Yes, as Warden said, I'm looking for something with a little more decision trees than Delver. I like D&T, but again, it has generally the same weaknesses as Maverick (soft to combo).
I'm currently reading up on Doomsday and TES. Though I always thought Combo Elves offered a pretty varied gameplan since you can GSZ/Pact/Wish for not only different combo pieces but also fall back on an aggro strategy.
So unless I'm completely wrong, I'll most likely be going DDFT, TES, or possibly ANT.
Thanks for the advice. I was considering some type of Storm combo as one of the possibilities. I have been practicing with regular ANT builds to get a feel for Storm.
On a side note, other things I was thinking about - what about Spanish Inquisition or Combo Elves?
Hello everyone. I'm looking for advice on what Legacy deck to build next. Here's my situation:
I have been playing G/W for years now. In my local meta, I think I'm becoming known too much as "the Maverick guy", and especially since Maverick has gained so much popularity recently, the hate is becoming more common. I'm looking to build a second deck which allows me to switch things up and be less predictable at tourneys. i don't particularly care whether it's aggro, control, or combo, but here is what I'm looking for:
1. I enjoy nonlinear decks that offer many decision trees. I get bored playing decks that involve the same linear strategy every game (such as Burn).
2. I'm looking for a deck that has generally good matchups where Maverick does not. This way I can have two decks that perform well in diverse metagames. If I'm expecting an overload of combo for instance, I can use my new deck instead of Maverick.
3. Budget is not a concern.
Right now I'm thinking either UW or Esper Stoneblade is a possibility. Any suggestions?
Fauna Shaman seems... interesting. I'm not entirely convinced of it yet though. Do you ever feel like it's too slow and you can't get your desired creature onto the battlefield fast enough?
Anyway, Garruk is cool, but I think Elspeth more or less does the same job. She can also spam bodies, and there have been more than a few occasions where I've topdecked Elspeth late-game and won instantly with her second ability on one of my massive Knights. I personally would rather use another Elspeth instead of a singleton Garruk, if I had the room.
^ I wouldn't say that. Goblins just Top 4'ed the recent 220+ SCG tournament, so the meta can't be that bad for Goblins.
Plus, I think one of Goblins' strengths is its ability to quickly bounce back from spot/massremoval. It does this remarkably better than most aggro decks.
Other topic: I just got a major beating by stormcombo yesterday and one game he could even go off on turn 2 with me having a Thalia in play (netting him 14 1/1 Goblins via Empty the Warrens). I'm really really not looking forward to that kind of matchup next week. Is it really THAT hard for us to beat combo or was he just being lucky?
Unfortunately Storm Combo is simply an unfavorable matchup. Thalia does help though, but it sounds like your opponent simply got a lucky god-hand. There's basically nothing you can do when that happens. But there are many ways of fighting Storm and improving your chances. Namely Ethersworn Canonist + Enlightened Tutor, and Thorn of Amethyst. And of course you've got Gaddock Teeg and possibly Aven Mindcensor maindeck, which also shut them down until they find a way to deal with them.
Were there any specific match ups that felt 50/50ish Mike?
Let's see, in all of the very small MUs I've had, I've felt like I've had the advantage.
I had an answer for everything Soul Sisters tried to do - I got rid of their Sisters fast by either destroying or saccing them, and Stromkirk Noble slides in for easy damage because literally all of their creatures are Humans. They're pretty soft to hand disruption as well as an active Liliana.
Death & Taxes was a bit tougher, but still in Vamps' favor I think. Liliana is easily the best card against them.
The Twin MU was probably the toughest. I'd say it's about 55-45% in our favor. Vampires has enough discard and removal to keep them off their combo most of the time, but sometimes they can still go off. Spellskite is also a pain in the ass. Destroy it immediately.
This deck caught my eye after seeing it in a few tournament lists. I decided to try it out casually, and I'm actually impressed with how good it is. You've got nice undercost creatures and you can command a fast aggro game and get a quick kill, but there's also enough control and discard to prevent you from being completely cold against combo. Liliana is awesome. Bob prevents the deck from running out of fuel in the longer games, and you've got enough burn/removal to clear the path for your little Vampires to win the day. Stromkirk's first ability seems pretty inconsequential, until you realize just how many other popular creatures are actually Humans.
I haven't taken it to any tournaments, but so far in my (admittedly limited) playing of the deck, I haven't lost a match yet. Decks I've beaten include Death & Taxes, Modern Soul Sisters, and Splinter Twin.
I would cut the eternal witness to add a 2nd horizon canopy and i would also cut the 4th stonegforge to put a 3rd qasali pridemage. Other than that is seems pretty good.
The deck is evolving to a stoneforge-less build but either way seems to be fine. It just seems that thalia is more agressive and protects us better against combo and deck we usually have troubles with.
Thanks for the advice. I will cut the Witness for a second Canopy, and I'll probably cut one Stoneforge as you've prescribed. But do you think adding a second Elspeth or Sylvan Library would be better than adding a third Pridemage?
I always thought maverick was pretty bad. It's only there to beat up kids who don't play anything but blue. It's really slow for an aggro deck and doesn't have much disruption besides swords. If people ran 3-4 deeds like me, they shouldn't have a problem.
Maverick is good against other things besides Blue-based control decks. It has good matchups against most aggro decks as well.
I for one will be savoring the time when a non-blue aggro-control deck is at the top of the metagame. Maverick has been my favourite deck for a while now, and I knew it was only a matter of time before everybody finally realized that it's actually a very good deck in the right hands.
Others have already said it best. Wizards won't ban Maverick out of existence, because Maverick is actually contributing to a healthy meta. Nor would anyone want them to, I don't think. Seriously, who could hate Maverick? It's classic Magic at its most engaging and entertaining.
If combo starts becoming too rampant, I'll probably switch to Bant or UW Stoneblade.
Personally I enjoy toolbox decks with a ton of different interactions like Maverick, and Bant which has a little bit of everything. The fact that there are so many different ways to win with these decks makes them a lot of fun. To a lesser extent I also enjoy playing control-type decks such as Stoneblade and Tempo.
Crap like Storm Combo just doesn't do it for me, where pretty much the only interaction you care about is whether or not your opponent has Force of Will.
Big Star Wars fan chiming in with my two cents here.
I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but one of the most glaring problems that comes to mind the most for me specifically, was the characters of the prequels. They were all, with maybe the exception of Palpatine, boring, sterile and lifeless. They made the universe of Star Wars, which seemed exciting and relatable in the originals, feel like a foreign place devoid of emotion and, well... humanity. Maybe because the characters we are supposed to empathize with the most are a bunch of emotionless monks who aren't allowed to get laid.
Concerning this point specifically, the both Episodes I and II suffer from a severe lack of a main character (and Episode III to a lesser degree). In Episode I, who is the main protagonist? Which singular character is the audience supposed to relate to? The Jedi? No, they're just on some trivial trade dispute assignment, and as I said above, they themselves are expressionless, emotionless monks. Queen Amidala? No, she's just a foreign queen in need of assistance. Anakin is a tempting thought, but he's just a child, so the events of the movie are beyond his understanding and control. Not to mention we aren't even introduced to Anakin until halfway through the movie.
Unforunately, George Lucas failed at one of the most basic formulas of filmmaking.
I'm currently reading up on Doomsday and TES. Though I always thought Combo Elves offered a pretty varied gameplan since you can GSZ/Pact/Wish for not only different combo pieces but also fall back on an aggro strategy.
So unless I'm completely wrong, I'll most likely be going DDFT, TES, or possibly ANT.
On a side note, other things I was thinking about - what about Spanish Inquisition or Combo Elves?
I have been playing G/W for years now. In my local meta, I think I'm becoming known too much as "the Maverick guy", and especially since Maverick has gained so much popularity recently, the hate is becoming more common. I'm looking to build a second deck which allows me to switch things up and be less predictable at tourneys. i don't particularly care whether it's aggro, control, or combo, but here is what I'm looking for:
1. I enjoy nonlinear decks that offer many decision trees. I get bored playing decks that involve the same linear strategy every game (such as Burn).
2. I'm looking for a deck that has generally good matchups where Maverick does not. This way I can have two decks that perform well in diverse metagames. If I'm expecting an overload of combo for instance, I can use my new deck instead of Maverick.
3. Budget is not a concern.
Right now I'm thinking either UW or Esper Stoneblade is a possibility. Any suggestions?
Anyway, Garruk is cool, but I think Elspeth more or less does the same job. She can also spam bodies, and there have been more than a few occasions where I've topdecked Elspeth late-game and won instantly with her second ability on one of my massive Knights. I personally would rather use another Elspeth instead of a singleton Garruk, if I had the room.
Plus, I think one of Goblins' strengths is its ability to quickly bounce back from spot/massremoval. It does this remarkably better than most aggro decks.
Unfortunately Storm Combo is simply an unfavorable matchup. Thalia does help though, but it sounds like your opponent simply got a lucky god-hand. There's basically nothing you can do when that happens. But there are many ways of fighting Storm and improving your chances. Namely Ethersworn Canonist + Enlightened Tutor, and Thorn of Amethyst. And of course you've got Gaddock Teeg and possibly Aven Mindcensor maindeck, which also shut them down until they find a way to deal with them.
Let's see, in all of the very small MUs I've had, I've felt like I've had the advantage.
I had an answer for everything Soul Sisters tried to do - I got rid of their Sisters fast by either destroying or saccing them, and Stromkirk Noble slides in for easy damage because literally all of their creatures are Humans. They're pretty soft to hand disruption as well as an active Liliana.
Death & Taxes was a bit tougher, but still in Vamps' favor I think. Liliana is easily the best card against them.
The Twin MU was probably the toughest. I'd say it's about 55-45% in our favor. Vampires has enough discard and removal to keep them off their combo most of the time, but sometimes they can still go off. Spellskite is also a pain in the ass. Destroy it immediately.
What MUs have You faced so far, Polish?
I haven't taken it to any tournaments, but so far in my (admittedly limited) playing of the deck, I haven't lost a match yet. Decks I've beaten include Death & Taxes, Modern Soul Sisters, and Splinter Twin.
Is anyone out there still playing this deck?
Thanks for the advice. I will cut the Witness for a second Canopy, and I'll probably cut one Stoneforge as you've prescribed. But do you think adding a second Elspeth or Sylvan Library would be better than adding a third Pridemage?
4 Mother of Runes
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Noble Hierarch
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scryb Ranger
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Eternal Witness
Spells
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
Enchantments
1 Sylvan Library
Planeswalkers
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Land
4 Windswept Heath
4 Savannah
4 Wasteland
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
1 Gaea's Cradle
2 Enlightened Tutor
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Krosan Grip
1 Warmth
1 Choke
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Stony Silence
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
Maverick is good against other things besides Blue-based control decks. It has good matchups against most aggro decks as well.
Others have already said it best. Wizards won't ban Maverick out of existence, because Maverick is actually contributing to a healthy meta. Nor would anyone want them to, I don't think. Seriously, who could hate Maverick? It's classic Magic at its most engaging and entertaining.
If combo starts becoming too rampant, I'll probably switch to Bant or UW Stoneblade.
Crap like Storm Combo just doesn't do it for me, where pretty much the only interaction you care about is whether or not your opponent has Force of Will.
I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but one of the most glaring problems that comes to mind the most for me specifically, was the characters of the prequels. They were all, with maybe the exception of Palpatine, boring, sterile and lifeless. They made the universe of Star Wars, which seemed exciting and relatable in the originals, feel like a foreign place devoid of emotion and, well... humanity. Maybe because the characters we are supposed to empathize with the most are a bunch of emotionless monks who aren't allowed to get laid.
Concerning this point specifically, the both Episodes I and II suffer from a severe lack of a main character (and Episode III to a lesser degree). In Episode I, who is the main protagonist? Which singular character is the audience supposed to relate to? The Jedi? No, they're just on some trivial trade dispute assignment, and as I said above, they themselves are expressionless, emotionless monks. Queen Amidala? No, she's just a foreign queen in need of assistance. Anakin is a tempting thought, but he's just a child, so the events of the movie are beyond his understanding and control. Not to mention we aren't even introduced to Anakin until halfway through the movie.
Unforunately, George Lucas failed at one of the most basic formulas of filmmaking.