I've played this deck a LOT, and I'm pretty much in love with almost every card in here. I do very well with this deck. That being said, I'm still very open to suggestions if you'd like to bounce ideas off of me.
Self Necro'd - I've updated the OP with the changes I've made over time. I used a few of the cards that were suggested so far - some have been great (like Oracle of Mul-Daya), others (like Prime Speaker Zegana) haven't worked out as well as I'd hoped. (I kept cascading into her with an empty board, or with only acidic slime or something minor on the board.)
Anyway- I'd love more suggestions on my updated list if anyone has them!
To be honest, my Maelstrom is FULL of combos (as seen in the thread that link will take you too) but there are a few other cards and ideas you may find interesting.
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RUGMaelstrom WanderRUG < That's a link
Please look at and comment on the above! Looking for any advice and thoughts!
I know I badmouthed Zegana before, but I take it back. Sometimes I get unlucky and cascade into her on an empty board, but sometimes she randomly draws me 7-8 cards. She's probably the card I tutor for most with primal command now.
Just wondering about this because you have Kiki-Conscripts in your deck list.
Anything you would substitute? What about Clock of Omens or Prime Time?
Unless he's using the French banned list (I may have missed it in the OP) then Prime Time is banned. Kiki goes so well with so many CiP effects in this kind of deck that I think you must run him.
That said, I didn't see Flametongue Kavu, and I don't think there are enough Clone effects or creature tutors. I run things like Tooth n' Nail, Green Sun's Zenith and Worldly Tutor in my build.
There are other interactions I think could improve the deck like Mystic Snake over Plasm Capture. The Snake is a decent card on its own, but gets pretty dumb with Navigator/Kiki. I'd also recommend Capsize as a utility spell. It's really good with Prophet of Kruphix/Seedborn Muse.
Cards I see that don't excite me on paper -- and thus, cards I would like to see some rationale for including -- are Thran Dynamo, Inferno Titan, Akroma's Memorial and Take Possession. I've tried the Titan on many occasions and usually find it pretty meh outside a R/W rush deck, and one designed for 1v1 play at that. Memorial has only ever been good for me in a deck featuring Karn-type effects. Take Possession just seems to be strategically misplaced. It feels wrong, but maybe it is just a random catch-all for unforseen problems in multiplayer games?
/M
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
Primetime is banned. If he was legal he'd be in this deck in a heartbeat!
Clock of Omens doesn't seem worth it - most of my artifacts tap for mana, and the only thing I really have to untap is other mana artifacts. Sure I could tap clock and a signet to untap gilded lotus or something, but that's really only netting me a little bit of mana. I'd play a 4 drop ramp spell like explosive vegetation or something before I tried the clock, which I imagine would be a dead card half the time.
That said, I didn't see Flametongue Kavu, and I don't think there are enough Clone effects or creature tutors. I run things like Tooth n' Nail, Green Sun's Zenith and Worldly Tutor in my build.
There are other interactions I think could improve the deck like Mystic Snake over Plasm Capture. The Snake is a decent card on its own, but gets pretty dumb with Navigator/Kiki. I'd also recommend Capsize as a utility spell. It's really good with Prophet of Kruphix/Seedborn Muse.
Cards I see that don't excite me on paper -- and thus, cards I would like to see some rationale for including -- are Thran Dynamo, Inferno Titan, Akroma's Memorial and Take Possession. I've tried the Titan on many occasions and usually find it pretty meh outside a R/W rush deck, and one designed for 1v1 play at that. Memorial has only ever been good for me in a deck featuring Karn-type effects. Take Possession just seems to be strategically misplaced. It feels wrong, but maybe it is just a random catch-all for unforseen problems in multiplayer games?
I had Flametongue Kavu in my original list - I actually cut it for Man-o'-War. Maybe it's just my meta - but FTK just didn't do it for me.
Tooth and Nail and Worldly Tutor are cards that I've thought of trying out. Birthing Pod is on the list too. I wouldn't play Green Sun's Zenith because it's another card that's awful to cascade into, and there are better options.
Plasm Capture is NUTS - not even for the countermagic, but also as a ritual. I'll usually just counter my opponent's 4 drop (even if it's bad) and cast Maelstrom Wanderer next turn. I don't know if I could cut it for the snake. I still have the Venser, Shaper Savant/Deadeye Navigator combo in the list, but I admit it'd be nice to have another target for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
Thran Dynamo is great! I have a lot of things that ramp me to 4 mana on turn 3 (Signets, Explore, Nature's Lore, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt) and turn 3 Thran Dynamo means turn 4 Maelstrom Wanderer. I'll often tap out to cast thran dynamo turn 3, then tap it for 3 and phyrexian metamorph it, giving me +6 mana the following turn(s).
Inferno Titan is kind of 'meh' when you don't have a way to give it haste, but he's one of my favorite creatures to cascade into. When he CIP's and then attacks that turn he can remove a X/6 creature, or a couple of potential blockers. He's not as good as frost titan, but I still like him a lot. (Though I could be convinced to cut him.)
Akroma's Memorial - Is a defensive card, since all my creatures usually already have haste. I find myself playing archenemy with this deck a lot, especially when I get good cascades off my first Malestrom Wanderer. Memoral is AMAZING for this. Nothing discourages random attacks being thrown your way like 6-7 Power Flying/First Strike guys. (Which you still got to attack with last turn...)
Take Posession is kind of a catch-all. I added it originally because I was tired of dealing with Kokusho, the Evening Star and this gets around stuff like high market. Last time I used it I stole someone's Purphuros, God of the Forge and it won me the game. Often, I'll let players tick their planeswalkers up to ultimate range, then Zealous Conscripts it, or steal it uncounterably with this. I'm thinking about cutting it for Temporal Mastery though, with all the topdeck manipulation I have.
People don't play MLD or infinite combo in any of my playgroups, so if you use this list vs those decks your results may vary.
Last update: Theros.
1 Maelstrom Wanderer
Land: 37
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Flooded Grove
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Command Tower
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
1 Spinerock Knoll
1 High Market
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Kessig Wolf Run
6 Forest
6 Island
3 Mountain
Creatures: 26
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Frost Titan
1 Inferno Titan
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Duplicant
1 Acidic Slime
1 Man-o'-War
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Gilded Drake
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Eternal Witness
1 Archaeomancer
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Clone
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Dilluvian Primordial
1 Bribery
1 Rite of Replication
1 Mana Reflection
1 Nature's Lore
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Cultivate
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Mind Stone
1 Simic Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Gruul Signet
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Explore
Draw: 9
1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Brainstorm
1 Scroll Rack
1 Time Spiral
1 Urban Evolution
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Steam Augury
Removal: 10
1 Chaos Warp
1 Evacuation
1 Krosan Grip
1 Take Possession
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Beast Within
1 Spin into Myth
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Plasm Capture
1 Mana Drain
1 Crystal Shard
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Primal Command
1 Time Warp
I've played this deck a LOT, and I'm pretty much in love with almost every card in here. I do very well with this deck. That being said, I'm still very open to suggestions if you'd like to bounce ideas off of me.
If you want to try a counter, perhaps cryptic command? Unless you just wanted a low mana counter.
There are better draw/tutors than urban evolution and guided passage.
Where's oracle of mul daya? How about instead of nature's lore, spend 1 more mana to get wood elves or farhaven elf?
I don't really like frost or inferno titan.
How's your mana curve? If it's smooth then you must use birthing pod.
WUBRGProgenitus
URGMaelstrom Wanderer
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic
WURZedruu, the Greathearted
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher ($100)
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician ($100)
UGKruphix, God of Horizons ($100)(retired)UTalrand, Sky Summoner (French 1v1, $100)
Anyway- I'd love more suggestions on my updated list if anyone has them!
Please look at and comment on the above! Looking for any advice and thoughts!
Cut: Guided Passage
Added: Steam Augury
Cut: Soul of the Harvest
Added: Prime Speaker Zegana
Cut: Long-Term Plans
Added: Prophet of Kruphix
I know I badmouthed Zegana before, but I take it back. Sometimes I get unlucky and cascade into her on an empty board, but sometimes she randomly draws me 7-8 cards. She's probably the card I tutor for most with primal command now.
Thoughts anyone?
Just wondering about this because you have Kiki-Conscripts in your deck list.
Anything you would substitutue? What about Clock of Omens or Prime Time?
Unless he's using the French banned list (I may have missed it in the OP) then Prime Time is banned. Kiki goes so well with so many CiP effects in this kind of deck that I think you must run him.
That said, I didn't see Flametongue Kavu, and I don't think there are enough Clone effects or creature tutors. I run things like Tooth n' Nail, Green Sun's Zenith and Worldly Tutor in my build.
There are other interactions I think could improve the deck like Mystic Snake over Plasm Capture. The Snake is a decent card on its own, but gets pretty dumb with Navigator/Kiki. I'd also recommend Capsize as a utility spell. It's really good with Prophet of Kruphix/Seedborn Muse.
Cards I see that don't excite me on paper -- and thus, cards I would like to see some rationale for including -- are Thran Dynamo, Inferno Titan, Akroma's Memorial and Take Possession. I've tried the Titan on many occasions and usually find it pretty meh outside a R/W rush deck, and one designed for 1v1 play at that. Memorial has only ever been good for me in a deck featuring Karn-type effects. Take Possession just seems to be strategically misplaced. It feels wrong, but maybe it is just a random catch-all for unforseen problems in multiplayer games?
/M
[EDH] Rafiq of the Many
[EDH]Chainer, Dementia Master
[EDH] Maelstrom Wanderer
True. I just don't play them that way - they're both very strong by themselves.
There's also Time Warp + Eternal Witness/Archaeomancer + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Crystal Shard for infinite turns - but it's not how I actually play it.
Primetime is banned. If he was legal he'd be in this deck in a heartbeat!
Clock of Omens doesn't seem worth it - most of my artifacts tap for mana, and the only thing I really have to untap is other mana artifacts. Sure I could tap clock and a signet to untap gilded lotus or something, but that's really only netting me a little bit of mana. I'd play a 4 drop ramp spell like explosive vegetation or something before I tried the clock, which I imagine would be a dead card half the time.
I had Flametongue Kavu in my original list - I actually cut it for Man-o'-War. Maybe it's just my meta - but FTK just didn't do it for me.
The only clone effect that I really like that I'm not playing is phantasmal image. I'm considering it, though it makes me sad that I can't Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker or Crystal Shard it.
Tooth and Nail and Worldly Tutor are cards that I've thought of trying out. Birthing Pod is on the list too. I wouldn't play Green Sun's Zenith because it's another card that's awful to cascade into, and there are better options.
Plasm Capture is NUTS - not even for the countermagic, but also as a ritual. I'll usually just counter my opponent's 4 drop (even if it's bad) and cast Maelstrom Wanderer next turn. I don't know if I could cut it for the snake. I still have the Venser, Shaper Savant/Deadeye Navigator combo in the list, but I admit it'd be nice to have another target for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
Thran Dynamo is great! I have a lot of things that ramp me to 4 mana on turn 3 (Signets, Explore, Nature's Lore, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt) and turn 3 Thran Dynamo means turn 4 Maelstrom Wanderer. I'll often tap out to cast thran dynamo turn 3, then tap it for 3 and phyrexian metamorph it, giving me +6 mana the following turn(s).
Inferno Titan is kind of 'meh' when you don't have a way to give it haste, but he's one of my favorite creatures to cascade into. When he CIP's and then attacks that turn he can remove a X/6 creature, or a couple of potential blockers. He's not as good as frost titan, but I still like him a lot. (Though I could be convinced to cut him.)
Akroma's Memorial - Is a defensive card, since all my creatures usually already have haste. I find myself playing archenemy with this deck a lot, especially when I get good cascades off my first Malestrom Wanderer. Memoral is AMAZING for this. Nothing discourages random attacks being thrown your way like 6-7 Power Flying/First Strike guys. (Which you still got to attack with last turn...)
Take Posession is kind of a catch-all. I added it originally because I was tired of dealing with Kokusho, the Evening Star and this gets around stuff like high market. Last time I used it I stole someone's Purphuros, God of the Forge and it won me the game. Often, I'll let players tick their planeswalkers up to ultimate range, then Zealous Conscripts it, or steal it uncounterably with this. I'm thinking about cutting it for Temporal Mastery though, with all the topdeck manipulation I have.
I might try this. Thanks!