Burrrrrp! IBC, yummy. What's next?

[Killer Joe]

For me, at least, the block season is over .
I really liked it, though .
How about you?

What's next?
Hmm, leseehere, spring and early summer is for standard, late summer is for block.....oh, yeah, that's right, the leaves are going to start changing, so that means it must be time for E-X-T-E-N-D-E-D season, yahooey! I like extended (sorta), but I have a question: If the extended format is going to start rotating out sets, then what happens to the old extended format like stuff from before Ice Age? I don't have a lot of cards from those days but I'm sure many of you do.
I think that if Mirage and Ice Age blocks rotate out of extended, there will be a "hole", a gap if you will, in the tourney environment. Is 1.5 still around? I bet if it is, it will start to become more popular pretty soon. Let's take a look at the possibilities:

Future Standard
7th. Ed
Invasion Block
Odyessy Block

Possible Future Extended (No Dual Lands)
6th/7th Ed.
Odyessy Block
Invasion Block
Masques Block
Urza's Block
Tempest Block

Possible Future 1.5 (with current restrictions)
All of the above
plus----->
Alpha/Beta
Revised
4th/5th Ed.
Mirage Block
Ice Age Block
<Edit: Opps! I forgot to mention all of the other crappy sets like Legends/Arabian Nights/Fallen Empires/ you get the idea, right? oooo, I just know some irrate "miss thang" will get upset over this blunder >

hmmm, maybe it'll become more popular, I know I might skip it for a more exciting Extended play. This is just what I think is going to happen, I have no real info on this, just a hunch. Let's vote!

Do you think 1.5 will become more popular if whole blocks like Mirage and Ice Age rotate out?

 

[Rando]

It will never be all that popular as long as no major tourney or tour uses 1.5 as one of it's formats.

There is no 1.5, Clasic-Restricted season.

 

[Hetemti]

I agree that 1.5 will come back.

T2 is just the WizCo cash cow for the kiddies with deep pockets or independant wealth.

1.X is running out of time. If they keep adding sets, it will turn into Type 1 without the Shiny Happiness of the older sets...aside from the Dual Lands. If they start removing sets then it will become Rath Cycle Meyhem and Artifact Cycle Meyhem with a side of Pirate delight...and there will be people with a few useless blocks of cards, since they are only T1 now, and admission to a T1 tournament is $1200 + S&H.

(Note to Rakso and all other T1 advocates: I know what you are thinking. Guess what? Eat Me. I don't need to see another article on all-commons black and SRB and how you don't need members of the P10 to win. Were that true, then 1.5 would never had come to existance.)

 

[Mundungu]

I love 1.5 and wish it was played more, but as long as Wiz/DCI doesnt hold any official tourney, I dont think it will become mroe popular.

 

[Spiderman]

Hetemti sure makes a lot of sense (except for eating him ).

WOTC ought to make it a season or whatever. Otherwise it sounds like it's gonna fall through the cracks and become the "lost" type.

 

[Gizmo]

90% of magic players dont even know what 1.5 IS, and half the people who do know think its the same as extended. It`s never been taken seriously by Wizards so dont expect that to change.

There is an impending rotation of Ice Age and dual lands, I believe, possibly before the Extended season begins (but after the Extended PT) but Mirage will be around for a while yet. Losing Ice Age really only takes a half-dozen cards, maybe FoW, StP, Glaciers... not much else really.

Extended is a happy and stable format, one I think will hopefully become more popular. Sets will continue to rotate at once a year, and everybody will be happy. Its NEVER going to be just like the old T2 formats, cos any single T2 format will only EVER be 1/3rd of the available cards in the format. Extended will remain new and interesting forever.

 

[Killer Joe]

Not many know what it really is, including me. That's why I had choice number 3 .

Let's talk about what Extended might look like 3 yrs. from now (assuming there is still a market for Magic and the world hasn't plunged into another "Great Depression"). It may look like this:
8th Ed./7th Ed.
2004 Block Set
2003 Block Set
2002 Block Set
Odyessy Block
Invasion Block
Masques Block

Certainly, there will be a need to have a format that will cover the sets from Ice Age to Urza's Saga, at least I think so. Would that be called 1.5? Would it be a viable tourney format? And what about John-John? (okay, remove that last remark, I've been watching too many soaps lately, school doesn't start until next week ).

I'm totally happy with the state of Extended right now, I guess we all are on borrowed time with the Dual Lands though , I'll be sorta sad to see them go.

Maybe FNM will be the place to fill that gap between Future Extended and T1, maybe.

 

[Zadok001]

Extended is by FAR my favorite format right now. I have a FNM tourney for it in less than 5 hours, actually. The variety of decks is totally unmatched, and I literally can't wait to see what people do with it.

There are a few combo decks verging on broken (the strange Ashnod's Alter/Foster combo deck might spring up again, or the new mono-U Donate deck), but nothing unstoppable. And the loss of Survival still left me with my new signature deck, Carpe Noctum. Control and blue in general are huge, and that means Fish has a shot at being a top deck again, just to screw with the metagame. Stasis lurks in the background like an evil overlord...

God, Extended rocks.

 

[Gizmo]

the Donate deck is almost unstoppable...

...at dealing 20 damage. Dealing 21 damage is vastly more difficult barring a great draw.

Im playing Chad Ellis`s version, with the Helm and Frantic Searches, and its really good.

 

[Apollo]

I love Extended too right now. In a few years, when Mirage/Tempest are gone, I will hate it, and then I'll want 1.5. But Gizmo is right. Nobody knows what it is, and I don't think it's going to be a renaissance any time soon. Though I'd ike it if it did, it ain't gonna happen.

As a matter of fact, I'm going to a T1 tournament in about 20 hours. I'll probly play SRB cause it's been so long since I've played much, and it's hard to screw up too bad playing SRB... anyway, maybe I'll post the gory details.

 

[Zadok001]

(Carpe Noctum took 5th of 28. )