[DECK] WG Maverick

[Jabari]

It has been a known variation for a long time and been discussed on the DnT thread for a long time, before the SCG results.

[Kadath128]

why do you play flagstones but no cataclysm or smt to exploid it ?

Because I've always played flagstones out of habit, but also run 'geddon sideboard. I haven't been putting in much testing with the deck lately but I do intend to give maindeck LD via catacysm or geddon.

[Caspian]

I was fiddling around with this deck and I thought swapping out a Sword of Light and Shadow for Lightning Greaves might be a really awesome move. Someone was advocating the use of Vengevine before but turning your Goyf into hasty beaters is pretty sweet and possibly better!

The fact that it equips for 0 really make it attractive. It also interacts with many great cards: Mom, Knight of the Reliquary and of course Mangara. I've always been hesitant to inculde Mangara in my DnT type lists because his effects seems so corner case BUT by giving him haste he's now the Vindicate I've so often heard him equated to. The Greaves also act like a 5th Mom protecting beaters and forcing opponents to attempt removal in response to the equip. I think Greaves help the decks tempo in a big way without too much loss.

Sword of Light and Shadow can live in the board and come out where needed. I'm also a big fan of running 3 Living Wish to be 'pre-sideboarded' against certain archetypes in game 1:

-Bojuka Bog/Faerie Macabe
-The Tabernacle at Pendrel Vale
-Kataki
-Ethersworn Cannonist
-Tivador of Thorn

As well as make the Mangara 'combo' more reliable:

-Mangara
-Karakas

As well as allowing flexibility:

-Leonin Relic-Warder
-Maze of Ith

I'll be trying out these changes over the next few weeks. Loving this deck.

Edit: My decklist for reference.


// Lands
3 [EUL] Plains (2)
2 [LG] Karakas
3 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [R] Savannah
2 [P3] Forest (3)

// Creatures
3 [WW] Stoneforge Mystic
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
4 [FNM] Mother of Runes
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
2 [TSP] Mangara of Corondor

// Spells
4 [CST] Swords to Plowshares
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
1 [MR] Lightning Greaves
4 [DS] AEther Vial
3 [JU] Living Wish


// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LG] Karakas
SB: 1 [TSP] Mangara of Corondor
SB: 2 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 [TSP] Tivadar of Thorn
SB: 1 [WW] Bojuka Bog
SB: 1 [LG] The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
SB: 1 [DK] Maze of Ith
SB: 1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
SB: 1 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 3 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 2 [ALA] Leonin Relic-Guard

[Tao]

So I am experimenting since a while with GW and GWB Vial/SFM lists and since I found out that my most recent list is almost GW Maverick I can as well discuss the topic here. The deck is so much fun to play and it is actually very good. It is surprisingly resilient, has many good matchups and puts up good fights against almost everything.

What do you guys think of Mirran Crusader: In lists with 8 Exalted guys and SFM double strike is pretty absurd and protection from Goyf is also nice.

[Philipp2293]

So, where's your list? :)
Last night I brewed up a list which is also pretty similar to GW Maverick. I wont share the list yet, as today is sunday legacy, but there will be 2 Mirran Crusaders involved. Also, with an equipment package, I'd advise to take a look at Thrun, who is sick against everything blue even without equipment.

[Tao]

My list is similar to Dzras from last page. I am sure I would run a 4th SFM instead of the 4th Avenger and 4th Savannah instead of Maze. There are other things different but I am not sure about them yet so I won't spam the list.

The SB would very different though for a tournament today. Etched Champion is a plague and the Grim Monolith/Wurmcoil deck is surprisingly broken, so I play 2-3 pure Artifact hate cards (Kataki, Seeds of Innocence). Also I think 3-4 yard hate care would be appropiate in the current Meta.

[f|i[p]]

I had a working list with vials somewhat gwb style.. Since I was playing with Rock, and tried the Junk and taxes style, I have to say I am not too happy to be relying on equipment soo much...


However it does end games and is really scary when equiped to the right creature...My list consisted of
21 lands

mothers confidant,goyfs kotr ,3 stoneforge mystics and phyrexian crusader or vampire nighthawk..

then comes equipment thoughtseize, swords to plowshares and vials...

I was never impressed with phyrexian crusader..He is a house against zoo and thats about it.. he cant do much damage...and is quite annoying.. I tried replacing him with nighthawks and I was quite sure an equipped Nighthawk would be over the top. However fighting against zoo I found myself constantly hoping I get to equip something...I was testing once in a while.. but not to extensive because my ISP sucks and I cant seem to test it online.. I do get to test on myself however, as dumb as it may sound.. Its the only testing I get for now...

I liked the black splash because it gave discard and dark confidant which was awesome on its own..The only problem was I often found myself hanging into dear life.. the sideboard cards would be great, since youll gain access to duress and other worthy sideboard cards which black has to offer...

I also tried to go back to the maverick roots which was simply green white..which had around nobles mothers and even used scryb ranger which is one of my pet cards.. I found it lacking in draw, and was seriously considering putting back sylvan libraries, or even tops... Green suns zenith was also tempting in a way , but I guess the zenith would fit a more tool box approach.. Or maybe go in a 1 or 2 of...

Othe splashes would include blue which could offer rhox and some decent 1 cc counter spells.. but other than that, I am still lost in the list...All I can say is that if the meta slows down a bit, I think These archetypes have a chance at getting some good exposure...

[Erdvermampfa]

Have been tinkering around with a similar deck for a while now, first i ran 4 Vial to improve my Matchup against counterdecks but i got to notice that more flesh to beat with would have been more helpful in certain situations. I've also tried out 2 Sylvan Library, but I got dissapointed since it has no real impact on the board, more creatures / planeswalkers would have done the job in a more reliable way i guess.... however here's my list:
// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)

// Lands
4 [REW] Wasteland
3 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
2 [P2] Plains (1)
2 [10E] Forest (1)
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
2 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
1 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
4 [B] Savannah
1 [FNM] Treetop Village

// Creatures
3 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
2 [EVE] Wickerbough Elder
4 [WWK] Loam Lion
2 [ON] Weathered Wayfarer

// Spells
2 [CFX] Path to Exile
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
4 [FNM] Swords to Plowshares
2 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
SB: 2 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 2 [8E] Choke
SB: 4 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist


Still im not sure about the Loam Lions. I feel that 4-6 1 Drops are not enough to put your opponent under pressure, I know that that 2/3 for 1 isn't that great as it used to be, but with all those exalted triggers it's still competitive and i dont know any other cards which might fit in this spot.

[_erbs_]

Hello,
My take on the WG maverick build. I haven't gone to any tournys but based on my playtesting its doing okay. the build is pretty simple and straight forward. SB is designed to counter act blue control and combo decks

Lands [21]
1 Forest
3 Plains
1 Karakas
4 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gaea's Cradle

Creatures [26]
3 Mother of Runes
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Serra Avenger
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Knight of the Reliquary

Walkers [2]
2 Elspeth Knight errant

Spells [11]
4 AEther Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow

Tentative SB
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 oblivion ring / phyrexian revoker
2 tsunami / choke
1 enlightened tutor
1 null rod
1 bojuka bog
1 relic of progenitus
1 thorn of amethyst

[Philipp2293]

I've been playing this deck for some tourneys now, the following build:

4 Savannah
2 Forest
2 Plains
8 Fetches
3 Wasteland
3 Horizon Canopy

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Mirran Crusader

4 Aether Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawas Jitte
1 Sword of F/I
1 Sword of L/S

I've had great results with it, usually taking top places. Some issues:

-) I think this deck needs some kind of manipulation, I'm going to cut Thrun and 1 Hierarch for 2 Sylvan Libraries. Flooding out sucks, cycling a canopy into another land is just too brutal.

-) No need for 2 basic plains, suggestions for replacements? I've been looking into Sejiri Steppe or Stirring Wildwood, anyone played them in Legacy so far?

-) The Zenith Bant MU has been giving me troubles. The ground battles are fair attrition wars, but too often a Clique spells doom for me (Stirring Wildwood would help there)

Any input is appreciated.

[Tao]

Looks similar to my list from the Wbg Vial thread so I really like it ;) The deck is solid and strong and fun to play. However, after having serious problems against Landstill variants (going 45/55 at best) I stopped testing it for a while. I didn't like a deck that has a Control problem on top of the Combo problem. When it was out of gas, it was out gas and that was it. It was not doing any unfair things.

I recently changed the deck to a Vengevine/GSZ list. I didnt post it here because it is not Maverick but whatever.
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...=1#post527223-

After a PM with a cool and innovative but also flawed (no KotR, no Pridemages, no Wasteland, no Canopy, neither GSZ nor Vial) list that played Vengevines I decided to rethink my approach. I gave Vengevines a shot again and they felt right from the first time I playtested. Vengevines were a great top end of the curve, they turned fair attrition wars into unfair ones and made cards like Jace or Counterbalance much easier to combat.
GSZ is also awesome. I wouldn't want to play without it anymore. Llanowar Elves is not as strong as Vial on turn 1 but later it becomes the best topdeck every turn of the game instead of the worst. I also added Fauna Shamans back in and they were good, too. Removal magnet, great with VV in hand and finds SB silver bullets.

Overall I like the GSZ/Fauna/VV approach more than the Vial/SFM approach. While it doesn't offer that much Tempo it is a) more consistent and b) better at being unstoppable.

[Philipp2293]

"When it was out of gas, it was out gas and that was it. It was not doing any unfair things."
I guess this sums up my issues with this deck well, I'll give the VV approach a try and report back. Maybe there should be a post-survival GW thread.

[M@verick]

Well, I have finally registered, after reading a lot in the forum. First of all, apologies for my limited English proficiency.

I have played this deck for a long time, and I have tried many things, all you comment here. The version deck that i like the most, is the original one. I think it works better than other versions. I prefer birds over noble hierarch because flying and equipment is an strong combination. I also think this deck doesnt need tarmos... and wayfarer is one of the MVP

I usually dont play many tournaments, just one every two months. I have played this deck in 4 tournaments with very good results, always with the same main, and with some minor tweaks on sb. I have only been out from top once (I was ninth). The best result was 2 weeks ago, when I splited the final of a 171 people tournament.

I did a perfect tournamnet:

Round 1: 2-0 vs burn (bad pairing)
Round 2: 2-0 vs monolith-key artifacts deck
Round 3: 2-0 vs enchantress (bad pairing)
Round 4: 2-0 vs Jace control (BUG landstill)
Round 5: 2-0 vs affinity
Round 6: ID
Round 7: ID
Top 16: 2-0 vs countertop probant
Top 8: 2-0 vs big zoo
Top 4: 2-0 vs countertop thopters
Final: split vs countertop probant

I dindt play vs ANT/TES or other fast combo deck (the worst pairing), but neither played against the best pairings, like merfolks, rock, WB or monoblack decks, tempo decks.

Here is my list:


// Lands
4 [TE] Wasteland
1 [US] Gaea's Cradle
4 [A] Savannah
1 [U] Forest (3)
1 [7E] Plains (3)
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [UL] Treetop Village

// Creatures
3 [UL] Mother of Runes
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
2 [FD] Eternal Witness
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
3 [ON] Weathered Wayfarer
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
2 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
4 [B] Birds of Paradise

// Spells
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
4 [DS] AEther Vial
4 [A] Swords to Plowshares
1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
2 [LG] Sylvan Library

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 [SHM] Wheel of Sun and Moon
SB: 3 [TE] Choke
SB: 1 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [MI] Enlightened Tutor

[pcccp]

I took the deck to 2 tournaments this weekend and had some success with it. The best result was a 4th place in a 150+ tournament yesterday winning a revised Scrubland.

R1: Welder MUD 2-1
R2: ANT 2-0
R3: Show and Tell 2-0
R4: Dragon Stompy 2-0
R5: GBW Rock 1-2
R6: NO Bant 2-0
R7: ID (Zoo with Zenit)

Some short notes about the tournament:
Null Rod shut down Welder MUD completly round 1 game 2. Since MUD and Affinity is becoming more popular its an amazing card against these decks (shuts down artifact lands too).

Vs. ANT i can drop Teeg on turn 2 and he doesnt find a solution. Game 2 he casts AN at 20 life, goes down to 1 life and dies next turn to my attacking noble hierach. ANT is a bad matchup but i was lucky.

Against Show and Tell i can race a turn 2 progenitus (via Show& Tell) mit Scryb + Knight. I had to plowshares one of my creature to get enough life to survive 2 attacks of progenitus and kill him with a huge Knight thanks to Scryb Ranger.

Dragon Stompy: Noble Hierarch in game 1 and Aether Vial in game 2 let me survive his turn 1 Blood Moon both games.

Rock: I keep a risky hand with 1 karakas + 1 wasteland. Karakas gets wasted and i dont find colored mana soon enough. I win game 2 because he doesnt find a solution for the Mother + Scryb package.

NO Bant: Game 1 he mulligans and i can cut him off mana with wasteland and swords. Game 2 i can enable an early Gaddock Teeg. He gets counterbalance + top but Qasali takes care of it.

The list:

[MAIN]
---
4x Aether Vial
4x StoP
2x Sylvan Library
1x SoFI
1x Jitte
1x Lightning Greaves
3x Stoneforge Mystic
2x Tarmogoyf
4x Kight of the Reliquary
2x Scryb Ranger
3x Mother of Runes
2x Weathered Wayfarer
2x Gaddock Teeg
2x Managara of Corondor
3x Noble Hierarch
3x Qasali Pridemage
2x Karakas
4x Windswept Heath
4x Savannah
3x Horizon Canopy
4x Wasteland
2x Plains
2x Forest

[SB]
---
4x Enlightened Tutor
1x Choke
1x Null Rod
1x Chalice of the Void
1x Wheel of Sun and Moon
1x Ethersworn Canonist
2x Aura of Silence
3x Wing Shards
1x Scryb Ranger

Overall conclusion:
Lighning greaves was a nice addition. You can shroud and haste mom and a haste knight turn 3 is hard to race. I think i will cut Horiton Canopy from 3 to 2 the next time. The lifeloss is too painful.

[ivanpei]

I can see how this deck has Gas problems and losing to combo. Anyone tried maxing out GSZs and Fauna Shaman with 1 Loyal retainers and 1 Iona? It gives you some gas and Fauna is a removal magnet. If they can't remove it or you have Mother on the table, you just win. A T2 teeq and some wastelands can give combo fits and if you stick an Iona, you can completely shut them down. Or maybe its just "in danger of cool things". With 4 Fauna, 4 GSZ, you have 9 Teeqs Essentially and you can get them down T3 which just might be in time to stop a combo hand. ANT goes off T3 usually, so you might get lucky if you are on the play. Postboard with enlightened package you have a much better shot at giving combo fits with quick double bears (cannonist and Teeq).

But here's a list I'll test:

4 GSZ
4 Vial
4 STP

4 Noble
3 Mom
4 Fauna
4 Goyf
2 Pridemage
4 KOTR
1 Terravore
1 Iona
1 Retainers
1 Teeq

1 Arbor
1 Karakas
4 Wastes
2 Canopy
2 Forest
2 Plains
3 Savanna
4 Heath
2 Wooded
2 Arid

[Mono_Thematic]

To solve the "gas" issues, I've been running a list with as many ETB creatures as possible: 4 Eternal Witness, 2 Ranger of Eos, and 2 Elspeth. This lends itself for a more attrition based list instead of tempo based, but the results have been good. Main board K.Grips (2) have been my answer to CB-Top and P.Deed.
Just something to consider,
-Mono

[ivanpei]

I think this deck is already very strong in the midrange. It absolutely smashes anything with dudes. It is still kind of cold to early combos like an early Natural Order or decks like ANT/Enchantress/Show and Tell/Doomsday.

Eternal Witness, Ranger, Elspeth all help with the midrange and control games, but they don't do anything against combo. I've had a fair amount of success with my GSZ-Fauna-Iona list. It still is very strong VS dudes, yet has a fighting chance against combo. Did some testing tonight, only change was to cut Terraovore for the 3rd Pridemage. I never searched for Terravore in like 10 games. Knight is always better as the first target and to break groundstalls, I just GSZ for the mighty Fauna. If left unanswered, it sprouts a huge Iona.

This deck feels too "fair". IMO it needs to be able to do unfair things quickly to have any chance against combo. If aggro surges back to wreck all the tempo decks, combo will be back as well. This deck seems well positioned to tackle all the zoo/folk that would be returning to the scene if it can handle the combo MU.

Btw is Gaea's Cradle absolutely necessary? I tested abit today and I only wanted it in on 1 occasion when I wanted to hardcast my Iona. I might test it just for the epic LOLs that would ensue if I ever did that. On other occasions, Cradle seems just cute.

[Mono_Thematic]

If combo is the concern than a Living Wish board would seem a strong inclusion as a 2 or 3-of.
Gaddack Teeg, Ethersworn Canonist, and/or True believer could come down 3rd turn with Mom to defend them from bounce.

I've been mainboarding 2 Leyline of Sanctity because its so unexpected yet ruins to very much.

EDIT: Just realized you play Teeg MB, so maybe Living Wish aint to hot for you.

[ivanpei]

I like living wish, It's similar to GSZ but you just run the bullets in the board. I think if you run a living wish deck, you can't have an enlightened tutor toolbox in the board because the wish targets take up too much space. I'm pretty solid on my MD. My SB looks something like this:

4 Enlightened tutor
2 Path
1 Null Rod
1 Pithing Needle
1 Cannonist
1 Choke
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Jitte
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Maze of Ith

The Maze in the SB gets swapped around with Teeq in the Main depending on how I feel the meta is going to be heavy in. I realized there wasn't much I would be boarding out against control, so my extra slots are Paths and Maze which go in for the Iona combo and a couple of Faunas. I'm not sure if I should be running a revoker instead of needle. Revoker actually does something against combo and is like the 3rd hate bear that is enlightened-tutorable.

[deviant]

IMO, running 4 gsz's with 1 md teeg and then sideboarding more hatebears/splash hate (i.e. null rod, revoker) against storm is the best a deck like wg beats can do. If storm is so prevalent you keep actively losing to it, maybe another deck is a good idea..

Fauna shaman seems vulnerable, slow and mana intensive. It also makes the deck more gy dependant and even more so if you go the vengevine route. I don't like that as relic is already good against us at shrinking goyfs and kotrs. I personally feel very awkward about people bringing in gy hate against my wg beats deck and it being the right call..

My solution so far has been Mirran Crusader, in addition to the stoneforge package of jitte&sofi of course. I have been surprisingly pleased with cruisers, and when I know the correct cut, I will fit in the 3rd.

Show and Tell decks are amusing. Keeping a kotr in hand against them insures you don't lose to emrakul (if you suspect they would just counter it), and more often than not progenitus is just too slow. (maybe I'm blessed, but I consistently race turn 3-4 progenitus) Just set up equipment to help race and try to get one beater into play before they have the option to drop proggy. Then just bash and try to use jitte / swords to go over 20 so you can handle Big Daddy coming at your face twice. If you can't prevent them from dropping it, you have to set up racing it.

NO decks (that tend to blend in with S&T decks these days..) usually play lots of small green dudes, making setting up jitte your primary goal anyways. Of course just GSZ'ing teeg works just fine too.

And even though all the pross writing about legacy keep repeating the mantra "must be able to do broken stuff", it's just fine to be able to prevent the opponent from doing broken stuff also.