Sorry for the delay in getting back to this topic, but to answer your questions:
1) Blood Moon didn't work too well for me - most of the match-ups I went against were heavy red. The lack of playtesting and experience in the modern format really hurt as well.
2) Bonfire was great when I saw it. The 3 or 4 times I did see the card, it just flat out won or stabilized the board which then led to a win.
I should have had an eidolon in the board as it would have just shut down one of the opponents. Now I know for next time.
There hasn't been time for me to play recently as work has been extremely busy but when I get back to it, I'll write some more. Thanks again for the ideas.
I just want to preface that I had almost no experience playing Modern before GP Charlotte, and the main reason I went to the GP was after winning a GPT with Abzan Company, what could there be to lose? I took this deck to GP Charlotte. Ended up going 5-0 before ending up 6-3 on day 1, then going 0-2 on day 2 before dropping. I must say, this was a last minute decision and with no playtesting of the deck at all before the GP.
Round 3 - Bogles (against a player on the PT). Game 1 he mulligan'd to 5, and beat me with a Gladecover Scout and 5-6 enchantments stuck on there. I had no idea what was going on other than my life total was going down pretty fast and there was no way to combo out in time. Game 2 I was able to combo out and he couldn't stop it. Game 3 he boarded in a couple removal spells and we both mulligan'd. I was down to 1 life before Kitchen Finks brought me to 3, then 5 recurring. His creatures ate a timely Bonfire I managed to combo out just before time and ran over him with a couple Birds/Hierarchs. 3-0
Round 4 - Ran into Scapeshift which I had never seen in action before. Game 1 was pretty heavily in his favor after he cast Primeval Titan on T4, but a Beast Within kept him from going crazy. I was able to combo out the following turn. Game 2 I kept a terrible hand with a single land and a Bird after going down to 6. He bolted the Bird and it wasn't even close after that. Game 3 was back and forth. Courser came out on T2 and just started gaining life. I also dropped a Nahiri turn 3 which was gaining counters. He resolved a Scapeshift (first time I'd seen it go off), but didn't have enough lands in play to deal with the threats. It took a few turns, but I was able to pull this one out. 4-0
Round 5 - Abzan Company - Game 1 neither of us saw our combos in due time. I managed to see removal to prevent him from going off, and took him to 0 before he beat me. Game 2 he got a couple seers out, which I dealt with. He did however play a Blood Artist (instead of redcap) and was able to Eternal Witness back a Viscera Seer to combo out against me. Game 3 we were about to go to time when I finally combo'd off and he saw what I was playing. 5-0
Round 6 - Living End - Game 1 I had no idea what was going on as all the cards were foreign and I hadn't seen the deck. He completely roflstomped me even after he mulligan'd to 5. Game 2, I was able to go the distance with Scavenging Ooze eating all of his creatures. Game 3 I kept a terrible hand after mulling to 5. No chance to stop his Living End and it wasn't close. 5-1
Round 7 - Merfolk - I have to admit that this Merfolk player was the absolute nicest guy I've ever played against in a tournament. Game 1 he played 3 Harbinger of the Tides to keep returning mana dorks to my hand. I played Courser of Kruphix on turn 4, which revealed a Bonfire. He played a Silvergill Adept, and then ate the Bonfire the following turn. He couldn't establish board control after that. Game 2 he almost ran over me with Merrow Reejerey and other lords. I made a couple play mistakes early. It went down to the wire, and he missed a couple triggers on the Reejerey which allowed me to steal the game. 6-1
Round 8 - Grixis - Game 1 I mulled down and kept a bad hand. 3 Snapcaster Mage with Lightning Bolt, Remand, Mana Leak, and Go for the Throat ended up knocking me out. Game 2, I mulled to 5 and kept a 2 land hand without mana dorks. He plays Tasigur on turn 3 and eats me alive. Never saw the third land. 6-2
Round 9 - Naya Burn-heavy Zoo and I was very tired - Game 1 he got a Wild Nacatl out early and burnt me down. I got the combo out, but in response he cast Atarka's Command. I tried to gain life in response and he had a 2nd Atarka's Command. It was close but he kept me off the combo. Game 2 I had to mulligan. It was back and forth, and he cast Atarka's Command to prevent the combo from going off and eating him. I countered with Dromoka's Command, and he cast Skullcrack in response. Game over. I misplayed my cards game 2 and could have extended the round to a game 3. 6-3
Day 2:
Round 10 - Past in Flames Combo - Another deck I have never seen in action before. I had no idea what was going on here and he was moving along like a machine to combo out on turn 4 or 5. Game 2, I was able to get ooze on the board but he cast Echoing Truth to return it to my hand. He was able to combo out from 2 Goblin Electromancers and he went down to 2 (I couldn't find a Sudden Shock for the life of me after boarding three copies in. 6-4
Round 11 - Jeskai Control - Game 1 he mulled to 6 while I was able to get early threats to eat his removal. He saw two Cryptic Command and a Lightning Helix along with a Path to Exile. It was a seesaw battle but in the end I was able to resolve Courser along with a Finks and they ended up going the distance. Game 2 I kept a bad hand with 2 lands and a mana dork. Never saw another land and he Nahiri combo'd me with Emrakul. Game 3 was back and forth. He was able to jam a Nahiri down and keep my threats off the board. Too bad wall of roots couldn't attack...he got Emrakul out while we were in turns and won. 6-5 and I dropped after this one.
Looking back, I absolutely loved the deck and will continue to play it. Not having experience in the format with sideboards and general deck knowledge definitely led to 3 of the losses. Gambling with bad hands handed me the other two. I would throw an Emrakul in the main to fetch with Nahiri, and possibly even bump the Nahiri count to three. The Sudden Shock in the sideboard was absolutely great when I could find them. It gave a little distance for planeswalkers, and would have won me the match against Past in Flames combo had one been in my hand. Sigarda, Heron's Grace could be an inclusion to the board as well.
1) Blood Moon didn't work too well for me - most of the match-ups I went against were heavy red. The lack of playtesting and experience in the modern format really hurt as well.
2) Bonfire was great when I saw it. The 3 or 4 times I did see the card, it just flat out won or stabilized the board which then led to a win.
I should have had an eidolon in the board as it would have just shut down one of the opponents. Now I know for next time.
There hasn't been time for me to play recently as work has been extremely busy but when I get back to it, I'll write some more. Thanks again for the ideas.
Here is the decklist:
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
2 Gavony Township
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Raging Ravine
2 Forest
2 Plains
Creatures (26)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
4 Wall of Roots
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Spike Feeder
4 Archangel of Thune
3 Beast Within
4 Chord of Calling
Sorcery (2)
2 Bonfire of the Damned
Planeswalker (2)
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
3 Sudden Shock
2 Path to Exile
2 Dromoka's Command
3 Blood Moon
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Dauntless Escort
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Eternal Witness
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
Day 1:
Rounds 1 & 2 were byes from winning the GPT.
Round 3 - Bogles (against a player on the PT). Game 1 he mulligan'd to 5, and beat me with a Gladecover Scout and 5-6 enchantments stuck on there. I had no idea what was going on other than my life total was going down pretty fast and there was no way to combo out in time. Game 2 I was able to combo out and he couldn't stop it. Game 3 he boarded in a couple removal spells and we both mulligan'd. I was down to 1 life before Kitchen Finks brought me to 3, then 5 recurring. His creatures ate a timely Bonfire I managed to combo out just before time and ran over him with a couple Birds/Hierarchs. 3-0
Round 4 - Ran into Scapeshift which I had never seen in action before. Game 1 was pretty heavily in his favor after he cast Primeval Titan on T4, but a Beast Within kept him from going crazy. I was able to combo out the following turn. Game 2 I kept a terrible hand with a single land and a Bird after going down to 6. He bolted the Bird and it wasn't even close after that. Game 3 was back and forth. Courser came out on T2 and just started gaining life. I also dropped a Nahiri turn 3 which was gaining counters. He resolved a Scapeshift (first time I'd seen it go off), but didn't have enough lands in play to deal with the threats. It took a few turns, but I was able to pull this one out. 4-0
Round 5 - Abzan Company - Game 1 neither of us saw our combos in due time. I managed to see removal to prevent him from going off, and took him to 0 before he beat me. Game 2 he got a couple seers out, which I dealt with. He did however play a Blood Artist (instead of redcap) and was able to Eternal Witness back a Viscera Seer to combo out against me. Game 3 we were about to go to time when I finally combo'd off and he saw what I was playing. 5-0
Round 6 - Living End - Game 1 I had no idea what was going on as all the cards were foreign and I hadn't seen the deck. He completely roflstomped me even after he mulligan'd to 5. Game 2, I was able to go the distance with Scavenging Ooze eating all of his creatures. Game 3 I kept a terrible hand after mulling to 5. No chance to stop his Living End and it wasn't close. 5-1
Round 7 - Merfolk - I have to admit that this Merfolk player was the absolute nicest guy I've ever played against in a tournament. Game 1 he played 3 Harbinger of the Tides to keep returning mana dorks to my hand. I played Courser of Kruphix on turn 4, which revealed a Bonfire. He played a Silvergill Adept, and then ate the Bonfire the following turn. He couldn't establish board control after that. Game 2 he almost ran over me with Merrow Reejerey and other lords. I made a couple play mistakes early. It went down to the wire, and he missed a couple triggers on the Reejerey which allowed me to steal the game. 6-1
Round 8 - Grixis - Game 1 I mulled down and kept a bad hand. 3 Snapcaster Mage with Lightning Bolt, Remand, Mana Leak, and Go for the Throat ended up knocking me out. Game 2, I mulled to 5 and kept a 2 land hand without mana dorks. He plays Tasigur on turn 3 and eats me alive. Never saw the third land. 6-2
Round 9 - Naya Burn-heavy Zoo and I was very tired - Game 1 he got a Wild Nacatl out early and burnt me down. I got the combo out, but in response he cast Atarka's Command. I tried to gain life in response and he had a 2nd Atarka's Command. It was close but he kept me off the combo. Game 2 I had to mulligan. It was back and forth, and he cast Atarka's Command to prevent the combo from going off and eating him. I countered with Dromoka's Command, and he cast Skullcrack in response. Game over. I misplayed my cards game 2 and could have extended the round to a game 3. 6-3
Day 2:
Round 10 - Past in Flames Combo - Another deck I have never seen in action before. I had no idea what was going on here and he was moving along like a machine to combo out on turn 4 or 5. Game 2, I was able to get ooze on the board but he cast Echoing Truth to return it to my hand. He was able to combo out from 2 Goblin Electromancers and he went down to 2 (I couldn't find a Sudden Shock for the life of me after boarding three copies in. 6-4
Round 11 - Jeskai Control - Game 1 he mulled to 6 while I was able to get early threats to eat his removal. He saw two Cryptic Command and a Lightning Helix along with a Path to Exile. It was a seesaw battle but in the end I was able to resolve Courser along with a Finks and they ended up going the distance. Game 2 I kept a bad hand with 2 lands and a mana dork. Never saw another land and he Nahiri combo'd me with Emrakul. Game 3 was back and forth. He was able to jam a Nahiri down and keep my threats off the board. Too bad wall of roots couldn't attack...he got Emrakul out while we were in turns and won. 6-5 and I dropped after this one.
Looking back, I absolutely loved the deck and will continue to play it. Not having experience in the format with sideboards and general deck knowledge definitely led to 3 of the losses. Gambling with bad hands handed me the other two. I would throw an Emrakul in the main to fetch with Nahiri, and possibly even bump the Nahiri count to three. The Sudden Shock in the sideboard was absolutely great when I could find them. It gave a little distance for planeswalkers, and would have won me the match against Past in Flames combo had one been in my hand. Sigarda, Heron's Grace could be an inclusion to the board as well.