Kozilek's Return is not that good against us. Most players are bad and they will leave up the sweeper to try to trap us. If they don't block, simply do regular combat damage to them. If they then (either before damage or EOT) try to wrath, you just blow them away with an Atarka's Command. Just don't be bad and the card will actually work to our advantage since it eats their whole turn and we can always make them pull the trigger first.
No point in running fetches if you do not have a splash. The math doesn't support running them for thinning only.
I've won several games against other red decks by one or two damage because they took a little too much damage from their "thinning" fetches.
The math 100% supports thinning. It's up to you whether you value the life more than the fraction of the card each fetch offers. If you can completely ignore your life total, fetches only for thinning is probably fine; otherwise, it takes to long to reap any benefit.
Seems really unfair for an LGS with 130 people to skip top 8 and only run 4 rounds. That many rounds can only uniquely identify a winner with 16 participants lol.
I assume payout is by record rather than by placing, so identifying a winner is unnecessary, and it is completely fair and reasonable for FNM.
When you have 130 people at a PTQ, it's 8 rounds Swiss with a cut to Top 8 to determine a winner. That takes up an entire Saturday or Sunday and can't be done for FNM. That's why most FNM's (in my experience) are four rounds, no T8, payout in packs by record.
I guess I'm just spoiled. Our LGS's run daily tournaments (usually 5 days a week) that are four rounds w/ payout to 4-0 and 3-X-X. FNMs are usually 4-6 rounds cut to top 4-8 depending on attendance. Then weekends have premier events like PPTQs, box tournaments, etc. with 4-6 rounds and cut to top 8.
I'm excited to say I went 4-0 at FNM last night playing against 4 Control decks (UB, Sultai, Jeskai, UB in that order) and clinched 1st place after swiss out of over 130 people (weird how I didn't play vs Abzan or the mirror though; we don't do top cut either due to time constraints). I will hold off on posting my list for now though because I have an SCG next week, but it's not terribly special. The only thing really different about it is the Ashcloud Phoenix in the mainboard as a 1 of, which I really loved, but I can't see myself playing 2. My "strategy" I described earlier in the thread seemed like the flawless way to beat Control. There is no burn in the deck post board, which made the 2 Soulfire Grand master kind of awkward post board vs Control using this strategy, but obviously your opponents don't know that so they will kill her with removal spells anyway (had her Downfall'd 3 times yesterday and I cared 0 of those times). I also liked Soulfire because its still nice to have her on curve turn 2 and eat a removal spell while still getting a few hits in. It's just worse Seeker 5 and 6. If there isn't Red and White in my deck for Dallas, be surprised.
Seems really unfair for an LGS with 130 people to skip top 8 and only run 4 rounds. That many rounds can only uniquely identify a winner with 16 participants lol.
I may be misunderstanding her service against aggro, but I've mainly discounted that since Aggro decks don't actually exist right now. The deck needs to be built for the mirror and midrange (with Downfall) matchups. Grindclock seems te best-positioned to do this.
4 Falkenrath Gorger
4 Bomat Courier
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Smuggler's Copter
3 Key to the City
1 Captain's Claws
4 Alms of the Vein
4 Fiery Temper
4 Incendiary Flow
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Foreboding Ruins
5 Swamp
8 Mountain
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Galvanic Bombardment
4 Weaver of Lightning
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
The deck felt very powerful and consistent.
4 Falkenrath Gorger
4 Inventor's Apprentice
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Smuggler's Copter
4 Lathnu Hellion
4 Collective Defiance
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Fleetwheel Cruiser
4 Aether Hub
Deck's really smooth. May want 3 Copters, so can add in a 1-of-fun-of the +3/+3 thing, or just another 3-power 2-drop.
Painful Truths has to be worse than Outpost Siege.
4 Denizen
3 Zurgo
4 Swiftspear
4 Fodder
4 Outburst
Spells
4 Slash
4 Command
4 Strike
4 Firecraft
4 Stoke
1 Become Immense
1 Forest
4 Foothills
4 Confluence
11 Mountain
4 Searing Blood
4 Roast
4 Eidolon
3 Destructive Revelry
Lost to UR Burn, then won 4 (Abz control, RG Dragons, UW Control, Mirror). Beat UR Burn in T8, beat abz control in T4, split T2.
The math 100% supports thinning. It's up to you whether you value the life more than the fraction of the card each fetch offers. If you can completely ignore your life total, fetches only for thinning is probably fine; otherwise, it takes to long to reap any benefit.
I guess I'm just spoiled. Our LGS's run daily tournaments (usually 5 days a week) that are four rounds w/ payout to 4-0 and 3-X-X. FNMs are usually 4-6 rounds cut to top 4-8 depending on attendance. Then weekends have premier events like PPTQs, box tournaments, etc. with 4-6 rounds and cut to top 8.
Seems really unfair for an LGS with 130 people to skip top 8 and only run 4 rounds. That many rounds can only uniquely identify a winner with 16 participants lol.