From: denelsbe@cs.unc.edu (Kevin Denelsbeck)
Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy
Subject: Extended Format, or, Let's Break Something
Date: 8 Aug 1997 02:03:01 -0400

Cerebral Hobbies, here in Chapel Hill, is running an Extended Format
tournament this Sunday.  If you think Type II has a lot of cards in
it, consider Extended, which has everything in Type II, plus Revised,
4E, Chronicles, Dark, and Fallen Empires.  There are some banned cards
(the usual suspects, with one exception -- Fork!), but in general it's
quite a huge mix, and there are dual lands to boot.

I'm trying to decide what to play for the tournament.  This is my last
tournament in Chapel Hill, so I want to have fun.  Thus, an early
temptation -- Bobby Davis's idea of 2nd turn Stasis lock with Quirion
Ranger and Tropical Islands -- is out because Stasis is too narrow for
my tastes.  (Sorry, Bobby.)

I've tried various X-Geddon decks in tourneys past and have the
strangest bad luck with them.  I don't mind tossing some 'geddons in
but I don't want to build a deck around it.  So X-Geddon is out.

I don't feel like playing Necro.  I always feel cheap and dirty after
slicing through a scrub's Mtenda Lion deck.  Necro is out.

No, what I feel like doing is playing a Ridiculous Combo deck that
has a reasonable chance of surviving until the combo appears.  The
combo has to be fun, not the silly-but-effective Drain Life from
Pros-Bloom.

When you think Ridiculous Combos, the first card that comes to mind is
probably Varchild's War Riders.  Two R.C.'s use it: the DingusFlash
cheese and Binding Agony/Fire Covenant Channel/Fireball wannabe.
These are both highly tempting.

However, I recently traded for two Beta Serras and they are going in
whatever deck I make.  So White is definitely one of the colors.

With that restriction, I think it's time to break Enduring Renewal.
We've had this card long enough, folks, and there still isn't a
decktype built around it that makes the DCI go "Hmmm."  So let's put
some work into it.  I made up a preliminary deck, T2 legal, and tested
it recently against some casual competition.  Here's what it has in it:

  4 Phyrexian Walker
  1 Shield Sphere
  1 Ornithopter
  1 Soldevi Sentry
  1 Roterothopter
  1 Straw Golem
  2 Magma Mine
  2 Ashnod's Altar
  2 Snake Basket

  1 Atog
  1 Orcish Settlers
  2 Wildfire Emissary
  2 Incinerate
  2 Kaervek's Torch
  1 Fireball

  4 Swords to Plowshares
  2 Disenchant
  3 Enduring Renewal
  2 Enlightened Tutor
  3 Wrath of God

  21 land

It looks like crap but this deck did real well against the few decks
I played it against.  It has enough removal to hang with anybody, and
I ended up killing people with Snakes more than anything else.  Some
interesting points:

- You almost want people to know what deck you're playing, because
  then they'll wait to Counter/Disenchant the components of the
  infinite loop (Ashnod's, ER) instead of dealing with the initial
  threats.  You don't need too many Snakes when you have the removal
  above.

- There are a lot of neat ideas now IN TYPE 2 ALONE to reconsider
  Enduring Renewal.  Look at Mr. Atog above.  He just loves endless
  Ornithopters.  And Orcish Settlers will attract whatever removal
  your opponent has.

- I think I need more 1cc artifact creatures and less 0cc artifact
  creatures.  If you're using the Altar, you still come out ahead by
  sac'cing 1cc creatures to it.  With Extended, I can add Brass Men.

- Magma Mine is a 1 turn colorless kill with the Enduring Renewal
  loop.  It's a great thing to toss down early and put counters on
  when you have spare mana and are waiting for the combo elements to
  show up.  Magma Mine is TRES COOL in this deck.

- Snake Basket is, of course, very dangerous, and most people will
  take extreme measures against one when it comes out.


IDEAS:

- City of Solitude.  Easy to splash with duals.  Do the Pros-Bloom
  thang when you have everything.

- Fervor.  Let's Mr. Atog stomp on over; another weird possibility is
  Phyrexian Marauder.

- Soldevi Sentries/Arcane Denials/Prosperity.  Give them card
  advantage (regen Sentry, counter with Arcane), then Prosperity them
  for their library.

- Angelic Voices.  If I don't play any Red creatures, the 0cc guys
  suddenly have some teeth.

- Mana Flare/Squandered Resources.  Why wait for the combo?


PROBLEMS:

- This deck hates Armageddon.

- This deck hates too much Blue.


Well, now I turn it over to the newsgroup.  Given the card mix in
Extended, how would you go about buiding an Enduring Renewal deck?  My
"revised" :-> thoughts are along this line:

  2 Arcane Denial
  2 Prosperity

  2 Serra Angel :->
  4 Swords to Plowshares
  2 Wrath of God
  2 Disenchant
  2 Enduring Renewal
  2 Enlightened Tutor

  2 City of Solitude

  2 Lightning Bolt
  2 Fireball
  2 Kaervek's Torch

  2 Ashnod's Altar
  2 Ornithopter
  2 Soldevi Sentry
  2 Magma Mine
  2 Snake Basket

  2 Undiscovered Paradise
  1 Tundra
  9 Plains
  1 Grasslands
  3 Taiga
  4 Plateau
  4 Mishra's Factory


Thanks for reading all this,
Kevin

-- 
Kev @ UNC                        _|_   "I know that you're leaving / you must
denelsbe@cs.unc.edu               |     have your reasons / the season is
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~denelsbe   |     calling / your pictures are falling /
GO HEELS!                      _/~~~\_  down."    -- Blink 182