Magic: the Gathering

Deck Guide

Pauper: Nyxborn Walls Combo - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

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In this article, we'll discuss the most recent version of Walls Combo and show you why this deck is an excellent choice for Pauper right now. We'll also show you an updated sideboard for the main matchups, so let's go!

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Table of contents

  1. > About Walls Combo
    1. Why Play Nyxborn Walls Combo
    2. Mulligan
  2. > Sideboard Guide
    1. Vs. Blue Terror
    2. Vs. Burn
    3. Vs. Elves
    4. Vs. Grixis Affinity
    5. Vs. Blue Faeries
  3. > Final Words

About Walls Combo

75 commons

super type imageLand7

1

Island

2.29

6

Forest

14.16

super type imageCreature39

1

Nyxborn Hydra

1.14

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4

Saruli Caretaker

1.87

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4

Quirion Ranger

14.67

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2

Orochi Leafcaller

4.77

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1

Crashing Drawbridge

1.63

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1

Wall of Roots

0.8

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4

Overgrown Battlement

3.74

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1

Third Path Savant

0.34

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1

Tuktuk Rubblefort

0.67

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1

Scholar of Athreos

2.36

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4

Axebane Guardian

3.5

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4

Drift of Phantasms

4.84

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1

Galvanic Alchemist

2.36

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3

Shield-Wall Sentinel

11.97

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3

Sagu Wildling

0.79

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4

Generous Ent

10.5

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super type imageEnchantment1

1

Freed from the Real

42.34

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super type imageSorcery12

4

Winding Way

5.66

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4

Land Grant

12.51

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4

Lead the Stampede

4.55

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super type imageInstant1

1

Reaping the Graves

1.83

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60 cards maindeck

Sideboard 15

2

Scattershot Archer

31.13

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2

Masked Vandal

9.44

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2

Obsidian Acolyte

17.54

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2

Crimson Acolyte

10.74

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2

Mirrorshell Crab

0.93

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2

Bramble Wurm

0.38

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2

Blue Elemental Blast

8.15

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1

Pulse of Murasa

0.54

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Walls Combo Pauper leans on the synergy between certain creatures to create massive amounts of mana and win matches with one singular final piece.

It plays cards like Axebane Guardian and Overgrown Battlement, besides other Defender creatures, to create infinite mana. To do that, you'll use Galvanic Alchemist and Freed From the Real. More specifically, you'll use these cards and the mana you created to untap a Barrier (preferably Axebane), which will, in turn, create more mana. All you have to do is repeat this process as much as you'd like and win the game.

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Then, after you get infinite mana, you can use cards like Scholar of Athreos or even Nyxborn Hydra to defeat your opponent. With Lead the Stampede and Winding Way, you'll be able to find the creatures you need.

Shield-Wall Sentinel and Third Path Savant also, in a way, create card advantage, as, with them, you'll be able to find specific Barriers or use your extra mana to draw cards until you find what you want. Drift of Phantasms is another important piece in this list, as it tutors many critical cards.

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An essential addition to this list is Sagu Wildling, which has been really helpful in green decks. This Dragon is great with Winding Way and Stampede, as it is a creature while it is in your deck, but can also tutor lands with its Omen ability. Because of its 3/3 flying body and the life points it gives you, it can, in many situations, become a secret win condition.

Another detail that makes this list different from the others is that it plays less lands: just seven. And it's all thanks to the Sagu + Land Grant setup. It lets you use less lands and more creatures in this list and gives you more card advantage.

Why Play Nyxborn Walls Combo

Green, as a color, is popular in Pauper right now, which hasn't happened in a while. Walls is similar to Elves gameplay-wise, but, while it leans much more towards the main combo, Elves is more of an aggro list. Still, Walls can be an aggressive list when needed.

This deck is perfect for you if you enjoy a nice combo and creatures that interact really well with one another. It is well-positioned in the current meta and has performed really well. Compared to the top lists in the format, it is also quite accessible financially speaking.

Mulligan

Like other combo decks, you'll have to be really careful when you mulligan with this list. You need to know which hands you can keep or not.

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This is a great opener, but, if you play Quirion Ranger on turn 1, you might make it vulnerable to removals like Lightning Bolt, for instance. Furthermore, this hand is quite slow overall against aggressive decks, like Burn. Consider it thoroughly before you keep it.

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This hand is extremely slow. With this deck, you want a very full board on turn 2, and this hand doesn't do that. Lead the Stampede on turn 3 can be reasonable, but it is far from ideal.

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This hand is great. Saruli Caretaker on turn 1 followed by Quirion on turn 2 is one of the most powerful strategies this deck has. You can certainly keep this.

Sideboard Guide

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This sideboard is more versatile for blue, considering you can use Sagu to get basic Islands.

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Blue Elemental Blast is critical when you need to deal with the worst card for this list, Krark-Clan Shaman. It is also efficient against Mono-Red lists.

Acolytes are great against black and red removals. The rest of this sideboard includes ways to deal with Faeries, artifacts, and also gain a lot of life.

Mirrorshell Crab is a versatile card that can counter both spells and abilities, so it has a special place in this sideboard.

Vs. Blue Terror

This matchup is a bit complicated. Your opponent will try to create a board as fast as possible, and they'll often succeed. If they manage to get two or three 5/5s on their side in one or two turns, things will get a lot harder.

Ent and Sagu are great in this matchup, as they're nice blockers. They'll stall the game until you can play your combo safely, and you might even win it by attacking with them. Nyxborn is the "surprise" win condition, as your opponent might not expect it in this list.

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Vs. Burn

This matchup is also a tad complicated. Bolts has always been an issue for Walls, and the Red Aggro version of this deck has been trying to come back by using Rally at the Hornburg instead of the now banned Kuldotha Rebirth. Ent and Sagu are once again brilliant in this matchup because they'll give you some life and have decent bodies, so they can deal some damage to your opponent if necessary.

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Vs. Elves

This matchup is interesting. It is basically a mirror: the fastest player wins. Elves is often very explosive and can put a lot of pressure on you really fast, but you'll have good blockers for the first few turns and can play your combo just as fast as them.

Whoever plays their combo first, wins, but Elves is more like an aggressive combo list, while Walls is just a combo list. I highly recommend you skip the sideboard and play the main deck only.

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Vs. Grixis Affinity

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This matchup can be either great, or terrible. It all depends on how Affinity starts out.

Their removals can deal with any creature Walls plays, and Krark is simply a global removal with a body. Post-side, get protection for your creatures and artifact hates. Counters can help against Krark, but try to be smart about it, as your opponent will be full of resources and draw a lot of cards.

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Vs. Blue Faeries

This matchup is very complex. Your opponent can create a lot of value quite fast with their Ninjas, and the Faeries will only make it harder for Walls. On the other side, Sagu is incredibly powerful in this matchup, and you can always use it as a creature to disrupt your opponent. They need to focus on stopping your combo, so they probably won't be ready to deal with a 3/3 flying creature on your side.

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Final Words

Walls Combo is very fun and versatile. You can play many other strategies with it to take advantage of the mana your creatures create. The combo version is the most popular nowadays, but you can play the Cascade version or even the one that tries to make the most out of Initiative. The sky is the limit when you have infinite mana!

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!

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