Extended The Rock deck
From MTG Salvation Wiki
The Rock, is a deck which has been less defined by the cards it uses and more by the strategy it employs. In general it is a black-green aggro-control deck which attempts to generate card advantage over longer periods of time and finish the opponent off with a big creature. The cards used for each specific role have varied over the years the deck has existed.
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[edit] The Rock and his Millions
The Rock was originally a Type 2 Deck around the Urza Block designed by Sol Malka. It used Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves to get early mana development going and generate Card Advantage with Yavimaya Granger and Yavimaya Elder. In the end the game should be finished by "The Rock" Phyrexian Plaguelord (nicknamed after the professional wrestler and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) clearing the board with "his millions" (tokens generated by Deranged Hermit).
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| Lands 4 Treetop Village 2 Dust Bowl 6 Swamp 11 Forest Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 1 Llanowar Elves 4 Albino Troll 3 Yavimaya Elder 4 Yavimaya Granger 4 Deranged Hermit 1 Woodripper 4 Phyrexian Plaguelord | Other 4 Duress 2 Vampiric Tutor 1 Tranquil Grove 3 Rapid Decay 2 Diabolic Servitude | |
[edit] Ice Age-Invasion Extended
The deck was later adapted for extended and while holding true to the original concept and retaining much of the cards, it moved gradually away from the original intent as it got rid of Deranged Hermit and also used less and less Plaguelords. The biggest shift happened when Apocalypse brought Pernicous Deed and Spiritmonger. At the end of the lifecycle of that rotation, Michael Pustilnik won a Grand Prix with this build:
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| Lands 4 Bayou 2 Dust Bowl 8 Forest 5 Swamp 4 Treetop Village Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 1 Phyrexian Plaguelord 4 Spike Feeder 2 Spike Weaver 4 Spiritmonger 3 Wall of Roots 4 Yavimaya Elder | Other 1 Choke 4 Duress 1 Living Death 4 Pernicious Deed 2 Phyrexian Furnace 1 Recurring Nightmare 2 Vampiric Tutor | Sideboard 1 Choke 3 Diabolic Edict 1 Dust Bowl 2 Emerald Charm 1 Massacre 1 Phyrexian Furnace 1 Rank and File 1 Stench of Evil 1 Tsunami 2 Uktabi Orangutan 1 Volrath's Stronghold | |
[edit] Tempest-Kamigawa Extended
In the following years, the deck saw a few alterations of it's core especially since green fatties became cheaper. Ravenous Baloth, Cabal Therapy and Eternal Witness were immediately adopted when they first became tournament legal.
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| Lands 1 Dust Bowl 8 Forest 4 Llanowar Wastes 6 Swamp 3 Treetop Village 1 Volrath's Stronghold Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Eternal Witness 3 Ravenous Baloth 3 Sakura-Tribe Elder 2 Troll Ascetic 4 Wall of Blossoms 1 Withered Wretch | Other 3 Smother 3 Vampiric Tutor 4 Cabal Therapy 1 Chainer's Edict 1 Cranial Extraction 4 Pernicious Deed 1 Recurring Nightmare | Sideboard 2 Coffin Purge 3 Naturalize 2 Chainer's Edict 3 Duress 1 Rude Awakening 4 Engineered Plague | |
[edit] Invasion-Lorwyn Extended
Ravnica Block brought a new revolution upon The Rock as the new Dual lands not only made the mana basis of the deck even more stable but also made it much more easier to splash other colors. Rock decks which splashed White for Loxodon Hierarch and Mortify, red for Flametongue Kavu and Terminate or blue for Gifts Ungiven were no rarity and some decks even splashed multiple additional colors.
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| Lands 5 Forest 1 Island 4 Overgrown Tomb 1 Plains 2 Polluted Delta 1 Swamp 1 Temple Garden 1 Watery Grave 4 Windswept Heath 2 Yavimaya Coast Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 1 Carven Caryatid 3 Eternal Witness 1 Genesis 1 Loxodon Hierarch 1 Ravenous Baloth 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 1 Withered Wretch | Other 3 Gifts Ungiven 4 Putrefy 3 Smother 4 Cabal Therapy 1 Duress 1 Haunting Echoes 3 Living Wish 2 Pernicious Deed 1 Sensei's Divining Top | Sideboard 1 Carven Caryatid 1 Dimir House Guard 1 Eternal Witness 1 Kataki, War's Wage 1 Loxodon Hierarch 1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror 1 Viridian Shaman 2 Withered Wretch 2 Naturalize 2 Duress 1 Stabilizer 1 Llanowar Wastes | |
[edit] Onslaught-Alara Extended
- See main Article Extended Death Cloud deck
- See main Article Extended Reliquary Rock deck
Most recently split off in two camps, decks that utilize Death Cloud and decks that splash white. Although there is only limited overlap between both decks, they are both fueled by Life from the Loam and their similarities in how to play them can easily be observed.
