Playing White in Dragons of Tarkir, Part Two

Last time, I quickly reviewed why White is so often the best color in Standard Pauper. Quite simply, White is fast, efficient, has access to removal, and has good options against a variety of decks. Then I took a look at two of the stronger White Commons from Dragons of Tarkir. Today I want to take a look at three others that have caught my attention, beginning with the return of a favored staple.

After a long absence, Pacifism has returned to Standard Pauper. This is premium removal, being cheap, effective against any creature, and nearly unconditional (save, of course, that it is vulnerable to Enchantment-hate). Pacifism harkens back to the day when removal at Common was cheap and plentiful. With those days now behind us, Pacifism is all the more valuable. Even better, with Heliod's Pilgrim still in the format, you'll even be able to search it up. I expect that you will see this card in every deck that's playing White once Dragons of Tarkir is released.

Sandcrafter Mage is easily the best of the Bolster cards at Common. Paying 2W for a 2/2 isn't unreasonable, and most of the time you play this it will be the recipient of the counter, giving you a 3/3 creature for 3 mana, something you typically only see in Green. It's also cheap enough that you can instead bolster one of your early flyers or Heroic creatures, giving you a significant edge going forward. This is certainly worth testing out in most of the White Weenie builds, and might even find a spot in the Boros or Azorius Heroic decks that are so popular right now.

 It is rare to find creatures with static abilities at Common anymore; rarer still do you find them attached to a creature with a reasonable body and casting cost. Student of Ojutai embodies both of these as a 2/4 for 3W that has the potential to gain you quite a bit of life in the right build. Several Heroic and Control decks are running a high number of cantrips or cheap spells right now, and this card is perfect for just such a deck, giving you a considerable Life boost while also presenting a relevant blocker. While it won't see play in every White deck, it should still make a big impact.

I hope to have Part One of my set review out soon, with the other two installments to come quickly afterwards. With over a hundred cards to analyze, it's a big task! Don't forget you can keep up with all my work over on Twitter. Just search for the username gwyned42 and click Follow. Thanks for reading.