I'd been looking forward to this event since it was first announced months ago. When the date for the U.S. Legacy GP was fixed to be the weekend immediately before EE4, at first I thought I would go to the GP instead. However, I settled on going to EE4 since it was only a ~5 hour drive away. As things happened, our group reached the hotel at 2AM after a 7 hour drive plagued with traffic and other mishaps. I wasn't as rested as I wanted but still arrived at the venue later that morning eager to put the Punishing Maverick deck I'd been honing for weeks to the test. The well-used, A/C-less hall coupled with 90 degree heat outside promised some level of discomfort, but everyone was happy to be there playing Legacy. The event had ~320 players so it was going to be the full 9 rounds. Here is the 75 I registered:
| PUNISHING MAVERICK, 6/18/16 | |
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After testing without Dark Depths a little, I quickly went back to it and continue to maintain its a strong choice for most builds of Maverick. Another tweak I made in the manabase was dropping the Horizon Canopy for a basic Plains, which I've been satisfied with so far.
For the Equipment package, I decided to go with 2 SFM + Jitte + Sword despite my preference for 3 SFM + Jitte + Batterskull. I thought a Sword was better positioned against Miracles and Shardless and wasn't expecting a whole lot of Delver decks. Its also worth noting that Batterskull isn't the slam dunk it used to be against the predominant Grixis Delver game 1 now that maindeck Therapies have become common.
Round 1: UG Infect (0-2)
My opponent is a known Infect player, so I kept a hand on the play with a turn 2 Jitte. Jitte is quite strong against Infect and in game 1 they have no way of removing it. Unfortunately, my Jitte got countered by Force of Will. I realized I had overlooked a crucial component of my opening hand: Gaddock Teeg. Since my opponent led on Noble Hierarch I could not die on turn 2. Therefore, the superior play would have been to lead on Gaddock Teeg before casting Jitte, which at that point would be both Force and Daze proof. I would also have the mana to equip it the same turn and start attacking. As it turned out, I drew no more interaction and died pretty quickly.
Game 2 I had a solid interactive draw and felt poised to take over the game, but my opponent Brainstormed into Invigorate + Berserk to kill me with his last threat a turn before I could get Jitte going.
Round 2: Grixis Painter (2-0)
These games were pretty similar. My opponent was digging a lot with Top and cantrips but never seemed find what he needed in the face of my hodge-podge of creatures and removal.
Round 3: Esper Deathblade (2-1)
Game 1 was a grindfest and my opponent eventually got the better of it after landing Jace and protecting it for several turns.
Game 2 I blew up his hand with a Wasteland and quickly ended the game with Exalted beats.
Game 3 I was on a mulligan but could present a relatively quick Marit Lage that he wasn't able to answer.
Round 4: Death & Taxes (1-1)
I played too slowly and conservatively this round, resulting in a draw in turns despite me being overwhelmingly favored to win game 3.
Round 5: ANT (1-2)
Game 1 my opponent had to sweat it on Ad Nauseam flips after 2 life and 1 life, but found what he needed to get there.
Game 2 I mulliganed to a hand with a turn 2 Knight and a Wasteland as my only potential interaction. I managed to fade a turn 2 kill and destroyed both his lands.
Game 3 I had a promising mulligan to 5 with Mother into Revoker, but it was blown up by Dread of Night into Chain of Vapor into Tendrils for 20.
Round 6: Esper Control (2-0)
My opponent is someone I'm familiar with from Massachsetts. I know he's on an Esper Control brew (Planeswalkers, Painful Truths, Vindicates, no Stoneforge Mystic or True-Name Nemesis) that lines up very poorly against my deck based on our previous matches. This time is no different.
Round 7: Miracles (2-1)
Game 1 he gets Mentor + double Top going and I die to a swarm of Monks a turn before I can make Marit Lage to swing for lethal.
Game 2 on a mulligan I have a quick Marit Lage he can't answer.
Game 3 he has Top into Counterbalance, but I'm able to resolve Scryb Ranger and Stoneforge Mystic for Jitte after seeing a Mentor floating around. He gets aggressive with Mentor and I go down to 2 life, but Scryb Ranger + Jitte is able to decimate all his Monks. We end extra turns with no clear conclusion and I'm prepared to draw, but my opponent decides to concede and drop.
Round 8: Gw Cloudpost (0-2)
Once again I know what my opponent is on, and keep a hand with a potential turn 2 Knight. Unfortunately, no lands are fetched so my Deathrite Shaman-turned-Squire is unable to bring my hand together. Without another land I decide to spend my second turn Zenithing for Noble Hierarch only to have Thought-Knot Seer exile my Knight, totally blowing up my game plan. I was able to strap on both my Equipments to my Squire and get some pressure going, but he resolved Primeval Titan, with Glimmerposts and my Plow giving him enough time to resolve Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger.
Game 2 I have a mulligan with a Wasteland. I use it on his Ancient Tomb instead of Savannah, and savagely topdeck my Loam next turn. I go after his tapped Cloudpost but get blown out by Crop Rotation. Oops. He resolves Rest in Peace on his next turn, and is quickly able to demonstrate an infinite turn loop.
At this point I am out of prize contention and in a zombie-like state from exhaustion so I drop.
Final Record: 4-3-1
While not the best result, I feel good about the deck, which was limited not by its power but by my poor play in several spots. Looking ahead, I am hoping to attend SCG Worcester in July. At this point I will probably just hold course and play some kind of Maverick deck.
