Now that I'm a week into engulfing myself in the Extended meta I have a few thoughts. Firstly, my initial reaction to the format after a bunch of testing is the opposite of what many people think. Extended is called a much more skill intensive format where you have to play more "Magic." However, after seeing every opponent start out with something like: Sensei's Divining Top into Counterbalance, or Lotus Bloom and crack land or random zoo animal followed by a Dark Confidant or Tarmogoyf - I see this format as a race. The games come down to who can resolve a soft lock, perfect mana setup or strong creature front first. While these strategies are aimed for in Standard as well, you don't lose the game to these perfect starts like you almost certainly do in Extended. For those that say Extended requires you play more Magic, they obviously haven't been locked out with a perfect Counterbalance/Top lockdown two straight games for a match. Not too much Magic being played in those games...
If you don't start your game with these openings, then you probably are playing Dredge, which can straight up demolish a handful of decks even if they get a miracle Tormod's Crypt on turn one. Not a lot of Magic being played in games where you lose after playing a land and watching your opponent rip through their entire library and win without playing a spell from their hand. A similar argument can be made for a deck like No Stick than can land a turn one Isochron Scepter imprinted with Orim's Chant off a Chrome Mox. I don't know about you, but I like to play spells when I sit down to play Magic.
Before you start flipping out, let me explain that I understand these scenarios don't pan out exactly every game, but they do occur more often than they should. I also understand that my job as an opponent is to not let my opponent resolve these locks or combos, but there is only so much players can do against some of these situations.
With everyone knowing what can happen immediately, players realize they must have answers to all of these threats and that results in basically every deck packing Duress/Cabal Therapy/Thoughtseize to stop combos and a plethora of other staple cards to beat Affinity and utility cards like Ancient Grudge or Krosan Grip to attempt to stop Counterbalance or Isochron Scepter. Then these players also realize they need a way to win which in turns fuels them cramming Tarmogoyf, Goblins, utility dorks and the other dozen creatures that are relevant in the format. So in the end, every deck you play or play against will contain the same exact cards with a tiny chunk of their deck being their "tech" with some particular meta choices. And all of this is possible because the available mana in Extended is absolutely ridiculous and can allow anyone to play any combination of cards they dream of.
All of that said, there isn't much I can do about it other than accept it and begin testing until I find the right deck for me that I am comfortable playing and has a decent shot in the current meta. To wrap up this quick rant, I must shut up and take the enviroment for what it is, as PTQs for Hollywood are Extended. Good times!
After accepting the fact that the Goblin Storm deck I wrote about last time just can't cut it in the format I have been working on two different decks. One that I naturally lean towards is a mostly blue control deck with Counter/Top (of course!), with 'Goyf and Living Wish to fetch Kataki, Yixlid Jailer and Meddling Mage. The main is crammed with artifacts, Trinket Mage and Thirst for Knowledge. The deck is fun to play and is challenging to play correctly, which is something I prefer. The problem is the deck almost can't beat any heavy aggro build unless I draw my Threads of Disloyalty and Engineered Explosives. I might write about the deck later if I end up sticking with it and that would have the list along with it.
So I have been running this RGB aggro deck instead as it has the raw speed to beat control, has disruption to stop combo, has a few pieces to stop dredge and has a bit more removal than most aggro decks to give me an edge there. Here is the list.
RGB Aggro
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Seal of Fire
4 Tarfire
4 Incinerate
4 Char
4 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Stomping Ground
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
Sideboard
4 Smother
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Shattering Spree
3 Krosan Grip
First of all, the main deck is all fours, so that is pretty cool. On a serious note, the main only has four spells that cost three mana to play which makes 20 lands plenty. The deck pretty much speaks for itself, but I will describe some of my suspicious choices.
Seal of Fire and Tarfire might seem a bit redundant, but two damage can kill anything (minus Tarmogoyf) that I am worried about hitting the board. They also allow 'Goyf to grow quickly along with some tricks. Seal of Fire is a great way to keep any Vensers at bay that want to ruin my plans.
The eight discard slots is a bit much, but against combo and control I want to draw as many of these as possible. Taking out an opponent's answers can often allow a single creature to go all the way (with some burn back up). I've even had a few discard heavy hands that shut down Affinity after two turns. Obviously against aggro these are a bit weaker and the four Therapy go out for Smother.
Sideboard is solid against what I consider the relevant decks and my surprise card is Shattering Spree. This card is sooooo good against Affinity and the blue Trinket Mage decks it isn't fair. Three mana allows me to pick apart Affinity and deal with Explosives, Spire Golems, artifact lands, Mindslaver and the list goes on.
I have gone 6-1 in matches after tweaking the build to its above status. I beat Mono U (2-0) very easily as it can't stop my early threats with the added discard.
I took down Boros (2-1) in a tight match that came down to me killing everything he could stick and going all the way with Goyfs while stripping anything left in his hand with Duress/Cabal Therapy.
Dealt with Zoo (2-1) in a similar fashion as with Boros.
I wrecked UW Tron (2-0) by double Kird Ape and Duress after two turns, followed by Cabal Therapy that I flashed back with a Mogg Fanatic in game one. Game two was a bit slower, but ended similarly.
I handled an Ideal deck (2-1) losing game two when he went off turn four when I drew zero discard spells.
I swept Affinity after he had to mulligan game one on the play, which I then punished with a ton of discard. Game two I made him discard down to nothing then wrecked his board with Shattering Spree. 'Goyf beats for the win.
I lost to a top-decking mofo playing a Balancing Gargadon deck. After going 1-1 I had him dead next turn with an empty hand and two Gargs suspended when he drew his third Balancing Act off the top. Sucks, but that is Magic.
More testing will tell me more about this deck, but I like how it has performed so far. There are still many decks I need to face and see how my build does. That's all I got for now. I hope everyone had a great Christmas even though I had to work. Let me know what you guys think of the deck or of any changes I should make.
As always, thanks for reading,
Nick Miller
