In every format, there’s always someone looking to stop their opponent from playing Magic. The only difference is how it gets done. Sometimes, the culprit is something like Stasis, Blood Moon, or Back to Basics. Other times it’s Trinisphere or Smokestack. Of course, in more contemporary formats this often comes down to Fog, and how many times you can cast it. Turbofog is a favorite archetype for a particular subset of players, and even Pauper is not without its own take on the archetype:
Turbofog ? Pauper | basking_devil, 5-0 Pauper League
- Instants (30)
- 2 Gush
- 2 Miscalculation
- 2 Respite
- 4 Accumulated Knowledge
- 4 Arcane Denial
- 4 Brainstorm
- 4 Moment's Peace
- 4 Muddle the Mixture
- 4 Tangle
- Sorceries (8)
- 4 Ponder
- 4 Take Inventory
- Enchantment (4)
- 4 Jace's Erasure
- Lands (18)
- 3 Forest
- 8 Island
- 1 Tree of Tales
- 2 Evolving Wilds
- 4 Ash Barrens
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Nature's Claim
- 2 Dispel
- 2 Relic of Progenitus
- 3 Nourish
- 3 Quiet Disrepair
- 4 Scattershot Archer
The first component to a good Turbofog deck is a high density of good Fog effects. The big advantage of playing this deck in Pauper is you get access to all the best Fogs. You don’t have to mess around with Fog and Holy Day. Instead, you get to choose from Moment's Peace, Respite, and Tangle, each of which can represent multiple turns of shutting down opposing combat steps.
The second key component is a powerful card advantage engine so you can see enough cards each turn to ensure you find more Fogs. This deck doesn’t get Howling Mine, Rites of Flourishing, or Temple Bell. Instead, you’re dependent on Accumulated Knowledge and Take Inventory to help get the job done. Brainstorm and Ponder are fine, particularly in conjunction with Ash Barrens, largely because they help you find more copies of your Take Inventorys and Fogs.
The last thing you need is a win condition. Frequently, this will be decking your opponent with Howling Mine using something like Elixir of Immortality. In Pauper, you get to play with Jace's Erasure. It’s important to have a more proactive way of killing your opponent because there are plenty of decks that can kill you outside of combat with the likes of Rolling Thunder and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Jace's Erasure, particularly in multiples, lets you aggressive chain together cantrips and Accumulated Knowledges to kill your opponent in just a few turns rather than taking the time to let them deck out naturally.