Christoph Nord was never interested in the spotlight; he was a Weapon X operative who worked in the shadows, an infiltrator, or some would say a spy, who could absorb and redirect kinetic energy. Known widely as Maverick, he also had the alias David North or Agent Zero, depending on who was hunting him. He crossed paths with Wolverine as both ally and enemy, but always survived. When he lost his powers on M-Day, that didn't stop him; he relied on training, instinct, and hard-earned experience. Maverick is an antihero defined less by ideals and more by endurance.
Maverick is making his way into Marvel Snap as an Activate card, which is generally seen by most people as a downside. However, I believe he has all the characteristics to be a good Activate, as we've seen with cards like Bullseye and Kid Omega, in which the nature of their ability incentivizes them to come down early to allow considerable amounts of setup for an even bigger payoff than an On Reveal version of them would allow. Maverick has this upside, like how Kid Omega lets you Destroy a Nimrod on the same turn you double it with Shuri or Bullseye enables multiple extra Discards on the last turn alongside your M.O.D.O.C.K discarding Swarms or in the case of Maverick letting you provide extra stats on a card you want to double with Shuri or being a delayed Forge for Brood which gives you more control over your allocation of power.
Synergies
Maverick, being a 3-cost, gives him an undeniable synergy with Silver Surfer. Still, he has a wide variety of other synergies, which split into two categories: the enablers (the cards that buff Maverick) and the payoffs (the cards that get extra use out of the buffs Maverick provides).
Each buff provided by an enabler is essentially a double if you get the Mavericks ability off, and then can be further used to greater lengths by the payoffs. For example, a Maverick Merged into an Agony leaves you with a six Power Maverick, which, when activated on the Fallen One, leaves you with an eleven Power Fallen One. You have just played twelve power for four energy through the Agony and Maverick, which is already above rate, and net yourself an extra six Energy through Fallen One. Similarly, with another payoff like Brood, an Agony with a Maverick nets you 24 Power.
Enablers
Basically, any card that can buff others.
Payoffs
There are some prominent cards with which each extra power on the card provides extra value from the card text that has a significant impact on the game.
Counters
With Maverick being an Activate, he has a decent amount of counters. Being aware of when priority is and isn't needed will be key to playing around these counters.
Day One Decks To Try
Maverick Surfer
Maverick Surfer was the first deck that popped into my mind when I read Mavericks' text. Maverick, being a 3-cost that both wants to be buffed and buffs other cards, means he's a natural fit into Silver Surfer decks and likely a considerable upgrade.
Maverick Fallen One
A little more on the experimental side with the use of cards like Fallen One and Frankie Nova here, but this is trying to lean into a direction with Fallen One, which I've tried in the past, but felt like I was missing a piece, and Maverick might be that missing piece. Maverick providing a secondary way to buff up our Fallen One to larger numbers relieves the tension that previous iterations had.
Maverick Galacti
Fan favorite Galacti is now getting a massive upgrade to his kit with the addition of Maverick, giving you a secondary target for all your cards that buff up other cards, allowing you to unload on your buffs early, even if Galacti isn't in hand.
Sassy Bird
Sasquatch Mockingbird decks have existed ever since both of their releases and have mostly been playable throughout their lifetime, up until recently, in which their decks didn't put up enough points to compete. Maverick raises the point ceiling, letting this compete again.
Future Synergies
There are a couple of cards releasing in the near future that are sizable upgrades to Maverick, serving as other efficient ways to buff him up.
Variants
Some excellent variants are arriving with his release, and I can't really decide which my favorite is, but I'm leaning towards picking up the Pandart. Let me know which is your favorite and which artist you'd like to see make a Maverick variant.
Final Thoughts
Maverick is a fascinating support piece for strategies looking to buff cards and will only get better as time goes on. He is the best card of the month for me, and most people would want to pick up this card. Rating him a 9/10 for his versatility and the explosiveness he offers some of these decks. Let me know what your rating is for him and which deck you'd be looking forward to trying.