When Nylea's Intervention first got spoiled in Theros: Beyond Death it made me think that Maze's End in Pioneer could be viable so I just went with it. Unfortunately I was only able to put this deck together on a budget as I'd like to add expensive cards to the list such as Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Courser of Kruphix for getting my win con out faster.
I'm having a bit of trouble with cards that can help me stall for time or deal with threats on board as I managed to find room for a playset of Return to Nature. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim seemed like a perfect fit in here especially since I can cast spells for free with his second line of text If I get WUBRG on board which shouldn't be too hard with the Guildgates.
Any advice, comments, and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Main deck Return to Nature probably isn't a great idea. Against aggro its a dead draw, and often against control it isn't that great, either. You probably shouldn't stray away from playing cards like Gates Ablaze as an early game answer. Greenside Watcher also doesn't seem great. I also think you are going to lose to random games due to cards like Assassin's Trophy, since you only have 1 copy of every gate, so you need some sort of recursion. I think a place I'd start if I was going to brew something like this would be more like:
I left it fairly budget except the sideboard, which you'll have to see what you substitute based on your collection or more importantly your local meta. A lot of people here play Dredgeless Dredge, U/W control, and Twiddle Storm. Grafdigger's Cage is great vs. Narcomoeba and Prized Amalgam. Dread Bore, Assassin's Trophy, and even Sorcerous Spyglass can all be good against various decks. The call between Pithing Needle/Sorcerous Spyglass or eschewing those effects all together is up to you. Deafening Silence is serviceable against Twiddle Storm.
If you absolutely cannot get the Shock lands or Fast Lands (i.e. Botanical Sanctum)—which I advise you do eventually if you plan on playing Pioneer—is they could be substituted with something like the temples (Temple of Mystery, Temple of Abandon), but you will be notably slower. I think you need some interaction for aggro, which is why if you're playing gates, Gates Ablaze should be on your radar. In a deck playing sweepers (and TBH so many taplands), Arboreal Grazer is better than Llanowar Elves, and the land count was increased to account for that. Nature's Spiral is in the deck to help you be able to win through Assassin's Trophy, as without destroying 1 of your gates means you can't really win.
One thing to note, you're going to have a hard time fighting against cards like Ashiok, Dream Render, so you need some sort of planeswalker removal, at least in the board.
Here is a maze deck that me and a buddy have worked on for a while. We also have a second version where we play dread presence and get a pseudo scapeshift win with urborg. Going into a slow grinding control shell seems to be the best spot for the deck. I’ve been out of the loop pretty much for all of 2020 so not sure if there are any cards that might fit in, but I’ll be getting back to the grind and fine tuning this deck!
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Gatecreeper Vine
4 Greenside Watcher
4 District Guide
4 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
Other Spells (20)
4 Explore
4 Nylea's Intervention
4 Open the Gates
4 Circuitous Route
4 Return to Nature
6 Forest
4 Maze's End
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Gruul Guildgate
1 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Boros Guildgate
I'm having a bit of trouble with cards that can help me stall for time or deal with threats on board as I managed to find room for a playset of Return to Nature. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim seemed like a perfect fit in here especially since I can cast spells for free with his second line of text If I get WUBRG on board which shouldn't be too hard with the Guildgates.
Any advice, comments, and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
04 Arboreal Grazer
04 Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
03 Wayward Swordtooth
02 Gatecreeper Vine
Instants — 04
04 Growth Spiral
Sorceries — 16
04 Gates Ablaze
04 Circuitous Route
04 Open the Gates
03 Nature's Spiral
01 Hour of Promise
Lands — 27
04 Breeding Pool
04 Stomping Ground
04 Forest
03 Maze's End
02 Golgari Guildgate
02 Gruul Guildgate
01 Azorius Guildgate
01 Dimir Guildgate
01 Orzhov Guildgate
01 Rakdos Guildgate
01 Simic Guildgate
01 Izzet Guildgate
01 Boros Guildgate
01 Selesnya Guildgate
03 Dreadbore
03 Assassin's Trophy
03 Return to Nature
02 Sorcerous Spyglass
02 Grafdigger's Cage
02 Deafening Silence
I left it fairly budget except the sideboard, which you'll have to see what you substitute based on your collection or more importantly your local meta. A lot of people here play Dredgeless Dredge, U/W control, and Twiddle Storm. Grafdigger's Cage is great vs. Narcomoeba and Prized Amalgam. Dread Bore, Assassin's Trophy, and even Sorcerous Spyglass can all be good against various decks. The call between Pithing Needle/Sorcerous Spyglass or eschewing those effects all together is up to you. Deafening Silence is serviceable against Twiddle Storm.
If you absolutely cannot get the Shock lands or Fast Lands (i.e. Botanical Sanctum)—which I advise you do eventually if you plan on playing Pioneer—is they could be substituted with something like the temples (Temple of Mystery, Temple of Abandon), but you will be notably slower. I think you need some interaction for aggro, which is why if you're playing gates, Gates Ablaze should be on your radar. In a deck playing sweepers (and TBH so many taplands), Arboreal Grazer is better than Llanowar Elves, and the land count was increased to account for that. Nature's Spiral is in the deck to help you be able to win through Assassin's Trophy, as without destroying 1 of your gates means you can't really win.
One thing to note, you're going to have a hard time fighting against cards like Ashiok, Dream Render, so you need some sort of planeswalker removal, at least in the board.
Maindeck (60)
4 Fae of Wishes
4 Arboreal Grazer
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Growth Spiral
4 Quench
2 Gates Ablaze
4 Void Shatter
4 Circuitous Route
2 Cleansing Nova
2 Hour of Promise
3 Guild Summit
2 Azorius Guildgate
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Dimir Guildgate
3 Forest
1 Gateway Plaza
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Gruul Guildgate
2 Island
1 Izzet Guildgate
3 Maze's End
1 Orzhov Guildgate
4 Plaza of Harmony
1 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Selesnya Guildgate
2 Simic Guildgate
Sideboard (15)
2 Dream Trawler
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Dreadbore
3 Mystical Dispute
1 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Settle the Wreckage
2 Damping Sphere
Here is a maze deck that me and a buddy have worked on for a while. We also have a second version where we play dread presence and get a pseudo scapeshift win with urborg. Going into a slow grinding control shell seems to be the best spot for the deck. I’ve been out of the loop pretty much for all of 2020 so not sure if there are any cards that might fit in, but I’ll be getting back to the grind and fine tuning this deck!
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