I registered for my LGS’s Cornerstone (we put in a lot of effort to get that status - should out to Battlegrounds in Richmond, VA!) but hadn’t played for five months. Going into the tournament, I needed 1) an Avatar I had at least some experience with 2) a deck that was pretty easy to pilot 3) something that could hopefully win or not make me look entirely foolish ;)
After looking at my old pre-Gothic decks, I landed on the “red deck wins” Pathfinder in a dusty deck box. I figured, “there have to be some cool new toys and more fire sites,” and I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a fair amount of Gothic in this deck as a result! I would add a Horns of Behemoth for the Wasteland if I had pulled one and I totally overlooked Vindictive Nation, which is also an easy add in lieu of one of the duals.
The Avatar pilots no differently than before, you have to attempt the optimal pattern to enable a path to at least six sites, but either via Giant, Warhorse, or just walking over a few sites, you can easily get to 10+ simply because of the tempo you have.
The deck archetype is classic sligh/red deck wins. You simply want to be as aggressive as possible. Gift of the Serpent, especially with Dragonettes, is AWESOME for taking out problematic minions. Searing Truth is an MVP as it gets you even more cards if you need them, but can also kill an Avatar instantly on DD. I’d definitely figure out a way to cut some things (I.e. Minor Explosion) to get up to max for each of those. I didn’t bother with any of the collection artifacts as they are simply too slow. The only collection card is a Hounds in case you elect to cast it from Molten Maar.
If you’re looking for something than can simply
blitz out a win, particularly before folks figure out deck efficiency and the meta, this may be a good choice for you. I’d you’re looking for something with some neat combos and cool interactions, there are a few, but really this is all about the burn. Enjoy the heat!