It was only 7 actually, the aforementioned 6 and time stretch. I underestimated how much recursion he was playing tbh. That's good news for shaving some interaction, as the recursion like regrowth, snappy boi and flippant jace gives redundancy to what counters and removal you do still have.
I personally would not advise cutting ramp. I've played many high cmc commanders, from Maelstrom Wanderer back in his partial paris heyday to Kozilek today, and getting stuck on insufficient funds is the literal worst nightmare.
Thus I try to abide by this rule to determine the value of opening hands:
If the first proactive, meaningful play for any given deck is its commander a la Selvala (and especially true for high cmc generals with CA stapled to them), good opening hands must show a tangible path towards reaching the mana necessary to cast it (or be otherwise godlike to subvert the rule).
Shaving ramp feels fine but actually it reduces the average viability of an opening hand and might force more aggressive mulligans (which Damia admittedly permits, but that depends entirely on whether you want to make that gameplay concession or not).
Those plus karn's temporal sundering and time stretch, I believe. I can get an exact count tonight though when I go play.
In truth though, going for the time run means you can skimp a bit on single target removal and interaction because ideally you want to want to play solitaire anyway. Personally, I'd look for cuts there first.
I'm not sure. I ran "Gunslinger" through google and found a Chris Rahn picture I liked. Did enjoy what I read of the Dark Tower series though. Shame what they did with the movie really, waste of a perfectly good plot and Edris Elba.
Back on topic, I play pretty regularly against an Angus Mackenzie Time Run deck and I can attest that if he gets to five mana, he's generally going to take a series of turns and ramp into godhood. It's really only vulnerable to fast combo, storm, and maybe fast stax (currently testing this with an Adun Oakenshield build based on Phil's ancient list). Highly recommend primal amulet if you got that route, it's dumber than stupid.
I say go for a time run Damia. Extra turns create an advantage hard to generally interact against, and worse come to worst, they're always at least an explore. I like Ad Nauseum in decks with a quicker plan A than "Cast Damia"
I personally would not advise cutting ramp. I've played many high cmc commanders, from Maelstrom Wanderer back in his partial paris heyday to Kozilek today, and getting stuck on insufficient funds is the literal worst nightmare.
Thus I try to abide by this rule to determine the value of opening hands:
Shaving ramp feels fine but actually it reduces the average viability of an opening hand and might force more aggressive mulligans (which Damia admittedly permits, but that depends entirely on whether you want to make that gameplay concession or not).
Edit: for cleanliness
In truth though, going for the time run means you can skimp a bit on single target removal and interaction because ideally you want to want to play solitaire anyway. Personally, I'd look for cuts there first.
Oh, and a flip jace to flash the better ones back. Flip Jace is another nutso inclusion.
Back on topic, I play pretty regularly against an Angus Mackenzie Time Run deck and I can attest that if he gets to five mana, he's generally going to take a series of turns and ramp into godhood. It's really only vulnerable to fast combo, storm, and maybe fast stax (currently testing this with an Adun Oakenshield build based on Phil's ancient list). Highly recommend primal amulet if you got that route, it's dumber than stupid.