Card Cycles
Of the original "3-for-1" cycle from Alpha this is the one that sees the most play in pauper.
What is Lightning Bolt?
As both a cycler and payoff for cycling, this Cycle Storm finisher is almost never a dead draw.
What is Drannith Stinger?
This "free" Gruul beater can lead to explosive starts but can also be a lackluster draw if it isn't accompanied by a follow-up play.
What is Burning-Tree Emissary?
This new kill spell from Double Masters has all but displaced its predecessor. Gurmag Angler has been put on notice.
What is Cast Down?
Without access to enchantment removal or life loss, red is the most vulnerable color to this ring of damage prevention.
What is a Circle of Protection?
This cycle of cost-reducers has spawned its own archetype but the Sunscape and Nightscape varieties have seen the most play because of their ability to ease the cost of blue spells.
What are Familiars?
This creature checks off all the right boxes for an ideal reanimation target: a large body, built-in protection against removal, and the ability to self-discard on turn one.
What is Striped Riverwinder?
Able to decimate an opponent's mana base all on its own, this primate is the perfect answer to players trying to double-dip on their land drops.
What is Gorilla Shaman?
This Guildmage is the only one among the ten Ravnica guilds to have made its way to the pauper format.
What is Dimir Guildmage?
Don't get your mana math wrong, this card will add a cost of 2 to any spell if its controller wants it to resolve.
What is Miscalculation?
There's no need to go 6 feet under when you're digging for this 2-mana reanimator.
What is Exhume?
This is green's best source of card advantage and a strong contributor to decks like mono-green Elves, Wall Combo, and Naya Slivers being viable contenders.
What is Lead the Stampede?
Whether it's plucking one card at a time or hitting the reset button for all players, this artifact can severely hinder graveyard-dependent strategies.
What is Relic of Progenitus?
The depleton lands of Mercadian Masques come in five varieties, one for each color, including this black one often seen powering out land destruction.
What is Peat Bog?
Grabbable with Lead the Stampede, this green cycler can turn itself into two cards, but one of them has to be a basic land.
What is Krosan Tusker?
Even when running a full play set of these congregating birds, it's best not to draw more than one in order to get maximum value out of them.
What is Squadron Hawk?
Playing a double roll as both burn enhancer and defender, this creature doesn't hit as hard as Firebrand Archer but always hits, even on a crowded board.
What is Thermo-Alchemist?
Manaless to cast if you've already cast another white spell, this instant could prove to be the bane of Bogles players everywhere.
What is Patrician's Scorn?
A mark of clever design, Cycling has been paired with abilities that utilize discard and the graveyard such as Madness, Flashback, and this Viscera Dragger ability.
What is Unearth?
This Ritual is used almost exclusively in combo decks where a dedicated strategy of binning creature cards with a big endgame can abuse it to its fullest.
What is Songs of the Damned?
Low cost finishers are a hallmark of control decks that always want to leave up mana to respond to the opponent, which makes this Delve threat one of the best cost-to-benefits investments in pauper.
What is Gurmag Angler?
Clear the skies with this green sweeper. All but the largest of fliers will be brought down as 3 damage is dealt to each one and both players.
What is Claws of Wirewood?