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Matchup Mulligan: Maverick II


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Final BUG Ninjas Hand Answer

Hand No. 10: (on the play)

[[Mox Opal|]] [[Lion’s Eye Diamond|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Veil of Summer|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Dark Ritual|]]

Keep

It might seem crazy, but this hand is fine and goes back to needing to draw an action spell (34 percent) over the next few turns. We have two of the important three things — mana and protection, we just need to get a tiny bit lucky. I would sequence this as [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: Rite of Flame), [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], and then [[Mox Opal]]. Don’t give the opponent a reason to want to counterspell the [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] by playing it last.

Maverick

Pre-board

Hand No. 1: (on the play)

[[Veil of Summer|]] [[Ponder|]] [[Burning Wish|]] [[Defense Grid|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Polluted Delta|]] [[Verdant Catacombs|]]

Mulligan

This is a terrific hand against most of the Legacy metagame, but not here. You have two dead cards in the matchup between [[Veil of Summer]] and [[Defense Grid]] — which makes this essentially a mulligan to five. The only way this hand works is if [[Ponder]] finds exactly [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to allow you to cast [[Burning Wish]] for [[Echo of Eons]] on the second turn with a land open. I’d rather just mulligan for something more playable.



Hand No. 2: (on the draw)

[[Dark Ritual|]] [[Lion’s Eye Diamond|]] [[Echo of Eons|]] [[Mox Opal|]] [[Tropical Island|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Chrome Mox|]]

Keep

Something to understand about this matchup is that Maverick has no ways of interacting on the first turn in game one. Which means that no matter what this [[Echo of Eons]] will resolve. I’d personally sequence this to play [[Tropical Island]], cast [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: Rite of Flame), [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Mox Opal]], [[Dark Ritual]], sacrifice [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to generate , and then Flashback [[Echo of Eons]].



Hand No. 3: (on the play)

[[Ponder|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Lotus Petal|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Mox Opal|]] [[Bloodstained Mire|]]

Keep

This hand may seem a little underwhelming but is actually fine. Either [[Burning Wish]] or [[Wishclaw Talisman]] off of [[Ponder]] would allow for a second-turn combo, but so do both main deck Storm engines — [[Ad Nauseam]] and [[Echo of Eons]]. This is 10 phenomenal hits to look for and as we mentioned in Hand No. 2 there isn’t any way for Maverick to interact with you really (outside of [[Wasteland]]).



Hand No. 4: (on the draw)

[[Lion’s Eye Diamond|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Lotus Petal|]] [[Mox Opal|]] [[Taiga|]] [[Bloodstained Mire|]]

Mulligan

This is interesting to me because under the Vancouver mulligan rules, I probably would’ve kept this hand and prayed for the 34 percent out. The London mulligan really changes things, we’re so much more likely to draw into a much better six card hand than this. There just isn’t a good excuse to allow yourself a chance to lose to a second turn [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]] or a [[Collector Ouphe]] off of a [[Green Sun’s Zenith]].



Hand No. 5: (on the play)

[[Rite of Flame|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Burning Wish|]] [[Dark Ritual|]] [[Badlands|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Tendrils of Agony|]]

Keep

BOOM! Twelve [[Goblin Token]]s on the play from an [[Empty the Warrens]] is usually lights out for Maverick in game one ([[Plague Engineer]] is a two-of in the main deck, but they would need to both have it AND the acceleration to cast it in time even if they did have it). It’s certainly worth the risk in my opinion.



Post-board

Recommended sideboarding:

IN

[[Abrupt Decay|]] [[Abrupt Decay|]]
[[Chain of Vapor|]] [[Chain of Vapor|]]

OUT

[[Veil of Summer|]] [[Veil of Summer|]]
[[Defense Grid|]] [[Defense Grid|]]


Hand No. 6:(on the draw)

[[Swamp|]] [[Veil of Summer|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Wishclaw Talisman|]] [[Mox Opal|]] [[Volcanic Island|]]

Mulligan

Mana and tutoring, right? Wrong! There’s more to the matchup than just that. What does this hand actually do? It casts a first turn [[Wishclaw Talisman]] and then can maybe cast an [[Ad Nauseam]] on the second turn if you draw a [[Dark Ritual]], [[Rite of Flame]], or [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. In order for this to happen, you first need your opponent to not play a second turn [[Thalia, Guardian of Thraben]], [[Collector Ouphe]], [[Gaddock Teeg]], [[Thoughtseize]], and there are other potential cards like [[Chalice of the Void]] or [[Deafening Silence]] that would normally be cast on the first turn but could be played on the second turn. Assuming none of this happens, you then need to draw into 11-of-53. This is just wishful thinking, I know it looks good, but this hand is a trap.



Hand No. 7: (on the play)

[[Abrupt Decay|]] [[Chain of Vapor|]] [[Veil of Summer|]] [[Underground Sea|]] [[Verdant Catacombs|]] [[Wishclaw Talisman|]] [[Polluted Delta|]]

Mulligan

You are on the play versus a deck with [[Thoughtseize]] (usually two to three copies in the sideboard). That said, that’s not really what the matchup is about. With a hand like this, you’re spending a lot of time reacting and not moving forward. What happens if the [[Veil of Summer]] doesn’t cycle on the first turn? You then end up casting [[Wishclaw Talisman]], they play a threat, you answer it, they play another threat, and you cast [[Chain of Vapor]]. At this point, they can spend their third land drop to [[Time Walk]] you by bouncing [[Wishclaw Talisman]]. The only way this hand works is if you’ve drawn nothing but mana acceleration off of the top. It’s not the worst keep, but on the play, I like to be a tiny bit more explosive than this.



Hand No. 8: (on the draw)

[[Lion’s Eye Diamond|]] [[Echo of Eons|]] [[Dark Ritual|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Wishclaw Talisman|]] [[Abrupt Decay|]] [[Burning Wish|]]

Mulligan

A hand that’s all-in on resolving [[Echo of Eons]] on the draw, probably not the best. Maverick does side in [[Thoughtseize]], [[Deafening Silence]], and [[Leyline of the Void]]. If you wanted to keep this, I’d ask you, “what is your goal here?”. The answer is most likely to draw a new hand. You can do that by mulliganing! The risk/reward of drawing a black mana source to cast [[Dark Ritual]] into [[Wishclaw Talisman]] just isn’t worth it in my eyes.



Hand No. 9: (on the play)

[[Veil of Summer|]] [[Chrome Mox|]] [[Ad Nauseam|]] [[Rite of Flame|]] [[Echo of Eons|]] [[Bloodstained Mire|]] [[Badlands|]]

Keep

Once again, we’re on the play with a [[Veil of Summer]] to protect us from [[Thoughtseize]]. The difference is that this time, the ask for our draw step is much smaller. We just need any non-land plus one mana spell and [[Echo of Eons]] is out of the deck which means this [[Ad Nauseam]] should be nuts!



Hand No. 10: (on the draw)

[[Abrupt Decay|]] [[Echo of Eons|]] [[Dark Ritual|]] [[Polluted Delta|]] [[Volcanic Island|]] [[Bloodstained Mire|]] [[Swamp|]]

Stay tuned for the next article!

I’ll provide my answer in the next article. For now, make sure to post your thoughts!