Standard Pauper Petition

Last summer, I wrote a series of articles (found here and here) about why Wizards of the Coast should support Standard Pauper as an official format. Eventually, thanks to the tireless support of the Standard Pauper community, Wizards responded and the format became officially supported with an online filter for Magic Online. This was a major accomplishment for the community, and one that I still celebrate.

Just today, as I was browsing at PDCMagic.com, which hosts a variety of Player Run Events for various Pauper formats (including Standard Pauper, of course!) I came across this post by user underdog83, linking to an online petition asking Wizards of the Coast to fully support Standard Pauper by adding official sanctioned events for the format. I encourage you to check out the full petition and add your name to the signatures.

Here, in brief, is underdog83's rationale:

• Standard Pauper has a low cost of entry and thus is available to the largest number of players.
• Standard Pauper is uniquely suited for newcomers.
• Standard Pauper is a fun and diverse format, and is unique in that cards that would never see play elsewhere are viable even in the best decks.
• Standard Pauper already boasts a large number of players.
• For these reasons, sanctioned Constructed events for Standard Pauper would generate new players and additional revenue for Wizards of the Coast that they would otherwise miss.

I wanted to take this opportunity right away to call attention to this petition. I will also be submitting a more full treatment in a forthcoming article on PureMTGO.com very soon to bring greater exposure to this issue. Please get the word out through social media and whatever other means you connect with Magic Online players.

So do you agree with underdog83's rationale? Should Standard Pauper receive officially sanctioned events? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading.