Common Ground MtG
A Magic The Gathering podcast focused on the best (and our favorite) format: Pauper! Tune in every Thursday for metagame updates, tournament reports, lots of laughter, and interviews with members of the Pauper community!
Hosted by Cameron Schindler, Thomas Gunn, and James "Hippo" Hieronimus.
Episodes
107 episodes
2025 Pauper Review with Kalikaiz
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we invite Jake AKA Kalikaiz AKA saidenraiken on MTGO to join us once again for an end of the year review of the Pauper format, detailing the cards that stood out from each set release and how the format shifte...
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Episode 106
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1:50:31
Common Ground 105: Mirror Matches in Pauper
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week the boys answer an email prompt (thank you Skye!) and dive into the dynamics of mirror matches, both in terms of general heuristics and for a number of specific Pauper archetypes. We hope you enjoy this in-dep...
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Episode 105
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1:45:21
Common Ground 104: Eternally Grateful for Paupergeddon
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron and Hippo dissect the results from last weekend's Paupergeddon at the European Eternal Weekend. It was a diverse metagame with some splashy results and overall we think a good place for the meta to be ...
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Episode 104
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51:25
Common Ground 103: How Hasbro's Direction Led to Pauper's Renaissance with Zach Geraets
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron and Thomas sat down with returning guest (and Common Ground Cup 2 Champion) Zach Geraets to discuss how Hasbro and WotC's relationship with Magic and design has changed over the last few years and what...
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Episode 103
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1:48:08
Common Ground 102: Is Pauper Still "Legacy Light"? with Carson Bispels
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we sit down with our good friend and local Legacy advocate Carson Bispels to chat about the age-old Pauper label of "Legacy Light". It's a great conversation about card and gameplay comparisons, plus insight o...
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Episode 102
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1:27:27
Common Ground 101: The Tide Goes Out, plus Avatar Spoilers
Welcome back Pauper fam! Well, the dust has settled and the PFP has decided that High Tide should return to the banlist. We spend the first half of this week's show discussing this decision and the reasoning explained in Gavin's article. The re...
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Episode 101
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1:13:31
Common Ground 100: 100 Things We Love About Pauper
Welcome back Pauper fam! For the big 100th episode we wanted to celebrate Pauper with 100 of our favorite interactions and things we love about the format. There are so many cool things to do in Pauper and one of them also happens to be strolli...
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Episode 100
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1:52:53
Common Ground 99: The Bant Terror Episode
Welcome back Pauper fam! It's finally time. You've all been wondering it and now we have the decklists to prove that Bant Terror can be more than just a meme! All three co-hosts brewed their own lists with some spicy includes. As much as this i...
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Episode 99
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57:14
Common Ground 98: CubeCon 2025
Welcome back Pauper fam! Or should we say, Cube fam? It's that time of year again: The CubeCon 2025 Recap Episode! This time around we had SEVEN people in the room to record and Thomas was the only one who wasn't in Madison last weekend! There ...
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Episode 98
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3:06:33
Common Ground 97: What's Paupin'? Checking In with the Post-SpooderMan Pauper Metagame
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we take a look at the Pauper format in broad terms to discuss the current top decks, why new or returning decks are seeing success, and the impact that the SpiderMan cards have had on the format. It's a more l...
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Episode 97
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1:05:08
Common Ground 96: The Boomer Cube! CubeCon Primer with Ana Paterson
Welcome back Pauper fam! It's time for another Cube episode! This week, we invited our dear friend Ana Paterson onto the show to talk about her cube "The Vintage Cube Retirement Home" (aka The Boomer Cube) which has been selected for the main e...
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Episode 96
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1:39:49
Common Ground 95: Wild Hippo Alert at MagicCon Atlanta
Welcome back Pauper fam! Hippo has returned from Atlanta to tell us all about his adventures at MagicCon! Several friends (and one alum!) of the pod did very well in the Pauper Cup, congratulations to all! Cameron also updates us on his first t...
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Episode 95
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1:08:55
Common Ground 94: Pauper Brewing in Context featuring TeasdaleMTG
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we answer a listener question with some help from our friend and yours, TeasdaleMTG! Teasdale is a UK-based Pauper content creator and co-host of the Casting Commons podcast! Together we discuss brewing, the v...
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Episode 94
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1:20:57
Common Ground 93: What Your Pauper Opponent's First Land Can Teach You
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we discuss what your opponent's first land can tell you about what deck they're playing and what their gameplan might be. It might seem like a small thing but it has cascading effects on the game and is an imp...
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Episode 93
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1:14:13
Common Ground 92: Look out Pauper, it's Spiderman!
Welcome back Pauper fam! It's that time again, spoiler time! This week we discuss the truly infamous Marvel: Spiderman set and its potential impact on the Pauper format. Will enough cards rise to the top that we have to endure their awkward vib...
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Episode 92
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1:05:11
Common Ground 91: We Finally Answered Some More Pauper Questions
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we reached deep into the mailbag to answer more of your questions about Pauper and Magic. Plus a weekend recap of the MTGO challenges featuring a win with the newest version of the Sacrifice deck! Thank you as...
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Episode 91
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1:17:38
Common Ground 90: Playing Your First Local Event
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we answer a long overdue listener question about how to navigate your very first event at your local game store. With Pauper growing in popularity in the States, it's important to set reasonable expectations f...
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Episode 90
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57:24
Common Ground 89: Burn Baby Burn 2.0
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron and Thomas revisit Pauper's Red deck and how it has evolved since the Kuldotha Rebirth banning. Whether you like sacrificing Mountains with Guttersnipe in play or casting Burning-Tree Emissary into Ral...
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Episode 89
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1:04:48
Common Ground 88: Fog Deep Dive with CGCup2 Winner Zach Geraets
Welcome back Pauper fam! The day after the 2nd Common Ground Cup, Cameron sat down with good friend and fellow South Dakotan Zach Geraets who not only won the whole tournament but is also a BG Fog afficionado in his own right. It's a great chat...
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Episode 88
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1:34:10
Common Ground 87: It shuffles in?? The 2nd Common Ground Cup Recap
Welcome back Pauper fam! The 2nd Common Ground Cup was a smashing success! We doubled our attendance from January and had an absolute blast bringing quality Pauper coverage to y'all. Listen in as Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo share stories from th...
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Episode 87
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59:48
Common Ground 86: Who's The Beatdown? Is it Spider-Man??
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron leads us into a Magic game-theory discussion centered around the classic article "Who's The Beatdown" by Mike Flores. For an article that's over 25 years old it's amazing how relevant these concepts ar...
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Episode 86
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1:17:46
Common Ground 85: Our Edge of Eternities Picks for Pauper
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Thomas and Hippo discuss a bevy of new cards from Edge of Eternity that might see some play in your favorite format. Plus, Hippo shares a quick recap from a win-a-box tournament he played last weekend. Thanks ...
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Episode 85
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45:28
Common Ground 84: Pauper Lessons from Cube Weekend & Holy Terror Top 8s Batman
Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo swap stories from their Cube Weekend vacation while discussing some takeaways from Cube that can be applied to Pauper or any game of Magic. Then the gang shifts focus to discuss the ...
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1:06:40
Common Ground 83: The Pauper 'Gates' Are Open Wide at Paupergeddon!
Welcome back Pauper fam! It's time for the summer edition of Paupergeddon once again and this time they're celebrating 10 years of high-level Pauper in Italy!! We discuss the decks that performed well and chat about where this could leave us ov...
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Episode 83
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1:09:15
Common Ground 82: POST-INDY CAR POD
Welcome back Pauper fam! We were so pumped from NRG Indy that we couldn't wait to get home before recording this week's episode! A couple of lav mics in a car travelling 70 mph isn't the most ideal recording studio but the vibes shine through a...
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Episode 82
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1:24:09