Quote Originally Posted by Cellar Door View Post
Just curious, what are some sideboarding tips you guys have against maverick? So far the match up seems very dependent upon being on the play. Is there much we can do to swing that in our favor any?
Tough to say without seeing your deck and sideboard. However, general rules:
1) Daze comes out on the draw; and is questionable on the play. Maverick usually has enough mana, we have removal for their creatures, and Daze is dead in the late game.
2) Force of Will usually comes out on the play and you can leave a couple in on the draw. The only major targets you need to Force are Choke (which a lot of lists aren't even running anymore), StP on a creature you need to keep around, or KotR/GSZ if you don't have a method to kill the Knight (however, with active Deathrite, you may be able to keep KotR pretty small). Also, Scavenging Ooze may be worth a counterspell depending upon the board state and game state.
3) Targeted discard can come out. People may argue this point, but usually, I remove targeted discard vs. 'fair' decks. Hymn also loses value on the draw.
4) All of your removal comes in. The lists that did well at last week's SCG both ran 2 Darkblast, 2 Diabolic Edict, and an extra Snuff Out. Maelstrom Pulse comes in. Umezawa's Jitte, if you are running it. You can also bring in artifact hate for their Jittes.
5) Your flyers are huge. Maverick doesn't have many fliers, besides maybe Scryb Ranger and Linvala out of the board. For this reason, V. Clique is good. Your goal is to land a flyer and ride it to victory.
6) Jace is probably doable on the play, but less-so on the draw.

So, basic breakdown:
Bring in all of your removal (including Jitte) and evasive creatures.
Remove Daze on the draw.
Remove FOW on the play.
Remove some discard.
Aggressively target their mana and mana-producing creatures. You'll also want to remove Mother of Runes, as she will mess up your targeted removal. Virtue's Rain, Dread of Night, or Massacre are all good methods of taking out Mom and Thalia. Darkblast is really good vs. Maverick.
Try to get some early beats in on the ground and then ride Deathrite activations or a flyer to victory.
Your goal is to win by turn 7-8. You want to disrupt them enough to win the game, not to nullify every threat they produce. Maverick is a very mana-hungry deck, so it is best to disrupt their early mana creatures to prevent them from landing their bigger threats. The longer the game goes, the more it swings in Maverick's favor. You are the beatdown.