Pauper and Peasant formats are two formats sometimes confused by players because they are two budget and competitive formats whose rules involve the rarity of Magic cards, however they differ on several important points :
The Peasant format allows 5 uncos per deck while the pauper format only allows commons.
The Ban Lists of the two formats are different even when restricted to commons.
The Pauper is an official format while the Peasant is an unofficial format.
Common cards from Arena edition are not legal in Pauper but are legal in Peasant. (see below).
2001 : Creation of the Peasant format.2001 : Création du format Peasant.
2002 : Création du format Pauper (origines communautaires).
2004 : La communauté du Pauper Deck Challenge (PDC) développe les premiers tournois Pauper organisés sur Magic Online.
2005 : Premier tournoi Peasant en France (qui reste encore aujourd'hui la principale communauté du format).
2008 : Le Pauper devient un format officiel sur Magic Online, avec Cranial Plating comme première carte bannie.
2011 : Création du site mtg.peasant.com.
2011 : Frantic Search devient la deuxième carte ajoutée à la liste des cartes bannies du Pauper.
2013 : Wizards bannit Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Invigorate, Cloudpost et Temporal Fissure, remodelant profondément le métagame du Pauper.
2014 : Le Gatherer devient la référence officielle de rareté pour le Peasant, et les cartes issues uniquement d'éditions numériques sont acceptées.
2014 : Première Coupe de France Peasant réunissant 56 joueurs.
2015 : La communauté Peasant s'unifie autour d'une liste de cartes bannies commune.
2015 : Premier Paupergeddon en Italie réunissant 38 joueurs.
2017 : Le cinquième Paupergeddon devient le premier événement Pauper papier à dépasser les 100 joueurs.
2019 : Wizards of the Coast officialise l'unification des règles du Pauper MTGO et du Pauper papier.
2020 : Création du site peasant-magic.com.
2022 : Wizards crée le Pauper Format Panel, donnant à la communauté une voix directe dans la gestion du format.
2025 : Paupergeddon devient le premier tournoi Pauper papier à franchir la barre des 1 000 joueurs.
Why does Peasant allow exactly 5 uncommons?
The purpose of introducing uncommons into the format was to add more complexity and diversity to the metagame. In particular, it allows players to build decks around key cards that are often uncommon because of their power level, while still maintaining the constraints of a low-rarity format. The limit of 5 uncommons was chosen to create an additional deckbuilding challenge. It encourages players to carefully consider which powerful cards deserve a place in their deck, while preventing them from simply filling their deck with the strongest available options. This unique restriction is one of the defining characteristics of the Peasant format. It creates a deckbuilding challenge that does not exist in official Magic formats and gives the format its own identity.
Why is the peasant so popular in France?
The Peasant format established a strong presence in France from 2005, several years before Pauper became an official format or gained international recognition. Since 2006, Peasant has benefited from the support of Magicville, one of the most popular French Magic websites at the time, which created a dedicated forum for the format. This early community hub helped players exchange ideas, organize tournaments, and develop a lasting competitive scene.
Over the years, Peasant has maintained a strong following in France, with a particularly active tournament scene centered around its main event: the French Cup. France remains the historical heart of the Peasant format. However, since around 2020, Pauper has surpassed Peasant in overall popularity, largely due to Wizards of the Coast's official support, the unification of paper and MTGO rules in 2019, and the rapid growth of large-scale paper Pauper events.
Why does the Ban List Peasant restricted to commons not correspond to the Ban List Pauper?
Why doesn't the Peasant ban list for commons follow the Pauper ban list? This option was considered in the past and was the subject of extensive debate within the Peasant community, including several announcements from the committee.It was ultimately rejected in 2018 for two main reasons. First, the Peasant format should have its own independent ban list rather than being directly tied to the decisions made for another format. Second, keeping a separate ban list allows Peasant to develop its own identity and evolve in a different direction.Although Pauper and Peasant share similar deckbuilding rules, their metagames can be significantly different depending on the period. A card that requires a ban in one format may not necessarily be problematic in the other, due to differences in available cards, archetypes, and the impact of the five uncommon slots in Peasant.For this reason, the Peasant committee considers the format's own metagame rather than simply following Pauper's decisions.
All that Glitters
Atog
Basking Broodscale
Cloud of Faeries
Cloudpost
Daze
Deadly Dispute
Galvanic Relay
Gush
High Tide
Hymn to Tourach
Kuldotha Rebirth
Monastery Swiftspear
Seeker of Skybreak
Sinkhole
Stirring Bard
Underdark Explorer
Hollowhenge Scavenger
Spiritual Guardian
Iron Golem
Demogorgon's Clutches
You Find Some Prisoners
Weirding Wood
Obsessive Skinner
Moonlight Hunt
Gnarlwood Dryad
Briarbridge Patrol
Ravenous Bloodseeker
Insatiable Gorgers
Incendiary Flow
Deranged Whelp
Morkrut Necropod
Geist of the Archives
Ghostblade Eidolon
Hero of Iroas
Swift Reckoning
Void Shatter
Windrider Patrol
Undead Butler
Bile Blight
Bloodfire Enforcers
Boundary Lands Ranger
Wild Slash
Stoneshock Giant
Audacity
Courier's Briefcase
District Guide
Nemesis of Mortals
Unravel the Aether
Dreadbore
Possessed Skaab
Selesnya Charm
Skyrider Elf
Zendikar Incarnate
Akoum Warrior
Khalni Ambush
Sejiri Shelter
Silundi Vision
Pelakka Predation
Dark Ritual
Glimmerpost
Krark-Clan Shaman
Merchant Scroll
Simian Spirit Guide
Experimental Synthesizer