With 5 tournaments and the ongoing league, August-September saw a whopping 119 games played and the meta was not left untouched.

The Weavers duo dropped from the top rank to a respectable 4th, while still having an above average winrate. Hawkeye fizzled down to 17th while Malcolm/Red had a mediocre performance, holding on to 9th with Kediss/Malcolm.

Gretchen came back into the top 10 again, and two new commanders enter the leaderboard. Erinis / Gloomstalker has often been criticized for not being able to close out games, but that might be changing. If she can pack enough stomp alongside her control package, perhaps she'll be able to stay in the top 10. Guidelight Pathmaker is a powerful tutor that can bring combo pieces directly to the battlefield, thus making counterspells useless once the engine gets going.

At this time, the top 10 leaderboard is 80% combo commanders. Will we see some more control/midrange/aggro success before the year is over? With Raffine now legal in the format, I think the odds are in favor of at least one more non-combo deck in the top 10!

I've been posting about the monthly / quarterly state of the cPDH meta for a while now and decided to dive a bit deeper into 2025 and look at how that year ended.

The top 10 plus one more noteworthy commander are reviewed with their stats for the year. Some were popular and successful, others saw success with only a single player, and some favorites from 2024 fell out of favor.

Let me know your thoughts on the meta, and if you have deeper questions on the data I'd be happy to answer them.

I sat down for a conversation with Ginger Persolus from cpdh.guide to talk about the state of cPDH.

New here, hope this meets the guidelines. I've created a combo primer for PDH that includes both competitive and fringe options. It's a very long video, so split into chapters. Would welcome any feedback from the community here.

I'm not a tournament grinder, so I might have some misreads, but I've been playing MTG since '94 and feel pretty confident in my understanding of card and combo evaluation. I am also an event organizer in Canada and working towards building a cPDH tournament scene here, so very open to hearing what I need to correct here in my evaluations.

https://youtu.be/Ww6N08xZey8?si=ACoES_-efNdWtDoc

Hello everyone! It's Russell, and welcome to my channel. Please spread the word. Thank you

Right off the bat, I'm gonna say no, but every time I play pauper commander, my Sprite Dragon deck just runs away with games. I even win games against normal decks with this build.

https://moxfield.com/decks/_iVheVn4VEmlEWcE-Ymb7A

I'm assuming this is shit by competitive standards but I'm curious if this can even touch the decks that are running around. I also seem to have no clue what is pauper competitive. As I thought that simic halfling from Baldur's Gate was the big boogeyman but from the most recent tournament results, it's not even in the running anymore.

Does aggro even have a place in pauper competitive? Or is it all just combo? (Not hating, I like everything!)

We had two cPDH tournaments in July, and both were won by [[Hawkeye, Young Avenger]]. Was this a fluke or is this a new top 10 staple? Check out the winner's interview! The decklist can be found in our library.

[[Lagrella, the Magpie]] has risen to 8th place, proving that she can finish games. She saw both tournament and league play with two pilots each getting an above averge winrate.

To see rankings of all commanders, player data, and more, we have the cPDH meta page.

If you want to play competitively, join the Wanderer's PDH League or check out our new events page!

As we're nearing the tournament, our wonderful judge (Liam) had the great idea of awarding participation promos for everyone, so everyone who participates in the tournament (and is willing to send me their mailing address) will receive a special Burn Book Brawl stamped promo Commander's Sphere (same for everyone). The Top Cut and Champion will also be getting special Top Cut / Champion variations of the same. Pics will be posted as soon as those promos are finalized.

I also wanted to note that if we get attendance to surpass 36 players (making it the biggest online cPDH tourney I believe), the prize pool will expand. We will also be adding some cool foil prizes to the mix for those finishing just outside the Top 4 so stay tuned for that announcement. Get signed up ASAP and make sure to get all your friends to join in on the fun as well! Can't wait to see you all on August 22 at 12pm ET!

https://topdeck.gg/event/burn-book-brawl

First time ever attempting one of these so feel free to ask any questions about the event! Had a decent show out for our 4th in person tournament at 28 players, 2 of which drove up from St. Louis (so huge shout out to those Imoti players) also 2 of the 3 previous champs were in attendance but failed to make the final 4. Hawkeye was able to break the Simic streak by taking the win with an impressive mono red burn deck that functioned well even without the commander being on the field. The event saw 22 unique commanders with the most popular being Malcolm/Red (1 Rog, 2 Breeches, 2 Kediss) and only 1 Gretchen which I found surprising. We ran 4 round then cut to top 10, with 1st and 2nd getting byes to the finals.

If you're looking for some quick results without clicking the topdeck link the final 4 was: Hawkeye (3-1 Swiss), Weavers (3-1 Swiss), Sanar (2-1-1 Swiss) and TPI (2-2 Swiss). 17 players had at least 1 win during swiss, and there were only 2 draws throughout the event.

You can find the topdeck results here: https://topdeck.gg/bracket/cloudy-commons-cup-iv

In EDH I play [[Heliod, the Radiant Dawn]], [[Nezahal, Primal Tide]] and [[Muldrotha, the Graveside]]

In cEDH I play [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]]/[[Silas Renn, Seeker Adept]] and [[Arcum Dagsson]]

In Historic Brawl I play [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]]

In Competitive Brawl I play [[Goben, Gene-Splice Savant]]

In Pauper EDH I play [[Lagrella, the Magpie]]

I only today learned that there is a Competitive Pauper EDH scene so I know nothing about the metagame yet. Based on other decks I play, what deck(s) should I try first in this new-to-me format?

Good morning, folks. I'm an old man who's been playing The: Magicking Gather since 1996. I've got a lot of ridiculously old cards that I'm would love to give a new purpose.

That said, I am very new to the competitive side of pauper EDH. I've got a general idea on how the format works (30 life, 16 Commander damage, 10 Poison Damage, Uncommon Commander, Common 99), but I'm highly inexperienced in how this format plays at a competitive level.

Can anyone recommend a deck that I can try out or maybe a primer that I might be able to read on it?

I tend to be a bit more of a Timmy/Johnny than anything else, but I like to get my Spike on at times, so I'd love to know wtf is going on in this space.

I had an idea to build a [[Siona, Captain of the Pyleas]] deck, as I am Greek and I dig her artwork (it's very reminiscent of some of the stories my Giagia (pronounced "YAH-yah") told me as a child).

Am I looking in the right direction? I'm typically more of a combo player when it comes to the 100 card formats.

Thanks y'all.

Remember what Tupac Shakur said: "You are appreciated..." He said a lot more stuff, but he also said that.

We're happy to announce that the inaugural Burn Book Brawl will be taking place at 12pm ET (Noon) Saturday, August 22, 2026, in the Burn Book Discord Server (https://discord.gg/xG6CBvfwny). Registration is open now through 11:59am ET Saturday, August 22, 2026. Decklists MUST be submitted before registration closes. This tournament will be played via Convoke with WEBCAM SETUPS ONLY (no Moxfield playtester or other platforms allowed). For more rules, check out the TopDeck link below and the links in #tournament-rules-and-guidelines.

Oh, and I forgot the best part: **$1K IN PRIZES GUARANTEED.**

No asterisks. We wanted to start things back up with something people get excited about, and what is more exciting than winning $$$. PLUS, the winner will get to be immortalized in a custom token (we aren't changing all traditions).

Let's make this one of the biggest PDH tournaments ever. Register below and get all of your friends to jump in on the action too. We can't wait to kick things off and see who will take home the trophy at the Burn Book Brawl.

https://topdeck.gg/event/burn-book-brawl

I spent quite a bit of time looking through all of the new commanders, brewing test lists for them, and figuring out what the strongest cards might be, both for fun and for tournament play. As a competitive player, my analysis is definitely rooted in winning potential.

Enjoy my in-depth review!

https://cpdh.guide/set%20review/marvel-set-review/

Let me know if you think I ranked these new commanders above or below where they should be.

I had a lot of fun putting this together and I think I'll be doing this more often for upcoming sets. Let me know what you liked and what you want to see more of as I do this in the future!

We are about a month away from the next Cloudy Commons Cup! We've decided to team up with NorthStarCEDH to host our event on Day 2 of their first ever Convention! If you're free July 19th come through to Minneapolis and take a shot at winning your very own Kaladesh Inventions Lotus Petal! They're hosting CEDH events all weekend, on demand limited events and there will be a free play area which is where you'll find me slinging PDH games Saturday. https://topdeck.gg/event/cloudy-commons-cup-iv Will this be the event to end the Simic win streak?

Just over a month away until CC4! This time around I'm giving away a Kaladesh Inventions Lotus Petal to 1st place! We've decided to team up with NorthstarCEDH to host our event on Sunday July 19th which is Day 2 of their first ever convention. https://topdeck.gg/event/cloudy-commons-cup-iv

I've been wondering what to put in an Asylum Visitor deck. I have around 20 pieces of removal + edicts and as many [[miasmic mummy]] effects as possible, but I still don't know what to put in a monoblack midrange deck, especially given that I want to get rid of my hand as quickly as possible in order to trigger Asylum Visitor's effect. Any suggestions?

https://archidekt.com/decks/21415631/definitely_not_a_turtle

I built a Pauper EDH deck that feels completely original—I haven’t seen anyone else using Definitely Not a Turtle as a commander yet. The deck is themed like a comic book full of ninja gadgets, combining small artifacts, equipment, and constructs into a kind of “reprogrammed Mouser” style engine.

The idea is to build up a board of cheap artifact tools and creatures, then slowly turn them into consistent pressure. It plays like a quiet arsenal—nothing looks threatening at first, but over time it becomes overwhelming through value, utility, and steady attacks.

I’m running 35 lands, I expect it to work because of the amount of ramp and fetch effects in the deck. Here is the decklist with Sideboard included

1 Alchemist's Vial

1 Aradara Express

1 Adventuring Gear

1 Bloodtallow Candle

1 Blazing Torch

1 Bone Saw

1 Cloak of the Bat

1 Candy Trail

1 Cliffhaven Kitesail

1 Cathar's Shield

1 Cultist's Staff

1 Eldrazi Devastator

1 Dramatist's Puppet

1 Embermouth Sentinel

1 Filigree Crawler

1 Fleetfeather Sandals

1 Firdoch Core

1 Gingerbrute

1 Hedron Blade

1 Graven Abomination

1 Hedron Crawler

1 Honed Khopesh

1 Iron Apprentice

1 Jousting Lance

1 Definitely Not a Turtle

1 Keeper of the Lens

1 Lunatic Pandora

1 Luxa River Shrine

1 Myr Kinsmith

1 Mind Stone

1 Marauder's Axe

1 Mechanical Glider

1 Mobile Garrison

1 Maelstrom Colossus

1 Ninja's Kunai

1 Night Market Guard

1 Paragon of Modernity

1 Pilgrim's Eye

1 Prying Blade

1 Papercraft Decoy

1 Quick-Draw Katana

1 Ruin Processor

1 Swiftgear Drake

1 Short Sword

1 Scrap Compactor

1 Sparring Construct

1 Stalactite Dagger

1 Silver Deputy

1 Seer's Lantern

1 Skittering Surveyor

1 Shardless Outlander

1 Tyrant's Machine

1 Vial of Dragonfire

1 Traveler's Amulet

1 Thought Vessel

1 Warden of Geometries

1 Wreck Remover

1 Wings of Hubris

1 World Map

1 Workshop Assistant

1 Cradle of the Accursed

1 Crumbling Vestige

1 Hidden Grotto

1 Holdout Settlement

1 Sunscorched Desert

1 Ash Barrens

1 Haunted Fengraf

1 Painted Bluffs

1 Forge of Heroes

1 Iron Mastiff

1 Runaway Boulder

1 Jade-Cast Sentinel

1 Kozilek's Pathfinder

1 Campus Guide

1 Juggernaut

1 Navigator's Compass

1 Ulamog's Crusher

1 Guardian Automaton

1 Darksteel Axe

25 Wastes

1 Radiant Fountain

1 News Helicopter

1 Scour from Existence

While March only had two cPDH tournament events, the Wanderer's League saw 38 competitive matches during the month of the total 67 matches across all three events.

The top 10 leaderboard has two returning champions and one brand new commander:

[[Sailor's Bane]], piloted by Ginger, hit the 10th rank in November. It's a resilient voltron-control package where the commander will always return with its built-in discount.

[[Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar]] with [[Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator]] is a long-known competitive deck with the most pilots in the current top 10. This deck won the Enola Classic 4 tournament, with two pilots on this deck both making the top 4!

[[Thrull Parasite]] might be the most noteworthy, brand new commander in the top 10. Piloted by BeachBodGod69, this deck held the top spot in the Wanderer's League and has proven to be a grindy powerhouse of control and drain.

Which top 10 commander are you most interested in? Is there a commander you think has the potential to be among the top 10 that has yet to prove its mettle?

The full meta data is available on https://cpdh.guide/meta/

If you want to join the Wanderer's League for competitive play, go to https://app.cpdh.guide

Longshot is our newest entry at the table, but Ben has been mastering his Lazav deck recently to interact heavily with both the board and graveyard. Vizkopa and Wilson have both been respected commanders in the format since their releases. We'll battle it out in a Wanderer's League game for glory and leaderboard points!

Join the online league to claim your portion of the scaling $10k prize pool! https://app.cpdh.guide​

Learn about the meta and read our latest articles: https://cpdh.guide​

Let us know what multiplayer pauper content you want to see in the future! Who's your favorite Pauper Commander?

Deck lists:

Wilson: https://moxfield.com/decks/n6MEjblqQ0qA8cA9lh8byQ

Vizkopa: https://moxfield.com/decks/vpq14Uc700aMDX6PsalZfw

Lazav: https://moxfield.com/decks/cLLIIZGSv0yiz8bnOjDZSw

Longshot: https://moxfield.com/decks/ZIX2qDjPv0ClF_GEZZWudA

Looking to build Raff as powerfully as possible. Azorious is not my Forte by any means so any and all advice would be welcome. Current thought process is running basically all the loops with [[Ghostly Flicker]] to generate infinite mana that I put into Raff to start swinging out for game. Other infinite is an untapper+[[Azorious Chancery]]+[[freed from the real]]

https://moxfield.com/decks/iGrfjoThX0qoX7hntF66bw

Over the last few months, Adam has been taking both in person and online games by storm with his new [[Thrull Parasite]] list (link).

Yes... this commander option seems innocuous to the casual eye, but its abundance of control elements combined with the persistent life drain has proven itself to be an extremely viable strategy in cPDH. The decks wins by draining an average of 10 life points from each of it's opponents (that's also 30 life gained!), along side of getting in pointed damage with large, sometimes evasive creatures, but often finishes the game via [[Crypt Rats]] or [[Pestilence]] activations.

For clarity - I teased Adam about this Commander choice when he first selected it, but I have since been forced to "eat crow" many times by virtue of losing to the deck so often. I now want to highlight his efforts for those of you out there would do not want to build combo or an aggro strategy in cPDH and were hoping for another option.

Currently (at the time of writing), Adam has logged 12 games in the Wander's League and he boasts a 58.3% win rate.

Thrull Parasite has beaten:

[[Gretchen Titchwillow]]

[[Vhal, Candlekeep Researcher]]

[[Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator]]+[[Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer]]

[[Arabella, Abandoned Doll]]

[[Black Waltz No. 3]]

[[Phyrexian Censor]]

[[Kheru Goldkeeper]]

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator+[[Rograkh, Son of Rogahh]]

[[Ganax, Astral Hunter]]+[[Feywild Visitor]]

and more!

If you are an enjoyer of a slower midrange-to-control game plan, I would highly recommend you checking out his list (link above).

February saw a lot of competitive play! 134 matches across 5 different events shook up the top 10 leaderboard with three new commanders:

[[Scholar of the Ages]], [[Longshot, Rebel Bowman]], and [[Wilson, Refined Grizzly]] with [[Far Traveler]].

The Weavers hold the top spot while boasting a tournament win, while Gretchen takes a dip down to 7th. Are the Weavers the superior simic combo deck or did Gretchen just have some bad games this month?

The full meta data is available on https://cpdh.guide/meta/