[Deck] GW/x Maverick

Went 3-0-1 at double legacy side event at GP Vancouver last Sunday, had pretty good matchups (Cat wizard, best wizard) but played against local players first 2 rounds which felt blegh.

Rd 1 2-1 Infect -I lose game 2 because I made a greedy play of casting a plow on his infect creature before my Thalia when he had an open mana so I could wasteland him that turn but he had the vines for it plus lethal on his turn despite being wastelanded, so oops

Rd 2 2-1 vs Tezzeret -I win game one with a flavour win of revolting against Tezzeret (I use jitte to kill my drayad arbor then zenith for renegade rallier getting back pridemage (which was relevent because I already used both my cats) to kill his bridge for lethal). Game 2 I mulligan to a weak (I believe 5 card) hand containing a Deathrite but a dryad arbor as my only green source and he has a turn 2 Daretti off a mox diamond so -1 stripmine pretty good. Game 3 I have a bunch of wastelands and he lets me pithing needle his fetch, rip.

Rd 3 2-0 vs painter -I forget how game 1 goes I think I just jam huge knights and blow up his painters with cats but I can't recall. Game 2 I have deathrite and noble and then play Garruk making a wolf. He plays Chandra Torch of Defiance and has no choice but to tick up and deal 2 to my garruk because she just dies if he -3's her. Flipped Garruk makes a sick wolf and I go after chandra with the healthy wolf putting her to 2. She kills garruk on her turn going to 3 and he plays a painter to block but I have plow so my wolf kills her. I play a Knight before I get bloodmooned which lets me sac my basic forest for a swamp and abrupt decay the moon a few turns later freeing up my fetchlands which I sac for more basics when he plays another moon. I play a library then next turn see a zenith and a decay which I keep on top, on his turn he plays a bridge and passes. GG.

Chandra doesn't feel threatening as -3 to kill a creature leaves her very vulnerable and she doesn't do anything against a bigger Knight, but I still like her in that deck and think she's pretty good.

Decklist was as follows-

2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Marsh Flats
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Karakas
4 Wasteland
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sylvan Library
1 Garruk, Relentless
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
2 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Renegade Rallier

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2 Sanctum Prelate
1 Containment Priest
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Thoughtseize
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Pithing Needle

@Megadeus cool decklist! I started legacy with a NO deck (NO Bant) so it takes me back a bit. Do you not have Verdant Catacombs though? Wooded Foothills doesn't get Scrubland.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rascalyote

@Megadeus cool decklist! I started legacy with a NO deck (NO Bant) so it takes me back a bit. Do you not have Verdant Catacombs though? Wooded Foothills doesn't get Scrubland.

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I also play this deck with foothills until verdant gets reprinted :frown: so far it has never mattered and it can mislead people into thinking you're on 4c Loam :tongue:

Wussed out last second and went back to normal list. Top 8 out of 80. Fucked up my deck list real bad and screwed myself. But better lucky than good I suppose. God I love scavenging ooze

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Originally Posted by Megadeus

God I love scavenging ooze

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Maybe I don't play it correctly but I don't particularly enjoy it. For me it's a goyf shrinker at best but it's such a removal magnet that it never sticks. Do you run it down asap and bait removal with it or wait late and make it a beater?

I love scavenging ooze. It's why I play two main. Turns off Deathrites which is one of the best card against us, shrinks goyfs, is a good beater and gains life while hating on graveyard strategies. I beat a BUG player that Hymned me on turn 2, forced a turn 3 knight, and shardless into ancestral because I had a scooze with a Mom to protect him. If only he was pro blue to walk past a true name. Oh he also turns off snapcasters. I love the card.

In my Vial Maverick, lately, I had too often the problem of drawing a 1st turn Thoughtseize without a black source vs combo decks (after sb). So, I've decided to increase the black-producing land count from 8 (6x fetches + Bayou, Scrubland) to 10 (7x fetches + 2x Bayou, Scrubland) and increase the land count from 21 to 22.

In my tracker list, 22 lands seems good - I can turn late land topdecks into cards. That's my current list:

// Recruiterless Vial Maverick

// 60 Maindeck
// 7 Artifact
4 Aether Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull

// 27 Creature
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Sanctum Prelate
2 Scryb Ranger
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Tireless Tracker

// 4 Instant
4 Swords to Plowshares

// 22 Land
2 Bayou
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
1 Karakas
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Gaea's Cradle

// 15 Sideboard
// 4 Creature
SB: 1 Containment Priest
SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 Gaddock Teeg

// 1 Enchantment
SB: 1 Choke

// 5 Instant
SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 Zealous Persecution
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction

// 1 Planeswalker
SB: 1 Garruk Relentless

// 4 Sorcery
SB: 3 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Council's Judgment

I adapted the list slightly to our local meta, with fewer combo & blue decks than there usually are (and popularity of Dread of Night), so I dropped 1x Thalia and 1x Plains to fit 1x Bayou and an extra fetchland. What do you guys about the decklist & specifically the new land count?

Can't comment on the land count, I'm still on GSZ, but I've been running a basic swamp in my list, and that's been pretty good at increasing my black mana production.
I am running abrupt decays main though, so getting wasteland/blood mooned off of black is a bit rougher than usual.
Being able to cast abrupt decays through blood moon is also wonderful. Downside is pretty obvious though, can only fetch it with the verdants (and knight!, that does come up ;)), and can't cast green/white one drops.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoomRabbit

Can't comment on the land count, I'm still on GSZ, but I've been running a basic swamp in my list, and that's been pretty good at increasing my black mana production.
I am running abrupt decays main though, so getting wasteland/blood mooned off of black is a bit rougher than usual.
Being able to cast abrupt decays through blood moon is also wonderful. Downside is pretty obvious though, can only fetch it with the verdants (and knight!, that does come up ;)), and can't cast green/white one drops.

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I don't have any mainboard black cards/activations (except Deathrite Shaman) and just 1 Ab. Decay in sideboard, so basic Swamp will be probably not helpful.

I've been testing for few days in Cockatrice and I think that 22 lands work well with Trackers (and the guys showed themselves really good in the vial version as well). Tomorrow, will test the list at the local FNM.

Just finished 4-0 with the list above at our FNM (small tweaks in sb: -1 containment priest, +1 abrupt decay). Won vs Merfolks, RUG Delver, Enchantress and Infect.

Trackers are insane with Gaea's Cradle. There was a turn when I generated 3 Clues, drew cards from them into a blue-red sword vs Merfolks, played, equipped it and attacked [emoji14]

Are there any tips or hints on how to think about the Aluren matchup?

I went to the CFB 3k last week losing only to Aluren the entire time--and it wasn't even close.

Any tips?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aspsnake

Just finished 4-0 with the list above at our FNM (small tweaks in sb: -1 containment priest, +1 abrupt decay). Won vs Merfolks, RUG Delver, Enchantress and Infect.

Trackers are insane with Gaea's Cradle. There was a turn when I generated 3 Clues, drew cards from them into a blue-red sword vs Merfolks, played, equipped it and attacked [emoji14]

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Did you know that Tireless Tracker doesn't care how the clues are sacrificed? Because the last time I brought him to a GP, my opponent didn't know that interaction either when he attacked with Emrakul and immediately died to the crackback.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TMagpie

Did you know that Tireless Tracker doesn't care how the clues are sacrificed? Because the last time I brought him to a GP, my opponent didn't know that interaction either when he attacked with Emrakul and immediately died to the crackback.

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Yes, but didn't get to abuse it just yet :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TMagpie

Are there any tips or hints on how to think about the Aluren matchup?

I went to the CFB 3k last week losing only to Aluren the entire time--and it wasn't even close.

Any tips?

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First of all, which list are you playing? Advice might depend a lot on that.

MVP in this matchup are Ethersworn Cannonists, that don't allow them to combo off until they find a way to deal with it, and with Mom can be devastating.

Swords is not that useful in breaking the birds combo if they play it right, but Qasali can be. Just make sure to play Qasali in resp to them casting Recruiter (if it's the Recruiter version) or the "pay 1 life: return to hand" bird, as they are the most vulnerable while these are in the air.

Remember that after sb they often side out some combo pieces and try to play midrange-style, overunning with creatures, as expect you to be prepaired to disrupt their combo. So, you have to be prepaired to play 2 games - a fair one and an unfair one, which is indeed challenging.

How I would sb with my list against Aluren:

+2 Gaddock Teeg
+1 Ethersworn Cannonist
+3 Thoughtseize

-3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (too many creatures in their list, we hurt ourselves more than them)
-1 AEther Vial (don't want to draw too many of them)
-1 Batterskull (sloow & non-disruptive vs combo)
-1 Sanctum Prelate (2 Teegs + 1 Prelate should be normally enough).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TMagpie

Are there any tips or hints on how to think about the Aluren matchup?

I went to the CFB 3k last week losing only to Aluren the entire time--and it wasn't even close.

Any tips?

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Be aggressive with wasteland, use your deathrites to keep them off of their deathrite mana. Scooze does work there too. Teeg and Thalia keeps them off of Aluren itself. Pridemages also are nice to add damage and essentially prevent them from going off with Aluren as long as your timing is fine. I feel is a generally positive match up as long as you play tight

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aspsnake

Yes, but didn't get to abuse it just yet :p



First of all, which list are you playing? Advice might depend a lot on that.

MVP in this matchup are Ethersworn Cannonists, that don't allow them to combo off until they find a way to deal with it, and with Mom can be devastating.

Swords is not that useful in breaking the birds combo if they play it right, but Qasali can be. Just make sure to play Qasali in resp to them casting Recruiter (if it's the Recruiter version) or the "pay 1 life: return to hand" bird, as they are the most vulnerable while these are in the air.

Remember that after sb they often side out some combo pieces and try to play midrange-style, overunning with creatures, as expect you to be prepaired to disrupt their combo. So, you have to be prepaired to play 2 games - a fair one and an unfair one, which is indeed challenging.

How I would sb with my list against Aluren:

+2 Gaddock Teeg
+1 Ethersworn Cannonist
+3 Thoughtseize

-3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (too many creatures in their list, we hurt ourselves more than them)
-1 AEther Vial (don't want to draw too many of them)
-1 Batterskull (sloow & non-disruptive vs combo)
-1 Sanctum Prelate (2 Teegs + 1 Prelate should be normally enough).

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Here's my list: http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=14857&d=289550&f=LE

I was paired against Aluren in the first round of the top 8

Game one I had wasteland + thalia + mom, resolved a SFM to look for Jitte. He played mana dorks and cast aluren on turn 5 and I died.

Game two I had double wasteland, thoughtseize discarding his Aluren, and had Mom, revoker (on Cavern Harpy) and a DRS on the board. I died taking 4 damage a turn from his flyers, unable to race him since I drew disruption to his combo.

I feel like I have the tools, but I just wasn't playing them properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TMagpie

Here's my list: http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=14857&d=289550&f=LE

I was paired against Aluren in the first round of the top 8

Game one I had wasteland + thalia + mom, resolved a SFM to look for Jitte. He played mana dorks and cast aluren on turn 5 and I died.

Game two I had double wasteland, thoughtseize discarding his Aluren, and had Mom, revoker (on Cavern Harpy) and a DRS on the board. I died taking 4 damage a turn from his flyers, unable to race him since I drew disruption to his combo.

I feel like I have the tools, but I just wasn't playing them properly.

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Just practice the matchup with friends :) E.g. in Cockatrice.

If nobody of your friends plays Aluren, I could give it a try, just ask.

Just come back from a 30 player tournament, made top8 and lost in the quarters.
Went:
2-0 vs Aluren
2-0 vs Death and Taxes
2-0 vs Goblins
2-0 vs U/R delver
Drew with Reanimator (although we played the games for fun, and I went 2-1, the 1 being a game loss for being an idiot and having random commons in my deck box...)

Went into top 8 number one seed, only player on 13 points

0-2 vs T.E.S. - had perfect hands both games (read turn 2 thalias/canonists on the play), g1 he goes off turn 1, ok not much I can do there, g2 he durdles, I land a canonist, he burning wishes for massacre, next turn massacres then goes off. Not much I could do.

Cracked a wasteland in my prize packs, so that's nice, but overall am just pretty happy with the run, deck felt great all day -- dodged miracles/shardless so that might have something to do with it ;)

The list:
// 60 Maindeck
// 3 Artifact
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow

// 24 Creature
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Dryad Arbor

// 1 Enchantment
1 Sylvan Library

// 6 Instant
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Swords to Plowshares

// 4 Sorcery
4 Green Sun's Zenith


// 22 Land
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Karakas
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Swamp
1 Horizon Canopy


// 15 Sideboard
// 2 Artifact
SB: 2 Pithing Needle

// 3 Creature
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Gaddock Teeg

// 2 Enchantment
SB: 2 Choke

// 4 Instant
SB: 2 Zealous Persecution
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction

// 2 Planeswalker
SB: 1 Garruk Relentless
SB: 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

// 2 Sorcery
SB: 2 Thoughtseize

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoomRabbit

Just come back from a 30 player tournament, made top8 and lost in the quarters.
Went:
2-0 vs Aluren
2-0 vs Death and Taxes
2-0 vs Goblins
2-0 vs U/R delver
Drew with Reanimator (although we played the games for fun, and I went 2-1, the 1 being a game loss for being an idiot and having random commons in my deck box...)

Went into top 8 number one seed, only player on 13 points

0-2 vs T.E.S. - had perfect hands both games (read turn 2 thalias/canonists on the play), g1 he goes off turn 1, ok not much I can do there, g2 he durdles, I land a canonist, he burning wishes for massacre, next turn massacres then goes off. Not much I could do.

Cracked a wasteland in my prize packs, so that's nice, but overall am just pretty happy with the run, deck felt great all day -- dodged miracles/shardless so that might have something to do with it ;)

The list:
// 60 Maindeck
// 3 Artifact
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow

// 24 Creature
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Dryad Arbor

// 1 Enchantment
1 Sylvan Library

// 6 Instant
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Swords to Plowshares

// 4 Sorcery
4 Green Sun's Zenith


// 22 Land
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Karakas
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Swamp
1 Horizon Canopy


// 15 Sideboard
// 2 Artifact
SB: 2 Pithing Needle

// 3 Creature
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Gaddock Teeg

// 2 Enchantment
SB: 2 Choke

// 4 Instant
SB: 2 Zealous Persecution
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction

// 2 Planeswalker
SB: 1 Garruk Relentless
SB: 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

// 2 Sorcery
SB: 2 Thoughtseize

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Congrats with the result!

Because of Massacre, against ANT/TES I try not to play Plains (using Horizon Canopy, Karakas, Deathrite Shaman or Cavern of Souls for white). If I have to play Scrubland/Savannah because there is no other option, I Wasteland it asap or follow it with a Gaddock Teeg or Prelate for 4.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aspsnake

Because of Massacre, against ANT/TES I try not to play Plains (using Horizon Canopy, Karakas, Deathrite Shaman or Cavern of Souls for white). If I have to play Scrubland/Savannah because there is no other option, I Wasteland it asap or follow it with a Gaddock Teeg or Prelate for 4.

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I've learned my lesson, first time playing against the wishboard version, didn't even know to play around the card.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoomRabbit

I've learned my lesson, first time playing against the wishboard version, didn't even know to play around the card.

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ANT (the one that doesn't run wishes) also plays Massacre in sb, but only 1-2 and you've probably just not seen them draw it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoomRabbit

I've learned my lesson, first time playing against the wishboard version, didn't even know to play around the card.

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Most lists run Massacre for their hate because they are most worried about Death and Taxes--which normally does not have Teeg. The matchup gets weird when they face off against a GSZ list who gets a Teeg out turn 2 fairly consistently. People ready for that often don't bother boarding in non-pyroclasm sweepers at all and just lean on Chain of Vapor/Abrupt Decay.

Both versions run Massacre, as the card is very good against Taxes lists. This gives Maverick a very strong metagame advantage versus Storm that is nor normally accounted for in larger events (GPs) but very much accounted for in smaller events (30-60 person locals) where the meta is more inbred.