Everyone on this forum has probably heard about the concept of "Overextended" at least once, whether on this site or on another. Simply put:

Overextended is a new Eternal Format that begins with blocks AFTER the Reserve List was phased out by Wizards. It is a distinct format with its own banlist. It is designed to have all the format diversity, innovation, and intricacies of Legacy without Legacy's high price tags and fixed supply of staple cards.

Today, May 23 2011, Gavin Verhey posted a succinct and persuasive plea for Overextended on Starcitygames.com:
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/e...d_Or_Bust.html

Mr. Verhey not only argues for Overextended and its importance as a format (not to mention its importance relative to the newer announced format of "Modern Magic"), but he also offers a site that would serve as a hub of Overextended development, theory, and strategy. At the very least, the site would be the origin of future format growth:
http://mtgoverextended.com/

I encourage all Legacy players, both veteran and new, to look at these pages and join in the conversation. Whether you support the format, are skeptical about it, or even are flat out dislike it, those are all valuable voices towards its development.

Here are a few critical FAQs that will probably come up about Overextended. These are not necessarily conclusive answers, but I hope that they can start discussion.

1. "Does Overextended replace Legacy or otherwise endanger it?"
NO! Overextended is meant to supplement, not supplant, Legacy. It serves as a cheaper Eternal format that is supportable in a Pro Tour format, more accessible to newer players, cheaper (owing to the lack of the Reserve List), and just as fun.

2. "Is this an "official" format?"
Sadly it is not. Overextended, like EDH before it, requires wide community support from the internet and the real world to become a reality. That means ANYONE who wants to help and develop should take this chance to rise to the forefront of the upwelling format.

3. "Why the Invasion Block cutoff? Why not Mercadian Masques? Or Mirrodin?"
Mr. Verhey offers a persuasive argument about Invasion Block here:
http://mtgoverextended.com/?p=19
While it is not an airtight argument, it is a pretty good one. No Masques block means no Daze/Ritual/Brainstorm/Port/Dust Bowl/Tangle Wire/Rebels/etc. clogging up the works of innovation and new decks. It lowers the speed and powerlevel of a lot of decks, which is generally healthy for new formats. Also, Invasion was the first (oldest) set released on MTGO, so it allows older MTGO players to capitalize on their old investment and hopefully return to the game.

4. "How is this different than "Modern Magic" which was just announced by Wizards?"
By starting at the Mirrodin block, Modern Magic has a few problems from the beginning. It loses all of the wonderful cards from Onslaught/Odyssey/Invasion block that make up their own decklists. Tribal strategies, graveyard strategies, flashback, threshold, etc. All are gone as a result of this arbitrary cutoff. Moreover, this leaves a sizable chunk of MTGO player investments out of the loop. It would be more fun for players and more profitable for investors if the cutoff were changed. This means that "Modern Magic" would need to be replaced with "Overextended", or at least heavily modified.
Given that Wizards seems to be launching "Modern Magic" as a sort of trial, giving input in the "Overextended" Invasion+ direction would probably be better received at this point. Make your voices heard now!

If there are any other questions I missed, I will add them later as they are asked. I hope for this thread to be a sort of "The Source hub" for discussion of future Overextended activity.

-ktkenshinx-