ALT On The Zeta Set in Pauper Announcements Sep 4, 2026 Gavin Verhey Hello, Pauper players! Gavin Verhey here on behalf of the entire Pauper Format Panel. Recently, we revealed the cards from The Zeta Set, a new release from Secret Lair. While these cards are all reprints and generally don't add anything to competitive formats, there is an interesting wrinkle in that twelve of them were printed at common for the first time. There's been a lot of discussion about this, with players wondering what the story is here, and people being hopeful they can play with these cards. Today, we are making these cards legal in Pauper (with a few notes). You may have heard differently in the past, and this is a change from what was said previously. Today, I want to tell you about what's going on, how we reached this conclusion, and what to expect going forward. Let's get into it!

ALT Building The Zeta Set Outside of new-to-Magic cards, printings of Secret Lair cards haven't impacted format legality. There has never been a reason for that to matter before, and we haven't discussed the impact of Secret Lair releases on Pauper or for the individuals managing formats to review Secret Lair cards. The release of The Zeta Set changed that. For reference, here are the twelve cards that are being printed at common for the first time in this release. Dispatch Return to Dust Serra Angel Narcomoeba An Offer You Can't Refuse Cut Down Sengir Vampire Price of Progress Vandalblast Gigantosaurus Baleful Strix Soul-Guide Lantern When these were revealed, Wizards, the Pauper Format Panel, and I talked through their ramifications and how we wanted to handle these. A few different pieces led us to the conclusion to not make them legal in Pauper.

ALT For one, these cards would have a large impact on Pauper and, for many of them likely, not in desirable ways. A card like Narcomoeba would need to be immediately banned, and it is unlikely that many of the others would make the format more fun. Second, there was no playable game experience intent put behind the downshifts of these cards. Every single other Pauper-legal card in Magic history was put at common by someone designing the gameplay of a set or product. Whether it has been a card in a main set, a downshift in a reprint set, or Utrom Monitor in a Co-Op product, each card was looked at by a designer that decided that common felt right for the card. Even the common Go for the Throat in the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks was put there by a game designer. The cards from The Zeta Set, by contrast, have rarities that have nothing to do with game design. The intent of these common cards was not to be cards we would normally print at common, and the intent was not to change any thei

ALT the intent was not to change any their legality in any format. Third, having cards enter the format through future Secret Lair releases, creating an influx of new Pauper cards at somewhat random times, seemed like something frustrating to monitor when preparing for tournament play. Others and I felt like the Pauper community would not want this. I had guessed that the potential for cards to be printed into Pauper through a Secret Lair release felt against the spirit of the format. So, taking all this into account, we collectively—the Pauper Format Panel and Wizards—decided to not make these cards legal in Pauper.