Zuberas are one of my soft spots in Magic. Ever since they were first printed, I’ve played a myriad of Zubera-based combo decks in formats ranging from Extended to Commander. Needless to say, when I saw theonerupert was looking to give me an excuse to play with Zuberas in Pauper as well, I was sold. Let’s take a look at what these Spirits can do:

Esper Zuberas - Pauper | theonerupert

• Creatures (25)
• 2 Mulldrifter
• 3 Crypt Rats
• 4 Ashen-Skin Zubera
• 4 Carrion Feeder
• 4 Floating-Dream Zubera
• 4 Silent-Chant Zubera
• 4 Thief of Hope

• Instants (2)
• 2 Undying Evil

• Sorceries (9)
• 2 Devouring Greed
• 3 Chainer's Edict
• 4 Unearth

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Journey to Nowhere

• Lands (18)
• 2 Island
• 2 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 4 Dismal Backwater
• 4 Scoured Barrens

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Chainer's Edict
• 2 Plagued Rusalka
• 3 Circle of Protection Red
• 3 Coral Net
• 3 Negate
• 3 Standard Bearer

Buy This Deck

As far as recursion goes, the best options are Undying Evil and Unearth. While they’re no Second Sunrise, these cards let you rebuy key Zuberas for a single mana, which lets you put together turns where you can Mind Twist your opponent with Ashen-Skin Zubera or draw twelve cards with Floating-Dream Zubera early on in the game. If you’re looking for late game recursion, Reaping the Graves is probably the best option, although you could also opt for something like Font of Return.

Then there’s the Zuberas themselves. Ashen-Skin Zubera and Floating-Dream Zubera are the most important. These let you trade against early Chainer's Edicts while generating value, or to pull ahead on cards in the early game with some cheap recursion. Notably, Ashen-Skin Zubera lets you try to lock your opponent out by sacrificing it during their draw step. This can give you opens for quick wins if your Carrion Feeder goes unchecked. It’s worth noting, while Silent-Chant Zubera is very good against fast aggro, it’s possible Dripping-Tongue Zubera might be preferable, since it’s another value engine that plays better with both Carrion Feeder and Devouring Greed.

All in all, this is not a super powerful deck, but there are enough tricks and cool interactions that it’s not completely unplayable in the current Pauper format. You’ll have a bad time against decks already good against Carrion Feeder, but are more than capable of holding your own against slower midrange decks or builds vulnerable to Crypt Rats.