Historic Pauper – Midweek Magic Event Guide

Hey everyone! I know everyone is hyped for another Historic Pauper Midweek Magic. It’s been so long since we’ve had the opportunity to play this type of event.

Actually, it’s only been a few weeks, which is by far the shortest turnaround between repeat events in recent memory. Luckily, Historic Pauper is one of those events that gets almost universal praise every time it shows up, so I don’t expect to hear too many complaints about getting another crack at it.

That means it’s time to dig through the commons, dust off some old favorites, and see what kind of nonsense we can get away with this time around.

Spoiler alert: Not much has changed since the last event.

Which is probably a good thing. Pauper doesn’t need a complete shakeup every few weeks when there are already plenty of strong decks, weird interactions, and ridiculous ways to win games with cards that barely cost you any wildcards.

This is a well-loved format with a dedicated community and multiple Discord servers devoted to it. That means there’s already a pretty established metagame, so I didn’t have to spend a ton of time theory crafting this week.

The Historic Pauper banned list includes Ancestral Mask, Cranial Ram, Galvanic Blast, Kuldotha Rebirth, Refurbished Familiar, Sneaky Snacker, and Persistent Petitioners.

Some of the deck lists may show cards as rarities other than common, but every card included is available as a common on MTG Arena.

I know what you’re really here for, so I’ll stop rambling and let you get to the deck lists after a quick look at the event details.

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Event Details

Bring a 60-card Historic deck that contains only commons and basic lands. Look for some common ground with all those cards you’ve drafted and build something new!

Find out more details about this and upcoming Midweek Magic events HERE.

• Duration: August 18th, 2026 @ 2:00 PM PST to August 20th, 2026 @ 2:00 PM PST
• Format: Historic Pauper
• Entry Fee: Free
• Ends After: You can play as much as you like for the duration of the event.
• Match Structure: Best-of-one matches (BO1)

Event Rewards

Wins	Reward
1 Win	Rare Individual Card Reward (ICR)
2 Wins	Rare Individual Card Reward (ICR)
3 Wins	One Random Cosmetic Item

Rakdos Madness

I know you were probably expecting some mono-red pile, but Rakdos Madness takes over as the format’s premier burn deck. The plan is simple: discard cards so you can cast them for their cheaper Madness costs while burning your opponent out as quickly as possible.

If you’re looking to get through your games in a hurry, you definitely won’t be mad about playing this one. (See what I did there? I am soooo clever).

Boggles

Do you enjoy treating Magic like a game of solitaire? Then Boggles is the deck for you. The plan is simple: stick a cheap hexproof creature, pile on a stack of Auras, and turn it into an unstoppable monster.

Meanwhile, your opponent gets to sit there staring at a hand full of removal spells, wondering why they even bothered putting them in their deck.

Empty the Warrens

While it may not be quite as cool as the Squirrel Storm version, this build is arguably the stronger deck. The goal is to chain together a bunch of spells before casting First Day of Class and Empty the Warrens, giving your army of Goblins haste so they can end the game on the spot.

Sometimes the deck does absolutely nothing, but when the right storm (see what I did there? I already made this comment…oh well…not all the jokes can be winners or even original) brews up, it can produce some truly absurd turns.

As a bonus, you even get to play with cards like Frantic Search, which is banned in Historic but perfectly legal in Historic Pauper.

White Weenie

This is the only deck making a return from the last Historic Pauper event article, although this is a different build, so you could easily play either version.

White Weenie has been a staple archetype for decades, and Historic Pauper gives it plenty of powerful commons to work with. If you’ve ever wanted to flood the board with an army of Inspectors and overwhelm your opponent before they can get set up, this deck is right up your alley.

Lifegain

I’m taking zero credit for this one. I found it on one of the Historic Pauper Discord servers from TheDraftBrewery, and it was such a unique take on the archetype that I had to include it.

Between the eight mana dorks and Generous Ent, you don’t have to devote much of your mana base to producing black or blue mana while still getting access to some incredibly powerful splash cards. It’s a clever bit of deckbuilding that gives you the best of both worlds without sacrificing consistency.

Wrap Up

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week to get in depth about the wonders of Brawl Builder Challenge. Until then, stay classy people!