I realized the other day that I haven't shared any Extended ideas in quite awhile. Mostly this is true because I don't play with Extended very often. Casual style players, like me, are mostly into Standard where the constant format changes allow us a lot of flexibility. Casuals also play the Eternal formats because of the vast number of cards allows for more freedom in design. But I feel it to difficult to be competitive with crazy ideas in the Eternals so the minor part of me that's a Spike put me in Standard. So today I'm going to share an Extended idea I had the other day.

Extended Change

I haven't written on Extended since the upheaval to the format. Let me say that I am cool with the change for the most part. I really wish they would have gone one year deeper so that Time Spiral would still be in play in October. For both Standard and Extended a new Block starting will cause a major change in the Environment. Rotation will still have a larger impact on Standard with half of the cards falling out but Extended will now lose roughly a quarter of its card pool as well. This will change the landscape of decks significantly. In the old Extended the first step to deck design was to start with the current decks and look for additions/deletions from the new block. Now we'll need to have more of a start from scratch mentality.

Actually, not really from "scratch". Building in the new Extended will make us look to the last two Standard sessions. What was dominating in Standard the last two years will provide us with a framework for what will be strong in Extended. For this article I will be looking for decks that you and I will play. That means after October rollover not what the Pros will be playing on Labor Day weekend. That means Faeries and Jund would be the starting point. Other decks that filtered from Tier 1 to 1.5 should also be considered.

I think the real winners will come from decks that can find additions from the "extra" block. What I mean by that is if there is a card that strengthens a deck but comes from Block that the deck didn't access to while it was in Standard. You may be surprised how just one card can make a Tier 1.5 or even Tier 2 deck become competitive.

Searching for the New Stuff

While searching for the cards that will make fine additions to already good decks from M11 I ran across an idea. It started with my lamentation that Ravnica didn't really get a day in the Extended sunlight. The loss of Kamigawa didn't even phase me but losing the city planet with all its guildness did. One of the cards that I'll miss the most is Dark Confidant. Poor Bob was a great card in its Standard time and was destined to be a contender in Extended.

In M11 we were given a substitute that I find very respectable. Dark Tutelage does the same effect for one extra mana and isn't as fragile as the 2/1 body of Confidant. The mana cost isn't a real issue since drawing two cards a turn is worth it. The fragility is the real crux. Sure, you want to be able to draw but there is a limit to the life loss you want to take. With Bob we were able to chump block, sac, or attack until our opponent destroyed him after we had gain sufficient card advantage. Using the Enchantment route we have a more reliable draw engine but we lose the ability to shut it off.

But I was determined to make it work. Many of the solid decks from the last two Standards were Swamp users so it had to be able to fit somewhere. So I looked for a way to offset the loss of life. Of course life gain popped into my head. At first I went the standard route running a deck with Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant along with a whole mess of White/Black Weinies. It was fun but lacked a real finisher.

So White was scraped one night as I drafted the following combo. Leyline of Vitality and Protean Hydra make a great team. With the exception of direct removal Protean Hydra becomes immortal. After round 2 of draft that night I started thinking of how good it could be to have the following scenario. Leyline in play, Dark Tutelage in play, pay 1 life to draw Hydra, and then gain one life as I play Hydra with some counters. I really like the sound of that and started trying to fit more cheap creatures that may take my life to draw them but let me gain it back when played. Staying Green/Black and Standard once again left me with little punch unless I start risky the big casting cost and therefore risk more life via Tutelage.

So I started in the White again but as I was looking to fix my mana base I had a realization. Murmuring Bosk is a FOREST. Sure we're talking Extended now but Verdant Catacombs then becomes a deck thinner that can produce G/W/B. Throw in a couple of Reflecting Pools and we have little to no mana gaps.

Along with the Bosk we have to give homage to Doran, The Siege Tower. The extra bonus from Leyline of Vitality just gave some extra muscle to the deck. Vitality just became a Glorious Anthem plus a Soul Warden that I can play for free. Seems good to me.

Doran, the Explorer

So I started looking back at the Doran builds of old. It fit the build for the concept I addressed earlier. Doran was always an upper Tier deck. While it was unable to dethrone the Fae it still held a good amount of top 8's. The combo became irresistible. So I started my build with the Rule of Nine.

1. Doran, The Siege Tower
2. Leyline of Vitality
3. Dark Tutelage
4. Birds of Paradise – mostly to accel into a turn 2 Doran or Tutelage. Flying can be good at times. Also if I draw it as an extra card from Dark Tutelage I can offset the life loss by the Leyline of Vitality. Net loss = zero.
5. Noble Hierarch – Same concept with bonus Exalted. Don't forget the cheap casting costs/life gain.
6. Treefolk Harbinger – Helps to maximize the odds for playing a Doran on turn 3. Plus with a Doran in play he becomes a 3/3. The fact that he's a treefolk so Bosk can come into play untapped comes in handy as well. Did I mention that the Tutelage/Leyline package he gains as much as he costs to draw.
7. Dauntless Escort – Don't Judge me! (get it?) I know he costs 3 life off of the Dark Tutelage. But he makes it tough to make a Day of Judgment worthwhile.
8. Thoughtseize – One of the best ways for you to protect the Tree. Two life is easily gained back on those turns you hit a land from Tutelage and still play a critter.
9. Maelstrom Pulse – Destroy basically anything. Sign me up. Maybe I get lucky and hit a two for one, even better.

With this low of a curve and the 8 Mana Dorks I feel that I can sneak an extra card into the Nine package.

10. Sword of Vengeance – Real debate between this and Behemoth Sledge. Both perform but it boils down to hasty vs. Lifelink. I would rather play a Doran with 6 mana available and swing with a 7/5 right away. Especially cool the turn after they Wrath effect and your holding a Doran anyway because of the Legendary thing.

The mana would have a couple of each basic so that we can have something to fetch with Verdant Catacombs and Marsh Flats. We would want a full set of Murmuring Bosk, of course. Probably two Reflecting Pools will work since we don't want to draw the 3 Pool dead hand. I also like Sunpetal Grove as a two of since it would play untapped with a Bosk in play.

"Leyline of Doran"

• Creatures (20)
• 3 Doran, the Siege Tower
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Noble Heirarch
• 4 Treefolk Harbinger
• 3 Dauntless Escort
• 2 Gaddock Teeg

• Spells (18)
• 2 Sword of Vengeance
• 4 Thoughtseize
• 4 Maelstrom Pulse
• 4 Leyline of Vitality
• 4 Dark Tutelage

• Lands (22)
• 4 Murmuring Bosk
• 4 Verdant Catacombs
• 4 Marsh Flats
• 2 Reflecting Pool
• 2 Sunpetal Grove
• 2 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 2 Swamp

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Please note that the average casting cost of the deck is 1.4. That's not very much life loss with the active Tutelage. In fact with the Leyline offset it comes out cheaper that Phyrexian Arena and that's saying something!

The sideboard should include some of the following. Great Sable Stag would be in there for the Faerie matchup. He raises the average life loss but the basic Fae build has no real answers for him. I really like Wilt-Leaf Leige and the new if discard put into play dude against Jund decks. They play Blightning you gain a critter with bonuses or free life gain. Extra Teegs are good against any SuperPals variant. Qasali Pridemage is very versatile answer to a lot of cards.

An Apology

On a more serious note I owe you all a confession. Last week I wrote an article using some common lingo that a beginner to Magic may not understand. The idea for that was not original. It had been done before and I used another author's work as a blueprint for my own piece.

While what I did was not Plagiarism, it was unprofessional of me to not give some credit to the originator of the piece. The piece I used as a blueprint was originally written by The Ferret at StarCityGames.com and can be found here.

That's the class for today. Next week I'll be back in the Standard mode.

Class dismissed.