It's a small nitpick but with a mana base like that I would play the 1st Marsh Flats over the 4th Verdant Catacombs. Fetching basic Plains matters sometimes.
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Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
What do you think about Titania, Protector of Argoth in place of Sigarda?
Titania, Protector of Argoth 3GG
Mythic
Legendary Creature - Elemental
When Titania, Protector of Argoth enters the battlefield, return target land card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Whenever a land you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, put a 5/3 green Elemental creature token onto the battlefield.
5/3
In place of a tutorable Sigarda with an easier casting cost, you can instantly revive a wasteland and destroy another of your own land to get three 5/3.
It is WAY more synergistic than Sigarda since you can interact with Sylvan Safekeeper, Fetchs, Wastelands, KOTR, DD, Crop rotation
This has been my logic with the card as well. KotR tricks also yield 5/3s on command. My hesitation is when you're against a stalled board. Sigarda shines because she flies over for 5+ dmg. I would need to "race" with 5/3s, which brick against the Pyromancer right now. The upside is having a strong army out of nowhere. The downside is chump blocking against your team and/or Terminus still wipes you clean. I am willing to try her out at the GP I think her upside is that high.
EDIT: Containment Priest is looking like a card I need to pick up
I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
(this is copy/paste from Source so sorry if you read both)
What is it about the Miracles matchup that Maverick can't beat it?
I'm still evaluating decks for GP NJ and I'm down to Jund (currently sleeved, playing in GPT's, etc) or a Maverick variant. Maverick in general seems strong due to the proven hatebear strategy (Teeg, Thalia, Mom) and has Knight for anti-Show and Tell...plus being a massive beater.
Punishing Maverick looks interesting because, obviously, Punishing Fire. It's an easy swap from Jund and probably the biggest part of why Jund still has game against Delver, DnT, Elves, etc. On the surface it appears that it needs to put Thalia in the side, and overall would have a bad miracles/combo matchup.
Dark Maverick loses Punishing Fire and can likely run Thalia main, but gains Abrupt Decay, DRS, discard, and some saucy sideboard in Chains and Engineered Plague. I'm also looking at it for Golgari Charm and Toxic Deluge, even though they are non-bo with a deck founded on x/1's.
I've found that Maverick's use of Thalia and SFM gives it a strong game against Delver and Burn, and Thalia plus Teeg can slow down Combo. I also believe that through the use of Caverns, the deck can additionally get game through Boseiju tech (via Knight/Crop rotation) to force Armageddon, Cataclysm, Comeuppance, or Toxic Deluge. I guess there's poor synergy between those and Teeg, but having several locks to put down is better than just one.
So this kinda rambled but is there an overall favor for one mav over the other right now?
--
Also, Nate ran Domri instead of Sylvan and a Tabernacle in the side. Are those good calls? I was hesitant on Domri but it can be a good removal engine with occasional card advantage from his +1. I tested Tabernacle but sometimes I'd have just as many creatures and lands on board as the opponent, so Tabernacle became a wash.
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Also, consider that Liliana counts as occasional mana denial, and it starts to become a significant portion of our strategy.
I don't know if I said that (sorry if I did!), but I think Red Blasts are better than discard right now against Blue Delver. The #1 thing I've lost to in Jund testing was a top deck Treasure Cruise, which clearly discard can't hit, and in corner cases where Hymn doesn't hit a Cruise but instead a land and another useless card. There are further situations where you can counter Jace of course.
I think discard gives the deck a better game against combo.
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Also, consider that Liliana counts as occasional mana denial, and it starts to become a significant portion of our strategy.
Went to a small GPT yesterday (<30 people). Got 3rd but no byes.
I wanted to play Punishing but the friend I was borrowing a Taiga and the Groves from needed them for the event. Up until I arrived on site I had resigned myself to playing the same 75 I piloted to a 2-5 finish at an SCG Open a few weeks ago (pretty similar to Warden's list), but on the spur of the moment I semi-audibled something a bit different:
Yes, there was a Swamp in my sideboard. Turned out I had left home with only 74 sleeves and lacking several cards I wanted for this new list in the binder I brought (3rd Abrupt Decay, 2x Loxodon Smiter). I made the poor decision of adding an unsleeved basic Swamp to the board in my haste to register.
I went 3-0 in the Swiss beating UR Delver, Shardless, UR Delver, and then double drew into Top 8. In the Top 8 I beat the same Shardless player, then lost to a (sweet) Esper Helm combo control deck. The other 5 decks in Top 8 were Deathblade, Miracles, Infect, Sneak/Show, and UR Delver. Meta was reasonably varied overall. There were 3 UR Delver players.
Just want to jot down some thoughts/conclusions:
- Tried out the 1x Voice from Nate Sturm's list since I really like the card and have a bunch sitting around. It was pretty solid overall. Against Shardless the Elemental got bigger than a Goyf and one of the delver players wouldn't attack into it with Swiftspear at one point, probably out of fear of the Elemental.
- I got the DD kill in two games. Never got mana screwed by drawing either half too early. I really like that having the combo means Knight is still relevant through a Rest In Peace.
- I never drew or zenithed for Scryb. DD kills were attained just by using Knight.
- People were casting Ancestral Recall against me all day weather it be Cruise or Vision, and it just didn't seem to matter. Some games my opponent even cast two and it still didn't matter. I don't know if I just got lucky or what. My friend playing Jund said that once his opponents started Cruising he felt way behind.
- Didn't want to play 4 Deathrite so went with 1 Bird over 1 Hierarch, and I can't honestly say that its worse. Even got it suited up with Fire & Ice one game.
- Moving both Teegs to the board felt fine. I board them out in almost every fair matchup, even Cruise ones, though that may not be correct.
- Abrupt decay is really good. Plow + Decay backed up by tutorable QPM felt super versatile.
- Thalia felt bad even in the sideboard. I think Canonist might just be better in that slot since I don't think Thalia does much against fair decks anyway.
- Mom is still very good.
I'm hoping to make it to a Win-a-Dual tourney next weekend with Punishing so I can figure out which Maverick deck to play at GPNJ.
@s3raphix:
That's a really interesting idea. I have been contemplating some of the things you experimented with. Scryb as a whole has been lackluster since we moved into 2014. I was hesitant to shave it out but as you mention, it does very little.
I've caught some slack recently from friends about playing 7 fetches instead of 8. How did 24 lands (feat. 8 fetch) work for you? Similarly, How were 2 black duals? Did opponents ever hold you off of black for SB cards? By Maverick's standards, 21 creatures (not counting dryad) is low. Did you find yourself durdling or scrambling to find threats?
*I'm not sure how I feel about Maverick for the GP. I may switch over to Rock, which has a larger "catch all" against a large field. I expect "oops I win" combo decks to run rampant --- decks I hate playing against with Mav.
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That which nourishes me, destroys me
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
I brought them in against Miracles, BUG Nic Fit, and the Loam Pox deck that was shown on the feature match. It backfired in the Miracles match when he flashed in a V. Clique and a Restoration Angel in response. :p:p
This weekend I playtested Dark Confidant and Thoughtseize mainboard (3/3 split) as part of an effort to try out Dark Maverick. Didn't care for it. Perhaps I was simply unlucky with mana, but requiring the extra black sources does make a difference, even with 8 fetches and 4 DRS. I think it's best to just do the typical 2x Sylvan Library route with Thoughtseize sideboard (3 or 4).
@s3raphix:
That's a really interesting idea. I have been contemplating some of the things you experimented with. Scryb as a whole has been lackluster since we moved into 2014. I was hesitant to shave it out but as you mention, it does very little.
I've caught some slack recently from friends about playing 7 fetches instead of 8. How did 24 lands (feat. 8 fetch) work for you? Similarly, How were 2 black duals? Did opponents ever hold you off of black for SB cards? By Maverick's standards, 21 creatures (not counting dryad) is low. Did you find yourself durdling or scrambling to find threats?
*I'm not sure how I feel about Maverick for the GP. I may switch over to Rock, which has a larger "catch all" against a large field. I expect "oops I win" combo decks to run rampant --- decks I hate playing against with Mav.
I think 23 lands + Dark Depths is a good number. I was playing 3 black sources, 2 Bayou and 1 Scrubland. Didn't have any problems with black mana, but I didn't really face much mana denial. I made the deck in a bit of a hurry so I just jammed all 8 fetches but if I did it again I would probably play another basic or utility land in place of the 8th fetch.
Threat density felt reasonable to me. I often felt like my opponents had to come up with answers for what I was doing. I could see Scryb and Voice going in favor of more threatening things though.
I can understand your reservations about playing Maverick for the GP. My latest Junk list is definitely heading into Rock territory. Cutting Thalia from the maindeck is a slippery slope, with, Lili, souls, hymn etc. suddenly looking a lot more appealing. I've heard people lament the discard, Lili and Bob gang is "bad" right now, but those cards are so powerful I'm not sure I buy it. That being said I personally think Jund is the better Rock deck right now. Junk Rock is difficult to optimize because so many powerful cards are available, and lurking in the Rock thread on The Source for the last few weeks hasn't been encouraging.
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Here's a rough account of each round. I apologize to my opponent's for anything I'm misremembering.
1st Round: RUG Delver (2-1)
Game 1 was a quick affair, with him getting a quick tempo advantage. The damage piled on by the early Delver of Secrets was enough that even though I had an Umezawa's Jitte equipped to a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben it was not enough as I spent my last turns chump blocking a pair of Tarmogoyf.
Game 2 was also close, however my pair of Knight of the Reliquary was too much for him as they eventually dwarfed his Tarmogoyf army. The winning moved turned out to be spending several turns hitting Volcanic Island after Volcanic Island with multiple fetched Wasteland as I won the game at 1 life with him still holding on to a fist full of Lightning Bolt that he could not cast.
Game 3 was even closer, his fast opening draw smacked me down hard as I get swarmed by Insectile Aberration and Tarmogoyf. However, much to my opponent's chagrin, the last moments of the game was turned around by the Dark Depths combo. Doing broken things is a great way to win games you shouldn't have actually won.
2nd Round: 4Color Delver (0-2)
With him going first, he opened up with a Gitaxian Probe followed by a Cabal Therapy. I had assumed the worse (ANTS), but that was followed by a turn two Deathrite Shaman plus Delver of Secrets. My hand was too slow unfortunately and both creatures went the distance.
The second game was much closer with me getting a sizable head start on tempo with Noble Hierarch and Mother of Runes. But then two Forked Bolt killed a total of four creatures over two turns and my advantage began to fade away. I was forced to scoop when Abrupt Decay plus Treasure Cruise killed my last creature and he refilled his hand.
This will be the last Delver match I lose for the rest of the tournament.
3rd Round: Jeskai Delver (2-1)
In game 1 I had a quick win when Wasteland and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben prevented him from doing much save for revealing Delver of Secrets and Volcanic Island. This quickly put me in a false sense of security as I assumed wrongly that I was facing a UR Treasure Cruise deck.
Game 2 I didn't even side out anything and kept a defensive hand preparing myself for Monastery Swiftspear and Lightning Bolt. Instead he played three lands in a row and cast a turn three True-Name Nemesis followed by a turn four Stoneforge Mystic. The Umezawa's Jitte came into play soon after and the game was over. The highlight of the game was my attempt to win with the Dark Depths combo being thwarted by a Swords to Plowshares that made the game last longer than it should have.
The first game is the dream game versus Miracles. An early Wasteland followed by Thalia, Guardian of Thraben sealed the game before it could ever really get off the ground. The second game was unfortunately the same (but in reverse) as an early Sensei's Divining Top plus Counterbalance locked the game out before I could develop enough threats on the board forcing me to scoop before losing too much time on a Pyrrhic game.
Game three is where the match became truly interesting. I side in Gaddock Teeg, Armageddon, Council's Judgment, Cavern of Souls, and swap out my equipment package. He was able to resolve an early Counterbalance, but without Sensei's Divining Top I was able to just cast through the Counterbalance with impunity, only losing a spell here and there. An early Dryad Arbor plus Windswept Heath turned out to be the play of the match. I would keep the Dryad Arbor paired with 1-2 other creatures at all times. The Windswept Heath meant that Terminus would only take out 1-2 creatures at best since the fetch land could just recast the Dryad Arbor. He was quickly drained of Swords to Plowshares and Force of Will as his Counterbalance continually missed time after time without Brainstorm or Sensei's Divining Top controlling the top of his deck. However, that meant that majority of the damage was being dealt almost exclusively with Dryad Arbor. Once he was at around 9 life, he began to stabilize as I had run out of threats only having a Dryad Arbor and a Mother of Runes in play. I then decided to attempt and Armageddon—it resolves. With only a Mother of Runes out I begin to beat him down all the way to 4 life before he finally got rid of her. A few turns later Noble Hierarch finished the job.
5th Round: Reanimator (1-2)
These games were weird. Like, really weird.
The first game ended up stabilizing with a Griselbrand on one side of the board, and a Mother of Runes, Batterskull, and enough exalted triggers to make the Batterskull swing for 8 points of lifelink damage. So for several turns we both kept hitting each other back down to around 10 life as neither of us were getting anywhere. My hits were bigger, meaning I was winning the race, but he had Griselbrand card draw to more quickly search for his trumps. However, the luck gods were on my side that day and he was only able to find more and more Griselbrand instead of Entomb or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
The third game was back and forth. Karakas, Council's Judgment, and Swords to Plowshares all did as much work as his Massacre, Abrupt Decay, and Ashen Rider. We both had very full graveyards as we massacred each other's board over and over as turn after turn passed. At some point I had run out of steam and all I had was Dark Depths and some lands. He was able to reanimate another Griselbrand making my only chance to win be a top decked Thespian's Stage. It was not the stage, and so I extended my hand. Wonderful game, very long with lots of back and forth action. And even on my last turn I still had an out.
6th Round: UR Delver (2-1)
Game one and two were very lackluster this time around. I was able to resolve a large Knight of the Reliquary and an Umezawa's Jitte in the first game which made it irrelevant that he had Elemental tokens. And in the second game he got the tempo advantage over me and eventually swarmed my empty board with Elementals, Monastery Swiftspear.
The third game was very similar to my last game versus RUG, except this time I had a lot more life left over. Instead of a damage advantage, he had a board advantage. An early Mother of Runes slowed down his aggression allowing me to resolve a Knight of the Reliquary. On the other side of the board was a Young Pyromancer and about 6-8 Elementals. It was obvious that he was planning to gain an overwhelming board position and follow that up with an “end of turn empty my hand of lightning bolt” and then swarming my low life with too many tokens. But instead, the Dark Depths combo saves me again as two Mother of Runes are able to protect an end of turn Marit Lage Token that swings for lethal on my turn.
7th Round: Belcher (1-2)
He wins the die roll, and I have no Force of Will or Mindbreak Trap. The first game I lose on his first turn. The second game I have an Orim's Chant and a white source. I follow that up with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and he scoops immediately. Game three plays out much like game one.
This game plays out like all my other Delver matchups except for the 4Color delver which sided in 3 Abrupt Decay, Forked Bolt, and Darkblast against me. By shifting to a more control oriented shell it was able to kill enough of my threats to allow his smaller creatures to win the game. If Maverick gains in popularity again, Delver decks better start packing more Submerge and Hibernation.
THOUGHTS
I do not have enough graveyard hate. Scavenging Ooze does not really count as graveyard hate. Although the Ooze is strong in the late game, early game graveyard play and quick graveyard play hurt me a lot. Between Deathrite Shaman, Reanimator, and Treasure Cruise, the Scavenging Ooze felt more like a life gain spell that needed a graveyard more so than as a way to punish graveyards. I would not go down to less than two but running two Scavenging Ooze is equivalent to running no graveyard hate.
Armageddon and Council's Judgment is amazing in Maverick. The judgements providing flexible removal to a deck that has to let things resolve before being able to answer them. I found many games has hinged on whether or not I could resolve these two spells while also maintaining a board presence. I had initially used 2 Cavern of Souls to resolve important threats like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Knight of the Reliquary—but with so many redundant threats, I would much rather protect my spells resolving than protect my creatures resolving. I'm going to try using Boseiju, Who Shelters All in my sideboard and see how that pans out. He even combos with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben by allowing you to pay 1W to cast an uncounterable Swords to Plowshares.
Every deck needs a hail mary play for when it needs to try winning even when it shouldn't. The Dark Depths combo has convinced me of this more than any other alternate win condition I've ever tried using. I once thought it was only useful for breaking stalemates (which it is) but then I used it to beat Delver decks who got the drop on me. Extremely powerful tool that no Maverick deck should ever be without.
The tournament was fantastic, I had a great time. Even versus the Belcher deck I had a good time (and am thinking about investing in Mindbreak Trap/Leyline of Sanctity) because Robert was just overall a fun guy to talk to.
I made a lot of play errors like casting a Stoneforge Mystic I was so certain would be countered that I simply missed the trigger when he resolved and just said go. But I love making errors like that because it reminds you just how many more errors you don't even see yourself making. It reminds you that you can still get better, that no matter how long you play that you can always improve.
Thanks to all my opponents, without you I would not have had as good a time as I did.
I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
Congrats on the finishes, guys. Good to see Maverick well represented.
As part of the shifting meta and constantly evolving sideboards, I notice that very few people are playing Toxic Deluge SB any more. Are people finding 2x Zealous Persecution sufficient to operate as a sweeper? Also, this may be a silly question, but for someone who has not specifically used the card in a SB capacity before, what matchups are people bringing in Path to Exile for? It seems like the 2x ZP/2x PtE SB package is pretty common these days.
Also, are people finding Council's Judgment superior to Oblivion Ring? Obviously they serve similar purposes outside of the fact that CJ can hit pesky permanents like TNN. However, I usually find that there are other ways to deal with TNN (such as ZP). Isn't O-Ring in the SB better most of the time simply because it is so relevant for the Sneak/SnT matchup?
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Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
This has been my logic with the card as well. KotR tricks also yield 5/3s on command. My hesitation is when you're against a stalled board. Sigarda shines because she flies over for 5+ dmg. I would need to "race" with 5/3s, which brick against the Pyromancer right now. The upside is having a strong army out of nowhere. The downside is chump blocking against your team and/or Terminus still wipes you clean. I am willing to try her out at the GP I think her upside is that high.
EDIT: Containment Priest is looking like a card I need to pick up
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
What is it about the Miracles matchup that Maverick can't beat it?
I'm still evaluating decks for GP NJ and I'm down to Jund (currently sleeved, playing in GPT's, etc) or a Maverick variant. Maverick in general seems strong due to the proven hatebear strategy (Teeg, Thalia, Mom) and has Knight for anti-Show and Tell...plus being a massive beater.
Punishing Maverick looks interesting because, obviously, Punishing Fire. It's an easy swap from Jund and probably the biggest part of why Jund still has game against Delver, DnT, Elves, etc. On the surface it appears that it needs to put Thalia in the side, and overall would have a bad miracles/combo matchup.
Dark Maverick loses Punishing Fire and can likely run Thalia main, but gains Abrupt Decay, DRS, discard, and some saucy sideboard in Chains and Engineered Plague. I'm also looking at it for Golgari Charm and Toxic Deluge, even though they are non-bo with a deck founded on x/1's.
I've found that Maverick's use of Thalia and SFM gives it a strong game against Delver and Burn, and Thalia plus Teeg can slow down Combo. I also believe that through the use of Caverns, the deck can additionally get game through Boseiju tech (via Knight/Crop rotation) to force Armageddon, Cataclysm, Comeuppance, or Toxic Deluge. I guess there's poor synergy between those and Teeg, but having several locks to put down is better than just one.
So this kinda rambled but is there an overall favor for one mav over the other right now?
--
Also, Nate ran Domri instead of Sylvan and a Tabernacle in the side. Are those good calls? I was hesitant on Domri but it can be a good removal engine with occasional card advantage from his +1. I tested Tabernacle but sometimes I'd have just as many creatures and lands on board as the opponent, so Tabernacle became a wash.
-MTG Salvation.
I think discard gives the deck a better game against combo.
-MTG Salvation.
-MTG Salvation.
I wanted to play Punishing but the friend I was borrowing a Taiga and the Groves from needed them for the event. Up until I arrived on site I had resigned myself to playing the same 75 I piloted to a 2-5 finish at an SCG Open a few weeks ago (pretty similar to Warden's list), but on the spur of the moment I semi-audibled something a bit different:
4 Windswept heath
4 Verdant catacombs
2 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Wasteland
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
Creature (21)
4 Mother of Runes
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Birds of Paradise
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Voice of Resurgence
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Sylvan Library
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Krosan Grip
3 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Swamp
Yes, there was a Swamp in my sideboard. Turned out I had left home with only 74 sleeves and lacking several cards I wanted for this new list in the binder I brought (3rd Abrupt Decay, 2x Loxodon Smiter). I made the poor decision of adding an unsleeved basic Swamp to the board in my haste to register.
I went 3-0 in the Swiss beating UR Delver, Shardless, UR Delver, and then double drew into Top 8. In the Top 8 I beat the same Shardless player, then lost to a (sweet) Esper Helm combo control deck. The other 5 decks in Top 8 were Deathblade, Miracles, Infect, Sneak/Show, and UR Delver. Meta was reasonably varied overall. There were 3 UR Delver players.
Just want to jot down some thoughts/conclusions:
- Tried out the 1x Voice from Nate Sturm's list since I really like the card and have a bunch sitting around. It was pretty solid overall. Against Shardless the Elemental got bigger than a Goyf and one of the delver players wouldn't attack into it with Swiftspear at one point, probably out of fear of the Elemental.
- I got the DD kill in two games. Never got mana screwed by drawing either half too early. I really like that having the combo means Knight is still relevant through a Rest In Peace.
- I never drew or zenithed for Scryb. DD kills were attained just by using Knight.
- People were casting Ancestral Recall against me all day weather it be Cruise or Vision, and it just didn't seem to matter. Some games my opponent even cast two and it still didn't matter. I don't know if I just got lucky or what. My friend playing Jund said that once his opponents started Cruising he felt way behind.
- Didn't want to play 4 Deathrite so went with 1 Bird over 1 Hierarch, and I can't honestly say that its worse. Even got it suited up with Fire & Ice one game.
- Moving both Teegs to the board felt fine. I board them out in almost every fair matchup, even Cruise ones, though that may not be correct.
- Abrupt decay is really good. Plow + Decay backed up by tutorable QPM felt super versatile.
- Thalia felt bad even in the sideboard. I think Canonist might just be better in that slot since I don't think Thalia does much against fair decks anyway.
- Mom is still very good.
I'm hoping to make it to a Win-a-Dual tourney next weekend with Punishing so I can figure out which Maverick deck to play at GPNJ.
That's a really interesting idea. I have been contemplating some of the things you experimented with. Scryb as a whole has been lackluster since we moved into 2014. I was hesitant to shave it out but as you mention, it does very little.
I've caught some slack recently from friends about playing 7 fetches instead of 8. How did 24 lands (feat. 8 fetch) work for you? Similarly, How were 2 black duals? Did opponents ever hold you off of black for SB cards? By Maverick's standards, 21 creatures (not counting dryad) is low. Did you find yourself durdling or scrambling to find threats?
*I'm not sure how I feel about Maverick for the GP. I may switch over to Rock, which has a larger "catch all" against a large field. I expect "oops I win" combo decks to run rampant --- decks I hate playing against with Mav.
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Mother of Runes
1 Noble Hierarch
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Scryb Ranger
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Bayou
3 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Thespian's Stage
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
1 Karakas
1 Dark Depths
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Sylvan Library
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Path to Exile
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Armageddon
3 Thoughtseize
2 Toxic Deluge
Dodged Burn all day which was really nice.
I think 23 lands + Dark Depths is a good number. I was playing 3 black sources, 2 Bayou and 1 Scrubland. Didn't have any problems with black mana, but I didn't really face much mana denial. I made the deck in a bit of a hurry so I just jammed all 8 fetches but if I did it again I would probably play another basic or utility land in place of the 8th fetch.
Threat density felt reasonable to me. I often felt like my opponents had to come up with answers for what I was doing. I could see Scryb and Voice going in favor of more threatening things though.
I can understand your reservations about playing Maverick for the GP. My latest Junk list is definitely heading into Rock territory. Cutting Thalia from the maindeck is a slippery slope, with, Lili, souls, hymn etc. suddenly looking a lot more appealing. I've heard people lament the discard, Lili and Bob gang is "bad" right now, but those cards are so powerful I'm not sure I buy it. That being said I personally think Jund is the better Rock deck right now. Junk Rock is difficult to optimize because so many powerful cards are available, and lurking in the Rock thread on The Source for the last few weeks hasn't been encouraging.
-MTG Salvation.
It's important. It allows T1 GSZ for Arbor, End of Turn fetches to pick up equipment after a board wipe, adds extra mana with cradle, and more.
WGURBLands!WGURB
WGUInfectWGU
Legacy Lands Primer
Top 8 SCG Oakland 2014
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4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Mother of Runes
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scryb Ranger
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Dryad Arbor
Spells: 10
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
4 Forest
3 Savannah
2 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Karakas
1 Tower of the Magistrate
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Dark Depths
1 Maze of Ith
4 Orim's Chant
2 Armageddon
2 Council's Judgment
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Bojuka Bog
Here's a rough account of each round. I apologize to my opponent's for anything I'm misremembering.
1st Round: RUG Delver (2-1)
Game 1 was a quick affair, with him getting a quick tempo advantage. The damage piled on by the early Delver of Secrets was enough that even though I had an Umezawa's Jitte equipped to a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben it was not enough as I spent my last turns chump blocking a pair of Tarmogoyf.
Game 2 was also close, however my pair of Knight of the Reliquary was too much for him as they eventually dwarfed his Tarmogoyf army. The winning moved turned out to be spending several turns hitting Volcanic Island after Volcanic Island with multiple fetched Wasteland as I won the game at 1 life with him still holding on to a fist full of Lightning Bolt that he could not cast.
Game 3 was even closer, his fast opening draw smacked me down hard as I get swarmed by Insectile Aberration and Tarmogoyf. However, much to my opponent's chagrin, the last moments of the game was turned around by the Dark Depths combo. Doing broken things is a great way to win games you shouldn't have actually won.
2nd Round: 4Color Delver (0-2)
With him going first, he opened up with a Gitaxian Probe followed by a Cabal Therapy. I had assumed the worse (ANTS), but that was followed by a turn two Deathrite Shaman plus Delver of Secrets. My hand was too slow unfortunately and both creatures went the distance.
The second game was much closer with me getting a sizable head start on tempo with Noble Hierarch and Mother of Runes. But then two Forked Bolt killed a total of four creatures over two turns and my advantage began to fade away. I was forced to scoop when Abrupt Decay plus Treasure Cruise killed my last creature and he refilled his hand.
This will be the last Delver match I lose for the rest of the tournament.
3rd Round: Jeskai Delver (2-1)
In game 1 I had a quick win when Wasteland and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben prevented him from doing much save for revealing Delver of Secrets and Volcanic Island. This quickly put me in a false sense of security as I assumed wrongly that I was facing a UR Treasure Cruise deck.
Game 2 I didn't even side out anything and kept a defensive hand preparing myself for Monastery Swiftspear and Lightning Bolt. Instead he played three lands in a row and cast a turn three True-Name Nemesis followed by a turn four Stoneforge Mystic. The Umezawa's Jitte came into play soon after and the game was over. The highlight of the game was my attempt to win with the Dark Depths combo being thwarted by a Swords to Plowshares that made the game last longer than it should have.
The ace match had me siding in Council's Judgment and Armageddon, both ended up being clutch as I was able to answer an early True-Name Nemesis with Council's Judgment and I was able to close out the game by casting Armageddon before he could equip his True-Name Nemesis with an Umezawa's Jitte while I had Mother of Runes and Knight of the Reliquary in play. My massive Knight of the Reliquary was quickly able to race his mere 3/1 True-Name Nemesis and I beat my second Delver deck of the day.
4rth Round: Miracles (2-1)
The first game is the dream game versus Miracles. An early Wasteland followed by Thalia, Guardian of Thraben sealed the game before it could ever really get off the ground. The second game was unfortunately the same (but in reverse) as an early Sensei's Divining Top plus Counterbalance locked the game out before I could develop enough threats on the board forcing me to scoop before losing too much time on a Pyrrhic game.
Game three is where the match became truly interesting. I side in Gaddock Teeg, Armageddon, Council's Judgment, Cavern of Souls, and swap out my equipment package. He was able to resolve an early Counterbalance, but without Sensei's Divining Top I was able to just cast through the Counterbalance with impunity, only losing a spell here and there. An early Dryad Arbor plus Windswept Heath turned out to be the play of the match. I would keep the Dryad Arbor paired with 1-2 other creatures at all times. The Windswept Heath meant that Terminus would only take out 1-2 creatures at best since the fetch land could just recast the Dryad Arbor. He was quickly drained of Swords to Plowshares and Force of Will as his Counterbalance continually missed time after time without Brainstorm or Sensei's Divining Top controlling the top of his deck. However, that meant that majority of the damage was being dealt almost exclusively with Dryad Arbor. Once he was at around 9 life, he began to stabilize as I had run out of threats only having a Dryad Arbor and a Mother of Runes in play. I then decided to attempt and Armageddon—it resolves. With only a Mother of Runes out I begin to beat him down all the way to 4 life before he finally got rid of her. A few turns later Noble Hierarch finished the job.
5th Round: Reanimator (1-2)
These games were weird. Like, really weird.
The first game ended up stabilizing with a Griselbrand on one side of the board, and a Mother of Runes, Batterskull, and enough exalted triggers to make the Batterskull swing for 8 points of lifelink damage. So for several turns we both kept hitting each other back down to around 10 life as neither of us were getting anywhere. My hits were bigger, meaning I was winning the race, but he had Griselbrand card draw to more quickly search for his trumps. However, the luck gods were on my side that day and he was only able to find more and more Griselbrand instead of Entomb or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
The second game revealed his sideboard plan of two Massacre, three Abrupt Decay, bounce spells, and Pithing Needle. He resolved two Massacre each killing three creatures before Pithing Needle stopped my Knight of the Reliquary and Abrupt Decay killed my Scavenging Ooze. At that point I was out of cards and he just cantriped into his creatures.
The third game was back and forth. Karakas, Council's Judgment, and Swords to Plowshares all did as much work as his Massacre, Abrupt Decay, and Ashen Rider. We both had very full graveyards as we massacred each other's board over and over as turn after turn passed. At some point I had run out of steam and all I had was Dark Depths and some lands. He was able to reanimate another Griselbrand making my only chance to win be a top decked Thespian's Stage. It was not the stage, and so I extended my hand. Wonderful game, very long with lots of back and forth action. And even on my last turn I still had an out.
6th Round: UR Delver (2-1)
Game one and two were very lackluster this time around. I was able to resolve a large Knight of the Reliquary and an Umezawa's Jitte in the first game which made it irrelevant that he had Elemental tokens. And in the second game he got the tempo advantage over me and eventually swarmed my empty board with Elementals, Monastery Swiftspear.
The third game was very similar to my last game versus RUG, except this time I had a lot more life left over. Instead of a damage advantage, he had a board advantage. An early Mother of Runes slowed down his aggression allowing me to resolve a Knight of the Reliquary. On the other side of the board was a Young Pyromancer and about 6-8 Elementals. It was obvious that he was planning to gain an overwhelming board position and follow that up with an “end of turn empty my hand of lightning bolt” and then swarming my low life with too many tokens. But instead, the Dark Depths combo saves me again as two Mother of Runes are able to protect an end of turn Marit Lage Token that swings for lethal on my turn.
7th Round: Belcher (1-2)
He wins the die roll, and I have no Force of Will or Mindbreak Trap. The first game I lose on his first turn. The second game I have an Orim's Chant and a white source. I follow that up with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and he scoops immediately. Game three plays out much like game one.
8th Round: UR Delver (2-1)
This is a very favorable match for my deck. For the most part, I side out a Scavenging Ooze for the second Gaddock Teeg to stop Treasure Cruise. After facing it twice, its 50/50 which one is more relevant between the Scavenging Ooze and Gaddock Teeg. One stops Treasure Cruise from being played while the other can eat the graveyard before Treasure Cruise can be cast.
This game plays out like all my other Delver matchups except for the 4Color delver which sided in 3 Abrupt Decay, Forked Bolt, and Darkblast against me. By shifting to a more control oriented shell it was able to kill enough of my threats to allow his smaller creatures to win the game. If Maverick gains in popularity again, Delver decks better start packing more Submerge and Hibernation.
THOUGHTS
I do not have enough graveyard hate. Scavenging Ooze does not really count as graveyard hate. Although the Ooze is strong in the late game, early game graveyard play and quick graveyard play hurt me a lot. Between Deathrite Shaman, Reanimator, and Treasure Cruise, the Scavenging Ooze felt more like a life gain spell that needed a graveyard more so than as a way to punish graveyards. I would not go down to less than two but running two Scavenging Ooze is equivalent to running no graveyard hate.
Armageddon and Council's Judgment is amazing in Maverick. The judgements providing flexible removal to a deck that has to let things resolve before being able to answer them. I found many games has hinged on whether or not I could resolve these two spells while also maintaining a board presence. I had initially used 2 Cavern of Souls to resolve important threats like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Knight of the Reliquary—but with so many redundant threats, I would much rather protect my spells resolving than protect my creatures resolving. I'm going to try using Boseiju, Who Shelters All in my sideboard and see how that pans out. He even combos with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben by allowing you to pay 1W to cast an uncounterable Swords to Plowshares.
Every deck needs a hail mary play for when it needs to try winning even when it shouldn't. The Dark Depths combo has convinced me of this more than any other alternate win condition I've ever tried using. I once thought it was only useful for breaking stalemates (which it is) but then I used it to beat Delver decks who got the drop on me. Extremely powerful tool that no Maverick deck should ever be without.
The tournament was fantastic, I had a great time. Even versus the Belcher deck I had a good time (and am thinking about investing in Mindbreak Trap/Leyline of Sanctity) because Robert was just overall a fun guy to talk to.
I made a lot of play errors like casting a Stoneforge Mystic I was so certain would be countered that I simply missed the trigger when he resolved and just said go. But I love making errors like that because it reminds you just how many more errors you don't even see yourself making. It reminds you that you can still get better, that no matter how long you play that you can always improve.
Thanks to all my opponents, without you I would not have had as good a time as I did.
What would you change for next time outside of Scooze/GY hate?
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
As part of the shifting meta and constantly evolving sideboards, I notice that very few people are playing Toxic Deluge SB any more. Are people finding 2x Zealous Persecution sufficient to operate as a sweeper? Also, this may be a silly question, but for someone who has not specifically used the card in a SB capacity before, what matchups are people bringing in Path to Exile for? It seems like the 2x ZP/2x PtE SB package is pretty common these days.
Also, are people finding Council's Judgment superior to Oblivion Ring? Obviously they serve similar purposes outside of the fact that CJ can hit pesky permanents like TNN. However, I usually find that there are other ways to deal with TNN (such as ZP). Isn't O-Ring in the SB better most of the time simply because it is so relevant for the Sneak/SnT matchup?