I still haven't updated to Crucible and Winter Orb, but I've done really well against Tasigur and V Clique on Cockatrice lately. The mono counterspell decks that can be overpowered even without a ton of velocity.
My wanderer deck has been doing very well recently, his big weakness has always been and forever will be GAA4. You need to get to 11 mana instead of the usual 8 if you want to "go off" so to speak, as Wanderer will cost 9, and both of your "free" spells will cost 1 as long as GAA is on the field. We also have a pretty hard time doing anything about GAA once he's on the field, as we aren't the most interactive deck out there pre-Wanderer. I've found that wanderer has generally favorable or even matchups everywhere else though. If your meta is filled with Tasigurs, I've found that to be a very strong matchup in our favor.
With that being said, we can get a breeze here by somehow reducing our mana curve. I'm actually thinking of removing those 6cmc+ Timewalk effects, and adding quite a bit of useable lands.
Legacy URGBOops all my spellsBGRU URBYoung GrixisBRU
~Commander~ BUDralnu/ReanimatorUB GRUMaelstroM WanderiNgURG GBMerengue Clan of SalsaBG
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW UTalrand PolymorphishU UAzami, Lady of CAU BRWZurgo, Worldslayer BearerWRB BWUMerieke Ri Berit UWB UVendilion CliqueU
Modern:U Mono-U TroN U
I'm gonna be running this deck @ a tournament on the 13th. Seems like the best choice given the meta I expect to be there.
My biggest question is about upheaval and destructive force. I cut both of those cards from my list, because I wanted to remove the cards I would only ever want to flip off Wanderer. Cards like burning and wildfire are strong because I can play them with wanderer already in play and he lives to swing through, but I tried to cut the cards that I never wanted to have in my hand. Can you guys help me see the light?
When I had this deck together I really liked having Sarkhan Unbroken (I might also be bias because I have a foil one). Draws cards, makes big flying blockers/attackers, and helps ramp. Whats not to love?
I also plan on running LED and the suspend lotus (the name escapes me ATM) but I don't see them in either of your lists. Any reason why? I could maybe see LED as it might be a little too all in, but the suspend lotus was always very strong for me when i played it.
I'm also undecided about the time warp effects. They seemed strong when I had them, as you can either flip into them, or they can act as a "free" ramp spell, getting you to 8 mana when your opponent isnt expecting them. I do see the argument against them thought, as I haven't played this deck since the change of mulligan rule.
I had to take avenger out of my build. Not enough value IMO. It has been amazing in the past but I see other things as much more prevalent. Ibex is why Guardian Idol is in the deck Lol
Hello all! My friend and I have been trying out Titania in wanderer as an extra win con and it has been absurd. Any thoughts? Works pretty well with our own LD effects and discourages our lands from being destroyed. Also can potentially ramp us.
I've been playing with seasons past and mizzix's mastery in my wanderer deck and they have both been absolutely insane. Granted I play with a lot of time warp cards but every time I have overloaded the mastery I just straight up win the game, and seasons past is often able to get back 5-6 cards, many of which are huge threats (upheaval, etc.). Definitely worth considering if you're playing a more instant/sorcery based version.
My friend and myself find Season's past and Mizzix Mastery to be very interesting options. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-02-15-enter-the-maelstrom/
This is my current list for Wanderer. The "Maybeboard" are cards that I've decided I'd put in depending on what the meta looked like on a particular night. More aggro and a Narset? probably throwing in the Volcanic fallout. Things like that.
I'm not sure what I'd want to take out for Mizzix Mastery or S-past. http://mtgtop8.com/search?player=William Belloli
This link is for what my build has been previously.
@Iceman I don't think you really need Atarka. I've never been happy with her. Ugin (in my opinion) can easily replace her. I tried Pathbreaker Ibex once and it was glorious and fun, but he sadly was terrible to cast by himself. Where as Balefire Dragon and others can still block pretty well and doesn't die to bolt.
I have to ask, WHY Firespout? I've never ever ever understood why Wanderer lists run it when it does 100% nothing on a cascade? And maybe it's just my meta, but Sarkhan, Ral, and Kiora have always felt lack luster and I can never validate them as a good option to use over.... anything else?
I noticed some people Don't use Lion's eye diamond is that because they are on a budget or dont think the cards good enough? I ask because im trying to make the deck and its the only card I dont have but can easily trade for. Also is Gilded lotus considered too slow these days, I noticed a lot of people aren't using that as well.
@Dawtz I personally dislike LED. I tried it a few times (friend let me borrow it) and I wasn't a fan of it because forcing me to pitch my hand is something I almost never want to do. And yeaaaaaah Gilded Lotus is way too slow. It's not really "on curve" so to say. turn 2 rock into a turn 3 cast something with CMC 4 or more ramp spells. (like another 2 drop ramp into a 3 drop mini 3 dmg wrath) trying to cast something turn 4 for 5 mana is very.... meeeeh. I personally don't think LED is necessary, but with Tezzeret it's probably okay but like I said, ditching my hand isn't something I think is a good strat.
Cards like Lotus Bloom and LED are dangerous. Period. They have the severe downside of having to be sacrificed (thus putting us severely behind when Wanderer and any relevant cascades are countered/destroyed/dealt with), and each has an additional large downside: LED (making us discard our hand, which a control deck does not want to do), and Bloom (needing to be played on T1 or 2 for any kind of meaningful effect).
Gilded Lotus is inefficient in the following way: Taking us from 5 mana to 8 is great, but not when the rock costs 5, because if we make our land drop the next turn, we are at 9 mana, which should be a clue that we want to cap the multi-mana ramp at cmc 4 to maximize mana efficiency.
What do you guys think of the following cards:
1) Sarkhan Unbroken. Why are people running him? He seems ultra mediocre and slightly above average at best.
2) Seasons Past and Mizzix's Mastery. I really want to run these, but early game and in the first batch of cascades I feel they are more than likely to be super whiffs. Is this downside worth the upside?
3) Jokulhaups. Why do people run this? Isn't the main idea of world destroying effects to keep us ahead and to allow us to recover faster than the opponent (by having more lands and/or rocks in play after?). I get that it's a game ending cascade (unless they counter Wanderer), but isn't that about it's best use 90+% of the time?
seasons past & mastery: While they can be underwhelming in the early game they're never dead, as you can always use them to recast a ramp spell or "draw" 2-3 cards (a game I played yesterday had me getting back a personal tutor, a fetchland, and a cultivate on turn 6) While that certainly isn't an ideal use of them the upside is just so so high, in that overloading a mastery or playing a late game seasons past is often just as good as hitting an upheaval on a cascade. And getting double mileage out of sweepers is also quite useful too. I'm unsure of how good they are in a more creature heavy deck, but I have never ever been sad to draw either of them.
I find Jokulhaups to be worse than devastation and upheaval, but it's still quite good if you can get a pw out first, or have something like frontier siege out. It's fine as sweeper number 5 or so, and definitely worth playing if you're in an aggro/artifact heavy meta.
I would highly recommend not cutting primal hunter. He's insane.
Is there any concensus on Sarkhan? Jeepers, do you run it?
I do. I find that people tend to view him as a bigger threat than he actually is (I run DL atarka as my only dragon) and will often spend quite a few resources to kill him ASAP. That said, if he manages to survive a couple turns he's pretty great as he does just about everything the deck wants. I tend to think of him as a much worse version of jtms and just expect him to die. I've been considering replacing him as he's probably the weakest threat that I run, and is very much a card that does a little bit of everything (CA, ramp and threat) but doesn't do any of those things particularly well.
I would highly recommend not cutting primal hunter. He's insane.
Is there any concensus on Sarkhan? Jeepers, do you run it?
I do. I find that people tend to view him as a bigger threat than he actually is (I run DL atarka as my only dragon) and will often spend quite a few resources to kill him ASAP. That said, if he manages to survive a couple turns he's pretty great as he does just about everything the deck wants. I tend to think of him as a much worse version of jtms and just expect him to die. I've been considering replacing him as he's probably the weakest threat that I run, and is very much a card that does a little bit of everything (CA, ramp and threat) but doesn't do any of those things particularly well.
IMO Sarkhan doesn't really belong in Wanderer. There are much better things to do on 5 then casting Sarkhan. All of his effects are rather "meh" People will try to kill planeswalkers because they're simply good effects that are repeatable. If I'm going to cascade into a 5 drop walker, I'd much rather cascade into Garruk Primal Hunter or Tamiyo. Or if we expand on the 5 drop category, a time warp effect. I believe people are playing Sarkhan simply because he's a walker that is RUG. He's really only a walker with 2 abilities for 5 mana and that's pretty terrible for a planeswalker.
Duel Commander
URG [Primer] Maelstrom Wanderer [Primer] URG
Duel Commander Current Projects:
RGWMarath, Will of the WildRGW
BRXMogis, God of SlaughterBRX
RWxIoras, God of VictoryRWx
WBxAthreos, God of PassageWBx
Created By: DarkNightCavalier
URGBOops all my spellsBGRU
URBYoung GrixisBRU
~Commander~
BUDralnu/ReanimatorUB
GRUMaelstroM WanderiNgURG
GBMerengue Clan of SalsaBG
UTalrand PolymorphishU
UAzami, Lady of CAU
BRWZurgo, Worldslayer BearerWRB
BWUMerieke Ri Berit UWB
UVendilion CliqueU
Modern:U Mono-U TroN U
My biggest question is about upheaval and destructive force. I cut both of those cards from my list, because I wanted to remove the cards I would only ever want to flip off Wanderer. Cards like burning and wildfire are strong because I can play them with wanderer already in play and he lives to swing through, but I tried to cut the cards that I never wanted to have in my hand. Can you guys help me see the light?
When I had this deck together I really liked having Sarkhan Unbroken (I might also be bias because I have a foil one). Draws cards, makes big flying blockers/attackers, and helps ramp. Whats not to love?
I also plan on running LED and the suspend lotus (the name escapes me ATM) but I don't see them in either of your lists. Any reason why? I could maybe see LED as it might be a little too all in, but the suspend lotus was always very strong for me when i played it.
I'm also undecided about the time warp effects. They seemed strong when I had them, as you can either flip into them, or they can act as a "free" ramp spell, getting you to 8 mana when your opponent isnt expecting them. I do see the argument against them thought, as I haven't played this deck since the change of mulligan rule.
Was able to succeasfully pilot my beloved Maelstrom Wanderer deck last month to a top 8 finish out of 32 players.
http://www.mtgdecks.net/decks/view/624009
Made some changes already in my deck from the link above.
Looking to add the ff:
Ugin
Sphinx of Final Word
Pathbreaker Ibex
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-02-15-enter-the-maelstrom/
This is my current list for Wanderer. The "Maybeboard" are cards that I've decided I'd put in depending on what the meta looked like on a particular night. More aggro and a Narset? probably throwing in the Volcanic fallout. Things like that.
I'm not sure what I'd want to take out for Mizzix Mastery or S-past.
http://mtgtop8.com/search?player=William Belloli
This link is for what my build has been previously.
@Iceman I don't think you really need Atarka. I've never been happy with her. Ugin (in my opinion) can easily replace her. I tried Pathbreaker Ibex once and it was glorious and fun, but he sadly was terrible to cast by himself. Where as Balefire Dragon and others can still block pretty well and doesn't die to bolt.
I have to ask, WHY Firespout? I've never ever ever understood why Wanderer lists run it when it does 100% nothing on a cascade? And maybe it's just my meta, but Sarkhan, Ral, and Kiora have always felt lack luster and I can never validate them as a good option to use over.... anything else?
Gilded Lotus is inefficient in the following way: Taking us from 5 mana to 8 is great, but not when the rock costs 5, because if we make our land drop the next turn, we are at 9 mana, which should be a clue that we want to cap the multi-mana ramp at cmc 4 to maximize mana efficiency.
What do you guys think of the following cards:
1) Sarkhan Unbroken. Why are people running him? He seems ultra mediocre and slightly above average at best.
2) Seasons Past and Mizzix's Mastery. I really want to run these, but early game and in the first batch of cascades I feel they are more than likely to be super whiffs. Is this downside worth the upside?
3) Jokulhaups. Why do people run this? Isn't the main idea of world destroying effects to keep us ahead and to allow us to recover faster than the opponent (by having more lands and/or rocks in play after?). I get that it's a game ending cascade (unless they counter Wanderer), but isn't that about it's best use 90+% of the time?
I find Jokulhaups to be worse than devastation and upheaval, but it's still quite good if you can get a pw out first, or have something like frontier siege out. It's fine as sweeper number 5 or so, and definitely worth playing if you're in an aggro/artifact heavy meta.
Removed: Dragonlord Atarka, Firesprout, All is dust, Garruk Primal Hunter, 1 draw spell i forgot the name
Added : Balefire Dragon, Mizzium Mortars, Fiery Confluemce, Ugin The spirit Dragon
Also looking to add Jokhulaups and Wildfire
Is there any concensus on Sarkhan? Jeepers, do you run it?
You probably SHOULD keep Garruk Primal Hunter in. Creates blockers/attackers, draws you 7 cards from wanderer (Which is usually pretty good)
I must ask however, Why are you trying to add Jokulhaups?
I do. I find that people tend to view him as a bigger threat than he actually is (I run DL atarka as my only dragon) and will often spend quite a few resources to kill him ASAP. That said, if he manages to survive a couple turns he's pretty great as he does just about everything the deck wants. I tend to think of him as a much worse version of jtms and just expect him to die. I've been considering replacing him as he's probably the weakest threat that I run, and is very much a card that does a little bit of everything (CA, ramp and threat) but doesn't do any of those things particularly well.
IMO Sarkhan doesn't really belong in Wanderer. There are much better things to do on 5 then casting Sarkhan. All of his effects are rather "meh" People will try to kill planeswalkers because they're simply good effects that are repeatable. If I'm going to cascade into a 5 drop walker, I'd much rather cascade into Garruk Primal Hunter or Tamiyo. Or if we expand on the 5 drop category, a time warp effect. I believe people are playing Sarkhan simply because he's a walker that is RUG. He's really only a walker with 2 abilities for 5 mana and that's pretty terrible for a planeswalker.
Wildfire
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Balefire Dragon
I no longer added Jokhulaups as this destroys my Artifacts.
What does your full list look like now?