If you want you can also exchange the/a IOK with Denials to deal with some of the stuff postboard. Specifically the stuff with flashback. Being able to hit looting or conflagrate is nice and you don't run into awkward scenarios in the later game when their hand is all dredge cards so it's dead or you have to think about playing it into a hand of cards they want discarded. Denial is a little more narrow but guarunteed. Doesn't make the matchup significantly better or anything but could gain you a few percentage points in dealing with those pesky conflagrates or stopping loam for a turn to kill them.
I really like having extra Stubs post board because often it's your only answer to Conflagrate, which just kills you.
Hey everyone, I am having difficulty against some of the faster decks in the format, specifically ones that go wide with evasive threats. For example I lost to both affinity and merfolk last night. I feel that affinity shouldn't be a terrible matchup, but I lost both sideboarded games due to double Etched Champion which might just be a "luck of the draw" kind of thing...game three I angered away his board and K-Commanded the following turn...he was hellbent but drew Etched Champion then another then Cranial Plating!! With that being said, Merfolk just seemed like a really bad matchup... both games I died with literally 5 spells in my hand...he was spreading seas and cursecatchering me into oblivion. I understand that it is a small percentage of the meta, but I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on combating it.
On another note I am just curious about what people would do in this situation...It is Game 3 and you are on the play against Merfolk. Your opening hand is:
Polluted Delta
Serum Vision
Anger of the Gods
Thoughtseize
Though Scour
Gurmag Angler
Death's Shadow
Do you keep or mulligan this hand? If you keep do you thoughtseize or serum vision first?
Spoiler Alert...I decided to keep and fetched a Watery Grave then Thoughtseized on Turn 1. He reveals
Island
Mutavault
Spreading Seas
Cursecatcher
Aether Vial
Reejerey
Silvergil Adept
I would keep that hand, fetch Watery Grave, then cast Serum Visions to maximize the chances of not missing my turn 2 land drop. Merfolk is a swarm deck with access to Spreading Seas. So I really want that second land and a third land soon. Hitting a second fetch land with either Serum Visions or turn 2 Thought Scour would allow for a turn 2 Angler, providing a nice clock. I would then Thoughtseize on turn 3, looking for Harbinger of the Tides.
The land I would fetch on turn 2 would be another Watery Grave to minimize the damage Spreading Seas can do. This might even discourage them from casting Spreading Seas on turn 2 because the impact is minimal and a mean-looking zombie fish is about to race them by then. I wouldn't care much about Anger of the Gods at this point, because fixing my land situation would be my top priority. With so few lands, Anger will be hard to resolve anyway against a playset of Cursecatchers.
If I thoughtseized on turn 1 like you did, I would take Spreading Seas for reasons explained above. If I had multiple lands in hand, I would prefer taking Silvergill Adept here, but with just one land, I feel that this isn't really an option.
To move the needle on affinity from 50/50 where you can't beat Etched Champion to a slightly good matchup, you need Kozilek's Return instead of Anger in the SB.
Merfolk is fundamentally a bad matchup no matter how you slice it. I don't think there's anything reasonable you can do in this matchup to fix it.
I would keep that hand, though I'm not super sure. But I would definitely Serum Visions first. You have decent tools, you just need to find lands. And your major targets for Thoughtseize are 2+ drops anyway, outside of Aether Vial. Given that you Thoughtseized, I would probably take Cursecatcher because we are going to need to resolve our cantrips over the next few turns, and eventually Anger. Taking Vial is definitely wrong because then they'll play the Cursecatcher on turn 1 and now there's a very real risk your Serum doesn't resolve. I could see taking Spreading Seas or Adept though since they'll almost certainly lead on Vial, so you'll get to resolve your Serum.
If they didn't have Aether Vial in hand, I would also take Cursecatcher. But they don't know about my land situation yet and I just signaled to them that I'm fine by casting Thoughtseize, so I fully expect them to cast Aether Vial on turn 1.
I don't consider Merfolk such a bad matchup. I beat it numerous times with just a single Kozilek's Return, an Engineered Explosives and two LotVs as my main SB options. EE was often even more backbreaking then Kozilek's Return, because Merfolk has an overcrowded CMC2-slot. Getting rid of most of their lords and Spreading Seas in one go is pretty sweet and can dramatically reduce the number of tokens they get from Master of the Waves.
Yeah I sided in Anger of the Gods a LotV and a EE...Just to give you all context here is how the game ended up going. T1 I thoughtseized and took away his Spreading Seas and then I drew a steam vents the following turn and serumed into bloodstained mire and left a Terminate on top something else I bottomed... my thought was that if I let him extend his board a little I can play death shadow on T3 and terminate his curscatcher when he attacks or at EOT then anger his board away and have a hefty clock...he ended up drawing another cursecatcher and I that kind of squashed my plans...he vials in reejery...plays cursecatcher and taps my dude...I terminate his reejery and he sacks 1 of the cursecatchers and I end up missing my 4th land drop and die the following turn as he rips a lord off the top.
I imagine there would have been a more optimal line if I had serumed 1st and If I took that line I probably could have taken his adept and been able to manage his threats more until I could safely anger his board away.
I definitely feel like burn is hard, especially on the draw. 3x brutalities seems like a lot though, what are you cutting, needed graveyard, midrange that needs tech, or having worse go-wide matchups?
So I played the deck at a local PPTQ, I ended up 3-3. I played a list with 18 lands, two Liliana and one Claim//Fame in the main. Here's a short tournament report:
R1 vs Merfolk:
Game 1 I take his Vial with turn 1 Thoughtseize. It feels good but then his Spreading Seas on my red source hurt me from using removal for his lords later on. He ended up just getting there with those lords after my removal was stick in my hand. Game 2 I had a really painful turn 1 as I went to 11. I took his only lord and left him with Cursecatchers and a Master of the Waves he couldn't cast, but he ended up topdecking lord into lord. I couldn't fight through the Cursecatchers and was hedging my early double Death's Shadow would be good. Nothing to do really if he draws the lords he needs to not lose.
Record: 0-1
R2 vs Grixis Death's Shadow:
Game 1 is very long but I crush my opponent eventually. I never really felt like I wasn't in control of the matchup. Game 2 was a different story, my opponent drew all the right pieces and I didn't. Game 3 was the interesting one because my early Lilianas were really good. I played turn 3 Liliana that ate two dudes, then followed it up with one that got up to 9 counters, it was absurd. There was no way he could really survive after the amount she did, and it was just a matter of me drawing into the important stuff.
Record: 1-1
R3 vs Affinity:
Game 1 was pretty bad for me, I didn't really draw any of the normal cards that beat them and that was that. In game 2 I drew a bunch more good stuff and was able to take a close one after a clutch Anger of the Gods. In game 3 I just drew all the removal I had and it wasn't even close. I even had Ceremonious Rejection for his Etched Champion. It felt very reminiscent of UWR Control vs Affinity, which is notoriously bad for Affinity because of all the removal they pack.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 vs UB Turns:
In game 1 I actually misplayed not keeping up double blue to play around Gigadrowse (I had a Stubborn Denial but putting me off blue meant I couldn't counter the turns spell), had no idea they played that card. Not sure if it was relevant to be honest, he might have had the mana to pay the replicate. Thing is, my opponent had a Mine and two Dictates in play and whiffed with 10 cards in his hand. I'll take it. In game 2 I just stomped really hard out of the gate, and while he had a Thing in the Ice in play, it was too slow and he lost before it flipped.
Record: 3-1
Round 5 vs UW Control:
In game 1 it was pretty standard fare, Paths for my creatures and then Cryptics later on. Wasn't close, he actually stomped me. In game 2 he had Rest In Peace for me so no Delve, then it turned out to be even less close. Slowing me down was just enough for him to beat me.
3-3
Round 6 vs Amulet:
Funnily, I was joking around with the guy I played (a friend of mine) about the deck and this matchup. He knows I used to play the deck and that I stopped after the ban, but he's had some good success with it since (including an X-4 at a GP that I know of).
Anyway, in game 1 my turn 1 Thoughtseize took Azusa and left him with the clunkiest hand I've ever seen. It ended up being nowhere near close, I was just too far ahead. In game 2, he drew a bunch of stuff to roadblock me and then eventually played Titan, gave it haste, and killed me on the spot; turns out Fatal Push not so good in this matchup. In game 3, he had double Relic, Bojuka Bog, and Grove of the Burnwillows, and it all slowed me down too much. I ended up Thoughtseizing and having a choice between Titan and Hornet Queen, and I took Titan. I ended up losing to Hornet Queen later but I don't think taking it over Titan was better since Titan is liable to put me too far behind.
Record: 3-3
Now some thoughts on the deck:
1. Claim // Fame was bad for me. It's so incredibly unreliable and I'm cutting it. Path is still a card as is everything like Bojuka Bog that exiles your graveyard. I'd wager you need to be playing the green varient to properly make use of the card.
2. Fatal Push wasn't as good as it seemed. In the mirror and vs Amulet it just didn't do much. One deck was also Turns where it was very dead. Path or more Terminates would have honestly been better, I think. The format moving toward decks where Fatal Push is bad made the card bad.
3. Liliana of the Veil was excellent for me. She pulled a lot of weight, killing more than one guy on average. It just really let me grind out those slower matchups or the mirror.
4. I played 18 lands and consistently flooded out. I ended several games with all 7 fetchable lands in play and more lands in hand. I know 17 is too few but even 18 is showing itself as flood central.
What do you guys think about Dreadbore in the side instead of Terminate (1 Terminate main)?
It seems better against Jund, DS Jund, UW Control, even Grixis Shadow.
It seems weaker against Affinity, Infect and creature heavy Eldrazi.
You have to discard cards for each mode, so collective Brutality Ian most certainly is not a 3 for 1. At best, 3 for 3 against burn and even that's hard to justify because 2 life gained isn't worth a ton against them.
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gifts is pretty curious in a snapcaster+claim/fame deck. Maybe genius even..
In a deck like this I'm pretty sure I don't want to be running TBR with the loss of two Anglers. Pretty clever I must say. however, cmc 4 is a real thing
4 CMC is a lot, but it's interesting if you get there. You can do a pile of Snap, K Command, Claim//Fame, and DS, and they can't stop you from getting a DS out of it. I feel like if you want to do this, it should be sideboard, though. Seems good against grindy matchups, but would be really bad when you need to race.
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Modern UBR Grixis Shadow UBR UR Izzet Phoenix UR UW UW Control UW GB GB Rock GB
Commander BG Meren of Clan Nel Toth BG BGUW Atraxa, Praetor's Voice BGUW
The deck seems like it's on the right track but it still looks confused. 2 Claim//Fame and 2 Kommand main is a lot and I think they were testing Gifts as a hedge in the main. For this deck seems like more of a side card. Not sure the correct number between YP's and Delve dudes in the 75. Currently testing 3 YP/3 delve dudes rn, seems to be working solidly for now. Gifts with Claim and Kommand is sick nasty though, seems like a dope thing to try out.
Edit: Where is that decklist from? Was it from a daily on mtggoldfish or something?
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Modern URBSome variant of Death's Shadow URB Grixis Control (Chapin Version) JFM Storm / Treasure Cruise Delver / Splinter Twin / Infect
Looks like claim fame is getting lukewarm results on here, Reddit and Facebook.
The issue is that the card is another added tool for the graveyard, which the meta is already hating out. Grixis needs to find different angles to attack from so that it isn't destroyed by only attacking on one axis.
Looks like claim fame is getting lukewarm results on here, Reddit and Facebook.
The issue is that the card is another added tool for the graveyard, which the meta is already hating out. Grixis needs to find different angles to attack from so that it isn't destroyed by only attacking on one axis.
I'm going to say something that may get laughed at into oblivion: what about Eternal Scourge? I think it may be a good sideboard tech against things like Mirran Crusader and Etched Champion, and also allows us to get some value out of Leyline of the Void and other graveyard hate. Worth trying as a 1-of, at least? It also beats non-revolted Fatal Push, so it's not as easy to remove as other options.
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BUR Grixis Death's Shadow RBW Mardu Pyromancer GBR Gx Tron
Eternal Scourge does not beat non-revolted Fatal Push. And it's pretty bad against Flickerwisp, which is often played alongside Mirran Crusader. Path to Exile is good against it, too. So I don't think it's going to be good enough against decks that typically run Mirran Crusader. I would rather have Lightning Bolt or Electrolyze instead.
If I was also worried about Etched Champion, I would play an extra Kozilek's Return or Flaying Tendrils over Eternal Scourge.
99 players, 7 rounds. Ended up 6-0-1 in the swiss. Here's what happened:
Rd 1: 2-0 vs Affinity
Rd 2: 2-0 vs Eldrazi Tron
Rd 3: 2-0 vs Burn
Rd 4: 2-1 vs Affinity
Rd 5: 2-0 vs BR Midrange (w/ Moons out of the board)
Rd 6: ID vs Elves. (I was paired down, but after I won G1 I offered the draw and he took it)
Rd 7: 2-1 vs Grixis Shadow (we were both locked, but he wanted to play for seeding)
Top 8: 1-2 vs Elves (same guy as round 6)
The full T8 was 3 Grixis Shadow, 2 Elves, 1 Wg Hatebears, 1 RG Ponza, and 1 All in Red. (I.e. 3 Shadow, and 5 decks that are build to prey on Shadow) All in Red won in the finals vs my Shadow opponent from round 7.
The deck was great. I would gladly run back the same 75. P&K won me both post SB games in the mirror, and helped steal games vs Affinity. LotV was crucial in the mirror and vs the BR Midrange deck. My shadow opponent had MD LotV as well, and she nearly stole g3 for him. He also had Claim to Fame - only saw it post board, and it was very medium against me. The leaks were perhaps questionable, but they helped get through Eldrazi Tron and BR Midrange in ways that IoK would not. Notably, though, the Eldrazi Tron opponent did not have Hangerback Walker.
I really like having extra Stubs post board because often it's your only answer to Conflagrate, which just kills you.
On another note I am just curious about what people would do in this situation...It is Game 3 and you are on the play against Merfolk. Your opening hand is:
Polluted Delta
Serum Vision
Anger of the Gods
Thoughtseize
Though Scour
Gurmag Angler
Death's Shadow
Do you keep or mulligan this hand? If you keep do you thoughtseize or serum vision first?
Spoiler Alert...I decided to keep and fetched a Watery Grave then Thoughtseized on Turn 1. He reveals
Island
Mutavault
Spreading Seas
Cursecatcher
Aether Vial
Reejerey
Silvergil Adept
What do you take and why?
The land I would fetch on turn 2 would be another Watery Grave to minimize the damage Spreading Seas can do. This might even discourage them from casting Spreading Seas on turn 2 because the impact is minimal and a mean-looking zombie fish is about to race them by then. I wouldn't care much about Anger of the Gods at this point, because fixing my land situation would be my top priority. With so few lands, Anger will be hard to resolve anyway against a playset of Cursecatchers.
If I thoughtseized on turn 1 like you did, I would take Spreading Seas for reasons explained above. If I had multiple lands in hand, I would prefer taking Silvergill Adept here, but with just one land, I feel that this isn't really an option.
Merfolk is fundamentally a bad matchup no matter how you slice it. I don't think there's anything reasonable you can do in this matchup to fix it.
I would keep that hand, though I'm not super sure. But I would definitely Serum Visions first. You have decent tools, you just need to find lands. And your major targets for Thoughtseize are 2+ drops anyway, outside of Aether Vial. Given that you Thoughtseized, I would probably take Cursecatcher because we are going to need to resolve our cantrips over the next few turns, and eventually Anger. Taking Vial is definitely wrong because then they'll play the Cursecatcher on turn 1 and now there's a very real risk your Serum doesn't resolve. I could see taking Spreading Seas or Adept though since they'll almost certainly lead on Vial, so you'll get to resolve your Serum.
I don't consider Merfolk such a bad matchup. I beat it numerous times with just a single Kozilek's Return, an Engineered Explosives and two LotVs as my main SB options. EE was often even more backbreaking then Kozilek's Return, because Merfolk has an overcrowded CMC2-slot. Getting rid of most of their lords and Spreading Seas in one go is pretty sweet and can dramatically reduce the number of tokens they get from Master of the Waves.
I imagine there would have been a more optimal line if I had serumed 1st and If I took that line I probably could have taken his adept and been able to manage his threats more until I could safely anger his board away.
R1 vs Merfolk:
Game 1 I take his Vial with turn 1 Thoughtseize. It feels good but then his Spreading Seas on my red source hurt me from using removal for his lords later on. He ended up just getting there with those lords after my removal was stick in my hand. Game 2 I had a really painful turn 1 as I went to 11. I took his only lord and left him with Cursecatchers and a Master of the Waves he couldn't cast, but he ended up topdecking lord into lord. I couldn't fight through the Cursecatchers and was hedging my early double Death's Shadow would be good. Nothing to do really if he draws the lords he needs to not lose.
Record: 0-1
R2 vs Grixis Death's Shadow:
Game 1 is very long but I crush my opponent eventually. I never really felt like I wasn't in control of the matchup. Game 2 was a different story, my opponent drew all the right pieces and I didn't. Game 3 was the interesting one because my early Lilianas were really good. I played turn 3 Liliana that ate two dudes, then followed it up with one that got up to 9 counters, it was absurd. There was no way he could really survive after the amount she did, and it was just a matter of me drawing into the important stuff.
Record: 1-1
R3 vs Affinity:
Game 1 was pretty bad for me, I didn't really draw any of the normal cards that beat them and that was that. In game 2 I drew a bunch more good stuff and was able to take a close one after a clutch Anger of the Gods. In game 3 I just drew all the removal I had and it wasn't even close. I even had Ceremonious Rejection for his Etched Champion. It felt very reminiscent of UWR Control vs Affinity, which is notoriously bad for Affinity because of all the removal they pack.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 vs UB Turns:
In game 1 I actually misplayed not keeping up double blue to play around Gigadrowse (I had a Stubborn Denial but putting me off blue meant I couldn't counter the turns spell), had no idea they played that card. Not sure if it was relevant to be honest, he might have had the mana to pay the replicate. Thing is, my opponent had a Mine and two Dictates in play and whiffed with 10 cards in his hand. I'll take it. In game 2 I just stomped really hard out of the gate, and while he had a Thing in the Ice in play, it was too slow and he lost before it flipped.
Record: 3-1
Round 5 vs UW Control:
In game 1 it was pretty standard fare, Paths for my creatures and then Cryptics later on. Wasn't close, he actually stomped me. In game 2 he had Rest In Peace for me so no Delve, then it turned out to be even less close. Slowing me down was just enough for him to beat me.
3-3
Round 6 vs Amulet:
Funnily, I was joking around with the guy I played (a friend of mine) about the deck and this matchup. He knows I used to play the deck and that I stopped after the ban, but he's had some good success with it since (including an X-4 at a GP that I know of).
Anyway, in game 1 my turn 1 Thoughtseize took Azusa and left him with the clunkiest hand I've ever seen. It ended up being nowhere near close, I was just too far ahead. In game 2, he drew a bunch of stuff to roadblock me and then eventually played Titan, gave it haste, and killed me on the spot; turns out Fatal Push not so good in this matchup. In game 3, he had double Relic, Bojuka Bog, and Grove of the Burnwillows, and it all slowed me down too much. I ended up Thoughtseizing and having a choice between Titan and Hornet Queen, and I took Titan. I ended up losing to Hornet Queen later but I don't think taking it over Titan was better since Titan is liable to put me too far behind.
Record: 3-3
Now some thoughts on the deck:
1. Claim // Fame was bad for me. It's so incredibly unreliable and I'm cutting it. Path is still a card as is everything like Bojuka Bog that exiles your graveyard. I'd wager you need to be playing the green varient to properly make use of the card.
2. Fatal Push wasn't as good as it seemed. In the mirror and vs Amulet it just didn't do much. One deck was also Turns where it was very dead. Path or more Terminates would have honestly been better, I think. The format moving toward decks where Fatal Push is bad made the card bad.
3. Liliana of the Veil was excellent for me. She pulled a lot of weight, killing more than one guy on average. It just really let me grind out those slower matchups or the mirror.
4. I played 18 lands and consistently flooded out. I ended several games with all 7 fetchable lands in play and more lands in hand. I know 17 is too few but even 18 is showing itself as flood central.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
It seems better against Jund, DS Jund, UW Control, even Grixis Shadow.
It seems weaker against Affinity, Infect and creature heavy Eldrazi.
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Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
..
What?!
SORT BY:
Creature (16)
4 Death's Shadow
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Street Wraith
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Claim // Fame
4 Serum Visions
4 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
2 Gifts Ungiven
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Stubborn Denial
4 Thought Scour
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
60 Cards
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Apostle's Blessing
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Collective Brutality
1 Echoing Truth
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Temur Battle Rage
In a deck like this I'm pretty sure I don't want to be running TBR with the loss of two Anglers. Pretty clever I must say. however, cmc 4 is a real thing
UBR Grixis Shadow UBR
UR Izzet Phoenix UR
UW UW Control UW
GB GB Rock GB
Commander
BG Meren of Clan Nel Toth BG
BGUW Atraxa, Praetor's Voice BGUW
Edit: Where is that decklist from? Was it from a daily on mtggoldfish or something?
URB Some variant of Death's Shadow
URB Grixis Control (Chapin Version)
JFM Storm / Treasure Cruise Delver / Splinter Twin / InfectCommander/EDH
This pile of cards when I feel like it
Death's Shadow discord link
The issue is that the card is another added tool for the graveyard, which the meta is already hating out. Grixis needs to find different angles to attack from so that it isn't destroyed by only attacking on one axis.
I'm going to say something that may get laughed at into oblivion: what about Eternal Scourge? I think it may be a good sideboard tech against things like Mirran Crusader and Etched Champion, and also allows us to get some value out of Leyline of the Void and other graveyard hate. Worth trying as a 1-of, at least? It also beats non-revolted Fatal Push, so it's not as easy to remove as other options.
Grixis Death's Shadow
RBW
Mardu Pyromancer
GBR
Gx Tron
If I was also worried about Etched Champion, I would play an extra Kozilek's Return or Flaying Tendrils over Eternal Scourge.
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Watery Grave
1 Steam Vents
2 Blood Crypt
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Gurmag Angler
4 Death's Shadow
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Street Wraith
4 Thought Scour
2 Stubborn Denial
4 Thoughtseize
2 Mana Leak
3 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Lightning Bolt
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Collective Brutality
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Izzet Staticaster
99 players, 7 rounds. Ended up 6-0-1 in the swiss. Here's what happened:
Rd 1: 2-0 vs Affinity
Rd 2: 2-0 vs Eldrazi Tron
Rd 3: 2-0 vs Burn
Rd 4: 2-1 vs Affinity
Rd 5: 2-0 vs BR Midrange (w/ Moons out of the board)
Rd 6: ID vs Elves. (I was paired down, but after I won G1 I offered the draw and he took it)
Rd 7: 2-1 vs Grixis Shadow (we were both locked, but he wanted to play for seeding)
Top 8: 1-2 vs Elves (same guy as round 6)
The full T8 was 3 Grixis Shadow, 2 Elves, 1 Wg Hatebears, 1 RG Ponza, and 1 All in Red. (I.e. 3 Shadow, and 5 decks that are build to prey on Shadow) All in Red won in the finals vs my Shadow opponent from round 7.
The deck was great. I would gladly run back the same 75. P&K won me both post SB games in the mirror, and helped steal games vs Affinity. LotV was crucial in the mirror and vs the BR Midrange deck. My shadow opponent had MD LotV as well, and she nearly stole g3 for him. He also had Claim to Fame - only saw it post board, and it was very medium against me. The leaks were perhaps questionable, but they helped get through Eldrazi Tron and BR Midrange in ways that IoK would not. Notably, though, the Eldrazi Tron opponent did not have Hangerback Walker.
Edit: forgot the bolt in the list.