Best Common Ground MTG Podcasts (2025)

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Common Ground 91: We Finally Answered Some More Pauper Questions 1:17:38

Play Pause

1d ago1:17:38

1:17:38

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 always for listening! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpz Check out our YouTube channel: http…

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Common Ground 90: Playing Your First Local Event 57:24

8d ago57:24

57:24

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 for newer players and to remind seasoned local communities how best to welcome new folks into the fold. Hip…

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Common Ground 89: Burn Baby Burn 2.0 1:04:48

15d ago1:04:48

1:04:48

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 Rally at the Hornburg, there is a powerful red deck for everyone in this format! We'll also be recording anot…

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Common Ground 88: Fog Deep Dive with CGCup2 Winner Zach Geraets 1:34:10

22d ago1:34:10

1:34:10

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 about Zach's tournament experience and his insights on the deck. If you've been thinking about picking up…

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Common Ground 87: It shuffles in?? The 2nd Common Ground Cup Recap 59:48

29d ago59:48

59:48

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 the weekend and outline the decks and players that crushed the whole thing. Tune in next week for an intervi…

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Common Ground 86: Who's The Beatdown? Is it Spider-Man?? 1:17:46

1M ago1:17:46

1:17:46

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 are in modern Magic and especially in Pauper. Then he conversation gets derailed by the inevitable opinions …

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Common Ground 85: Our Edge of Eternities Picks for Pauper 45:28

1M ago45:28

45:28

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 for listening fam! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpz Check out our YouTube channel: https://…

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Common Ground 84: Pauper Lessons from Cube Weekend & Holy Terror Top 8s Batman 1:06:40

2M ago1:06:40

1:06:40

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 results of this past weekend's Pauper Showcase Challenge AND Super Qualifier tournaments! Lots of Pauper b…

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Common Ground 83: The Pauper 'Gates' Are Open Wide at Paupergeddon! 1:09:15

2M ago1:09:15

1:09:15

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 over the next couple months of the format. Decklists from a myriad of events are live in the description bel…

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Common Ground 82: POST-INDY CAR POD 1:24:09

2M ago1:24:09

1:24:09

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 and we wanted to capture the magic that was this past Sunday. Thank you to everyone who came out and to NRG…

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Common Ground 81: Hippo Takes A Stand 1:37:36

2M ago1:37:36

1:37:36

Welcome back Pauper fam! This is it. The narrative climax you've all been waiting for. Hippo shares his complete and utter disdain for High Tide and what its implications are for the play experience of our format. Cameron also shares some more experience with Naya Gates from our recent Team Trios event and Thomas wants to remind you all that the Co…

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Common Ground 80: Another Great Grassroots Pauper Event with Pauper-oncini Organizer Alex Nicewander 1:38:27

3M ago1:38:27

1:38:27

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo sit down with Alex Nicewander to chat about Pauper-oncini, a mid-west Pauper tournament that he helped organize and lead to great success! It's awesome to see so many grassroots events popping off in the states! The gang also recaps their recent monthly event at the Game Cave. Thank you …

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Common Ground 79: A Terror-fying Showcase Challenge 1:13:05

3M ago1:13:05

1:13:05

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week, Thomas and Hippo dive into last weekend's MTGO Showcase Challenge results which include an impressive 11-1 win from DiscoverN on Mono-U Terror! The metagame feels pretty open and balanced these days so it's very interesting to see what the best players are packing for such a high stakes event. We hope y'all enjoy…

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Common Ground 78: Our Final Fantasy Picks for Pauper 1:28:12

3M ago1:28:12

1:28:12

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week, Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo peruse the Final Fantasy spoiler and pick out their favorite commons for Pauper. There are a number of interesting cards to chat about and new decks to explore, whether you're a Final Fantasy fan or not! Thank you as always for listening. Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpz …

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Common Ground 77: Unscripted Talk Mostly About Magic the Gathering 58:18

3M ago58:18

58:18

Welcome back Pauper fam! A totally normal episode with the totally normal hosts nothing peculiar happening here! This week the crew focuses on the Magic Online challenges, but it wouldn't be a CGMTG episode without card frame bickering and cube talk. Enjoy! Pauper To The People - Lega Pauper Lipsia - Top 8 Coverage from Leipzig, Germany (Germany's …

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Common Ground 76: Re-Ranking the 5 Colors in Pauper & Universes Beyond Opinions 1:23:39

4M ago1:23:39

1:23:39

Welcome back Pauper fam! After an off-the-cuff opinion piece about Universes Beyond and the state of MtG, the bois discuss the 5 colors in Pauper and how they stack up against each other now that we've settled into this new version of the format. Thought to be fair, new decks are popping up almost every day! Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo also dive int…

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Common Ground 75: Spy Combo 101 with Hunter Bisch 1:28:17

4M ago1:28:17

1:28:17

Welcome back Pauper fam! After a quick Game Cave monthly recap from Cameron and Hippo, we sit down with our local combo expert Hunter Bisch to chat about the Spy Combo decks, their history, play patterns, and how to beat them. With the emergence of the new 5 and 6 land versions of the deck, it felt like a great time to learn what these crazy lists …

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Common Ground 74: West Coast Pauper Open Winner Interview with Kyle Herman aka PickledHeart! Also Sprout Swarm??? 1:37:41

4M ago1:37:41

1:37:41

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Thomas sat down with Kyle Herman (AKA PickledHeart on Discord) to chat about his recent victory with Walls at the West Coast Pauper Open hosted by Laughing Dragon in Santa Clara, CA! Then Cameron and Thomas chat about some super sweet decks popping up in recent challenge results. Thanks as always for listening! Ky…

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Common Ground 73: What Are The New Top Decks in Pauper? 1:02:41

4M ago1:02:41

1:02:41

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo share their picks for the top 3 decks in the current format, discussing which strategies are seeing success and what you need to be prepared for in your next Pauper tournament. As always, thank you so much for listening! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkpz Check out our YouTu…

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Common Ground 72: A Growing US Pauper Scene & A Very Diverse Metagame 58:00

5M ago58:00

58:00

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo chat some podcast housekeeping (thank you all for listening!!), give a rundown of some upcoming US Pauper tournaments, and close out with reviews of the London Pauper League's event results and a wonderfully diverse set of MTGO Challenge Top 8s. Get out there and play some Pauper! Join o…

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Common Ground 71: The One Where Cameron Roasts Flicker Tron 1:31:27

5M ago1:31:27

1:31:27

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we have recaps galore for you all! Hippo shares his Denver adventures, Thomas complains about poor sportsmanship, and Cameron breaks down his first time playing Flicker Tron at our local monthly tournament this past weekend. As always, thank you so much for listening! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/kdvSavFkp…

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Common Ground 70: Week One Results of Post-Ban Pauper plus Tarkir Cards! 1:29:05

5M ago1:29:05

1:29:05

Welcome back Pauper fam! As promised, it's time to dig into what our new Pauper format looks like post-bans & unbans. Using this past weekend's MTGO challenge results we can start to paint a picture of what decks are thriving in this new meta, how folks are building their High Tide and Prophetic Prism decks, and how to adapt when things change so d…

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Common Ground 69: 20 Minutes of Ban Talk & MtG Tall-Tales featuring Matthew Sentilles 2:18:43

5M ago2:18:43

2:18:43

Welcome back Pauper fam! Some nice news this past Monday from the Pauper Format Panel making some big swings at the Pauper ban list, so naturally we recorded an episode of Magic stories with CG alum Matthew Sentilles aka Silly Sentilly! We spend the first part of this week's show discussing the big shake-ups in the format before swapping battle sto…

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Common Ground 68: Paupergeddon & The State of Our Format 1:04:19

6M ago1:04:19

1:04:19

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we take a look at this past weekend's results from Paupergeddon Lecco featuring a sweet Pactdoll Terror-inspired Gardens list that took down the tournament. We also have a lengthy discussion on ban discourse and how to navigate Pauper as it stands today with the much anticipated March 31 B&R announcement on the ho…

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Common Ground 67: Another Unhinged Team Trios Recap with Derrick Smith 1:26:48

6M ago1:26:48

1:26:48

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we are once again joined by the godfather of Nashville's Pauper scene, Derrick Smith! Derrick played the Pauper seat on Thomas' team for our recent Team Trios event so we invited him back to talk about his tournament experience, Cameron's continued enjoyment of Fog, and Thomas' interest in the new Mono-Black Sacri…

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Common Ground 66: Slippery, Foggy, and Competitively Groggy 1:42:30

6M ago1:42:30

1:42:30

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week, Cameron and Hippo recap their rounds at the Game Cave monthly playing Bogles and BG Fog featuring plenty of fun stories along the way. Thomas returns from SCGCon Charlotte and the Modern RC that was host to a number of community dramas which gives way to a longer discussion on competitive magic and how we want to…

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Common Ground 65: Upstate NY Pauper Open Recap with Kalikaiz! 1:11:49

6M ago1:11:49

1:11:49

Welcome back Pauper fam! Our comrades in New York had their much anticipated Inaugural Upstate NY Pauper Open this past weekend and podcast alum Jake AKA Kalikaiz was present to bring us the scoop. The event sounded like an absolute blast and we hope everyone involved had a great time! We discuss the tournament and venue vibes, Pactdoll Terror Alta…

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Common Ground 64: Building Pauper Community with LPL Manager Morgan Fussell 1:32:33

6M ago1:32:33

1:32:33

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we're joined by the manager of the London Pauper League (LPL), Morgan Fussell, for a conversation about building communities for Pauper and a peak behind the curtain of what it's like to work with Lega Pauper Italia, the organization behind Paupergeddon! Whether your LGS is in a small town or a big city, we hope t…

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Common Ground 63: Updating Our Top 5 Cards in Pauper 1:30:10

7M ago1:30:10

1:30:10

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we decided to update our lists from Episode 10 when we ranked our top cards in Pauper. We each share our new Top 5 lists and chat about how MH3 has really shaken up our rankings! Plus a quick dive into last weekend's MTGO challenges and some upcoming tournament announcements! Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/k…

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Common Ground 62: BW Blade in 2025 with Austin Walker 1:31:08

7M ago1:31:08

1:31:08

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week we sit down with our friend, teammate, and local judge Austin Walker to chat about his take on the BW Blade archetype and the preparation that led to his undefeated record in the Swiss rounds of the Common Ground Cup. Will Grim Bauble make the cut? How does BW compare to Mardu? These questions and much more are di…

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Common Ground 61: Start Your Engines Pauper Fam! AEtherdrift Set Review 1:15:46

7M ago1:15:46

1:15:46

Welcome back pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo take a look at some new commons from the latest MtG release: AEtherdrift. Although one card may stand above the rest in terms of playability, there are still plenty of cards to talk about. The gang also, at long last, recaps the weekend's MTGO challenges and also have a quick chat about …

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Common Ground 60: Catching Up with Champion Michael Pfohl 1:45:09

7M ago1:45:09

1:45:09

Welcome back Pauper fam! Our friend Michael Pfohl joins us this week to chat about his victory at our recent Common Ground Cup! Having only picked up the deck a few days before the tournament, Michael shares his insights on Jund Broodscale and how he navigated his way through tough competition to claim the coveted trophy. We also catch up on some e…

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Common Ground 59: The First Common Ground Cup Recap! 1:08:29

8M ago1:08:29

1:08:29

Welcome back Pauper fam! With the first Common Ground Cup finished the bois are back to recap everything about it. They recap the tournament itself with a meta and top 8 break down. The crew talk about their experiences commentating with it being Thomas's and Camerons first time doing such. It was a blast thank y'all for the support! Top 8 decklist…

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Common Ground 58: The Grab Bag Calm Before the Tournament Storm 56:06

8M ago56:06

56:06

Welcome back Pauper fam! With the first Common Ground Cup on the horizon, the gang discuss a grab bag of topics this week: Thomas catches us up on his Atlanta stories, we evaluate a couple of downshifts from Innistrad Remastered, and briefly share what we would play if we were not on commentary this weekend. Plus, now that the MTGO lag is fixed, th…

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Common Ground 57: Is Pauper Actually Stale? feat. Atlanta Recap 55:48

8M ago55:48

55:48

Cameron and Hippo cover for an ailing Thomas and cover their trip to SCGCON Atlanta, the latest challenge decklists, and the current discourse of whether Pauper is feeling stale and needs a shake-up. Common Ground Cup 1/18 @ Game Knight, Columbia TN: https://topdeck.gg/event/lryw2na0BOoPWDmA9yAX Upstate NY Pauper Open: https://www.spicerack.gg/even…

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Common Ground 56: White Elephant Brews 1:16:32

8M ago1:16:32

1:16:32

Welcome back fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo did some special brewing for their local pauper event. The trio was assigned a different person to brew for and that person didn't see the deck until they drew their opening hand round 1. The crew had a blast brewing and playing something off the beaten path. Enjoy! 1/18/25 Common Ground Cup @ …

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Common Ground 55: 2024 Recap with Kalikaiz 1:53:03

9M ago1:53:03

1:53:03

It's been a whole trip around the sun and this week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo tag in Kalikaiz to help them recap 2024 in Pauper! It was quite a year for our beloved format, featuring influential tournaments, additions to the banlist, and a huge wave of new cards from Modern Horizons 3. Follow along as we walk back through the year and chat about o…

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Common Ground 54: We're Back On Simic Terror, Mail Bag 1:18:05

9M ago1:18:05

1:18:05

Welcome back fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo go over a few questions the listeners have. The crew delves into topics from Simic Terror all the way to side boarding with certain decks. The crew also returns to reviewing the challenges after a couple week hiatus. Shockingly, after Broadscale's dominance over Paupergeddon we see MTGO players…

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Common Ground 53: The New Faerie King: Interview with Skura 1:19:31

9M ago1:19:31

1:19:31

Welcome back fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo are joined by special guest Skura, also known as Islandsinfront. For those unfamiliar, Skura is a European caster and content creator who just crushed Pauper over the past couple weeks with Mono Blue Faeries. Skura went to Paupergeddon Roma winning the team trios and placing 4th among the fierc…

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Common Ground 52: Jund Takes Over Paupergeddon Roma 1:10:16

9M ago1:10:16

1:10:16

Welcome back fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo take a look at Paupergeddon Roma. Italy showing us their love of Pauper with 690 people battling it out. Jund glee combo was a big standout of the event with 13 out of the top 32. The color black seemed to overrepresent the meta as well. Deadly dispute feels like the thing to be doing now. Join…

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Common Ground 51: Pauper Trios The Sequel 1:53:42

10M ago1:53:42

1:53:42

This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo are joined by special guest and friend of the podcast Derrick. The four participated in a team trios event hosted by Game Knight in Columbia TN this last Saturday November 16th. Derrick played the pauper seat for Thomas's team because Thomas hates the format ;). The crew shares their tournament reports and exper…

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Common Ground 50: Foundations Edition 1:10:30

10M ago1:10:30

1:10:30

The big 5-0! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo discuss a handful of new Pauper cards and downshifts from Foundations, as well as a quick listener question on what a Jund sacrifice deck might look like in Pauper. Come play Team Trios (Pauper/Standard/Legacy) @ Game Knight, Columbia TN 11/16: https://topdeck.gg/event/0zTk7VVEpHtNbbfAfStp Team Trio…

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Common Ground 49: Midrange Madness 1:36:23

10M ago1:36:23

1:36:23

Welcome back fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo tackle two questions this week! Firstly the crew quickly goes over a listener question about Pauper cube and how to curate archetypes based on color. After a quick cube discussion the crew shifts back to pauper to talk about midrange. A listener asked what does midrange look like in Pauper. The…

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Common Ground 48: Is This How to Beat Combo? 1:28:06

10M ago1:28:06

1:28:06

Welcome back everybody to another Episode of the Common Ground Pod. The crew is back with Pauper again!!!! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo dive into a listener question "Why doesn't dark ritual see a lot of play in Pauper?" This leads them into a discussion about combo decks in Pauper. The crew yaps about what combo decks see the most play and…

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Common Ground 47: CubeCon Recap! 2:43:01

11M ago2:43:01

2:43:01

Buckle up fam! When Cameron said he wanted to high-jack the pod to talk about CubeCon he wasn't kidding! Your favorite Pauper bois are joined by local limited legends Matthew Sentilles and Dan Kiridly to help Cameron recap their CubeCon experience. After a quick MTGO Challenge review, settle in for an in-depth chat about another incredible communit…

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Common Ground 46: To Fog or Not to Fog? That was Hippo's Question 1:11:33

11M ago1:11:33

1:11:33

This week Cameron and James update Thomas on the results from our local monthly, as well as a deeper dive into the card Divest, and the best decks from an almost 200 player MTGO Qualifier! Team Trios (Pauper/Standard/Legacy) @ Game Knight, Columbia TN 11/16: https://topdeck.gg/event/0zTk7VVEpHtNbbfAfStp Any questions or feedback for us? Email them …

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Common Ground 45: Tempo Is Power 1:11:29

11M ago1:11:29

1:11:29

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo tackle tempo! They go over what tempo is and how it applies to the pauper format! Any questions for us? Email them to [email protected] Follow Cameron, Thomas, and James on twitter https://twitter.com/CamPlaysMagic https://twitter.com/ThomasDoesALot https://twitter.com/Hippo_1…

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Common Ground 44: Shaking Out The Mail Bag 53:13

11M ago53:13

53:13

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week no Thomas at all so apologizes in advance if the editing isn't up to par, fear not he'll return next week! The show must go on with Cameron and Hippo reaching into the mail bag for various topics. Cameron and Hippo go over a couple brews sent in by listeners, a bit more ban discussion, and of course recap the Paup…

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Common Ground 43: Duskmourn Pauper Set Review 1:09:12

12M ago1:09:12

1:09:12

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo take a gander at Magic's newest standard set Duskmourn and talk about some potential Pauper playables. The crew also takes some time to look over the weekend's Magic Online Pauper challenges. Enjoy stay spooky! Any questions for us? Email them to [email protected] Follow Camer…

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Common Ground 42: Thomas Is Back and Victorious 1:43:32

12M ago1:43:32

1:43:32

Welcome back Pauper fam! This week Cameron, Thomas, and Hippo have a lot of tournament recap to do. Thomas is back in Nashville and all three got to play in their locals together for the first time in a while. After Pauper locals Thomas and Hippo hop in a car and journey over to NRG Louisville for a Pauper 1k. Lots of good matches this episode enjo…