a wide army that makes Scion of the Wild proud then
pushing in attacks with tricks like Sigil Blessing is a one-two punch any Selesnya fan can appreciate. Overrun isn't a common, but
Battle Screech certainly is.
WHITE-BLACK CONTROL
While "enchantment control" isn't quite fair because there aren't many ways to search up or recover Auras, the density of Pacifism
effects and other hard removal spells in white-black is quite high. Pestilence will still be an all-star for you, but Pillory of
the Sleepless and Kingpin's Pet will let you pinprick opponents to death while you deal with their threats.
BLACK-GREEN SACRIFICE
While black matched with any of the non-blue colors allows sacrifice effects to succeed, black-green perhaps does it in the most
iconic of ways. Bigger creatures, recursion like Morgue Theft and Disturbed Burial, and plenty of grindy value mean you can run
the midrange deck of your (all-common) dreams.
GREEN-BLUE RAMP
Green gets most ramp effects for itself—and is why things like Boros Signet and Dimir Aqueduct aren't in the cube—but green-blue
gets the best of both colors' worlds. Big flying creatures like Wretched Gryff or the monstrous Ulamog's Crusher are the top-end
of win conditions around, but flexible spells like Æthersnipe can give you time to get there and help you win. (Also, it's
obviously the best Capsize deck.)
BLUE-RED TEMPO
If Goblin Electromancer is part of your Storm decks, you'll understand the power of spell-casting value. While the blue package of
fliers and red package of burn spells will help get the job done, rebuying the best with Mnemonic Wall and ensuring you maximize
two-for-ones like Jilt will keep you ahead of opponents each step of the way.
RED-WHITE AGGRO
While tokens are certainly part of red-white decks—Borrowed Grace and Trumpet Blast make 15–16-land token aggro decks more than
just viable—it's the combination of haste and the most efficient one- and two-drops in the cube that gives you the edge. Doomed
Traveler, Faerie Guidemother, and Jackal Pup punch far above their one-drop class in the right spots.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/cube-spotlight-series-pauper-cube-2020-03-10