Dark Mavericking in Oakland: 74th

Okay, here is my tournament report from SCG Oakland. I went a combined 7-5 between the trial and the main event (trial 3-1, main event 4-4, 3-4 in actual matches). I did not money the main event, but I learned some valuable lessons about Maverick and deckbuilding in general in the current metagame.

First off, let me show you guys what I registered:

Dark Maverick

Creatures: 26

3 Noble Hierarch
2 Deathrite Shaman
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Aven Mindcensor

Spells: 12

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Sylvan Library

Lands: 22

3 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas

Sideboard:

2 Enlightened Tutor
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Choke
1 Engineered Plague
1 Pithing Needle
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Garruk Relenless
1 Rest in Peace
1 Gaddock Teeg

Let me explain some of my choices and the reasoning behind them:

3 Noble 2 DRS - I wanted to hedge against there being more grave hate in the format due to Treasure Cruise, as well as my own Rest in Peace coming in against most Deathrite decks. As it turns out, people were not packing grave hate, and Dredge won the enire event (though I do know that guy and he is probably the best in the state at playing dredge). Also, I wanted to increase the effectiveness of my own Cavern of Souls by having more turn 1 uncounterable plays vs Daze decks.

4 Thalia - I really wanted to just hard lock people with Thalia and Wasteland, and I won many of my games by keeping people locked under Thalia an low mana. If you do play the Dark version of this deck, I really like 4 Thalia.

3 Qasali Pridemage - I really didn't wan to lose to any blade/tezz decks, and the guys on the forum had been highly recommending multiple of this effect. I was very happy with the 3 all day long.

2 Scooze - Had some space from cutting the SFM package, so I went up to 2. He was alright.

1 Scryb Ranger - I was on the "2 Jitte connect with a flier" plan, and Scryb Dryad combo won me a couple of games.

1 Aven Mindcensor - I had a flex slot open and my buddy (bant guy who placed 14th in the main event) and I decided that this guy would be good at trading with delvers. I didn't end up havin him when I needed him, but he would have been great in many situations. Another flier since I don't have SoFaI.

2 Jitte/0 Stoneforge Mystic: I looked back to the Maverick decks of old to try and meta against all these fast delver decks that have been popular lately. It seemed to me that 2 Jitte 0 SFM was the fastest of my options, and I thought that Stoneforge would be too slow against the current meta. This was on of my biggest regrets in this tournament, I should have played at least 2 SFM + an equipment package to see it more often.

1 Elspeth: Without Stoneforge mystic, I wanted to make sure I could connect past a True-Name. Elspeth won me some grindy games against Junk, but I found myself sideboarding her out often. Didn't end up fighting Miracles at all this weekend.

1 Cavern of Souls: This was one of my strongest cards all weekend. Being able to play Thalia past Daze won me at least 2 games. If you play a non punishing version I highly recommend this card to play your human on curve and not worry about Daze on the draw.

1 Gaea's Cradle: Thinking here was fast equip jitte/scavening ooze away the opp's GY before Treasure Cruise. Didn't end up working in theory for the second part, but helped me defeat a Tabernacle.

4 Wasteland: Amazing card, please play 4 if non punishing version.

Enlightened Tutor Sideboard: I wanted to have a very varied sideboard with versatility against non combo, and powerful effects vs combo. Allowed me to play different kinds of hate that is also good in the Miracles matchup (which I probably overprepared for).

1 Garruk Relentless: I wanted to hedge against miracles and have extra removal for Deathrite decks.

1 Choke: I still stand by this card even though many don't like it. I won 1 game against Deathblade just by choking him and wastelanding him 4 times.

Now for the report:

Trial: 3-1

Round 1: UR Delver 2-0

A very nice dude from Oakland. We chat a bit, and he says he is bad at legacy, so I do not know what to expect.

Game 1: He wins the roll and goes Island Delver. I STP on my turn, and he forces. He gets in a few times with Delver while I grow my board of Mother of Runes, Noble, Knight, and eventually Scavening Ooze. I draw a timely STP at 5 life, and it resolves on his Insect. He bolts me to 2, but I am able to recover using scavenging ooze back up to 4, and I clock him with Knight for the win.

In: 2 Zealous Persecution, 1 Engineered Plague (humans), 1 Choke
Out: 2 Qasali Pridemage, 1 Gaddock Teeg

Game 2: He leads with swiftspear and attack. I STP on my turn, coast is clear. He plays Delver, I STP and Zenith for Dryad Arbor. He follows up with Young Pyro, I STP, still clear, and add to my board with Knight. He doesn't draw any more threats, and I beat face with Thalia, Knight, and Arbor.

Round 2: Tin Fins/Doomsday 1-2

This guy's familiar to me, I had played him at a Knightware tourney in LA. I remember him being on doomsday and me on Punishing Jund, an he beat the crap out of me; so I was hoping for some retribution. He asks me what I beat round 1, and I tell him (giving away information, but who cares). I ask him to even the scales, and he says he beat Maverick, because it was bad. The surrounding players laugh and joke: "People still play that?". Good Guy Joe Lossett who is sitting next to me, gracing me with his magnificent presence, comments on Herzog's succcess with the deck and everyone quiets down. My opp says that people have found a way to add blue to the deck and make it a real deck. "I'll show them" I thought to myself.

Game 1: I mull 3 1 land hands (other lands being Cradle and Arbor but with no way to utilize efficiently). I keep a 4 that has 2 lands, 1 green sun's zenith, and a Swords to Plowshares. I go first and play Savannah. he cabal therapies me naming Thalia, I reveal. I topdeck thalia on turn 2 and play it, he squirms a bit in his chair. He cabal therapies me 3 more times, shredding my hand. I get him low with Thalia and a Teeg I topdecked, but he finds his 3rd land to Shallow Grave his Grisel into play. He attacks and gains life, saccing his Grisel to cabal therapy to keep it in his yard. I attack again, he Shallow Graves again on his next turn. Just attacks with Grisel, and then exiles it. I attack him 1 more time, and he draws his final card. He scoops at my lethal swing next turn. He reveals to me that he could have gone off turn 1, but wanted to take his time to draw more cards with Griselfather.

In: 2 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Phyrexian Revoker, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Rest in Peace, 1 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Choke
Out: 3 Qasali Pridemage, 1 Elspeth, Knight Errant, 1 Sylvan Library, 1 Noble Hierarch, 1 Mother of Runes, 1 Swords to Plowshares.

Game 2: He start off with turn land cantrip, I play a dork. He plays lotus dark rit doomsday. Uh oh. Stacks his deck, I look at his exiled cards and see a doomsday shell. Damn transformational sideboards! He gets a shelldock isle in play with an unknown beneath it, but I think I know I am about to be violated by some tentacles. He cabal therapies me naming Crop Rotation, so I am hoping to draw karakas either next turn or the following turn (he has like 3 cards in library at this point). He sees the coast is clear, "Casts" emrakul off Shelldock, and proceeds to take his extra turn. He attacks, wipes my board, and I don't see karakas off the top. GG. Now I have to wonder if he is going on the Tin Fins plan or the Doomsday plan for game 3. Tricky fella.

In: 1 Oblivion Ring
Out: 1 Jitte

Game 3: I keep a decent hand with Rest in Peace, Phyrexian Revoker, Noble, and Lands. I start off with land noble pass. He goes turn 1 brainstorm. I think hard on turn 2 about whether to play RiP shutting off Tin Fins, or Phyrexian Revoker turning off LED. I decide on Rest in Peace, and am punished the following turn by lotus, LED, Dark Rit, Doomsday. He stacks his deck for the Ideas Unbound 2 Git Probe Dark Rit storm kill. GG. I talk to him a bit afterwards about my sideboard and choices, he thinks E Tutor board is bad because half the decks you bring it in against have counterspells (Reanimator, Sneak, Omnitell, Etc).

Round 3: BUG Dark Depths/Loam Control: 2-1

Another nice guy. Asked me if I was from around, and told him about my 4-5 hour drive up from socal.

Game 1: I add plenty of guys to the board, he gets an early maze of ith. I go on the Wasteland every turn plan with Knight and Thalia. He responds to my wasteland with crop rotation on his bayou into Tabernacle. oh crap! I pay for knight and let the others die (he had loam and wasteland at that point, so cradle was worthless). He eventually innocent bloods my knight and makes marit lage and swings for 20.

In: 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Rest in Peace, 1 Choke, 1 Oblivion Ring
Out: 1 Noble Hierarch, 1 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Qasali Pridemage, 1 Swords to Plowshares

Game 2: He starts the game with a Leyline of the Void. I get an early Thalia and Pithing Needle Thespian's Stage. I play a rest in peace on turn 3. He plays a Lili and controls my creatures for a while, but I am able to recover with a large knight while lili had to tick up. I kill his lili past a Mishra's Factory that I had to STP before blockers. Game end sin short order after this.

Game 3: he keeps a mox diamond hand. I get the Thalia Wasteland draw, an keep him locked under it for a good long time. I get a large knight and beat in, he almost has time to play some weird card that makes it so I can't attack unless I remove a card in my graveyard from the game (which would have gone quite nicely for him if he started with Leyline or I played a RiP). Thalia screw kept him off the cards in his hand, and I aggro him out with Knight and Thalia.

Round 4: Aluren: 2-1

Game 1: He plays basic island, basic swamp, Taiga, Shardless Agent into Strix. WTF I think to myself, and then I remember Lejay's sweet Shardless deck with the red splash, and I put him on that. I have played some dorks and was unable to remove a deathrite shaman that kept my yard and knight consequently small. He plays a Coiling Oracle at some point, and the jig is up: Aluren. I have next to no experience vs this deck, but I try to Thalia/Wasteland him. I get some hits in with Mom protecting Knight, but he is able to play his Aluren and cavern harpy. On the last turn possible, he topdecks an Imperial Recruiter and goes off.

In: 1 Pithing Needle (harpy), 1 Phyrexian Revoker (harpy), 1 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Engineered Plague (harpy)
Out: 1 Elspeth, Knight Errant, 1 Noble Hierarch, 1 Deathrite Shaman, 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.

Game 2: I am able to answer his DRS and keep him low on mana. I start connecting with Jitte, and it is pretty much lights out for him. Thalia + Wasteland gets there again, Mother of Runes was crucial to getting my big Ooze through his small army of black blockers.

Game 3: He doesn't draw the lands he needs and I get enough Swords to Plowshares to remove his DRS, Strix, and 2 Coiling Oracles. My clock is too fast because of 3 exalted triggers, and I overwhlem him just in time for the round is up.

I get 6 khans packs and crack a Polluted Delta, which I trade to my buddy for his Burning Wish (working towards being able to build scape-fit).

We talk about our builds and we are both happy. He is actually playing a Bant-Maverickesque deck as well, and we are no strangers to the Selesnya guild. He actually went 4-0 in the trial in games, but he split with his opponent cause he wanted to get some packs and a playmat. The other guy wanted the mat as well, so Good Guy Joe Lossett gives my buddy the playmat he won, because he is just that awesome.

We go to the SCG store to get some KMC Hypermat sleeves, but they are all out and we have to get the regular Mat edition. We are hesitant, as we have nver used these before and they appeared to get easily marked from shuffling, but it was the only option. We joked about the cards being too slippery in these sleeves and accidentally spraying our cards all over our opponents in round 1 of the tournament/spilling our cards all over the place and being life durdles. I then lament about not being able to play Siege Rhino in my deck and how I should be playing Junk-Fit. My friend is amused at my irrational love of Siege Rhino despite not being a standard player.

The next morning, we found ourselves in our seats and ready to begin the tournament.

Round 1: Enchantress 1-2

Game 1: My opponent is late so he receives a game loss. I am feeling cheeky and guilty in how happy I am to start the tournament in this fashion.

Game 2: We shuffle up and my opp goes first having "lost" game 1. Forest, Wild Growth. Fuck. I hate the Enchantress matchup from the Maverick perspective so much, they can just ramp past Thalia tax and draw a million cards like nothing. Solitary confinement comes down a few turns later, and he is able to shit out his entire library almost, and Sigil of the Empty Throne finishes me off. I never see a Wasteland for Serra's Sanctum.

In: 1 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Oblivion Ring, 2 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Engineered Plague, 2 Zealous Persecution.
Out: 2 Scavening Ooze, 1 Elspeth, Knight Errant, 4 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Mother of Runes.

Game 3: Much in the same fashion as game 2, Thalia doesn't seem to do enough. I am able to keep him somewhat low on mana by wastelanding his Dryad Arbor, Oblivion Ringing his Wild Growth, and attacking with exalted Thalia. he just keeps topdecking lands however, and I can't find another wasteland for the life of me. He starts playing his draw engines, and finds a Solitary Confinement just in the nic of time. I can't zenith for QPM because of my own Gaddock Teeg, which is keeping his Sigil at bay in his hand. He plays a suppression field essentially locking me out of everything that makes maverick worth playing in the first place, and he just keeps drawing cards playing enchantments and passing until he finds the Karakas to bounce my Teeg and Sigil me out. The life-tilt is real.

Round 2: Junk & Taxes: 2-1

Game 1: I lose the roll and hope for the best. I get a sweet hand with a quick jitte + mom and QPM, but he gets the nut draw. He goes turn 1 vial off of Rish Port. I go turn 1 fetch plains mom. He ticks up and plays a Verdant Catacombs(!) fetching Scrubland to play a Bob. I see that the match is a scrub-off to determine the superior scrub. I play a forest and QPM, he end of turn vials in Mom. On his turn, he ticks to 2 and drops a Spirit of the Labyrinth. I play my third land and a dork to try and accel into Jitte the following turn, but he Vials in Serra Avenger. On his turn, he drops a Thalia and swings with his team. I start to fall slowly behind in the damage race, I can't drop my Jitte quickly enough with Thalia out, and he vials in Avenger #2 on the end of my turn. he swings with everything dropping me pretty low, even though I block and Mom protect to take out Spirit of the Labyrinth. The following turn I play Jitte and connect, but his multiple serra avengers are too much to overcome and I lose.

In: 2 Zealous Persecution, 1 Engineered Plague (Horror, Human depening on the board state), 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Phyrexian Revoker
Out: 1 Gaddock Teeg, 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Game 2: I lead with Noble, he leads with DRS, I followup with Pithing needle naming Deathrite. He plays 1 more DRS the next turn, and I play a knight. He plays Bob, but the following turn I play Jitte Equip and attack. I get in a couple more times and he has to scoop.

Game 3: I keep a wasteland heavy hand. He leads with Marsh Flats pass. I followup with turn 1 Mother of Runes, he fetches and StPs it. I wasteland his scrubland and play a Zenth for Arbor. he plays port and passes. I continue adding to my board while he has no colored sources until I have already connected with a Jitte, and it is too late for him.

Round 3: Deathblade: 2-0

Game 1: Thalia + Wasteland keep him low on options. He has to spend 2 mana to ponder/brainstorm while I am committing more creatures to the board. I strand a batterskull in his hand by STPing a stoneforge mystic. My ragtag team of Thalia, Scryb Ranger, and Scavenging Ooze crashes in a few times while my opponent can't draw more lands to save his life.

In: 1 Engineered Plague (Merfolk), 2 Zealous Persecution, 1 Choke
Out: 1 Swords to Plowshares, 1 Scavenging Ooze, 1 Noble Hierarch, 1 Mother of Runes

Game 2: He thoughtseizes me seeing my opener of Zenith, Thalia, Engineered Plague, Fetch, Wasteland x 2, Horizon canopy. He takes Zenith, and I waste his U sea after drawing wasteland #3 for the turn. he drops a tunra and brainstorms. I drop a land and play Noble hierarch, he goes Stoneforge into Jitte. I drop thalia, and Wasteland him again. He STPs Thalia, but I draw another. I wasteland him a 3rd time, and he can't quite drop jitte yet. He gets enough land to flash in an equip, so I hold back my motley crew of attackers in fear of dying to a batterskull. He fetches at the end of my turn, and doesn't find the land to flash in Jitte. He plays Jitte in his main phase while I assemble Dryad + Scryb Ranger and draw a jitte of my own. I equip to Scryb and swing with the team, as it has been a turn and he did not flash in B Skull. He takes the damage, and for some reason I am really excited to go to my second main phase so I forget my Jitte trigger. This tilts me beyond belief as now he can attack with his Jitte'd SFM. he does so, and I am so flustered that I forget to Untap my thalia using Scryb and block (I have a terrible habit of saying "okay" before thinking about playing), and he gets 2 counters, killing my Thalia and Scryb Ranger. I equip Jitte to Dryad, STP his Stoneforge and attack (he is at like 4 or something at this point), but he STPs it. This is where it gets dicey. He adds a Deathrite Shaman to the board, as do I. He equips his jitte and attacks, I Zealous Perseuction after blocking with my deathrite. He zealous persections in response, leading to a blow out. I lose my DRS, he still has a counter to spare on Jitte. he adds TNN to the board, but I play my Engineered Plague. He builds up counters attacking with DRS each turn, and gets a Liliana and ticks up to 4 and then 5. I topdeck multiple pridemages in a row, and he goes to 3 counters on Lili and gains 10 life in resp to me blowing up his Jitte. He plays a Batterskull which I have to Pridemage in resp to him -2'ing with Lili while he only has 2 lands untapped, and I followup with Choke while his 4 Islands are tapped (and 1 Scrubland). At this point Lili has 1 counter and he has 2 Deathrites, I just have Jitte and lands. I topdeck a GSZ for Pridemage as I just needed a beater and only had 3 mana producing lands (gaea's cradle was one), and Waste his scrubland to keep him locked under choke. He ticks up lili, and Deathrites me using mana from my GY. He has 3 unused fetches, but had failed to find earlier in the game. We have like 2 minutes left in round, my opponent ponders twice using his Shamans, but doesn't find his last STP for my mage. I equip Jitte, swing at exposed Lili, kill a shaman. He has Shaman left to my Pridemage with Jitte, he doesn't find STP in his draw step. I swing and kill his DRS, stabilizing at 4 life. I attck him back down from his 10 life gained earlier and lethal him the turn before he would have drawn STP.

I got super lucky in this game despite having epic punted 2 times, so at this point I take up my slip and try to get back in the zone.

Round 4: BUG Delver: 1-2 (Jimmy Cruz, 2nd place)

Game 1: My opponent wins the roll and plays Usea Deathrite Shaman. I don't have a STP, so I play Cavern and Noble. He reads the Cavern, so I am pretty sure he has a daze in his hand. He wastes cavern, and adds a goyf to his board. I play Thalia and Karakas. He plays a land, Abrupt Decays Thalia, and attacks with goyf (3/4) and plays Delver. I play a scryb ranger and fetchland to assemble the lock on his T Goyf. He flips Delver and plays Goyf #2 and Attacks. I fetch Arbor, block Goyf with Arbor and Insect with Scryb and bounce Dryad. He has to read scryb ranger like 3 times in this sequence, and realizes that bouncing my dryad is part of the cost of scrybs ability. I try to play a Knight but he Forces pitching Stifle(!). I can't stop his board and die to Goyfs + insect after he treasure cruises and Dimir Charms(!) my scryb.

In: 1 Rest in Peace, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Choke, 1 Oblivion Ring, 1 Garruk Relentless
Out: 1 Gaddock Teeg, 2 Qasali Pridemage, 1 Noble Hierarch, 1 Deathrite Shaman

Game 2: I play dork followed by knight followed by Jitte equip and attack. He can't really do anything to stop me, having pondered on t1 and played DRS on turn 2. I win very quickly with a large knight and jitte

Game 3: He starts off with Fetch pass. I play a Heath, tell him to wait at upkeep, and pass. I crack on his upkeep to play around Stifle at least a little bit, but he Stifles anyway. He follows up with wasteland pass, while I have a slow hand which contains Scryb, Knight, and lands. I play a karakas. He plays Tarmo and misses his land drop, keeping him from wastelanding me. I debate whether I should play Scryb using Cavern, and decide against it, wanting to save cavern for Humans. I play a savannah and Scryb, he Forces. He wastes me and plays a DRS, Land, and Delver. I try to get my manabase back up, but his board is overwhelming. I finally get enough mana to play knight, but his active Deathrite keeps it too small to block goyf and live. I make a desperation play of Garruk Relentless at 6 life, but he forces and lethals me next turn.

Round 5: Patriot Delver: 0-2

Game 1: He wins the roll and plays basic Island Delver pass. I followup with plains STP, he forces. He flips delver on upkeep, swings, and plays 2 more delvers. I play a Thalia, but he flips again the following turn, swinging for 9 int he air. I don't draw STP and my Zenith for Scryb is countered, so I die shortly thereafter.

In: 2 Zealous Persecution, 1 Engineered Plague
Out: 1 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Deathrite Shaman, 1 Elspeth.

Game 2: I play land dork, he plays Delver. Here we go again. I play Thalia, delver flips naturally and beats. He plays SFM for Sword of Feast and Famine, I play Scryb Ranger. He plays another Delver, continues beating down with the first one, and leaves mana up for SFM. I play a Swords to Plowshares, he forces. I play a Jitte, he forces. He flips delver 2, STPs my Scryb ranger, and beats my face with fliers while I can't save myself with topdecks.

Round 6: Junk Control: 2-0

Game 1: I have a typical hand with a great curve, he is stucck on 2 lands. I waste the Bayou, he plays top.I play creatures like QPM and Knight while he just durdles looking for lands which he doesn't find. I attack him down and win very quickly.

In: 1 Oblivion Ring, 1 Garruk Relentless, 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
Out: 1 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Scavenging Ooze, 1 Noble Hierarch, 1 Mother of Runes

Game 2: This one starts off very quickly for me. I curve noble into Knight which eats a STP into Garruk relentless to produce a wolf. He digs with SDT, finds a Council's Judgment, and exiles my Garruk. I play Eslepth and make a knight, he plays a Serra Avenger, and I Followup with jitte + equip, pump + flying & swing, he takes quite a bit of damage and I get Jitte counters. He plays a Jitte of his own, and gets counters after attacking my Elspeth. I play Wilt Leaf Liege and swing past his Avenger with a flying wolf token with 2 Jitte counters and 1 exalted trigger. He takes it, and plays a Pernicious Deed on his turn, with 4 mana open to blow most of my team away. I swing, he pops deed for 4, we both gain life from Jittes. I am left with Elsepth and make a knight, play a Reliquary. He plays sigarda. I jump knight and attack, he takes it. he attacks Elspeth and kills her. I play a QMP, swing with Knight. He plays Deed and blows for 3. I get some hits from Sigarda, and I am able to Zenith up knight. I find a Mom, and me opponent can't answer it. He is at 9, my knight is a 10/10, so I use mom and swing past sigarda to win it.

Round 7: No Show. No, not a sweet oldschool Natural Order/Show and Tell deck (looking at you Danny Batterman), just didn't show up to seating.

Round 8: Omnitell: 0-2

Game 1: He plays basic Island cantrip. I play Mother of Runes. He plays Probe + cantrips again. I draw a 2nd Thalia, play Thalia # 1, he Forces pitching Flusterstorm. I put him on High Tide. He draws and plays Show and Tell. I Show in Thalia, and he shows Omniscience. He passes, but I am left with not enough mana to cast GSZ for Teeg on my turn, so I play a Knight to make sure I can add 4 mana next turn. He untaps, Cantrips for 1, finds Enter, Enters, and plays a Cunning Wish. I give my Thalia pro blue in response, and he realizes what that means for him. He plays Tomb, reaserch and depelopment, Lab maniac, and Brainstorm for the kill.

In: 2 Enlightened Tutor, 1 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Choke, 1 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Oblivion Ring.
Out: 1 Elspeth, 1 Ooze, 4 STP.

Game 2: I keep a hand with Lands, DRS, Choke and Knight. He keeps as well. I play DRS pass. he goes Island Ponder, keeps top 3. I play land and realize that I do not have a way to cast my choke yet as there are no fetches in either mine nor my opponents GY. I pass, he plays City of Traitors and Show and Tell. I show in Choke, and he plays Omniscience. He catrips 3 times, and finds the enter the infinite for typical emrakul & ant kill. I think about my keep and realize I should have mulliganed into Ethersworn, Teeg, Thalia, or Tutor.

All in all this was a very fun tournament even though I was depressed at my lackluster performance. I got 74th in the event, and went over to watch by Bant friend get slowly defeated by Lands, knocking him out of the top 8.

Props:
1) My buddy's uncle for letting us stay at his place in Oakaland
2) My buddy for placing 14th with Bant.
3) Seeing lots of cool people from soCal doing well in the event
4) Joseph Moreno for repping LA and putting Dredge back on the map
5) Joe Lossett for giving my friend his playmat.
6) My friend's round 7 Miracles opponent for scooping even though the game was a draw.

Slops:
1) SCG for not having KMC Hyper-Mat sleeves
2) Trying to get fancy with my sideboard and maindeck and deviating from the most consistent and powerful version of the deck.
3) Getting paired against my least favorite matchup round 1.

All in all: If you are going to play Maverick right now, I highly recommend playing Dark Maverick with SFM package ala Scragnelli/Herzog. I usually abide by the KISS strategy - Keep it simple stupid! - but this time my need for personal identity overcame my rational thoughts. Also, don't get fancy with an E tutor sideboard, just play consistent numbers of good cards like Thoughtseize, Canonist, Path, Zealous, Pithing Needle, Choke, Toxic Deluge, Surgical, RiP, etc. Speaking of Toxic Deluge, that card is pretty much a must-have as Chris (Warden on here) has been stating for the last month. Playing control with Maverick sucks when you don't have a way to sweep multiple Delvers or gain life super consistently through SFM/Jitte/Skull.

If you do not play Dark Maverick, play either the Punishing variant or the Bant variant. The extra removal is actually better than the Thalia plan right now I think, and Pyroblast is INSANE in the current metagame. The Bant version gets TNN + Jace + Brainstorm and Treasure Cruise which are powerhouses.

Link to my friend's Bant deck which isn't quite Maverick but contains elements, and he thinks it is super well positioned right now.