Hey guys and gals, welcome back into the Cave. While I've been going some Extending testing with my GW Midrange deck from last week, I have a deck I've had on the back burner that I'd forgotten about and decided it was time to bring it out into the light to test in the current meta. As we all know, Worlds has come and gone, and we have a few familiar decks that decided to show themselves again as well as new brews that came out of left field and surprised everyone. For those that don't know, the top tier decks in Extended at Worlds were Tempered Steel, Faeries, 4 Color Control, Jund, Elves, Valakut Ramp(GR), Valakut Control (UWG Prismatic Omen), and Ooze and Oz. So with this is mind, what do I think of this? "Well, for starters, everyone hates Fae..." whoops, sorry about that, personal opinion sneaked in there... but I really don't have a very good position on how these decks will do. Most notably that Faeries will indeed be at the top tables, but what about the newer additions?

We have Valakut Control, a typically-Bant deck that has more sinister plot to play Prismatic Omen and Scapeshift to kill us; the Tempered Steel "Affinity," which plays low casting cost artifact creatures and overwhelms us after a Tempered Steel hits play; Probably the most talked about deck, as I discussed this briefly in the last article too, is Conley Woods' deck Ooze and Oz as most of the community has affectionately called it. Like to have a non-Blue Combo deck that wipes your opponent's board, gets infinite mana, infinite power and toughness, and/or infinite damage to boot? Then this deck is for you! Basically the whole combo revolves around Necrotic Ooze with cards like Fauna Shaman, Grim Poppet, Devoted Druid and Molten-Tail Masticore. With Devoted Druid and Grim Poppet in the graveyard you can wipe you opponent's board plus go infinite mana by tapping Necrotic Ooze and untapping it with Devoted Druid's ability.

So what do I have in store for the Extended field today? Well, this deck was actually one of my Extended projects before GW Midrange and a few others that I'm still doing lists for. I called it something else originally, but I didn't want to get sued so I renamed the deck BR Darkside. So here we go with the development list:

Black

Removal
Doom Blade - Conditional removal, destroys target non-Black creature
Consume the Meek - Conditional Instant-speed mass removal, destroys all creatures with converted mana cost 3 or less
Disfigure - -2/-2 to a creature
Gatekeeper of Malakir - Conditional removal with payment of kicker, target player sacrifices a creature
Grasp of Darkness - -4/-4 to a creature
Consuming Vapors - Recurring removal, target player sacrifices a creature and you gain life from its toughness (with Rebound!)
Shriekmaw - Comes into the battlefield, destroys a non-black, non-artifact creature, alternative casting cost with Evoke but sacrifices on resolution
Nameless Inversion - Good creature type instant, +3/-3 to target creature
Deathmark - Conditional removal, destroy target Green or White creature
Fleshbag Marauder - Each player sacrifices a creature when it enters the battlefield
Smother - Conditional removal, destroys a creature with converted mana cost 3 or less
Infest - All creatures get -2/-2
Tendrils of Corruption - Deals damage equal to number of Swamps you control, then gain life equal to number of Swamps you control

So we have a lot of removal this time around and some cards I am very happy to see once again. Most notably Infest, Shriekmaw and Tendrils of Corruption. Unfortunately since we're going more 50/50 on Swamps and Mountains, Tendrils of Corruption seems like it needs a better home. Infest needs a good home when Aggro is more prevalent than this format of Control and Combo. Shriekmaw is good in the right deck and could be a possibility in the 75.

Utility
Makeshift Mannequin - Reanimation, allows you to reanimate a creature from grave and puts a mannequin counter (if targeted, that player sacrifices it)
Beseech the Queen - Heavy cost depending on mana, tutors a card for you
Duress - Disruption, takes a non-creature, non-land card from hand
Inquisition of Kozilek - Disruption, takes a card with converted mana cost 3 or less from hand
Memoricide - Disruption, new Cranial Extraction except you can take any number of those cards (though mostly you take all of them anyways)
Puppeteer Clique- Reanimation, enters the battlefield and reanimates a creature from opponents grave, gains haste, exiled at the beginning of the end step
Liliana Vess - Planeswalker, toolbox, target player discard a card, tutors a card, ultimate recurs all creatures onto your side of the field, heavy mana cost
Mind Shatter - Disruption, discards X cards where X is the mana put into the spell (plus BB, of course)
Rise from the Grave - Reanimate, gets a creature from a graveyard, adds Zombie type and Black along with its original types and colors
Sign in Blood - Draw, draw two cards and lose two life
Dark Tutelage - Draw, basically it's a Dark Confidant enchantment
Faerie Macabre - Discarding this card exiles two cards from a graveyard
Vampire Hexmage - Sacrifice to removes counters from a permanent (read: Planeswalkers!)

Alright, so we have a list that I consider usable options in the current format, and anything I missed is appreciated in the comments sections. I will admit having Liliana Vess is strange but it's still a Planeswalker that can fetch us answers as needed. Most of these are Control-centric, which is fine since I can already tell some are going to fit better in this deck than others, such as Makeshift Mannequin over Rise from the Grave.

Staples
Thoughtseize - Disruption, you lose two life to take any nonland card out of an opponent's hand
Profane Command - Toolbox spell, (choose 2 of) target player loses X life, returns a creature card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard, target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, or X target creatures gain Fear until end of turn
Malakir Bloodwitch - Protection from White, flyer, when enters the battlefield each opponent loses life with condition of the number of Vampires on your field, and you gain life to the life lost
Bitterblossom - Enchantment that makes you lose a life during upkeep and creates a flying Black 1/1 Faerie Rogue token
Leyline of the Void - Enchantment that exiles cards when they are about to be put into the graveyard
Abyssal Persecutor - Good 4-mana 6/6 flyer, downside is your opponent can't lose the game and you can't win with him on the board
Bloodghast - Recuring, if in graveyard it can recur itself with its landfall trigger
Shriekmaw - Comes into the battlefield, destroys a non-Black, non-artifact creature, alternative casting cost but sac on resolution. Also has Fear

So here we have some of the old and new staples Black has to offer. Thoughtseize in particular is a must for any Black deck, as it takes away their finisher and/or key cards away from them. The life payment isn't too costly depending on the deck you're playing against, however Burn can be one of those decks to be worried about.

Base
Grim Discovery - Recurs a land and/or creature back to your hand
Eyeblight's Ending - Destroys a non-Elf creature
Grave Titan - Heavy mana cost, when entering the battlefield or attacking you put two 2/2 Zombie creatures into play. Also has Deathtouch

Nothing really for us here but Grave Titan might be interesting somewhere.

Red

Removal
Arc Trail - Good multiple removal spell, conditional in situations where no creatures are present (note that it can target both players and is rarely truly "dead")
Banefire - Deals X damage where X is the amount of mana tapped into it. X of 5 or more makes in unpreventable damage
Lightning Bolt – Best removal spell Red has produced, always in the Red deck
Burst Lightning – Quick burn plus removal, conditional extra damage with Kicker
Pyroclasm - Mass removal of small toughness creatures, or post combat board wiper
Combust– Conditional removal, but solid removal overall in the current format
Flame Javelin - Restricted in terms of mana; 4 damage is a lot but it could have been a 3-, 4-, or 6-mana burn spell depending on mana available
Cunning Sparkmage - Decent removal of low-toughness creatures or post combat
Fling - Sacrifice a creature to deal damage equal to its power to a creature or player
Ashling the Pilgrim - Pays to put counters on it, if done a certain amount of times deals damage equal to the number of counters on it
Galvanic Blast - See Burst Lightning, conditional with Metalcraft instead of Kicker
Lash Out - Deals 3 damage to creature, conditional 3 damage to player if controller of spell wins the Clash
Inferno Titan- Awesome recurring removal spell and 6/6 Firebreathing Titan to boot
Magma Spray - Really good removal of creatures both before or post combat, 2 damage plus exiles if going to grave
Bogardan Hellkite - Creature with Flash, plus 5 damage to target player and/or any number of creatures
Searing Blaze - Decent removal, conditional with extra damage on Landfall
Flame Slash - Good, efficient Sorcery-speed removal
Chain Reaction - Deals damage to each creature equal to the amount of creatures on the field
Shard Volley - Sacrifices a land to deal 3 damage to target creature or player
Caldera Hellion - Deals 3 damage when enters the battlefield, gets bigger if sacrificed a creature before hitting play
Earthquake - Deal X damage to each creature without flying and each player where X is amount of mana paid (minus R)
Staggershock - Recurring damage
Ember Hauler - Sacrifices with payment to deal two damage to target creature or player
Tarfire - Deals 2 damage to target creature or player
Volcanic Fallout - Deals 2 damage to each creature and player at Instant speed, cannot be countered
Siege-Gang Commander - Deals damage when sacrificing a Goblin with 1R payment

So now we have our removal suite, mostly in Red. Most of these choices are going to depend on the field and how much Red we want in the deck. First thing first, Lightning Bolt is an auto0include in any deck Red is going to offer. A lot of these cards can be sideboarded in for some matchups such as Volcanic Fallout, Magma Spray, Combust and Chain Reaction.

Utility
Reverberate - Copies and changes direction of a spell
Ricochet Trap - Changes direction of a spell
Shatter - Destroys an artifact
Wild Ricochet - Copies and changes direction of a spell
Incendiary Command - Toolbox spell, choosing only two modes of: 4 damage to target player; 2 damage to each creature, destroy target nonbasic land, or each player reshuffles their hand and draws that many cards
Leyline of Punishment - Stops lifegain and prevention of damage
Goblin Ruinblaster - Destroys a nonbasic land with a 2/1 haste body and relevant creature types
Ingot Chewer - Destroys an artifact
Chandra Ablaze - Planeswalker, recurring damage source
Manic Vandal - Destroys an artifact
Siege-Gang Commander - Token producer
Smash to Smithereens - Destroys an artifact and deals 3 damage to that artifact's controller

Staples
Lightning Bolt - Main staple of Red decks, 3 damage to target creature or player
Flame Javelin - 4 damage to target creature or player
Volcanic Fallout - Uncounterable damage, 2 damage to all creatures and players
Earthquake - Conditional damage with payment, X damage to non-flying creatures and players
Manabarbs -1 damage each time a land is tapped for mana
Pyromancer Ascension - Copies spells when conditions are met
Ball Lightning - Conditional creature, haste, trample, solid power, weak toughness
Goblin Guide - Probably one of, if not the best, Red 1-drops
Hell's Thunder - Conditional creature, haste, flying, recurs itself with Unearth payment
Hellspark Elemental - Conditional creature, haste, trample, recurs itself with Unearth payment
Kargan Dragonlord - Solid beater in a mono-Red deck
Siege-Gang Commander -Token producer, deals damage when sacrificing a goblin with 1R payment
Taurean Mauler - Valid creature type, gets stronger whenever an opponent plays a spell

Base
Tunnel Ignus - Deals 3 damage to opponent when conditions are met
Chaotic Backlash - Deals damage times two from the number of White and/or Blue permanents an opponent controls
Heat Shimmer - Copies a non-Legendary creature and puts it onto the battlefield, exiles at the beginning of the end step
Warp World - Puts all permanents each player controls back into the deck, shuffles, then puts that many permanents back into play under each players' control
Stigma Lasher - Cheap mana cost Wither creature that prevents your opponent from gaining life after it deals damage to him or her

Multicolored

Removal
Murderous Redcap - Deals two damage to target creature or player, recurs to deal another one damage if no -1/-1 was on it at the time (Persist)
Bituminous Blast - Deals four damage to creature, plus Cascade
Terminate - Destroy target creature
Firespout - Conditional removal, since we're in Red it will deal 3 damage to each nonflying creature

Utility
Thought Hemorrhage - Name a card, Extradicate effect, deals 3 damage for each of the named card in the opponent's hand
Slave of Bolas - Threaten effect, sacrifice at the end of the end step
Sarkhan the Mad - Planeswalker, draw spell, destroys a creature to put a 5/5 Dragon into play, deals damage equal to power of each Dragon you control

Staple
Demigod of Revenge - 5/4 flyer that recurs each of itself from graveyard when cast
Boggart Ram-Gang - Cheap 3/3 beater with haste and wither
Blightning - 3 damage plus discards two cards from opponent's hand
Everlasting Torment- All damage is treated as if it were wither, and players can't gain life
Anathemancer - Deals damage to target player equal to number of nonbasic lands they control
Fulminator Mage - Sacrifice to destroy a nonbasic land

Base
None

Colorless/Artifact

Removal
Argentum Armor- Destroy permanents, expensive artifact and equip cost
Ratchet Bomb – Destroys all permanents with condition of number of charge counters, one-time "mass" removal
Molten-Tail Masticore – Flame Javelin, anyone?
Brittle Effigy - One time removal spell, exiles their finisher or threat
All Is Dust – Good mass removal spell, heavy mana cost, doesn’t affect Eldrazi creatures or artifacts, forces sacrifice rather than destroying
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - Destroys a permanent, expensive mana cost

Utility
Basilisk Collar - Equipment that gives Deathtouch and Lifelink
Armillary Sphere- Fetches two basic lands into hand
Sword of Body and Mind - Good overall equipment, pumps, token producer, protection from Green and Blue, and mills your opponent plus creates a 2/2 token on combat damage
Sword of Vengeance - +2/+0, Haste, First Strike, Trample and Vigilance seems pretty good for an equipment
Lodestone Golem - Good stall card through adding mana cost to non-artifact spells
Thorn of Amethyst - Adds cost to non-creature spells by one colorless

Staple
Wurmcoil Engine- Lifelink and Deathtouch? Along with putting two 3/3′s out with one of each ability, and being a 6/6, is good in my book
Pithing Needle - Prevents a named card from using activated abilities that are not mana abilities
Molten-Tail Masticore - Flame Javelin with Regeneration

Base
None

Nothing really exciting since we're not going into Esper colors, but a solid list nonetheless.

Decklist

This is the deck I'm going to stick with for a couple of Extended sessions, so the gauntlet I've set up will have updated notes from the bottom so I can see where we are with the deck and what changes can be implemented for improvement.

Notes on Card Choices:
Alright, so first things first, let's talk about the mana base since I didn't pick up on that in my last two articles. I really wanted a fast start with the deck so I incorporated the new Blackcleave Cliffs as the new Blood Crypt so we can have a first turn Thoughtseize or Lightning Bolt. After that we have Reflecting Pools and Graven Cairns to keep the mana base fluid.

Decks I'll be testing against:
Tempered Steel
Faeries
4 color control
Jund
Valakut Ramp(GR)
Valakut Control(UWG Prismatic Omen)
Ooze and Oz

Check back next time to see how the testing goes. Thank you for reading, and please don't be shy about commenting below on any of the lists or the decklist itself!

Kellen Huber

Follow me on Twitter as @cavemankellen