Hello Source community. LONG-time lurker, first-time contributor. I used to be the Legacy mod over at 'Salvation. Been a part of the greater CNY legacy meta for 7 years. Fair warning, I wrote a book. There’s a lot to talk about.
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Deck
I rearranged how SCG lists my 75. Source:
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...hisweekend-tab
Maverick :: Chris Scagnelli :: 10th Place @ SCG: Syracuse
Creatures (25)
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Knight of the Reliquary
Spells (13)
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Sylvan Library
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
Lands (22)
1 Karakas
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
1 Plains
2 Forest
1 Scrubland
2 Bayou
2 Savannah
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
Sideboard (15)
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Thoughtseize
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
2 Rest in Peace
2 Toxic Deluge
3 Zealous Persecution
I’ve been on a roll this year with Maverick. I’m a decent player in an extremely talented CNY meta. Several months of prize support across “monthly” events and now this 10th place finish at a SCG Open (tied 8th place but had bad breakers) makes me feel I have some credibility in what Maverick is doing. Had attendance been lower, my X-1-1 would have made Top 8. Life goes on.
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About my list
Before anyone asks, no, I don’t test or play MTG too often. Occasionally I’ll binge on cockatrice to practice or test out ideas (vacations, prep for a big event) to get the rust off. I work and workout everyday. MTG is just my hobby.
Maverick wins because it’s just plain annoying. It has cards that, in a vacuum, are cute-yet-disruptive. The synergy of annoyances stack rather quick in your favor. I respectfully disagree with some of Koby’s deck choices (SCG NJ) like Sigarda and 3x Wastelands + lots of utility stuff. K.I.S.S —- Maverick is insane because you have killer consistency of Mom, Thalia, Wasteland, KotR, Zenith working together. Going back to the deck’s roots of 4x “core cards” paid dividends. Then there’s Thalia-Wasteland being your bread and butter. You want to ensure Thalia-Wasteland is a thing.
The inspiration for my decklist came from Thomas Herzog, who I’ve complimented several times on Salvation. Never met or talked to him but his list is THE definitive “stock list” for Zenith-based Maverick IMHO. Post #5155 with 1mpulse (friend of Herzog) got me to see Maverick in a different way. Link:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...l=1#post807555. A lot of what 1mpulse said in that post made a lot of sense. This is where I started to see Library more as a “finisher/trump card” than just “utility”. I was also baffled to see 0 abrupt decay and a miser Choke. That couldn’t possibly work on paper. But the more I gyrated towards their list, the more I felt these guys saw something I didn’t.
For Sunday, I took the risk of cutting Gaea’s Cradle and Fetch #8 for DD/Stage. Source members commented how you’re not even gaining “colorless lands” by making said swap. In the opener, both packages function the same. In the mid- or late-game, DD/Stage has considerably more upside, letting you pressure out of nowhere. Throughout the day, I won a handful of games by generating a 20/20 flying indestructible token.
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Report
I do this from memory and the life-total pad. During the player’s meeting, I found myself sitting between 2 dredge players. I loved my list except 2 flex SB parts. I debated about Armageddon, Surgical Extraction, or Rest in Peace. I turned the the guy on my right as asked, “What’s worse for you as a GY deck? Surgical or Rest in Peace?” He answered, “Surgical is annoying when your deck needs the grave but Rest in Peace is a much bigger pain.” I gotta thank whoever this man was. The last-minute swap from Surgical —> RIP paid off in later rounds.
Rd. 1 - UWR Patriot w/ Delver, SFM, & TNN [Match Loss]
We chat at the beginning and I feel out the kind of player I’m facing. He’s borrowing a friend’s deck and doesn’t really play Legacy (but understands how to pilot the deck). Ironically, we talk about sleeves and marked cards/cheating while shuffling (foreshadowing here).
Game 1 - I nip away at him. He eventually drops a TNN. I assemble DD/Stage and just lethal him the next turn.
Game 2 - I cut some stuff for the ZP and perhaps a toxic. He drops Delver turn 1. I waste. He blind-flips delver and basically rides that as I can’t find removal. Drew crap across the game.
During this game, I call out my opponent for having marked cards. He’s got metallic blue sleeves with what can best be described as “bubbles” (imagine a staple tucked between the back of the Magic card and the color-part of the sleeve). A few of his cards have this clear as day in the middle the card-back. A few judges come over, take his deck away (checking for patterns, ask us questions privately, and ultimately rule his cards ARE marked.
At this, I’m told there my opponent has a warning and that play should continue. I’m like, “not to be rude, but may I appeal this to the head judge?”. I know you get warnings but I thought cheating at this level meant a game-loss. The head judge comes over. We speak in private and I shake his hand while politely accepting his confirmation of the marked cards constituting a warning. I’m not one to nickel-and-dime my opponents, but marked cards is fucking cheating, okay? This opponent will be forced to re-sleeve next round.
Later in the game, my opponent has a “dexterity issue” — during the draw phase. He “accidentally” lifts the 2 highest cards on the top of his library. He does not place two cards in his hand, however, his quick fiddling and eyes at the deck send a red flag that he’s got advanced knowledge. I call judge again. More talking and yet another visit from the head judge. Because I’m an honest player, I give my opponent credit: I cannot confirm whether my opponent saw the next card — but he was certainly looking at the top 2 cards in some capacity. It all happened fast. The head judge thanks me for being honest. I made the case that this is my opponent’s second cheating-type behavior and now I’m really concerned. Do these two behaviors work towards a game-loss “upgrade path”? Apparently they do not.
We have a whopping +14 minutes going into game 3 due to judge calls. At this rate, the event will wait on us. There’s 10 minutes and change on the natural clock, meaning we’ll have plenty of time to play the round out.
Here’s where my morning goes to shit. I’m on the play and draw a 7-card clunker. Lots of colors: including QPM, ZP, and STP. No lands. As I look over my hand, a young player I am friendly with sits down next to me. I’m going to take the mull but I flash him the hand. This kid nods. I don’t think I wasted anytime in announcing “mull”. I peek at the top of the deck to see a wasteland (good call on mulligans). 5 seconds tick by. While shuffling to draw a 6-card mulligan, my opponent is screaming for a judge.
Long story short, he claims I’m seeking “outside support” on the hand. Are you fucking kidding me!? Head judge comes by yet again. This time there’s a back and forth (he came to table, went away, came back quickly). It’s deemed I will be given a match loss for outside support. I appeal, please my case, and chat with the head judge in private. The head judge actually understands where I’m coming from. He takes my word that I had a shit hand with no lands. A true 7-card clunker someone would mulligan 100% of the time and no outside assistance was intended. However, the kid ’s reaction to my hand put me in the wrong. I could have appealed to the other head judge but from the way this guy was talking, the verdict would stand. I’m devastated because this is apparently way worse, even with my plead, than the 2 instances of cheating from my opponent. He plays on through 2 acts of cheating and I’m hit with no warning or other penalty (ie; double-mulligan from 7 to 5 or something). Auto-match loss.
During this time, we gathered a large crowd. Many Source friends are starring at me, the judges, and the opponent in disbelief. The kid who sat next to me was also handed an auto-match loss for round 2 (mine was for Rd. 1 only).
**Aside: I really wanna make it clear — the 7-hand had 0 lands. My mulligan would occur 100% of the time. I wish there could have been a warning or even some other penalty like a double-mulligan (like going 7 to 5 directly). Something other than match loss. This is especially alarming after my opponent was confirmed to be cheating with marked cards. His demeanor over the match changed once I called him out on the “dexterity” thing. I’ll keep things civil by saying I hope I never run into this crook again.
I hold nothing against the judges, head judge, or SCG. A younger version of myself would have raged out. It was just very very unfortunate to start my event and day with this. Additionally, the kid who sat next to me probably felt crushed. I told him several times I don’t hate him + MTG is a game. We’ll both learn from this experience. He kept checking in on me throughout the day and I said the same thing. It’s no big deal, even if it costs me the event. I have maybe 10 years on him. This won’t be the death of me lol.
On another note, I appreciate the support I got from the crowd and Source friends. Everyone appeared to be on my side and several of you listened to me vent/bitch. I’m grateful for the support.
Round 2 - UWr Miracles [Win]
As we transition to round 2, a regular-level judge takes me aside to just talk things out. I’m not in rage mode more than I am in vent/bitching mode. Emotionally feel awful. I can’t recall this judge’s name but he was especially helpful. The complaining helped me regain composure.
The player I sit across from was near me during the previous round. I know he’s got terminus, which tips me off that he’s on Miracles.
Game 1 - I ride Thalia + Sword of Fire and Ice to victory. He sent my first Thalia plowin’ but that’s why we run 4x.
Game 2 - I outlast A LOT of attrition but can’t close. He STP’ed both Gaddock Teegs and used 2x Terminus + 1x Verdict. Yikes. Snapcaster also occured. I may have lost 2 thalia in the process. Idr.
Game 3 - I run through him. Sylvan Library is just monstrous. He made a weird play involving a fetch with SDT 2/3 of the way into the game and said afterwards that was his punt. He was a good player. On paper I was up against a brick wall. I believe Karma rewarded me for being polite and respectful towards the judges round 1.
Round 3 - 4C Deathrite w/ TNN [Tie]
One of the nicest players to face in competition. He’s super chill. Became Fb friends after the event :)
Game 1 - I lose quickly as his midgame demolishes mine. All the good things a greedy manabase can get you.
Game 2 - We go back and forth. Like “wtf kind of luck do you have to topdeck that” type back and forth. I opened with double wasteland but he answered with eventually finding his own wasteland, decaying something I had, etc. I kill him (5 life) while I myself sit at 3. Luck.
Game 3 - Nobody can outright win during turns. However, if we had infinite time, he certainly had me. We end in a tie with him having Jace and Liliana to my nothing. I’m at 11, he’s at 23. I was clearly going down a bad road. Had something + KotR in my hand IIRC (would have died quickly to double walkers).
Round 4 - MUD [Win]
Going into the match, I’m 1-1-1 with possible daylight if I play smart.
Game 1 - Pharmacist comes over to talk with both of us. We have a small discussion and actually relax as we become acquainted with one another. The one real misplay of the day: I open with land -> Noble. He opens with Sol land -> Greaves. This is where rust kicks in. I’m staring at 3 mana on turn 2 and have a choice between QPM (safe, smart) or KotR (aggressive). Like a dumbass, I go with KotR thinking I can take out his mana on my turn 3. Opponent drops Metalworker, greaves-equips, shows a hand of brown, makes a boatload of mana, drops blightsteel, greaves-equips, railroads me for 9 poison. No STP in hand means I scoop.
Game 2 - I pull Gaddock and Moms in favor of Thoughtseize and Deluge. Mom does nothing against colorless. Gaddock ain’t stopping this caliber of big stupid things. I drop mana accel and he drops Trini. I wasteland and roll from there. He can’t do too much.
Game 3 - I nearly lose the match after controlling his lands for a while. At some point later in the game he’s got a tapped Monolith, some nonbasics, a darksteel land, graves, and the staff of lots-of-weird-options. Thoughtseizes throughout the game denied him any real threats.
I have DRS, QPM, Thalia, and a nice sized KotR. I had the choice to wasteland tutor or swing. With nothing in his hand, I decide to chop him down from 18 to 11. He topdecks wurmcoil. Crap. Moves to equip it with graves —> I QPM nuke in-response to convert the 6/6 into its 3/3 offspring. He swings with the deathtouch one (thanks to greaves) and I fall to 12. Meanwhile, I’m sitting on Deluge. I use my dorks for value, deluge for 3 (wiping the board excpet KotR), and use my girl for the beats. About 2 or 3 turns progress with, my opponent tapping down KotR on upkeep. I respond by land-tutoring in-response for wastelands. Eventually, my opponent lacks the mana to untap monolith, tap my KotR on upkeep, or play threats. He extends the hand and wishes me luck. Great guy.
Round 5 - Goblins [Win]
Game 1 - He opens with Plateau -> Vial. Goblins perhaps? Maybe some RW weenie/denial hate-deck? I’m not sure. Several more turns go by. No creatures but vial #1 (2 counters) looms alongside vial #2 (0 counters). He EOT flashes in Thalia, drops cavern naming “goblins” and the little green men punish me as I draw little to no pressure.
Game 2 - I win thanks to pressure. No real details to discuss.
Game 3 - This is a tight one. The game is in my favor for the first 1/3. Then he manages to Ringleader-chain crap in. About 2/3 through the game, I’m on the backfoot trying to mitigate damage. I need something big. Boom - KotR. I play smart and avoid lethal. At some point I have an option to attack (pressure, cut into his life total) or drop a second KotR. I had a feeling I should have played KotR #2 but instead swing. I leave dorks and a QPM + Arbor to defend. He Pyrokenetics the QPM and a Stingscourger in the dark bounces KotR. I replay the KotR and hold on tight as Jitte is in the hand. Some tight plays help me hunker down at 11. I manage to dig out of the mess by having Jitte eat his team alongside a ZP. We go to turns. On “extra turn 5” I have 2 active KotR (one holding jitte) and Arbor. He’s got matron back on defense — sitting at 8 life. I zenith for 2. Only finding Scooze as a relevant card. I declare attacks with only arbor and KotR #1 while Scooze and KotR #2 sit back. He misplay by letting KotR #1 through. I activate KotR #2 to tutor. Sacrificing Arbor (+1 land) for a wasteland, then nuking my own dual (+2). These extra 3 lands allow me to swing in for lethal while my opponent kicks himself. Reaaaaally lucky here. I don’t think my opponent saw lethal lines of play.
Rd. 6 - BUG Delver [Win]
My opponent’s level of friendliness hinged upon how he was doing in the match.
Game 1 - Rides delver. Stops anything I have.
Game 2 - I bring in RIP, Deluge, Wilt-Leaf. I assemble all the hate I need: Wastelands early, Thalia, Scooze, Sylvan, RIP. He decays the RIP but his goyf were miniscule. He scoops them up when he sees how much bigger my team is than his.
Game 3 - Trop -> Delver. I Wasteland. He can’t blind flip. I pull Thalia as he can’t assemble mana. Delver can’t flip. I assemble a small team but he’s really fighting to play stuff (manages to pay 2 to Ponder). He flips delver but it isn’t until I have considerable pressure. The finishing blow came as I sit on Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Wilt-Lead in Hand. He Hymns. Hurray Randoms. I chuck a sword and WLL comes to play. He curses and scoops. That’s why we play WLL folks.
Rd. 7 - Junk/Maverick Hybrid [Win]
As we take out our decks, he reveals Liliana (I flash DRS). Not sure what he’s on exactly but there’s trouble brewing. Another solid contender for one of the nicest players I’ve ever faced. I actually wished he talked more because he had a soothing baseball announcer-type voice.
Game 1 - I really just try to gain information: Lili, Goyfs, Savannahs, Mom, Thoughtseize. Hmm…interesting. His friend walks over as I assemble DD/Stage and trolls him by whipping out a Marit Lage token for me to use. We both chuckle.
Game 2 - He gets Bob online and takes a bit of damage because of it. Then I see he’s got Souls. Crap. Late in the game, I’m at 13 to his 6. His card advantage by this point is insane. With no DRS, I can’t race him. Just when there’s a small chance I can punish his confidant triggers, he goes SFM -> Batterskull. I scoop because he’s got me on the lifelink.
Game 3 - I play tight and take some early damage. At some point he Oblivion Rings my QPM (to hold off his eventual jitte). I manage to just beatdown through him regardless. I can’t remember much but the life total pad has me stopping at 15 while he goes 18 -> 17 - > 14 - 13 -> 11 -> 8 -> 7 -> 6 -> 1. I do recall him making a last-ditch effort and kinda stabilizing at 1. He shipped the turn only to have me DRS him for the win. I get the handshake and a good luck. Let’s ride the X-1-1 train.
Rd. 8 - PG Pox/Loam
At this point, it’s being discussed how X-1-1 will probably not make Top 8. However, this issue comes into contention as everyone except the 1 and 2 seed are in a “play to get in” scenario. I’m not good with figuring out breakers so I just push for being a potential dark horse. My opponent and I are apparently the only X-1-1’s during the final round so there’s hope. Regardless, we were all walking away with money and the tension certainly left the table. This was the most enjoyable match because for the most part, we all “made it”.
Game 1 - I am not sure whether I’m facing Nic Fit or Loam. I lead with the Jedi move of Forest -> DRS. He cabal therapies “Wirewood symbiote” only to see the Maverick Shell. It was over quickly thereafter. Didn’t see any creatures but I figured he therapy’ed hoping to hold off elf combo.
Game 2 - I see the Loam work in action. Certainly a loam deck. His first 2 dredge-loam chains are insane. I call a goofy and friendly time out to look at my sideboard. RIP smiling right at me from the deck box. Yup, let’s do game 3 because there’s a really important card that’s not in my deck. The both of us + onlookers laugh at this.
Game 3 - I Thoughtseize turn 1 to see he’s got double Liliana + Spinning Darkness. Nifty card. I pull one of the lilianas and pass. He doesn’t do much (slow starter). I work hard to drop dorks and Scooze. Most of these cards just die to sacrifice effects and removal but Library keeps me chuggling along. I’m stalled on Plains, Bayou, Wasteland and can’t shoot him down because I need the mana. However, I cross a threshold at some point and break the game open. My life total notes have me at 17 while he goes 18 -> 17 -> 16 -> 14 -> 12 -> 11 -> 8 -> scoop.
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Comments
Holy crap I rallied from 0-1 to 6-1-1. Maybe I have a chance? 8th slot (burn) edged me and 9th place out by a very close 2%. While it sucks I didn’t make top 8 for the controversial round 1 situation, I’m REALLY proud of going x-1-1, representing Maverick, and playing out of my mind. If the room wasn’t borderline 9-rounds, I’d be in top 8. But it’s not a sour grapes situation…perhaps the matchloss paved the way for a playable bracket. If I won round 1 perhaps I’d get slaughtered later on. It’s never a good thing to play the hypothetical game. Make lemonade when you’re dealt lemons.
Sideboard was EXCELLENT. I came expecting to beat Miracles and Delver and did just that. I was certainly conceding the Sneak/Show match but looked to trump BUG with Wilt-Leaf. It all paid off. WIlt-Leaf is a response to BUG, -1/-1 sweepers, and Miracles (4 mana is awkward for them + the anthem effect means you avoid over-extending).
2x Sylvan Library is legit. There were many times I took 4 to the dome to keep the pressure going (several of them = drawing a fetch + threat).
KotR > any fair creature. Anyone who bashes KotR (“wehh wehh run goyfs instead”) changed their tune while they watched me.
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Changes
I want a second basic Plains. No idea where to make this cut lol. I don’t want to drop to 2 bayou 0 scrublands. The mana worked but there were times I wish I had 4 basics (the sweet spot). Everything else was great.
I want a 3rd QPM somewhere. Herzog running 4x is overkill but 3x is important
QPM #3 could be ZP #3 in the sideboard. However, this is going to fight PTE/Decay/Sword of X&Y #3 (continue reading below).
The weakest card all day was Sword of Light and Shadow. Seriously. On paper, it is fantastic. However, I used the other toys all day. The one time I may have equipped somebody to it, the game was already over. 3x equipment main is correct, but the 3rd one is now in contention.
Thinking out loud, Batterskull is a clunky win-more. I don’t like it. I am considering the lesser-used Body/Mind or War/Peace mainly for their respective color-protections. Both have merits (U/G for aggressive pushes and W/R for needed anti-removal). Unfortunately, War/Peace has crappy triggers. Body/Mind is actually attractive all-around pick. Maybe I’m onto something. Not sure.
*I did fool around with the NO-Maverick idea prior to the event and it’s too clunky for my tastes. 5x Sweepers > SB NO package. Thalia and Teeg > NO in the main.
I'm willing to field any additional questions. There are A LOT of quality players on these boards and I never felt I had the resume to post here. Hopefully we can get the ball rolling for Maverick players again!
