[Deck] GW/x Maverick

[_erbs_]

This thread has a lot of non-Maverick players' stance on Aven to get other points of view on the card: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ven-Mindcensor

I think that he is good as a surprise factor, but if your opponent know you are running it, it loses a lot of value. It also depends on your meta. GW Maverick is nonexistent in my area (possibly in my country? Haven't seen it at any SCG events.) and storm combo is very rare. Like IBA said about Crusader, if you think it will make your deck more consistent than Aven would, then run Crusader, or whatever else works for you. IMO, this deck is all about consistency, and this is the reason why I am beginning to test a list without Aven

Hello,
How's your testing without aven and what would did you replaced it with.

@rukcus

Batterskull
Does GW/u Maverick need Batterskull to operate in most metagames?
Would Sword of Fire/Ice be better against Goblins/Merfolk?
Which matchups would it really shine?
Which matchups would the flexibility of other equipment (you know, actually equipping your creatures) be more relevant?
How many times has the life gain mattered?

I would like to state that I have once beaten ANT by getting an early Batterskull and riding the life gain to victory. I think I would have won anyway, since I got to turn 3 and survived.

Hello,
At start i had doubt about batterskull since i really liked solas, but as my testing went on i never looked back at solas. For me the top equips are 1> jitte 2> sofi 3> batterskull/solas 4> sofam/sobam

I don't like running 4 equips in my build as i feel its too many i'll rather have a body. Now for the breakdown between the batter vs any other equips for me the 3rd equip is a meta call but in a general meta i'd still go for batterskull bec, late game its not a dead card as compared to any other equipment. an early batterskull is very very good against aggro, like i've said the 3rd equip is a meta call if your area is filled with aggro like mine batterskull is the right choice for me atleast, if your area has tons of control i'd go for sobam or sofam. solas provides +3 life , protection and recursion which is very good aswell but for me the 4/4 vigilance lifelink is much more significant bec its a body once you land him as compared to any equip which needs a body before you could use it. As for the drawback of having to large of a casting cost compared to any other equips i'll still take it. Again for me the last or 3rd equip is a meta call.

Mental Misstep
Does this replace Mother of Runes strictly?
Does anyone advocate running 4 maindeck? What about 3 maindeck, 1 sideboard?
How many times do you draw this as the first card after starting the game on the draw?
In which metagames is this card more important than Mother of Runes?

It feels like both these points could use more fleshing out for the Primer/opening post.

For me it doesn't replace mother it actually helps mother bec mother can save another creature and you have protection for your mother in case it gets hit by a 1cc removal. I've tested MM but i feel its more of a SB card rather than a main in my gw shell atleast.

Normally i board in mm against decks that packs tons of removals or decks that has very few removals like maverick and zoo. in terms of general use they almost have the same function saving an important creature in play the only advantage of MM is that its useful sometimes against combo or control preventing them for casting cantrips. As for the number of copies for mm, i started running 4 but slowly i felt that 3 is the magic number for mm.

[_erbs_]

Hello
To fellow GW aggro / mav players, i've recently tested out a different build and i would like to hear your feedbacks or comments on it. Basically the big difference in the build is that i removed GSZ which im not sure if its a mistake or not. I have no problems with GSZ and i must say its a good card but why did i decide to take it out is simply bec of grand abolisher At start i played with 3 copies of him but felt his too defensive like mother of runes that why im now playing with 2. What i like about him is that it forces your opponent to tapped out and slows them down to some extent paired with mor your creatures can last longer in the field and the scenario of "equip my creature, opponent responds with bolt it" will no longer happen during your turn and making your creatures more dangerous than before.

Now for my build.
Lands [21]
4 wasteland
4 savannah
4 windswept heath
1 misty rainforest
1 flooded strand
1 gae's cradle
1 karakas
2 forest
3 plains

Creatures [26]
3 mother of runes
3 noble hierarch
1 birds of paradise
4 qasali pridemage
2 tarmogoyf
2 scryb ranger
2 grand abolisher
3 stoneforge mystic
3 knight of the reliquary
3 mirran crusader

Spells [13]
2 elspeth, knight of errant
4 swords to plowshares
1 jitte
1 sofi
1 batterskull
2 sylvan library
2 oblivion ring

Sideboard [15]
3 cataclysm
3 mental misstep
1 jotun grunt
1 bojuka bog
3 ethersworn canonist
1 gaddock teeg
2 kitchen finks
1 sword of body and mind


thats my current build, before the changes the main deck was -1mirran -1pridemage -2abolisher // +3gsz +1eternal witness, do you think i made the right choice in dropping gsz for abolisher ?

[Koby]

What do you stand to gain from Grand Abolisher?
Losing GSZ on the other hand, reduces the deck's consistency, and you miss out on a great tutor. Once you cut GSZ, it's better to just cut green altogether and play mono white Taxes.

[_erbs_]

What do you stand to gain from Grand Abolisher?
Losing GSZ on the other hand, reduces the deck's consistency, and you miss out on a great tutor. Once you cut GSZ, it's better to just cut green altogether and play mono white Taxes.

What i like about him is that it forces your opponent to tapped out and slows them down to some extent paired with mor your creatures can last longer in the field and the scenario of "equip my creature, opponent responds with bolt it" will no longer happen during your turn and making your creatures more dangerous than before. It also makes your SB resolves when he is in play.

[Tao]

Seriously, I dont know why i even bother anymore telling everyone to play Thorn of Amethyst.

But WTF are Ethersworn Canonists doing in your Sideboard? They are horrible atm. They are bad against Reanimator, Hive Mind and Painterstone. And they are still worse than Thorn against Tendrils decks and Solidarity. The only reason to run them would be if Elves were big in your Meta for some reason.

[_erbs_]

Seriously, I dont know why i even bother anymore telling everyone to play Thorn of Amethyst.

But WTF are Ethersworn Canonists doing in your Sideboard? They are horrible atm. They are bad against Reanimator, Hive Mind and Painterstone. And they are still worse than Thorn against Tendrils decks and Solidarity. The only reason to run them would be if Elves were big in your Meta for some reason.

Thanks for pointing that out, i'll cut the canonist in my sideboard and probably replace them with thorn of amethyst

[Fatal]

Cutting GSZ is a step back in my eyes. It brings consistency which is power of this deck, you can run, a lot of single creatures toolbox and fetch them in important moments. I think it's bad direction. Abolisher is nice but it more fits to D&T than Maverick.

[Mr.Dieth]

I agree, The fact you run 4 zenith's is what makes the deck strong. You can fetch the right answer to any given situation. That's what makes this deck viable.

Playing less then 4 is a horrible mistake.

[_erbs_]

Cutting GSZ is a step back in my eyes. It brings consistency which is power of this deck, you can run, a lot of single creatures toolbox and fetch them in important moments. I think it's bad direction. Abolisher is nice but it more fits to D&T than Maverick.

Yes i know which i discussed with my teammates that without GSZ i'll be loosing the toolbox , if you at my list which i feel is consistent and fits our meta, the biggest card i'll be loosing is eternal witness, look at my original creature configuration.

Creatures [23]
3 mother of runes
3 noble hierarch
1 birds of paradise
3 qasali pridemage
2 tarmogoyf
2 scryb ranger
3 stoneforge mystic
3 knight of the reliquary
2 mirran crusader
1 eternal witness

and

3 GsZ

i know gsz is really good i had no problems with it, but with abolisher your creatures are more dangerous than ever and you can safely equip and attack without the fear of tempo loss which is very common in our deck against zoo or decks which packs tons of removal, assuming there is no mother in play.

i've gone over and over my creature base list before i decided to cut gsz and add the key creatures which i felt is really need in our meta. hands down the utility of eternal witness will be very much missed as it has won me lots of games crippling my opponents lands or removing his creatures again and again. same goes for pridemage which is the most common target i feel for my gsz.

at first it really felt like its a wrong move but i hope you gw players might give abolisher a shot before shooting it down.

@Mr.Dieth
In my original list i run 3 gsz only i felt 4 was too much and is a dead card early on as you need to develop mana 1st and again "what are the key creatures" that gsz will fetch , i bet most of you guys gsz for pridemage, e.wtiness/kotr or scryb ranger

[Mr.Dieth]

Really really depends against what I play, but there are a lot of times I fetch for my arbor. And terravore/knight are also big targets.

I do agree on testing the abolisher, and I will give him a spin. But I strongly disagree cutting the zenith for him.

Zenith also has a added advantage ( somewhat less noticable ) that late game You draw more threats/creature's. Because you shuffle it back. So you get better topdecks! Something I really like about this deck. It topdecks well ( Lol.. ).

[TossUsToLions]

Hello,
How's your testing without aven and what would did you replaced it with.

I took out an AM for a Scavenging Ooze a few weeks ago, and it has been amazing. Then, a few days ago I replaced the remaining two AM's with a mainboard Teeg and a Mirran Crusader. I only tested againt NO Rug so far with them (where AM should shine), but my win percentage has actually gone up. Teeg is obviously an awesome GSZ target, and the Crusader is just so good with equipment that I want to play another, and pro-goyf is pretty sick, too.

On replacing GSZ, I can not support this at all. Like I've been saying for some time, the consistency of this deck is what makes it so good. GSZ is a huge reason as to why this deck is so consistent. It rounds out our mana curve perfectly, allowing us to play a business spell on virtually every turn.

_erbs_, you say that GSZ is a dead card early on when you need to develop mana. This is far from the truth. T1, GSZ gets you dryad arbor, allowing you to hit a 3-drop turn 2. On T2 you can GSZ for a Hierarch. GSZ helps to ramp in the early game, search for utility in the mid game, and search for finishers in the late game. It really does make the deck so much more consistent at all parts of the game.

[Philipp2293]

So, Edric, Spymaster of Trest really seems apealing to me. I think for one slot, you get quite a potent draw engine, as at least in my list, I'm running 5 creatures with evasion (not counting Swords protection or Mother activations). Also blue seems supportable, at least such a light splash.

Also, I replaced SoFaI with SoLaS, cause, as already mentioned in this thread, SoLaS also represents a nice secondary engine if you're running like 50% creatures.

The SB is geared towards my meta, which is rather dredge/affinity heavy, and also drifting towards more aggro lately.

Enjoy + Discuss.

// Lands
3 [R] Savannah
3 [TE] Wasteland
3 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
2 [SHM] Forest (4)
1 [PT] Plains (1)
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [US] Gaea's Cradle
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
2 [ON] Wooded Foothills
1 [R] Tropical Island

// Creatures
1 [FD] Eternal Witness
1 [MBS] Thrun, the Last Troll
3 [FUT] Aven Mindcensor
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
2 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
4 [UL] Mother of Runes
1 [COM] Scavenging Ooze
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
2 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
1 [COM] Edric, Spymaster of Trest

// Spells
1 [NPH] Batterskull
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
4 [MBS] Green Sun's Zenith
4 [R] Swords to Plowshares

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [WWK] Bojuka Bog
SB: 3 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 2 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 [ARB] Dauntless Escort
SB: 3 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 1 [NPH] Phyrexian Metamorph
SB: 1 [DIS] Trygon Predator

[mooN_MTG]

Hi, thanks for the great primer, i have some questions about my deck, please give me a little help:

4 Windswept Heath
4 Savannah
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Wasteland
2 Forest
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
1 Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Gaea's Cradle

(21 Lands)


4 Mother of Runes
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Progenitus

(23 Creatures)

4 Gren Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Natural Order
2 Sylvan Library
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

(16 Other spells)

Sideboard:

1 Bojuka Bog
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Wheel of Sun ad Moon
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Angel's Grace
2 Chocke
1 Thrun, the last Troll
1 Rhox War Monk
2 Krosan Grip
2 Enlightened Tutor

(15 Sideboard cards)

1º - Gaea's Cradle is really necessary??? i play it because a friend recommend
2º - 3 Misty Rainforest or 3 Horizon Canopy???
3º - I want to play Mental Misstep, what cards I have to put out???
4º - This deck have future in Legacy???

[Philipp2293]

1.) Sure, important for using equipment faster and double equipping twice a turn, also allows to vomit your hand onto the board.

2.) I'd prefer the canopies, helps against flooding in the midgame.

3.) The people who play it usually cut Mother of Runes for it afaik.

4.) Sure :) (well only time will tell, but you can run lots of MD configurations thanks to the flexibility GSZ offers, so you can adapt to a lot of metashifts and trends)

[mooN_MTG]

Thanks Philipp2293, if you have any sugestion, commentary about Main Deck, please tell me! :)

[Tao]

What do you think about this guy?

Angus Mackenzie
Legendary Creature - Human Cleric 2/2, WUG
{G}{W}{U}, {T}: Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Activate this ability only before the combat damage step.

It can be fetched with Zenith, should be gg vs. Folk and Dredge G1 and is a solution to Progenitus. It also does a lot in the Zenith/Mystic mirror, especially when protected with Mother of Runes.

[_erbs_]

What do you think about this guy?

Angus Mackenzie
Legendary Creature - Human Cleric 2/2, WUG
{G}{W}{U}, {T}: Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Activate this ability only before the combat damage step.

It can be fetched with Zenith, should be gg vs. Folk and Dredge G1 and is a solution to Progenitus. It also does a lot in the Zenith/Mystic mirror, especially when protected with Mother of Runes.

Its a good tech card but i feel the activation cost is too costly and the color requirements is very heavy without the proper mana or mana dork in play its a dead card. Maybe it would be perfect for a NO progen bant deck rather in the mav shell.

[BrazenSix]

Hey all,

Lurker here. Just registered to get some advice on tuning this deck to tackle a mostly NA meta flooded with U/W Stoneblade decks. I originally started with a D&T Vial list and enjoyed it, evolving it into a G/W Taxes list and then got turned on to Maverick after some suggestions from players and seeing the results this deck has been having overseas.

I'm looking for some help on tuning the deck against the major players, U/W variants, Hive Mind, Fish, Dredge and NO Rug that I see frequently.

I don't have my list/cards in front of me atm, but here's the basis of what I'm working with. I'm undecided on the sideboard at the moment, so I've just thrown some cards I'm thinking on including in there. I'm leaning towards the Enlightened Tutor package, but I'm hesitant due to Mental Misstep. Opinions?

4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
4 Savannah
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Forest
2 Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Karakas
1 Maze of Ith

3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Noble Hierarch / Birds of Paradise?
3 Mother of Runes
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Eternal Witness
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Scavenging Ooze

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sylvan Library

1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of War and Peace

SIDEBOARD
Choke
Thorn of Amethyst
Tormod's Crypt / Wheel of Sun and Moon
Path to Exile
Krosan Grip
Enlightened Tutor
Angel's Grace
Umezawa's Jitte
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Feast and Famine
Manriki Gusari

I'm fairly certain I need to bump the Knights to 4. I haven't been having much luck with Mindcensors, but I've read the other forum topic and understand their utility. I'm wondering if a split of Hierarch and Birds might be a good plan, just to assist in tackling Hive Mind. Angel's Grace seems like an auto include for the board as well. SoLS has been great in getting back anything countered by blue and Eternal Witness has been a star when she hits that I'm wondering if running 2 might be a good idea? Also, thinking on running 3 Pridemages, but if I bump Witness to 2of, then it'd just be easier to get it back from the yard for a recast.

Anyways, any help or thoughts would be great. No one plays G/W here and I'm not really sure why. The amount of counter magic is certainly a deterrent, but I think we can generally force through it to respond to what's on the board before it's to late.

[Koby]

@ BrazenSix -
I would suggest to add blue for Daze, Mental Misstep, Brainstorm, and Vendilion Clique. As apocryphal as that sounds in this thread, Bant has a much better matchup against those matchups you are concerned about than strictly GW alone. You still get to run most of the same cards.

Moreover, those matchup you listed don't require an equipment package to beat, so that can be downgraded to taking up only 4 slots (2 SFM, Jitte, Jitte/Batterskull) giving you more room for cards that will perform better against control and combo. In your list, I would run 1 more Pridemage too.

[Koby]

What do you think about this guy?

Angus Mackenzie
Legendary Creature - Human Cleric 2/2, WUG
{G}{W}{U}, {T}: Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn. Activate this ability only before the combat damage step.

It can be fetched with Zenith, should be gg vs. Folk and Dredge G1 and is a solution to Progenitus. It also does a lot in the Zenith/Mystic mirror, especially when protected with Mother of Runes.

Dawnstrider is another good choice, and less demanding in mana cost (altho card loss can be an issue too).