With the block season winding down, it's time to look ahead to the next relevant format. For me, that format is Extended. I'll be shuffling up in Berlin, no matter how many professors I have to bribe to get my Exams rescheduled. Of course, there is a major rotation that will happen first. In case you haven't heard, Invasion and Odyssey blocks plus Seventh Edition will rotate out of Extended, leaving:
Onslaught block
Mirrodin block
Kamigawa block
Ravnica block
Time Spiral block (and Coldsnap)
Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block
Shards of Alara
8th Edition
9th Edition
10th Edition
I'll focus on the major losses, and the major cards and decks that are left more or less intact bt the rotation. I'll try to hit the high points, but this list is by no means exhaustive. In no particular order:
Out:
1. Invasion Saclands. You know, Geothermal Crevice et al. This is pretty bad for a lot of combo decks. Enduring Ideal and TEPS used these lands to generate a lot of mana quickly without resolving spells. This is just one reason why the format will slow down.
2. Cabal Therapy and Duress. The best discard spell in the format and arguably the second best are gone, leaving just Thoughtseize to hold down the fort on one-mana pinpoint discard spells. This makes it more difficult to justify playing the Rock or other disruptive black decks. I know that every time I considered playing a combo deck in old Extended, I was always so afraid of getting my hand ripped to shreds by a couple of Therapies. The combo decks may get slower, but the tools for stopping them get worse too.
3. Pernicious Deed. This one hurts. Dare I say, "the Rock is dead?" I really shouldn't, since people just love the deck so much, and more importantly since Death Cloud and Planeswalkers are still legal. "The Bomb" leaves some big shoes to fill though.
4. Goblin Ringleader and Goblin Matron. On the bright side, Goblin decks still have access to Goblin Warchief and Goblin Piledriver, so how bad can it be? I expect that people will still play Goblins, but it just won't have near the power it did before. Multiple Sparksmiths and/or Clickslithers may be necessary to be more aggressive and try to fill the giant void of card advantage these Goblins will leave behind. On the other hand...
5. Engineered Plague and Sphere of Law. My gut tells me it's too little too late; the sun has probably set on Goblins' hey day. But if there is any reason to be more enticed to play the little green men, it's that the two best hosers for the deck are gone.
6. Wild Mongrel, Arrogant Wurm, Circular Logic. Yup, UG Madness is gone. While it hasn't been a force in Extended in a couple of years, this is one old Type 2 deck players can't turn to.
7. Fact or Fiction and Counterspell. I wouldn't lump these cards together since they haven't seen play in the same deck for a couple of years, but I just love them so much and it pains me to see them both rotate. Tron decks will now have to rely on Gifts Ungiven to supplement Thirst for Knowledge in their card-drawing suite, and CounterTop decks will have to rely on...Mana Leak? Remand? Cryptic Command? There really isn't a perfect replacement for good ol' Counterspell, but blue mages will make do. We always have and always will.
8. Breakthrough, Cephalid Coliseum, Careful Study, and Putrid Imp. All the dredge cards are still around, but the enablers are gone. Look to such hits as Oona's Prowler, Ideas Unbound, Goblin Lore, and Drowned Rusalka to pick up the slack.
9. Judgement Wishes. Now combo decks will have less redundancy and Rock decks will have less versatility. This poses some interesting design questions.
Back for more:
1. Onslaught fetches and Ravnica duals. Your investment is still safe. Expect manabases to continue resembling discoballs for another year.
2. Affinity. The whole friggin' deck. Well, except for the best three cards in the deck (Vial, Disciple, Skullclamp). On the upside...
3. Kataki, War's Wage, Ancient Grudge, Hurkyl's Recall, Shatterstorm. Ready to keep the Affinity menace in check.
4. Counterbalance and Sensei's Divining Top. The most "unfun" combo in the format is back for another run. Like I said, there's no Counterspell to supplement it anymore, but your 1's, 2's and 3's still aren't resolving anytime soon.
5. The Urzatron: still more delicious with blue. Sorry Tooth and Nail fans.
6. Tarmogoyf. Like, durrrr. (Seriously, what do you want me to say?)
7. Life From the Loam and Cycling lands. Although Terravore and Devastating Dreams will be gone, Loam is still a solid card advantage engine. A little innovation may be required, but in a format with less graveyard hate, Loam has a real opportunity to shine.
So what do I expect the metagame to look like in the new Extended? Probably some CounterTop decks, some UW Tron, some Zoo or aggressive Red of some sort, maybe Doran or aggro rock if they can find the right disruption, and definitely a couple of crazy combo decks. Heartbeat Desire is still mostly legal except for Fact or Fiction, and I already talked about the possibility of Dredge adapting with new enablers. On top of that, I can promise you that someone will make a good new Storm deck. It may kill with Brain Freeze, Tendrils of Agony, or Pyromancer's Swath plus Grapeshot, but it will be there. Here's to hoping I'm the one to find it first.
Thanks for reading,
Ben
Tags: Magic Extended
