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Why I Play Overextended and You Should as Well

Many of you have heard that Wizards is mulling over developing a new eternal format for Magic. Their “first draft” of the format was Modern, showcased in one of the event at the Community Cup. Others have taken to the Interweb and Twitter to suggest what they believe should be the starting block for a new format.

Of everyone, Gavin Verhey seems to be making the strongest argument Wizards should be paying attention to. He has taken to the idea and run with it, creating Overextended. A new eternal format consisting of the Invasion block forward. This choice offers great deck diversity and marks the beginning of the “online era” with MTGO.

Gavin has created a website for the format you can find here along with financing two weekly PREs (Player Run Events) for Overextended.

Right now, the Overextended metagame is a bit similar to your room if you live with your parents, in total disarray. The format is incredibly diverse, with new decks rising to the top every week. A diverse metagame has slowly emerged with viable control, aggro, combo, and mid-range decks. It is a truly awesome format, full of possibilities and deck ideas.

I’ve been playing in Gavin’s Tuesday night Overextended tournaments since week one. In 5 tournaments, I’ve only played against the same deck twice, while piloting 4 different decks myself. The format allows me to play with my favorite cards while not being overung by fast mana, free spells and turn 1 death.

In the June 28th tournament, I decided to pack a combo deck. Although I did not do especially well (started 2-0, finished 0-2 to misplays and bad choices, what else), I thought I’d do a small recap to give some of you a feel for the format. Anything I can do to drag more players into this, I will do it. Overextended is amazing. Here is what I ran:

[Deck Title=Travis Hall – The Perfect Swarm]
[Lands]
2 Breeding Pool
1 Dryad Arbor
5 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Yavimaya Coast
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Essence Warden
2 Imperious Perfect
4 Joraga Treespeaker
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Noble Hierarch
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Sprout Swarm
4 Intruder Alarm
3 Preordain
2 Mana Short
2 Repeal
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
2 Remand
1 Compulsive Research
1 Ponder
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Compulsive Research
2 Mana Short
4 Mental Misstep
2 Ponder
1 Remand
3 Tormods Crypt
1 Vexing Shusher
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

The combo of [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card] and [Card]Imperious Perfect[/Card]/[Card]Sprout Swarm[/Card] is a known commodity but has never been able to rise above tier 2.

It works like this:

[Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card] + [Card]Imperious Perfect[/Card] + Mana Creature = Infinite Creatures

Coupled with [Card]Essence Warden[/Card] in play, you also gain infinite life. My best success as pulling off the Infinite Creature and Life combo as early as turn 3.

Truth be told however, the list wasn’t great and the sideboard mostly staying on the sidelines. That being said it is a good start. An hour before the tournament, I built the deck and quickly goldfished 20-30 games to get a feel for the deck. It seemed explosive and interactive.

My tournament when as follows

Round 1: U/B Merfolk

Game 1: Opponent drops [Card]Stonybrook Banneret[/Card] on turns 2 and 3 while I play [Card]Joraga Treespeaker[/Card] and level it up my on turn two to play [Card]Noble Hierarch[/Card]. Turn 3 I play [Card]Imperious Perfect[/Card] keeping mana open for [Card]Remand[/Card], which nabs a [Card]Merrow Reejerey[/Card], but cannot stop a [Card]Wake Thrasher[/Card]. I [Card]Preordain[/Card], finding [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card]. I win on turn 5 with [Card]Mana Short[/Card] tapping all his lands for assurance.

Game 2: He turns 1 and 2 [Card]Duress[/Card] removing [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card] and [Card]Sprout Swarm[/Card]. I responding by playing 2 [Card]Noble Hierarch[/Card] and start beating down. He continues to play Merfolk, eventually getting me to under 10 life, until I draw [Card]Green Sun’s Zenith[/Card] to grab [Card]Imperious Perfect[/Card], proceeding to chain [Card]Preordain[/Card], [Card]Ponder[/Card] into the [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card].

Round 2: Mono-Black Control

Game 1: This game presents a good example of the problem with running 19 land. I mulligan to 5 before I see a land and am unable to build a critical mass of creature spells. My opponent uses [Card]Gatekeeper of Malakir[/Card] to keep my creature count low, and uses [Card]Lashwrithe[/Card] to shorten my clock. Coupled with the huge advantage being gained by the [Card]Phyrexian Arena[/Card] in play. I eventually die, but make sure to keep the [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card] in hand, keeping him in the dark with the combo and hope he does not know how to sideboard in against my deck.

Game 2: Anticlimactic, as he mulligans to 4 and I assemble the combo on turn 4.

Game 3: My opponent kicks me in the teeth on turn 1, using [Card]Inquisition of Kozilek[/Card] to grab my Alarm, followed by [Card]Surgical Extraction[/Card] to remove the remaining copies from my deck. This puts me in beatdown mode and I start with a [Card]Joraga Treespeaker[/Card]. My opponent makes a huge misplay, according to me, by using [Card]Go for the Throat[/Card] to kill the Treespeaker when I try to level it up on turn 2. It’s such a tempting play, but is without an answer when I follow up with [Card]Imperious Perfect[/Card] on the next turn. I use [Card]Remand[/Card] and [Card]Mana Short[/Card] to buy time until I have enough elves to smash for the win.

Round 3: Jund

Game 1: This is my nightmare matchup. My opponent has an interesting build of Jund, incorporating the [Card]Grove of the Burnwillows[/Card]/[Card]Punishing Fire[/Card] combo that he begins using turn 3. I next see [Card]Lightning Bolt[/Card], and [Card]Maelstrom Pulse[/Card] before getting destroyed.

Game 2: He again answers my turn 1 elf with a Bolt, but I slowly manage to build my army. I drop a turn 4 Perfect, and he drops the [Card]Bloodbraid Elf[/Card], cascading into [Card]Blightning[/Card]. I untap with a [Card]Preordain[Card], find an Intruder Alarm in my top 2 and combo off.

Game 3: This was the loss that hurt the most. I have total control of this match. My opponent plays [Card]Cabal Therapy[/Card] early, missing as I assemble the combo, with double [Card]Sprout Swarm[/Card] in hand. I play my first [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card] and my opponent uses [Card]Krosan Grip[/Card] against it. I play the second copy , after a [Card]Preordain[/Card], but I miscounted. I’m in need of one more mana to have enough to chain the Swarms. I pass the turn, only to have my Alarm Pulsed. My opponent has no cards in hand, yet I draw land after land, ending up with 15 of the 19 lands in the deck. I opponent eventually casts three successive [Card]Blightning[/Card]s, decimating my hand allowing Jund to do what Jund does.

Round 4: G/B/W Junk

Game 1: My best game of the tournament, as I pull out the turn 3 win. My opponent’s only plays are [Card]Tarmogoyf[/Card] and [Card]Stoneforge Mystic[/Card] for [Card]Batterskull[/Card].

Game 2: I was able to fight the good fight with [Card]Repeal[/Card] targeting the decks equipment, but [Card]Krosan Grip[/Card] proved too much for my [Card]Intruder Alarm[/Card], and my elves could not fend off [Card]Sword of Feast and Famine[/Card].

Game 3: I made a horrible decision to mulligan a hand with 3 elves and 4 land, hoping my 6 will have a combo piece or card draw. I don’t see a land again until I mulligan to 4. My opponent goes turn 1 [Card]Cabal Therapy[/Card] (nabbing my Alarm), turn 2 [Card]Tarmogoyf[/Card], turn 3 [Card]Cabal Therapy[/Card] and [Card]Stoneforge Mystic[/Card]. At the same point, I have [Card]Noble Hierarch[/Card] and two lands facing down against his Sworded up Goyf.

Overall, I was happy with the decks performance, but I noticed may necessary changes for the deck to improve.

[Card]Green Sun’s Zenith[/Card] was perfect for accelerating with [Card]Dryad Arbor[/Card], finding [Card]Essence Warden[/Card] when I was in need of life gain or [Card]Imperious Perfect[/Card] when I needed to combo off. I believe the Perfect should feature three copies in the deck.

[Card]Remand[/Card] was an ideal counterspell; drawing me an extra card and stalling my opponent long enough to find the card I needed in multiple occasions.

[Card]Mana Short[/Card] was great in some matches, mediocre in others. It played much more as a sideboard option than a consistent main deck choice

Having let some time pass, I had forgotten how great [Card]Compulsive Research[/Card] was. This should have been reprinted in Zendikar block.

[Card]Regal Force[/Card] is definitely a card to consider. With Zenith, it presents a tutorable way to draw a ton of cards.

[Card]Noble Hierarch[/Card] is on the block, as its not an elf, yet there were instances where I was in need of the blue mana it was able to provide. I think it will stay in for now.

If I were to play with this deck next week, this is what I would run:

[Deck Title=Travis Hall – Intruder Swarm]
[Lands]
2 Breeding Pool
1 Dryad Arbor
5 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Oran Rief, the Vastwood
2 Yavimaya Coast
[/Lands][Creatures]
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Essence Warden
3 Imperious Perfect
4 Joraga Treespeaker
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Regal Force
[/Creatures][Spells]
2 Compulsive Research
3 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Intruder Alarm
4 Preordain
2 Repeal
3 Sprout Swarm
[/Spells][Sideboard]
3 Loaming Shaman
4 Mana Short
4 Remand
1 Vexing Shusher
3 Viridian Zealot
[/Sideboard][/Deck]

Overextended is the best time I’ve had playing Magic in years. It is a great format full of possibilities continuously developing. I can only hope, Wizards pays attention to the turnout and love the players are giving this format. If ever you feel like dusting off your artifact lands or taking Dragonstorm for another spin, this is definitely the format for you.

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