Due to unforeseen circumstances, Nick Eisel’s article will be appearing on Friday… in its place, we’ve brought Richard Feldman’s article forward from Thursday! Today’s Deep Analysis concentrates on Extended, with exhaustive play-by-play coverage of many games featuring Ichorid against NarcoBridge and Gaea’s Might Get There. The Pro Tour is mere days away… get all the relevant tech right here!
Mike is not a particular fan of the Dredge strategy. However, with the Extended format shaping up to be a graveyard-dominated metagame, today’s Flores Friday sees Mike explain why fumbling around in our trash piles may actually be a winning formula. He also updates Zvi Mowshowitz’s excellent Numbers strategy, and asks a few questions of the decks that you’re looking to play…
Last week, Richard walked us through some of the non-graveyard decks that may feature highly in the upcoming Pro Tour: Valencia. This week, Deep Analysis concentrates on those very graveyard-centric decks that last week he was trying to beat. Utilizing the yard is the strategy du jour for any serious Extended mage… so how do you maximize your chances to prevail despite the inevitable hate?
If you can successfully stop the fastest deck in the format from killing you while simultaneously not packing to the optimally-positioned control deck’s late game, chances are you can handle a less streamlined version of either strategy. This doesn’t necessarily mean, either, that every deck that isn’t positioned along the poles is “sub-optimal” to take to a tournament strictly speaking; it just means it’s less unilateral.
After asking readers if they wanted to see Vintage or Extended, the majority came back with the latter (I blame Gush) so that’s what we’ll be discussing today. Last week I covered the main graveyard based combo decks that you can expect to play against, so this week we’ll be branching out into the aggro-control segment of the meta…
In an open metagame, such as the current Extended, it’s advisable to pack your deckbox with threats rather than answers. However, if everyone is playing threats, and Red aggro decks abound, how on earth do you gain an edge in the aggro mirror? With Pro Tour: Valencia fast approaching, Steve examines a variety of Red decks and shares a few tips to improve them for aggro-on-aggro battles.
Last week, Mike took a long look at some of the contenders in the current Extended metagame, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This week, he delivers more of the same: a cavalcade of Extended goodness, and the metagame laid bare. If you’re serious about cracking this format for the Pro Tour, or even for the PTQ season that looms large, this article is an invaluable stepping stone.
Richard continues his Pro Tour Preparation series with a look at, unsurprisingly, the Extended Graveyard decks. However, instead of bringing us fresh lists that utilize the power of the ‘yard, instead it’s the turn to showcase a few decks that attempt to bring down the dredge-based menace. Domain Zoo, Affinity, and a promising Wizards build, all built with the graveyard in mind. Will strategies such as these grace the final day of Pro Tour: Valencia?
It seems so odd to see Extended articles starting to flow out from the various authors here on StarCityGames.com and yet see no listings of Dredge combo. This strikes me as odd considering it basically dictates the fundamental turn of the format, and you’ll most likely get rolled by it game 1 even if you’ve prepared against it. So it seems like one of the more important strategies to consider if you want to seriously prep for Extended… Of course, then Chapin goes and writes a solid article on the threat and the basic ways to trump it. How obnoxious.
Life From The Loam is a fantastic source of card advantage in any format. Burning Wish, or as Adrian calls it, “the Good Wish,” is also extremely powerful. Put them together, and sprinkle in some expert synergy and devastating removal, and we have one of the powerhouse Extended decks going into Pro Tour: Valencia. Today’s Sullivan Library takes a long look at the ways to play — and to beat — this behemoth…
I don’t know why, but I’ve been building Extended decks. I guess I just want a new format with which to experiment. I’ve been playing freaking Slivers at my past couple of FNMs, and while fun, I really want to play with some expensive cool-looking cards. As I said last week, I’ve been trying to graft the Counterbalance plus Sensei’s Divining Top combo on to a bunch of decks, so here are two more of my semi-successful attempts.
Extended, the format on everyone’s mind at the moment, is plagued by a proverbial 800lb Gorilla in the room… at least, that’s the view of Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin. Dredge, he feels, is significantly warping the young metagame, to the point where the hate is generally not enough. Is the grave-born strategy that much of an issue, or can it be taken down with a little application? Decklists, matchup tips, game walkthroughs, and more!
In our continuing adventures delving into the Extended format, we’ve had a chance to look at a variety of aggressive decks while working on a Psychatog deck or two. Getting a feel for the modern Extended format is a very important part of building an effective deck, and seeing just what Tarmogoyf can do is another good way for learning how to play the format. After all, if Tarmogoyf can save otherwise terrible archetypes by carrying them on his broad shoulders, it’s the kind of thing you’d need to know about when preparing for the Pro Tour in Valencia.
In a format as open as Extended, traditional control decks need something special. The Extended cardpool is deep, the threats are varied, and the metagame is undefined. In order to control the match, one must have more than the power to simply say “no.” Today’s Innovations sees Patrick walk us through the matchups for a control deck that can say “no” over and over and over again: No Stick!
It is said that all good things must come to an end. Fortunately, rather than following up on Craig Jones skipping off to finish his doctorate, Matt Cavotta’s conclusion to “Taste The Magic,” or Aaron Forsythe’s conclusion to his run on “Recent Developments,” the only thing ending here on Magical Hack is… my vacation.
