This is the last summer of Mirrodin Block for Extended Magic. The October rotation away from our beloved metallic plane will have drastic consequences for the Extended format, and in particular a few treasured archetypes. I’ve compiled a list for your edification in the hopes that you will use these next few months to bid a fond farewell to some of the monolithic archetypes of Pauper Extended.

1. The first obvious loss is the Affinity archetype. Even gutted, Affinity was capable of some explosive aggro starts, bringing down 4/4’s and 4/5’s before the opponent could bat an eye. Thoughtcast rejuiced this aggro monster’s hand just as soon as it was able to dump everything onto the battlefield. Though it’s not currently played much, Affiinity has been and should continue to be a sideboard consideration in the Pauper Extended metagame.
2. Another crushing loss to the Extended format is the Trinket Mage / cogs engine. Combining the Trinket Mage with either Momentary Blink in white or Grim Harvest in black enabled Paupers to eke out massive incremental card advantage over the long game, fetching up a new answer with each grand battlefield entrance of the trinketeer. We not only lose the Mage himself but all his little cogs, too — Bonesplitter, Longbow, Bola, Scimitar, and all the Spellbombs. Most notably, this affects Cogs and Stripes, but any number of white/blue or blue/black archetypes will be hampered by the departure of the cogs.
3. Here’s more bad news for blue: the loss of Echoing Truth, blue’s only line of defense against weenie swarms. (Spore Cry and Goblinstorm are the two most notable weenie swarm decks in this format.) Black and red still have plenty of answers, but blue as a color is significantly crippled in these matchups by its newfound lack of an answer. Martyr of Ashes becomes a lot stronger, however, as -1/-1 is the best black can muster with the loss of Echoing Decay.
4. Blue loses a time-honored finisher in Spire Golem. The other colors lose their golems, too, but no color cherishes its basic land affinity beatstick quite as much as blue. The addition of Calcite Snapper into the cardpool makes this loss a tiny bit less crushing, and blue still has Errant Ephemeron (less impressive now that Flame Slash is around) and Shimmering Glasskite to rule the skies.
5. The impact on Orzhov Blink is minimal. (However, the October 2012 rotation is going to radically alter the Pauper Extended landscape…)

I suspect that Shards of Alara cards from Esper such as Sanctum Gargoyle and Courier’s Capsule may replace the Trinket Mage engine. Blue will dip into black or red to find answers for weenie swarms, and Affinity players will have to look elsewhere for aggro-combo archetypes (there are many in Extended — Eventide mimic decks, Ledgewalker enchant decks, Kiln Fiend burn, Dragonaut Irestorm, Spore Cry, etc).

And, of course, this all may change based on one factor: Wizards of the Coast is actually taking us back to Mirrodin in October. Any of these beloved cards we’re losing may yet be reprinted or “improved” in a new take on the world, its mechanics, and themes. As the summer dwindles and rumors begin to take shape about the Scars of Mirrodin set, we will keep our ears perked up for news of what may return to us…

I will leave you with a list of other cards we’re losing that have seen some play:

• Leonin Elder
• Leonin Squire
• Raise the Alarm
• Blinding Beam
• Annul
• Condescend
• Chittering Rats
• Echoing Decay
• Wail of the Nim
• Consume Spirit
• Spark Elemental
• Vulshok Sorcerer
• Molten Rain
• Echoing Courage
• Predator’s Strike
• Welding Jar
• Whispersilk Cloak
• Cloudpost