[Deck] GW/x Maverick

[Vandalize]

I've been playing arround with Punishing Maverick, plus Stoneforge Mystics, and deck seems to be running smoothly. I haven't been manascrewed in a while.

List:
Lands [23]
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
3 Savannah
2 Taiga
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Horizon Canopy

Creatures [21]
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mother of Runes
3 Birds of Paradise
1 Noble Hierarch
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Dryad Arbor

Spells [16]
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Punishing Fire
2 Sylvan Library
1 Ajani Vegeant
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Sideboard [15]
3 Pyroblast
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Boiling Seas
2 Pithing Needle
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Maze of Ith

Boiling Seas is TEH SHIT against control. Pretty much like Choke, but better. Just wait for them to tap out, and win the game. Punishing Fire seems pretty good against everything in the field, except combo, which this deck is almost a dog, anyways. Engineered Explosives is also nice against random decks, such as Enchantress and Affinity.

Suggestions and comments are welcome.

[Arsenal]

Isn't Boil strictly better than Boiling Seas? Is there a reason you'd not want the flexibility of Instant speed?

[Richard Cheese]

I've been playing arround with Punishing Maverick, plus Stoneforge Mystics, and deck seems to be running smoothly. I haven't been manascrewed in a while.

Boiling Seas is TEH SHIT against control. Pretty much like Choke, but better. Just wait for them to tap out, and win the game. Punishing Fire seems pretty good against everything in the field, except combo, which this deck is almost a dog, anyways. Engineered Explosives is also nice against random decks, such as Enchantress and Affinity.

Suggestions and comments are welcome.

Why would you run that over Boil?

[TiltingKitty]

What do you think about Garruk, Primal Hunter? I think i play him over Sigarda, because he is good against Jund and Pox too, but have nuts against UW controll.

Why not both? Drawing 5 cards for 5 mana seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

[Vandalize]

Why would you run that over Boil?

Oh, I didn't know there was an Instant Speed one. Yeah, it's definetely better.

[Koby]

Oh, I didn't know there was an Instant Speed one. Yeah, it's definetely better.

*facepalm*

Just use Tsunami, and you'll never worry about having to find Red mana.

[Sunyveil]

Article about last week's SCG Open is up on StarCityGames.com. I hope you guys like it!

http://www.starcitygames.com/article...ns-Zenith.html

[kai_nsane]

Sunyveil

Article about last week's SCG Open is up on StarCityGames.com. I hope you guys like it!

http://www.starcitygames.com/article...ns-Zenith.html

Nice report. I'm happy to see, that you take a good day with Maverick.

In seven rounds, I did not lose a single game.

Have you this result with your test deck?

Some Questions about your Sideboard. Are you happy with the tutor engine? I don't like it, because you just have only one answer. For example: You have only one O-Ring, but in some mu's you need a second or third O-Ring and no Tutor. I hope you understand, what i mean. My english is not the best.
Why do you play Zuran Orb? Against wich mu its relevant?

Thanks.

[Sunyveil]

Zuran Orb is for Burn or U/R Delver. It's kind of janky but it makes those matchups very hard to lose.

I really like the Enlightened Tutor package, I haven't had instances where I really wished to have multiple copies of my hate cards. One is usually enough.

[Koby]

Zuran Orb is for Burn or U/R Delver. It's kind of janky but it makes those matchups very hard to lose.

I really like the Enlightened Tutor package, I haven't had instances where I really wished to have multiple copies of my hate cards. One is usually enough.

That had been my experience with the package too, and it works very well against Combo decks (including Burn).
My only reservation about the plan is that it lacks a good punch against fair strategies like Stoneblade, RUG/BUG Tempo, and DRS decks. While these matches are fairly even, having some strong inclusions helps to make sure we win G2/3.

[Jblaze4lif]

Congrats on the 2nd place finish. The list looks awesome. I think more discard in the sideboard might help vs the Combo decks. 3 cabal therapy out of the board might help a lot with all the Sneak, Show, TES decks gaining popularity.

[Arsenal]

Congrats on the 2nd place finish. The list looks awesome. I think more discard in the sideboard might help vs the Combo decks. 3 cabal therapy out of the board might help a lot with all the Sneak, Show, TES decks gaining popularity.

Against Combo and to a lesser extent, Control, wouldn't Thalia work here too? Turn 1 discard, Turn 2 Thalia seems very good versus combo.

[Koby]

Against Combo and to a lesser extent, Control, wouldn't Thalia work here too? Turn 1 discard, Turn 2 Thalia seems very good versus combo.

I agree. Thalia is really good against Combo, obviously. Part of the success I've had in the past with the deck was primarily due to Thalia slowing combo down enough to deploy stronger threats like KotR for beatdown or Gaddock Teeg and Canonist for further lock-pieces.

[Arsenal]

Having 4 Thoughtseize, 1-2 Gaddock Teeg, 3-4 Thalia, 1-2 Canonist, and 4 Mother of Runes (to protect your hatebears from their inevitable Pyroclasm/Abrupt Decay) seems like the best Maverick can hope to do against combo postboard, right? Assuming you lost game 1, turn 1 Thoughtseize/Mother of Runes -> turn 2 Hatebear seems like the strongest opening plays we have versus them.

[jarvisyu]

That had been my experience with the package too, and it works very well against Combo decks (including Burn).
My only reservation about the plan is that it lacks a good punch against fair strategies like Stoneblade, RUG/BUG Tempo, and DRS decks. While these matches are fairly even, having some strong inclusions helps to make sure we win G2/3.

in my own experience, RIP is really good vs RUG / BUG variants. It's not good vs Stoneforge sure, and it's antisynergistic with our KoTRs.

I think it is a mostly better Tormod's Crypt, though.

[jarvisyu]

Choke is worth considering versus Stoneforge? If you keep them off hitting with a SoFaF, then Choke locks down nearly all of their lands.

[Arsenal]

In Sunyveil's list, I'd imagine he boards in Elspeth and Abrupt Decay versus Esperblade and the Delver-tempo decks, right? I mean, Elspeth is such a house in those super grindy games and she's particularly strong against Jace decks. Abrupt Decay seems to shine against Delver-tempo decks due to them being traditionally threat light (12-14 creatures) and one timely Abrupt Decay can set them behind a fair amount with no pressure on board.

[Koby]

In Sunyveil's list, I'd imagine he boards in Elspeth and Abrupt Decay versus Esperblade and the Delver-tempo decks, right? I mean, Elspeth is such a house in those super grindy games and she's particularly strong against Jace decks. Abrupt Decay seems to shine against Delver-tempo decks due to them being traditionally threat light (12-14 creatures) and one timely Abrupt Decay can set them behind a fair amount with no pressure on board.

My experience against Tempo had pointed towards Elspeth being useless. Four mana spells are hard to resolve against Daze, Spell Pierce, and Wasteland/Stifle. Elspeth is much better against Miracles than it is Delvers. Abrupt Decay and StP are both highly valuable as removing the Tempo deck's threat (or neutralizing it) means you get to play the long game, which has always favored Maverick.

[Arsenal]

Interesting. I've found that many of my games versus Delver tempo decks either end very quickly (turn 1 Delver on the play, backed up by loads of counter + burn/removal) or they go long due to Maverick's inherent ability to create a clogged board state (active Mother of Runes is just nutty versus tempo decks running 4-6 removal spells). If planning for the long game (which we should be against Delver tempo decks since we become the "control" deck), you haven't found yourself wanting a bomb like Elspeth? Or do you have other bombs, like Thrun/Sigarda/Garruk Relentless/etc? I maindeck one Elspeth and often will keep her in, while sideboarding in more removal + graveyard hate like Rest in Peace (shuts off their Mongoose, Goyf, DRS, Tombstalker, Darkblast, Life from the Loam, Ancient Grudge). What are your boarding plans versus Delver tempo decks (RUG and BUG specifically)?

[Koby]

Sure, RIP is great against Tempo, but I think the best way to reach the late game is removing Delver and resolving Scavenging Ooze. With S.Ooze, you effectively replicate the same effect that RIP provides without hurting yourself. In addition, it grows to become a large threat from all the work your opponent does to try to kill your creatures.

Against RUG Delver:
-2 Qasali Pridemage
-X Elspeth
-X Thrun/Sigarda
+ Removal
+ Bojuka Bog (spot nuke and mana source)