Maverick
So I have been playing maverick for going on a year now. I play at mythic games in Elmira and I play at the NELC in Binghamton every month. I have been playing around with the deck because in all honesty I am
Not a huge fan of the traditional build. I have been getting dramatically better results since I added a few new cards. In the past few months and even prior sneak and show has become more prevalent. And with the addition of omniscience the decks popularity is becoming a bit overwhelming for decks like maverick. RUG is still a very big threat as well so my changes are I added creatures to the deck that are not traditional but in the current meta are very relevant. I added Sigarda host of herons and rafiq if the many. Now I have got alot of heat from people because of these creatures but lets take a look at the match ups it helps in. I have faced sneak show more times than I can count and most recently at NELC. I faced it three times and I went 3-0 against the deck. That is not because they are bad players no. It's because I provide a higher threat density with those two cards with teeg out they are forced to show and tell in a sneak attack which I then put a Sigarda in and there whole plan turns to shit. And with rafiq combined with terravore or Sigarda it's a very quick win if they don't have an answer. Against rug delver the combination is alright rafiq can be bounced with karakas so he can block goyph all day and Sigarda if resolved you should never lose the match up. In the mirror it's obviously going to favor you you can get in for damage that eventually cannot be prevented. The thing I like about maverick is you can ramp very early and with cradle it makes it very easy to grab up big fatties like Sigarda and rafiq! Maverick has so many options to be more than just a weenie deck with the same creatures over and over and by switching to creatures like this it forces your opponents to do something or lose. I will
Be posting my full list soon! Please feel
Free to comment!
My list is this
2 forest
2 plains
4 windswept Heath
2 wooded foothills
4 savannah
1 maze of ith
1 karakas
2 cavern of souls
1 dryad arbor
4 wasteland
1 gaeas cradle
4 knight Of the reliquary
4 noble Hierarch
4 mother of runes
1 aven Mindcensor
1 scryb ranger
1 scavenging ooze
1 Sigarda host of herons
1 rafiq of the many
1 gaddock teeg
2 qasali pridemage
1 terravore
3 Thalia guardian I Thraban
4 green suns zenith
4 swords to plowshares
2 sylvan library
2 unezawas jitte
The sideboard varies and I do not have one built at the moment comments please?
It seems a standard list with Sigarda Terravore and Rafiq in the flex spots: i like them, especially the Terravore. One thing I don't like is Mindcensor or other non green 1x in lists without Fauna Shaman.
a lot of people have told me they don't like Mindcensor it has won me many many games. I like to list the way it is there seems to be. Card I would like I try out though I can't remember the name of it but its a 5 drop 5/5 that has the ability hurricane in it that may replace the censor to get rid of those pesky delers:) I personally don't like fauna shaman I think it takes away from what the deck is trying to do and that it is way to slow of a
Card.
Arashi, The Delvers Asunder.Originally Posted by Maverick777
With this metagame were combo are virtually gone, you think that the 4th Thalia it's really necessary? isn't better to play 3 copies of her? For example by add 1 Elspeth to the MD that is always a strong choice vs control?
I have found her to be very underwhelming 4 Thalia in my opinion is bad with three I see her virtually every game.
4 Thalia is not going to solve the problem against combo especially decks like sneak and show!! All it does is slow them down a bit why not bring in a threat that helps you win the game?
Of course not, and when i said combo i was talking about Storm combo like ANT,TES or Spiral Tide, that have disappear because of all those control decks!
I agree with you, i also prefer 3 copies instead of 4.
This is actually my deck list:
// Lands
4 [A] Savannah
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [TE] Wasteland
1 [LG] Karakas
1 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
3 [UG] Forest
2 [ON] Wooded Foothills
1 [UG] Plains
1 [FUT] Dryad Arbor
1 [DK] Maze of Ith
2 [AVR] Cavern of Souls
// Creatures
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
4 [UL] Mother of Runes
3 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
1 [TSP] Scryb Ranger
1 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
3 [COM] Scavenging Ooze
3 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 [M11] Fauna Shaman
// Spells
4 [MBS] Green Sun's Zenith
4 [IA] Swords to Plowshares
2 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [ALA] Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 [LG] Sylvan Library
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 [MBS] Thrun, the Last Troll
SB: 1 [WWK] Bojuka Bog
SB: 3 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 3 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 2 [PT] Armageddon
SB: 1 [ROE] Linvala, Keeper of Silence
SB: 1 [UL] Crop Rotation
It comes from about 1 year of playtest with this deck ^_^ Any advice?
I urge you to try my package and tell me what you think I have constantly and consistently had tremendous results with the deck it can win out of no where with combinations of creatures with rafiq.
Why so many ooze and is fauna shaman worth it??
Why you don't play 1 single Tropical Island or Tundra to play Rafiq? it also allow you to play cards like Flusterstorm or Spell Pierce in you SB. However i'll try Rafiq and Sigarda ASAP, about Aven Mindcensor i were also a huge fan of it, but now i don't see it really good!
I play 3 ooze, because it is one of our strongest creature and not only vs GY based decks, and it always become the target of a lot of hate so i think it's good to have more copies, and if it become unnecessary you can always recycle it with Fauna Shaman...
The rafiq Sigarda package is well worth it and Mindcensor will be cut for Arashi more than likely thoughts?!?!
I have cavern and nobles and GSZ that's well enough to be able to drop him
I really fail to see how rafiqs "winning" you games. I get the faster clock but it seems to me just double strike isn't enough. Gets chump blocked all day. Built correctly if you can swing through with a decent size KOTR via mom that should be all the clock you need. If rafiqs ability is the main point wouldn't a couple Ajani 1ww work better, giving the flying? I get it can't be green sunned for but planeswalkers are harder to deal with, IMO. Just seems like each situation you name there needs to be support cards to make him work, making him a win more card, and a liability.
Having a mother of runes doesn't always ensure that you can get through with your big KOTR having rafiq not only as a body but allowing you to swing in and forcing your opponent to block regardless if they want to or not helps give you board state and ultimately will win you games comboed with creatures like Sigarda, terravore, aven Mindcensor, or just a ranger or a creature with a jitte on gives you a great advantage against your opponent. I faced a sneak how deck where I had 2 lands out a Sigarda and a noble and sylvan library he swung in with his griselbrand his life was at 14 i grabbe a green sun off the top dropped cradle and GSZ for 4 grabbed rafiq swung for exactly 14 to win the game. It is useful for getting damage through and winning quicker. You still hve all of the same creatures that maverick is known for you are not cutting any KOTR or anything strong you are simply adding things to help make you deck pack a heavier punch and with Sigarda they win games I have yet to lose after resolving a Sigarda because then I play rafiq and that's that and ya he can be removed from
The game but you can always karakas him
Back and the best part he is human so COS makes him
Along with your KOTR Uncounterable not using him had lost me games where I did have him
I would have surely won. Before you judge it try it out and tell me it's bad but before that don't judge it to harshly.
Thalia still does work against Omniscience decks: she prevents the Petals storm win and slows down their filters (Ponder, Brainstorm, Preordain) so they can't go through them as fast. Maverick does pretty well against Sneak Show, with Wasteland, Karakas, KotR. Theae answers are a lot worse when your opponent is casting Emrakul for free.
Sneak Show players usually want to SnT in Sneak Attack because casting it is slower. Even without Sigarda, you can survive and come back from a snuck in Emrakul (especially if you have enough permanents to keep a KotR on the board). The problem is when they bring out Griselbrand, because with him they can draw into more gas and close the thing out, with or without Sigarda. That's where the race is important, by stomping them to low enough life that they can't bargain if they do land a Griselbrand, and slowing them down through Wasteland and Thalia so they can't go off before you get an answer ready. Pinging them for 2 in the meantime can be relevant as well.
But honestly, Omniscience remains the worse matchup. You have few ways to stop them from showing it, and once it's out, all your answers are much worse than against Sneak Attack. OTOH, the Omniscience combo is harder to put together, being essentially a 3-card combo, so it's slower, and they're more likely to not have a payload even if they land the enchantment.
I've played with 777 before (I run primarily Goblins and Death & Taxes, but I'm getting back into the Mav game), and I'll tell you this much: Rafiq is a goddamn beast. With 4 nobles, 2 caverns and GSZ, you don't need the Tropical/Tundra to cast him (esp. since he is a singleton) and, once he hits (mid/late game) your opponent better be praying for removal, or they're done. Any creature you swing with basically wins combat and kills whatever is in their way, usually coming out unscathed. Double-strike also makes you Jittes far more terrifying.
The thing I like about Rafiq is that he can win by himself. Post-Deed he gives you a scary-good clock by himself, let alone if he has Sigarda to back him up. Furthermore, being CMC-4 makes you opponents have to pay more for their deeds.
For that matter, I don't understand why Maverick players (as a mean) play with mostly weenie creatures. With such solid mana ramp, why not try to drop bigger creatures? Elesh Norn, maybe even Iona come to mind initially, but even something like Baneslayer also seem good. With 777's build, you could conceivably have COS's on Human and Angel, and all of your bombs are secured.
Last edited by Barbed Blightning; 09-27-2012 at 09:58 AM.
I have had really good experieces with Rafiq ever since Bant Survival times. As mentioned, he can actually kill your opponent out of blue - something the deck sometimes really needs.
For further references, "Dies to Lightning bolt" gets old really fast, as it applies to almost every creature you play and deliberately doesn't take mothers or Karakas into account.
Some of my friends sell records,
some of my friends sell drugs.
Seems like the more of these higher cmc creatures you have, the more you want Gaea's Cradle.
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