Feature: Deck Tech – Extended Polymorph
By the time Akira Asahara sat down to play Extended first thing this morning in the World Championships, he already had four important wins with the deck of his own design. As 'Archer,' he is currently leading the Magic Online Championship Series, and rattled off a perfect record in Extended, which were instrumental in securing his lead in the event.
Polymorph is a spell that has been around for a while, but it did not see significant play until last year, when some rapscallions named Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and Iona, Shield of Emeria came out to play. With such board-dominating monsters to fetch, and quality ways of having a "creatureless" deck that can cast Polymorph, it finally found a home.
The shell of this deck is a blue-black control build that is reminiscent of the blue-black Dark Depths builds from last year's Extended. A combination of quality counterspells in Mana Leak and Cryptic Command, and discard in Thoughtseize and Duress make setting up a favourable time to cast Polymorph more straightforward. Having eight quality one-mana card-drawing spells means that finding it at the right time is also not a problem. Emrakul isn't quite Marit Lage in terms of how quickly it ends the game, but it's close. That this deck gets to run the omni-present Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the icing on an already enticing cake.
For all you blue-black control fans out there who are looking for something other than Faeries to work with, this could well be the answer to all your prayers. Here Bitterblossom tokens don't just get championed by Mistbind Clique, they are turned into 15/15 legends that end the game.
Akira Asahara (Archer on Magic Online) with Polymorph
a:25:{i:0;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Creeping Tar Pit";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:1;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Darkslick Shores";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:2;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Misty Rainforest";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:3;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:12:"Sunken Ruins";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"1";}i:4;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Drowned Catacomb";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"2";}i:5;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:6:"Island";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:6;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:9:"Mutavault";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:7;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Murmuring Bosk";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"1";}i:8;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:13:"Khalni Garden";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"1";}i:9;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:23:"Emrakul, the Aeons Torn";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"2";}i:10;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:13:"Bitterblossom";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:11:"enchantment";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:11;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:9:"Mana Leak";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"instant";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:12;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:9:"Polymorph";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:13;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:15:"Cryptic Command";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"instant";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:14;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:12:"Thoughtseize";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:15;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:9:"Preordain";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:16;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:6:"Ponder";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:17;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:23:"Jace, the Mind Sculptor";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:12:"planeswalker";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"3";}i:18;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:6:"Duress";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"2";}i:19;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:15:"Wurmcoil Engine";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:20;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:6:"Infest";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:21;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:10:"Doom Blade";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"instant";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:22;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Consume the Meek";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"instant";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:23;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:12:"Jace Beleren";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:12:"planeswalker";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:24;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:7:"Smother";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"instant";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}}
