Originally Posted by
lavafrogg
First, Miracles arguments are no longer valid especially when they normally played EtA EoT to avoid sorcery speed removal.
Second, your examples are against good matchups that we have i.e. Goyfs(Abrupt Decay), Eldrazi, DnT(which you used twice also see: Abrupt Decay/ZP), where ZP is going to be better in harder matchups like BUG and Elves. Resolving Deluge against BUG might wipe their board, in your scenario, but you still have a batterskull to deal with. Deluge might be the best card to deal with {insert scenario} but I find that not getting in the terrible unwinnable scenario is a much better plan... i.e. extra pridemages to kill all equipment and have creatures that outclass 3/1's(Knight, Crusader, Sigarada, etc), or ways to kill 3/1's i.e. ZP.
If you are constantly in game states where the only thing that will save you is a mass removal spell to clear the whole board... something went wrong and there should be a better plan of attack. In the elves matchup, they can have all the 2/2's they want... it means they are running slow enough to get hatebears and equipment online which are our haymakers in the matchup. Most of the time they kill you and combo in the same turn and usually only have 1-3 elves in play before the combo turn... which is a case where deluge is worse than ZP.
An added bonus, ZP is faster against storm's goblin tokens and ZP can also save your creatures from opposing -1/-1 effects, obviously not dread of night, but from ZP and Golgari Charms or electrickery type effects.
I know that we can sit here and name situations where x is better than y or visa versa, but I hope we can all agree in a non-specific meta, the main reasons to splash black are thought seize, abrupt decay, zealous persecution and consistent DRS activation's not black sweepers that also clear our board or {random black card that is good against some tier 3 deck}.
@Rasca- I have said before that I find Maverick to have a way too fragile mana base to support a 3rd color in a wasteland meta without the use of Life from the Loam. This has been made less of a problem by DRS, but eating our own graveyards directly shrinks our Knights. So I don't play DRS or a splash color. If I was to play a splash, it would be black for Seize, Decay and Zealous.
EDIT:
TWO more top 8's!
// Deck file for Magic Workstation created with mtgtop8.com
// NAME : Maverick
// CREATOR : Jacob Kory
// FORMAT : Legacy
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [US] Gaea's Cradle
1 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [UNH] Plains
2 [R] Bayou
2 [UNH] Forest
3 [R] Savannah
3 [KTK] Wooded Foothills
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [KTK] Windswept Heath
1 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
1 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
1 [] Scavenging Ooze
1 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
1 [AVR] Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 [SOI] Tireless Tracker
2 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
2 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
3 [CMD] Mother of Runes
4 [RTR] Deathrite Shaman
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
4 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
2 [5E] Sylvan Library
4 [] Swords to Plowshares
4 [MBS] Green Sun's Zenith
SB: 1 [C14] Bojuka Bog
SB: 1 [C14] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 [M14] Ratchet Bomb
SB: 1 [CMD] Path to Exile
SB: 1 [NPH] Melira, Sylvok Outcast
SB: 2 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 [RTR] Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 [ARB] Zealous Persecution
SB: 2 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 [THS] Thoughtseize
and
// Deck file for Magic Workstation created with mtgtop8.com
// NAME : Punishing Maverick
// CREATOR : Erick Velasquez
// FORMAT : Legacy
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [UNH] Forest
1 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [DK] Maze of Ith
2 [R] Taiga
3 [FUT] Grove of the Burnwillows
3 [R] Savannah
3 [TE] Wasteland
3 [KTK] Wooded Foothills
4 [KTK] Windswept Heath
1 [] Birds of Paradise
1 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
1 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
1 [] Renegade Rallier
1 [] Samut, Voice of Dissent
1 [] Scavenging Ooze
1 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
1 [SOI] Tireless Tracker
3 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
3 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
4 [CMD] Mother of Runes
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
1 [GTC] Domri Rade
1 [NPH] Batterskull
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [5E] Sylvan Library
3 [CMD] Punishing Fire
4 [] Swords to Plowshares
4 [MBS] Green Sun's Zenith
SB: 1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
SB: 1 [9E] Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 2 [5E] Pyroblast
SB: 2 [M11] Pyroclasm
SB: 1 [C14] Bojuka Bog
SB: 1 [] Nissa, Vital Force
SB: 1 [C15] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
SB: 3 [M11] Leyline of the Void
so GWb and GWr both make an appearance!