Now, I know what you're thinking. "Boromir, another cliche Maze's End deck? We've already seen this at least a dozen times!" Well, this build has certain innovations which led it to a 4-0-1 finish at FNM.
Round 1: UW Midrange, he couldn't outrace me. 2-0 win
Round 2: BR Aggro. This was an insane match. He had Burning Earth out, and I was on 3 life. I had nine gates. In order to win, I had to respond to each individual trigger. 2-0 win
Round 3: BUG Midrange. Game one was rough; he was able to keep beating down on me, even through my wraths. Games two and three, however, he wasn't able to get past my Fog engine, and Crackling Perimeter won me both games. 2-1 win
Round 4: Esper Control. It was down to the only two undefeated players in the tournament. Game one was a joke, he couldn't do anything to deal with Maze's End. In game 2, he drew half a million counter spells, and beat me down with an AEtherling. Game 3, we timed out. 1-1 Draw
Round 5: White Weenies. My opponent, although she was playing a very powerful deck, kept playing straight into my Supreme Verdict and Riot Control by grossly overextending. She had obviously never played against Maze's End before. I won both games with Crackling Perimeter. 2-0 Win
2nd placem Pulled Chromanticore and two more Courser of Kruphix, one of which was foil.
What makes this deck different from typical Maze's End models is that it has multiple wincons in the main board, all of which are versatile in the current metagame. In this manner, it is built more like a traditional TurboFog deck, before the Maze's End model was first conceived.
General Rule: Don't start fogging until you are at 5 life above lethal damage on the board.
----MAINBOARD----
Maze's End is the bread and butter of this deck. For the love of god, the archetype is called "Maze's End."
Fog: The one and only.
Druid's Deliverance and Defend the Hearth both serve the same purpose: cheap fog spells that can be recycled.
Riot Control is certainly a powerful card, but use it with caution. Whatever you do, do NOT fire it off until you are absolutely sure that they are not going to play additional creatures, or when you are desperate.
Crackling Perimeter is a one-man army. Quite frankly, this card has won me more games than Maze's End. It is not uncommon to deal upwards of 10 damage in one turn off of this card.
Jace, Memory Adept is the other alternate wincon. No one sees him coming in game one, and even if he dies right off the bat, milling 10-20 cards is crippling to many decks.
Elixir of Immortality allows you to recycle your fogs as well as provide you with life insurance.
Supreme Verdict This deck plays two creatures. Case closed.
Merciless Eviction Are you depressed because your opponent keeps playing Rootborn Defenses? A horde of BUG Superfriends got you down? This card destroys all of them with utmost efficiency.
Courser of Kruphix is the only card out of BOTG that I think will impact multiple formats, including both modern and standard. This card is broken; not only does it fuel both Maze's End and Crackling Perimeter, it gains you 1-2 life per turn on average and is a substantial blocker. Even if it dies in the fray, chances are it will have already done its job.
Detention Sphere keeps Planeswalkers, which are normally the bane of this deck, in check for very little investment.
Breeding Pool: In case you are in an emergency situation, fog fuel ASAP can be handy.
The gates are self-explanatory; there is an extra copy of each of the most important ones.
----SIDEBOARD PLAN----
Kiora, the Crashing Wave: Bring her in against things like RW or UW heroic, which typically work on buffing up one creature. She is also a good surprise board card against control decks, who will likely board out their removal for creatures.
Revoke Existence: In case they left in that stray Detention Sphere or they brought in Pithing Needle, this number can deal with them.
Last Breath: Mutavault. Nuff said.
Jace, Architect of Thought: In a control matchup, you'll want extra card advantage.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion and AEtherling: More control killers
Blind Obedience: RDW, our worst matchup.
Dissolve: If you can help it, you don't want an opposing AEtherling to resolve, ever.
Pithing Needle Shuts down certain vital cards.
Enjoy fogging out. I will be posting FNM results every Friday.
