[Deck] GW/x Maverick

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Originally Posted by Water_Wizard

What's your sideboard plan against certain decks? Is your main the same as you posted a page back? What's most important is your sideboard plan against certain match-ups. It's hard providing feedback just by looking at a decklist and sideboard and not know what you're planning to take in and out. It also depends on the decks you think you are going to face. Large tournament, local shop, online?

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I was looking to take this to the GP in March. and yes it's the same MD list on the last page.


Against storm/combo my plan would be:

- 1 thrun
- 1 Elspeth, knight errant
- 2 scryb ranger
- 1 maze of ith
- 1 sword of fire and ice
- 4 swords to plowshares


+ 4 Mindbreak traps
+ 2 surgical
+ 4 pithing needle


Against nic fit, or similar BG deck:

-2 qasali
-1 gaea's cradle
-2 noble
-2 scryb ranger

+2 surgical
+1 Garruk relentless
+4 Pithing needle


against UR delver:

-1 Karakas
-2 qasali
-1 scavenging
-1 gaddock teeg

+2 surgical
+1 bojuka bog
+2 choke

Essentially all I want is some input on how to prep for a Grand Prix meta; it's going to be my first one, and until now I've only played at small local shops.

Oops. I got Progenitus because unless he has the nuts than he just dies. Plus if I get Knight I still lose if he gets angel of despair on the next turn, or if gets inkwell I could still die. And punishing fire doesn't do anything. I would have to have 3 to even think about killing anything except Jin, but if I try that than he p[rob already drew 7 and I lose anyways.

Plus, if you need to, you can GSZ for Progenitus.

-Matt

I hard cast Progenitus against a Lands opponent once. He had Urborg and I had 2 hierarchs lol.

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Originally Posted by sdematt

Plus, if you need to, you can GSZ for Progenitus.

-Matt

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:tongue: you need 11 mana sources to gsz prog. i'm not even sure the deck runs 11 actual mana sources. :tongue:

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Originally Posted by Avatar of Shadow

:tongue: you need 11 mana sources to gsz prog. i'm not even sure the deck runs 11 actual mana sources. :tongue:

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Cradle makes 4-5 mana on average alone.

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Originally Posted by Derayler

While Karakas is sweet; I have to slow roll it so when he entombs he just doesnt grab archangel or Sphinx. And if I do than he might just grab a Jin and after he draws 7 I lose anyways. I would rather mulligan and hope than only count on a Karakas. When I played the second Natural Order in game 2 it was just a joke because I was dead on board.

My list at the moment is...

Maindeck:

1 Tarmogoyf

4 Punishing Fire

1 Tower of the Magistrate

Sideboard:
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Stony Silence
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Pyroblast
2 Enlightened Tutor
5 NO Package

Against him I brought out Tower, Goyf, the mystic package, loam, the punishing fire, and Teeg I believe. Brought in everything but Stony silence and canonist.

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Thanks for your response! I run a very similar decklist (+/- 5 in the main and a similar board, when I go with ET (recently I've been running a dedicated board with Surgical Extractions)). A few questions...

Tarmogoyf - How do you like him? I imagine mainly for aggro decks or RUG Tempo. 'Goyf always either just makes my deck or just gets cut, he's either card 59, 60 or out.

4th Punishing Fire - Ever wish it was only 3?

Tower of the Magistrate - I would say this is a very good call, especially if you were expecting a UW Stoneblade / Maverick meta (Tower is also good against Affinity, especially if they don't have a lot of black mana Cranial Plating).

I don't blame you on mulliganing that 1st hand - I didn't know Progen was your 7th card (announcer said 5 land + 2 NO, so I was thinking, fetch a Dryad and NO), but if Progen is in hand, you have to mull it.

Why did you decide to run the NO package? I take it it came in against any non-blue, non-Liliana deck? Do you have any stories to tell how it saved you/caught opponents completely by surprise?

11 mana isn't that hard. Cradle, 4 Hierachs, and many lands. Right there you've got 8 mana.

I really think that's the super tech right there. Or, just run Painter's servants so you can fetch Mother of Runes out of your deck. Holy sweet tech, Batman!

-Matt

I'm tweaking the list for Richmond. I know I am going to go down to 3 punishing fire, it's really only good against UW because in the mirror NO just crushes them. Goyf was a sweet inclusion. He was strong against stifle decks, I had considered having that spot be a Kavu Predator but that's only good if you have 2 groves or a plow in hand.

Tower didn't get activated once all day. I played the mirror once, but it was only really for UW blade. I think a Thrun might be good, but it would really only be for UW and similar decks, because I don't think punishing fire alone can defeat a UW deck.

The NO package was mainly a joke between my friend and I. We were just looking at the stock maverick list I had built ready for Sunday trying to figure out a way to break the mirror. We were looking through my legacy box and laughed about the thought, but tried to fit it in the main deck for me to play in the legacy challenge. Main deck it was aweful, but we decided to put it in the board for Sunday. I brought it in against all the combo decks because if necessary you can grab teeg. I played against the mirror once and just went land, mana dork, land, land NO. DEAD. Looking back I would bring it in against the RUG decks too because they board out their forces. I wouldn't bring it in against UW decks because they have wrath and the Liliana decks have way too many sac effects.

While the NO package was cool, IDK if it's even worth it. It's only actually good in the mirror and a couple times through the day I even drew the Progenitus. Probably cut it for something more consistent. It was also good against RUG, but so is your whole deck.

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Originally Posted by Derayler

I'm tweaking the list for Richmond. I know I am going to go down to 3 punishing fire, it's really only good against UW because in the mirror NO just crushes them. Goyf was a sweet inclusion. He was strong against stifle decks, I had considered having that spot be a Kavu Predator but that's only good if you have 2 groves or a plow in hand.

Tower didn't get activated once all day. I played the mirror once, but it was only really for UW blade. I think a Thrun might be good, but it would really only be for UW and similar decks, because I don't think punishing fire alone can defeat a UW deck.

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Thanks for the info regarding the NO Package. I recommend Sylvan Library for the Tower spot. It's more versatile than Thurn, crushes UW and Junk (if anyone still plays Junk) and can be boarded out against the quicker decks (even though it's not that bad a a Mirri's Guile since we have so many shuffle effects with fetches, KotR and GSZ).

I totally agree with you concerning 'Goyf and I think due to this conversation, I am going to add one back into my main. He is the only GSZ=2 target that can survive a Lightning Bolt (don't know why I just tagged that, I guess I'm in a tagging mood tonight) and he's good at slowing down Burn and facing opposing RUG's opposing 'Goyfs.

I am curious about maze of ith's trick. Can someone let me know if this works?
Say my opponent has 2 creatures out and an unequipped cranial plating. He has two black mana untapped. He declared to attack with 2 creatures. He then asked me, "which one are you gonna maze?" can I wait (or response) until he equips the cranial plating (since using 2 black mana, he can equip as an ability) on one of his creatures before I use maze?

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Originally Posted by Barbed Blightning

I was looking to take this to the GP in March. and yes it's the same MD list on the last page.


Against storm/combo my plan would be:

- 1 thrun
- 1 Elspeth, knight errant
- 2 scryb ranger
- 1 maze of ith
- 1 sword of fire and ice
- 4 swords to plowshares


+ 4 Mindbreak traps
+ 2 surgical
+ 4 pithing needle


Against nic fit, or similar BG deck:

-2 qasali
-1 gaea's cradle
-2 noble
-2 scryb ranger

+2 surgical
+1 Garruk relentless
+4 Pithing needle


against UR delver:

-1 Karakas
-2 qasali
-1 scavenging
-1 gaddock teeg

+2 surgical
+1 bojuka bog
+2 choke

Essentially all I want is some input on how to prep for a Grand Prix meta; it's going to be my first one, and until now I've only played at small local shops.

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With the release of Dark Ascension right around the corner, I think it's a little too early to prepare for Grand Prix, as we may see a meta shift and probably won't know what to expect even up until the night before the tournament.

I'm not sure if I'm sold on the 4x Pithing Needle sideboard. I think Enlightened Tutor with 1/2 Needles might give your sideboard some more reach.

Against Storm, I would like to Ethersworn Canonist make your list. What are you planning to cast Needle against? LED and Lotus Petal are both mana abilities, so they can't be needled (correct me if I'm wrong here). Additionally, Scryb can be good here to increase your mana and untap MoR. Swords may be necessary if they run Dark Confidant.

Nic Fit looks solid although I'm considering cutting my equipment/sfm package against them. I've only played this match a few times, but my thought is this: if you have no creatures on board, equipment are useless.

UR Delver - the Teeg may be relevant if they bring in Submerge or leave in FOW (they should remove FOW). I would also leave in Ooze, because the life gain can be relevant and it's good against SCM. You could take out Elspeth and maybe Sylvan Library (thoughts on taking this out against decks quicker than Maverick) to make room for Ooze and Teeg.

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Originally Posted by iScare

I am curious about maze of ith's trick. Can someone let me know if this works?
Say my opponent has 2 creatures out and an unequipped cranial plating. He has two black mana untapped. He declared to attack with 2 creatures. He then asked me, "which one are you gonna maze?" can I wait (or response) until he equips the cranial plating (since using 2 black mana, he can equip as an ability) on one of his creatures before I use maze?

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once your opponent asked you that, they've given you priority. You can opt not to Maze anything and they can't equip before that step is changed. Assuming you've already assigned blockers, they won't get another chance to smack you with the equipment.

If you do maze one, they can equip to the other and you're boned.

Moral, Wait until they equip to Maze. Otherwise, you'll take the equipment as well.

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Originally Posted by iScare

I am curious about maze of ith's trick. Can someone let me know if this works?
Say my opponent has 2 creatures out and an unequipped cranial plating. He has two black mana untapped. He declared to attack with 2 creatures. He then asked me, "which one are you gonna maze?" can I wait (or response) until he equips the cranial plating (since using 2 black mana, he can equip as an ability) on one of his creatures before I use maze?

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So, the trick would be to not use the Maze at all.

Declare Attackers step. He declares two attackers and passes priority, you pass.
Declare Defenders step. He passes priority, you pass.
Combat damage.

If he attaches Cranial Plating earlier in combat (say during declare attackers or declare blockers), you Maze that creature in response. He's actually getting more damage through through not attaching Cranial Plating (assuming his creatures aren't 0 power). Because if he doesn't attach and you use the Maze on one of his creatures, he can attach the Cranial to the other creature in response.

Usually, the "Maze of Ith trick" is to attack with KotR and at combat damage phase, untap your Knight. The damage still goes through and you can use your Knight's fetch ability (the maze gives pseudo-vigilance).

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Originally Posted by Water_Wizard

So, the trick would be to not use the Maze at all.

Declare Attackers step. He declares two attackers and passes priority, you pass.
Declare Defenders step. He passes priority, you pass.

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Actually at this point, if he passes priority at the Declare Blockers step and you pass it back, it's too late for him to equip the Cranial Platings then. First thing that happens in the Combat Damage step is combat damage happens, then the active player gets priority.

Damn, I got tricked then. I should have called for a judge at that point. He had out two etched champions and I had maze. I couldn't block any of them since they had pro:all colors. The only thing I could do was maze. He asked me who I was gonna maze and the moment I picked one etched champ, he slapped on cranial plating the other.

So I can technically wait once he declared attack? If he passes priority to me
And I don't maze, he can't equip cranial plating anymore then right? Hahaha another misplay at SCGLA.

What do you mean, if anyone still plays Junk? It just won a 150 man event in Spain, and placed very well (Top 4, Top 8) in multiple 50+ man events.

-Matt

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Originally Posted by iScare

So I can technically wait once he declared attack? If he passes priority to me
And I don't maze, he can't equip cranial plating anymore then right? Hahaha another misplay at SCGLA.

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Yes and yes. Since it's his turn, he has to act first. The only time he will act after you, is if you put something on the stack (cast a spell or activate a triggered ability). In this case, he Jedi-Mind-Tricked you (or just out-right lied or was ignorant of the rules himself) and forced you to act first.

My question is, did he have a colorless mana open? If he did, he should have equiped one of the Champions during his main 1 and when you mazed it, switched the equipment to the other.

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Originally Posted by Water_Wizard

Yes and yes. Since it's his turn, he has to act first. The only time he will act after you, is if you put something on the stack (cast a spell or activate a triggered ability). In this case, he Jedi-Mind-Tricked you (or just out-right lied or was ignorant of the rules himself) and forced you to act first.

My question is, did he have a colorless mana open? If he did, he should have equiped one of the Champions during his main 1 and when you mazed it, switched the equipment to the other.

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In the beginning the cranial plating wasn't attached and he was saving his 2 black mana. So he then asked me which one are you gonna maze? So the 1st time he attacked, i could have save that damage from the plating. But the 2nd time around, since the plate was already equipped, i guess i can't do anything about it.

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Originally Posted by iScare

In the beginning the cranial plating wasn't attached and he was saving his 2 black mana. So he then asked me which one are you gonna maze? So the 1st time he attacked, i could have save that damage from the plating. But the 2nd time around, since the plate was already equipped, i guess i can't do anything about it.

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Another epic misplay by iscare...typical.