There are a surprising number of contenders for Magic’s worst set ever. While Homelands and Fallen Empires are unarguably at the top of the leaderboards, things get a bit muddier after that. Many other MTG sets fall into a category similar to March of the Machine: The Aftermath. There are some very powerful cards in the set, like Nissa, Resurgent Animist, but the set was undeniably a failure.
Another set with a similar, but perhaps misplaced, reputation is Gatecrash. The set is primarily considered to be one of the worst in history, despite the presence of some mediocre chase cards like Crypt Ghast and the Enemy Shock Land cycle. That said, after a Gatecrash common completely dominated the latest episode of MTG YouTuber Ben Bateman’s latest Pack it Up episode, players are beginning to rediscover the power of Extort. Considering they opened a sealed pack of the insanely rare Arabian Nights expansion on the show, the fact that this forgotten mechanic became the MVP of the episode is doubly surprising.
Extort MTG
Originating in Gatecrash, MTG Extort looks innocuous at first glance, but it’s capable of doing a ton of damage over the course of a longer game. Adding potential life drain on top of every single spell you cast for a small cost, it doesn’t take much for Extort to put your opponents in an awkward spot. This not only excels in board stalls, but it also makes it extremely hard for an opponent to try to race you. Considering all this, Extort seems like the perfect mechanic for a Drafting environment. In Commander, however, things can get even better.
Because you have multiple opponents, Extort is capable of gaining you a lot of life. A three-life swing for one mana is an excellent rate and, when combined with additional synergies, can be pushed to the absolute extreme. Doubling the life loss from Extort with cards like Bloodletter of Aclazotz, for example, also doubles the amount of life you gain from the trigger. Throw in some powerful lifegain synergies from cards like Bloodthirsty Conqueror and Nykthos Paragon, and generating a ton of value becomes extremely easy.
For this reason, Extort commonly sees play in Commander decks that care about manipulating life totals. Liesa, Shroud of Dusk, for example, wants to restrict your opponent’s plays by taxing every spell with an additional two life loss. Of course, like many powerful effects like this, Liesa is symmetrical, taxing your spells as well. Extort goes a long way in breaking the parity here, as it both accelerates your opponents’ clocks while keeping your life total healthy. You can even use your surplus life to keep Liesa cheap.
While Extort traditionally works best when directly amplifying the game plans of your Commanders, as Pack it Up suggests, there are some trickier ways to use the mechanic as well. Commanders can choose to focus on Extort for its quality, but as demonstrated by Irene the Alien, the mechanic can also excel in large quantities.
Tons of Triggers
Aside from doing work in taxing and lifegain strategies, Extort can be a very powerful mechanic in Spellslinger decks. Adding on life drain to cards like Consider and Ponder makes them much larger problems, offering you card selection and a win condition all in one. That said, finding a Spellslinger Commander that can take advantage of Extort can be pretty tricky, as it’s not a strategy typically found in Orzhov colors.
Perhaps the best card to take advantage of this idea is the recently released G’raha Tia, Scion Reborn from Final Fantasy Commander. While you can go the route of casting one big spell to maximize G’raha’s payoff, it’s equally viable to trigger G’raha’s ability on every turn, including your opponent’s. Getting additional tokens when casting small cantrips amplifies the pressure that Extort causes while offsetting your Commander’s downside. Queza, Augur of Agonies can similarly amplify Extort’s potency when partnered with cantrips, in particular.
It’s also important to note that, unlike other abilities that involve Hybrid mana, Extort does not affect a card’s color identity. This means that players can maximize the mechanic in extremely atypical spellslinger Commander decks like Fandaniel, Telephoroi Ascian and Mavinda, Students’ Advocate. That said, in order to have access to all of Magic’s Extort cards, you do need an Orzhov color identity.
If you want to mix all of these strategies together into an Extort-focused Commander strategy, Sorin of House Markov can take this mechanic to the max. This is partly because Sorin is the only legendary creature that offers Extort, but the card also comes down early, setting up your life drain engine quickly. Sorin also transforms into a potent Planeswalker that’s capable of one-shotting opponents alongside various lifegain combos, forcing players to tread carefully. It’s a ton of value packed into a two-mana Commander.
Little, but Powerful Choices
While Extort is an extremely powerful mechanic to build around, there are certainly some drawbacks. In addition to having a restrictive color identity attached, there are surprisingly few cards that actually have the Extort mechanic included.
In total, only 16 cards offer the option to Extort your spells. The good news is that, among these, there are some extremely powerful Commander super staples to consider. Blind Obedience, for example, excels at slowing down fast mana, buying you tons of time to set up your game plan while you drain your opponent’s life. Crypt Ghast is undoubtedly the best Extort card for Black decks, doubling the amount of mana your Swamps produce.
Between having extremely powerful cards and a mechanic that’s easy to leverage, it’s no surprise that a Gatecrash common managed to dominate an entire episode of Pack it Up when backed by smart plays. One life isn’t a lot individually, but if you put a ton of Extort triggers on the stack, your opponents will suddenly find themselves in a position that they can’t come back from.