[Deck] GW/x Maverick

Thanks IronClad! Persistence has paid off for me. I've been doing well on a local scale with the deck for about 9 months. I have been fortunate to have somewhat of a gauntlet of players and decks to play against weekly, so even when the meta was relatively bad for Maverick, I was able to pilot the deck to victory in some weekly events.

The miracle MU and the UR MU are kinda rough, however, those decks have been on the decline in my area. I am working on a optimal board plan, and my win ratio hasn't been too great time with the current board. I have been boarding in Pyroblast and Zealous Persecution against UR and I run 2 extra Teegs because the Miracle players often find ways to force me to play Teeg before I can fully protect the card. Having multiple Teegs in that MU seems essential. I'm not sure if 3 in the deck is needed, but that's what's I have been trying these past few events.


The sideboard needs some work, so if anyone wants to test a build like this without E-tutor, please, go nuts. I wonder if I can find cards more effective than Pithing Needle now that I'm not running E-tutor. Choke is cool, but currently I like Pyroblast better in the fight. In my play testing experience Choke hasn't been easy for me to land and in some games it lands and I still lose. Cards like Abrupt Decay and Pernicious have been options I want to consider as I've heard some players have hard success with Decay and toxic Deluge. I wonder if Deed is a viable option against miracles as I think like the idea of being able to deal with Bloodmoon in that MU with this 4C list.

I've swapped to Abrupt Decay from Path and it has been pretty much all upside. It still comes in as removal in the matchups where Path was most necessary, and it also comes in vs Miracles. With Delver being the preeminent aggro deck and universally playing 4 Daze, Path was generally a 2 mana spell anyway.

Out of curiosity, has anyone been finding Chains of Mephistopheles useful as sideboard tech? It's doing work in Jund for sure, and it seems like something we could take advantage of. I just haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

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Originally Posted by Cambriel

Out of curiosity, has anyone been finding Chains of Mephistopheles useful as sideboard tech? It's doing work in Jund for sure, and it seems like something we could take advantage of. I just haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

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Why not just run Spirit of the Labyrinth? You have Mom to protect it from spot removal, it's on color, and also beats down in the meantime. Redundant copies are not dead weight either. Finally, who's got $250 for a sideboard card?

To be fair:
-Chains does hurt SDT
-Chains is much much better against miracles (between downright bad and pretty good; depending if they're Legend or Ponder version, respectively)
-Chains is much easier to keep on the battlefield against any non-BG Delver deck, Deathblade, etc.. The tradeoff being that it's useless when it's effect isn't in action vs. being mediocre

I think Spirit is better against combo and worse against Delver overall (and much super bad against Legend miracles where you may get Clique'd)

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Originally Posted by Koby

Why not just run Spirit of the Labyrinth? You have Mom to protect it from spot removal, it's on color, and also beats down in the meantime. Redundant copies are not dead weight either. Finally, who's got $250 for a sideboard card?

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Emphasis added. This is why more people don't run Chains. I certainly have better things to spend money on...like nearly every other SB card for the deck than 1x Chains

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Originally Posted by Warden

Emphasis added. This is why more people don't run Chains. I certainly have better things to spend money on...like nearly every other SB card for the deck than 1x Chains

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you deff want at least 2 chainz

Hi fellow Maverick players - I played in the Atlanta SCG Opens this past weekend (Standard - Top 8, Legacy - Top 32). Thought I'd share my Sunday deck and experience.

Deck:
Creatures
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Mother of Runes
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Knight of the Reliquary
Spells
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sylvan Library
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Lands
2 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
3 Savannah
1 Scrubland
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
Sideboard
2 Bitterblossom
2 Containment Priest
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Choke

Deck thoughts going into the Open:
- Wasteland isn't widely played right now... added an extra Bayou
- Bitterblossom is very strong against Miracles and Stoneblade, which will be the most popular decks
- Need quick lifegain and removal for the UR Delver matchup... added a second Jitte in the side to find it faster in games 2 and/or 3 (also for Elves!)

Matchups and Results:
Round 1 vs. Miracles - Loss (0-2) - Couldn't stick a Teeg fast enough either game before JTMS hit a relatively empty board
Round 2 vs. UWR Delver - Win (2-1) - Thalia, Wasteland, and Choke stuck him on limited mana
Round 3 vs. GW Enchantress - Win (2-0) - Pridemages won game 1, Cannonist won game 2
Round 4 vs. MUD - Win (2-0) - Opponent mulliganed into hands light on mana
Round 5 vs. Miracles - Win (2-1) - Died to Jace game 1, Choke/Library/Bitterblossom took over game 2, Teeg/Mom lock game 3
Round 6 vs. BUG Midrange (Feature Match vs. Kent Ketter) - Win (2-1) - Ooze and Mom were too disruptive
Round 7 vs. Storm - Loss (1-2) - On the draw games 1 & 3 and died on his second turn
Round 8 vs. UR Burn - Win (2-0) - Almost died both games before playing/equipping a Jitte
Round 9 vs. Maverick Mirror (Feature Match vs. Andrew Shrout) - ID (0-0-1) - Neither of our tiebreakers were good enough to grab the 8th spot, so we decided to draw into Top 32

Concluding thoughts:
- You'd have thought it was a church service with how many Miracles there were... UR Delver also everywhere... followed by UWR Stoneblade
- Going to find room for Thoughtseize (3-4) in the sideboard... would very much like a turn one play vs. combo
- Not sure if I need the Containment Priests

Good luck in your future tournaments!

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Originally Posted by Koby

Why not just run Spirit of the Labyrinth? You have Mom to protect it from spot removal, it's on color, and also beats down in the meantime. Redundant copies are not dead weight either. Finally, who's got $250 for a sideboard card?

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Even if chains was a 5$ card i dont think it would see more play in the long run. Initially yes ppl eould test with it but would then conclude that its not really good. Heres why

It has no immediate impact on board state.
If you are behind when you play it, you are probably further behind because you spent a turn casting it
Its a prison piece that isnt that effective because it only restricts additional draws


On a seperate note, does green have any great utility creatures that can duel a deck, such as knight of the reliquary or fauna shaman?

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Originally Posted by GreenSun4Zero

Hi fellow Maverick players - I played in the Atlanta SCG Opens this past weekend (Standard - Top 8, Legacy - Top 32). Thought I'd share my Sunday deck and experience.

Deck:
Creatures
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Mother of Runes
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Knight of the Reliquary
Spells
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sylvan Library
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Lands
2 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Karakas
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
3 Savannah
1 Scrubland
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
Sideboard
2 Bitterblossom
2 Containment Priest
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Choke

Deck thoughts going into the Open:
- Wasteland isn't widely played right now... added an extra Bayou
- Bitterblossom is very strong against Miracles and Stoneblade, which will be the most popular decks
- Need quick lifegain and removal for the UR Delver matchup... added a second Jitte in the side to find it faster in games 2 and/or 3 (also for Elves!)

Matchups and Results:
Round 1 vs. Miracles - Loss (0-2) - Couldn't stick a Teeg fast enough either game before JTMS hit a relatively empty board
Round 2 vs. UWR Delver - Win (2-1) - Thalia, Wasteland, and Choke stuck him on limited mana
Round 3 vs. GW Enchantress - Win (2-0) - Pridemages won game 1, Cannonist won game 2
Round 4 vs. MUD - Win (2-0) - Opponent mulliganed into hands light on mana
Round 5 vs. Miracles - Win (2-1) - Died to Jace game 1, Choke/Library/Bitterblossom took over game 2, Teeg/Mom lock game 3
Round 6 vs. BUG Midrange (Feature Match vs. Kent Ketter) - Win (2-1) - Ooze and Mom were too disruptive
Round 7 vs. Storm - Loss (1-2) - On the draw games 1 & 3 and died on his second turn
Round 8 vs. UR Burn - Win (2-0) - Almost died both games before playing/equipping a Jitte
Round 9 vs. Maverick Mirror (Feature Match vs. Andrew Shrout) - ID (0-0-1) - Neither of our tiebreakers were good enough to grab the 8th spot, so we decided to draw into Top 32

Concluding thoughts:
- You'd have thought it was a church service with how many Miracles there were... UR Delver also everywhere... followed by UWR Stoneblade
- Going to find room for Thoughtseize (3-4) in the sideboard... would very much like a turn one play vs. combo
- Not sure if I need the Containment Priests

Good luck in your future tournaments!

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great report! congrats on top 32. i think 3 choke is a little much but its so good. I like sword of L/S but I'm not sure how good it really is? how'd you like it?

Maverick just took down Portland!

Edit: List:

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
2 Gaddock Teeg
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Dryad Arbor

1 Forest
1 Bayou
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Marsh Flats
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Karakas

1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sylvan Library
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Green Sun's Zenith

Sideboard:
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Containment Priest
1 Choke
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Cataclysm
3 Thoughtseize

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Originally Posted by ironclad8690

Maverick just won portland!

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What a great way to close out the dual open weekends.

About time

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Originally Posted by blackdiamonds

great report! congrats on top 32. i think 3 choke is a little much but its so good. I like sword of L/S but I'm not sure how good it really is? how'd you like it?

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Yeah, 3 Chokes are a bunch, but landing one vs. Stoneblade or Miracles has been pretty much good enough to win. Armageddon is great too, but I've liked keeping my noncreature spells costing +4 or X to just Green Sun's Zenith.

Light and Shadow is also just a concession to Miracles, although it's good against Death and Taxes, Stoneblade, and the mirror too. I boarded it out a lot, so I could see playing it in the board, like McDarby did this past weekend.

What does everyone think of Abrupt Decay, as McDarby has in his maindeck? Love the wide application, but hate the Thalia tax that comes stapled to them (vs. another Pridemage). They may just be good enough (like GSZ) to play despite the also running 4 Thalias...

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Originally Posted by GreenSun4Zero

Yeah, 3 Chokes are a bunch, but landing one vs. Stoneblade or Miracles has been pretty much good enough to win. Armageddon is great too, but I've liked keeping my noncreature spells costing +4 or X to just Green Sun's Zenith.

Light and Shadow is also just a concession to Miracles, although it's good against Death and Taxes, Stoneblade, and the mirror too. I boarded it out a lot, so I could see playing it in the board, like McDarby did this past weekend.

What does everyone think of Abrupt Decay, as McDarby has in his maindeck? Love the wide application, but hate the Thalia tax that comes stapled to them (vs. another Pridemage). They may just be good enough (like GSZ) to play despite the also running 4 Thalias...

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So glad to see Maverick on the rise. It makes me smile :)
As for "what does everyone think about [card choices]"...we're looking at playstyle and preferences tbh. I think QPM is just insane in the format and can't help but run 2-3x in the maindeck. I love decay in the SB (miracles, extra multi-purpose removal), as it can't attack int he red zone like QPM can. I also think 2x Sylvan Library is mandatory...but if you can win a SCG with 1x, what do I know? The maindeck looks like it's kicking miracles in the balls with 2x Teeg, 2x Spirit, a full suite of Mom and Thalia + 2x Caverns. It's all about what you want to fight. David appears to be throwing the kitchen sink at problematic matchups. Whatever he can stick on the table will cause headaches for Miracles.

McDarby's list has some interesting choices for sure. It's the first in a while where I've seen anyone eschew both cradle *and* Depths/Stage. In this case, it squeezed in room for Caverns. I'll be honest, it really surprised me when I saw how varied the creature types were. Maverick typically has several to deal with, but his had more than usual. I wish I could see some of his off camera matches to really get a feel for whether Cavern was worth it, and if so if 2 is the right number.

The match he played vs Burn in the semis was a joy to watch. That is a tough matchup, but he navigated it better than I think I've ever seen on camera. The Burn player stumbled a bit, whether from nerves or just being outplayed, but McDarby still wouldn't have won if he hadn't seen all the right lines. I'm still very impressed.

1x cataclysm? Isn't Armageddon just better?

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Originally Posted by Cambriel

McDarby's list has some interesting choices for sure. It's the first in a while where I've seen anyone eschew both cradle *and* Depths/Stage. In this case, it squeezed in room for Caverns. I'll be honest, it really surprised me when I saw how varied the creature types were. Maverick typically has several to deal with, but his had more than usual. I wish I could see some of his off camera matches to really get a feel for whether Cavern was worth it, and if so if 2 is the right number.

The match he played vs Burn in the semis was a joy to watch. That is a tough matchup, but he navigated it better than I think I've ever seen on camera. The Burn player stumbled a bit, whether from nerves or just being outplayed, but McDarby still wouldn't have won if he hadn't seen all the right lines. I'm still very impressed.

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Well, the good thing is, it happens to be Glenn Jones' deck, so I think we have a slight chance of him talking about it in his next article, with any luck. I am interested hearing about the maindeck spirits, and how they performed.

I liked Burrenton Forge-Tender, and having digested it for about 12 hours, I think it's better than Kor Firewalker even if Firewalker is better objectively. The reason is primarily due to being a 1 drop which means more against a fast Swiftspear start than does Firewalker. Also :w::w: is basically impossible to find in time under pressure.

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Originally Posted by Koby

I liked Burrenton Forge-Tender, and having digested it for about 12 hours, I think it's better than Kor Firewalker even if Firewalker is better objectively. The reason is primarily due to being a 1 drop which means more against a fast Swiftspear start than does Firewalker. Also :w::w: is basically impossible to find in time under pressure.

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I agree, Forge-Tender is probably better for this deck vs. the creature heavy burn strategies. Had McDarby faced off vs lavaspike.dec, things might have gone a little bit differently.

Honestly, I have no problem giving Warmth a try. The math probably still favors Forge-Tender, but Warmth would handle bolts to the face a lot better.