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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #83: Combo Still Ain’t Dead – A Look at Post-Banning Extended

I am sure I will not be the only person to mention that the recent bannings do some serious harm to Tinker decks. The banning of Tinker and Grim Monolith also hurt the Mana Severance/Goblin Charbelcher decks and even the Mind’s Desire/Twiddle deck. Cutting Oath of Druids gets rid of Scepter-Oath, and even some classics like TurboLand. The elimination of Goblin Recruiter eliminates the combo-Goblins decks. Finally, no Hermit means he won’t be Angry any more.

So the bannings may have gotten rid of several Combo decks, but don’t think that combo has left the building. There are a score of other combo or combo-ish decks that have potential. I’ll start by listing some of the more obscure possibilities, and then move on to the mainstream decks.

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Double or Nothing: PTQ Amsterdam in London *Top 8*

I missed the boat with this build, I really did. Lumengrid Warden? Lumengrid Sentinel? What was I playing at? I figured that the 1/3 guys would slow my opponent down a little to enable me to get to the late game, where my Mirror Golem, Vorrac and Grab the Reins would rule supreme! So how in the world did I make the Top 8?

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Yeah, That Was Clever – The Mirrodin Rare Artifact Rankings

Oblivion Stone
Writing blurbs for the Tier 1 cards can get a little tiresome after a while. Eventually, the cards get so good that the very discussion of just how good they are becomes redundant. No one knows there are cards this good in the world. When I bust this out of a pack, it’s like a team of pixies flew by, dropped their pants, and crapped a rainbow into my brain.

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An Evening At The CMU “O”

At the end of pack one, Nick Lynn makes the mistake of talking.
“I’m drafting Mono-Artifact.” – Nick
“You’re drafting Mono-Idiot.” – Turian

Stupidity level rising.

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You CAN Play Type I #114: CAN Wizards Design For Type I?

“I don’t trust R&D to make what they think are”Type I-specific” cards. No one there knows enough about Type I, and their little gift might prove more abusive than they realized. Then, we’re stuck with it until DCI says something, and no one knows whether or not they’re looking at the new mistake until they actually make a restriction.”

The above text seems to suggest that you do not think Wizards can make cards for, or even designed with half an eye towards, Type 1. In fact, Wizards themselves have admitted they simply have not the time and resources to playtest Type 1 (a statement which, although I find it disappointing, I fully sympathize with), and they would probably agree with your assertion that no-one at Wizards knows enough about Type 1 to design cards for it. But, my question is, does anyone?

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Waiter, Menu Please! The Return of DoctorJay

I’m writing for you folks who gather regularly around dining room tables for one-on-one duels and who think competitive thrill is a 3-2 Friday Night Magic record with a deck of your own creation. I used to think my target audience was too small to matter, but writing for MTG.com changed my mind. I know you’re out there, so sit back and enjoy yourself.

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The Mirrodin Black Dilemma: Pewter Golem

If you are already committed to mono-Black, I implore you draft the Consume Spirit. You will not find a better spell. In fact, draft it over Terror in this deck. The card is that good. Okay, now it is time to leave fantasyland – you will never be mono-Black. It is too weak and too shallow.

Now Pewter Golem on the other hand… that guy bears a strong resemblance to a certain beating stick from Scourge that we all know and love.

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Ah’ll Lurn Ya Real Gud – Pale Mage Unleashed!

If you’re reading this, then you either really, really like my stuff or you are fairly interested in Aluren. For your sake, I hope it’s the latter. In any case, I’m going to stop taking dictation from the tape recorder and give it to you straight, like a normal writer. I’ve been reading a lot of forum threads on Extended lately. I’ve also been sitting in on conversations in real life and on the net about the format. One thing I’ve noticed is that nobody seems to know anything about Aluren. At least, nobody who’s talking. This has upset me to the point that I’m prepared to write in paragraphs to try and pass on my vast store of infinite knowledge about the slowest (good) combo deck in Extended.

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The Mirrodin Black Dilemma: Consume Spirit!

Mirrodin Black is good at attacking. Consume Spirit is good at finishing your opponent once all your guys go through unblocked. Without any decent counters in Mirrodin, Consume Spirit always hits for the full boat. Guaranteed damage. I like the sound of that.

You know why I hate Pewter Golem? Guess you’ll have to check inside to see…

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The Comprehensive 8th Edition Draft Review: Green

  • 8th Edition Green has very few out and out bombs, but also has fewer unplayable cards than any other color. Even cards appearing in the bottom half a dozen on this list are not awful in the same way that some of the Black and Blue cards have been in the last couple of weeks.

  • I stressed before the importance of drafting more passively in 888 than in other recent formats, but let me stress here that if you are going to force a color, it almost has to be Green. This is for two reasons, first, because it is deeper than any other color (see above), but also because it is far easier to play a three-color deck if you have a Green base. Rampant Growth and Fertile Ground will ease your mana base woes.

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    The Twiddle Desire Godbook: Ten Thousand Goldfish Can’t Be Wrong

    Before we get started, let’s talk about the deck itself. Relatively few articles have been written about Twiddle Desire, and most people are dismissing it as a viable deck for PTQs. There is good reason for this, since it is one of the hardest decks to play, and is not as rewarding as I would like it to be in terms of supporting good play. Simply put, the average player should not just pick up this deck and go to town expecting to get a turn 2 kill consistently. It isn’t going to happen.

    Even for experienced players Twiddle Desire does not win on turn 2 25% of the time. Not even close. It’s far better.

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    Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #82 Combo Winter, Take Two?

    I used to love Extended. I have written more articles on Extended than any other (sanctioned) format. I play Limited, I like T2, but I have always loved Extended. At least, until now I have. The sheer power of the Tier I combo decks makes it futile to play any original decks. In a format where a turn one Isochron Scepter imprinted with Counterspell may be too slow, other non-combo decks have very little chance…

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