I thought I didn’t like Extended.
I arrived at Los Angeles on Wednesday evening. On arrival, I had every intention of playing Elves, as I wasn’t able to playtest while in Switzerland. When I met up with Patrick Chapin, he told me I should try his deck for a day, as I wouldn’t be able to play Elves without a lot more testing. This is the list he was playing at that time:
4 Spell Snare
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Mana Leak
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Gifts Ungiven
3 Engineered Explosives
3 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Trinket Mage
1 Triskelion
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Firespout
1 Life from the Loam
1 Vedalken Shackles
3 Chrome Mox
4 Mutavault
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Academy Ruins
2 Snow-Covered Island
3 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
2 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Tolaria West
Sideboard
3 Firespout
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Gifts Ungiven
2 Land of some sort
8 Undecided
The first few games I played, I lost. So I decided to play some games with Elves, but I lost again. I eventually played a little more with Chapin’s deck, and ended up liking it more than Elves, as playing a Control deck in a hostile metagame seemed a solid plan.
The very first change I made to my decklist was cutting a Gifts Ungiven for an Azami, Lady of Scrolls, as I am not a huge fan of the card Gifts Ungiven. Trinket Mage was pretty lame in the games we played, so we decided to cut it. Threads of Disloyalty was very bad in all the non-Tarmogoyf matchups, and I believed Tarmogoyf wouldn’t be a popular card so I didn’t want to run the Threads. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Chrome Mox, as I never wanted to draw two of them. I decided to cut one of them, but several other players decided to run three.
With following main deck changes, I felt ready for the tournament:
-1 Trinket Mage
-1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Threads of Disloyalty
-1 Chrome Mox
+1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
+1 Izzet Boilerworks
+1 Vedalken Shackles
+1 Sower of Temptation
The morning before the tournament, my very first thought was, “why we are we not running Bitterblossom?” The metagame seemed to be very Black-Green and Faeries-heavy, so I couldn’t figure out a real reason to avoid running Bitterblossom besides the manabase considerations. We played one game of Faeries versus Black-Green, and the turn 2 Bitterblossom was a blowout.
Here’s the final version of the deck I played at the GP.
4 Spell Snare
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Mana Leak
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Gifts Ungiven
3 Glen Elandra Archmage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Triskelion
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
2 Bitterblossom
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Firespout
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Life from the Loam
1 Vedalken Shackles
2 Chrome Mox
2 River of Tears
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
3 Snow-Covered Island
2 Island
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Tolaria West
1 Lonely Sandbar
3 Mutavault
Sideboard
2 Flashfreeze
3 Firespout
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Bitterblossom
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Trinket Mage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Gifts Ungiven
Round 4 — Patrick Sullivan with Mono-Red Burn
In both games I missed my third source of mana, and when I did hit it I was pretty low on life. Patrick was able to punish me whenever I tapped out while trying to find more mana sources and counter magic. I lost both games pretty quickly.
3-1
Round 5 — Alex Bartel with Bant
His deck featured Ancestral Visions, Spell Snares, Mana Leaks, Rhox War Monks, Engineered Explosives, Glen Elendra Archmages, Bant Charms, and Vendilion Cliques. After sideboarding he had access to Gaddock Teeg (which could’ve been maindeck) and Vexing Shusher.
In the first game I countered his Visions with a Spellstutter Sprite, and was able to resolve a Gifts Ungiven. He gives me Azami, Lady of Scrolls and another card I can’t remember with Gifts Ungiven. Azami, Lady of Scrolls eventually won the me game.
I sideboard out my Firespout for game 2, and I die pretty fast to the combination of Vexing Shusher and Gaddock Teeg, as I wasn’t able to play Engineered Explosives.
In game 3 he was stuck on two lands until he managed to resolve an Ancestral Visions with the help of two Spell Snares. He never really caught up with the mana, and lost to Glen Elendra Archmage, Vedalken Shackles, and Sower of Temptation.
4-1
Round 6 — Joseph Gilliam with Black/Green Death Cloud
I resolved a Bitterblossom on the second turn (on the draw), which was able to fight his turn 4 Garruk Wildspeaker. He didn’t draw a lot of action cards besides double Treetop Village and several spot removal spells. The combination of Bitterblossom, Glen Elendra Archmage, and Spellstutter Sprite with Riptide Laboratory won this game.
In game 2 he took a mulligan, and I managed to counter his early threats. His draw was pretty bad, and I got there pretty easily.
5-1
Round 7 — Jordan Adams with Mono-Red Burn
I was able to establish control with the help of Glen Elendra Archmage and Spellstutter Sprites. I eventually played Azami, Lady of Scrolls, which drew me enough countermagic to win the game.
In game 2 he played a second turn Pyrostatic Pillar. I beat him down with Mutavault, Spellstutter Sprite, and Riptide Laboratory. He never really caught up, as his spells couldn’t pull him ahead in the race because of Pyrostatic Pillar.
6-1
Round 8 — Martin Juza with Faeries
This was a feature match, and can be read here.
Juza forced through an Archmage with a Vendilion Clique to win game 1. I won game 2 with a Vedalken Shackles trumping Ancestral Vision. Game 3 went to time, but he conceded as I had Triskelion, Shackles, and Bitterblossom, needing just one more turn to win.
7-1
Round 9 — James Zornes with Swans
I was far behind in mana in the first game, as I didn’t find a fourth land drop and he was charging a Calciform Pools for several turns. He eventually played a Pact of Negation on my Glen Elendra Archmage when I hit my fourth land drop… and forgot to pay for it.
In game 2 I was able to resolve an early Glen Elendra Archmage and Azami, Lady of Scrolls. Those cards put me far ahead, and when I destroyed his Dreadship Reef with Ghost Quarter and counter his Swans of Bryn Argoll with Spellstutter Sprite, he scooped.
8-1
Round 10 — Forrest Pitts with Naya Burn
I was able to blow up two Wild Nacatls and a Kird Ape with Engineered Explosives, but he followed with a Tarmogoyf to which I didn’t find a solution, and I died.
In game 2 he resolved a Jitte and Tarmogoyf. I tapped out for Threads of Disloyalty targeting the Tarmogoyf, and a second Tarmogoyf won him the game as I wasn’t able to find an Engineered Explosives in time.
8-2
Round 11 — Jake Woods with Mono-Red Burn
We had a very long game 1, and I resolved several Thirst for Knowledges to find enough countermagic. When he hit his sixth land, he was able to resolve Sulfuric Vortex as he would have been able to pay for Mana Leak, and I lost pretty fast as I was on very low life at that point.
In game 2 I managed to deny his Sulfuric Vortex and play Glen Elendra Archmage with Blue up. I eventually drew Azami, Lady of Scrolls, to which he scooped.
In the third game, I was able to deny his early Sulfuric Vortex again, but he resolved a Blood Moon the turn after. I had only non-basic lands, but I could play Thirst for Knowledge in response, which found a Chrome Mox. I eventually drew an Island and thus was able to start casting spells like Thirst for Knowledge and Gifts Ungiven with Blue mana up, while he drew lots of lands and useless Blood Moons.
9-2
Round 12 — Tim Aten with Mono-Red Burn
This was a feature match, though there was no coverage.
Game 1, Aten opened with Darksteel Citadel and Chromatic Star, striking fear into my heart as Affinity can be very tough for Faeries. I had a Spell Snare, so I played an Island and passed.
When he cracked the Star to play a Lava Spike, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised, as Burn is a much better match-up for me. He missed his land drop and was never really able to catch up with the tempo he lost. Eventually, I won.
The second game was closer, but I managed to Gifts for Glen Elendra Archmage, Mana Leak, Spell Snare, and Flashfreeze ,which ensured me he wasn’t able to Shrapnel Blast the last few life points I had. I beat him down with Trinket Mage and two Mutavaults before he could find enough burn to get through my counterwall.
10-2
Round 13 — Gabe Walls with Slide
He resolved an early Astral Slide and Loxodon Hierarch to apply some pressure. He never drew a Life from the Loam, so I was able to establish control with 2 Glen Elendra Archmage and Umezawa’s Jitte. I could chump with a Glen Elendra Archmage and then equip Umezawa’s Jitte to it, so his option was to either let me charge the Jitte or get a reloaded Archmage. He eventually failed to draw enough cycling cards to stop the Jitte from charging, and I won.
In the second game he resolved a fourth turn Plow Under with the help of Edge of Autumn. I managed to come back, but a Duergar Hedge-Mage for my Chrome Mox and a well timed Boil finished me off.
I had a first turn Relic of Progenitus and a second turn Mana Leak when he tried to Life from the Loam his cycling land and fetchland. In my turn I activated Relic to remove them from the game. He then had a hard time establishing his manabase, and I swept away the two Astral Slides he controlled with an Engineered Explosives. I then beat him down with Glen Elendra Archmage and Mutavault. I stopped him from resolving spells with another Mana Leak, Flashfreeze, and 2 Spellstutter Sprites.
11-2
Round 14 — Mark Herberholz with Faeries
The first play was a turn 4 Venser, Shaper Savant from Mark, which beat me down to four life. I tried to build up my manabase to resolve a crucial spell, while he was discarding with six or seven lands in play. I managed to stabilise with the combination of Mutavault and Riptide Laboratory. He eventually managed to resolve a Vendilion Clique, and I wasn’t able to deal with it.
After he destroyed my Academy Ruins with his own in the second game, I didn’t manage to find a fourth land, and he could apply pressure with Vendilion Clique. I eventually draw lands and resolved a Triskelion while on very low life, but he had a Sower of Temptation, and he was able to kill me in the very same turn with 2 Mutavaults.
11-3
Round 15 — Adam Prosak with Naya Burn
I countered several of his early drops, and I resolved Gifts Ungiven when he had two Kird Apes in play. I ended up with Vedalken Shackles and Triskelion, but he held the pressure with the help of a five-power Tarmogoyf. With the help of Azami, Lady of Scrolls and chump-blocking Mutavaults (which draw cards), I was able to draw into enough Islands to gain control of the Tarmogoyf, which won the game for me.
He took two mulligans in the second game, and I Spell Snared his second turn Tarmogoyf. A Spellstutter Sprite and Mutavault were able to deal with his Wild Nacatl, and I then resolved a Glen Elendra Archmage. He quickly ran out of threats from his five-card opening, and I managed to win on a comfortable amount of life.
12-3, which was good enough for the 11th place.
Versus Faeries
The Faeries matchup is pretty tight. If you are able to resolve an early Bitterblossom, or keep them from putting you under pressure, you should be able to win as you have more card advantage spells than they do.
+1 Island, +1 Izzet Boilerworks, +1 Bitterblossom, +1 Gifts Ungiven, +1 Sower of Temptation, +1 Vedalken Shackles
-1 Chrome Mox, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage, -1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls, -1 Firespout, -1 Engineered Explosives
I sideboard out most of my Glen Elendra Archmages, as I don’t want to get into a Sower of Temptation fight which I would probably lose as they have more copies. I either win with an early Bitterblossom or a resolved Vedalken Shackles. I Gift for the combination of Life from the Loam, Vedalken Shackles, Triskelion, and Academy Ruins, so I am able to resolve a Shackles sooner or later and then start winning with the Triskelion.
Versus Black/Green Death Cloud
I never played against the Michael Jacob version, so this counts only for the Death Cloud styled decks. The matchup seems pretty good, as they are unable to stop Gifts Ungiven, Bitterblossom, or Glen Elendra Archmage, and you can stop their plan of Raven’s Crime, either with your own Life from the Loam or Spellstutter Sprite plus Riptide Laboratory and Glen Elendra Archmage. Depending on whether they have Ravenous Baloth or Kitchen Finks, you should have Sower of Temptation post board.
Versus Ravenous Baloth
+1 Sower of Temptation, +1 Tormod’s Crypt, +1 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Trinket Mage, +1 Izzet Boilerworks, +2 Flashfreeze, +1 Bitterblossom, +1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Engineered Explosives, -4 Spell Snare, -1 Firespout, -1 Ancient Grudge, -2 Spellstutter Sprite
Versus Kitchen Finks
+1 Vedalken Shackles, +1 Tormod’s Crypt, +1 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Trinket Mage, +1 Izzet Boilerworks, +2 Flashfreeze, +1 Bitterblossom, +1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Engineered Explosives, -4 Spell Snare, -1 Firespout, -1 Ancient Grudge, -1 Sower of Temptation, -2 Spellstutter Sprite
Most of the Black/Green decks didn’t feature Tarmogoyf. If they do, you probably should keep at least 3 Spell Snares and board in the Threads of Disloyalty.
I keep one of the Engineered Explosives to kill the Worms created by Worm Harvest (before I remove their graveyard from the game).
I either Gifts for a combination of Life from the Loam, Lonely Sandbar, Riptide Laboratory, Mutavault, Academy Ruins, and Izzet Boilerworks (if I had to play Lonely Sandbar early), or for Azami, Lady of Scrolls; Triskelion; Glen Elendra Archmage; and another Gifts Ungiven.
Versus Mono-Red Burn
As long as you are able to deny them their Sulfuric Vortex and Shrapnel Blasts, you are in a very good spot. Spellstutter Sprite and Glen Elendra Archmage are very good against them, as they make your opponent run out of cards while you are able to start winning the game.
+1 Island, +1 Izzet Boilerworks, +1 Trinket Mage, +1 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Gifts Ungiven, +2 Flashfreeze
-1 Firespout, -2 Bitterblossom, -1 Sower of Temptation, -1 Vedalken Shackles, -1 Overgrown Tomb, -1 Watery Grave
Azami, Lady of Scrolls was surprising good in this matchup. It is the very best follow-up to a turn 5 Archmage (or turn 4 if you have Chrome Mox), as it will ensure you’ll never run out of counterspells. I usually Gifts for a combination of Glen Elendra Archmage, Flashfreeze, Mana Leak, Spell Snare, and Spellstutter Sprite.
Versus Naya Burn
This is a very bad matchup, as your deck is unable to fight creatures at instant speed — and while you are dealing with the creatures at sorcery speed, they are able to resolve Tarmogoyf or Sulfuric Vortex.
+3 Firespout, +1 Island, +1 Izzet Boilerworks, +1 Threads of Disloyalty , +2 Flashfreeze
-1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls, -1 Vedalken Shackles, -1 Sower of Temptation, -1 Watery Grave, -1 Overgrown Tomb, -1 Triskelion, -1 Ancient Grudge, -1 Life from the Loam
Azami, Lady of Scrolls isn’t as good in this matchup as it is against Mono-Red Burn, as you usually rather want to Firespout a late-game Wild Nacatl which gets through Glen Elendra Archmage.
Naya Burn seems to be a better choice than Zoo in the current metagame, but I sideboard the very same way against Zoo. The Zoo matchup is much better than the Naya Burn, as their only real threads are Tarmogoyfs. If you are able to Firespout them with Spell Snare backup, you are in very good shape.
I wasn’t able to sufficiently test against versus of other decks like Affinity, Storm, and Elves. Many of the choices are fairly straightforward, like “Sower against Affinity,” “Flashfreeze against Storm,” and “Firespout against Elves.”
I wasn’t happy with some of the choices, but the deck seems to have a lot of potential. Here is what I would run if I were playing a tournament tomorrow. I really missed the Vendilion Clique in this deck. Also, Firespout turned out to be pretty bad for me, as I don’t want to get punished for playing a mass removal spell, especially if Naya Burn is on the rise and Zoo is fading.
4 Spell Snare
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Mana Leak
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Vendilion Clique
3 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Life from the Loam
1 Triskelion
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Chrome Mox
2 Bitterblossom
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
2 Riptide Laboratory
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Academy Ruins
1 River of Tears
2 Secluded Glen
1 Swamp
3 Snow-Covered Island
2 Island
1 Tolaria West
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Barren Moor
3 Mutavault
Sideboard
1 Steam Vents
1 Bitterblossom
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Smother
1 Terror
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Trinket Mage
2 Flashfreeze
1 Gifts Ungiven
I like Extended!
Thanks for reading…
Manuel B