CEDH Maelstrom Wanderer Deck Tech 2023 - (He's still good!)

This is my deck tech plus primer for my Maelstrom Wanderer deck. I've had this deck for 4 years now and it's gone though many changes through the years. Let me know in the comments what you think of my specific inclusions and maybe some of your own. Enjoy!
Decklist: www.moxfield.c...

[@bruceking5124]

I just came across this commander, and I love it. I'm building a few decks around this guy! I did a joke deck, a glass cannon style that's funny to pull out once every few nights. 97 lands, then you cascade into Mana Severance and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries. I found so many great lands while building that! Now I'm building a real deck, so this video came in handy. This gave me some great ideas to play with, thanks for sharing!

[@vonix9199]

I came across maelstrom wanderer when building a jodah, the unifier deck and for some reason I fell in love with it. Such a cool card, eventhough it's so simple. Really cool deck and a fantastic video presentation of it!

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@NewSchoolPOKERstrat]

I do like the infinite mana stuff. That part seems legit. Have you considered Dream Halls? Seems like maybe it would be a thing to try?? Idk. Dockside + temur Foodchain combo Hullbreaker horror That’s prob good. Cut that Chonky mana ramp and add interaction and I think you may have a deck. Don’t worry too much about ramping into the commander to cast it fair, find your infinite combos and if the game goes real long then cast Wanderer. Displacer kitten seems good but maybe the deadeye navigator is a bridge too far 👍 cool video

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Dream halls is really risky and I've seen it tried before. It didn't work out for the Maelstrom deck in any of the cases. The goal for Maelstrom decks is to execute your game plan above all else. If you're interacting with the other players instead of progressing than you'll most likely lose the game. You're interaction is for the stax that shuts you down, such as rule of law and drannith. With this deck, trying to win second has always been the best strategy. Most of the interaction has been spent and the explosive ramp gets you into a turn 4-5 Maelstrom to win the game. He's by no means tier 1 obviously but he can hang with the best and win those slow grindy games as well. I'd liken him to Edric. A midrange deck that wins through extra turns and combos.

[@leonbatista8283]

good video this is my favorite commander thank you, new subscriber

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Awesome, thank you!

[@stabroxgaming3351]

nice video and nice decktech man! new subscriber

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Really appreciate it. Thanks!

[@NewSchoolPOKERstrat]

I have often wondered if this commander could be made cEdh viable. I haven’t actually tried to build a list. No offense but I highly doubt it would run Kodama’s reach let alone skyshroud claim. 😬. I mean maybe .. maybe the two mana land ramp spells but even that seems kinda meh. I just don’t see what you’re gonna do against the faster decks trying to win turn 2 or 3 and I don’t know how you’ll compete w the midrange card quality piles. Not really sure you’ve got “the build” here but maybe just keep workin at it and play it against cedh decks (I’m not talking about Krenko or whatever) “real” cedh decks. That’ll teach you what you can and can’t get away with quickly. If I put a list together I’ll drop a link here. 🖖nice video

[@johnnycomboplayer]

I appreciate the good criticism and the support!

[@SenorCoupon]

Fwiw, Skyshroud Claim is *much* better than Kodama's Reach, but in an Opposition Agent world, I have opted to cut the land ramp package in my build. Tbh, of you sit in a Pod that's like, Rog/Si, Dihada, Ob Nixilis or something, you are fully boned. You can't beat triple turbo outside of a god draw plus good seating. My version of Maelstrom has put up several t2 wins over the years, but I would be lying if I said it were a viable strategy to hope to race true turbo decks (especially ones like Rog/Si that can pack interaction). In terms of midrange, this is actually where the deck shines. Bc those pods come down to card quality, and while most decks in the format embrace mana-efficiency when they think of quality, Maelstrom Wanderer packs so much high-end punch that we can out quality decks once our mana is established. This applies to stax decks, too. Stax decks can be brutal bc Wanderer is hit by *every* possible stax effect, but a la Kinnan, even when we're shut off from our main plan, we can always windmill slam the fattest threat at the table and say "deal with it". Again, though, in reality, are we favored in a midrange game vs Tymna/Kraum or Sisay? Absolutely not. Wanderer is not a tier 1 deck, simply a deck that can snag more wins with a dedicated pilot than the casual observer may expect. This is not pushing to be the new meta buster, but it is still overlooked. I also personally have tailored my version to pack a little more interaction at the cost of potentially weak cascades. The deck can draw a ton of cards, and since we aren't trying to play table police, when you're running FoW, FoN, MBT, Drain, Pyroblast, Red Blast, and GE Archmage, it's not unfeasible to have an "oh sh!t" counter when you need it. No, GE A is not gonna help vs an early combo turn, that's more of a "protect our stack" type of card, but the Blasts are nice, and are still strong cascades (typically, albeit obviously still at an opportunity cost vs our true bombs). I also think that cutting the Swat-able turn spells is a must. We can't reliably protect our spells on first Wanderer cast, and not just losing our Time Walks, but giving them to someone else is an auto-loss.

[@SenorCoupon]

To expand upon the midrange point, the reason Wanderer can survive in those pods is specifically because it's not the threat. The way to hold MW down is to attack its mana, but that's not typically going to give the best EV to a midrange player's interaction spell. So this is using the fact that Wanderer is clearly not the best deck to siphon wins. As a Maelstrom pilot, one has to admit going in that they aren't on the best deck, just the deck the pilot likes to play the most. But bc of the high end stopping power, once the deck has the mana online, it should be viewed in a much different light than when the pod is shuffling and considering mulligans. The knock against Wanderer is the ability to get to the point where it's on even footing, but if, as a pilot, by verbal skill, play skill, or luck, you can get to that point, you know your win lines better than the rest of the table and can often convert a toss-up by using a combination of the unknown brew factor as well as the density of haymakers.

[@winston7933]

kinnan would crush in the 99 ?

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Yea actually! Check the deck list. I've made a lot of changes.

[@OODZUTSU]

I try to avoid running the small creature ramp when I have things like Selvala's Stampede.. or do you just feel they are too necessary?

[@johnnycomboplayer]

I started out by not running them for years. The deck definitely preformed and the chances of hitting something big were higher. I've found though, throughout the years I played the deck, that the small creatures were imperative to cast Maelstrom on turn 2-3 more often. The small downside with selvala's stampede is usually overshadowed by the speed and power that the dorks give you. Most of the time you'll get your value from the free votes themselves. So I wouldn't sweat hitting an arbor elf every once in a while.

[@OODZUTSU]

@@johnnycomboplayer gotchya, i always ran more sweepers in my builds as well. I don't play a ton of edh but im putting maelstrom back together closer to this build to try out!!

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Let me know if you have any success. It's very explosive and proactive. Definitely more about achieving your game plan over stopping others from achieving theirs.

[@snaxmiller]

what's this deck's plan against meta decks like rogsi which present a win on turn 1 or 2?

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Maelstrom has been power crept in many ways over the years. Since the deck runs little interaction your best bet is to rely on other players to stop the win.

[@hotti9034]

hey are you going to upgrade this list or do u have an updated version? cheers

[@johnnycomboplayer]

The only two cards that I could see adding from the new sets would be the trumpeting carnosaur and the green red mole god. They're worth thinking about but I don't think that my list would play either. Needless to say my list hasn't changed lol.

[@hotti9034]

@@johnnycomboplayer haha, cool. keep this deck going with updates! its my fav deck and i always have it around :D just not the time to keep up with all the new stuff thats releasing.

[@barryjimenez9641]

jace never lives that long or the game doesnt last that long haha

[@johnnycomboplayer]

I suppose that's true lol.

[@cameronwells82]

I like Treasonous Ogre a lot for ramp, trading life for mana is great. Seagate Restoration along with Turntimber Symbiosis as early game lands but nice fat 7 mana spells when cascaded into. A new tech I put in recently was Bramble Familiar, it's mana ramp early or a 7 mana sorcery that will most likely get you a big creature when you cascade into it. Decklist if your interested for any other possible tech: moxfield decks YyqDmifeUUeV915nUcM_Mw can't post direct link as post will get deleted.

[@johnnycomboplayer]

Interesting ideas there for sure. Treasonous ogre is a little too risky for my taste; especially when I'm in green. I'd thought about running the MDFCs but wasn't sure since they're not that great to cascade into (turntimber being slightly better). On face value alone, the bramble familiar does't look great to me. Either side is pretty meh but your milage may vary. I'll definitely check out the list. Appreciate the suggestions!

[@cameronwells82]

@@johnnycomboplayer Bramble Familiar has been pretty good so far. It sucks cascading into little mana dorks but you have to have them. The Familiar just gives a lot better cascade result after you have already established your mana ramp to get Wanderer out and are looking more for big payoffs than more ramp. I have a lot of 1 and 2 drop ramp creatures as I really like to have Gaea's Cradle tap for multiple mana early so I'm always on the lookout for nice mana dork tech. Fiery Emancipation has also won me a ton of games by cascading into it and one shotting people with Wanderer.

[@johnnycomboplayer]

I like your reasoning. I just feel the sovereign, while doing both things you want to do, doesn't do either of them well. I love fiery emancipation. It broke my heart when I cut it from the deck. I ran it for years. To be honest though, I haven't missed it in the deck. Triple red is rough when you have to cast it and most of the time it was overkill for me.@@cameronwells82

[@SenorCoupon]

I fully agree with Seagate Restoration being fantastic. However, I actually don't like Turntimber Symbiosis. I would rather it be a land so I don't waste a cascade on that effect.

[@cameronwells82]

@@SenorCoupon With my list Turntimber is almost a guaranteed big fat 6-7 mana creature so it's a worthy cascade hit for me.