[Deck] GW/x Maverick

[Koby]

@ Koby: What is the best card?

Knight of the Reliquary. You're only playing 2. If your metagame really is overrun with G/W, then ya Thalia doesn't make sense.

If you wanted a Vengevine deck, play Vengevine Elves. At least its faster and still plays 4 Wasteland. Or Elf combo, and just ignore fair decks.

[Deckerator]

I wrote a change to this list some posts later.
Yeah i hope it is in a way possible to play Fauna Shaman/Loyal Retainers/Vengevine. In one deck (and maybe with a maverick shall)

[kingtk3]

Hi to all,
I'm preparing for a medium sized tournament (30-40 players) next sunday and I would like some advice. The meta seems very wide since last top 8 has
been goblin, merfolk, uwb blade, loam, mage uwb, affinity, thopter and urg.

I'm thinking about maverick since it should have a positive matchup against those decks, in particular:
even vs goblin (not sure here, I've never played vs gobs with maverick)
good vs merfolk
good vs uwb blade
bad vs loam
good vs mage uwb
good vs affinity (if they aren't explosive)
bad vs thopter
good vs rug
Please tell me if I'm mistaken on some matchup.

The last list I played is the following:

creatures 25
4 mother of runes
4 knight of the reliquary
4 noble hierarch
3 thalia, guardian of thraben
2 scavenging ooze
2 qasali pridemage
2 fauna shaman
1 gaddock teeg
1 scryb ranger
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence

instants 4
4 swords to plowshares

sorceries 4
4 green sun's zenith

enchantments 2
2 sylvan library

artifacts 2
2 umezawa's jitte

lands 23
4 savannah
4 Windswept Heath
2 forest
1 plains
1 dryad arbor
1 mishra's factory
3 wasteland
1 Gavony Township
1 maze of ith
1 horizon canopy
2 cavern of souls
2 karakas

sideboard 15
3 path to exile
2 Enlightened Tutor
2 choke
1 stony silence
1 tormod's crypt
1 ethersworn canonist
1 bojuka bog
1 crop rotation
1 phyrexian metamorph
2 faerie macabre

I would like to up to 3 the ooze since they can beat every recursion deck and are also very good vs rug.
What are your thoughts on the deck, and what advice can you give me?

[Koby]

I would recommend -1 Fauna Shaman in your deck. Also, be aware of how many colorless lands you're playing. It will effect your consistency greatly, and may cause some unwanted mulligans.

[KobeBryan]

Is it enough gy hate to go 1 crop rotation, 1 tormod's crypt and a bog?

[Einherjer]

Is it enough gy hate to go 1 crop rotation, 1 tormod's crypt and a bog?

Do not forget the Faerie.

[KobeBryan]

Do not forget the Faerie.

ahh the 2/2 idiot thats uncounterable.

[matunos]

Is it enough gy hate to go 1 crop rotation, 1 tormod's crypt and a bog?

Don't forget Ooze. (Or were you only referring to the SB?)

[matunos]

ahh the 2/2 idiot thats uncounterable.

Uncounterability is nice, as is the two targets, but is it better/more versatile than Surgical Extraction? The former does little against Intuition plays.

[kingtk3]

Uncounterability is nice, as is the two targets, but is it better/more versatile than Surgical Extraction? The former does little against Intuition plays.

That is true, but the faerie can be tutored with fauna shaman, and in general against dredge and reanimator it's better to choose different targets

[Einherjer]

Uncounterability is nice, as is the two targets, but is it better/more versatile than Surgical Extraction? The former does little against Intuition plays.

As an former Show and Tell player I keep to cry when an Intuition gets hit by an Extraction. On a higher level of Legacy this should not happen. Never.

Greetings

[tonedown]

Why the maindeck Linvala, I find she's only really good in the Mirror (and vs Elves, but in that matchup you rarely have time to cast her), a lot of the time she's simply an overpriced flyer.

[Einherjer]

Why the maindeck Linvala, I find she's only really good in the Mirror (and vs Elves, but in that matchup you rarely have time to cast her), a lot of the time she's simply an overpriced flyer.

Linvala has some more applications. It's bigger than Delver of Secrets and Nimble Mongoose. Yes she costs alot and stuff but there is always the situation where you get into the lategame and need to draw an out against these. Linvala can do that. In addition to this, Linvala can be put into play via Show and Tell, and let me tell you, she fucks Griselbrand pretty well.

But, to be honest, I wouldn't play here aswell. Was just saying what else she is good at.

Greetings

[tonedown]

Greetings to you too.

If there's a lot of RUG in your meta I'd just play a second Scryb Ranger over Linvala. It blocks delver all day and can carry a Jitte over the head of goose. Another interesting option for the Linvala-slot is Captain Sisay. She's a decent 4drop, can be tutored for with GSZ and herself tutors for Jitte, Thalia, Karakas, Teeg, postboard Linvala etc etc.

[Einherjer]

Greetings to you too.

If there's a lot of RUG in your meta I'd just play a second Scryb Ranger over Linvala. It blocks delver all day and can carry a Jitte over the head of goose. Another interesting option for the Linvala-slot is Captain Sisay. She's a decent 4drop, can be tutored for with GSZ and herself tutors for Jitte, Thalia, Karakas, Teeg, postboard Linvala etc etc.

I agree with you, and I already am playing a second Ranger Mainboard. As said, I wouldnt play Linvala, nor would I play Fauna Shaman. I just tried to state what she can do. I am not a friend of Captain Sisay to be honest, she's pretty much the same as Fauna Shaman. Slow. I do not think we can really afford those situational slow cards nowadays.

Greetings

[tonedown]

Philip: I seem to have mistakenly convinced myself that you were the one posting the decklist. As that isn't the case, let's agree to agree.

On another note, a fellow maverick player in our meta tried maindecking 4 Qasali Ambushers. I was a bit hesitant, but agreed that the novelty of it probably caused a blowout or two. Beyond the surprise value, do you think the idea has merit?

[Mkr]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Here is my new list. Local metagame for tournaments with 60+ attendance is currently RUG/Miracle/Blade then all the other decks.

Main:
4 Savannah
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Windswepth Heath
1 Verdant Catacombs
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Dryad Arbor

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

4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Terravore
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Fauna Shaman

Side:
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Path to Exile
2 Krosan Grip
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Crop Rotation
1 Armageddon

I'm looking to replace the Fauna Shaman in the main since I removed Linvala already (maybe putting her in the side though). Any comments?

[tonedown]

That looks like a nice list. My only question is why you aren't playing Choke in your SB? It's really good vs RUG and great vs UW.

As for the Shaman, replace it with a 2nd Ranger or a maindeck Teeg (to combat Miracles).

[Koby]

Your list needs one more land to support planeswalkers under Thalia.

[IL_casual]

I just came from a tournament here in our LGS and Im quite happy with my 4-1-0 standing. First off, my decklist is below .

Creatures
23 Creatures


4 Mother of Runes
4 Knight of the reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Scryb Ranger
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Thalia, GUardian of Thraben

Lands
23 Lands
4 Wastelands
4 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Horizon canopy
1 dryad Arbor

Spells
14
Sorcery
4 Green Sun Zenith

Artifacts
1 Jitte
1 Sword of light and shadow

Planeswalker
1 Garruk, the Relentless

Enchantment
2 Sylvan Library

Instants
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
Side Board

1 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pithing Needle
2 Choke
2 Aethersworn Canonist
2 Path to Extile
1 Crop Rotation
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Peacekeeper


I went with the Stoneforge mystic package with a singleton jitte and Sols because I want the option to fetch the Solas if I need it more than the Jitte. Equipping the sols frees up my mom to protect other creatures since Solas protects my creature from STP and paths and makes my creatures unreachable from bolts.

I didn’t play fauna shaman because she’s too slow for when I need her ability.

2 Scryb Rangers seems to be the right amount for this Meta since RUG is still rampant and her ability to interact with most of my creatures (KoTR, Mom, Noble Heirarch) is just incredible. I might even keep her on 2 MB even if the meta shifts again. That’s how good she is.

-Squeezing an extra 2 mana on your returned land + untapped hierarch
- Wastelanding an opponent twice with KoTR
- Untapping Mom for double protection.

I feel that Sylvan library should really be a 2 of since most the time, unless you’re against a true beatdown deck, you can afford to take 4 life per turn just to get the most out of your deck. And with the help of SolS and Jitte, life is not that much of a problem.

Sideboards
I feel that my sideboard has covered most of Mavericks weakness against other decks. The most underwhelming card for me is Peacekeeper although I haven’t faced a reanimator or a show and tell deck to warrant her removal.

Tournament report

1st Dredge 2—0
Scavenging Ooze really hurts this deck. I landed this on turn 2 from a GSZ with Noble hierarch and just exiled most of his cards, making sure I leave a mana open for those dread Return targets.
G2: +1 Bokuja bog, +1 Crop Rotation, +2 Surgical extraction .
Wait until the very last moment before you play your Bojuka Bog. I don’t think your opponent can ever recover from a resolved bog.


2nd Game: UW Delver 2—0
G2: +2 Path to exiles, +2 Chokes, -1 Gaddock Teeg, -1 Garruk the relentless,-2 Qasali Pridemage
This seems like a standard deck morphed into a Legacy deck by just adding duals and legacy based counterspells. Other than that, you play the same as how you would play against a UR deck. Keep them mana locked with Reliquary and try to resolve Thalia on them. After you’ve cleared their early Delvers with STP’s or Paths, the deck would eventually run out of gas and you can plow your way thru with Kotr.

3rd: RUG Control 1-2
This is my only loss for the remainder of the tournament. I wasn’t expecting a RUG deck packing in Grim Lavamancers and Jaces. On his 1st few turns he was bolting me and stifling my spells, typically how a RUG deck plays out. But when the Grims came out, I knew this would means trouble for my army. In the end, Jace’s ultimate literally sealed my fate(pun intended).
Notes: As always, play choke if an opponent has islands.

4th RBU Grixis Delver
This deck looks like a RUG deck but instead of playing mongoose and goyfs, the deck would pack in disruption and more removals.
Rule number 1, play your outs! Even if you feel that the game is definitely not in your favor, play it out, you’ll never know how a resolved KotR could absolutely turn a match around.
G2: +2 Surgical , +2 Choke , +2 PIthing Needle , -2 Qasali Pridemage, -2 Noble Hierarch ,- 1 Gaddock Teeg, - 1 Garruk, the Relentless
I know that this build would play perishes and massacres on top of the ubiquitous submerges blue uses vs Green. I was lucky enough that when he submerged my Mom after making me protect her from a bolt, I was able to surgical extract all his submerges. An early wasteland from me severely limited his action every turn until he was eventually overcome by pumped KoTRs

5th: UW Thoptor Combo
I really wasn’t able to see his deck on both game 1 and game 2. If you see a counterbalance in play, try to play a KOTR as soon as possible since 3cc cards for him are difficult to counter. Another thing, when Zenithing for a creature , try to cast it as high as you can afford to play around counterbalance.
An ensnaring bridge prevented me from attacking with my KotR until I was able to GSZ in a qasali pridemage and attacked for lethal.
G2: +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Surgical Extract, +2 Choke . -4 STP, -1 PtE, -1 Mother of runes
Game 2 I removed all of my creature removals to add in my anti combo cards. I was able to resolve a T1 Pithing Needle naming Top. He was never the same again.

Side Notes and questions:
Is Fauna Shaman really necessary? For players who use it, have ou ever GSZ’d for it? I see some of its merits and ill playtest it in a few days , maybe by removing 1 Scryb ranger or a stoneforge mystic.
Is Gaea’s cradle just a win more card?
Is Armageddon really better than choke for the UW miracle matchups? A resolved geddon rocks both our worlds but I would expect a miracle deck with a top on board at this stage of the match, helping him find mana faster than me.

Thanks for reading guys.