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In legacy, GSZ is a fundamental piece of Maverick's success. I'm not sure it can be ported to modern with as much consistency without it.
Glare of Subdual is looking better and better for this format, and I am on IBA's side for adding in 3-4 of them into a maverick-style build.
I still hold that for the first few weeks of the PTQ metagame, running the maximum amount of Ethersworn Canonist is still the best idea for the deck.
Glare of subdual could be sweet. I don't think i want to shoe it into a typical maverick list, but i'd rather put it in a more token-focused build. Going spectral procession into glare seems good :)
I have 3 canonists sb right now. The other sb slots are in such flux that there is a possibility that the 4th ends up in the sb when all is said and done, but right now 3 feels right. I have a variety of hate bears that go in against the major combo decks. Some possibilities for us:
Angel's grace - keeps us from losing to hive mind pacts
Samurai of the pale curtain/wheel of sun and moon - dredge, snapcaster decks, and melira combo are less effective while this is on the field.
Loaming shaman - the nuclear option against graveyard decks. Isn't as good against melira, but could be useful. See also jotun grunt.
Spellskite - stops twin decks, turns dragonstorm into not-quite-lethal, protects other hate bears from bounce, bolts, etc.
There is a lot more to mention, but i will have to post it later.
How do you feel about the Steppe Lynx? This build is not so ultra agressive, is it enough to feed the Lynx via Knight in the mid to late game or to turn it into a hero via weave?
I jumped ship from this deck a few days ago since I have found a better Mirrorweave deck (and a better deck, period.) Here's the final list that I have:
1 sejiri steppe
1 arid mesa
3 flagstones of trokair
2 forest
3 horizon canopy
1 marsh flats
4 misty rainforest
2 plains
4 temple garden
2 verdant catacombs
2 blade splicer
2 grand abolisher
4 hero of bladehold
4 knight of the reliquary
4 noble heirarch
1 birds of paradise
3 qasali pridemage
3 steppe lynx
3 tarmogoyf
2 fauna shaman
2 lead the stampede
2 mirrorweave
1 elspeth, knight errant
4 path to exile
Sideboard:
2 choke
2 spellskite
3 ethersworn canonist
2 gaddock teeg
2 kataki, war's wage
2 aven mindcensor
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Grand Abolisher
Lynx was great. Worst case it was a 2/3 (aka Loam Lion) and it just ate removal spells like a champ. There were also turns where it was a real threat, either through multiple fetches or the double Flagstones play. You could swap those for more mana dorks or even something like Weathered Wayfarer.
I never finished talking about the sideboard options for this deck, and I apologize for leaving that post hanging. Basically, IMO you want some combination of Stony Silence, Kataki, maybe even Krosan Grip, Nevermore, Ethersworn Canonist, some form of good GY removal and something to help fend off Jund (Spellskite?) Everything else is just gravy, but make sure you have slots to beat storm, graveyard-based, and twin combos, Affinity decks, and Gifts Ungiven strategies like Tron.
Straight outta ChannelFireball:
// Lands
1 Sejiri Steppe
2 Plains
3 Forest
2 Treetop Village
3 Arid Mesa
3 Tectonic Edge
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
// Creatures
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Qasali Pridemage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Fauna Shaman
3 Lotus Cobra
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
1 Baneslayer Angel
4 Vengevine
4 Squadron Hawk
// Spells
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Gideon Jura
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Path to Exile
// Sideboard
SB: 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
SB: 1 Oust
SB: 3 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 1 Day of Judgment
SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 3 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Obstinate Baloth
SB: 1 Qasali Pridemage
SB: 1 Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 Tectonic Edge
SB: 1 Path to Exile
I am pumped about this deck. It just does so much cool stuff; keeps you low on mana with KotR + Tectonic Edge, sets up crazy chains with any two of Vengevine, Squadron Hawk, and Fauna Shaman, and takes you out with Swords and Planeswalkers 'cuz they're just that good. Any thoughts on Scryb Ranger, though? It just looks kinda awkward to me.
I have generally been a fan of the Scryb rangers. They allow for extra Knight/Shaman activations, produce oodles of mana with lotus cobra/birds/hierarch, and block delver like a champ. I think that 1 is the perfect number, as it can be fetched with Fauna shaman. They are also good at carrying swords.
I think Lotus Cobra needs to be a 4 of in these decks. The ability to have sick turns 3-5 is what would make this deck very competitive. The threats are good, but kind of slow.
I went 2-2-1 drop at a PTQ this past Saturday with a Lotus Cobra variant. My losses were to Aggro Loam(I had him on Jund going into game 3 because I saw no Crushers, Loams or Assaults in games 1 or 2; I did not sideboard accordingly.) and GWr Steelshaper's Gift aggro(which I made 2 epic misplays that cost me the match. Not Pathing a Knight in response to the activation to go get Arena and kill my Sun Titan; Pathing a creature in response to an equip during his first main phase when he had mana to do it again.). I drew against Ur Faeries round 3 because I failed at sideboarding in Ancient Grudge to kill Vedalken Shackles. I beat Burn and some artifact deck with 4 MD Ensnaring Bridges. I believe that if I had known the format better and not made stupid misplays and sideboard errors, I could have easily made top 8 because the deck itself ran amazingly. Here is whats I ran:
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Obstinate Baloth
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Path to Exile
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Eternal Witness
2 Baneslayer Angel
2 Primal Command
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Sun Titan
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Plow Under
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Stomping Ground
1 Gavony Township
1 Treetop Village
SB- (I had no idea what to expect)
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Fracturing Gust
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Ghostly Prison
1 Lightmine Field
I had literally no testing at all going in, but I figured if it was GW I could make it work. I MD'd 4 Baloths because I thought I might face a bunch of Jund and Aggro Loam and I wanted to have a strong game 1 against them. The single Gavony Township was a last minute addition suggested by Di just before the tournament which turned out to be fantastic. Regrowing Finks and making mana dorks bigger was pretty awesome. Eternal Witness was like Snapcaster Mage on crack because I had so much mana.
Here is a list I just build, going to test it soon
Creatures(28)
4x Fauna Shaman
4x Knight of the Reliquary
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Vengevine
3x Qasali Pridemage
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Birds of Paradise
Spells(8)
4x Path to Exile
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2x Sword of Light and Shadow
Lands(24)
4x Misty Rainforest
3x Forest
3x Tectonic Edge
3x Temple Garden
2x Arid Mesa
2x Gavony Township
2x Horizon Canopy
2x Plains
2x Verdant Catacombs
1x Dryad Arbor
Sideboard(15)
2x Ethersworn Canonist
2x Gut Shot
2x Kataki, War's Wage
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Arena
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Linvala, Keeper of Secrets
1x Loaming Shaman
1x Obstinate Baloth
1x Oust