Boros Deck Wins. That’s more than a deck-name… it’s a fact. Swinging with the Little Red and White Men is a noble pursuit, but it is also extremely popular. With the mirror-match descending into little more than a coin flip, what exactly can we do to gain those important percentage points that’ll translate into game and match wins? With detailed description of his recent PTQ performance, Paul tries to smash the mirror into pieces.
Stuart Wright, one of the world’s finest deckbuilders, rocked the Extended portion of Worlds with a deck of his own design – Flow Deck Wins. Harnessing a powerful aggresive start, and the backbreaking Destructive Flow to nobble the control matchups, Stuart’s 6-0 perofomance took him to a lofty fifteenth-place finish at the Big Show in Paris. Today’s article breaks down the sideboarding plans and brings some interesting matchup ideas, for those eager to make their mark at their next PTQ.
In the second of today’s Extended articles, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy takes a well-earned break from his excellent Time Spiral Draft breakdown to bring us a comprehensive guide to Aggro Loam. Ben analyses the deck and examines some of the card choices, and takes us through his perfomance at a recent PTQ…
Joe Black wades into the Extended metagame debate with an interesting take on a tried-and-tested formula: Green/White Astral Slide. Decks based on the cycling mechanic have a number of inherent advantages, and cards such as Eternal Witness and Loxodon Hierarch bring a number of strategies and defenses to the table. Add to this robustness a powerful lock, and you’ve got a deck with the strength to take on all comers. Looking for an Extended deck for your next PTQ? Osyp has the answer…
The first two installments in the series saw Josh tackle some of the best Aggro decks that Extended has to offer – today’s final furlong brings us the popular Trinket Angel concoction and the now-perennial Ichorid dredge deck. The PTQ season is well underway, and it’s plain to see that there are countless viable decks in the current metagame. Be prepared!
Paul rounds out his enlightening Worlds report with a comprehensive rundown of his Day 3 performance. His deck of choice for the extended showdown? Gifts Rock. Needing a 4-1-1 to cement a Top 8 berth, he sadly fell at the final hurdle. Nevertheless, a strong perfomance all round left him high in the standings with a pocketful of cash. Gifts Rock is a potent choice for the current Extended metagame… and this article shows it in action.
Josh takes a theoretical look at his personal choice for the three strongest decks in the Extended field, and shares some thoughts and ideas regarding playing and each of them, invaluable advice for those hoping to bring home a blue envelope this weekend. He rounds out the article with a sad farewell – Josh has decided to hang up his sleeves and quit the game, moving on to pastures new. Thanks for the memories, Josh, and good luck in the future!
As we all know, Mike Flores is a veritable fountain of decklists. Be they Standard or Extended, Mr Flores can be relied upon to shape the Constructed metagame with each article written. Today’s offering is no different – Green/White Aggro in Extended. With fantastic matchups against both Boros Deck Wins and TEPS, this decklist is one no serious PTQ player can ignore… is it the deck for you?
Last weekend, Brian David-Marshall ran a small Extended mock tournament at Neutral Ground, inviting some of Magic’s great and good to sling the overpowered spells. Paul rocked up with Boros Deck Wins, and attempted to fathom Frank Karsten’s sideboard plans for matchups across the board. While he didn’t win the whole thing, his thoughs on the deck are very interesting… invaluable for those running the Little Red (and White) Men at their coming PTQ.
It’s the New Year, and the Extended PTQ season is upon us! By now, the tournament-savvy amongst us should be settling into our weapon of choice… or at least be getting prepared to run with Boros Deck Wins. Today, Josh brings us an interesting way to break down the strengths and weaknesses of our pet Extended decks, a system that draws upon the teachings of the Mighty Zvi Mowshowitz. Looking for an edge over the PTQ competition? Then this is the article for you!
Today’s Flores Friday dives deep into the murky waters of the Extended metagame. Mike shares his theories of deck design and creation – perfect timing for those hoping to blow the format wide open at their next PTQ. The decks he posts here today produce interesting results when battling the Tier 1 builds of the format… but the true value of this excellent piece lies in the description of the process.
The Extended PTQs are fast approaching. Extended has always been a favorite format of mine. I have written a lot (extensively?) about Extended, more than anything else, and enjoyed Extended events more than practically any other format. Extended season has a certain history and rhythm — and that rhythm will remain, despite the impact of the card pool, the combo decks and Magic Online.
By the time Extended rolled around, Worlds was over bar the shouting for poor Josh. Even though his lack of desire and unfortunate pairings led to a subpar personal performance on this third day, the deck he ran with was one of the breakout stars of the format – Dirty Kitty. Today he shares his thoughts on the deck, and looks at a number of other interesting creations that performed well in Paris.
EOTFOFYL – A common acronym back in the day. It stands for “End of Turn Fact or Fiction; You Lose,” and it will be heard a lot in the coming Extended PTQ season. There’s an art to splitting a Fact or Fiction, and perfection comes only once a number of factors have been considered. Today’s Flores Friday examines a sackful of practical Fact or Fiction decisions; Mike takes us through each one, and Heezy shares his own philosophies.
With two days of the World Championships behind him, Craig “The Professor” Jones had a possible dash-for-cash situation: with a decent performance in the Extended portion of the event, Prof could finish in the money. After a few false starts in the deck-choice arena, he settled on a deck that posted an immaculate 6-0 record… but not by him. Craig shares his thoughts on the deck, and the metagame, with his usual insight and wit.
