In my last article I concluded by stating I would be testing a Lotus Bloom / Mind’s Desire deck for Extended in anticipation of the PTQ season, but since Worlds the deck simply became unimpressive against the masses of hate. After a bit of disappointment with TEPS before and after Worlds, I decided to see how my deck from last season that I used to Top 8 several PTQs would perform, as I still had all the cards.
With Extended PTQ season in full swing, Sean McKeown brings us a comprehensive matchup guide to No-Stick, a.k.a. Scepter Chant. If you’re a fan of this particular deck, then this article is unmissable. Of course, if this style of deck gives you the dry heaves, I applaud you. Remember kids… don’t give in to evil.
This is my baby Boros, which I like for several reasons. It’s largely based on Pat Sullivan’s California PTQ list, as well as some standard Tsuyoshi Fujita principles for building aggressive decks. It’s designed for a metagame where Tron, TEPS, Aggro-Loam, and Flow comprise about sixty percent of the field, with the ten or so other mainstream Tier 2 strategies rounding out the other forty.
With John Fiorillo winging his way to Geneva, there’s a change to our advertised schedule today. Kyle Sanchez steps into John’s shoes, and regales us with the sorry tale of two PTQ appearences, both piloting an interesting homebrew deck that Kyle initially offered to the U.S National team for Worlds. Given that Kyle has made the final of both the PTQs in question, maybe they were hasty in dismissing the deck so quickly…
Extended season is still in full swing, and with PTQs around each and every corner, players are screaming for the latest tech in order to bring home the proverbial bacon. Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin presents two decklists for our perusal, the first an entertaining multicolor Rock variant, and the second an updated Tog list that takes advantage of the Planar Chaos cards. Will these decks take anyone to the top? Read on to find out…
Currently, Extended is a very diverse place, which means for many of us the strategy is picking one of the top four or five decks, practicing, and trying to take the envelope home. Past some sideboard changes or a cute maindeck addition, these decks have the capability to beat the majority as long as you play well and get a little lucky at times. However, despite the diversity of the environment, a number of people are taking glass cannons to the PTQs.
Finally, finally, finally Wizards has started posting the Extended PTQ decklists again. I’ve been itching to crunch numbers, but there were no numbers to crunch. Now I have chewed through eight complete and two partial Top 8 lists, and I can share some masticated goodness. I’ll look at numbers, then break down a couple archetypes. Whether you are wondering what to expect at the PTQs or looking to refine your gauntlet decks, I got what you need.
Jamie Wakefield brings us this week’s look into all things Green from the comfort of a foregin shore… Spain! He takes us through the developments he’s made to his evolving Beast Attack Mono-Green deck, and shares more stories from his ever-changing life. Soon, Jamie’s Madrid Adventure will become a permanent one, and we all wish him luck. In the meantime, can his Extended beatdown machine conquer the degenerate likes of TEPS and Scepter-Chant?
In the second part of our Impact series on Planar Chaos, Richard Feldman looks at the cards that’ll make waves in the format du jour – Extended. Sure, everyone is going ga-ga for Extirpate, and by now the world and his dog are sick to death of Damnation… but what other cards look likely to make waves in the diverse Extended metagame? Will your pet deck flourish under the Planar Chaos regime?
As promised last week, we’ll be having a look at the numbers being put up so far in the starting weeks of the Extended PTQ season, with a key eye specifically for comparing it to the reported MTGO metagame and attempting to establish a relative timeline as to how these two things interact.
On Monday, Richard Feldman brought us Tenacious Tron, a U/W Tron deck both he and Zac took to excellent finishes at a recent PTQ. Richard shared the development and game-plan of the deck. Today, Zac brings us the matchup and sideboarding data. They think they’ve broken the format… do you agree?
He’s been quiet for a while now, but it’s impossible to keep a good man down! John F Rizzo, after a brief work-enduced hiatus, returns to StarCityGames.com with a glorious attempt to break Extended in half. This article contains twelve budding Extended decklists… surely there’ll be something for even the most discerning of deckbuilding palates.
Despite taking the lion’s share of the metagame at Worlds 2006, Boros Deck Wins hasn’t exactly been living up to its name. Is this deck really and Extended powerhouse that all should fear? Josh spills his guts on his own personal four-color Boros build, armed with Armadillo Cloaks and Kird Apes and Vindicates, oh my! In the face of ridiculous and unfair decks such as TEPS, is Boros Deck Scrapes Into The Quarters Before Being Battered By A Real Deck still a prime contender for the Blue Envelope?
Following on from last week’s “Big Mana Blue” article, Richard – with the aid of free columnist Zac Hill – brings us the latest innovation in Extended U/W Tron decks. According to Richard and Zac, this is the best deck in the format… and they have the results to prove it. Today’s article sees Richard explain the game-plan of this deck, and he delves deep into the reasons behind the choices made for this build. For more on the deck, be sure to tune in to Zac’s article on Thursday!
Jamie has been kicking ass and taking names in the Online 8-man Extended queues, piloting a rogue deck that loves making instant speed 4/4 monsters. It this entertaining article, he explains his outlook on deckbuilding with a look back at some of his past successes, and regails us all with the usual fare of Wakefieldian wit and humor.
