Improving my Maze's End deck
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on July 3, 2016, 4:23 a.m. by Loboargost
I put this deck together back when I started seriously playing Magic, and now I wish to improve it and make it faster, more sustainable. Any and all advice is welcome. I'm even prepared to change the color identity if need be.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/mazes-end-ramp/
Link for the lazy. Just to note that Tempt with Discovery is not modern legal.
July 3, 2016 12:41 p.m.
You need to have at least 2x of each guildgate because Ghost Quarter is present in a lot of Modern decks. The good news is that you have access to Crucible of Worlds and Sacred Ground in Modern.
You're also concerned with Aven Mindcensor, Blood Moon, Fulminator Mage, and the deck, Living End, in general.
The other thing is that you don't really need creatures in Maze's End because you have an alternate win condition. Any creatures included in the deck should be there to help protect or enable Maze's End. Azusa, Lost but Seeking is one example. Sakura-Tribe Scout, Skyshroud Ranger, and Walking Atlas can also be worthy additions.
Maze's End is quite fragile in Modern. However, you can really mess with your opponent's plans with Root Maze and Amulet of Vigor. Root Maze forces them to play at the same speed that you do, while Amulet of Vigor lets you play at the same speed they do.
Going heavy into Fog effects is useful, but Modern also has more prison cards than Standard did when Maze's End was legal there. Ghostly Prison, Blind Obedience, Exhaustion, Rule of Law, Leyline of Sanctity, Reverence, Night of Souls' Betrayal, Ensnaring Bridge, etc. are all legal in Modern.
Here is a pretty solid budget list for Maze's End over at MtG Goldfish. Summer Bloom is no longer legal, but it can be replaced with removal or more Fog effects.
People have been trying to figure out a way to play Maze's End in Modern ever since it was printed (myself included). While it's not Thawing Glaciers, it's definitely a strong card. There's a lot of land hate in Modern, making it difficult. You do benefit from having access to all 5 colors since you're playing a stack of dual lands.
July 3, 2016 4:06 p.m.
Well said sylvannos. I was gonna say the same thing. After weighing all those options in my mind, I think the deck really wants a combo to speed up the win/maybe give an alternate win. This can be mixed in with fog or pillowfort. What combo's are out there with Crucible of Worlds and Sacred Ground. Are there any enchantments that care about lands or let you play extra lands? What about in general are there any cards that interact with the amount of colors you can make? Like converge That could be another thing. Also, since your color base isn't reliable, then I would try to get as many colorless cards going to help you out. Maybe you could even do an artifact pillowfort. I've been tossing around the idea in my head, so I could help you with that. Where are you now with your brewing process?
July 5, 2016 10:07 a.m.
Loboargost says... #6
The current list is after rebuilding the deck from the ground up. I shifted to a focus on ramping to speed up the deck.
July 5, 2016 8:07 p.m.
Loboargost says... #8
I'm missing three cards, so I haven't play tested it yet, but even if I encounter land hate, I'm good. I run Elixir of Immortality specifically to counter land destruction.
July 7, 2016 5:37 p.m.
@MadKat: I haven't played the deck since it was in Standard. There are too many Blood Moon players in my meta that would make Maze's End difficult to play.
Crucible of Worlds and Sacred Ground are just sideboard cards that stop land destruction. If your opponent isn't using Blood Moon, they're likely relying on Ghost Quarter, Molten Rain, or Fulminator Mage.
I think the main reason I'm hesitant to play Maze's End in Modern is the lack of Exploration, Manabond, or Burgeoning. There aren't really any cards that do these effects that aren't sorceries or creatures. Azusa, Lost but Seeking and Mina and Denn, Wildborn are the main cards, along with the dorks I posted earlier. Explore and Journey of Discovery are the other ones.
What are you using for pillowfort? Ghostly Prison, Ensnaring Bridge, Uba Mask?
July 7, 2016 5:38 p.m.
I haven't really created an artifact pillowfort to with Maze's End but I think the cards exist out there. I wouldn't use Ghostly Prison because of the white cost. I know I've been setting aside cards for an artifact pillowfort, but I'll have to search for the cards I had in mind to post them here.
Loboargost says... #2
The list you likely just looked over is actually post revision, after I switched from Simic colors to mono-green to double down on ramp and card recycling.
July 3, 2016 7:19 a.m.