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By: JXClaytor, Joshua Claytor
Dec 25 2007 3:55am
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Hello, and welcome back to Extended Play!  Last week we felt a little bit of the impact that the Pro Tour Qualifier from World's would have on the Extended format.  PT Junk got some play, as did the Mono Blue control deck from that PTQ.  In my opinion those two lists may have been the most unique lists that we have seen so far in this young season, and as the weeks go by, you'll see the metagame shifting from week to week as more players start to gear up for the Extended events online, and as they get ready to battle it out for the blue envelope in real life! 

Let's open this week's off with a recap of last weeks top five hits. 

1.  Chase Rare Control:  Pro Tour Champions deck.  It can be a beatdown deck with the quick draw.  It can be a control deck with Sensei's Divining Top and Counterbalance.  If it is good enough to win the Pro Tour, it has to be good enough to look into right? 

2.  RWG Zoo:  This is the beatdown deck of choice.  It has cheap men, like Grim Lavamancer, Mogg Fanatic and in some cases Gaddock Teeg.  Teeg is insane against most of the combo decks in the field, as he shuts off the key cards.  Enduring Ideal, Mind's Desire, and Dread Return are unplayable with him in play.  These dorks are backed up with solid burn like Tribal Flames, Lightning Helix, and Firebolt.

3.  BGW Junk:  Most Junk decks run solid midrange utility creatures.  Guys like Loxodon Hierarch and Eternal Witness are the backbone of the deck, gaining you much needed life against Aggro (in the case of the elephant.) or recurring powerful spells like Vindicate Pernicious Deed and Duress against control.  Of note is a new version of the deck that features a Junk base, but also runs Doran, the Siege Tower as a quicker route to victory.  If I have my way, I'll be writing more about Junk in the Trunk at a later date. 

4.  UB Dredge:  Well I just wrote an article about Dredge.  It's my deck of choice, and for everyone who missed it this is what it does.  It dredges the library into the graveyard.  It sacrifices some men to flashback Dread Return.  It returns Flame-Kin Zealot.  It bashes. 

Did I mention it can do this as early as turn two? 

5.  R GoblinsQuick deck that powers out little red men.  Swarms the board with a lot of dudes, and is capable of a turn four kill.  Goblin Ringleader provides a ton of card advantage should it resolve, and keeps you from running out of gas if it does.  

Trinket Mage

Would Chase Rare control keep it's strangehold on the format, or would plays start to Dredge up answers to the expensive deck? 

Okay, at this point I am sure most of you have scrolled down to see the results from the past week's events.  I hope you are ready for some major changes.  Chase Rare is no longer in the top slot, and it's clinging to the top five.  Let's have a look at the chart. 

Winner - Split - Second - Semifinals - Quarterfinals

Colors Deck Name Placings Percentage
Dredge 14%
Zoo 14%
  Affinity 12%
Chase Rare 6%
PT Junk 6%
Goblins 4%
Gifts Rock 4%
Flow Rock 4%
Zoo 4%
TEPS 4%
Tog 4%
Ideal 4%
MUC 2%
Aggro Loam 2%
Heartbeat 2%
Red Deck Wins 2%
Scepter Boom 2%
King of the Castle 2%
Boros Deck Wins 2%
Domain 2%

Second Biggest Gainer: 

Dredge:  Last week this deck accounted for 7.5% of the total top eight slots given out.  It almosts doubles that number this week.  Most of thost results however are based off the strong play of Lucindo, who has taken up the bulk of the top eight slots that Dredge has gotten based on his own performance.  I was able to get his deck list, not so much from talking to but from watching replays.  Lucindo is a very solid Dredge player, and it would benefit you to watch him play the deck if you are interested in this powerful combo. 

Dredge as played by Lucindo.                                                                                          

1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Breakthrough
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Careful Study
4 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Cephalid Sage
2 Darkblast
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
3 Flooded Strand
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Golgari Thug
3 Ichorid
1 Island
3 Polluted Delta
4 Putrid Imp
4 Stinkweed Imp
2 Tolarian Winds
4 Watery Grave
4 Bridge from Below
3 Dread Return
4 Narcomoeba

Akroma, Angel of Wrath


This deck list can power out a quick Akroma to clean up in case the Bridge from Below plan gets wrecked somehow. 

The Real Biggest Mover: 

Affinity is the biggest mover of the week.  Last week it clocked in with a paltry 2.5% of the top eight slots.  This week the artifact monster came out swinging and gained a full ten percent.  It's really unclear if this deck is going to be a contender or if a lack of Deed is going to watch let it climb the charts.  Here is a sample decklist of the new Affinity, which also includes Springleaf Drum.  Word on the street is this card speeds up the kill by a full half of a turn. 

Springleaf Drum


It's an permenant source of artifact mana fixing.  What is not to love? 

Springleaf Affinity

4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
3 Tarmogoyf
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
3 Ornithopter
3 Chromatic Star
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
3 Pithing Needle
4 Thoughtcast
4 Ancient Den
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Darksteel Citadel
4 (Seat of the Synod)
4 Tree of Tales
2 Glimmervoid

This weeks biggest loser: 

Chase Rare Control:  So this deck went from taking twenty percent of the slots to sic percent of the slots for a total loss of fourteen percent.  With the rise in popularity in the Doran deck, it may be safe to say that many people have started to play that in favor of the Chase Rare control deck.  There is also a rumor that Junk just destroys this deck.  That may have more to do with it than anything. 

The holiday season is coming around the corner.  Next week I am going to take a look by tournament and see how the top eight assembles in each Extended event.  I'll have the new format for these recaps, plus a end of month review, decklists and more in the next issue of Extended Play! 

0 Comments

by urzishra (Unregistered) 74.214.249.213 (not verified) at Thu, 12/27/2007 - 15:14
urzishra (Unregistered) 74.214.249.213's picture

i'm not a stickler on what each deck was called. but it was a great article.. loved the analysis

by kaityson36 (Unregistered) 69.63.51.38 (not verified) at Tue, 12/25/2007 - 16:14
kaityson36 (Unregistered) 69.63.51.38's picture

Great Article! The GBR version with Life from the Loam, Seismic Assault, Terravore and Devastating Dreams etc is just called Loam. But the RGW version with Werebears, Wild Mongrel, Terravore, Loxodon etc is called Aggro Loam.