I’ve obviously always hoped this day would come. That I would win a tournament and be faced with the unfortunate task of trying to awkwardly write about my victory.

Well, here we are. I won the Face to Face Games Modern Open at the Canadian National Exhibition this past Saturday.

I wish I could say I played perfectly and rolled through all of my opponents throughout the day on my way to holding the trophy. But, in reality I was met every round with the complexity of the interactions within the Humans archetype, and mostly crawled over the finish line.

If there’s any major takeaways I can offer after the event, it’s that Humans is an incredibly powerful and resilient deck. It made up three of the top four decks in the tournament and I was able to beat three separate U/W based control decks on the back of [Card]Militia Bugler[/Card] which was the most impressive angle of attack for the deck in my experience. I just wasn’t familiar with the extent that Humans could grind.

On top of the three copies of Humans, the rest of the Top 8 was two different Death’s Shadow decks, a Mardu Pyromancer deck, a U/W Spirits deck and a B/R Vengevine deck.

Spirits and Vengevine are two decks that have risen to prominence in Modern a lot as of late. Spirits acquired a new lord in Supreme Phantom and [Card]Vengevine[/Card] has been further enabled by [Card]Stitcher’s Supplier[/Card].

The format continues to move at lightning speed, and right now everyone is trying to catch up to Humans. Going forward, I suspect we’re going to see a strong uptick in this new [Card]Hardened Scales[/Card] Affinity deck that won Grand Prix Prague over the weekend. This deck is extremely powerful when un-interacted with and in my opinion has a very good Humans matchup. So, if you want to haul off to the next Face to Face Games Modern event with [Card]Champion of the Parish[/Card] in your deck, I’d suggest having a plan for Scales.

Before I go I’d also like to mention the venue. The event was hosted during the Canadian National Exhibition in the Gaming Garage. The space was so cool and the various tech vendors that setup there went all out to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves. Check out our photos from the event below!

First Place, Keith Capstick – 5C Humans 

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Meddling Mage
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Mantis Rider
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Phantasmal Image
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Reflector Mage
3 Militia Bugler
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Island
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Damping Sphere
2 izzet Staticaster
2 Auriok Champion
2 Sin Collector
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Reflector Mage
1 Gutshot
1 Dismember
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Second Place, Jason Drossis – Mardu Pyromancer

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Bedlam reveler
4 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Blood Moon
2 Collective Brutality
1 Dreadbore
4 Faithless looting
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
2 Fatal Push
3 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Terminate
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Marsh Flats
2 Mountain
2 Sacred Foundry
2 swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Leyline of the Void
1 Wear // Tear
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Damnation
1 Stony Silence
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Kambal Consul of Allocation
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3 Molten Rain
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Third Place, Geordie Macdonald – 5C Humans 

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Noble hierarch
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Thalia, Guardian of thraben
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Meddling Mage
1 Kessig Malcontents
4 Reflector Mage
4 Mantis Rider
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Unclaimed Territory
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Plains
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Kataki War’s Wage
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Xathrid Necromancer
1 dire Fleet Daredevil
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
2 Sin Collector
2 Izzet Staticaster
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place, Kyle Macdonald – 5C Humans 

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Meddling Mage
4 Kitesail Freebooter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Phantasmal Image
3 Reflector Mage
3 Militia Bugler
4 Mantis Rider
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Unclaimed Territory
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Island
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Izzet Statiscaster
2 Sin Collector
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Gut Shot
1 Dismember
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Damping Sphere
2 Auriok Champion
1 Kataki War’s Wage
1 Hostage Taker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fifth Place, Matthew Loong – Traverse Death’s Shadow 

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Death’s Shadow
4 Street Wraith
1 Grim Flayer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Mishra’s Bauble
3 Fatal Push
2 Lightning bolt
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Dismember
2 Temur Battle Rage
3 Stubborn Denial
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground’
1 Watery Grave
1 Swamp
1 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Leyline of the Void
1 Liliana, the last Hope
2 Damping Sphere
1 Golgari Charm
1 Collective Brutality
1 Radiant Flame
1 Fire spout
2 Abrade
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Grim Lavamancer
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Sixth Place, Joshua Lawrence Grace – B/R Vengevine 

[Deck]
[Creatures]
3 Hangarback Walker
4 Walking Ballista
4 Goblin Bushwacker
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Stitcher’s Supplier
2 Viscera Seer
3 Bloodghast
4 Vengevine
3 Greater Gargadon
4 Grave Crawler
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
4 Bridge From Below
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Nature’s Claim
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
2 Lightning Axe
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Leyline of the Void
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Seventh Place, Cory Gray – Grixis Death’s Shadow

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Death’s Shadow
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Street Wraith
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Gurmag Angler
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Mishra’s Bauble
3 Stubborn Denial
1 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
2 Faithless Looting
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Temur Battlerage
2 Dismember
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
1 Swamp
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
2 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Darkblast
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Volcanic Fallout
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Stubborn Denial
1 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Ceremonious Rejection
3 Nihil Spellbomb
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Eighth Place, Aiden Vollmer – U/W Spirits

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Rattlechains
4 Supreme Phantom
3 Selfless Spirit
1 Remorseful Cleric
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Drogskul Captain
2 Geist of Saint Traft
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Plains
3 Island
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Horizon Canopy
4 Mutavault
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Moorland Haunt
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Damping Sphere
2 Negate
3 Stony Silence
2 Disenchant
1 Rest in peace
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Worship
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]