@Corporal Levinyan: How has your testing been with Courser of Kruphix? My only problem with the card is that you almost never want to pod it (unless you can combo off), and it gives a lot of information to your opponent with not enough gain consistency-wise. A lot of our wins come from the "oops, I win" combo and playing with the top card revealed gives your opponent a chance to prepare for that and hold up countermagic/kill spells and not tap out. Also, how have the Razorverge Thickets been? I like the colors (I've been recently thinking to switching my 1-of Rugged Prairie to Wooded Bastion for early Voice of Resurgences), but it seems like it could hurt your lategame by coming in tapped.
Has anyone tested Flametongue Kavu as a 1-of either main or side? It seems like it could be a useful card for us (general removal that hits hosers like Linvala, Keeper of Silence) akin to Shriekmaw that Melira is maindecking now. Secondly, does anyone actually like Fiery Justice? I've never tested with it either.
Oh my God I would cry tears of joy if Flametongue Kavu was ever printed again. That is exactly what this deck needs. It would make it so much better. UGH!
@Corporal Levinyan: How has your testing been with Courser of Kruphix? My only problem with the card is that you almost never want to pod it (unless you can combo off), and it gives a lot of information to your opponent with not enough gain consistency-wise. A lot of our wins come from the "oops, I win" combo and playing with the top card revealed gives your opponent a chance to prepare for that and hold up countermagic/kill spells and not tap out. Also, how have the Razorverge Thickets been? I like the colors (I've been recently thinking to switching my 1-of Rugged Prairie to Wooded Bastion for early Voice of Resurgences), but it seems like it could hurt your lategame by coming in tapped.
Has anyone tested Flametongue Kavu as a 1-of either main or side? It seems like it could be a useful card for us (general removal that hits hosers like Linvala, Keeper of Silence) akin to Shriekmaw that Melira is maindecking now. Secondly, does anyone actually like Fiery Justice? I've never tested with it either.
Oh my God I would cry tears of joy if Flametongue Kavu was ever printed again. That is exactly what this deck needs. It would make it so much better. UGH!
@Corporal Levinyan: How has your testing been with Courser of Kruphix? My only problem with the card is that you almost never want to pod it (unless you can combo off), and it gives a lot of information to your opponent with not enough gain consistency-wise. A lot of our wins come from the "oops, I win" combo and playing with the top card revealed gives your opponent a chance to prepare for that and hold up countermagic/kill spells and not tap out. Also, how have the Razorverge Thickets been? I like the colors (I've been recently thinking to switching my 1-of Rugged Prairie to Wooded Bastion for early Voice of Resurgences), but it seems like it could hurt your lategame by coming in tapped.
Has anyone tested Flametongue Kavu as a 1-of either main or side? It seems like it could be a useful card for us (general removal that hits hosers like Linvala, Keeper of Silence) akin to Shriekmaw that Melira is maindecking now. Secondly, does anyone actually like Fiery Justice? I've never tested with it either.
Oh my God I would cry tears of joy if Flametongue Kavu was ever printed again. That is exactly what this deck needs. It would make it so much better. UGH!
I guess that could be an option, but its so clearly not as good as Flametongue. This deck already deals quite a bit of damage to itself it doesnt really need any more of that. Not to mention it has echo which is never that great and youre not likely to pay it. I think I would rather just have Fiend Hunter over this guy (which is currently in my SB). But if Kavu was legal it would be in the maindeck hands down not close.
¿Whats the plan against melfork? I usually lose against them...
Combo as fast as possible. This is easily one of our hardest matchups. Don't fetch a blue source if at all possible. To make them have and "waste" a turn casting spreading seas.
What did you guys think about the GP Kikipod Deck list ran by Brian Liu?
I was surprised to see his list was similar to the first few versions of pod with the Chord of callings, wall of roots, and Fire-lit thickets. Does this answer the question about chord being too clunky and do we need to bring the deck back full circle?
Yeah I did just that on day 1 against Melira Pod, and walked right into an Aven Mindcensor... And then Linvala was gone and he could use his creatures again... Not a great idea, although pre-side they may not have Mindcensor to interact with you.
Just nitpicking but he was against Affinity so Mindcensor was not a concern
Red should be burn, Goblins, Dragons, draw/discard, and Standard-unplayable 5CMC cards with insane, lengthy effects that take 10 minutes to figure out what they do and another 20 to actually make their effects work on the field.
First of all big congratulations to Brian for the gp win
Aboout the decklist,i would like to discuss some things and see what is the consensus here:
-Lack of staticaster. Sometimes there is a dead card in hand, but other times i like it a lot, since it has a lot of utility.Iam not sold on removing it.
-Only 1 exarch and 0 images. This makes the 1 drop and 2 drop into combo and 2 drop and 2 drop into combo imposible. I dont like the image particularly, but sometimes you know the field is clear to combo and you are sitting on 1-2 or 2-2 and without these its imposible.
- +1 ozze and -1 kitchen. I feel a bit uneasy about just 2 kitchens, but ooze is very good.
-3 walls and 4 angels. I guess that the 4th angel improves the midrange plan since another wall weakens the beatdown.
-3 chords . Since he plays 3 walls and walls are good with chords it makes sense.
-Eternal witness. Not sure about it.
Iam not 100% sold on some things but iam gonna try this decklist for a while.
To be honest i was surprised with this win. Like other ppl in this thread i was kinda worried about kikipod position in the new meta, since combo has been rising, and our g1 against them isnt very good,but iam very happy about brians win nonetheless ¿Maybe we were exaggerating and we are better positioned than we thought or we should take this victory with a grain of salt?
I also question these dicesions but they worked out for him. I don't like three walls but I respect his choice on chord. With that said I think three is way too many. I still feel like it's a bit clunky but it might be a nessecary evil at this point. I think I'll test with two in place of domri. That mean dill have to up my wall count to two. Probably dropping Huntmaster. I think we are still not super well positioned with the rise of twin. My personal nightmare matchup. I am also very pleased with his win. I'm pumped to see us get put back on the map.
I can answer any question about my list if you have any. This deck is not easy to pilot by any means and takes a lot of practice. I am glad that I proved the naysayers wrong who said kiki pod was not the deck to play for GP Richmond, it being poorly positioned and advised people to switch to melira pod.
P.S. I was made aware of my horrible, embarrassing miss, game 1 in the finals with the "pod linvala into kiki and copy hierarch" line to win and would have beat myself up if I lost the finals because of it.
Hi Brian! Awesome to see you on the forums here, and congrats on the big win!
I think the question lots of people have for you would be your choice of Chord. I'd assume you've tried the Domri version of the deck. What factors make Chord better for you?
Red should be burn, Goblins, Dragons, draw/discard, and Standard-unplayable 5CMC cards with insane, lengthy effects that take 10 minutes to figure out what they do and another 20 to actually make their effects work on the field.
first, welcome and congrats to brian. pretty exciting for kiki pod to finally get some respect.
second, i think this answers the chord of calling vs domri debate. i've been pretty vocal about my love for domri. after this weekend i'm confident in saying i'm wrong. my friend day 2'd with melira pod and chord was consistently his best card. by far.
third, here's my own experience:
round 1 (1-0): won 2-0 vs RUG Twin. was able to combo off both games while keeping him in check. i didn't see him play any remands, which probably helped.
round 2 (1-1): lost 1-2 vs Green Tron. i hate this matchup and was scared of seeing it. game 2 i went for the aggressive play and avalanche rider his tower with a restoration angel in hand. i got pyroclasmed for a 2-dork blowout on 2 lands. game 3 i had 3 chances to topdeck win in a row and missed all 3.
round 3 (1-2): lost 1-2 vs 8 Rack. this loss was all my fault. i took game 1 easily and punted both game 2 and 3 with stupid misplays. should have won. oh well.
round 4 (2-2): won 2-1 vs Affinity. game 3 i forced him to sac everything to ravager and then to sac to Cranial/Inkmoth. had path in hand.
round 5 (3-2): won 2-0 vs Infect. game 1 i combo'd off turn 4. game 2 he had lethal turn 4. game 3 i combo'd off turn 4.
round 6 (4-2): won 2-0 vs UWR Control. game 1 i resolved a pod and snuck out the combo. game 2 i drew an opening hand with smiter and thrun.
round 7 (4-3): lost 1-2 vs UWR Control. game 3 i had a gas opening hand and then drew 8 lands and 3 pods. we both knew there was nothing i could do.
i dropped after that just in time to watch my friend beat Osyp in a feature match. overall i had a good time, but was disappointed at my rounds 2 and 3. the day could have been a whole lot different had i drawn well or not punted. too be sure i was questioning my deck choice until i watched Brian take the whole thing. there's a modern PTQ coming up and i think i'll try to find some Chords.
*edit* i do have a question for Brian re: sideboarding. i found myself taking out a pod on the draw. what do you think of this play and how did you approach sideboarding in general (specifically about targets you took out given the low amount of flex spots).
I am a little confused as to the exact benefit of mana dorks to your curve. most lists I have seen so far have more 2 drops than 3. When your dork untaps on turn two, you are on 3 drop. Dont you wait till 4 mana to play pod so you can pod same turn? Shouldnt the lists be 3 drop sweet spot? Instead of 2?
Hi Brian! Awesome to see you on the forums here, and congrats on the big win!
I think the question lots of people have for you would be your choice of Chord. I'd assume you've tried the Domri version of the deck. What factors make Chord better for you?
Hey, sorry for the super late response as I had to drive 12 hours back to Toronto,
I tried Domri's when it first got released in Gatecrash vs Chords and was not really impressed. The creatures in Kiki pod don't fight all too well at sorcery speed with the rest of the field except for restoration angel and playing a Domri doesn't immediately impact the board and demand an answer like Lilliana of the Veil. When twin is threatening combo on turn 4, storm is going off on turn 4, tron is playing karn on turn 3 and affinity/zoo is reliably killing on turn 4, playing a domri just doesn't do much. Chord helps A LOT against all the unfair matchups, which is kiki pod's weaker matchups. Being able to play at instant speed, chord for spellskite against twin, ooze against living end, linvala or pridemage against pod, have your opponent guessing whether it is a restoration angel or a chord when leaving mana up, forcing him to play around the constant threat of end step combo and every other creature in your deck is really strong. It makes the deck more consistent. It makes you be able to reliably combo more on turn 4, in the matchups in which that is the best way to win. It gives you the free wins.
I hope that answers your question.
*edit*: Modern is a format in which hate cards are extremely powerful and are usually crippling enough to buy us enough time to win. Playing 4 colors allows us to play some of the best ones. Chord allows me to play on turn 3, basically 9 copies(hate card itself, 4 pod, 3 chord)of kataki against affinity, 9 copies of spellskite against twin, boggles and infect, 9 copies of ethersworn canonist against storm and living end etc etc.
Yeah I did just that on day 1 against Melira Pod, and walked right into an Aven Mindcensor... And then Linvala was gone and he could use his creatures again... Not a great idea, although pre-side they may not have Mindcensor to interact with you.
Just nitpicking but he was against Affinity so Mindcensor was not a concern
Ooops... Now I feel stupid. The Top 8 was so full of Melira pod I just assummed... I have to admit I didn't exactly watch the Top 8 because it was not so easy to see (although considerably more so than at other GPs) and the side events were reasonably priced.
I can answer any question about my list if you have any. This deck is not easy to pilot by any means and takes a lot of practice. I am glad that I proved the naysayers wrong who said kiki pod was not the deck to play for GP Richmond, it being poorly positioned and advised people to switch to melira pod.
Congratulations for the win Brian! I've got to ask how Eternal Witness worked out for you. I guess I must have been playing it wrong because it almost never mattered (the one time it could have i stupidly tried to cast it with only one green mana, so my opponent knew I had it and played Bojuka Bog on the next turn... yes i'm an idiot), and I ended up siding it out against most deck (it is true that I only had one or two rock-like matchup and no UWR match-up, which is wher I assumme it is supposed to shine). My maindeck is mostly similar to yours, the biggest differences being the presence of Staticaster and the abscence of Voice of Resurgence.
Eternal Witness is a card that is never sided out against any matchup for me. The #1 reason why it is in the deck (other than being synergistic with restoration angel and being an overall good card) is that you can do the 1 card combo with chord. Chording to eternal witness, getting back chord, chording to restoration angel etc etc. #2 reason is that it buys back your hate cards that you side in. Getting back a spellskite twin dealt with, an avalanche riders against scapeshift (which nailed the coffin against my round 15 scapeshift opponent), recurring path to exile and fiery justice 5 times is just great. #3 reason is that even though kitchen finks is your go to 2 -> 3 pod chain, if you suspect your opponent has a path to exile or pillar of flame for a finks, podding into eternal witness and getting back a creature ENSURES 100% that you have creatures to use with your pod.
I did play staticaster back in the day, but in the current meta it is pretty dead. It's most important target is dark confidant, which after it hits it is pretty useless on board. Having it against other pod decks is VERY awkward. It is ok against tempo twin, killing pestermite, clique and snapcaster but I mostly rather just have voice to resolve my spells and make their remands and blue creatures so much worse.
I can answer any question about my list if you have any. This deck is not easy to pilot by any means and takes a lot of practice. I am glad that I proved the naysayers wrong who said kiki pod was not the deck to play for GP Richmond, it being poorly positioned and advised people to switch to melira pod.
P.S. I was made aware of my horrible, embarrassing miss, game 1 in the finals with the "pod linvala into kiki and copy hierarch" line to win and would have beat myself up if I lost the finals because of it.
First of all congratulations Brian for putting us again in the radar
A couple of questions:
-Did you feel like your beatdown plan was lacking with 3 chords and 3 walls(mostyle against control)?
-Did your heart skipped a beat after drawing the shatterstorm and hopping not getting toughseized ?
The beatdown plan was not lacking at all. With 2 ooze, 2 voice, 2 finks and 4 resto angel(along with township of course) you can really put on the pressure. Restoration angel is a very hard to deal with creature and has a very reasonable clock.
You can see in the coverage, that I drew my first 3 cards of game 3 and then looked up in relief at seeing the one of shatterstorm. It was even better when I see red and green sources, a chord and mana accelerants. I knew from that opening hand, the game was sealed and I had just won the GP. I was extremely relaxed after keeping that hand. Nothing but 2 thoughtseizes could stop me. I could get past one thoughtseize by chording for eternal witness to get back shatterstorm or getting kataki. I was surprised he had 4 galvanic blasts main board which I don't think most lists do. It also surprised me that shatterstorm was named the #1 card considering that it was the first time I had cast it in the whole GP and was a last minute addition. I guess coverage only covered half my semi-finals and the finals match
first, welcome and congrats to brian. pretty exciting for kiki pod to finally get some respect.
second, i think this answers the chord of calling vs domri debate. i've been pretty vocal about my love for domri. after this weekend i'm confident in saying i'm wrong. my friend day 2'd with melira pod and chord was consistently his best card. by far.
third, here's my own experience:
round 1 (1-0): won 2-0 vs RUG Twin. was able to combo off both games while keeping him in check. i didn't see him play any remands, which probably helped.
round 2 (1-1): lost 1-2 vs Green Tron. i hate this matchup and was scared of seeing it. game 2 i went for the aggressive play and avalanche rider his tower with a restoration angel in hand. i got pyroclasmed for a 2-dork blowout on 2 lands. game 3 i had 3 chances to topdeck win in a row and missed all 3.
round 3 (1-2): lost 1-2 vs 8 Rack. this loss was all my fault. i took game 1 easily and punted both game 2 and 3 with stupid misplays. should have won. oh well.
round 4 (2-2): won 2-1 vs Affinity. game 3 i forced him to sac everything to ravager and then to sac to Cranial/Inkmoth. had path in hand.
round 5 (3-2): won 2-0 vs Infect. game 1 i combo'd off turn 4. game 2 he had lethal turn 4. game 3 i combo'd off turn 4.
round 6 (4-2): won 2-0 vs UWR Control. game 1 i resolved a pod and snuck out the combo. game 2 i drew an opening hand with smiter and thrun.
round 7 (4-3): lost 1-2 vs UWR Control. game 3 i had a gas opening hand and then drew 8 lands and 3 pods. we both knew there was nothing i could do.
i dropped after that just in time to watch my friend beat Osyp in a feature match. overall i had a good time, but was disappointed at my rounds 2 and 3. the day could have been a whole lot different had i drawn well or not punted. too be sure i was questioning my deck choice until i watched Brian take the whole thing. there's a modern PTQ coming up and i think i'll try to find some Chords.
*edit* i do have a question for Brian re: sideboarding. i found myself taking out a pod on the draw. what do you think of this play and how did you approach sideboarding in general (specifically about targets you took out given the low amount of flex spots).
I never took out pod, in any matchup including the 2 GW or W hatebears matchups. In most matchups, I take out a kiki, either a glen-elendra or a redcap, 1 wall if my opponent wasn't attacking me, and combinations of finks, voice, linvala and ooze. There is always atleast 1 kiki to exploit opportunities.
Hey Brian, congrats on your win and thanks for doing Kiki pod well.
Could you give a list of the decks you played against on the way to the finals? How many times did you lose game 1 in your matches?
I don't remember them all. Day 1 in no particular order: soul sisters, Jund (draw as my opponent forced 4 games after double rakdos charm killing both of us and we couldn't finish in time), Hatebears, BG (Loss, Just can't beat phyrexian obliterators), UWR control, Merfolk.
Day 2: GW hatebears, UWR control, UWR twin, Scapeshift against Andrew Calderon, Affinity, Kiki pod (which was running Domri's, staticasters, 0 chords and image.)
As to how many game 1 losses, I'm not certain. I frequently won 2-0.
My biggest question about your list, is what made you forego phantasmal image?
Back in the days of the old legend rule, I used to run the image. Now, I think it is pretty underwhelming. Blue is a very light splash and is the last color you fetch for. It's utility is mostly in the pod chain from a 1 and 2 drop. That chain takes up one whole turn, atleast 4 mana, sacrifices your whole board, forces you to take a lot of damage and is just WAY too risky. Honestly I would just pod the 2 drop into a persist creature which is much safer. Image is also not the best of creatures :).
I am a little confused as to the exact benefit of mana dorks to your curve. most lists I have seen so far have more 2 drops than 3. When your dork untaps on turn two, you are on 3 drop. Dont you wait till 4 mana to play pod so you can pod same turn? Shouldnt the lists be 3 drop sweet spot? Instead of 2?
Wait, you expect, your one drop to be in your opening hand 100% of the time AND not get bolted immediately? If your opening hand does not have a play turn 1 or turn 2, it is almost 100% a mulligan. Also the 2-2-2 split of ooze, voice and finks is on purpose as they are good in very different matchups. Yes it is frequently correct to hold your pod until you need to use it to minimize damage taken, prevent it from getting destroyed without use, using it to kill instantly once it is in play. The exceptions are of course, if you can sneak it under counter magic or if your opponent has thoughtseize.
Oh my God I would cry tears of joy if Flametongue Kavu was ever printed again. That is exactly what this deck needs. It would make it so much better. UGH!
How about Volcano Hellion?
Regarding running a 4-color deck without fetchlands:
MostlyLost on Cockatrice.
I guess that could be an option, but its so clearly not as good as Flametongue. This deck already deals quite a bit of damage to itself it doesnt really need any more of that. Not to mention it has echo which is never that great and youre not likely to pay it. I think I would rather just have Fiend Hunter over this guy (which is currently in my SB). But if Kavu was legal it would be in the maindeck hands down not close.
Combo as fast as possible. This is easily one of our hardest matchups. Don't fetch a blue source if at all possible. To make them have and "waste" a turn casting spreading seas.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Grand Prix Richmond Top 8Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
3 Chord of Calling
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Wall of Roots
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Spellskite
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Eternal Witness
1 Deceiver Exarch
4 Restoration Angel
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Zealous Conscripts
3 Arid Mesa
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Stomping Ground
1 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Plains
1 Forest
2 Gavony Township
1 Shatterstorm
1 Fiery Justice
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Thragtusk
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Combust
Not that it matters since he won anyway, but I think he misplayed in game 1.
His board state was a Birthing Pod, a Linvala, Keeper of Silence, a Noble Hierarch and 4 lands. He had a Restoration Angel in his hand among other cards. I expected him to sacrifice Linvala, Keeper of Silence to the Birthing Pod, paying 1 mana and 2 life, and find Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. With Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and only 3 mana available, he could copy the Noble Hierarch, giving him four mana to cast Restoration Angel and combo off. Assuming a Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker was in the library, that play would have been possible (someone might want to double-check).
What happened is he passed the turn doing no action and played Restoration Angel during combat to block. He eventually lost game 1.
I was surprised to see his list was similar to the first few versions of pod with the Chord of callings, wall of roots, and Fire-lit thickets. Does this answer the question about chord being too clunky and do we need to bring the deck back full circle?
Modern ~ GR Tron
Just nitpicking but he was against Affinity so Mindcensor was not a concern
I also question these dicesions but they worked out for him. I don't like three walls but I respect his choice on chord. With that said I think three is way too many. I still feel like it's a bit clunky but it might be a nessecary evil at this point. I think I'll test with two in place of domri. That mean dill have to up my wall count to two. Probably dropping Huntmaster. I think we are still not super well positioned with the rise of twin. My personal nightmare matchup. I am also very pleased with his win. I'm pumped to see us get put back on the map.
I can answer any question about my list if you have any. This deck is not easy to pilot by any means and takes a lot of practice. I am glad that I proved the naysayers wrong who said kiki pod was not the deck to play for GP Richmond, it being poorly positioned and advised people to switch to melira pod.
P.S. I was made aware of my horrible, embarrassing miss, game 1 in the finals with the "pod linvala into kiki and copy hierarch" line to win and would have beat myself up if I lost the finals because of it.
I think the question lots of people have for you would be your choice of Chord. I'd assume you've tried the Domri version of the deck. What factors make Chord better for you?
Regarding running a 4-color deck without fetchlands:
MostlyLost on Cockatrice.
To be fair though I believe his other Top 8 rounds were both against Melira so it could have been a problem in those games.
second, i think this answers the chord of calling vs domri debate. i've been pretty vocal about my love for domri. after this weekend i'm confident in saying i'm wrong. my friend day 2'd with melira pod and chord was consistently his best card. by far.
third, here's my own experience:
round 1 (1-0): won 2-0 vs RUG Twin. was able to combo off both games while keeping him in check. i didn't see him play any remands, which probably helped.
round 2 (1-1): lost 1-2 vs Green Tron. i hate this matchup and was scared of seeing it. game 2 i went for the aggressive play and avalanche rider his tower with a restoration angel in hand. i got pyroclasmed for a 2-dork blowout on 2 lands. game 3 i had 3 chances to topdeck win in a row and missed all 3.
round 3 (1-2): lost 1-2 vs 8 Rack. this loss was all my fault. i took game 1 easily and punted both game 2 and 3 with stupid misplays. should have won. oh well.
round 4 (2-2): won 2-1 vs Affinity. game 3 i forced him to sac everything to ravager and then to sac to Cranial/Inkmoth. had path in hand.
round 5 (3-2): won 2-0 vs Infect. game 1 i combo'd off turn 4. game 2 he had lethal turn 4. game 3 i combo'd off turn 4.
round 6 (4-2): won 2-0 vs UWR Control. game 1 i resolved a pod and snuck out the combo. game 2 i drew an opening hand with smiter and thrun.
round 7 (4-3): lost 1-2 vs UWR Control. game 3 i had a gas opening hand and then drew 8 lands and 3 pods. we both knew there was nothing i could do.
i dropped after that just in time to watch my friend beat Osyp in a feature match. overall i had a good time, but was disappointed at my rounds 2 and 3. the day could have been a whole lot different had i drawn well or not punted. too be sure i was questioning my deck choice until i watched Brian take the whole thing. there's a modern PTQ coming up and i think i'll try to find some Chords.
*edit* i do have a question for Brian re: sideboarding. i found myself taking out a pod on the draw. what do you think of this play and how did you approach sideboarding in general (specifically about targets you took out given the low amount of flex spots).
Could you give a list of the decks you played against on the way to the finals? How many times did you lose game 1 in your matches?
Modern ~ GR Tron
Hey, sorry for the super late response as I had to drive 12 hours back to Toronto,
I tried Domri's when it first got released in Gatecrash vs Chords and was not really impressed. The creatures in Kiki pod don't fight all too well at sorcery speed with the rest of the field except for restoration angel and playing a Domri doesn't immediately impact the board and demand an answer like Lilliana of the Veil. When twin is threatening combo on turn 4, storm is going off on turn 4, tron is playing karn on turn 3 and affinity/zoo is reliably killing on turn 4, playing a domri just doesn't do much. Chord helps A LOT against all the unfair matchups, which is kiki pod's weaker matchups. Being able to play at instant speed, chord for spellskite against twin, ooze against living end, linvala or pridemage against pod, have your opponent guessing whether it is a restoration angel or a chord when leaving mana up, forcing him to play around the constant threat of end step combo and every other creature in your deck is really strong. It makes the deck more consistent. It makes you be able to reliably combo more on turn 4, in the matchups in which that is the best way to win. It gives you the free wins.
I hope that answers your question.
*edit*: Modern is a format in which hate cards are extremely powerful and are usually crippling enough to buy us enough time to win. Playing 4 colors allows us to play some of the best ones. Chord allows me to play on turn 3, basically 9 copies(hate card itself, 4 pod, 3 chord)of kataki against affinity, 9 copies of spellskite against twin, boggles and infect, 9 copies of ethersworn canonist against storm and living end etc etc.
Eternal Witness is a card that is never sided out against any matchup for me. The #1 reason why it is in the deck (other than being synergistic with restoration angel and being an overall good card) is that you can do the 1 card combo with chord. Chording to eternal witness, getting back chord, chording to restoration angel etc etc. #2 reason is that it buys back your hate cards that you side in. Getting back a spellskite twin dealt with, an avalanche riders against scapeshift (which nailed the coffin against my round 15 scapeshift opponent), recurring path to exile and fiery justice 5 times is just great. #3 reason is that even though kitchen finks is your go to 2 -> 3 pod chain, if you suspect your opponent has a path to exile or pillar of flame for a finks, podding into eternal witness and getting back a creature ENSURES 100% that you have creatures to use with your pod.
I did play staticaster back in the day, but in the current meta it is pretty dead. It's most important target is dark confidant, which after it hits it is pretty useless on board. Having it against other pod decks is VERY awkward. It is ok against tempo twin, killing pestermite, clique and snapcaster but I mostly rather just have voice to resolve my spells and make their remands and blue creatures so much worse.
The beatdown plan was not lacking at all. With 2 ooze, 2 voice, 2 finks and 4 resto angel(along with township of course) you can really put on the pressure. Restoration angel is a very hard to deal with creature and has a very reasonable clock.
You can see in the coverage, that I drew my first 3 cards of game 3 and then looked up in relief at seeing the one of shatterstorm. It was even better when I see red and green sources, a chord and mana accelerants. I knew from that opening hand, the game was sealed and I had just won the GP. I was extremely relaxed after keeping that hand. Nothing but 2 thoughtseizes could stop me. I could get past one thoughtseize by chording for eternal witness to get back shatterstorm or getting kataki. I was surprised he had 4 galvanic blasts main board which I don't think most lists do. It also surprised me that shatterstorm was named the #1 card considering that it was the first time I had cast it in the whole GP and was a last minute addition. I guess coverage only covered half my semi-finals and the finals match
I never took out pod, in any matchup including the 2 GW or W hatebears matchups. In most matchups, I take out a kiki, either a glen-elendra or a redcap, 1 wall if my opponent wasn't attacking me, and combinations of finks, voice, linvala and ooze. There is always atleast 1 kiki to exploit opportunities.
I don't remember them all. Day 1 in no particular order: soul sisters, Jund (draw as my opponent forced 4 games after double rakdos charm killing both of us and we couldn't finish in time), Hatebears, BG (Loss, Just can't beat phyrexian obliterators), UWR control, Merfolk.
Day 2: GW hatebears, UWR control, UWR twin, Scapeshift against Andrew Calderon, Affinity, Kiki pod (which was running Domri's, staticasters, 0 chords and image.)
As to how many game 1 losses, I'm not certain. I frequently won 2-0.
Back in the days of the old legend rule, I used to run the image. Now, I think it is pretty underwhelming. Blue is a very light splash and is the last color you fetch for. It's utility is mostly in the pod chain from a 1 and 2 drop. That chain takes up one whole turn, atleast 4 mana, sacrifices your whole board, forces you to take a lot of damage and is just WAY too risky. Honestly I would just pod the 2 drop into a persist creature which is much safer. Image is also not the best of creatures :).
Wait, you expect, your one drop to be in your opening hand 100% of the time AND not get bolted immediately? If your opening hand does not have a play turn 1 or turn 2, it is almost 100% a mulligan. Also the 2-2-2 split of ooze, voice and finks is on purpose as they are good in very different matchups. Yes it is frequently correct to hold your pod until you need to use it to minimize damage taken, prevent it from getting destroyed without use, using it to kill instantly once it is in play. The exceptions are of course, if you can sneak it under counter magic or if your opponent has thoughtseize.