Kozilek best characteristic is: instant & colorless. Is capable to kill manland in answer to cranial plating. Also Kills Mirran crusader, think that firespout don't.
Myself run 1 pyro 2 kozilek on sideboard (and 2 dismember). Aggro decks are required to be stomped.
If you see affinity as a big amount of creatures needed to be wipe with damnation and stuff you would be investing too much resources in removal and not being able to skirmish damage. With the spot removal /artifact and creature, you can keep your quick creatures (even gifted aetherborn) and deal damage to being able to win by attrition.
I play myself amulet titan. I think smallpox is the most powerfull card. You took the right decision, but it is important to try to win quick. Maybe is better a hand with a rack and 1 smallpox and wrench mind or ravens crime. Ones the Amulet player is able to land a titan, the bounce land will prevent you to hit through Racks.
I have another question!
I'm returning to 8 rack and I have issues against burn. What advice can you give to me?
I've been playing Dark Confidant in my maindeck along with smallpox.
It give us card advantage and accelerates control in our side and also you are able to quickly find the rack effects. I guess is better to have them in sideboard =P.
I find that Amulet Titan is a fun deck but each match is an intellectual challenge, and the current meta is not making it easy. I also play burn, which is far more simple to play, but you get into some situations you can't get out, unlike Amulet.
I guess the last match you played was annoying to loose. I was thinking to add pyroclasm in addition to the 2 kozilek return, just to deal with Combo decks, removing early bird and devoted is a big deal.
As allways, great report and of course you were brave to bring the deck to a GP B-).
Yesterday I went to the pptq. I played with 3 azusa. 2 relic 3 explore. Ghost quarter main and a Retreat to coralhelm main. On sideboard the biggest addition I did was academy ruins. It allowed me to recour to walking ballista and helped me takibg out threaths 2 times.
The retreat never shown. Now im unsure about what to do with that slot. 3rd forest, 3rd relic or try again the trinket mage that grilled cheese love.
The matches where:
1st round bye
2nd round won 2-0 against burn. First game I started with radiant fountain.
Second game I sided out relics Bog and 2 sakura. Sided in: Ruric, Thragtusk and 2 Kozileks return.
My starting hand had and azusa. Ruric tar and an Ancient stirrings. I keep.
Found a radiant fountain and then when I was able to cast ruric the game was close.
3rd round. Agains grixis DS. Went to mulligan 5. Wasnt able to find second green source. I got killed before I could cast a titan.
Second game I managed to kill liliana with azusa and wallista. Then I won via Titan aggression.
3rd game was close but he got a Little more luck than I.
Grooves are great on this matchup.
4th game against jund. Won first game. Very long game. Just had better top decks.
Second game. Academy ruins helped me agains some threats and I abuse it until I could. Then he was at top deck. I searched for a summoners pact and had my relic ready for liliana. Wich he casted and I draw another pact and discarded one. Nect turn I won via 2 titan chain. No amulets.
5th round loose against Dimir control.
First game was so close. I was able to kill him with the 4th Titan. The game was really grindy and took us almost time.
Game 2 I lose because not paying fot pact
Game 3 I lose because not paying for pact. I also played cavern a turn earlierthan I could use it. Fixing this and remembering paying the pact would allowed me to do top 8.
6th round against Counters Company. First game I did mulli to 5. He comboed turn 3.
Second game he comboed before I could use the explosives.
Well that was my tournament. On 5th round I screw it badly. I got nervous. Everybody lookkng at the match, too much to plan on consecutive turns, worst mistake and did it twice. I need more practice with the deck.
Overall I change 2nd GQ in side for crumble but never faced ramp decks. Still need to be tested. Against UB I wish I has Thrun on sideboard after he killed my cavern. Well Ranumap would have help but He pobably would get countered.
I was thinking if something like elixir of inmortality would be a great sideboard for control decks.
I appreciate your comment GrilledCheese, it is well founded. Ranumap is mostly situational.
Against Scapeshift/GR Titan, Your advice is just to counter scapeshift with swan song, and keep the ramp to kill faster...
@GrilledCheese, I though that is interesting to have ranumap to fight decks with massive land disruption (jund, taxes, smallpox), or ramp decks (tron variants, RG Titan, Scapeshift).
I've been solo playtesting ( ) the deck and I was unsure if ranumap is a thing, but it opens a lot of possibilities, recovering a bounceland is a think, and also playing ghost quarter and ranumap creates a atrong attrition for most decks in format. Is he survives of course.
The last think I'm adding to the side is an academy ruins instead of the third kozilek return.
Tomorrow I'm playing a PPTQ (6 rounds I guess).
I'm hoping to play the top 8. We will see... concentration is my biggest problem!!
Myself run 1 pyro 2 kozilek on sideboard (and 2 dismember). Aggro decks are required to be stomped.
On another topic, someone tried sideboarding Ugin, the spirit dragon against blood moon decks?
I find that you use too many resources into killing their artifacts.
As sideboard I would try to do only few changes to the deck in sideboard, in order to increase the pressure.
=D
I think is worth to give it a try.
This guy and a Sigarda is GG also =P.
I'm not testing the deck atm, I had to return some borrowed cards =(!!! missing it!
I have another question!
I'm returning to 8 rack and I have issues against burn. What advice can you give to me?
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Infernal Tutor
2 Funeral Charm
4 Fatal Push
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Smallpox
4 Wrench Mind
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Raven's Crime
1 Black Mail
2 Thoughtseize
4 Shrieking Affliction
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Mutavault
1 Polluted Delta
13 Swamp
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Flaying Tendrils
2 Collective Brutality
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Surgical Extraction
My strategy is to try to hit an early collective brutality. I use to win with Nyxiathid but now Im still calibrating my play.
Regards!
Keep on ramping B-)
I'm using a big dice (10cm x 10cm x 10cm) to help me.
Another question is, how to deal with taxes. I found this deck quite hard to beat. It can be handled, but sometimes you get right under their shoes.
It's ok to destroy the Vials? or just kill their tax buddys with mass removal.
Also I was wondering if in order to deal with GBx decks, it is better to have 1 Chameleon Colossus and 1 Obstinate Baloth or tireless tracker is the proven answer.
Academy Ruins is very good to deal with control decks, but you can get stuck on it and slows down the game quite a bit.
Thanks!
It give us card advantage and accelerates control in our side and also you are able to quickly find the rack effects. I guess is better to have them in sideboard =P.
Great report!
I find that Amulet Titan is a fun deck but each match is an intellectual challenge, and the current meta is not making it easy. I also play burn, which is far more simple to play, but you get into some situations you can't get out, unlike Amulet.
I guess the last match you played was annoying to loose. I was thinking to add pyroclasm in addition to the 2 kozilek return, just to deal with Combo decks, removing early bird and devoted is a big deal.
As allways, great report and of course you were brave to bring the deck to a GP B-).
The retreat never shown. Now im unsure about what to do with that slot. 3rd forest, 3rd relic or try again the trinket mage that grilled cheese love.
The matches where:
1st round bye
2nd round won 2-0 against burn. First game I started with radiant fountain.
Second game I sided out relics Bog and 2 sakura. Sided in: Ruric, Thragtusk and 2 Kozileks return.
My starting hand had and azusa. Ruric tar and an Ancient stirrings. I keep.
Found a radiant fountain and then when I was able to cast ruric the game was close.
3rd round. Agains grixis DS. Went to mulligan 5. Wasnt able to find second green source. I got killed before I could cast a titan.
Second game I managed to kill liliana with azusa and wallista. Then I won via Titan aggression.
3rd game was close but he got a Little more luck than I.
Grooves are great on this matchup.
4th game against jund. Won first game. Very long game. Just had better top decks.
Second game. Academy ruins helped me agains some threats and I abuse it until I could. Then he was at top deck. I searched for a summoners pact and had my relic ready for liliana. Wich he casted and I draw another pact and discarded one. Nect turn I won via 2 titan chain. No amulets.
5th round loose against Dimir control.
First game was so close. I was able to kill him with the 4th Titan. The game was really grindy and took us almost time.
Game 2 I lose because not paying fot pact
Game 3 I lose because not paying for pact. I also played cavern a turn earlierthan I could use it. Fixing this and remembering paying the pact would allowed me to do top 8.
6th round against Counters Company. First game I did mulli to 5. He comboed turn 3.
Second game he comboed before I could use the explosives.
Well that was my tournament. On 5th round I screw it badly. I got nervous. Everybody lookkng at the match, too much to plan on consecutive turns, worst mistake and did it twice. I need more practice with the deck.
Overall I change 2nd GQ in side for crumble but never faced ramp decks. Still need to be tested. Against UB I wish I has Thrun on sideboard after he killed my cavern. Well Ranumap would have help but He pobably would get countered.
I was thinking if something like elixir of inmortality would be a great sideboard for control decks.
Regards!
Against Scapeshift/GR Titan, Your advice is just to counter scapeshift with swan song, and keep the ramp to kill faster...
I've been solo playtesting ( ) the deck and I was unsure if ranumap is a thing, but it opens a lot of possibilities, recovering a bounceland is a think, and also playing ghost quarter and ranumap creates a atrong attrition for most decks in format. Is he survives of course.
The last think I'm adding to the side is an academy ruins instead of the third kozilek return.
Tomorrow I'm playing a PPTQ (6 rounds I guess).
I'm hoping to play the top 8. We will see... concentration is my biggest problem!!