Kehmesis took last week in an undefeated run with Mostly-Blue Teachings Control, or MUTC for short. His list ran only four creatures — a playset of Calcite Snapper. Will such a deck overtake the format? Not likely. Only a small handful of Paupers has been able to pilot the deck to XPDC victory.

The deck is clearly powerful, with a counterspell wall, effective removal spells, and enough draw to shut down even the best-laid aggro-control plans. But it demands a sharp mind and a steady hand, and a pilot who has put in his time practicing. MUTC is not a deck for the XPDC neophyte. For this reason, I expect it to remain off the Pauper Extended radar, swooping down only occasionally from on high to wreck an unprepared metagame.

Of course, I could be wrong. Many are the blue mages in hiding, perhaps bitter about what Wizards is doing to the strength of their color, who will see MUTC’s victory as a sign that the Control Player may rise once again to say “no” en masse. Outside of dropping a 1UU turtle during the main phase, this deck is a genuine article of the “draw-go” tradition.

I haven’t been around this week so I have no idea how much Extended playtesting went on. On the eve of XPDC, the factor by which MUTC impacts the metagame remains a mystery that will be solved in less than 24 hours.

See you there, gentle Pauper.