[Primer] Maverick 2.0 - GW/x

I'm excited to bust out more exalted beats. I'm not excited about shelling out $600+ on 3 more judge nobles :(. I think I'm gonna still try Runic Armasaur when it comes out even though DRS is gone to give us cards, as a 2/5 is really nice stats esp against all the bolts I think we'll see.

I played a Cavern before DRS but now that I'm playing Dark Depths I'm not sure I have the space to put it back in, this was also probably back when I had 1 Linvala main and 1 SB to beat the mirror match. Ah the good ol' days.

Hey guys,
as a BUG player I´m really sad that Shaman got banned because I really liked the deck but at the same time I´m really glad about the fresh wind which goes threw Legacy now. I also really do believe that Maverick can be a good deck again. I played GW Maverick and Punishing Maverick back in the days over 3 years in a row and had a great time in the past but then everything changed with Shamand/AD and so on...

I really want to try these classic GW list back again:

26 Creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg


11 Spells
4 Green Suns Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Batterskull
1 Umezawas Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

23 Lands
4 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Maze of Ith


Sideboard:
4 Surgical Extraction
2 Path to Exile
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Sylvan Library
2 Choke
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Ramunap Excavator

I think that at least for the first couple of months that BR Reanimator, DnT, RUG/UR Delver and Lands will get a boost and see more play. Maverick is quite good placed in such a metagame I think.

The Sideboard is of course not set in stone because it depends what you wanna fight, control, combo or other creature based MU´s but I think that UW Miracles and some kind of Grixis Control will be widely played in the near future so the package of 2 Gideon 2 Library 2 Choke should be fine then.

I really wanna play the Ramunap Excavator in the MD but I cant find a slot for it. I know many people play 1 Pridemage + 1 Scavenging Ooze and if I would cut the 2nd copie I would have enought space for the snake but I really liked the 2/2 split back in the past because with two copies you naturally draw one from time to time and I dont have to zenith them into play all the time. Especially vs the popular DnT its good to have a 2nd Pridemage or draw him nautrally. Ooze is really important in the opener if you face Reanimator/Lands/Dredge with T1 Land+Noble/Zenith into Arbor and T2 Land+Oooze -> Snag something right now...

Greetings Franz

I've been on Stage + Depths but we'll be seeing less slow piles that can't beat a Marit Lage and more Wasteland so I think I'm gonna drop it for just another land (fetch) and a spell, just make my deck slightly more consistent as people try to attack it's mana base. Speaking of attacking, I wanna try Thalia build. Heretic Cathar seems better now that less people have a mana dork and 3 power first strike is great and beats really hard with hierarchs that we have more of now.

9 Fetch
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Wasteland
-23-

1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sylvan Library (maybe 2nd pridemage over this and go full aggro exalted lol jk)
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
-11-

4 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Mother of Runes
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Stoneforge Mystic (should prolly just play the 2 again but it's so slow)
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Ramunap Excavator
-26-

2 Choke
2 Canonist
2 Decay
2 Zealous
4 Thoughtseize
3 Surgical
-15-

I'm predicting that there's going to be more miracles decks running about, any of you making changes for that matchup?

DRS was one of the best cards against miracles.... this matchup ist just soooo BAD!
first idea... more Planeswalkers, more teegs/sanctum prelate - more LUCK :laugh::cry:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skizz

DRS was one of the best cards against miracles.... this matchup ist just soooo BAD!
first idea... more Planeswalkers, more teegs/sanctum prelate - more LUCK :laugh::cry:

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Yikes, I know that elves sometimes play Nissa, could it be worth running a PW (or any non creature) that attacks them from a different angle?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Valleysdai

Yikes, I know that elves sometimes play Nissa, could it be worth running a PW (or any non creature) that attacks them from a different angle?

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Running PW in the main is a fine idea. I've played Elspeth, Knight Errant and Garruk Relentless pretty extensively in the past in place of SFM. Garruk beats Jace's face in all day and you get to keep pumping out the pups. It's also important to have two Choke in the sideboard for the match up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skizz

DRS was one of the best cards against miracles.... this matchup ist just soooo BAD!
first idea... more Planeswalkers, more teegs/sanctum prelate - more LUCK :laugh::cry:

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More Punishing Fire.

For Planeswalkers, Gideon AoZ has been a solid choice for me. A spicy option i love is Kaya, Ghost Assassin. She was a czech pile killer, but solid in any attrition matchup with her -2 draw, they discard. She's super fun and flavorful, and actually over performs most of the time. Her 0 mode on merit lage is so fun too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skizz

DRS was one of the best cards against miracles.... this matchup ist just soooo BAD!
first idea... more Planeswalkers, more teegs/sanctum prelate - more LUCK :laugh::cry:

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As metion before - Punishing Fire is fine same true for pyroblasts, walkers and Choke which is probably best until they have answers.

As for Walkers - Nissa is very good since you can use it to kill opponent Jace for example they EoT terminus, then slam Jace tapping out and they think they're save. Nissa will prove they're far from save :-) - land 5/5 which can attack Jace..

Gaddock route isnt so great as before - Council Judgement is real deal and they pack more and more of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fatal

As metion before - Punishing Fire is fine same true for pyroblasts, walkers and Choke which is probably best until they have answers.

As for Walkers - Nissa is very good since you can use it to kill opponent Jace for example they EoT terminus, then slam Jace tapping out and they think they're save. Nissa will prove they're far from save :-) - land 5/5 which can attack Jace..

Gaddock route isnt so great as before - Council Judgement is real deal and they pack more and more of them.

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I suspect a version of Punishing Maverick with planeswalkers will probably be the safest bet in general but especially RE the Miracles question. As the primer states: "Punishing Fire adds an axis of interaction to the deck that isn't creature-based. Maverick traditionally plays very much into the board, leaving it vulnerable to sweeper effects, particularly against control decks. Punishing Fire allows a Maverick strategy to pressure the opponent's life total or Planeswalkers without committing resources to the board. Its recoverability means even with no cards in hand you are able to interact, and it also requires a different kind of answer from the opposing deck than your creatures do." Terminus and Jace my ass.

And like Fatal says, the red splash gives you mana for Pyroblasts. And you can still run most of the anti-combo, anti-control cards in the sideboard... And there's a better argument for four BoP (vs. four NH) in Pun Mav, so that should be helpful to all you budget-minded kiddos out there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by menloe

I suspect a version of Punishing Maverick with planeswalkers will probably be the safest bet in general but especially RE the Miracles question. As the primer states: "Punishing Fire adds an axis of interaction to the deck that isn't creature-based. Maverick traditionally plays very much into the board, leaving it vulnerable to sweeper effects, particularly against control decks. Punishing Fire allows a Maverick strategy to pressure the opponent's life total or Planeswalkers without committing resources to the board. Its recoverability means even with no cards in hand you are able to interact, and it also requires a different kind of answer from the opposing deck than your creatures do." Terminus and Jace my ass.

And like Fatal says, the red splash gives you mana for Pyroblasts. And you can still run most of the anti-combo, anti-control cards in the sideboard... And there's a better argument for four BoP (vs. four NH) in Pun Mav, so that should be helpful to all you budget-minded kiddos out there.

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I will probably try some walkers MD - mostly focused on 3CMC and 4 CMC. I think 2 walkers MD + 2-3 SB +2 Choke should be enough vs Miracles.

Walkers tested by me:

3CMC
Liliana the Last Hope - a beast vs control without creatures - comes fast and quite fast ultimate. Now it will be even better

Domri Rade - very good - similar fast like LotH - but it doesn't have good removal (fightning isn't great, and really get less loyalities when used) - advantage over Liliana you can condionally get CA - which is good, 1/3 mostly after sb since you mostly side-out some creatures and put in removal vs walkers (like pyroblasts) or enchantments like Choke.

Liliana of the Veil - bad in Maverick - you dont want to discard cards, used only with punishing fire to be effective - to break symmetry. Just doesnt fit here.

4CMC
Garruk Rentless - 2/2 tokens is great vs Control also build in removal vs pesky creatures, bad vs any bolt decks

Elspeth, Knight-Errant - enough old and good. Very slow vs Miracles, you can lost with her on table after ultimate - Terminus, StP and Council Judgment laugh on her ultimate,

Gideon Ally of Zendikar - better then Elspeth much faster tempo since it can bump your little dudes - similar good as Garruk but without removal and doesn't die to bolt.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance - probably best Chandra, can protect herself, growth on CA, and it isnt conditional, ultimate wins fast - probably best red walker for Maverick.

Xenagos, the Reveler - good token producer - but it doesn't grow on it. Good advantage - tokens have haste ! Ultimate is just a CA - not always win the game. It doesn't have build in defence.

Next to test:
- Arlinn Kord

5CMC

Nissa, Vital Force - Probably best 5CMC walker in this color - it can be instant CA with build-in regrowth (picking up other walkers), it ultimate really fast and it can kill if not blocker opponent walker - what more you want ?

Garruk, Primal Hunter - this one is probably best token producer - they're really fat - you can also try to CA - but it's risky, ultimate is a win, or opponent has terminus.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fatal

Next to test:
- Arlinn Kord

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Have you thought of trying Kaya as dreadnaught suggested.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fatal

I will probably try some walkers MD - mostly focused on 3CMC and 4 CMC. I think 2 walkers MD + 2-3 SB +2 Choke should be enough vs Miracles.

Walkers tested by me:

3CMC
Liliana the Last Hope - a beast vs control without creatures - comes fast and quite fast ultimate. Now it will be even better

Domri Rade - very good - similar fast like LotH - but it doesn't have good removal (fightning isn't great, and really get less loyalities when used) - advantage over Liliana you can condionally get CA - which is good, 1/3 mostly after sb since you mostly side-out some creatures and put in removal vs walkers (like pyroblasts) or enchantments like Choke.

Liliana of the Veil - bad in Maverick - you dont want to discard cards, used only with punishing fire to be effective - to break symmetry. Just doesnt fit here.

4CMC
Garruk Rentless - 2/2 tokens is great vs Control also build in removal vs pesky creatures, bad vs any bolt decks

Elspeth, Knight-Errant - enough old and good. Very slow vs Miracles, you can lost with her on table after ultimate - Terminus, StP and Council Judgment laugh on her ultimate,

Gideon Ally of Zendikar - better then Elspeth much faster tempo since it can bump your little dudes - similar good as Garruk but without removal and doesn't die to bolt.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance - probably best Chandra, can protect herself, growth on CA, and it isnt conditional, ultimate wins fast - probably best red walker for Maverick.

Xenagos, the Reveler - good token producer - but it doesn't grow on it. Good advantage - tokens have haste ! Ultimate is just a CA - not always win the game. It doesn't have build in defence.

Next to test:
- Arlinn Kord

5CMC

Nissa, Vital Force - Probably best 5CMC walker in this color - it can be instant CA with build-in regrowth (picking up other walkers), it ultimate really fast and it can kill if not blocker opponent walker - what more you want ?

Garruk, Primal Hunter - this one is probably best token producer - they're really fat - you can also try to CA - but it's risky, ultimate is a win, or opponent has terminus.

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I find it odd you say Elspeth is the slow one especially vs Miracles. Obviously 1/1's are weaker than 2/2's but her second ability actually kills the opponent or Jace's which is something most other walkers don't do except maybe Gideon (or Nissa but at 5 cmc) but he opens himself up to Plow or getting blocked and Elspeth can crack for more if you target a big creature and she can do it the turn she comes in. Elspeth jumps over Brightling, monks, TNN, chumps etc. I played a lot of Elspeth back in the day in NO Bant, Maverick and even standard, you almost never wanted to ultimate her even against Jund. Elspeth being in play is more powerful than her emblem, I don't see why you'd ever ult her against miracles even some fringe case where you have Sword/Choke and your opponent is holding disenchants and is about to get the mana for them or something just kill them with the Elspeth. Sure you can have elspeth and some dorky guys and then die to entreat but every other walker has that problem where at least Elspeth is a faster clock (I've died so many times with Last Hope emblem in play - not to mention BB is going to be harder now for most lists.) I've always been the odd one out and liked Elspeth more than Gideon in Maverick, I'm also a big fan of Garruk because having the utility to kill a creature can come in handy sometimes and he's easy to cast plus 1/1 death touchers are no joke. Can't really comment on the red walkers as I've only played Bant, GW, or GWB.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fatal

Xenagos, the Reveler - good token producer - but it doesn't grow on it. Good advantage - tokens have haste ! Ultimate is just a CA - not always win the game. It doesn't have build in defence.

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I've had success with Xenagos against miracles in those instances where it resolved. A hasty 2/2 every turn was typically too much for them to contend with.

Is new Ajani too slow? Maybe it's just a worse kaya...

Has anyone thought of playing Narset (PW)? She looks like she would be powerful against miracles and her ult is quite easy to get to.

Other thoughts are venser (similar to narset) or ashiok (can mess with their top deck manipulation and make them use their terminuses and brainstorm early).

It seems doable to splash for them because nobles and BoPs can make blue without issue.

Ashiok seems a bit deep, at least Leovold you can zenith for. Also her main utility is for UB decks to take big creatures, don't we just jam our own. I don't think messing with miracles top decks is enough for Ashiok

I know you guys talk alot about the punishing version but I personally think I would prefer Dark Maverick. Zealous Persecution + Thoughtseize gives the deck some really strong tools to fight combo on T1 or sweep the board from DnT, Elves or some Bant´ish Stoneblade TNN decks...

I´m not sure what the correct build would be and I just wanted to hear some thoughts about single card choices like Thalia, Heretic Cathar or 4 SFM to 0 and 2 Jitte MD like I saw in many lists the past two years or something. I know that many Maverick pilots cutted the SFM package because of Kolaghans Command but now the card will be played a bit less than before and I way very very pleased with the full package back in the day.

My first list without the Thalia 2.0 and the full SFM package would currently look like this:

26 Creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Qasali-Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg

11 Spells
4 Green Suns Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Batterskull
1 Umezawas Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

23 Lands
2 Savannah
2 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
4 Wasteland
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Maze of Ith

Sideboard:
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
3 Zealous Persecution
2 Choke
2 Sylvan Library
2 Ethersworn Canonist


The other version would be completley without the SFM package and just 2 Jitte MD + 3 Thalia 2.0:

25 Creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Qasali-Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg

12 Spells
4 Green Suns Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares

2 Umezawas Jitte
2 Sylvan Library

23 Lands
2 Savannah
2 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
4 Wasteland
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Maze of Ith

Sideboard:
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
3 Zealous Persecution
2 Choke
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

I think that Thalia 2.0 is actually super strong with 4 Noble Hierarch + 4 Zenith into Arbor on T1, especially now that DS got banned the blue based or BGx decks get slower and she punishes they´re mana base more hard than before. She would also be great vs Elves, Eldrazi and Sneak Show which all should get a little boost within the next weeks/months.

The manabase would not get hurt in comparison to the GW version because I would still play 3 basics and 4 Nobles + I would cut the 2 cavern and add another 2 fetches which make the MB more stable and I could fetch up the basics more constanty vs Blood Moon or PoP decks.
Losing the 2 Cavern from the GW version would be of course weaken the RUG or Miracles MU a little bit because uncounerable dudes are nice.

This is all nothing super new but I would be glad to hear some thoughts/experiences from Dark Maverick players.

Greetings Franz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Manipulato

This is all nothing super new but I would be glad to hear some thoughts/experiences from Dark Maverick players.

Greetings Franz

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Hey, I'll post my list that I'm going to be playing in the Welsh Nationals side later tonight (UK), it's still dark Maverick splashing for Leovold. Rather than SFM package Ì go more lands based.

Thalia HC has made my win rate against elves 100% rather than 50% (only had 1 match but she saved me game 1).

Since the DRS ban I've gone up to 4 GSZ and did a few games testing against dredge. I barely missed him, I'll try to keep track in my legacy fnm and Nats to see how often I needed him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Manipulato

I know you guys talk alot about the punishing version but I personally think I would prefer Dark Maverick. Zealous Persecution + Thoughtseize gives the deck some really strong tools to fight combo on T1 or sweep the board from DnT, Elves or some Bant´ish Stoneblade TNN decks...

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To be clear, I think Pun and Dark Mav both are going to be better positioned now than they were last week. I'll keep playing both depending on how I feel week to week. ZP and Thoughtseize are both great cards for the reasons you say and will continue to be the reason to play GWb.

I think Thalia 2.0 is the real deal. I try to run at least one of her in all my decks - she steals games away from Elves, which they never expect, and my in-store rival is an Elves player - and she has good stats. The fact that she messes with opponents' mana is good stuff too, especially in a world where Wasteland is better. (Your reasoning all looks right to me.)

I'm probably more inclined to run multiple Mindcensors now too. Historically, about 75% of my decks have had at least one and I only recently moved away from it. Mindcensor is good against a lot of bad match ups that rely on tutoring - Storm, Reanimator, Elves - and practically every deck fetches, but it feels like I'm the only one who's hyped on the card.

SFM is the first card I cut when trying new things out. To be completely honest, the card is fine, but I'm never that happy to draw one except in instances where I need an equipment to win or lose a game over the next two turns. I'm usually content to just naturally draw my equips, which are 1 Jitte and 1 SoFI. I was never so concerned with KC, just thought she was a little slow.

The paper list I'm running now has Rallier, Sylvan Library + Courser, Tireless Tracker, Gaea's Cradle, 2 SFM + above equips, Ramunap. I want all the good value cards and synergies and really enjoy outdrawing blue decks. I prefer Cradle in a deck that runs Tracker for that reason. I'll add back Thalia 2.0 (probably two) and some Mindcensors, probably cutting the SFM and Rallier. Garruk's in the side for now, but he's been maindeck before and will be again.

FWIW, I prefer your second list. Sylvan Library is never flex.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Yutao

Is new Ajani too slow? Maybe it's just a worse kaya...

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Which new Ajani?

Ajani, Life Coach is not great.

Hey guys. I've been reading here for a long time.
After this weeks bannings, there are two lists I put up togheter by reading some of the discussion here and some lists posted here.

First one is Punishing Mav:
Maindeck:
23 Lands
3 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Savannah
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Plateau
2 Taiga
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Grove of the Burnwillows

16 Non-creatures
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Punishing Fire
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

21 Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scryb Ranger
4 Knight of the Reliquary

Sideboard:
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Choke
2 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Council's Judgement
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Sanctum Prelate

Here I don't know if the lone SoFaI would work. It's a hedge against TNN decks, but maybe without SFM it's too random. Testing 3 Big Thalia here, since 2mana Thalia with PFire is weird and, as I have liked her a lot in Modern, maybe that works here (as you guys were discussing earlier). Don't know if 3 is the right number, tho.

Next one is straight GW:
Maindeck:
23 Lands
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Savannah
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Maze of Ith

12 Non-Creatures
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

25 Creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Ramunap Excavator
4 Knight of the Reliquary

Sideboard:
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Choke
2 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Council's Judgement
2 Path to Exile
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Sanctum Prelate

Here I don't know about GQ and the 2nd Canopy. GQ + Excavator seems cute, but maybe not worth it to have another colorless land. I could swap it and the 2nd Canopy for 2 Caverns. I'm not running the lone SoFaI here, with a Gideon instead. Maybe that could work better on the other list also. And I'm running both Thalias as 3of here, but if Heretic Cathar doesn't work out as intended, I'll go back to 4 SFM + 3 Equips shaving 2 more cards.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by r497

Here I don't know about GQ and the 2nd Canopy. GQ + Excavator seems cute, but maybe not worth it to have another colorless land. I could swap it and the 2nd Canopy for 2 Caverns. I'm not running the lone SoFaI here, with a Gideon instead. Maybe that could work better on the other list also. And I'm running both Thalias as 3of here, but if Heretic Cathar doesn't work out as intended, I'll go back to 4 SFM + 3 Equips shaving 2 more cards.

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Ghost quarter can help you get the coloured mana you need with you running 3 basics. It's also really potent against most decks so acts like another wasteland.

Hey guys,

nor reports to share from last weekend or playtesting vs the new metagame so far :frown: ?

My own tournament will be in 2 weeks so till then I have nothing to share but I´m building and goldfishing daily :laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Manipulato

Hey guys,

nor reports to share from last weekend or playtesting vs the new metagame so far :frown: ?

My own tournament will be in 2 weeks so till then I have nothing to share but I´m building and goldfishing daily :laugh:

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I'm playing a blue splash for Leo in Dark Maverick and went 2-0-1 at a weekly. Beat Lands, Beat Grixis Control, Drew with Burn.

Honestly I'm thinking that I cut Leovold and Tropical Island for one of the following

-3rd Stoneforge and Bskull
-3rd Stoneforge and Sword of Light and Shadow
-Bayou and Tireless Tracker
-Bayou and 2nd Scooze in the Main
-Bayou and Mirri Weatherlight Duelist (Card seems interesting)

Playing Leovold on T2 is still very powerful, but it feels like the manabase is a bit too fragile for my liking.

What do you guys think?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by menloe

Which new Ajani?

Ajani, Life Coach is not great.

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Ajani, Adversay of Tyrants?

Bringing back a Teeg or a Scooze sounds reasonable.

This Tuesday I played a pretty stock GW Maverick in a local. Just 10 people, nothing huge, but I took 1st with a record of 3-0-1. Played against Miracles R1, which I drew against, but I probably could have won had I not made a few small play errors. R2 I played against Burn, which I beat 2-0. Cradle was crucial both games, letting me hold onto lands while still generating heaps of mana. R3 I played against a Junk pile, which I beat 2-0 with equipment and a leaner curve. R4 I played against BUG Thresh, and was able to win 2-0 mostly because of Sylvan Library and a robust manabase. I don't think I can overstate how nice it feels to have a rock solid manabase.

My sideboard:
4x Mindbreak Trap
1x Garruk Relentless
1x Sanctum Prelate
1x Council's Judgement
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Krosan Grip
2x Blessed Alliance
1x Ethersworn Canonist
3x Tormod's Crypt

Played without deathrites last week and this week at our legacy locals, going 3-1 and 3-0-1. Loss was to miracles and draw was to the same player on miracles again who is a friend and just offered a draw this time because tired.

First week I played this list below and started off 6-0 in games beating Death and Taxes, ANT, Steel Stompy, then getting 2-0'd by miracles.

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 MarshFlats
2 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
4 Wasteland
2 Forest
1 Plains
-23-

1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
-10-

4 Noble Hierarch
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scryb Ranger
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Ramunap Excavator
4 Knight of the Reliquary
-27-

2 Choke
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Thoughtseize
3 Surgical Extraction
-15-

So I cut the Stage/Depths for another mana land just to make my deck more consistent (9 fetches is probably too many but I realistically never want to buy another beta dual) and I also played Heretic Cathars just to be all in on my mana denial gameplan. She performed well but I noticed I ran out of cards a lot faster than I wanted to even in the games I won, especially as Nobles/Bird is a lot less of a card than DRS if that makes sense. Bird has been really lackluster, people always say "it holds equipment well" but almost anything holds a sword well and it doesn't hold a Jitte all that well and that's 50% of my equipment =/. I've been more careful about leaning on black in Wasteland matchups so against DNT I decided not to bring in any copies of Thoughtseize which left me going -3 Thalia -1 Teeg +2 Decay +2 Zealous which left a Thalia and a SOFI in my deck which isn't the worst but meh. All this led me to make these changes for the second (this) week:

-3 Heretic Cathar
+1 Sylvan Library
+1 Tireless Tracker
+1 Renegade Rallier (place holder for Runic Armasaur <3)

-1 SB Surgical Extraction
+1 SB Sword of Light and Shadow

Changes worked well, granted haven't needed to cast a Surgical either week (I cast it once against ANT during his draw step to hit Infernal Tutor and his draw was Dark Petition, but he died off the Ad Naus IIRC). This week I beat Pox, TES, and RUG Delver. TES player got unlucky where I mulled to 3 but his hand was so slow he died to my Qasali Pridemage, mother of runes, dryad arbor beats (my mulligan to 4 was 2 lands, birds, jitte which I might've kept if it was a noble lol). Game 2 He thoughtseizes my hand of double thalia, zenith, zealous, pridemage takes the zenith but Thalia comes down and then he's stuck on 1 land plays LED which gets pridemage'd and then I topdeck canonist after so pretty unlucky opponent.

I will try to update primer after ban, contributors please do the same.

I have found that with DRS replaced by other mana dorks that my mana has become more consistent. This is due to DRS needing lands in gys and no active Drs on the opponent's side.

Because of this I have been testing 2 spicy blue cards in the side for the increased number of dnt type decks.

Blue against DnT? It’s the color that most suffer Taxation

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Originally Posted by Valleysdai

I have found that with DRS replaced by other mana dorks that my mana has become more consistent. This is due to DRS needing lands in gys and no active Drs on the opponent's side.

Because of this I have been testing 2 spicy blue cards in the side for the increased number of dnt type decks.

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Fumble/Grip of Phyresis :^)?

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Originally Posted by Rascalyote

Fumble/Grip of Phyresis :^)?

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Yeah fumble haha. I believe it's worth testing because it does have other applications (the mirror, Lands, turbo depths, stoneblade, etc).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poron

Blue against DnT? It’s the color that most suffer Taxation

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I only have 3 cards in the 75 that have blue in their cost, and are all useful against DnT

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Valleysdai

Yeah fumble haha. I believe it's worth testing because it does have other applications (the mirror, Lands, turbo depths, stoneblade, etc).



I only have 3 cards in the 75 that have blue in their cost, and are all useful against DnT

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Fumble gets awk a bit vs TNN/SOFI/Active mom, but I love the card. Some sweet christmasland tech is if they have a first striker holding Jitte and they swing with some dudes you can let it hit you, Jitte trigger on the stack fumble the guy holding it, put it on another attacker of theirs and own a jitte with 4 counters which is pretty gg vs DNT ;3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rascalyote

Fumble gets awk a bit vs TNN/SOFI/Active mom, but I love the card. Some sweet christmasland tech is if they have a first striker holding Jitte and they swing with some dudes you can let it hit you, Jitte trigger on the stack fumble the guy holding it, put it on another attacker of theirs and own a jitte with 4 counters which is pretty gg vs DNT ;3

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It can get awkward but I reckon it's worth it. There's no need to let it hit you because in response they'll gain life or shrink your guy. It can be useful against mom because you block they make it pro blocker (e.g. green) you bounce in response :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Valleysdai

It can get awkward but I reckon it's worth it. There's no need to let it hit you because in response they'll gain life or shrink your guy. It can be useful against mom because you block they make it pro blocker (e.g. green) you bounce in response :P

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You gain control of jitte with the ability to add counters on it on the stack.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rascalyote

You gain control of jitte with the ability to add counters on it on the stack.

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In response (if they know what fumble does) theyd just use the counters to prevent us being able to use them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Valleysdai

In response (if they know what fumble does) theyd just use the counters to prevent us being able to use them

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They hit us, there is a trigger on the stack to put counters onto Jitte, with this trigger on the stack cast Fumble, you gain control of jitte, then put the counters on it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rascalyote

They hit us, there is a trigger on the stack to put counters onto Jitte, with this trigger on the stack cast Fumble, you gain control of jitte, then put the counters on it.

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Good thinking, sorry I totally forgot about the ability to react to the trigger haha. I like that play a lot