Second and third thoughts on bombtacular Alara Reborn monster Lord of Extinction.

If you haven’t already read my first thoughts on Lord of Extinction over at Five With Flores, you might want to check out Alara Reborn - Lord of Extinction before reading this. Or… You could just keep going here

So originally I was fixated on Lord of Extinction purely as a Lhurgoyf. Why did they not call it a Lhurgoyf? Upon some small amount of additional reflection I think I have decided that the Lhurgoyf lockdown might be needlessly superficial RE: creature type. Newcomer Lord of Extinction is obviously Lhurgoyf-plus for one more mana, but the fact that we are counting so much more than just creatures puts it out of an obvious “just” Lhurgoyf zone. Upon reflection he seems more Cognivore- or Magnivore-esque (check those creature types), which we don’t think of as attrition attractors but instead just big and synergistic finishers in their respective decks. You know, big guys that belong.

Lord of Extinction is just huge (or it should be). Consider a Black deck that does anything early (hand destruction, trading with creatures, and so on). Lord of Extinction is a little bit expensive, but the only word is huge. I can see it 10/10 on first appearance without imagining very hard. This is also a fine follow up to some sort of Wrath of God (from either side of the table, honestly).

The second thing that jumped into my craw is that not only was Lord of Extinction not made a Lhurgoyf (nor some kind of Lord), it was made an Elemental. Is that a top-down hint?

What do we know about Elementals? Smokebraider is friendly… But maybe not too friendly with this one (first turn nothing, second turn Smokebraider… you jet the unexciting gist for the third turn). But what about Evoke? Don’t many fellow Elementals go to the graveyard voluntarily? (Think Evoke mechanic.)

In fact we have some nice opportunities for card advantage with the somewhat forgotten Mournwhelk (a once and future favorite) and maybe even a revisitation of Makeshift Mannequin (I “invented” Broodmate Dragon at States 2008 in part due to Spencer Reiss suggesting Broodmate + Mannequin, which I think you will agree would be super sick). Lord of Extinction does not itself have any specific synergy with the Evoke mechanic on other Elementals, but there is certainly a flavor connection and a subtle synergy at play.

Though this creature is “only” very big (like the often criticized best two drop ever Tarmogoyf), Lord of Extinction may be specifically challenging from a conceptual / design standpoint. Like it’s not hard to recognize the Velocity-rewarding Quirion Dryad-ness of a Nyxathid (Quirion Dryad-ness in a Black Thumb sense of course)… Though it is a little harder to see the same on a Lord of Extinction. But think about it just a second, and you will see that the same Black Thumb sort of pump is available on Lord of Extinction, and in many cases, in a more pronounced sense.

For reference:

4 Quirion Dryad
4 Faceless Butcher
2 Spiritmonger
1 Thrashing Wumpus

4 Pernicious Deed

4 Vampiric Tutor
4 Tainted Pact
4 Duress
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Smother
1 Skeletal Scrying

4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Tainted Woods
14 Swamp
1 Wasteland

Sideboard
1 Massacre
2 Vicious Hunger
1 Engineered Plague
2 Terror
2 Naturalize
3 Choke
1 Cursed Totem
1 Perish
1 Smother
1 Stronghold Taskmaster

We can play much the same kind of Magic in the upcoming Standard, perhaps with a Mannequin strategy grafted on for our Elementals; Makeshift Mannequin will also reward us with more big creatures should our opponents refuse to cooperate by killing them. To wit:

2 Mind Stone

4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Mournwhelk
2 Shriekmaw

4 Broodmate Dragon
4 Lord of Extinction
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Murderous Redcap

4 Civic Wayfinder
4 Gift of the Gargantuan
4 Rampant Growth

5 Forest
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Twilight Mire
4 Treetop Village

Given how Standard works this deck could probably be improved by adding some colors (for example expainding Red for Volcanic Fallout) but I feel like the combination of super powerful threats and Makeshift Mannequin plus acceleration and disruption might be rewarding.

Now on top of this @rickiep00h on Twiter got me thinking about Lord of Extinction in a non-fair context. For example there is no reason this card can’t be the local Terravore or Sutured Ghoul in a deck that can Dredge most of its library away quickly. Tonight at Jon Finkel’s house a bunch of us — including Tuna Hwa, Lan D. Ho, and Danny OMS — brainstormed about ways this card could be exploited in Extended using Dread Return.

I feel like Lord of Extinction could be a double edged sword in some formats, playing both the really good Tarmogoyf role and the possible combo out.

Let’s keep thinking about this card!

LOVE
MIKE