[Deck] GW/x Maverick

[shallowend]

Has anyone tested sylvan safekeeper? Evidently has some synergy and a powerful effect but I have no experience casting it

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[Fatal]

Was already mention as zenithable, 5th Mother of Runes or even replacement in some meta.

[ewong5]

I ran safekeeper for a bit when I was testing out rallier and ramunap. It replaced my 4th mother of runes. Safekeeper was great for triggering revolt and recycling lands for ramunuap.

Downside: not as strong early game because it's a wasteland for your opponent

Upside: Late game GSZ target, human as well (if you run cavern), and has 'pseudo vigilance/haste' as he can use his ability right away and he can swing+still use his ability

I've gone back to the playset of mothers though because 1) the protection ability to get clear swings and 2) scryb ranger has better synergy with the tap abilities. I was really forcing sylvan with Rallier and Ramunap in the MD. Now that i've sent Crucible man into the SB I think safekeeper is out

[Megadeus]

The downside with safe keeper is that he's bad with stone forge because if you spend the mana to equip then safekeeper will make it fall off if you have to use it. That said, Active and attacking knight with Safekeeper means your opponent has to chump every turn or you can just combo kill them. Also you can sneak some wins like that as well. People that don't play with Knight vastly underestimate the combat math

[RobNC]

The downside with safe keeper is that he's bad with stone forge because if you spend the mana to equip then safekeeper will make it fall off if you have to use it. That said, Active and attacking knight with Safekeeper means your opponent has to chump every turn or you can just combo kill them. Also you can sneak some wins like that as well. People that don't play with Knight vastly underestimate the combat math

I'm pretty sure if the creature is already equipped when it gets Shroud it will keep the equipment. It just can't be equipped further. Shroud just protects it from being targeted, which isn't happening as it's always equipped. (And don't confuse it with SOFI falling off a creature with Painters Servant in play naming blue or red; that falls off due to protection from the color, not from targeting).

[Rascalyote]

I'm pretty sure if the creature is already equipped when it gets Shroud it will keep the equipment. It just can't be equipped further. Shroud just protects it from being targeted, which isn't happening as it's always equipped. (And don't confuse it with SOFI falling off a creature with Painters Servant in play naming blue or red; that falls off due to protection from the color, not from targeting).

Correct, or else Lightning Greaves would be pretty bad - However there are times where you go to equip and they blast your equip target, mom in response to removal is good here, safekeeper is not.

I stopped playing Safekeeper because although it was sometimes nice, putting myself down a land was too high a cost most of the time especially in more tempo oriented matchups.

[ThediscoPower]

Has anyone tested sylvan safekeeper? Evidently has some synergy and a powerful effect but I have no experience casting it

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i've played in about 3 scgs, and maybe 2 classics with maverick in the last years. I have cashed in all of those. And everytime, it was safekeeper saving my ass out there. Be it making a lethal knight out of the blue, or making it a pain for the opponent to deal with anything you have, or even making massacre uncastable by a storm opponent. Also, nobody expects a green sun for 1 tutoring for something that will blank their removal.

I would never leave home without 1 in my 75 unless you tell me that you expect en 80% tempo field

[shallowend]

i've played in about 3 scgs, and maybe 2 classics with maverick in the last years. I have cashed in all of those. And everytime, it was safekeeper saving my ass out there. Be it making a lethal knight out of the blue, or making it a pain for the opponent to deal with anything you have, or even making massacre uncastable by a storm opponent. Also, nobody expects a green sun for 1 tutoring for something that will blank their removal.

I would never leave home without 1 in my 75 unless you tell me that you expect en 80% tempo fieldThat is a strong endorsement. Will try one out.

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[Fatal]

Made finish on Polish Challenge 2017 (side event on Polish Nationals 2017) with Maverick, will wrote report and list later.

[Stuart]

So has anyone found any strong anti-Czech tools? I got completely stomped by it last week, and with EW coming up I was considering tweaking my board for Czech and Grixis bullshit.

The Czech pilot who stomped me was suggesting that I avoid adding any more 3 CMC stuff (like Ramunap), and that I could either try efficient beaters like Goyf, or haymakers (we discussed planeswalkers, Armageddon, and Cataclysm).


Made finish on Polish Challenge 2017 (side event on Polish Nationals 2017) with Maverick, will wrote report and list later.

Congrats! Look forward to hearing more.

[Fatal]

Actually played two tournaments day-by-day first was MKM Trial then Polish Challenge. I played two versions of Maverick on each of them.

First MKM Trial:

List:
Main(61):

4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Renegade Railler
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sylvan Library
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sylvan Safekeeper
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

1 Dryad Arbor
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Forest
1 Plains

//SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Zealous Persecution
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Choke
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dark Depths
1 Therespian Stage
1 Council's Judgement




Round 1 (D&T) 2 : 1 WIN- Opponent was quite new in format so was little stressed. That was my only loose small game until top.

Game 1 - Very good draws from me and him, similar cards SFM -> Jitte - but... I was surprised, normally opponents playing SFM from vial and thalia from mana to tax opponent removal. He played SFM from mana, and vial Thalia in my Main Phase which surprised me a lot - couldn't cast and equip my own jitte (didn't draw any removal) which ended fast counters on his jitte.

SB:
-4 Thalia
-1 Gaddock Teeg
+3 Zealous Persecution
+1 Reclamation Sage
+1 Blessed Alliance

Game 2 - Had everything, MVP: Zealous Persecution - vs opponent mom +(X/1) company, Abrupt Decay vs vial and equips, Reclamation Sage same, Qasali Pridemage same. Realized plan - kill equips, kill moms use my own creature to equip jitte and gain more advantage. Game was really easy since opponent didn't know to side in - I concede Game 1 fast, after I saw that I can't win.

Game 3 - Same, except my opponent was better sided - didn't change anything

Round 2 (Dark Depths) 2 : 0 - That was most unfair pairing and hand which opponent met, I scout him ending round 1, so know which hand keep.

Game 1 - I keep hand - 3 Wastelands, 1 Ghost quarter, and artifact removal, He played duress and cry.. after duress he played 3 petals and needle on wastelands. Game ended fast when I stop his combo, then blow needle and waste him out of the game.

SB:
-1 Gaddock Teeg
-2 Sylvan safekeeper
+2 Abrupt Decay
+1 Reclamation Sage

Game 2 - This game was more tide - Opponent start with thoughtsize and discard GSZ, leaving me Blessed Alliance which I used to kill token. Had answer to needles.

Round 3 - 2 : 0 BUG Fit
Game 1 - Tireless tracker works great with Opponents' Veterans, I ended game very fast.

-1 Birds of Paradise
-2 Sylvan Safekeeper
-1 Gaddock Teeg
-1 Ghost Quarter

+1 Bojuka Bog
+1 Reclamation Sage
+1 Dark Depths
+1 Therespian Stage
+1 Council's Judgement

Game 2 I create Marit token which is best weapon against BUG, specially nic fit.

Round 4 ID (I found out that I can ID to top8 since we had only full set of points after 3 rounds ! Lovely draws :-).
Round 5 ID (dinner)

Quarterfinal:
R/G combo Lands (2 : 0)
Game 1
I used intensively Scavenging Oooze then Knight of the Reliquary to end the game really fast. he loam only once.

-1 Gaddock Teeg
-1 Sylvan Safekeeper
+1 Therespian stage
+1 Bojuka Bog

Game 2
He had Tireless Tracker which I StP, yeap really I keep them since I saw this tech against. Exiling his gy with Bojuka.

Semifinal - Czech Pile 0 - 2

Game 1
Couldn't kill him with Sigarda - no answer to Strix.. no GSZ, or removal, pridemage etc.. dead by Jace protected with Strix.



Polish Challenge:

List:

4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Renegade Railler
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
1 Sylvan Library
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

1 Dryad Arbor
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Taiga
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Forest
1 Plains

//SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Zealous Persecution
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Choke
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dark Depths
1 Therespian Stage
1 Life from the Loam

I changed the list since I almost always side out 1 safekeeper in day 1, I also cut 2 decays for more effective grudges to gain CA vs all decks with equips and strixes.

Round 1 (2 : 0) WIN - same very nice guy with Dark Depths Combo from day before
Game 1 -he tried to combo off turn 3, after discard and protection (sylvan safekeeper) I used Railler to cast 2 wastelands and swords, had mana from Gaea's Cradle to cast then from GSZ in turn 2 with wasteland and swords in same turn.

Game 2 - Opponent keep 2 needles but against can't answer everything - Knight -> solution, wasteland, ghost, swords and Ramunap cycle.

Round 2 (0 : 2) - Grixs Delver - LOSE
Game 1 - I keep decent hand and then never draw anything then land - I fetched all lands from my deck - sad game.
Game 2 - mull to 5 - (no lands) - no gas to fight after bolt + fatal push.
Was really angry after this round - this was my favorable matchup and loses to fate, but I didnt give up.

Round 3 - UW Control (2 : 0) WIN
Game 1 - I won with double SFM (mana dork get StP), first found me a Sofi (also get StP by snapcaster), second found me batterskull which resolved, then I seal game with Safekeeper + Skull with Sofi.

- 4 swords to plowshares
- 1 Gaddock Teeg (really)
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 2 Thalia (really)
+ 3 Zealous Persecution
+ 1 Blessed Alliance
+ 2 Ancient Grudge
+ 2 Choke

Game 2 - I blow up each white source and land choke which resolve, ended game fast with Sword of Fire and Ice, had answer against TNN (ZP), and blow up equip with ancient grudge.

Round 4 - UWr Tempo (2 : 0) WIN

Game 1 - Opponent keep greedy hand, I waste him for the win, then Thalia beatdown
- 1 Gaddock Teeg (really)
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 2 Sylvan Safekeeper
- 1 Sigarda
- 1 Tireless Tracker
+ 3 Zealous Persecution
+ 1 Blessed Alliance
+ 2 Ancient Grudge

after all I would also bring Loam for something - still think for what.

Game 2 - Similar he didn't had any basics I waste, waste, fetch -> dude, then close game with beatdown.

Round 5 - ID

quarterfinal:
BUG Fit - (2 - 1) WIN
Game 1 - Was killed by a lot of removal with Trun beatdown, he crush my hand with well played Cabal Therapies turn 1 and 2. (3 Therapies total with fleshbacks)

-1 Birds of Paradise
-1 Gaddock Teeg
-1 Ghost Quarter
-1 Umezawa's Jitte
-1 Stoneforge Mystic


+1 Dark Depths
+1 Therespian Stage
+1 Blessed Alliance
+2 Ancient Grudge

Game 2 - DD/TS combo - fast Knight with Scryb Ranger help.
Game 3 - DD/TS combo + alternative with sword of fire and Ice on Sigarda

semifinals:
Death and Taxes (2 - 1) WIN - very very long game - about 2 hours long.

Game 1: Opponent survive on 2 life... - game was about 1,5 time long.
Opponent Revoker Jitte and had active Mom, I had crushing advantage thanks to Tracker, then Ooze and Knight join the party and I beat him. He was on 2, after alpha strike suvived by Recruiter -> Thalia for chump. But he draw Flicker and found last equip - SOFI (I blow up his batterskull, and jitte was revokered under mom protection), I couldn't dmg those two last dmg vs 2 active moms and after hour of beating lost with two really big threads. The worst thing was when he kill my Shaman because I couldn't achieve Revolt trigger since Knight eat all lands (last was wastelanded by opponent in his turn). Railler was needed to bring back Qasali to blow up last equip. Turn after I found land to sacrifice he draw second revoker to needle in response Qasali.. Each of those turns was lethal on table and Demonic tutor from opponents draws with really good play. Probably best game on this day to watch - and longest.

Side:
-1 Gaddock Teeg
-1 Sigarda
-4 Thalia
+3 Zealous Persecution
+1 Blessed Alliance
+2 Ancient Grudge

Game 2: I crush him - standard - blow vial with Grudge, kill mom + company with ZP, attack with my own jitte
Game 3: I crush him - similar to game 2, had everything.

finals:
Opponent concede - Czech Pile - (was very late, and he had long way home) and we split - title / prizes.

[shallowend]

Under construction

Actually played two tournaments day-by-day first was MKM Trial then Polish Challenge. I played two versions of Maverick on each of them.

First MKM Trial:

List:
Main(61):

4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Renegade Railler
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sylvan Library
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sylvan Safekeeper
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

1 Dryad Arbor
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Forest
1 Plains

//SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Zealous Persecution
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Choke
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dark Depths
1 Therespian Stage
1 Council's Judgement




Round 1 (D&T) 2 : 1 WIN- Opponent was quite new in format so was little stressed. That was my only loose small game until top.

Game 1 - Very good draws from me and him, similar cards SFM -> Jitte - but... I was surprised, normally opponents playing SFM from vial and thalia from mana to tax opponent removal. He played SFM from mana, and vial Thalia in my Main Phase which surprised me a lot - couldn't cast and equip my own jitte (didn't draw any removal) which ended fast counters on his jitte.

SB:
-4 Thalia
-1 Gaddock Teeg
+3 Zealous Persecution
+1 Reclamation Sage
+1 Blessed Alliance

Game 2 - Had everything, MVP: Zealous Persecution - vs opponent mom +(X/1) company, Abrupt Decay vs vial and equips, Reclamation Sage same, Qasali Pridemage same. Realized plan - kill equips, kill moms use my own creature to equip jitte and gain more advantage. Game was really easy since opponent didn't know to side in - I concede Game 1 fast, after I saw that I can't win.

Game 3 - Same, except my opponent was better sided - didn't change anything

Round 2 (Dark Depths) 2 : 0 - That was most unfair pairing and hand which opponent met, I scout him ending round 1, so know which hand keep.

Game 1 - I keep hand - 3 Wastelands, 1 Ghost quarter, and artifact removal, He played duress and cry.. after duress he played 3 petals and needle on wastelands. Game ended fast when I stop his combo, then blow needle and waste him out of the game.

SB:
-1 Gaddock Teeg
-2 Sylvan safekeeper
+2 Abrupt Decay
+1 Reclamation Sage

Game 2 - This game was more tide - Opponent start with thoughtsize and discard GSZ, leaving me Blessed Alliance which I used to kill token. Had answer to needles.

Round 3 - 2 : 0 BUG Fit
Game 1 - Tireless tracker works great with Opponents' Veterans, I ended game very fast.

-1 Birds of Paradise
-2 Sylvan Safekeeper
-1 Gaddock Teeg
-1 Ghost Quarter

+1 Bojuka Bog
+1 Reclamation Sage
+1 Dark Depths
+1 Therespian Stage
+1 Council's Judgement

Game 2 I create Marit token which is best weapon against BUG, specially nic fit.

Round 4 ID (I found out that I can ID to top8 since we had only full set of points after 3 rounds ! Lovely draws :-).
Round 5 ID (dinner)

Quarterfinal:
R/G combo Lands (2 : 0)
Game 1
I used intensively Scavenging Oooze then Knight of the Reliquary to end the game really fast. he loam only once.

-1 Gaddock Teeg
-1 Sylvan Safekeeper
+1 Therespian stage
+1 Bojuka Bog

Game 2
He had Tireless Tracker which I StP, yeap really I keep them since I saw this tech against. Exiling his gy with Bojuka.

Semifinal - Czech Pile 0 - 2

Game 1
Couldn't kill him with Sigarda - no answer to Strix.. no GSZ, or removal, pridemage etc.. dead by Jace protected with Strix.



Polish Challenge:

List:

4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Renegade Railler
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
1 Sylvan Library
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

1 Dryad Arbor
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Taiga
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Forest
1 Plains

//SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Zealous Persecution
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Choke
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dark Depths
1 Therespian Stage
1 Council's Judgement

I changed the list since I almost always side out 1 safekeeper in day 1, I also cut 2 decays for more effective grudges to gain CA vs all decks with equips and strixes.

Round 1 (2 : 0) WIN - same very nice guy with Dark Depths Combo from day before
Game 1 -he tried to combo off turn 3, after discard and protection (sylvan safekeeper) I used Railler to cast 2 wastelands and swords, had mana from Gaea's Cradle to cast then from GSZ in turn 2 with wasteland and swords in same turn.

Game 2 - Opponent keep 2 needles but against can't answer everything - Knight -> solution, wasteland, ghost, swords and Ramunap cycle.

Round 2 (0 : 2) - Grixs Delver - LOSE
Game 1 - I keep decent hand and then never draw anything then land - I fetched all lands from my deck - sad game.
Game 2 - mull to 5 - (no lands) - no gas to fight after bolt + fatal push.
Was really angry after this round - this was my favorable matchup and loses to fate, but I didnt give up.

Round 3 - UW Control (2 : 0) WIN

Round 4 - UWr Tempo (2 : 0) WIN

Round 5 - ID

quarterfinal:
BUG Fit - (2 - 1) WIN
Game 1 - Was killed by a lot of removal with Trun beatdown, he crush my hand with well played Cabal Therapies turn 1 and 2. (3 Therapies total with fleshbacks)
Game 2 - DD/TS combo - fast Knight with Scryb Ranger help.
Game 3 - DD/TS combo + alternative with sword of fire and Ice on Sigarda

semifinals:
Death and Taxes (2 - 1) WIN - very very long game - about 2 hours long.

Game 1: Opponent survive on 2 life... - game was about 1,5 time long.
Game 2: I crush him - standard blow vial, kill mom + company, attack with my own jitte
Game 3: I crush him - similar to game 2

finals:
Opponent concede - Czech Pile - (was very late, and he had long way home) and we split - title / prizes.Did you miss mother of runes at all?

I am interested in the cut of batterskull, what changed to lead to its inclusion on the second day?

Did main deck sigarda do work?

Well done on the finish!


Sent from my F3111 using Tapatalk

[Fatal]

Did you miss mother of runes at all?

I am interested in the cut of batterskull, what changed to lead to its inclusion on the second day?

Did main deck sigarda do work?

Well done on the finish!


Sent from my F3111 using Tapatalk

ad. Mother of Runes
I missed Mom once vs BUG when having Sigarda on table and on oppoite Strix and Jace, but mom wouldn't do the job since he had enough removal to kill any other creature which I cast, so she wouldn't resolve board state.
Second miss was in semi-final day 2 when opponent survive on 2 life, but mom wouldn't resolve it since he had revoker (colorless) with active mom (actually 2 moms :-) vs my 10/10 ooze and 10/10 KotR with additional creatures - he really play well and had god draws - lethal attack - 1 card 2 blockers missing he vial Recruiter, and additional blocker to survive, etc..).

So in sum - no I didn't miss her, since I use other value creatures in this slot which has more aggresive aproach or bigger CA - Tracker, Railler, Ramunap, Sigarda, each of those creatures are good topdecks also late game and give instant value even if opponent have removal in hand. I also don't have problems after SB when I face -1/-1 effects like Persecution, Dread of Night, Marsh Casualties or Golgari Charm only 9 creatures have X/1 in 75 - 4 Thalia which can be saved by karakas, Scryb Ranger, Birds of Paradise, 2 Safekeepers. Most of them aren't white which is important against most common SB - Dread of Night.

ad. Batterskull
I changed my MD adding Batterskull since meta was mostly fair. I didnt scout too many combo decks Day 1, second factor was less Grixis more BUGs, and UW/x so I pick batterskull as bigger thread density and better against fair race matchups. If meta would be more Grixis or combo I would cut Batterskull.

ad. Sigarda do their jobs against all midrange and control matchups mostly BUG, but also vs lands as a finisher resilient on mazes. Never had problems to cast it thanks to cradle.

I moved second Safekeeper to SB since I predict less white control decks - so less swords - so second one wasn't needed, I still can reanimate it with Railler.
Adding red was good move since I met a lot of Equips decks, more over all midrange/control BUG/x running Strix which is very good target for Ancient Grudge.
I probably will move to Punishing Version since meta is more midrange/control oriented, then combo, but let little splash of black (1 Dual) for 3 x Zealous Perecution against TNN. I also think Pyroblast is well positioned now, against all those 3 CMC bombs like snapcaster+removal, Leo or TNN.

[Rascalyote]

@fatal

Congrats on the finish but your list looks really soft to storm and other combo decks like it - Your sideboard pretty much only has 2 canonists that are really good and the zealous/bog come in but aren't super stellar. Storm is going to anticipate having to beat 2/2's on turn 2 in post board games so I'd really like another angle of attack (discard and surgical are good here). Would you play SB like this at a bigger event or was it just a local meta decision?

PS: I know I've said it a bunch but people should try out main deck thoughtseize, it's been doing amazing for me =p.

[Fatal]

I predict meta and made SB vs it, that was my decisions to cut discard from side. Before I tested thoughtsize and cabal therapy, from my analysis I met storm to few times to keep discard package, it was used vs:
Storm
S&t
Infect
Burn (only c.therapy)
Vs all other matchups It wasn't enough to good.
Most common decks was: blue tempo grixis and uwr and midrange blue controls most Bugs and Czech pile.
I had 4 Thalia with Gaddock md, that's still a decent chance G1 to win more over 2 Canonist works also vs elves which also not a great matchup.
That was my decision vs predict meta. I wanted better answers vs deck which I met for sure then matchups which can occur with less probability.

At the end I will go more for punishing with pyroblasts on an, build since it has much better chances against Czech Pile which will be next miracles, but I will still keep little black splash for Zealous Persecution which is must actually, and probably add some pyro.
Example SB:
2 Canonist
3 Zealous Persecution
2 Ancient Grudge
1 DD
1 TS
1 Bojuka
2 pyroblasts
1 blessed Alliance
2 choke
Still want to fit loam somewhere


@fatal

Congrats on the finish but your list looks really soft to storm and other combo decks like it - Your sideboard pretty much only has 2 canonists that are really good and the zealous/bog come in but aren't super stellar. Storm is going to anticipate having to beat 2/2's on turn 2 in post board games so I'd really like another angle of attack (discard and surgical are good here). Would you play SB like this at a bigger event or was it just a local meta decision?

PS: I know I've said it a bunch but people should try out main deck thoughtseize, it's been doing amazing for me =p.

[menloe]

I had a great time playing GWb Maverick at a local legacy tournament. I ran some number of Ramunap Excavator + Ghost Quarter and an Aven Mindcensor in previous iterations of my list but, inspired by some of the conversations taking place here and based on my own evolving assumptions about this deck, opted to run Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Garruk Relentless instead. (Namely, I would rather draw into something that has the potential to crack a game wide open if I’m already not Zenithing for whatever miscellaneous three drop I’m running to round out my top end.) I went 3-0 against Turbo Depths (which seems like an insanely easy matchup?), Mentor Miracles, and Czech Pile.

(1) A Mom-protected Scryb Ranger did well against Depths both games, giving me much mana when I had but few lands and infinite blocks while I dug for a KotR to do shenanigans. A SOFI-equipped Scryb did all the beats game 1; Scryb made many excellent plays and let me dig for KotR to Karakas game 2. 2-0; 1-0.
(2) Miracles opponent Terminused me to fuck and back game 1. He then had poopy hands games 2 & 3. In the former, he couldn't get to three lands in time to do anything. In the latter, we both mulled to 5. My 5 were better, however, being land, land, Thalia, Teeg, Choke. His 5 were spell, spell, spell, spell, spell, and he didn't draw a land for two/three turns, a situation made worse by my Thalia. Sucks to beat a buddy like this. 2-1; 2-0. I made two significant play errors that I can remember in this round (both game 2): Revoker naming Jace when I had a Teeg in play and eating a spell with DRS after my opponent had already cast STP. In the former, I acted on impulse and named the one card I knew I would probably lose to if I lost Teeg. I should have named Staticaster given the circumstances. It is possible I am misremembering the latter or I was doing something specific that required me to make this play, but I can't imagine what that might have been. Avoiding tunnel visions and keeping complete track of my side of the board at all times are things I am working on... :cry:
(3) Game 1 against Czech pile was your standard G/W creature beat down story. Game 2 I was creature poor. Lost to Jace, the Mindsculptor and could never profitably attack through his multiple Strixes. I showed him my Choke like a dumbass the turn before he won. I won game 3 with Elspeth, Choke, and Scryb Ranger. Many good bears ran face first into a counterspell to facilitate sticking the walker and hoser. I think it would have been hard for him to win in the face of either card, but both together was GG. I got wrathed at some point, but Elspeth has many relevant +1 abilities in such circumstances. 2-1; 3-0.

Scryb Ranger is probably my favorite card in the deck. She just enables so much bullshit.

[Stuart]

Played Junk Maverick to 7-3-1 at Legacy Champs, which was good for 69 (:cool:) out of 711. I've got a very long writeup on the whole event (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32062-Steel-City-Lhurgoyfs-Goblins-White-Eldrazi-and-Maverick-in-Pittsburgh&p=1027535#post1027535), for those interested.

Side note: I sat next to tons of Punishing Maverick players all day. Good to see the deck holding its own.

[mgrinshpon]

I went 7-3-drop at Eternal Weekend with Punishing Maverick. Decklist (+very outdated and largely incomplete sideboarding notes) is here: https://deckbox.org/sets/1826789. Round order was

BUG Midrange, possibly some type of Czech Pile (W)
Miracles (L)
S&S (L)
MUD (W)
Punishing Jund (W)
Czech Pile (W)
Miracles (W)
Grixis S&S feat. Locust God (W)
UB Landstill (W)
Junk-Fit feat. Carnage Tyrant (L)
Get lamb osso bucco and a tempranillo at a nearby restaurant (W)

Every opponent I played against was super friendly and were all fantastic people, even in later rounds as the fatigue set in. I have more detailed match+sideboarding notes and can write up a small report if people are interested, but I played like trash for many, many rounds since I almost never play this much magic. Rounds 4, 6, and 10 are particularly bad. The abstract power of the deck drove me home as I fell asleep at the wheel.

Punishing Fire does the following for the deck:

Easily become the control deck against decks that are aiming to win with 1 larger creature, a handful of small creatures, or a planeswalker, which is almost the entire format. Multiple Tombstalkers got Punishing Fire and ultimately allowed the deck to out-card-advantage the Standstill and Miracle decks.
Punishing Fire augments the mana denial plan by adding 4 more main deck removal spells for opposing Deathrite Shamans.
Punishing Fire allows flooding out to be beneficial as long as you have at least 1 Punishing Fire in hand or in the graveyard.
Punishing Fire itself is resilient against Surgical Extraction and Nihil Spellbomb, the two most commonly played pieces of graveyard hate in the format right now (always keep a grove untapped!!!).
Lets you run Fiery Justice which is absolutely fucking amazing (kill a Deathrite and a Jace, trigger Punishing Fire, use Magus of the Crop Rotation to get a Wasteland, go?)

However, it has a few costs:

REB effects are not that amazing since the deck is trying to curve out. It's the best card in that sideboard slot but it's still underwhelming.
Losing discard is really painful against combo. Hatebears can only go so far.
ZP is better against Elves, TES, ANT, D&T, TNN, etc than Fiery Justice is. TNN specifically doesn't matter too much because of SOFI and Knight of the Reliquary. TNN is usually nothing more than Fog Bank for the unimaginably vast girth of a Knight of the Reliquary as a Qasali Pridemage, Ramunap Excavator, or something similar skitters on in.
Basically impossible to run Dark Depths/Stage, Maze of Ith, Horizon Canopy, etc since all of your flex slots become Grove of the Burnwillows. I'm okay with this, but sloppy play+lacking the DD/TS package cost me the game against NicFit's Leyline of the Void.
Lose Deathrite Shaman in place of Birds of Paradise because of the mana requirements for Punishing Fire. Your deck is more mana starved than most because of the mana-inefficiency of your removal package, so these Deathrite subgames are a no-go. This significantly hurts your Reanimator matchup, but ANT is still fine because of the 6 Gaddock Teegs post-board.

Definitely recommend checking out the list if you haven't. Well positioned right now.

[Fatal]

Played Junk Maverick to 7-3-1 at Legacy Champs, which was good for 69 (:cool:) out of 711. I've got a very long writeup on the whole event (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?32062-Steel-City-Lhurgoyfs-Goblins-White-Eldrazi-and-Maverick-in-Pittsburgh&p=1027535#post1027535), for those interested.

Side note: I sat next to tons of Punishing Maverick players all day. Good to see the deck holding its own.

Read with pleasure, thank you for great article.

Working on Punishing Maverick with additional black splash only for ZP.

[menloe]

Basically impossible to run Dark Depths/Stage, Maze of Ith, Horizon Canopy, etc since all of your flex slots become Grove of the Burnwillows. I'm okay with this, but sloppy play+lacking the DD/TS package cost me the game against NicFit's Leyline of the Void.


I would look at Fabian Görzgen's past lists if you are not familiar. His most recent ran every land you mention here. There are tradeoffs of course: 26 lands means you're drawing a lot of lands while your opponent is drawing spells and you mulligan a bit more and a bit worse.

I am not saying Görzgen's way is perfect, but it might be worth it to shave a Wasteland and Grove if it means you can include at least DD+Stage.

[mgrinshpon]

I would look at Fabian Görzgen's past lists if you are not familiar. His most recent ran every land you mention here. There are tradeoffs of course: 26 lands means you're drawing a lot of lands while your opponent is drawing spells and you mulligan a bit more and a bit worse.

I am not saying Görzgen's way is perfect, but it might be worth it to shave a Wasteland and Grove if it means you can include at least DD+Stage.

This is the most recent list of his that I've found: fabian-gorzgen-punishing-maverick (http://series.magiccardmarket.eu/2016/05/15/fabian-gorzgen-punishing-maverick/) There are definitely some interesting choices there. I'm not sure how I feel about cutting out those two cards since they're so important in the matchups where they're used, especially since I used all 4 wastelands in most longer games I played, but I'll never say no until I give it a shot!

I will say that the only time I wanted DD/TS combo was against Nic-Fit in round 10 when he dropped Leyline of the Void and I wanted a second Qasali Pridemage to deal with it. I'll also try a second Pridemage instead of the second Noble Hierarch since I want them in basically the same matchups (Eldrazi, S&S, NicFit) and even in others where I don't want Marit Lage (Dragon Stompy), plus my manabase is already contorted enough. DD/TS seems fantastic in Junk Maverick, though.

[Strassbaw]

This is the most recent list of his that I've found: fabian-gorzgen-punishing-maverick (http://series.magiccardmarket.eu/2016/05/15/fabian-gorzgen-punishing-maverick/) There are definitely some interesting choices there. I'm not sure how I feel about cutting out those two cards since they're so important in the matchups where they're used, especially since I used all 4 wastelands in most longer games I played, but I'll never say no until I give it a shot!

I will say that the only time I wanted DD/TS combo was against Nic-Fit in round 10 when he dropped Leyline of the Void and I wanted a second Qasali Pridemage to deal with it. I'll also try a second Pridemage instead of the second Noble Hierarch since I want them in basically the same matchups (Eldrazi, S&S, NicFit) and even in others where I don't want Marit Lage (Dragon Stompy), plus my manabase is already contorted enough. DD/TS seems fantastic in Junk Maverick, though.

These are a few of my decklists from events with the Fabian Gorzgen list slightly altered and different sideboard plan.

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13842&d=281765&f=LE
https://mtgdecks.net/Legacy/maverick-decklist-by-mark-strassman-691737
http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=23520&iddeck=182901

Below is other content on me talking about the same list on a podcast and a video me playing Reed Duke at a Starcity event (Ps. I get roasted in the comment section of YouTube for my board state and messy hair).

https://soundcloud.com/leavingalegacy/107-punishing-maverick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMzcj4GymHY

I love the Deathrite versions of Punishing Maverick. White mana is always the big issue. I am thinking about up the mana a bit by Adding a Grove of the Burnwillows, cutting a Taiga, and adding a 2nd Plateau and a 4th wasteland (26 lands not including Dryad Arbor)

[menloe]

I love the Deathrite versions of Punishing Maverick. White mana is always the big issue. I am thinking about up the mana a bit by Adding a Grove of the Burnwillows, cutting a Taiga, and adding a 2nd Plateau and a 4th wasteland (26 lands not including Dryad Arbor)

My Punishing lists cut a Horizon Canopy for a Plains. I never missed the HC.

[Strassbaw]

My Punishing lists cut a Horizon Canopy for a Plains. I never missed the HC.

I never tried to run a planes. You and my friend Meritt are a fan of a Planes in Pun Mav, so maybe I ought to reconsider it. Do you play DRS in Pun Mav also?

I may consider running a Planes, but I worry about cutting green mana in this greedy mana base. Is having a planes a better option than running an 8th fetch land? I feel like having a three color deck with a black splash makes me more inclined to want multi colored lands, as opposed to more Bloodmoon/Wasteland protection.

[menloe]

I never tried to run a planes. You and my friend Meritt are a fan of a Planes in Pun Mav, so maybe I ought to reconsider it. Do you play DRS in Pun Mav also?

I may consider running a Planes, but I worry about cutting green mana in this greedy mana base. Is having a planes a better option than running an 8th fetch land? I feel like having a three color deck with a black splash makes me more inclined to want multi colored lands, as opposed to more Bloodmoon/Wasteland protection.

Definitely a valid concern. I was primed to make the decision (after discussions with Meritt and reading his blog) following a hellish weekend where I encountered Blood Moon, Back to Basics, and a thresh player who wanted to Wasteland me to oblivion (a match I won, but still.) I prefer as many basics as I can feasibly run in all my decks. I rarely used HC for the card draw so it seemed like a good spot for a Plains. My thought was similar to yours: white mana is important and also problematic in the deck. My solution was to have a more or less unmolestable source. I don't know if it is better or worse than a fetch in the same spot but it definitely looks and feels more balanced and consistent to have access to basic green and white.

My Punishing list is basically the unadulterated Görzgen-style list so it is running x3 DRS. I haven't made any significant changes to the list in about a year, but I would probably drop the Maze of Ith for another fetch or dual land as you suggest. And, as much as I love DRS, I may end up dropping the shaman and increasing the number of BoP or NH (also per Meritt) to help smooth out the mana issues. Swapping out my singleton Bayou for another Savannah probably? I make no claim to knowing what the fuck I'm doing.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Crazy things happened to my work desk so I've been doing non-computer work for the better part of the last week.

Also, best quotes from your feature:

"If he cant even keep the battlefield organized, imagine the rest of his life."

&

"I love how this guy handled his cards. Finally someone who doesnt care"

[Rampart]

Can you guys provide me a link for the Maverick Blog?

[menloe]

I am thinking about dropping SFM from the deck and filling those 2-3 slots with hatebears that have applications against multiple bad match ups. Perhaps an extra Teeg and two Mindcensors in the main? Maybe even a Revoker or two?

I am also inclining towards KotR being the only Zenithable three drop in the deck and moving towards planeswalkers as the back up top end of the deck. Some of you have been talking about this switch in the context of our Czech Pile match up. Has anybody tested it? I've had one small event with Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Garruk Relentless in the main. Elspeth was great when she came down, but one tournament hardly constitutes testing.

[Rampart]

I am thinking about dropping SFM from the deck and filling those 2-3 slots with hatebears that have applications against multiple bad match ups. Perhaps an extra Teeg and two Mindcensors in the main? Maybe even a Revoker or two?

I am also inclining towards KotR being the only Zenithable three drop in the deck and moving towards planeswalkers as the back up top end of the deck. Some of you have been talking about this switch in the context of our Czech Pile match up. Has anybody tested it? I've had one small event with Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Garruk Relentless in the main. Elspeth was great when she came down, but one tournament hardly constitutes testing.

If you are going to cut the SFM I would run two maindeck Jittes to bring your elves and Death and Taxes matchup back to reasonable. I think cutting SFM right now is fine if you meta has a lot of Pile

I currently am only running KOTR as my Zenithable top end. I have just found I don't need anything else that big. I have two Palace Jailers in my maindeck that have been excellent for me and a couple Gidions in my sideboard to allow me to go wide or have durable threats in the grindy matchups.

[menloe]

If you are going to cut the SFM I would run two maindeck Jittes to bring your elves and Death and Taxes matchup back to reasonable. I think cutting SFM right now is fine if you meta has a lot of Pile

I currently am only running KOTR as my Zenithable top end. I have just found I don't need anything else that big. I have two Palace Jailers in my maindeck that have been excellent for me and a couple Gidions in my sideboard to allow me to go wide or have durable threats in the grindy matchups.

I will definitely keep the equipment. I might try the Jailers too as I am reasonably sure I opened a couple back when I was crackin packs.

Forgive me if you mentioned this in an earlier post, but which vers of Gidion are you running?

[TMagpie]

I am still confused by this reaction to Pile you guys are having. Most games are the exact game for me—they throw a bunch of removal, a threat eventually sticks, they die a few turns later. It’s like playing against a Miracles deck with a worse mana base, less sweepers, and is weaker to our equipment. Majority of attempts to Snap/Kologhan just gets scoozed/surgicaled during the midgame until they die with no cards in play and no cards in hand. I barely even sideboard, 1-4 cards at most if I suspect it’s a better player than normal.

I just don’t get it.

[Rampart]

I will definitely keep the equipment. I might try the Jailers too as I am reasonably sure I opened a couple back when I was crackin packs.

Forgive me if you mentioned this in an earlier post, but which vers of Gidion are you running?

I am running Ally of Zendikar.

[Rascalyote]

I'm back on SFM but I went a few weeks without her and the deck ran fine. If you want to play Planeswalkers in her place I'd recommend Elspeth as SoFI was nice in getting past stuff like TNN and Elspeth's evasion is really nice at that, she also takes out other Planeswalkers well and can clock without opening herself up to plow like Gideon. If you want to make 2/2's I'd play Garruk > Gideon as he's easier to cast and I like his other abilities more, plus wolves are cuter =p.

Whenever Pile starts to play cards like TNN/Leovold I just toss Marit Lage at their face and win though, their interaction is usually edict which we have creatures for (90% of the time Knight pulls out the lage).

[Megadeus]

I'm currently doing the write up for the removal portion of the new maverick primer. I think I have covered most of the basic stuff, but if there is a card you feel should be covered that isn't as traditional for the build feel free to message me and I will add it to the portion of the primer

[ET1]

I'm currently doing the write up for the removal portion of the new maverick primer. I think I have covered most of the basic stuff, but if there is a card you feel should be covered that isn't as traditional for the build feel free to message me and I will add it to the portion of the primer

Although not often played in maverick, i would be sure to address fatal push and collective brutality. Also an area where our equipment can act as removal.

[smutko]

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/competitive-legacy-constructed-league-2017-11-03
Lotus cobra strikes again

[Strassbaw]

I got top-8 in a 7 round event with Punishing Dark Maverick on Sunday, November 5th. Here is my 75 with a light tournament report.

Creatures [21]

3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Stoneforge Mystic

Artifacts [3]

1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of fire and ice
1 Batterskull

Instants [8]

4 Punishing Fire
4 Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery [4]

4 Green Sun's Zenith

Lands [24]

1 Bayou
1 Dark Depths
1 Forest
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
2 Plateau
2 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Thespian's Stage
3 Wasteland
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard [15]

1 Bojuka Bog
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Choke
2 Pyroblast
2 Crop Rotation
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Manriki- Gusari

Round 1: Mud 2-0. I won the dice roll so being on the play was huge. This deck was a home brew more or less. He ran Foundry Inspector, Chalice of the void, phyrexian revoker, Jitte, Artifacts lands and sol lands. I cannot tell you much more about the list as game 1 was close and game 2, he didn't get to play much magic as I Wasteland'ed him out of the game and won the an early 20/20.

Round 2: Grixis Delver 2-0. I won the dice roll, and I was on the play. I won game 1 with a Knight of the Reliquary and a 20/20 to jump over his True-Named Nemesis.
Game 2 was very close and he probably should have won. I had to mulligan, and I kept a questionable 6. He screwed me out of mana and in the standstill he was able to draw more threats than me. He had 2 dread of nights in play and I thought I was a goner for sure. He killed every threat I landed when I drew a land a played a green card. In the end I drew Thespian Stage and Dark Depths and on the last possible turn I drew a Horizon Canopy to make the mana necessary to create a 20/20. I won the game with 1 life left. Being on the draw really sucks in this match-up. I had no other chance to win the game besides the combo, and it did the trick.

Round 3: Esper Blade 2-0. I won the dice roll again which was huge. Game 1 wasn't looking too good for me. He has an answer to every threat. He made a crucial mistake by not casting Force of Will pitching his True-Named Nemesis to counter my Knight of the Reliquary. He let that card live and I made a 20/20 and won the game.
Game 2 was very close. He answered all of my threats with hand disruption and a Surgical Extraction that removed all of my Greensun's Zenith's from my deck, and he got a Greensun's Zenith discarded in my hand as I had 2 of them in my opening hand. It was looking really bad for me. The card that won me the game hands down was Choke. I landed a choke when he and I were top decking and I don't think he casted a single spell besides Swords to Plowshares after that. I think I won with a Dryad Arbor and a Noble Heirach army, and a Punishing Fire/Grove combination for many turns of unanswered damage.

Round 4: Czech Pile 2-1. I lost the dice roll and I lost game 1. It was a close game 1, but Kologans command and Jace won him the game. I managed to kill his Jace, but it was too late by the time I killed Jace to win. He saved his Jace by casting Force of Will to stop a Punishing fire, and I did not have a Grove of the Burning Willows to finish Jace off. If I had a higher life total I could have won as I drew a Sword of Fire and Ice, and I was turning the game around.
Game 2: He made a mistake and tried to kill Batterskull with Koligans command when I had ample mana to return Batterskull to my hand. If he would have waited until I tapped out, he probably could have killed it. I won the game most likely because of this mistake.
Game 3: Sword of Fire and Ice was the MVP. Luckily he did not Kologans command Sword of Fire and Ice, but he did kill my Batterskull. I ended the game with 7 cards in my hand. I was winning the game, and I did not want to over extend to toxic deluge. Birds of Paradise wore Sword of fire and Ice well, to fly over his Gurmag Angler and Young Pyromancer. Scavenging Ooze is very good in this match-up, but I don't think you need more than one. I think this match-up is favored for us, unless they get there trump cards like Toxic Deluge, K Command, and Jace.

Round 5: Eldrazi 2-1. I lost the dice roll and got crushed game 1. He landed Chalice of the void on my turn Zero, and Killed me with a turn 2 Thought Knot Seer, and a turn 3 Reality Smasher. I had the ability to get Jitte online, but it was too late. Trample on the 5/5 won him the game. Without that, I could have chump blocked with stuff and won out with Jitte.
Game 2: I landed a turn 2 Stoneforge and I had a Swords to Plowshare for his dudes. Batterskull secured this game, and Knight of the Reliquary won the game when I landed it.
Game 3: Batterskull took this game away. The lifelink allowed me to get back in the game, and being a 4/4 it allowed me to stay in it. Punishing Fire was pretty solid in the match up early, but didn't do much late. My coolest play was adding Manriki-Gusari in the match up in case he had a Jitte, and making Batterskull Germ a 5/6 allowed me to swing in, and block any creature. Punishing fire with a beefy Batterskull allowed me to win through a group block situation and ultimately lead to me winning the game. Stoneforge with Batterskull was the MVP of this match up for sure. Knight of the Reliquary was a close second, but the lifelink ability makes Batterskull more valuable. If Eldrazi is in the meta game, I think upping the Stoneforge count and adding Batterskull is a good tool.

I.D. round 6, and 7.

Top 8 Split for $300 dollars store credit.

Final thoughts:
-Maindeck -
5 mana dorks seems to be a good number.
4 Punishing fires is where I want to be at this moment. This card is good against any deck that isn't combo.
4 Stoneforge was great. It can be clunky, but I think with 4CC being played less, having 4 mystic is great.
Dark Depths/ Thespian stage are super good. I cannot see taking them out of Maverick. Crop Rotation in the board makes the combo better against combo decks.
Not playing Planes seems fine, but I need to test this before I confirm it for this version of Maverick.

-Sideboard-
2 Choke was great. I probably would not have beat the Blade player without choke. This card is great against 4CC, and any deck running blue. It's worse against the blue combo decks, but it can win games if you land a hate piece, then land a choke to seal the deal.
2 Pyroblast seemed okay, however I did not get the cast this card. It isn't as powerful in Maverick as it is in other archtypes that run Snapcaster, or decks that have a reactionary game plan.
2 Crop Rotation. I really like this cards in a Dark Depths meta game. This is where the card is best. The card is also good against combo decks like Dredge, Show and Tell, Reanimate, and its okay against Storm, but probably too slow. This card is also good against burn as it allows you to play around Price of Progress more easily.
3 Thalia in the board. This card is probably to good to leave home without it. I don't board this card in against blue midrange decks, or Delver. Its good against them, but this card really shines against combo decks and Burn decks.
2 Ether sworn canonist. This card is in most cases worst than Thalia, however, its better against decks where Thalia isn't great like Elves, Food Chain, Alluren, and its probably better against storm than Thalia, but not by much.
1 Gaddock Teeg. I never leave home with out another teeg in the board. This card shuts down a lot of decks, and if your first one gets killed game 2 or 3, having a back-up for Greensun's Zenith to find can be very useful.
1 Reclamation Sage. This card is great. I never leave home with out it. I think all Maverick decks should have at least 2 ways to kill artifacts and enchantments. Running this card in the board allows you to kill a problematic artifact or enchantment and keep a 2/1 body around, instead of losing a body to ultimately be a 3 mana Disenchant. Pridemage is certainly better in the main deck, but having a Reclamation sage option is something I have preferred for a long time.
1 Manriki-Gusari. I did not see this card against blade, but I really like it in theory and in previous meta games. If you expect Stoneforge Mystic, this is the trump card. This card is something I would only run if I have a playset of Stoneforge Mystics to make me the superior blade deck, as getting Jitte online first is usually the key to winning the Stoneforge Mystic mirror.
1 Bojuka Bog. This card is great when you are less afraid of super fast graveyard strategies and midrange graveyard decks are abundant. Running 2 crop rot also adds a lot of value to this card and crop rot. If UB Reanimate, dredge and Lands were the top decks, I would probably have to play Surgical Extraction.

- Cards I may test/ or cards I may add back in-
Planeswalker are great if Koligans command is all over. They don't play well in the main deck because of Teeg, but you can probably get away with 1-2 maindeck. I suggest Garruk Relentless and Ajani Vengeant for this deck.
Fiery Justice is great and I would play it if I expected Elves, Delver, Death and Taxes and the Mirror. I have 4 Stoneforge Mystic main deck this week, so I did not include much in my board for fair decks as I think my main deck is very solid for those matches.
Sylvan Library is a card I normally don't play, but its pretty good when the meta slows down. If you are willing to take 8 damage in a match up, its probably worth it.
Scryb Ranger seems cool, but I am not sold on that card in this deck, especially now that I switched a 2nd Taiga for a 2nd Plateau recently.
Sanctum Prelate is great. I would have added this card to my deck if I expected more combo. 2 white mana is hard to come by, but I think its worth it.
Surgical extraction is great, but for now I will play Crop Rotation. Crop Rotation is more flexible, but it is worse against grave yard decks for sure.
Ramunap Explorer is cool, but not as good in this build as it would be in another build. Deathrite Shaman eats our lands, I only run 7 fetch and 3 waste as oppose to 4 Wasteland and 8 fetch, and without crop rot main deck, or Mox Diamond, it seems like this card may end up being a 2/3 for 3 that has an ability you can only use the turn after you cast it (Unless you have the luxury of being able to wait before you play it). I will not be testing this card in this version unless I make some major changes. I think Life from the Loam may be better as I cannot think of too many times I would opt to GSZ for this card over Knight of the Reliquary and Loam seems like a better card to top deck.

That's all for now. If people are interested, I can add how I side-boarded in each match-up. Thanks for reading. Any questions or comments are welcome. Keep playing "fair".

[Thunderknight]

Over the weekend I top 4 the Baltimore Legacy League Invitational with Punishing Maverick. With the help of Strassbaw, and an intense 3HR sideboard discussion, I came to this list. I'll write up my report later.

Creatures:
3x Deathrite Shaman
1x Noble Hierarch
1x Birds of Paradise
4x Mother of Runes
2x Stoneforge Mystic
2x Qasli Pridemage
1x Voice of Resurgence
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Scrub Ranger
1x Scavening Ooze
4x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Ramunap Excavator

Spells:
4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Swords to Plowshares
3x Punishing Fire
1x Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Sylvan Library (ALL STAR)

Lands:
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Windswept Health
3x Wasteland
3x Grove of the Burnwillows
2x Savannah
1x Taiga
1x Plateau
1x Forest
1x Plains
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Dark Depths
1x Thespian Stage
1x Bayou
1x Karakas

SB:
2x Pyroblast
2x Crop Rotation
2x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Scavenging Ooze
2x Choke
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Zealous Persecution
1x Fiery Justice
1x Chandra, Pyromancer
1x Pithing Needle.

[menloe]

Planeswalker are great if Koligans command is all over. They don't play well in the main deck because of Teeg, but you can probably get away with 1-2 maindeck. I suggest Garruk Relentless and Ajani Vengeant for this deck.


The wolf pack is fuckin insane for sure. I won a game this weekend against Leovold solely on the back of home skillet, beating a Jace and two big ass Goyfs. As much as I love Elspeth, Knight-Errant, I think two Garruks is the way to go.

Grats on a nice finish.

[Strassbaw]

The wolf pack is fuckin insane for sure. I won a game this weekend against Leovold solely on the back of home skillet, beating a Jace and two big ass Goyfs. As much as I love Elspeth, Knight-Errant, I think two Garruks is the way to go.

Grats on a nice finish.

Thanks Menloe. I was running relentless before this event and he has been great. I love your language. I think home skillet has some broad shoulder for us to ride to victory on his back.

Props to Thunderknight for putting another copy of DRS Pun Mav in the top 8. He and I have been working together along with Merritt to optimize Punishing fire in Maverick.

[Ezuri]

What about using Thalia and Punishing fire in the same deck.

I currently play 2 or 3 Thalia on the full Punishing package. Doesn't really slow down my game as I use Punishing fire lategadme anyway.

What are your thoughts?

[NeckBird]

Over the weekend I top 4 the Baltimore Legacy League Invitational with Punishing Maverick. With the help of Strassbaw, and an intense 3HR sideboard discussion, I came to this list. I'll write up my report later.

Creatures:
3x Deathrite Shaman
1x Noble Hierarch
1x Birds of Paradise
4x Mother of Runes
2x Stoneforge Mystic
2x Qasli Pridemage
1x Voice of Resurgence
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Scrub Ranger
1x Scavening Ooze
4x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Ramunap Excavator

Spells:
4x Green Sun's Zenith
4x Swords to Plowshares
3x Punishing Fire
1x Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Sylvan Library (ALL STAR)

Lands:
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Windswept Health
3x Wasteland
3x Grove of the Burnwillows
2x Savannah
1x Taiga
1x Plateau
1x Forest
1x Plains
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Dark Depths
1x Thespian Stage
1x Bayou
1x Karakas

SB:
2x Pyroblast
2x Crop Rotation
2x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Scavenging Ooze
2x Choke
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Zealous Persecution
1x Fiery Justice
1x Chandra, Pyromancer
1x Pithing Needle.

What else top 8'd the event?

[Strassbaw]

What about using Thalia and Punishing fire in the same deck.

I currently play 2 or 3 Thalia on the full Punishing package. Doesn't really slow down my game as I use Punishing fire lategadme anyway.

What are your thoughts?

I think Thalia is too good not to play. I play her in the sideboard right now. If more combo decks enter into the meta game, Thalia main deck is probably warranted in Punishing Maverick.

When I play her main deck with Punishing Fire, I tend to have about 14 non-creature spells. That is about what Death and Taxes has, however, Aether Vial doesn't really count, and Pun and Greensun's Zenith do count. I tend to play 2 Thalia main deck when I do play Thalia main deck with Punishing Fire.

Punishing Fire gives you the edge against creature decks, and Thalia gives you the edge against combo decks. Its hard to jam both of them together main deck as you only have so many slots in the deck, and it'll be hard to play theme cards like Stoneforge Mystic, Dark Depths/Thespian stage, or flex cards like extra Pridemages, Scavenging Oozes, Sylvan Libraries, or planes walkers.

I would start with 2 Thalia main deck, and have cards like Ethersworn Canonist, Sanctum Prelate, Containment Priest, extra copy of Teeg for the board. Legend rule can effect you, so I wouldn't play a play-set of Thalia, but that's just me.

Having a diversity of threats makes the deck very powerful, and Thalia and Teeg are easy to board out against the non-blue fair matches. Thalia is good against mid-range blue decks, but she really shines against combo decks, so side-boarding may get complex when you play against non-combo blue decks.

[Smarty744]

Does anyone around here have a list tuned for a meta with a heavy amount of Pile and Delver decks? Lately I have been spending my nights playing 4 Delver, Leovold and TNN decks in a row. I’m not planning to build Punishing Maverick for at least a few months, I’m just looking for a Junk list right now.

[Rascalyote]

Does anyone around here have a list tuned for a meta with a heavy amount of Pile and Delver decks? Lately I have been spending my nights playing 4 Delver, Leovold and TNN decks in a row. I’m not planning to build Punishing Maverick for at least a few months, I’m just looking for a Junk list right now.

There's quite a few of that as well as a bunch of lands and other stuff at our locals, I've been doing really well with my junk list. Stage Depths is nice to have against pile when you don't feel like slogging through Jace/Leovold or trying to dance around a TNN. I change the sideboard pretty much every time I play the list so probably tune that to your liking.

4 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Wasteland
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
-24-

3 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
-14-

3 Mother of Runes
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Renegade Rallier
4 Knight of the Reliquary
-22-

1 Liliana, The Last Hope
1 Vindicate//Council's Judgement (I use vindicate because I have a justification and it's cool =p)
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Golgari Charm
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Swamp


Off-Topic- I have the deck fully pimped except my Thoughtseizes are Theros foil which are kind of meh. I'm not the biggest fan of the art on the Lorwyn one and I love the art on the invocation, but invocation text/frame feels a bit out of place. Would you play the invocation ones? I know it's "whatever I like most" but other opinions would be cool ^^.

[Mr Miagi]

Off-Topic- I have the deck fully pimped except my Thoughtseizes are Theros foil which are kind of meh. I'm not the biggest fan of the art on the Lorwyn one and I love the art on the invocation, but invocation text/frame feels a bit out of place. Would you play the invocation ones? I know it's "whatever I like most" but other opinions would be cool ^^.

Invocations? But think of the children!!! Everything but invocation!

[Fatal]

Does anyone tried steely Resolve vs all those 6-7 removal, 4 snap, 4 strixes decks? Since they mostly abandon old Liliana it looks really promising

[Smarty744]

There's quite a few of that as well as a bunch of lands and other stuff at our locals, I've been doing really well with my junk list. Stage Depths is nice to have against pile when you don't feel like slogging through Jace/Leovold or trying to dance around a TNN. I change the sideboard pretty much every time I play the list so probably tune that to your liking.

4 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Wasteland
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
-24-

3 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
-14-

3 Mother of Runes
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Renegade Rallier
4 Knight of the Reliquary
-22-

1 Liliana, The Last Hope
1 Vindicate//Council's Judgement (I use vindicate because I have a justification and it's cool =p)
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Golgari Charm
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Swamp


Off-Topic- I have the deck fully pimped except my Thoughtseizes are Theros foil which are kind of meh. I'm not the biggest fan of the art on the Lorwyn one and I love the art on the invocation, but invocation text/frame feels a bit out of place. Would you play the invocation ones? I know it's "whatever I like most" but other opinions would be cool ^^.

I like the thoughtseizes mainboard, as a card like kolaghans command can just devastate maverick, and there’s not many ways for us to play around it. Why do you play the Heirarch over a BoP though? I don’t see the advantage to be honest. Also, have you tried Tireless Tracker? I feel like card advantage is huge against Pile and Delver decks.

And definitely leave the Theros foils, IMO the art is decent and the Invocations don’t really look good next to non-invocations TBH. Do you have pics of the deck?

[koten]

In what metagame is it better to be playing Maverick over DnT and vice versa?

[Fatal]

In what metagame is it better to be playing Maverick over DnT and vice versa?

If you need to deal with blade decks - like D&T mirror pick Maverick. It's also better equip vs wild decks :-). D&T have now problem vs K.Command and Abrade.

Btw I reunion with old forgotten card in maverick which helps a lot vs:
- Elves
- D&T
- Mirror
- Infect
- All Strixes which all those UBgr decks pack as 4-of:
Granger Guildmage
along with Steely Resolve are my answers vs today meta.

My actual list:

61 Maindeck
[cards]
// 3 Artifact
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull

// 26 Creature
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Qasali Pridemage
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Renegade Rallier
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Granger Guildmage

// 1 Enchantment
1 Sylvan Library

// 4 Instant
4 Swords to Plowshares

// 23 Land
1 Gaea's Cradle
4 Wasteland
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Plains
1 Karakas
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Taiga
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Plateau

// 4 Sorcery
4 Green Sun's Zenith


// 15 Sideboard
// 2 Creature
2 Ethersworn Canonist

// 3 Enchantment
3 Steely Resolve

// 8 Instant
1 Blessed Alliance
3 Zealous Persecution
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Pyroblast

//1 Land

SB: 1 Bojuka Bog

// 1 Sorcery
1 Life from the Loam

Meta: Grixis Delver, Czech Pile, D&T, Elves, Moon Stompy, Eldrazi

I cut Sigarda as too slow.
Added Grudge vs D&T and Moon Stompy
I added Guildmage vs D&T Delver and Czech Pile
I added Pyro vs Delver and Czech Pile
I added Steely Resolve vs Czech Pile (they cut old Liliana and use new one so Steely works great), I used Choke before but it won't work to well even if landed they still use nonblue cards - mostly removal.

[Rascalyote]

I like the thoughtseizes mainboard, as a card like kolaghans command can just devastate maverick, and there’s not many ways for us to play around it. Why do you play the Heirarch over a BoP though? I don’t see the advantage to be honest. Also, have you tried Tireless Tracker? I feel like card advantage is huge against Pile and Delver decks.

And definitely leave the Theros foils, IMO the art is decent and the Invocations don’t really look good next to non-invocations TBH. Do you have pics of the deck?

Thoughtseize has been kind to me, I guess I'll give Theros block some love as it needs it and I want to buy a switch sometime soon instead of more Thoughtseizes =p. When I play Containment Priest it's a 1of and I use invocation though - it's a tilting card haha. I've been playing this deck for years so I do a lot of changes and have played with most cards. My Sylvan Library was recently a 4th Thoughtseize and to be honest I hate playing non-tutorable 1ofs in this deck due to no deck manipulation, as awesome as library is you could play tracker instead of it as that card is sweet too, I just liked the lower curve.

Before thoughtseizes I was playing 1 Tracker, 1 Rallier, and 1 Ramunap Excavator but they got cut. I then cut the 2nd pridemage to put the rallier back in as he can act like a 2nd pridemage if I need it and he does other stuff.

As for Noble, exalted is actually insane. There's so many moments where it can come up: sometimes it means Thalia does 3 damage in the face of Leovold instead of 0, Noble hold jitte better, noble always gets under ensnaring bride (with jitte this is pretty spicy). The main upside to bird is it makes black which is obviously very good as I go deeper into black, flying is obviously good but in a lot more niche cases than when exalted is good.

Let's be real though, the main reason I don't run bird is because I don't have an alpha/beta one =p.

Here's a picture of the main deck I took after getting the last card for it (Only change is I had the 4th thoughtseize and no library). The pictures aren't the best, sorry :(

https://imgur.com/a/SYYCf

[Fatal]

That beta duals shouldn't be played😀. Very nice

[ET1]

Here's a picture of the main deck I took after getting the last card for it (Only change is I had the 4th thoughtseize and no library). The pictures aren't the best, sorry :(

https://imgur.com/a/SYYCf

Beautiful deck!

[Thunderknight]

What else top 8'd the event?

2x MAVERICK (1 JUNK, 1 NAYA)
2x RG LANDS
1x DEATH AND TAXES
1X GRIXIS DELVER
1X BURN
1X AGGRO POX

[Fatal]

New Primer published:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?31927-Primer-Maverick-2-0-GW-x