Maelstrom Wanderer a.k.a. The Kool-Aid Man

[Mjmirobelli]

I forgot to mention above, but The Great Henge ability to draw cards really did help in that game. I was able to draw three cards off of it I think. It's the first time I included the The Great Henge in this deck so it's way too early to make a firm judgement, but it has definitely performed well enough for me to merit some additional testing.

[ZenN]

I didn't slot in The Great Henge, but I did play a game with this two nights ago.

Not really a surprise, but I was happy with both Cryptic Command and Archmage's Charm. The Charm got used as a Divination, which I was perfectly happy with. Command got used to tap blockers and draw a card, which I was also perfectly happy with.

Having them both be triple blue isn't exactly ideal, but the mana base is solid enough, with tons of potential fixing, that I'm not too concerned about it.

[Mjmirobelli]

I played a game with my version of this deck on Thursday. I got a lot of early mana ramp (Nature's Lore, Sol Ring, and Basalt Monolith) as well as Crystal Shard . I only had to play Maelstrom Wanderer twice. First time I played Maelstrom Wanderer I Cascaded into Pathbreaker Ibex and something else that I don't really remember. Later I used the Crystal Shard to bounce Maelstrom Wanderer and recast it. This time I Cascaded into Savage Ventmaw and Hellkite Charger, which ended the game pretty easily.

My opponents were playing Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, and Grenzo, Dungeon Warden.

[ZenN]

@Mjmirobelli

Savage Ventmaw + Hellkite Charger is pretty cute.

Sounds like you had a pretty solid start to that game. I don't usually like cascading into Pathbreaker Ibex early, because it usually turns the game into archenemy for a few turns, and then I don't have it for later when it can actually kill the table.

Do you play ways to abuse Basalt Monolith, or just use it as a colourless ritual?

[Mjmirobelli]

The only ways I have to abuse Basalt Monolith are Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, Vizier of Tumbling Sands, and Kiora's Follower. I only have one copy of Tezzeret the Seeker and I'm using that in my Breya, Etherium Shaper deck.

Is there anything that I'm missing that would be helpful? I run Mana Vault too so I would guess anything that benefits one would help out with the other too.

[ZenN]

The only ways I have to abuse Basalt Monolith are Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, Vizier of Tumbling Sands, and Kiora's Follower. I only have one copy of Tezzeret the Seeker and I'm using that in my Breya, Etherium Shaper deck.

Is there anything that I'm missing that would be helpful? I run Mana Vault too so I would guess anything that benefits one would help out with the other too.

Oh, I was kind of wondering if you were playing any way to go infinite with the monolith. It's kind of disappointing any time you don't have a way to untap it, which is unfortunate. At least with Mana Vault is a dirt cheap ritual that I would feel totally fine just never untapping.

Out of curiosity, do you run Worn Powerstone?

[Mjmirobelli]

Yes, I run Worn Powerstone and Thran Dynamo as well.

[ZenN]

I'm playing a game right now against something playing a Kogla, the Titan Ape, and I gotta say I'm pretty sure I want one of those in this deck. Not sure what's getting cut for it, but I definitely want to try to find a slot for it.

Yes, I run Worn Powerstone and Thran Dynamo as well.

Do you ever find that you've got colour problems? It sounds like you've got a lot of colourless ramp.

[Mjmirobelli]

I run a bunch of colored ramp too. Honestly maybe too much ramp overall. I have not had any problems with mana fixing in so long that I cannot recall a game that it was an issue. I run:

The Great Henge
Nature's Lore
Farseek
Cultivate
Kodama's Reach
Talisman of Creativity
Talisman of Curiosity
Talisman of Impulse

For multi-colored lands I currently am running:
Command Tower
Exotic Orchard
Misty Rainforest
Wooded Foothills
Scalding Tarn
Breeding Pool
Stomping Ground
Steam Vents
Hinterland Harbor
Rootbound Crag
Sulfur Falls
Temple of Mystery
Temple of Abandon
Temple of Epiphany
Spire Garden

[ZenN]

I'm not really a big fan of the Temples in most decks, mostly just because I want very few lands that always enter tapped, but the scry can certainly be at least a little bit relevant.

It would have to be an awful lot of ramp for me to ever think it's too much ramp for this deck.

I played some games with this tonight, and Cryptic Command was definitely just as fantastic as I expected it to be. Won me a game by tapping down blockers, which was exactly what I wanted it to do.

[pokken]

yea Cryptic is definitely underrated in EDH. 'all my stuff is unblockable' is a great mode but 'get rid of target stax piece' and 'expensive counterspell' also work.

When I was playin wanderer, end step bouncing a ghostly prison and untapping and killing that person definitely won me few games.

[ZenN]

yea Cryptic is definitely underrated in EDH. 'all my stuff is unblockable' is a great mode but 'get rid of target stax piece' and 'expensive counterspell' also work.

When I was playin wanderer, end step bouncing a ghostly prison and untapping and killing that person definitely won me few games.

Granted this was years ago, but I remember a time when you tried to convince me Cryptic Command wasn't good enough to be worth the triple blue cost.

I've been happy with Cryptic in basically every deck I've had it in, so I was fully expecting to be happy with it here, it's just nice to have my expectations confirmed.

I think, temporarily, I'm going to try slotting Kogla, the Titan Ape in over Tooth and Nail, just to get to try it out, and since T&N is a card I've already talked about maybe cutting.

[pokken]

Underrated includes by me years ago I started playing it in Aminatou and it blew me away how good it was.

(And then I put it in wanderer as another out to frigging stax pieces in a deck I didn't want to play traditional removal spells)

[ZenN]

(And then I put it in wanderer as another out to frigging stax pieces in a deck I didn't want to play traditional removal spells)

There is very little true stax play in my group. The worst it gets is with tax effects, especially Ghostly Prison type stuff. And Rhystic Study and Smothering Tithe everywhere.

It is definitely nice to have more answers to things, though. Part of why I want to try out Kogla, the Titan Ape, which I'm hoping to do this weekend.

[pokken]

Kogla is siiiiick. I had it in mono green golos.

[Mjmirobelli]

Played the deck on Thursday against Lazav, the Multifarious, Sliver Hivelord, and Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.

I had a slightly subpar draw in terms of getting enough ramp. Cascaded into Kiora's Follower and Remand. Then next turn Cascaded into Savage Ventmaw and Bloodbraid Elf (which Cascaded in Preordain). Despite the slow start I was one point of damage from pulling it out.

Sliver Hivelord played Gemstone Caverns at the beginning of the game and dominated the board from the get go. I was 1 point away from killing him with Commander Damage (I Chaos Warped his blocker but he flipped into Sinew Sliver) before he got Galerider Sliver and brought the house to kill me.

[ZenN]

@Mjmirobelli

Do you find that the cantrip spells like Preordain do enough to really be worthwhile?

[Mjmirobelli]

No, Preordain is on the chopping block for when I get Dream Cache (somehow I only currently have 1 copy which is in Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow). I plan to keep Brainstorm in the deck for obvious reasons, but Preordain is the only other one currently in it.

[ZenN]

I'm relatively certain I want to try out Elder Gargaroth in here. Not sure over what, but the card seems sweet.

[pokken]

That is a lot of keywords and a lot of value. I wish it did something useful like fight stuff or something but it's still pretty cool.

I think it'll be a pretty serious staple in green decks; reach is a keyword that plugs a lot of problems green decks run into.

[ZenN]

That is a lot of keywords and a lot of value. I wish it did something useful like fight stuff or something but it's still pretty cool.

I think it'll be a pretty serious staple in green decks; reach is a keyword that plugs a lot of problems green decks run into.

The fact that it has vigilance and triggers on both attack AND block makes it pretty strong. Particularly when combined with the haste provided by Wanderer. Plus being a 6/6 trample for 5 is already sweet.

[schai]

Two other cards I really like are Treasonous Ogre and Imperial Recruiter. Ogre generates obscene amounts of mana to get your plays often a turn sooner. It's baseline is essentially a Thran Dynamo, which is still one of our better ramp pieces. Recruiter fetches everything from Dockside to Selvala, Metamorph to Agent of Treachery. It can even get the entire Kiki combo if you run it.

Another card I can suggest over Worn Powerstone is Trinket Mage. It can, at worst, fetch a Mana Crypt, acting as an untapped Worn Powerstone, and can fetch Sensei's Top later. And helps to chump for your planes walkers.

Wanderer has been my daily driver for years. Here's my list. It's a bit more heavy on the extra turns, and has a minor superfriends theme.

https://deckstats.net/decks/4431/790086 ... anderer/en

I am pretty intrigued by Kogla. I'm not sure if it's better than Inferno Titan though. Getting the spread the damage out and hit planes walkers and players is pretty nice. Not sure what to cut if I wanted to run both.

Also, for Mana Drain, I did some math to justify its inclusion, despite being a bad cascade hit. On average, there is about a 3.5% chance that one of your hits will be Mana Drain. Less if you run top deck manipulation. It's not completely dead as if you have extra colored mana, you could get an extra Maelstrom cast for nearly free. However, the chance that it's in your hand by turn 3/4 is roughly 11%. Getting Wanderer out potentially a turn earlier while countering a spell 11% of the time seems to be a fair tradeoff for a 3.5% of bad hits.

[ZenN]

@schai

Treasonous Ogre is definitely strong, but I think it would play a lot worse here than in your version. With all your extra turn spells and things like Jokulhaups, you've got a much more bursty, all-in on that first Wanderer cast kind of list. It's a good list, just a little meaner than what I'm aiming for.

Trinket Mage should probably be here. I actually have no good reason for why its not. I think I'll want one or two more targets for him, but I'm probably going to figure out a slot for him in the near future.

Kogla, the Titan Ape has been sweet so far in testing. Always happy to see him, especially with the haste. I wouldn't play him instead of Inferno Titan, though. They fill different holes, in my mind. I plan to run both and am happy with both.

My list is currently combo-less, and plays only a couple turn spells, so I've got more slots to play with for fatties and such.

I see you're running Teferi, Temporal Archmage. He was previously in here, but I ended up cutting him when I normalized my ramp package a bit. I also see you're running Time Spiral. That is a card that should absolutely be in here. I've talked in my group about adding it a bunch of times, and then somehow forget and it never happens. This time I'm going to find a slot for it now while it's on my mind.

[schai]

That's fair. The deck is definitely pretty mean. Out of curiosity, I checked my deck's salt score on EDHREC, and it's literally the saltiest MW deck with a score of 100+ lol.

I'll have to find a spot for Kogla then. List is so tight though. Maybe Rhystic Study? Clever Impersonator?

Teferi is super strong. Admittedly he's much better with all the extra turn spells since he doesn't protect himself well. But I run a high density of things that tap for 2 or more, so often he'll come down, untap 6+ worth of mana, cast an extra turn spell and all of a sudden I get an extra turn with 15 mana and can just go nuts.

Time Spiral is great. We're often low on cards in hand turn 4 when we cast Wanderer since we've been ramping hard. Spiral refuels and is especially nice with extra turns again It also allowed one of my great plays ever, where I went from 1 card in hand (Mystical Tutor), empty board, staring down a Selvala and Muldrotha deck with 4-5 creatures each. I tutored for Spiral, cascaded off Maelstrom, drew into a hand of gas, cast Clever Impersonator copying opponent's Myojin of Life's Web, throw down 5 creatures including a Pathbreaker Ibex and swung for 80+ trample damage out of literally nowhere to end the game.

[ZenN]

I've been trying out these changes for the last little while and been pretty happy with them so far, so I may as well reflect them here.

I realized I still had a ramp spell in here that couldn't net me 2+ mana, and wanted to find a spot for Trinket Mage, so that. And with one fewer specific Forest tutor, I felt okay cutting a Forest, and Shadowspear is sweet. Gives me another way to make Wanderer trample, plus some extra life gain, which I won't complain about, and a sweet ability to deal with annoying stuff. Plus, my group realized last play session how silly Ruric Thar, the Unbowed + Shadowspear is, so that's fun.

Elder Gargaroth and Kogla, the Titan Ape have both been super sweet so far. Hellkite Tyrant wasn't worth the hate it drew most of the time, and Kiora Bests the Sea God just never did as much as I hoped it would.

Lastly, I've talked in this thread before about my feelings on Tooth and Nail here, and Time Spiral should probably have been here from the beginning. I've only actually gotten to cast it once, but it was off of a turn 3 Wanderer and the second cascade was a Nexus of Fate, and the table just scooped shortly thereafter. Obviously that's an edge case, but I'm sure the card will feel good just about every time.

Out

• Forest
• Nature's Lore
• Hellkite Tyrant
• Kiora Bests the Sea God
• Tooth and Nail

In

• Shadowspear
• Trinket Mage
• Elder Gargaroth
• Kogla, the TItan Ape
• Time Spiral