I would draft a box of Modern Masters (that is what happened to my MM1 box). I wouldn't draft five though. Getting back $200 is going to be hard even with Goyf because you won't hit five for five so I'd go with sell.
The store where I play will help facilitate transactions between players that involve the store getting a little money too. Basically the store will buy the card (and pay better than they usually do for it) and then sell it immediately to the player that wanted to buy them. It is fair to all parties and nobody gets banned.
The playmat for side events is the new Vendilion Clique artwork. You can also trade your Etched Champion mat for a Clique one if you want (while supplies last, if you keep the mat in good condition).
The store where I play uses an hour clock (vs. 50 minutes normally). They usually give unlimited time to the finals. It is just because they often have other events coming in later and don't have enough room for both events.
If you are playing at a normal pace that should be plenty of time.
As stated it is just that they can not retroactively fix the Legend rule in such a way that would make it work. They could print an Urza Planeswalker and many people (maybe even most people) wouldn't know there is a creature that can't co-exist with it.
It should be noted that FNM isn't "casual" REL it is Regular REL. Calling it casual takes away from the fact that they are still rated matches. The more laid back stance on penalizing breaking rules at a Regular REL event doesn't mean they the rules shouldn't be enforced. FNM is meant as a gateway into tournament play and the rules should be taught at this level.
1 is kind of odd but I don't see anything particularly wrong with it.
2 is just how he wants to run his business. Of the 4 FNMs that I sort of rotate between at least three are super kid friendly and I try to have the same attitude. Although if the kid won't pay attention to what he is doing that pisses me off.
3 I would find friends to specifically play with if you don't get to play enough. If you are as good within your pond as you say you might want to try expanding to bigger event. That is what I did and I became an even better player because of it.
4 As I said I rotate between a few FNM depending on formats and the like and you have to understand that every store is different. You need to figure out what you want out of your FNM experience. Personally I have a favorite store that does draft which is my format of choice on most Fridays. They are friendly and the crowd is nice. These are all important to me. When I want to play Standard or play a more serious draft I have other stores that I like to go to. One of the stores is really kid friendly but they let them get out of control. I am less likely to go to that store for FNM because of that.
The first one I picked Atarka and ended playing Black and Green plus a splash for a FTF Kolaghan. I went 0-2 drop (it was midnight and I wanted to go sleep before playing twice on Saturday during the day). My deck was okay but I kept getting blown out by bombs.
Next I picked Ojutai and I ended up played Blue/Black. Again my deck was kind of marginal and I went 2-2. I won a pack for my efforts.
Saturday in the evening I picked Kolaghan and actually got to build Black/Red. I got a ton of raid including 4 copies of Reckless Imp. The highlight of this event was easily the game where I had Warbringer undashed and I dashed three Imps on one turn and then all of them again the next turn plus another creature for the win. I went 3-1 losing to a 4-0 player who had tons of removal that I couldn't get around.
Then on Sunday I picked Silumgar and I got to play those colors too. I had Icefall Regent and a lot of good exploit cards and good removal. I went 3-1-1 in the swiss (they had a top 8) and then won in the top eight before the top four decided to split the prize packs.
Apparently I really like playing Black in this format. Exploit is really strong, I don't think there is a bad exploit card. Dash is a lot better in this set with the cards that support it and I didn't even get the +2/+2 guy. Rebound is really nice when you remember to use it. Bolster is as good as always if not better. I thought formidable was going to be pointless but some of those cards are really good when you get their bonus. I'm really enjoying the new set and I can't wait for our draft on Friday at FNM.
Oh and a special shout out to Lose Calm. I almost lost both games in a match to that card (Stratus Dancer) saved me.
I only ever go by life total if someone asks who is winning.
I'll usually go with this as well. I just say "I have more life left" or he does. It's not really a statement of winning or losing just a fact about the metric used to determine the winner.
The better question to ask is who is winning if you have less life but that's going to change over the next couple of turns because you have a much better position on board? I'll usually add the qualifier at the end on my life total statement if it's worth pointing out. "I have more life but he has a lot more creatures" or vice versa.
Much better than the Etched Champion mat.
http://www.channelfireball.com/home/mm15-preview-card-gp-vegas-side-event-playmat-and-supplies/
If you are playing at a normal pace that should be plenty of time.
There isn't a way to cut a sufficiently random deck to force any kind of pattern (without cheating).
2 is just how he wants to run his business. Of the 4 FNMs that I sort of rotate between at least three are super kid friendly and I try to have the same attitude. Although if the kid won't pay attention to what he is doing that pisses me off.
3 I would find friends to specifically play with if you don't get to play enough. If you are as good within your pond as you say you might want to try expanding to bigger event. That is what I did and I became an even better player because of it.
4 As I said I rotate between a few FNM depending on formats and the like and you have to understand that every store is different. You need to figure out what you want out of your FNM experience. Personally I have a favorite store that does draft which is my format of choice on most Fridays. They are friendly and the crowd is nice. These are all important to me. When I want to play Standard or play a more serious draft I have other stores that I like to go to. One of the stores is really kid friendly but they let them get out of control. I am less likely to go to that store for FNM because of that.
The first one I picked Atarka and ended playing Black and Green plus a splash for a FTF Kolaghan. I went 0-2 drop (it was midnight and I wanted to go sleep before playing twice on Saturday during the day). My deck was okay but I kept getting blown out by bombs.
Next I picked Ojutai and I ended up played Blue/Black. Again my deck was kind of marginal and I went 2-2. I won a pack for my efforts.
Saturday in the evening I picked Kolaghan and actually got to build Black/Red. I got a ton of raid including 4 copies of Reckless Imp. The highlight of this event was easily the game where I had Warbringer undashed and I dashed three Imps on one turn and then all of them again the next turn plus another creature for the win. I went 3-1 losing to a 4-0 player who had tons of removal that I couldn't get around.
Then on Sunday I picked Silumgar and I got to play those colors too. I had Icefall Regent and a lot of good exploit cards and good removal. I went 3-1-1 in the swiss (they had a top 8) and then won in the top eight before the top four decided to split the prize packs.
Apparently I really like playing Black in this format. Exploit is really strong, I don't think there is a bad exploit card. Dash is a lot better in this set with the cards that support it and I didn't even get the +2/+2 guy. Rebound is really nice when you remember to use it. Bolster is as good as always if not better. I thought formidable was going to be pointless but some of those cards are really good when you get their bonus. I'm really enjoying the new set and I can't wait for our draft on Friday at FNM.
Oh and a special shout out to Lose Calm. I almost lost both games in a match to that card (Stratus Dancer) saved me.
I'll usually go with this as well. I just say "I have more life left" or he does. It's not really a statement of winning or losing just a fact about the metric used to determine the winner.
The better question to ask is who is winning if you have less life but that's going to change over the next couple of turns because you have a much better position on board? I'll usually add the qualifier at the end on my life total statement if it's worth pointing out. "I have more life but he has a lot more creatures" or vice versa.