Magic: The Gathering has officially banned Persistent Petitioners from the upcoming MTG Arena Pauper event.
In an MTG Arena Pauper event, there are two decks everyone prepares against: Persistent Petitioners and Rat Colony. And thanks to new tools from War of the Spark expansion, Rat Colony isn’t a 5-0 deck anymore.
Pauper tournaments are made up of a minimum 60-card deck containing only common MTG cards in Standard. Normally, players can only have four copies of a single card. But Rat Colony and Persistent Petitioners are an exception to the rule.
Persistent Petitioners’ strength lies in milling an opponent, but it also has a defense of three (making it hard to destroy) and its milling ability can be used at instant speed. This is why it’s been banned from MTG Arenaevents.
Regarding Magic: The Gathering Singleton tournaments on MTG Arena, however, it seems Persistent Petitioners is still a legal card. Rat Colony, which is a much bigger threat in Singleton than it is a Pauper event, can also still be used.
Rat Colony still poses a problem in Pauper, however, but they’re not unstoppable. Due to their defense of one, answers to the rat problem include cards like Grim Initiate, Mephitic Vapors, Moment of Craving, and Cosmotronic Wave. Board wipe cards like Settle the Wreckage, Deafening Clarion, Ritual of Soot, and Fiery Cannonade all provide adequate answers to Rat Colony.
The next Pauper tournament on MTG Arena runs from May 31 to June 7 in Part two: No Escape, War of the Spark Chronicles event. The WotS Chronicles is a five-week event beginning with a Momir tournament on May 23. There are no entry fees and losses aren’t recorded.
