What is the current MTG Pauper metagame?

The Pauper metagame is led by Madness at 16.4% of recent Challenge and League appearances (17.3% in Challenges alone), ahead of Terror at 9.5%. The best-performing deck in the current meta is Ruby Storm at a 65.2% match win rate across 204 matches.

What deck should I play in Pauper?

If you want the most-played deck, Madness is 16.4% of the field. If you want the best win rate with a real sample, Ruby Storm is at 65.2% across 204 matches. For a lower-variance midrange option, Affinity sits at 6.0% with 41 Top 8s.

What is the best deck in Pauper right now?

By meta share, Madness is the most played Pauper deck right now. By win rate, Ruby Storm is overperforming at 65.2%.

What are the most played cards in Pauper?

The most-played cards across recent Pauper decklists are Hydroblast (38.6% of decks), Relic of Progenitus (35.2%), and Pyroblast (32.1%). See the full Pauper staples list for maindeck and sideboard play rates.

How diverse is the Pauper metagame?

Decklist Data tracks 38 Pauper archetypes over the last 60 days. The most-played deck holds 16.4% of the field, and the top five account for 46.8% - no single deck dominates.

How is the Pauper metagame ranked?

The Pauper metagame ranks archetypes by Challenge and League appearance share over the last 60 days. The S through D tier list scores Challenge match win rate, League 5-0 trophies, and Challenge meta share separately.

What decks are rising in the Pauper meta?

Bogles is the fastest riser in the Pauper metagame, up 224% over the prior 60 days (1.3% → 4.1%). Glintblade (+156%) and Elves (+37%) are also gaining share.

What is Pauper in MTG?

Pauper is a competitive Magic: The Gathering format restricted to cards that have been printed at common rarity, available online and in paper. It's played in weekly MTGO Challenges and Leagues, which is where this metagame data comes from.

Meta and Decklists

Pauper Metagame & Top Decks

Updated Oct 26, 2026, 4:24 PM ET · Madness leads at 15.0%

Decklists and tier list from recent MTGO Challenges and Leagues.

No. 1 strategy

Madness 15.0%

Fastest riser

Mono-Red Rally+59%

Rising card

Mortuary Mire

Snapshot · Last 14 days

Madness is at 15.0%, Faeries at 9.8%, Terror is increasing to 8.8%, Affinity at 7.9%.

Challenges Matchups

14d 30d 60d 90d


16.4%	Madness	A	Aggro	2.2	18.8	73	58.9%	+37%
9.5%	Terror	A	Tempo	2.8	15.8	44	59.7%	−24%
8.5%	Faeries	A	Tempo	2.3	18.2	36	59.2%	+14%
6.3%	Tron	A	Ramp	2.9	17.7	22	56.9%	+4%
6.0%	Affinity	A	Midrange	2.9	18.6	41	59.5%	+8%
5.6%	Elves	A	Aggro	2.4	12.2	19	58.6%	+37%
4.3%	Mono-White Aggro	A	Aggro	2.4	17.5	25	62.3%	+35%
4.1%	Bogles	A	Aggro	1.6	17	23	60.4%	+224%
4.0%	Spy Combo	B	Combo	2.8	4	7	52.1%	−7%
4.0%	Dimir Control	A	Control	2.5	18.1	24	60.8%	—
4.0%	Mono-Red Rally	A	Aggro	1.3	17.8	12	56.5%	−36%
3.7%	Golgari Gardens	A	Midrange	2.3	19	24	60.5%	+30%
3.0%	Glintblade	A	Midrange	2.5	19.3	11	58.6%	+156%
3.0%	Wildfire	B	Midrange	2.2	20.6	12	55.5%	−47%
2.9%	Ponza	B	Midrange	3.4	16.8	16	56.8%	−43%
2.0%	Ruby Storm	A	Combo	2.5	16.9	13	65.2%	+7%
1.9%	Synthesizer	B	Aggro	1.6	19.7	3	56.7%	+122%
1.7%	Jeskai Control	B	Control	2.6	19.2	5	55.5%	−69%
1.4%	UW Familiars	B	Midrange	2.6	18.7	4	54.9%	−2%
1.1%	Grixis Control	C	Control	2.6	18.1	2	56.3%	+70%
0.8%	Rogue	—	Other	2.3	19	1	51.0%	−16%
0.8%	Turbo Fog	B	Control	2.6	22.2	8	63.1%	+127%
0.8%	Gates	C	Midrange	2.2	20.7	2	58.0%	−84%
0.8%	Mono-Black Sacrifice	—	Aggro	1.3	17	1	46.7%	−48%
0.6%	UW Control	D	Control	2.6	19.1	1	49.1%	—
0.4%	Walls Combo	—	Combo	2.5	10.5	0	—	−9%
0.3%	Cycle Storm	D	Combo	2.7	12	1	56.7%	−58%
0.3%	Inside Out	—	Aggro	2.1	19.4	0	—	−58%
0.3%	Poison Storm	—	Combo	2.5	16.9	0	—	+99%
0.2%	Dredge	—	Combo	3.2	16.6	0	—	—
0.2%	Mono-Red Metalcraft	D	Aggro	1.2	18.3	1	—	−79%
0.2%	Kiln Fiend	—	Aggro	1.6	17	0	—	—
0.2%	Boros Aggro	—	Aggro	1.9	19	0	—	+0%
0.2%	Infect	—	Aggro	1.2	17.2	0	—	−17%
0.1%	Metalcraft	—	Aggro	2.1	14	0	—	New
0.1%	Mono-White Heroic	—	Aggro	1.2	18	0	—	−63%
0.1%	Ninjas	—	Tempo	2.6	18	0	—	New
0.1%	Mono-Black Control	—	Control	2	20	0	—	—
0.1%	Mono-Red	—	Aggro	2	18	1	—	—

Explore all Pauper staple cards

Loading Tier List.

Pauper right now

Madness leads Pauper at 16.4% of decks over the last 60 days (3,140 lists), ahead of Terror (9.5%) and Faeries (8.5%). The top five are 46.8% of decks. Ruby Storm has the best Challenge win rate at 65.2% across 204 matches.

Latest Pauper decklists

TheReforged · Ruby Storm · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
Boquinha · Elves · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
Hericllys · Madness · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
Muril0Ambra · Bogles · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
DataPusher · Ruby Storm · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
saidin.raken · UW Familiars · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
ThePowersThatB · Bogles · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
protoaddict · Mono-White Aggro · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
TheBuilder · Mono-White Aggro · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26
Pleitegeier · Golgari Gardens · Pauper League · 5-0 · Oct 26

Recent Pauper Challenges

Challenge 32 · Oct 25 · Lamela · Ruby Storm
Challenge 16 · Oct 24 · ChaoticMTG · UW Familiars
Challenge 32 · Oct 23 · Lamela · Ruby Storm
Challenge 32 · Oct 22 · LucasG1ggs · Madness
Challenge 16 · Oct 20 · yahakara · Madness

Pauper tier list

A. Madness, Terror, Faeries, Mono-White Aggro, Affinity, Elves, Bogles, Dimir Control, Tron, Ruby Storm, Golgari Gardens, Glintblade, Mono-Red Rally
B. Ponza, Wildfire, Spy Combo, Synthesizer, Turbo Fog, Jeskai Control, UW Familiars
C. Grixis Control, Gates
D. Mono-Red Metalcraft, UW Control, Cycle Storm

How this data works

Pauper numbers on this page come from public MTGO Challenge and League decklists. The window is the last 60 days (3,140 lists). The page rebuilds every 6 hours. Meta share is a strategy's share of those Challenge and League decks. Win % is the Challenge match win rate: wins divided by wins plus losses, shown from 30 Challenge matches. Tiers score Challenge results, League 5-0s, and Challenge meta share separately. More detail is in the FAQ.