Last week, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) ruled that downshifted commons from Secret Lair: The Zeta Set would not be legal for play in Magic’s Pauper format. Today however, WotC has changed their stance and made 10 out of the 12 first-time commons from The Zeta Set legal in Pauper.
Speaking on behalf of WotC and the Pauper Format Panel, Gavin Verhey, Magic’s Principal Game Designer, explains that cards organically printed at or downshifted to common rarity would normally be a strategic decision made by the design team. With The Zeta Set however, Verhey clarifies that this was not the case, because neither WotC nor the Pauper Format Panel had any intention of making the 12 downshifted cards legal in Pauper.
That being said, Verhey acknowledges that Pauper is, first and foremost, a format by the community for the community, and after the initial ruling last week, feedback heavily indicated that players wanted these cards injected into the format, with the stipulation that action be swiftly taken should anything prove problematic or unhealthy for the metagame.
To that end, WotC is allowing the following commons from The Zeta Set to join the format, albeit with a very short leash.
As for the other two, WotC is taking no chances with Narcomoeba and Price of Progress, stating that they would slot far too easily into already powerful preexisting archetypes in the format.
According to Verhey, the ten cards above will be legal for play in Pauper beginning Monday, September 7.
Read WotC’s full statement on The Zeta Set here.
