We've been playing the format weekly for a few months now, and wanted to fill the space with players for an event with stakes. I had joked with a friend about Modern Masters and just having a pauper equivalent filled with Guttersnipes and Writhing Chrysalis, but for this event we chose pauper staples to inhabit the packs.
Plan was to find fun alternate printings of cards like Thoughtcast, Artifact lands, etc. and scale prizing based on placement. You could still walk away with 100$ with of prizing, but it was all legal for the next big tournament. Packs were made from a typical bread bag and hand sewn with embroidery thread. Illustrations were done by one of the staff members at Gathering Grounds (in Portland, ME) and represent some (refurbished?) familiar faces in the meta.
I've always loved seeing the prizes in formats like Premodern, and I think the grassroots nature of pauper is worth celebrating.