Pauper is a format in Magic: The Gathering that restricts your deck to being constructed of nothing but cards printed at common rarity. With cards being shifted in rarity from time to time in Magic, if it was ever at one point published at common, it is legal in Pauper. Of course, this excludes any cards with a silver border, or that have already been banned in the format.
The printing of each set and their abundance of common cards brings a new set of Pauper viable pieces. Strixhaven: School Of Mages brought a handful of strong cards to the format, with a couple some might even consider meta-shifters.
9 Hunt For Specimens And Pest Summoning
These cards are being included as a duo, because alone they just aren't strong enough to be considered viable. Truthfully, together they are the weakest of the Strixhaven Pauper additions.
The Lesson and Learn mechanic introduced with the set is very weak at common rarity for Pauper. There's just not enough value in the Lesson cards to be considered replacements for most cards on the sideboard. The Hunt For Specimens and Pest Summoning combo is great for those playing Golgari, however, who need some cannon fodder or are looking for life gain.
8 Blood Researcher
Speaking of life gain in Golgari, Blood Researcher is a card that could combo quite well with the previous entry. Functioning just like Ajani's Pridemate, Blood Researcher also sports menace.
There are things holding this card back, however. Its cost isn't the best for what it is, and life gain is just not as consistent as it should be to make a big impact in a Golgari deck. This is a card an entire deck would need to be built around, as opposed to being a great addition to an already existing one — which really cuts back its potential.
7 Dragon's Approach
Dragon's Approach is another card that may not be the best, but could certainly lead to some fun deck building.
It's a three mana for three damage burn card that has no limit in the amount you can include in your deck, and can be played into bringing a dragon card out for free. Fun? Yes. Practical? Probably not. You could summon Lightning Shrieker after five casts of Dragon's Approach and potentially win the game, but it's not something you could rely on.
6 Needlethorn Drake
An improvement on Winged Coatl but a worse Tidehollow Strix, Needlethorn Drake is a 1/1 creature with flying and deathtouch. While it won't survive any burn spells, having evasion on the board is always a huge benefit, especially at a low cost.
The biggest thing Needlethorn Drake has going for it is the fact that it is in Simic colors. If you're a big Simic player, then Needlethorn Drake is a great low-cost card and one of the few deathtouch inclusions other than Winged Coatl.
5 Serpentine Curve
This is a card that could have a lot of potential as a finishing piece in some Izzet decks. You create a 0/0 blue/green creature with +1/+1 counters equal to the number of instant and sorcery spells in your graveyard and in exile.
In the late game for an Izzet deck, this could absolutely come in as a monster on the board. With the numerous ways to gain haste with red, you could swing for the fences and end the game. You could even throw trample on it with Charge Through for safe measure. Of course, the biggest con of this is that it is only one creature, and thus can be an easy target at instant speed to be removed.
4 Teach By Example
This is a card that can make a big impact for one reason, it is the first Pauper legal copy spell. Thanks to its hybrid mana cost, it can slot into any deck playing blue or red mana as well.
Paired with a card like Fireblast, it is now possible to deal a whopping eight damage on turn two! That is just one possibility for Teach By Example. As the card sees more play, and as players find more ways to abuse the copy mechanic, it is certain to become even stronger.
3 Campus Lands
When it comes to the duel lands in Pauper, every single one comes into play tapped. That makes dual lands a lot slower to play in a format like Pauper than they would be in something like Standard or Pioneer. This also means that a lot of the dual lands you put in your deck come down to preference.
With the Campus Lands in Strixhaven: School Of Mages, you get the added ability to Scry 1 for four mana. While this can be quite steep, it could come in handy for those who are looking for a specific card they need to combo. Are they a welcome addition to Pauper? Absolutely. Are they a must-include? That's really down to how much you value Scry.
2 First Day Of Class
This is where the Strixhaven: School Of Mages Pauper cards really start to shine. First Day Of Class gives all creatures that enter the battlefield under your control a +1/+1 counter and haste until the end of your turn. Seems simple, but it is much more.
This is a card that can lead to some infinite and game-ending combos. For instance, play First Day Of Class with Skirk Prospector out, cast Putrid Goblin, and sacrifice it with Skirk Prospector and you have an infinite mana combo. This is just one of many, many ways First Day Of Class is going to be able to completely take a game over.
1 Bayou Groff
Bayou Groff is hands down the best card for Pauper from Strixhaven: School Of Mages. A two-mana drop, with the additional cost of sacrificing a creature, coming in at a staggering 5/4. This card is a strong play on turn two. The good news is, is that there are already plenty of cards that can be paired quite nicely with it.
Turn one you play Young Wolf. Turn two you sacrifice Young Wolf, which comes back thanks to Undying, and bring out Bayou Groff. It is strong and has incredible value moving forward in Pauper.