ModernNews

Face to Face Games Open Recap: Modern in Halifax

One of the great things about Modern is that no deck ever truly dies.

Past kings of the format lay dormant for a while only to come out of nowhere when players are unprepared to take down a big tournament. If you master your deck you’ve always got a chance to take down the top spot. And that’s what happened on Saturday.

This past Saturday the FacetoFaceGames.com Open Series traveled all the way to beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dylan Miller was able to conquer the competition with his Humans deck.

Your Halifax Open champion, Dylan Miller.

Miller brought a spicy take on Humans featuring two maindeck copies of [Card]Tajic, Legion’s Edge[/Card]. This is a card there has been rumblings about in Humans since it was printed in Guilds of Ravnica and clearly Miller was able to play it to some success on Saturday. Miller had another new card hanging out his sideboard in [Card]Lavinia, Azorius Renegade[/Card]. This one’s from Ravnica Allegiance and works to help the deck in one of it’s most difficult matchups — Tron.

With the addition of Izzet [Card]Arclight Phoenix[/Card] to the format, many players have been down on Humans recently. But given the surprising lack of Phoenix in our elimination rounds on Saturday and some of these nice additions to Humans that Miller showed up with, maybe it’s not time to quit on the tribal beatdown deck just yet.

Miller was able to overcome another old school favourite in Affinity in the finals. His opponent, Sean Rutledge, also showed up with some new additions to his archetype. Sean played a copy of [Card] Sai, Master Thopterist[/Card] in his maindeck to churn out some advantage in the mid game.

Your Halifax Open Top 8.

Taking a look at the rest of the Top 8, we had the more of the kind of diversity Modern is known for. Our other two semifinalists were Josh Breau playing Jeskai Control and Jesse Swanson playing Golgari Midrange. Filling out the Top 8 was one copy of Martyr Proc, a copy of Mono-Red Prison, another Golgari player and a single copy of Titan Shift.

Golgari has been dispatched by Grixis Death’s Shadow as the [Card]Thoughtseize[/Card] deck-of-choice as of late. But, clearly old school Golgari was the way to go on Saturday out east.

While Miller and company were battling in the main event, dozens of players were battling in our nonstop Commander pods in the side events. Over the course of the day we fired a whopping 21 Commander pods. Additionally, we had players drafting all day in in our Draft till’ you Drop side events.

Congratulations to Dylan once again on his Open trophy and to the rest of the Top 8 on their great run. A special thank you goes out to our judging staff who ran a smooth event all day long, and last but no least, our sponsor, Ultimate Guard for helping us make sure that our Top 8 had some awesome swag to take home.

The next stop on the Open Series will be in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on March 2. Modern is an ever-changing format so make sure you stay sharp if you’re coming out, and don’t forget to pre-register. Before that, this coming weekend, Face to Face Games will be at MagicFest Toronto buying and selling cards all day. Make sure to come on out and say hi!

[Deck Title= First Place, Humans – Dylan Miller]
[Creatures]
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Kitesail Freebooter
2 Tajic, Legion’s Edge
4 Meddling Mage
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Mantis Rider
3 Reflector Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Unclaimed Territory
3 Seachrome Coast
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Cavern of Souls
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Damping Sphere
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
3 Knight of Autumn
2 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
1 Reflector Mage
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Affinity – Sean Rutledge]
[Creatures]
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Cranial Plating
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
2 Memnite
2 Etched Champion
1 Spellskite
1 Sai, Master Thopterist
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Thoughtcast
1 Welding Jar
3 Galvanic Blast
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Mox Opal
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Spire of Industry
1 Glimmervoid
1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Dispatch
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spell Pierce
1 Torpor Orb
1 Wear // Tear
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Damping Sphere
1 Spellskite
1 Etched Champion
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Golgari Midrange – Jesse Swanson]
[Creatures]
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Tireless Tracker
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Get
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Fatal Push
3 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Dismember
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
[/Spells]
[Lands]
5 Swamp
2 Forest
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Field of Ruin
2 Treetop Village
1 Hissing Quagmire
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Golgari Charm
1 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Flaying Tendrils
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Get
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Jeskai Control – Josh Breau]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
1 Negate
4 Opt
4 Path to Exile
1 Secure the Wastes
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ancestral Vision
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Celestial Purge
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dispel
1 Lyra, Dawnbringer
1 Negate
1 Settle the Wreckage
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Vendilion Clique
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Titan Shift – Tyler MacBride]
[Creatures]
4 Sakura Tribe-Elder
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Primeval Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Growth Spasm
2 Sweltering Suns
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Scapeshift
2 Summoner’s Pact
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Farseek
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Forest
6 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
4 Cinder Glade
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Roast
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Damping Sphere
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Fracturing Gust
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Martyr Proc – John Burns]
[Creatures]
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Thraben Inspector
3 Serra Ascendant
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Legion Conquistador
4 Ranger of Eos
1 Archangel Avacyn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Proclamation of Rebirth
4 Path to Exile
1 Day of Judgment
1 Wrath of God
1 Terminus
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Oketra’s Monument
[/Spells]
[Lands]
9 Plains
3 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Field of Ruin
2 Mistveil Plains
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Damping Sphere
1 Terminus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Cast Out
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Mono-Red Prison – Brad Perry]
[Creatures]
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hazoret the Fervent
3 Legion Warboss
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Simian Spirit Guide
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Blood Moon
4 Abrade
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
14 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Sphere
2 Dragon’s Claw
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
2 Rending Volley
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Golgari Midrange – William Leake]
[Creatures]
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Get
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Fatal Push
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Dismember
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Forest
4 Swamp
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Treetop Village
3 Hissing Quagmire
4 Field of Ruin
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Blooming Marsh
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Choke
1 Damnation
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Duress
2 Collective Brutality
2 Damping Sphere
2 Golgari Charm
3 Kitchen Finks
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

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