[Deck] GW/x Maverick

[mishima_kazuya]

http://www.twitch.tv/mishimakaz

ran a magic-league trial...lost round 2 to a judgment call that turned out to be wrong.

Long story short...I made a play assuming i wouldnt draw a land...but i drew a land.

sdematt: Is it crazy to splash Lingering Souls? Its good against Miracles and grindy match ups like stoneblade.

[sdematt]

I don't know, I don't think it would be TOO awful, but I think at that point you would have to run Deathrite Shaman.

-Matt

[mishima_kazuya]

Lingering Souls Maverick?

Maindeck
1 Karakas
2 Horizon Canopy
3 Savannah
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Maze of Ith
2 Bayou

3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Scryb Ranger
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Birds of Paradise

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Lingering Souls
1 Sword of Light and Shadow

Sideboard:
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Lingering Souls
2 Life from the Loam
1 Path to Exile
1 Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil-Cursed
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Thoughtseize
1 Sylvan Library


I tested out the above list in a 5 round ML trial and I recorded it for your viewing pleasure. :D

Round 1: Belcher
http://www.twitch.tv/mishimakaz/b/346417066

Round 2: Junk (list that top2'ed SCG Seattle)
http://www.twitch.tv/mishimakaz/b/346433409

Round 3: BUG
http://www.twitch.tv/mishimakaz/b/346445842

Round 4: Bye

Round 5: Uw Rest in Peace Counterbalance
http://www.twitch.tv/mishimakaz/b/346461822

Gaddock Teeg should probably come back into the maindeck, maybe minus 1 Pridemage. Lingering Souls gave me free wins against the BGx opponents.

[sdematt]

Thanks for using my list for testing!

-Matt

[.Ix]

I love Lingering Souls. It's so good for stalling opponents until your Knight hits the table, or simply getting counters on Jitte.

Re: Miracles
Is Parallax Wave playable in the matchup? You can stick it and swing in without having to worry about Terminus too much. It also happens to counter Show and Tell -> Emrakul.

[defector]

I agree with you Matt that Mav can probably make it in the current meta. It's a great deck that I love and would hate to see die, so I am fully at risk of being blinded by a little romance over reality. It may never be the best/second best deck agian, but I am sure it can stay tier one. My thinking is that the current meta game at least as what Mav has to worry about, I think is going to be defined by Deathrite Shaman, Miracles and Abrupt Decay. In that direction I am thinking going back to a SFM package may be a good idea. Being able to lock Miracles out completely has to be a good thing. I want more removal maindeck to deal with Deathrite Shaman, and I like mom as she is the only card right now that reliably answers Abrupt Decay. Anyway, I put away the Retainers package and built this one up. This is more like Mav when teh great Punishing Fire Vs G/w debate was still relevant.

I like Dust Elemental, I think he is very interesting, but he feels wierd when our enemies are sweepers. Now in the Deathrite debate he is awesome, solid win con that doesn't care about the gy at all. I may grab a playset and test them out. I feel like your on the right course though in the sense that we need a card. I'd love that card to be a human and let us commit to a G/w humans deck with Caverns, but that doesnt seem to have been printed yet, but we definitely are looking for a main deck four of that lets us take different directions. I also agree with you that everything is on the chopping block, no sacred cows when the meta has turned against ya. I am sacrificing Thalia in this list because, well, I hate her. I also think that the TES/ANT decks that she shines against are going to be in short supply in a Miracles/BUG driven meta game, so I am less concerned with her absence. Anyway, the band is still playing the ship hasn't sunk yet, hopefully the Las Vegas SCG gives us some additional perspective on the meta.

Current List:

Lands-22-
Wasteland X4
Savannah X4
Windswept Heath X4
Verdant Catacombs X2
Cavern of Souls X2
Karakas X1
Dryad Arbor X1
Plains X2
Forest X2

White-14
Mother of Runes X4
Swords to Plowshares X4
Stoneforge Mystic X3
Path to Exile X2
Elspeth, the Knight Errant X1

Green-14
Green Sn's Zenith X4
Noble Hierarch X4
Scavenging Ooze X2
Sylvan Library X2
Scryb Ranger X1
Garruk Relentless X1

Gold-7-
Knight of the Reliquary X4
Qasali Pridemage X2
Gaddock Teeg X1

Artifacts-3-
Umezawa's Jitte X1
Batterskull X1
Sword of War and Peace X1(could be SoLaS)

Sideboard- Really only saying 2 Teeg and a Bog, probanly some O Rings.

Anyway, here is a revamp of the old school.

Cheers
defector

[mishima_kazuya]

I love Lingering Souls. It's so good for stalling opponents until your Knight hits the table, or simply getting counters on Jitte.

Re: Miracles
Is Parallax Wave playable in the matchup? You can stick it and swing in without having to worry about Terminus too much. It also happens to counter Show and Tell -> Emrakul.

Wave seems good against the Show and Tell card itself.


But, 4 mana is usually reserved for gamechangers like Planeswalkers or Linvala. You don't really want to drop a whole turn's worth of mana into a card that doesn't really win the game on the spot against grindy decks like Esperblade or BUG.

[M@verick]

Hello!!

I have won a 30 ppl tourney today with my GW maverick. I had been testing BUG during last 2 months and I decided to play GW again.
I am very happy, the final score has been 12-0.

R1: Monoblue stasis 2-0
R2: Merfolks 2-0
R3: GW zenith 2-0
R4: tier
R5: tier
Top 8: confidant BUG 2-0
Top4: miracle 2-0
Final: Cascade RUG 2-0
(with punishing fire)


My current list:

4 [TE] Wasteland
1 [US] Gaea's Cradle
4 [A] Savannah
1 [U] Forest (3)
1 [7E] Plains (3)
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
3 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
1 [LG] Karakas
2 [AVR] Cavern of Souls
3 [UL] Mother of Runes
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
3 [ON] Weathered Wayfarer
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [B] Birds of Paradise
3 [MBS] Phyrexian Revoker
2 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
3 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 [FUT] Aven Mindcensor
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 [5E] Sylvan Library

SB: 3 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 3 [8E] Choke
SB: 4 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
SB: 1 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [LRW] Oblivion Ring
SB: 1 [RAV] Life from the Loam


I have tried aven midncensor instead the fourth thalia, but the change has not been relevant.

[.Ix]

Wave seems good against the Show and Tell card itself.


But, 4 mana is usually reserved for gamechangers like Planeswalkers or Linvala. You don't really want to drop a whole turn's worth of mana into a card that doesn't really win the game on the spot against grindy decks like Esperblade or BUG.

Very good point. Wave is only going to partially preserve the board state in the event of a Terminus without doing much else. I'm not sure if that's worth 4 mana.

@M@verick

GREAT Job! That decklist is interesting. I think I'll try it out.

[Hanni]

Why Lingering Souls instead of Elspeth, if you're running it to combat Miracles? You don't even need to go into black to run Elspeth, and having an actual token generating machine that Miracles has few answers for, that also is a pro at assassinating Jace, and better at recovering from a Terminus, makes the most sense to me. Big boy Garruk (Primal Hunter) is also pretty good. A 2/1 split between maindeck and sideboard seems like the best bet for Maverick, if Miracles is the concern. I also would not cut Mother of Runes against Miracles, as it's one of this decks strongest assets in that matchup, and many Miracles lists are not very well prepared against the Mom + Teeg combo.

[door]

Hello!!

I have won a 30 ppl tourney today with my GW maverick. I had been testing BUG during last 2 months and I decided to play GW again.
I am very happy, the final score has been 12-0.

I have tried aven midncensor instead the fourth thalia, but the change has not been relevant.

Congrats on your finish!
But 3 mother of runes? Really?

[M@verick]

I played only 3 in the first version. Then, with the rise of GWs, the fourth copy was necesary.
I think it currently depends on meta

[mishima_kazuya]

Why Lingering Souls instead of Elspeth, if you're running it to combat Miracles? You don't even need to go into black to run Elspeth, and having an actual token generating machine that Miracles has few answers for, that also is a pro at assassinating Jace, and better at recovering from a Terminus, makes the most sense to me. Big boy Garruk (Primal Hunter) is also pretty good. A 2/1 split between maindeck and sideboard seems like the best bet for Maverick, if Miracles is the concern. I also would not cut Mother of Runes against Miracles, as it's one of this decks strongest assets in that matchup, and many Miracles lists are not very well prepared against the Mom + Teeg combo.

Lingering Souls gets around countermagic better, unlike Plansewalkers. You don't have to overcommit with Lingering Souls against sweepers since you can just sandbag a blacksource and flashback Lingering Souls when they pull the trigger.
I would play 3 Elspeths, but 2WW is a much bigger diference than 2W. If your plays are turn 1 mana dork, into turn 2 Lingering Souls, and then they Detention Sphere your tokens; you are still in great shape as you still have a pair of 1/1 fliers ready to go. If you had Elspeth there instead, then you are still at mostly parity there if they Detention Sphered your Elspeth.

Going back to the mana efficiency of Lingering Souls, unlike Elspeth, its servicable in multiples in other match ups. Like against Merfolk(or any Tempo deck), having 2 Elspeths in your opening hand is pretty embarrasing since Elspeth is pretty bad on defense there. But having 2 Lingering Souls is better since you can start clogging the board quickly and your Spirit tokens can eventually finish the game by themselves since they have Flying.

[ironclad8690]

Why Lingering Souls instead of Elspeth, if you're running it to combat Miracles? You don't even need to go into black to run Elspeth, and having an actual token generating machine that Miracles has few answers for, that also is a pro at assassinating Jace, and better at recovering from a Terminus, makes the most sense to me. Big boy Garruk (Primal Hunter) is also pretty good. A 2/1 split between maindeck and sideboard seems like the best bet for Maverick, if Miracles is the concern. I also would not cut Mother of Runes against Miracles, as it's one of this decks strongest assets in that matchup, and many Miracles lists are not very well prepared against the Mom + Teeg combo.

I agree with you here, the miracles matchup is still very winnable if you ask me, especially postboard if you bring in pithing needle/revoker on engineered explosives/Top, and maybe even dauntless escort (also works well vs Stoneblade/pernicious deed decks) for supreme verdict. Most of the time it comes down to aggressive mulliganing into thalia/mom/teeg or GSZ to set up the lock.

That being said, it does make sense that bant will become more popular due to the sheer power of clique vs miracles.

[door]

I played only 3 in the first version. Then, with the rise of GWs, the fourth copy was necesary.
I think it currently depends on meta

Do you think 3rd Wayfarer is better, than 4th Mother of Runes? I usually play in a meta full of RUG and miracles, where mother of runes seems to be one of the best creatures. I just want to understand your reasoning. You've always sticked to 3 Wayfarers. In what matches do they come out in your practice?

[M@verick]

Wayfarer takes part in the "lands mechanism", helping to search cradle, canopys, wastelands, caverns... I think is better than mother agaisnt miracles, because just one activation is more than the mother does before a terminus. However, mother is much better agaisnt RUG, there is no doubt.

But now, with the rise of bug, I think wayfarer is very helpful. It helps to delay EE, pernicious and big dudes like jace, because his weak mana base.
What is more, most combos currently play show and tell (sneak attack, reanimator, omnitell), and the access to karakas is great.

[conley1000000]

Aether Vial was actually the most common build of Maverick prior to the printing of Green Sun Zenith. Vial acts as suito protection of creatures being able to "vial" them into play at the e.o.t. The wayfarer works extremely well in this build because you can afford to intentionally miss a land drop with a vial in play and tutor for whatever you may need to help control the board state. I dont know with Vial and Wayfarer that two caverns are needed, since to me your wanting to keep vial on 2 being that covers the majority of the creatures and use the cavern to cast your KOTR. Are the BOP over Noble Hierarch for there evasion of flying? I would also recommend adding a dryad arbor. I understand you wont get the fun of a turn 1 rampant growth but with 2 Scryb Rangers using there synergy to blank an attacking creature seems extremely relevant. I'm not a fan of the single Aven mindcensor. Maybe at the singleton slot you could try an Eternal Witness. Also maybe some number of Ethersworn Canonist out of the sb. That cards amazing with Vial untapped making there bounce spell almost pointless. Iono just my .02...

[door]

Aether Vial was actually the most common build of Maverick prior to the printing of Green Sun Zenith. Vial acts as suito protection of creatures being able to "vial" them into play at the e.o.t. The wayfarer works extremely well in this build because you can afford to intentionally miss a land drop with a vial in play and tutor for whatever you may need to help control the board state. I dont know with Vial and Wayfarer that two caverns are needed, since to me your wanting to keep vial on 2 being that covers the majority of the creatures and use the cavern to cast your KOTR. Are the BOP over Noble Hierarch for there evasion of flying? I would also recommend adding a dryad arbor. I understand you wont get the fun of a turn 1 rampant growth but with 2 Scryb Rangers using there synergy to blank an attacking creature seems extremely relevant. I'm not a fan of the single Aven mindcensor. Maybe at the singleton slot you could try an Eternal Witness. Also maybe some number of Ethersworn Canonist out of the sb. That cards amazing with Vial untapped making there bounce spell almost pointless. Iono just my .02...

thanks, captain! I'd also advice to test the deck first, and then advice adding different stuff. E.g. dryad arbor is not good in this build. Aven is in the slot, where Eternal Witness was previously. BoPs carry swords, also Revokers often name Hierarchs in mirror matches. Addition of canonists depends on your local meta.

[monovfox]

In the lingering souls splash, why not run a gavony township in the 75? Could very well fix the miracles matchup, and suddenly their fieldwhipes suck. Also, you guys are forgetting that Gaddock Teeg just wins the miracles matchup. Why don't you guys run more of him? It doesn't make very much sense to me at all.

[MrShine]

Aether Vial was actually the most common build of Maverick prior to the printing of Green Sun Zenith. Vial acts as suito protection of creatures being able to "vial" them into play at the e.o.t. The wayfarer works extremely well in this build because you can afford to intentionally miss a land drop with a vial in play and tutor for whatever you may need to help control the board state. I dont know with Vial and Wayfarer that two caverns are needed, since to me your wanting to keep vial on 2 being that covers the majority of the creatures and use the cavern to cast your KOTR. Are the BOP over Noble Hierarch for there evasion of flying? I would also recommend adding a dryad arbor. I understand you wont get the fun of a turn 1 rampant growth but with 2 Scryb Rangers using there synergy to blank an attacking creature seems extremely relevant. I'm not a fan of the single Aven mindcensor. Maybe at the singleton slot you could try an Eternal Witness. Also maybe some number of Ethersworn Canonist out of the sb. That cards amazing with Vial untapped making there bounce spell almost pointless. Iono just my .02...

This is actually really close to what I was playing a couple months ago... You guys might think its crazy, but I cut the GSZs for Vials and never looked back. How many pages back are people complaining about the miracles matchup? 4 Vial + 2-3 Teeg maindeck with, ofc, 4 Mother of Runes and the optional 5th Sylvan Safekeeper (you could even run a split), combined with 4 Thalia maindeck just completely shuts down everything Miracles is trying to do. Teeg, obv, shuts down all their main answers and wincons, while Thalia stops them from digging too heavily and attacks. Combined with effective LD you can just lock them out.

Wayfarer was great in the list too, searching up additional Wastelands or Caverns to pressure / negate whatever the U deck is doing... they are great vs U but lacking a little vs other, non-basic light decks so he's really a meta call. Anyway the important thing to note here is that wayfarer synergizes favourably with Vial because you can be abusing your non-basics, ie Wasteland, and searching with Wayfarer while at the same time dropping threats into play via Vial. Even without wayfarer its strong to be able to waste them without losing Tempo on the creature front. And it gives everything flash! What's not to love...

Cavern of Souls is huge in the U matchup too (naming Humans obviously) - also searchable, like conley said, by Wayfarer

And the icing on the cake here (giving away all my secrets), is to run a package of 2 Stoneforge, X Jitte and 1 Lightning Greaves. Greaves on Teeg is the NUTS vs Miracles, and can enable some insane KotR blowouts when they are least expecting it, for only 5 mana total. Stoneforge is also great with Vial, and if you want you can run a Batterskull somewhere in the 75 to further crush Rug and random aggro into pulp.

EDIT: Very important to note: 2 Sylvan Library is a must in Maverick, and, like everything else here, helps nail the coffin shut against Miracles. Extra cards for days! Never cut it if slow control is in the meta.

Anyway guys, the tools are there to beat Miracles, you just have to (meta)game hard against them. You will have to build your list differently, but it doesn't change the dynamic of the deck so drastically that you lose a lot against the decks Maverick is normally good against.

All it takes is a hearty swig of some cold, refreshing Haterade!

Cheers,

MrShine