Played at my LGS and went 3-1 once again (Would be nice with 4-0 for a change)
R1 Death and Taxes. (2-1)
R2 Goblins (2-0)
R3 Infect (2-0)
R4 Elves (1-2)
Elves is a tough matchup. In G1 I thought I had stabilized with a Jitte, but to my surprice he played (3) Abrupt Decays in main and I lost. I hope this won’t become a standard build; it’s hard enough as it is :)
I have shaved Abrupt Decay from the deck completely. In the main I’m thinking of replacing SoLaS with either: Maze of Ith, Sylvan Safekeeper, Mirrian Crusader, SoFaF or Courser of Kruphix. Can’t really decide what.
I am fairly happy with the sideboard. Could see an Oblivion Ring replace something.
Played the following list:
CREATURES (25)
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Mother of Runes
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Stoneforge Mystic
ENCHANTMENTS (2)
2 Sylvan Library
SORCERIES (4)
4 Green Sun’s Zenith
INSTANTS (4)
4 Swords to Plowshares
ARTIFACTS (3)
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
LANDS (22)
2 Forest
1 Plains
2 Savannah
2 Bayou
1 Scrubland
4 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Karakas
1 Gaea’s Cradle
4 Wasteland
SIDEBOARD (15)
2 Choke
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Thoughtseize
1 Path to Exile
2 Pithing Needle
Quick question for the Maverick players around: why don't you play Batterskull?
Searching up Batterskull is only a powerplay if you can recoup after you force them to kill your Stoneforge Mystic. Common examples of "recouping" are just fukken grinding the game and casting Batterskull or using Brainstorm to shuffle it away. Unfortunately, in Maverick, those aren't really options, and it usually just ends up being a 5cc sandbag that could have been a Jitte instead.Originally Posted by anakyn
The tournament I started is over. You should join the next one.
A couple of reasons. First is that our stoneforge mystic count is too low. nothing worse than playing a stoneforge mystic, it gets removed and you have a batterskull stuck in your hand. Second, we're a tool box deck and would rather rely on equipping Thalia, Knight, Scooze, etc. with a sword or jitte, it's just better for our deck. Batterskull is a control card and we're midrange beatdown toolbox deck.
Our main plan of attacked is to use Thalia & Wasteland to get ahead and use Green Sun Zenith to either find an answer, ramp or get a threat. Stoneforge is there for the soul purpose of getting a piece of equipment to help push our creatures over the top, whether it be Jitte to mow down D&T or Sword and Fire and Ice to race a True-Name Nemesis.
All of those options are things that I keep handy and tweak from tournament to tournament. I'm generally unhappy not having Decay, almost always fine with Maze of Ith, and rarely if ever play Safekeeper, Crusader, or Courser (though he's excellent in fair matches).
My back bench of cards for the main and sideboard runs about 40 deep at this point. Everything from the things you listed to Surgical Extraction, Choke, Armageddon, and Bitterblossom. It really depends what you see in the room.
It is strangely satisfying to read somebody clearly articulate my identical pre-even thought-process. Questions to mull over: a few recent European lists have Canonist in the main. I thought this was something to discuss. I like her a lot as a SB choice. I'm not sure how well she fits into the 'Murican meta. She certainly slows down delver, stoneblade, Elves, storm, Omni, and to some degree Miracles. However she's a straight up hatebear that paints a big target face. Bigger issue is needing to shave down some usual MD slots to accommodate her. I'm not sure if I like this approach or not. Certainly something to bring to the conversation. 3x staple cards + 1x Revoker/Safekeepr/Surgical:
Proof:
// NAME : Maverick
// CREATOR : Guilio Aliberti
// FORMAT : Legacy
1 [R] Bayou
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [KTK] Flooded Strand
1 [UNH] Forest
1 [US] Gaea's Cradle
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [UNH] Plains
1 [R] Scrubland
1 [KTK] Wooded Foothills
2 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
3 [R] Savannah
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [KTK] Windswept Heath
1 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
1 [M15] Phyrexian Revoker
1 [M14] Scavenging Ooze
1 [AVR] Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 [C14] Sylvan Safekeeper
2 [M12] Birds of Paradise
2 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
2 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
2 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
3 [RTR] Deathrite Shaman
3 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [CMD] Mother of Runes
3 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
2 [RTR] Abrupt Decay
3 [CNS] Swords to Plowshares
4 [MBS] Green Sun's Zenith
SB: 1 [CNS] Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
SB: 1 [M14] Scavenging Ooze
SB: 2 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 [RTR] Pithing Needle
SB: 1 [DKA] Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 [C13] Krosan Grip
SB: 2 [C14] Containment Priest
SB: 2 [ARB] Zealous Persecution
SB: 2 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
Some interesting things going on there, but I can't really parse them with just a list. I wonder if there is any video of his matches. What kind of event did this originate from, and where did he place?
One thing that jumps out at me very quickly is how few fetchlands he's running. 6 is quite low, though I suppose the extra Horizon Canopy does let him get another land into his graveyard with some regularity. There are some other strange one-ofs as well, like Phyrexian Revoker, that seem like ideas stolen out of Death & Taxes.
I could see an argument for 3x of some staples in order to squeeze in a given hatebear for a specific meta, but that list appears to take the concept too far. ALL of the staples are 3x, and things like Revoker and Canonist cannot be dug out of the deck reliably via Green Sun. I assume the choice of Birds over Hierarch is a result of the lower fetch count making black sources a higher priority, but that also cuts off Green Sun -> Hierarch for surprise exalted triggers.
If I were going to try to jam Canonist into the main, it would have to come at the expense of a non-green target. That means Thalia without affecting the curve, and I could see a reasonable justification for a 3/1 split if there is room for Sylvan Library. I don't think it is right for an unknown meta, but if you're going up against Elves, Elves, Belcher, Elves, Storm, then Canonist is probably going to do a lot more work.
I think the reason for main board canonist is because Europeans love themselves some combo. Especially Storm. 'Merica is all about the Delver.
^^Magic Bazaar Open in France. 70 Players:http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=9446&d=254152&f=LE
@Cambriel: I'm on the same page with ya. Giving this list some thought, I'd almost say go deeper into the hatebear concept like Doug Azzano's list here:http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=8991&d=251250&f=LE
Surgical Extracton MD ? Can you explain ?
Hey.
I played last night at a LGS. They just started doing legacy tournaments, and they allow unlimited proxies to get people interested. Most of SB was proxies, and I proxied about 9 of my MB.
It's been a long time since I played Maverick in a tournament environment. I didn't win anything, but it was great to play test against a few different decks, and see how it works. All-in-all I had lots of fun, met some nice people, and will probably be going back at least 1-2 times a month.
This is the list I played. This is not going to be a great report, I wrote down a few things last night after I got home, but I should have taken notes during the tournament, which is something I'll have do a better job at next time.
(Note *= proxied)
Land (24)
1x Dark Depths
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Forest
1x Gaea's Cradle
2x Horizon Canopy
1x Karakas
1x Maze of Ith
2x Bayou* (I think I may replace it with 2 Overgrown Tombs, just for price reasons)
1x Plains
2x Savannah
1x Thespian's Stage
2x Verdant Catacombs
4x Wasteland
4x Windswept Heath
Instant (6)
2x Abrupt Decay*
4x Swords to Plowshares
Creature (22)
2x Deathrite Shaman
1x Gaddock Teeg
4x Knight of the Reliquary
4x Mother of Runes
2x Noble Hierarch
2x Qasali Pridemage
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Scryb Ranger
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
2x Stoneforge Mystic
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Artifact (3)
1x Batterskull*
1x Sword of Fire and Ice*
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Sorcery (4)
4x Green Sun's Zenith
Enchantment (1)
1x Sylvan Library
Sideboard (15)
1x Bojuka Bog
2x Choke
2x Ethersworn Canonist*
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Gut Shot
2x Krosan Grip
2x Serenity*
2x Surgical Extraction*
Match 1: Elves (0-2)
Game 1: I should have played 2nd turn Gaddock Teeg, but played stupidly and never did. He ramped up pretty fast, and got out Craterhoof Behemoth. I let it him twice, to see what else he'd bring in, then scooped. I just couldn't get much of a board state.
Game 2: Boarded in 2x Ethersworn Canonist, 2x Surgical Extraction, boarded out 2x Qasali Pridemage, I think DRS also.
Turn 2 I played Ethersworn Canonist. it bought me a few turns. He eventually go a Craterhoof Behemoth on the field, I can't remember how but I think I was able to keep it at bay, but then he played another Craterhoof Behemoth, and I was dead.
Match 2 MUD/Metalworker: (1-1-1)
I had planned to face this deck, so I kind of knew what to look for.
Game 1: He locked the board down pretty quickly, Chalice of the Void for 1, Trinishphere, and Lodestone Golem. I couldn't draw the mana that I needed to be able to play anything. He got the win with Lodestone (I think). I need to take notes during the games, or right after them next time.
Game 2: I boarded in Serenity, Krosan Grip, and I think Surgcial extraction. Took out MoMs, Scavenging Ooze, and I'm not sure what else.
His first 2 land drops were both Wasteland, my firs two were Savannah & Wasteland, in the order. I was worried about him blowing my Savannah, but he ended up using his Wastelands as mana.
He seemed to draw more lands than anything else.
This time I was able to respond to his drops. I abrupt decayed both of his trinishpheres, and StP one of his Lodestones.
Some good Wastland draws by me helped keep his land count low.
I was able to get a SFM on the field, and got batterskull. Dropped it next turn, and started to swing in for some damage.
He drew another lodestone, so I then SFM'ed & equipped my SoFaI to the germ token.
Drew a KotR, I think it had +2/+2. I switched the sword over to it, and swung in for the game after a few turns.
Game 3: I didn't change the deck.
I was drawing a lot better this game (ie getting things faster). I wish I could have gotten some wastelands though. He was able to get the mana to get Blightsteel Colossus into the field.
I had a KotR on the field, one in hand. A Savannah, Dryad Arbor, Forest, Horizon Canopy, Gaea's Cradle on the field.
The next part of my memory isn't 100% accurate, but the end part is correct.
I drew and had Dark Depths, Scryb Ranger in hand. Maybe had a GSZ in hand also.
He swung with Blightsteel Colossus. I ended up taking 7 infect counters blocking with KotR.
I played the DD, brought in the 2nd KotR, GSZ for another KotR (woo gaea's cradle), tapped the one on field to sac my forest and bring in Thespian Stage, targeting DD. Woooo 20/20.
****So I'm not 100% sure, but I assumed that my Marit Lage token could not be destroyed even by the infect tokens, and I had no idea that infect tokens were like wilt counters on creatures.****
***Also I need to figure out how to deal with indestructible cards)***
Next turn, I blocked with 20/20 bringing it down to 9/9.
Next turn I attack with 9/9.
His next turn he goes to attack, I flash in Scryb Ranger, bringing Savannah back into my hand, and untapping Marit Lage and block with it and Scryb Ranger. +1 infect counter to me. I think somehow my 2nd KotR was killed.
**Sorry, I can't remember exactly where in my "notes" to add this, but Rounds were called, and my next turn was turn #4, and if he couldn't win by his next turn we'd draw.**
I drew a wasteland, played it. I saced it, and targeted my Gaea's Cradle, bringing my KotR up to 8 +1/+1 counters.
Next turn all he can do is swing with Blightsteel Colossus, I block and only take 1 infect counter, and we then ended in a draw.
My next turn I got a bye, and ended with 1-2-1, getting no prize, but still had fun.
Sorry if my report was all over, or missing a lot of info, or just not coherent enough. Next time will be better.
Hi there, that is my list :)Some interesting things going on there, but I can't really parse them with just a list. I wonder if there is any video of his matches. What kind of event did this originate from, and where did he place?
I wanted to try few things in preparation of a bigger tournament. In particular, I wanted to see if cards usually played in the sideboard are maindeckable. That is why I included canonists and surgical in the main. I usually play aether vial maverick and I wanted to try also GSZ. As for the tournament, there were really strong players but also others that are not used to the format. No videos.
I think that running the least possible number of fetchs is the way to go. This is because playing against stifle becomes easier and not having fetchs in you hand do not put you in the position of playing around stifle when the opponent has no stifles in the deck. Also playing fetchs to feed your (and opponent's) shamans has no sinergy with knights. However, GSZ lists are weaker against blood moon effects and in this case fetchs are good.One thing that jumps out at me very quickly is how few fetchlands he's running. 6 is quite low, though I suppose the extra Horizon Canopy does let him get another land into his graveyard with some regularity.
With 6 fetchs + 3 shamans + 2 birds + 2 black lands I have 13 black mana sources for just 2 black cards that is not a low count.
There are some other strange one-ofs as well, like Phyrexian Revoker, that seem like ideas stolen out of Death & Taxes.
I recognize that Revoker is an error in this list. I usually play aether vial maverick where having a pair of revokers is often good. Here, it is not and I would replace it for an extra multiland. In fact, the biggest problem that I had in the tournament was mulligans. I took an avarage of 2 mulligans for match that is quite bad (most of them because I had issues with the starting mana).
Also sigarda is questionable.
I could see an argument for 3x of some staples in order to squeeze in a given hatebear for a specific meta, but that list appears to take the concept too far. ALL of the staples are 3x, and things like Revoker and Canonist cannot be dug out of the deck reliably via Green Sun.
I actually think that standard GSZ maverick has a weak game against combo decks because it relies too much on searching hate with GSZ. Without mana dork this is a turn 3 play were you are likely already death against ANT. Against Omnitell this is a turn 4 play since you cannot activate qasali which is not good either. Also Elves is a turn 2/3 combo. This means that to fight combos GSZ maverick has to start with manadork + GSZ or a turn 2 hate card in your hand. Canonists and thalia both improve your chances of stealing the first game which is very import when playing against combo. What is more interesting is that accordingly with my test canonists are maindeckable. Against non combo decks they are a weaker version of Thalia but almost always they are annoying for your opponents. In addition, canonist do not hurt GSZ and decays.
I assume the choice of Birds over Hierarch is a result of the lower fetch count making black sources a higher priority, but that also cuts off Green Sun -> Hierarch for surprise exalted triggers.
In every deck with 2 swords of X and Y I would play birds over hierarch. In addition, flying means that they become good blockers when you have mom (see 20/20 tokens, delvers, equipped avengers, etc). They also fix your mana better than hiercarchs. I dont think that GSZ for hierarch is a good play, however you have the same effect paying one more mana. Without birds I would play a green sword instead of solas to tramp green creatures.
Canonists are usually played in punishing maverick because you cannot use Thalia. I wanted to try how good they are in the main and I think that they have passed the test. The surgical is probably wrong but I did not draw that in the whole tournament. Against delver it helps at screwing their mana if you have also a wasteland, against midmiracles getting swords is good but overall it is a high variance card only good in early game.If I were going to try to jam Canonist into the main, it would have to come at the expense of a non-green target. That means Thalia without affecting the curve, and I could see a reasonable justification for a 3/1 split if there is room for Sylvan Library. I don't think it is right for an unknown meta, but if you're going up against Elves, Elves, Belcher, Elves, Storm, then Canonist is probably going to do a lot more work.
Despite I did top 8, I did not like this and I would not play GSZ anymore. Aether vial seems too much better to me because it is faster, it reduces the number of mulligans AND the number of lands you need to play, it helps a lot against counters, it bypass chalices blood moon and it encorages you to play more hate bears that is the core of this deck.
I top16 the scg iq yesterday I'll post a report later
sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=82343
Maverick for life
These are all reasonable decisions in the context you describe. I personally have never cared for Aether Vial over GSZ in Maverick. It feels too much like Green & Taxes at that point, and the mono-white version just feels stronger. For me, the GSZ toolbox is what makes Maverick its own thing. That being said, Aether Vial is a viable strategy.
I generally disagree about running fewer fetches, but Stifle also hasn't had a resurgence in my local meta yet. It's also a card where they'll either have it or they don't, and there's not much you can do. I'm usually on 8 fetches, 4 duals, 3 basics, and don't have too many issues. You definitely do a better job with black sources thanks to Birds, and running two Swords is a big benefit. I still like the surprise Exalted trigger, and have won plenty of games as a result of digging up a Hierarch that changes all the combat math.
Very happy to hear that Canonist is viable main deck. I'd still prefer Thalia 9 times out of 10, so I might try 1 Canonist / 4 Thalia as a 5th way of slowing down unfair decks. If nothing else, it opens a sideboard slot.
I posted my report in the report section
Maverick Jesus is here
Maverick for life
Nice report.
I'm surprised to see you say that D&T is a bad matchup. I don't really think that's the case, especially since we're on largely the same mana denial plan. It's very much 50/50 in my experience.
I think DnT is pretty close. It usually seems to be who can get out of the gates fastest and set the pace of the game. I think post board it might be better for us since we get to being zealous persecution and toxic deluge.
So I have been trying colleced company and my opinipn as of now is that it's not as bad in maverick as some people think and it's of course not some new staple of the deck or new GSZ anything rediculous like that.
Also want to reiterate that this is just my opinion based off my experience playing the card. I am always open to seeing different perspectives.
Here's my list of pros and cons of collected company.
Pros: Against fair decks a resolved CC can push us over the top and the board presence can be a big enough swing that you win the game. I think the worst thing Ive gotten from it was a deathrite shaman and scryb ranger. It's just a very explosive high impact card imo. It also has been good recovering from board wipes.
Cons: Its 4 mana. Hitting 4 mana in this deck is not a problem but its clunky enough that I would only want to run probably 1 to 2 max in the 75. 4 mana is also another nonbo with gaddock teeg. The other issue with the card is variance. All my lists Ive ran with it had 25-26 targets and Ive never totally whiffed with it. Maybe Ive just been getting lucky.
Overall I think if you're trying to make the most tuned lean list you probably don't want to be adding a card that can be clunky and has some variance but I think it's totally playable if you're looking for something powerful ans fun don't be afraid to give it a try.
It's generally agreed upon that 25-26 is what you want to be at for maximum safety. What'd you shave though to fit that many creatures, and how did you find that many creatures that don't suck? Those two generally seem to be my biggest problems. Pure hatebears are no substitution for actual hate, and after 23 creatures you sort of run out of things that aren't just filler.
Anyway, DnT is definitely a fair matchup. If anything, I prefer us because of the reasons you stated. Junk and Death&Taxes can easily lock each other out of the game, but nothing says "trump card" like even the crappiest sweeper.
The tournament I started is over. You should join the next one.
I upped the creature count by putting in the 3rd stoneforgemystic, and testing out some of the creatures that see fringe play in maverick but have been lists that did well like courser of kruphix and anafenza. I think if you wanted to, you could even tthrow in dark confidant to get the numbers right.
Basically.
But no, seriously, 99% of beating out Death and Taxes is target selection. Mind posting your list?
The tournament I started is over. You should join the next one.
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