GW Auras [Pauper] (Pauper)

There have been literally hundreds of articles devoted to Pauper GW Auras/Bogles/Hexproof and very few of them have anything new to add. This will be a similar guide and as such will not include any new information or revelations. You are therefore under no obligation to read the following paragraphs unless you enjoy rehashing the same concepts over again using slightly different words. However, if you do enjoy such things then this is the perfect guide for you.

Firstly, we'll go over a common question that most articles seemly must address even though it is largely irrelevant to playing the deck. This question is of course: Why play GW Auras? This is a stupid question because for a deck as linear and self-piloting as this is, the only answer is because it wins. It gets results. It puts W's before or after your name depending on how the readout is displayed. This is very similar to why people play burn which coincidentally is my deck of choose when playing Modern. Yes, surely a coincidence and not an indictment of my own linear play-style. This is a deck that wins through resiliency, determination, and sheer pluck. And by pluck I mean that it is hard to disrupt via sideboard and is often positioned positively against whatever meta evolves. There's an old saying amongst Magic players--I know Pauper players say it, probably all Magic players do--that says, "Kill me with a meta deck once, shame on.. shame on you. Kill me twice.. and I'm playing bogles."

You see, bogles and it's bastard cousin burn are the great equalizers. The format police if you will. They say that in life there are only two constants: death and taxes. Well, similarly in Magic, two constants are meta decks and janky, linear, autopilot decks that annihilate meta decks. GW Hexproof is a necessary evil--it's a deck that no one wants to play with, no one wants to play against, but everyone cheers for when another deck runs rampant such as Urzatron. As the United States of America are to the world--we are the unsung heroes that stand vigil against a world of degeneracy. No one deserves to play against Auras, but it's what they need. So we'll play not because we enjoy it, but because we hate it. Because the world needs us, even though it may not want us. Heavy is the hand that holds a turn one bogle into a turn two Rancor. We are the kingmakers but can never be kings ourselves. I know the word 'noble' is thrown around a lot nowadays but when a humble Magic player makes the ultimate sacrifice of playing bogles even as everyone else sneers and grumbles, whispering curses just under their breath, that is when a true hero appears from within the endless mounds of salt to save the world. God bless these GW Aura players and God bless America!

Now, onto the deck! I think you will see that bogles is a fascinating deck as beyond the skeleton of a few staples, the deck is very open to experimentation in a way that most "solved" decks are not. The deck list is included below with asterisks to denote certain 'flex slots' that may be changed out based on personal preference or your own meta.

Lands (18)
18 Forest

Enchantments (24)
4 Abundant Growth
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Rancor
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Ancestral Mask
4 Armadillo Cloak

Sorceries (4)
4 Commune with Spirits

Creatures (14)
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
2 Heliod's Pilgrim *

Sideboard (15) *
3 Gut Shot
3 Lifelink
3 Flaring Pain
3 Ram Through
3 Ray of Revelation

As you can see, there is plenty of room for two flex slots beyond the skeleton design. You may feel free to use these two slots for whatever card (or cards!) you personally feel would increase your winning percentage. However, I would suggest unless you have an actual reason for changing said flex slots, it may behoove you to leave everything as it is--that is, assuming you want to win. But obviously it's up to you to determine what role you will play in your store or playgroup's meta. Either way just remember that the goal is not to have fun--neither for you nor your opponents. And in fact, those who do find themselves having fun are usually enjoying themselves at the detriment of winning and as such this is anathema to what bogles stands for. There are many decks available if you wish to just have fun but all of those have one jarring weakness--they aren't bogles.

A note on the sideboard: none of it matters. If you so choose you may fill it with 15 Swamps for as much as it would matter. This is to say that GW Auras is like the United States military when pitted against the North Korean army. Hexproof is like bringing a nuclear weapon to a rubber band fight. It may not be fair but you can be damn sure you're going to win. Seriously, your opponents will try to scare you with tales of the the mono-black sacrificial boogieman. But these are just stories. In real life, mono-black is barely a deck and hasn't put up winning results in a very long time. You are a monolith. You are a bogles player. Now start acting like it.

UPDATE > 9/27

-2 Heliod's Pilgrim
-6 Forest
+4 Blossoming Sands
+4 Cartouche of Solidarity

With the recent addition of Commune with Spirits it also makes Heliod's Pilgrim feel both redundant and unnecessarily costly.

There was a school of thought that lands coming into play tapped was too much of a feel-bad for their inclusion. However, time (and multiple mulligans) have shown me that having the right color of mana is often more important than drawing another Forest.

Cartouche of Solidarity should have never been removed and that was an oversight on my part. It is an integral part of many strategies this deck tries to both emulate and prevent.

Some might also notice a decrease in lands (from 18 to 16). This is on purpose as I believe the addition of Commune with Spirits may allow us to be a little mana-light. This may be revisited/revised after more testing.

More testing may prove that the Thriving land cycle (namely Thriving Grove) is a good addition or replacement to our current land base--especially for those who wish to have a more color-intensive sideboard.

UPDATE > 9/30

-2 Blossoming Sands
+2 Thriving Grove

And yes, for those wondering I am aware that this deck only has 16 lands but I believe that with the addition of Commune with Spirits it should be possible to dig for whatever we need. As always, however, all changes are, well, subject to change based on experimentation.