Regional Pro Tour Qualifier (RPTQ) time is always very exciting for me. Most of the time one of my good friends gets to qualify for the Pro Tour and you get to see a whole season worth of local-level grinding come to fruition. You get to see what decks were actually good, and what was a dud, that sort of thing—it’s like to Pro Tour for degenerates if you will.

This one was particularly exciting because of how diverse Modern is. I always find it fascinating to see how complicated formats settle down when good players culminate with the Pro Tour on their mind.

This season Ryan Hovis, Seth Deluca and Toronto locals Ryan Sandrin and Pasha Meshkati received invites to Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan by finishing in the Top 4 of the Toronto RPTQ at Face to Face Games. Congratulations to all of them.

Hovis played what looks to me like a very well-tuned Grixis Death’s Shadow list, cementing the archetype atop the Modern format. Hovis chose to play a very removal-heavy build and leaned on Temur Battle Rage to end games quickly over the usual number of discard spells. Hovis had more of the same in the sideboard with a truckload of counter magic and a full three sweepers. Just looking at this list, it’s clear there was a lot of work put in and it paid-off.

Toronto local, and my extremely lucky friend, Ryan Sandrin played U/R Storm. Storm has just steadily risen in popularity week-to-week since the printing of Baral Chief of compliance. Ryan made a good deck choice and played a very stock list. I also heard he got a little help from a Summoner’s Pact trigger got haywire in the Top 8.

I don’t really have much to say about Deluca’s deck other than it looks super sweet, super explosive and I can’t believe it Top 4’d and RPTQ. I will say that the sideboard looks very hateful and it’s clear Deluca was look to really hate on specific matchups.

Pasha Meshkati played one of Modern’s rising stars in U/R Breach and will be attending his first Pro Tour because of it. Meshkati has very quickly improved his game over the last year and has been awarded with a PT birth.

Good luck to our Top 4 at the Pro Tour, here’s the decks they used to take it down:

First Place- Ryan Hovis, Grixis Death’s Shadow

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Deaths Shadow
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Street Wraith
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Gurmag Angler
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Thought Scour
4 Serum Visions
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
1 Terminate
2 Temur Battle Rage
1 Dismember
1 Kolaghan’s Command
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
2 Blood Crypt
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Kozileks Return
1 Rise // Fall
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Kolaghans Command
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Flashfreeze
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Second Place- Ryan Sandrin, U/R Storm

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Baral, Chief of Compliance
3 Goblin Electromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Empty the Warrens
4 Gifts Ungiven
2 Grapeshot
2 Past in Flames
4 Manamorphose
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
3 Remand
4 Serum Visions
2 Opt
4 Sleight of Hand
1 Noxious Revival
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Spirebluff Canal
3 Steam Vents
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Pieces of the Puzzle
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Repeal
2 Dismember
2 Shattering Spree
2 Empty the Warrens
3 Blood Moon
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Third Place- Seth Deluca, G/R Vengevine

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Insolent Neonate
3 Goblin Guide
4 Hollow One
4 Vengevine
4 Street Wraith
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
4 Cathartic Reunion
2 Become Immense
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
4 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Blood Moon
1 Forest
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Dismember
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Feed the Clan
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place- Pasha Meshkati, U/R Breach

[Deck]
[Creatures]
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Spell Snare
1 Pull from Tomorrow
4 Through the Breach
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Flame Slash
4 Remand
2 Electrolyze
4 Cryptic Command
1 Izzet Charm
1 Supreme Will
3 Blood Moon
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
7 Island
1 Mountain
3 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Desolate Lighthouse
2 Polluted Delta
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Dispel
3 Madcap Experiment
2 Platinum Emperion
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 By Force
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]