Extended Overview

When I last left the Future Extended scene, the "enhanced" creatures (Steamcore Weird and Shrieking Grotesque) had just recently been fixed, bringing back two of the format's biggest heavyweights, Cogs and Stripes and Orzhov Blink. (Coming out of the switch to MTGO v3, they were "bugged" and wouldn't trigger their enhanced ability.) Neither of those decks was particularly kind to my deck of choice, Spore Cry, so I bowed out of the ring to watch the aggro-control contenders duke it out. However, I don't see much of any of those decks in the most recent winners' circles. Instead, I see an alternating pattern of Aggro decks, such as Elves! and aura-based beats, and control - specifically, MUTC, which had struggled for a long time to earn its first gold medal.

It's impressive to what extent the hybrids and auras of Eventide have captured the hearts and imaginations of Paupers across all formats of PDC. To my mind, those few cards make Eventide the single most important expansion WotC has put out for Pauper in years. Kage72 swept two consecutive Future Extended championships with the same new deck - a white/black hybrid affair called Orzhov Aura which swept both MUTC and DDW off their feet at FPDC Worlds with its speed, card advantage, and board control. The deck also proved resilient at XPDC Worlds against Steam Machine, the other flagship control deck of the format, and opposing decks as diverse as Mono-Black Control and Mono-Green Aggro. Clearly, Kage72 has put this archetype on the Extended map, even if it proves to be a short-lived metagame deck.

To see Kage72's latest list, check the Deck Database in Gatherling here: http://www.pdcmagic.com/gatherling/deck.php?mode=view&id=6090

The process of looking back at the recent winners of FutEx events has inspired a bit of nostalgia, so I thought I would take a quick look at all the top Future Extended contenders over the seasons. The format has been great fun to map out in anticipation of this moment. At last, PDC truly has three unique formats, each with its own unique character and metagame. I hope to see you at an XPDC table (or maybe even UPDC, if we can dredge up a few more co-hosts) soon!

AGGRO

Affinity - Potentially explosive starts and forces a metagame tooled against its endless artifact assault, this deck is rarely a bad choice in an aggro-friendly metagame.

Spore Cry - This is properly an aggro-combo deck, as it relies on the synergy between its key pieces to function properly. In the absence of red (and/or black) control, this deck can make a serious and consistent argument.

Blue Beats / Mono-Blue Fish - The "thinking man's" aggro deck, this deck fills the air and the shadow lanes with scary beatsticks and backs them up with nasty tricks and card advantage.

Xtra Crispy - The Extended version of Red Deck Wins, but beware of white control elements such as Aven Riftwatcher, Faith's Fetters, or Blind Hunter - basically, Orzhov Blink.

Elves! - The definitive green aggro deck designed and popularized by yogev_ezra at FPDC.

Untouchables / Bogle Builder / Nightwalker - For those aggro players who like to load auras on guys with one-sided shroud and smash the opponent's face off. Prevalence of this archetype, like Affinity, forces the metagame to adapt.

Wee Dominus - The blue/red aura-based deck which uses strong multicolor and hybrid cards to trigger a Wee Dragonaut.

Orzhov Auras - Kage72's metagame stormer, explained above.

AGGRO-CONTROL

Orzhov Blink - So much has been written or said about this deck already. Basically, it's the definition of synergy. Easy to build, easy to pilot, and easy to rack up the wins with.

Trinket Blink - The first FutEx winner, exploiting Momentary Blink and 187 creatures to gain massive card advantage.

Cogs and Stripes - A three-color juggernaut which amasses colossal card advantage by coupling the strategies of two other decks, UR Control and Trinket Blink.

Prison Yard - The evil cousin of Spore Cry, this sap-centered board-controlling beatdown deck has had only modest success so far...

Spicy Stompy - Not a true Stompy deck but more like Ponza, with land destruction and fat finishers.

Swiss Guard - A red/white metagame deck designed to take out Orzhov on all fronts.

Ninjas - A deck designed to make best use of Kamigawa block's blue and black ninjas for card advantage.

Faeries - A deck designed to employ the tricksy CIP effects of Lorwyn block's faeries.

CONTROL

Raspberry Control / Steam Machine - The first repeatedly victorious control deck in FutEx, it was designed to answer the twin threats of Spore Cry (with red sweepers) and Orzhov Blink (with counterspells).

MUTC - A more traditional counterspell deck that makes use of Mystical Teachings to outpace competitors in card advantage.

Parlor Tricks - A three-color deck that gains incremental board, card, and tempo advantage by making use of carefully selected creatures and instant-speed tricks.

COMBO

Freed - If turning an indestructible, enchanted land into a creature and equipping it with a longbow sounds like your cup of tea, check this interesting combo deck out.

Goblinstorm - If casting a ton of mana acceleration and draw spells and then filling the board with an endless sea of Goblin tokens sounds like your cup of Goblin tea, then you should check this deck out!

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There's something for everybody, and there are plenty more decks waiting out there that haven't even been designed or dreamed up yet. Extended is wide open. Check it out Wednesdays at XPDC!