[Deck] GW/x Maverick

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Originally Posted by maktus

Two weeks ago I played a small tournament (10 people) with 3x thalia and 3x Jitte and was not impressed. Thalia stopped me from using Elspeth in the first game, and I missed sword of light and shadow against junk e StP.

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I feel like you need to add an extra mana-producing land if you're playing Thalia. Also, yeah, SoLaS is a boss. I'll probably still play it and 2x Jitte, honestly.

I'm still on the fence in regards to SFM. I feel like it should not be the core of the deck like it is in Stoneblade, but I also feel like being able to just go get an equipment is huge. I would play it as 2x if I were to run it at all.

On one hand, I really love what Thalia does against Tempo, Control, and Combo decks. On the other hand, I really miss being able to sword up a Troll Ascetic and just go to town on people.

I will continue brewing until I find a balance between my old list and something with Thalia.

Right now I'm at 2 Jitte and 1 SFM with SoLS sideboard. I need to get a ton of deck time with it to see how it operates. I may end up cutting the SFM for the 23rd land (either another Fetch or Forest).

Hey everyone,

I've been out of the loop the past few months (since Dark Ascension first hit, basically.)

What's new? It looks like Maverick has been doing well ... some exciting new directions.

Looks like people have, using a few Jittes, dropped the Stoneforge package to make room? Man, I was advocating for trying this a while ago!

Any major points of interest regarding these Fauna Shaman builds?

Thalia: makes perfect sense.

No more Thrun eh?

The sideboards look pretty different too. Never considered Gut Shot or Linvala ... Gut Shot looks good but why Gut Shot instead of Path to Exiles?

Anyway, I'm not asking people to do my homework here but if anyone feels like it, any broad or specific points would be of course much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by sir

Anyway, I'm not asking people to do my homework here but if anyone feels like it, any broad or specific points would be of course much appreciated.

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I think you have summaries a lot of it yourself. Drop SFM for more Jitte's, Ooze and Thalia.

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Originally Posted by sir

Hey everyone,

I've been out of the loop the past few months (since Dark Ascension first hit, basically.)

What's new? It looks like Maverick has been doing well ... some exciting new directions.

Looks like people have, using a few Jittes, dropped the Stoneforge package to make room? Man, I was advocating for trying this a while ago!

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It may come full circle. The metagame is becoming increasingly inbred at the moment so many lists are just loading up on hatebears.

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Originally Posted by sir

Any major points of interest regarding these Fauna Shaman builds?

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A product of metagame inbreeding. It helps win against the mirror and little else. If another contender rises through the clusterfuck of Maverick and Stoneblade decks, this may no longer be a good option.

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Originally Posted by sir

No more Thrun eh?

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Where would you put him? I have exactly two slots in my list that I'm not particularly happy with (Aven Mindcensor), and Thrun doesn't seem much better in most instances. I'm beginning to consider maindeck Linvala though.

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Originally Posted by sir

The sideboards look pretty different too. Never considered Gut Shot or Linvala ... Gut Shot looks good but why Gut Shot instead of Path to Exiles?

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Gut shot lets you kill opposing Mother of Runes and not lose tempo. It's essentially Mental Misstep in the mirror. Why not play both?

Gut shot was also put in the sideboard for dredge as bad as it may seem. You can gut shot your noble, dryad, scryb, or mother to remove bridges.

Linvala seems to be a complete upgrade from Aven Mindcensor in my opinion. Aven has never really shined or done anything for me. If your meta has a decent number of Maverick then it might be right to make the swap.

I don't think that moving away from SFM when playing Thalia is the right thing. The first thing I would cut is Mindcensor and Elspeth. I mean, what is scarier than a first striking, Equipment wearing, removal prove (Karakas/MoR) creature? And the possibility of choosing your Equipment is huge (->SFM). Maybe something like:

3 Hierarch
1 BoP
4 Mother of Runes
4 KotR
3 Thalia
3 Ooze
2 SFM
3 Pridemage
1 Gaddock
1 Scryb Ranger

4 GSZ
4 StoP
2 Sylvan Library
1 Jitte
1 Sword of your choice/metagame

23 lands (incl. Dryad Arbor)

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Originally Posted by Snief

I don't think that moving away from SFM when playing Thalia is the right thing. The first thing I would cut is Mindcensor and Elspeth. I mean, what is scarier than a first striking, Equipment wearing, removal prove (Karakas/MoR) creature? And the possibility of choosing your Equipment is huge (->SFM). Maybe something like:

3 Hierarch
1 BoP
4 Mother of Runes
4 KotR
3 Thalia
3 Ooze
2 SFM
3 Pridemage
1 Gaddock
1 Scryb Ranger

4 GSZ
4 StoP
2 Sylvan Library
1 Jitte
1 Sword of your choice/metagame

23 lands (incl. Dryad Arbor)

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Elspeth is too good. I would rather leave in Elspeth and cut your second Sylvan Library. As drawing two of them is almost always bad.

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Originally Posted by majikal

It may come full circle. The metagame is becoming increasingly inbred at the moment so many lists are just loading up on hatebears.


A product of metagame inbreeding. It helps win against the mirror and little else. If another contender rises through the clusterfuck of Maverick and Stoneblade decks, this may no longer be a good option.


Where would you put him? I have exactly two slots in my list that I'm not particularly happy with (Aven Mindcensor), and Thrun doesn't seem much better in most instances. I'm beginning to consider maindeck Linvala though.


Gut shot lets you kill opposing Mother of Runes and not lose tempo. It's essentially Mental Misstep in the mirror. Why not play both?

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about gutshot, what do you think of using 1x mortarpod it in place of it? it's slower but can be used repeatedly, and is also faster than a Jitte.

I wouln't cut the elspeth because she is so good a making small critters fly over the enemies.

I would cut the mindcensor, they have been so-so for me. I may replace them with more ozze or even linvala maindeck.

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Originally Posted by Snief

I don't think that moving away from SFM when playing Thalia is the right thing. The first thing I would cut is Mindcensor and Elspeth. I mean, what is scarier than a first striking, Equipment wearing, removal prove (Karakas/MoR) creature? And the possibility of choosing your Equipment is huge (->SFM). Maybe something like:

3 Hierarch
1 BoP
4 Mother of Runes
4 KotR
3 Thalia
3 Ooze
2 SFM
3 Pridemage
1 Gaddock
1 Scryb Ranger

4 GSZ
4 StoP
2 Sylvan Library
1 Jitte
1 Sword of your choice/metagame

23 lands (incl. Dryad Arbor)

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I guess the only thing scarier would be a flying, equipment wearing, removal proof creature.

Pretty sure that's Jesus.

-Matt

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Originally Posted by sdematt

Pretty sure that's Jesus.

-Matt

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I'm no Biblical scholar, but I don't recall him ever flying, mostly just walking from place to place. I'm pretty sure he has islandwalk though.

I'm tinkering with my sideboard. The local tournaments have around 45-60 people in it, wich mostly are the same 35-40 players. There is a good diverse field with some rogue deckes running around. The common faces are U/W stoneforge, delver, elves combo, high tide, maverick and some storm player. I don't expect a lot of dredge but it shows up sometimes and it's pilot is a very good player so, i'll have to be prepared.

Here's my curent sideboard list:

Sideboard:

2x enlightened tutor
1x tajuru preserver
1x path to exile
2x choke
2x pithing needle
2x ethersworn canonist
2x wheel of sun and moon
1x linvala, keeper of silence
1x powder keg
1x circle of protection red

The decks i fear the most are high tide (the guy is really good at it), esper tokens, pox, elves combo and reanimator/dredge.

currently, i've played a lot against MUD, RUG tempo and U/W stoneblade. They aren't that difficult matchups, so i focused more and the decks i fear more rather than the ones i'll face more often.

Any advices ?

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Originally Posted by mordraid

I'm tinkering with my sideboard. The local tournaments have around 45-60 people in it, wich mostly are the same 35-40 players. There is a good diverse field with some rogue deckes running around. The common faces are U/W stoneforge, delver, elves combo, high tide, maverick and some storm player. I don't expect a lot of dredge but it shows up sometimes and it's pilot is a very good player so, i'll have to be prepared.

Here's my curent sideboard list:

Sideboard:

2x enlightened tutor
1x tajuru preserver
1x path to exile
2x choke
2x pithing needle
2x ethersworn canonist
2x wheel of sun and moon
1x linvala, keeper of silence
1x powder keg
1x circle of protection red

The decks i fear the most are high tide (the guy is really good at it), esper tokens, pox, elves combo and reanimator/dredge.

currently, i've played a lot against MUD, RUG tempo and U/W stoneblade. They aren't that difficult matchups, so i focused more and the decks i fear more rather than the ones i'll face more often.

Any advices ?

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1. Ignore the Pox matchup; while you can make the deck beat Pox it comes at an expense of your other matchupsr. Adding a 2nd Sylvan Library helps however
2. High Tide: 3 Thalia + 1 Teeg + 2-3 Canonist + 2 Choke should be enough after sideboard. Cut the slower cards (Elspeth, Thrun, maybe even a Knight)
3. Elves and Dredge and Mirror can be addressed with Gut Shot + <bullets>

I'm abandoning the E-tutor sideboard for better answers to known metagames:

2 Gut Shot
1 Path to Exile
2 Parallax Wave
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Choke
1 Maze of Ith
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Mindbreak Trap

Mindbreak is a bit of an unusual choice, as I'm anticipating more combo to break onto the scene to answer Maverick. It pre-empts it by giving us the second best solution against those decks. Primary plan is still Hate-bears as they provide the clock too, and when they get answered that's when Mindbreak Trap becomes live again. It also isn't going to get taken by Inquisition of Kozilek from T.E.S. and other adaptations. With 6 hate bears and 3 Traps, we should be in a good spot to fight Storm based combo.

Silence might also work too, while providing a good pro-active card against a wide variety of archetypes.

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Originally Posted by Koby

1. Ignore the Pox matchup; it makes answering the other matchups better. Adding a 2nd Sylvan Library helps however
2. High Tide - 3 Thalia + 1 Teeg + 2-3 Canonist + 2 Choke should be enough after sideboard. Cut the slower cards (Elspeth, Thrun, maybe even a Knight)
3. Elves and Dredge and Mirror can be addressed with Gut Shot + <bullets>

I'm abandoning the E-tutor sideboard for better answers to known metagames:

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I can't understand why you would sideOut Thalia versus Hight Tide! :eyebrow:

About the E-Tutor i absolutely agree with you, i dropped it from some month, i really prefear resilience instead of adaptability, but as a card vs Combo i still prefear Ethersworm Canonist instead of other HateBear or cards like Mindbreak Trap, because it's also reusable in others MU (Not infrequently i sided it vs Burn, just to have one more lightning rod!).
The best things about Mindbreak Trap i think is that it's really good vs Combo like Elf-Combo or Charbelcher that a lot of times go off without any protection, but here those MU aren't so frequently, and for this reason i totally drop Mindbreak Trap from my SB.

Thalia stays in against High Tide, the " - " was a dash rather than "minus".

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Originally Posted by Koby

1. Ignore the Pox matchup; while you can make the deck beat Pox it comes at an expense of your other matchupsr. Adding a 2nd Sylvan Library helps however
2. High Tide: 3 Thalia + 1 Teeg + 2-3 Canonist + 2 Choke should be enough after sideboard. Cut the slower cards (Elspeth, Thrun, maybe even a Knight)
3. Elves and Dredge and Mirror can be addressed with Gut Shot + <bullets>

I'm abandoning the E-tutor sideboard for better answers to known metagames:

2 Gut Shot
1 Path to Exile
2 Parallax Wave
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Choke
1 Maze of Ith
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Mindbreak Trap

Mindbreak is a bit of an unusual choice, as I'm anticipating more combo to break onto the scene to answer Maverick. It pre-empts it by giving us the second best solution against those decks. Primary plan is still Hate-bears as they provide the clock too, and when they get answered that's when Mindbreak Trap becomes live again. It also isn't going to get taken by Inquisition of Kozilek from T.E.S. and other adaptations. With 6 hate bears and 3 Traps, we should be in a good spot to fight Storm based combo.

Silence might also work too, while providing a good pro-active card against a wide variety of archetypes.

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Rukcus...you only have 2 MD ooze and 1 bog for the dredge matchup? and the reanimator matchup?

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Originally Posted by Avatar of Shadow

Rukcus...you only have 2 MD ooze and 1 bog for the dredge matchup? and the reanimator matchup?

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And 4 StP, and 1 PtE, and 2 Gut Shot, and 4 GSZ against Dredge...
And 4 StP, and 1 PtE, and 1 O-ring, 1 Maze of Ith, and 4 GSZ against Reanimator...

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Originally Posted by Koby

And 4 StP, and 1 PtE, and 2 Gut Shot, and 4 GSZ against Dredge...
And 4 StP, and 1 PtE, and 1 O-ring, 1 Maze of Ith, and 4 GSZ against Reanimator...

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wow...thats enough for you? Am i doing something wrong when i use like 3-4 cards in my board to fight these matchups? I usually have 2 crypts and a relic in the board with 2 MD oozes.

I still lose the matchup against dredge and reanimator more often than not.

Well before cutting E-tutor I would bring in: 1 Bog, 1 Crypt, 2 Tutors 2 PtE against Dredge. Having more removal and less "durdling around looking for Crypt" seems like a more sure-fire way to play. They can still get you early with LED/Faithless looting; but more often they take a few turns to get setup. Thalia also helps out in this matchup to slow them from casting spells. The key is to stall with Ooze and get Jitte online to control their Ichorids/Narcomoebas, remove Bridges, then grind them out.

Reanimator is still a race to find Karakas. They still beat you with turn 2 Jin regardless - not much can change that outside of Surgical Extraction. Oftentimes, they are even just on the Show and Tell plan, so not sure how much the G/Y hate helps out more.

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Originally Posted by Koby

Well before cutting E-tutor I would bring in: 1 Bog, 1 Crypt, 2 Tutors 2 PtE against Dredge. Having more removal and less "durdling around looking for Crypt" seems like a more sure-fire way to play. They can still get you early with LED/Faithless looting; but more often they take a few turns to get setup. Thalia also helps out in this matchup to slow them from casting spells. The key is to stall with Ooze and get Jitte online to control their Ichorids/Narcomoebas, remove Bridges, then grind them out.

Reanimator is still a race to find Karakas. They still beat you with turn 2 Jin regardless - not much can change that outside of Surgical Extraction. Oftentimes, they are even just on the Show and Tell plan, so not sure how much the G/Y hate helps out more.

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I see.. I'm always wondering how people use so little gy hate to beat these matchups. I guess its somewhat luck then/

I'm sticking with the e-tutor sideboard because, even if it's not card advantage, the sideboard is made to awnser the matchups that you usually don't win. I prefer having somehow 4 of almost each sideboard card, just by adding 2 enlightened tutors. I don't know what i'll face each time so i prefer to be ready for everything i fear.

Edit: N/m

Ignore it, play around it....

In the punishing fire version of maverick is possible to use Thalia not MD but 2 in SB against combo match??? If right how many is the right number (2 or 3)???

Thanks

put 2-3 thalia's in sideboard. Against combo you should sb in thalias, and sb out punishing fires.
Don't play maindeck thalia with punishing fire - it doesn't make sense.

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Originally Posted by wizard_of_gore

put 2-3 thalia's in sideboard. Against combo you should sb in thalias, and sb out punishing fires.
Don't play maindeck thalia with punishing fire - it doesn't make sense.

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I know Thalia negate the usefulness of Pfire and i'll use in SB in backup vs combo.
You think 2 Thalia are enough?
My SB is:
2 E Tutor
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Tormod Crypt
1 Stony Silence
1 Serenity
2 Choke
2 E Canonist
1 RhoxWM
1 PTE
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Thalia???

Thank's in advance

Storm, High Tide, and Show and Tell/Sneak Attack/Hive Mind is a crapshoot already and we really do not have any sort of clock on these decks. I've been testing and I have pretty much dropped Enlightened Tutor from the SB since Thalia in play makes it suboptimal especially when you draw into it. Your E tutor will most likely go for a Canonist anyway since all your other SB artifacts + enchantments cost 1 more w/ Thalia in play. I upped the Canonist count to 3. I've added Aven Mindcensor back MD to potentially hinder the Tutors/Scrollls/Intuitions + flying is awesome. I'm dedicating SB slots mainly towards the Stoneblade + mirror at the moment.

Not sure if I'm doing SBing vs Storm correctly, but I keep the Jitte's for the pumps to put a fast clock on. I do concede that the turn where I put Jitte into play provides them an opening to combo off.

My list for reference:

2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Library
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

1 Dryad Arbor
2 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
4 Savannah
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Maze of Ith


SB: 2 Path to Exile
SB: 3 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Bojuka Bog
SB: 2 Choke
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
SB: 3 Gut Shot
SB: 1 Krosan Grip

@tarmox


Well, thalia is more "maindeck" material.

etherworn canonist and gaddock teeg are fetchable, and maybe better for sb as additional hosers against combo.

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Originally Posted by wizard_of_gore

@tarmox


Well, thalia is more "maindeck" material.

etherworn canonist and gaddock teeg are fetchable, and maybe better for sb as additional hosers against combo.

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@Wizard

Yes i know....... Maybe my right question is: its possible/useful to use Thalia in Pfire Mav or she only add drawbacks???

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Originally Posted by TarmoX

@Wizard

Yes i know....... Maybe my right question is: its possible/useful to use Thalia in Pfire Mav or she only add drawbacks???

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everything is possible, but when you look at it carefully, it is anti-synergistic. The main purpose of punishing fire is to cast it multiples times. If it cost 1 more each time, it is becoming a bit mana expensive.

If your meta is mainly aggro and elves and other stuff like that, go with the punishing version. If your meta is more control and combo with some aggro in the mix, then you should opt for the thalia build.

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Originally Posted by MiniLuv

Storm, High Tide, and Show and Tell/Sneak Attack/Hive Mind is a crapshoot already and we really do not have any sort of clock on these decks. I've been testing and I have pretty much dropped Enlightened Tutor from the SB since Thalia in play makes it suboptimal especially when you draw into it. Your E tutor will most likely go for a Canonist anyway since all your other SB artifacts + enchantments cost 1 more w/ Thalia in play. I upped the Canonist count to 3. I've added Aven Mindcensor back MD to potentially hinder the Tutors/Scrollls/Intuitions + flying is awesome. I'm dedicating SB slots mainly towards the Stoneblade + mirror at the moment.

Not sure if I'm doing SBing vs Storm correctly, but I keep the Jitte's for the pumps to put a fast clock on. I do concede that the turn where I put Jitte into play provides them an opening to combo off.

My list for reference:

2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Library
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

1 Dryad Arbor
2 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
4 Savannah
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Maze of Ith


SB: 2 Path to Exile
SB: 3 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 Bojuka Bog
SB: 2 Choke
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
SB: 3 Gut Shot
SB: 1 Krosan Grip

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I am curious about the 1 of Linvala, Keeper of Silence in the board. The issue I see is that there is NO way to fetch her up with this deck. To make matters worse, the deck she's best against (Elves) the fastest you could even hardcast her is turn 3 (which would probably crush their plans...but much later than turn 3 isn't very useful). I know the main reason is actually against opposing Maverick decks, but again, with no ways to fetch her you're hoping for the long drawn out game, of course by that time she shuts down...stoneforge cheating equipment (not very useful), Scavenging Ooze (useful..but in the late game he's most likely already big), Knight of the Reliquary (still useful, but again in the late game he's probably monstrous) and of course stopping Noble Heirarch/Dryad arbor from providing mana (again..in the late game, not a big deal). The fact that you're only running 1 sylvan library pretty much means that more often than not you won't see her when you need her. Don't get me wrong, I like 1 of's in the sideboard, but I use the E-tutor package, in that instance to give me psuedo 3-4 of's, I don't see how using any 1 of's you can't search for in an aggro deck is that viable of an option.

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Originally Posted by TheXile

I am curious about the 1 of Linvala, Keeper of Silence in the board. The issue I see is that there is NO way to fetch her up with this deck. To make matters worse, the deck she's best against (Elves) the fastest you could even hardcast her is turn 3 (which would probably crush their plans...but much later than turn 3 isn't very useful). I know the main reason is actually against opposing Maverick decks, but again, with no ways to fetch her you're hoping for the long drawn out game, of course by that time she shuts down...stoneforge cheating equipment (not very useful), Scavenging Ooze (useful..but in the late game he's most likely already big), Knight of the Reliquary (still useful, but again in the late game he's probably monstrous) and of course stopping Noble Heirarch/Dryad arbor from providing mana (again..in the late game, not a big deal). The fact that you're only running 1 sylvan library pretty much means that more often than not you won't see her when you need her. Don't get me wrong, I like 1 of's in the sideboard, but I use the E-tutor package, in that instance to give me psuedo 3-4 of's, I don't see how using any 1 of's you can't search for in an aggro deck is that viable of an option.

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Linvala also shuts down Mom/Pridemage/Ranger. But, I do agree with what you have said. It is definitely one of the more questionable slots in the SB since it is untutorable + the only 1 of 4 drops I was ever comfortable with was the Elspeth and sometimes a MD Thrun. I'm still trying it out and was thinking of upping the count to 2 in the SB and cutting the Krosan Grip or just replacing Linvala with another Elspeth SB. I honestly do not have too many qualms with having an untutorable high CC 1 of since it is something you do not want to have multiples of (e.g. 2 Elepseths) in your opener as they are dead cards in the opening turns.

I've also been considering cutting the third Ooze for a second library to better find the 1 + 2 of's in the MD/SB since Ooze, while useful in the mid-late game, is situationally good in the early game because there might not be anything useful in the graveyard yet. I think it has helped establish my board position early by encouraging my opponent's to use early removal on it that otherwise would have been used on KoTR. Ooze is not going to get as big anytime soon vs SFM decks since StP + PtE are used extensively as removal. The main way I see it getting to eat up creatures is if a Jitte has been used. Eating lands to shrink opposing KoTR/awesome MD grave hate is a key reason it is used so maybe my expectations shouldn't extend too far beyond that.

IMO,the 1 of Linvala in the SB is good in the loyal retainers maverick variant. It'll work very well against stone-blades and mirror maverick decks.

Linvala seems good as a 1-of against the mirror. I don't think her being unfetchable is that relevant. She's proactive and pretty bomby, so I think it's fine to rip in an opening 7 or in top-deck mode. I can't see running multiples due to the competition for the 4cc slot and her being Legendary.

I agree that Thalia is main deck material.
I'm actually thinking about including a fourth in the main.
Thalia just improves all our bad matchups. I would like to see one in every opener except in the mirror or against heavy aggro (but then we should side them out obv).

Since Thalia is so strong and does not work at all with Punishing Fire, I think we should not play Punishing Fire anymore. Besides, I usually see the GW version score better anyway.

Arguing that Linvala is "bad" because she's a one-of and can't be tutored is a terrible argument. Should we cut Elspeth also? She's untutorable and also a one-of?

Linvala improves the mirror and i definetly need to test if Linvala and/or Gideon gives the edge which i'm currently looking for.

I mean, it's not even hard to protect her. With Mom and Karakas you can softlock your opponent out of the game.

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Originally Posted by Kelm

Arguing that Linvala is "bad" because she's a one-of and can't be tutored is a terrible argument. Should we cut Elspeth also? She's untutorable and also a one-of?

Linvala improves the mirror and i definetly need to test if Linvala and/or Gideon gives the edge which i'm currently looking for.

I mean, it's not even hard to protect her. With Mom and Karakas you can softlock your opponent out of the game.

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Perhaps you misread what I wrote. I am by no means claiming Linvala is bad nor that she doesn't belong in Maverick. My point is more a statistical one. As a 1 of in the deck that can't be tutored for (outside the fauna shaman build), the likelihood that you will see her within the first 15 turns is quite low (discounting fetches) it should be around 37% (1/60 *22 oppurtunities..and yes I know it's actually 1/60+1/59+1/58...but I don't feel like calculating that)

Maybe it's just a string of bad MTGO shuffles, maybe its a string of bad luck - but I feel that the increased land count (23) and 3 Thalias are hurting the deck's consistency compared to having tutoring plan with Stoneforge Mystic. This is especially true playing against decks that aren't Stoneblade/RUG/mirror.