Extended The Rock deck

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.
==The Rock and his Millions==
The Rock was originally a Type 2 Deck around the Urza Block designed by Sol Malka. It used <c>Birds of Paradise</c> and <c>Llanowar Elves</c> to get early mana development going and generate Card Advantage with <c>Yavimaya Granger</c> and <c>Yavimaya Elder</c>. In the end the game should be finished by <c>Phyrexian Plaguelord</c> and <c>Deranged Hermit</c>, "The Rock" (Nicknamed for professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) clearing the board with "his millions" (tokens). Overtime it has become common for <c>Phyrexian Plaguelord</c> to be thought of as "The Rock" however this is a misconception.https://twitter.com/targetplayer/status/1075860504931901440https://web.archive.org/web/20031229055909/http://www.newwavegames.com:80/strategy/articles/aug00/soma0802.html
<d title="The Rock and His Millions - Sol Malka - Tempest-6th-Urzas T2">
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
</d>
==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 <c>Pernicious Deed</c> and <c>Spiritmonger</c>. At the end of the lifecycle of that rotation, Michael Pustilnik won a Grand Prix with this build:
<d title="The Rock and his Millions - Michael Pustilnik - GP Las Vegas 2001">
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
</d>
==Tempest-Kamigawa Extended==
In the following years, the deck saw a few alterations of its core, especially as green fatties became cheaper. <c>Ravenous Baloth</c>, <c>Cabal Therapy</c> and <c>Eternal Witness</c> were immediately adopted when they first became tournament legal.
<d title="The Rock - Ernie Marchesano - Grand Prix Seattle 2005">
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
</d>
==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 easier to splash other colors. Rock decks which splashed White for <c>Loxodon Hierarch</c> and <c>Mortify</c>, red for <c>Flametongue Kavu</c> and <c>Terminate</c> or blue for <c>Gifts Ungiven</c> were no rarity and some decks even splashed multiple additional colors.
<d title="BGW Rock - Javier Dominguez - Worlds 2005">
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
</d>
==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 <c>Life from the Loam</c> and their similarities in how to play them can easily be observed.
==References==
Category:Tournament decks