MTGO user morticiansunion (Ethan Gaieski) has recently been having successes with Punishing Maverick lists.
Here is the most recent iteration of his list
He later made a post about the deck on the MtG Legacy subreddit.
The post attracted a decent amount of attention and Ethan did a great job of explaining the deck's theory, advantages, and matchups.
I just wanted to share a few thoughts on his list:
6 dorks - Mana dorks are the bread and butter of Maverick, and Ethan has clearly embraced this. Playing this many mana dorks informs many of the deckbuilding choices. It makes the 4th Wasteland much better, and also increases the stock of Sanctum Prelate as a 2-of in the sideboard. While powerful, Sanctum Prelate can be slow compared to CMC2 hatebears like Thalia, Canonist, and G. Teeg. However, with 6 dorks you have a good enough chance of deploying her on your second turn that she's worth running over other options.
Elspeth Knight-Errant and Chandra Pyromaster - These are my two favorite Planeswalkers to play in a Naya deck and I'm glad Ethan appreciates their power . Chandra is notably better in Ethan's list than mine since he has more Red sources in the form of +3 Birds and the 4th Grove.
The Not as Good
4 Birds/2 Hierarch split - I first played Punishing Maverick with 4 Birds because I thought its ability to make Red mana was indispensable. I quickly learned through playing the deck that Noble Hierarch is generally a better card due to the Exalted trigger, despite not producing Red. Birds is still useful and good enough that I always play 1, but I've hardly ever wanted a second. I have to think that a 4 Hierarch/2 Birds split is superior.
Too Many 1-toughness creatures? - The list has a whopping 15 1-toughness creatures. For reference, I typically play 10, and regard this as one of the biggest weaknesses of omitting Deathrite Shaman from Punishing Maverick. Cards like Zealous Persecution, Golgari Charm, Marsh Casualties, Umezawa's Jitte, Liliana, the Last Hope, and more can be crippling to such a creature base. Ethan clearly doesn't share this concern, and maybe he's correct that the benefits of these creatures outweigh their vulnerability.
Here is the most recent iteration of his list
He later made a post about the deck on the MtG Legacy subreddit.
The post attracted a decent amount of attention and Ethan did a great job of explaining the deck's theory, advantages, and matchups.
I just wanted to share a few thoughts on his list:
The Good
6 dorks - Mana dorks are the bread and butter of Maverick, and Ethan has clearly embraced this. Playing this many mana dorks informs many of the deckbuilding choices. It makes the 4th Wasteland much better, and also increases the stock of Sanctum Prelate as a 2-of in the sideboard. While powerful, Sanctum Prelate can be slow compared to CMC2 hatebears like Thalia, Canonist, and G. Teeg. However, with 6 dorks you have a good enough chance of deploying her on your second turn that she's worth running over other options.
Elspeth Knight-Errant and Chandra Pyromaster - These are my two favorite Planeswalkers to play in a Naya deck and I'm glad Ethan appreciates their power . Chandra is notably better in Ethan's list than mine since he has more Red sources in the form of +3 Birds and the 4th Grove.
The Not as Good
4 Birds/2 Hierarch split - I first played Punishing Maverick with 4 Birds because I thought its ability to make Red mana was indispensable. I quickly learned through playing the deck that Noble Hierarch is generally a better card due to the Exalted trigger, despite not producing Red. Birds is still useful and good enough that I always play 1, but I've hardly ever wanted a second. I have to think that a 4 Hierarch/2 Birds split is superior.
Too Many 1-toughness creatures? - The list has a whopping 15 1-toughness creatures. For reference, I typically play 10, and regard this as one of the biggest weaknesses of omitting Deathrite Shaman from Punishing Maverick. Cards like Zealous Persecution, Golgari Charm, Marsh Casualties, Umezawa's Jitte, Liliana, the Last Hope, and more can be crippling to such a creature base. Ethan clearly doesn't share this concern, and maybe he's correct that the benefits of these creatures outweigh their vulnerability.
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