Welcome to our sixth weekly Showdown Recap, where we take a look at what happened at Face to Face Games Toronto’s weekly Sunday Showdown, a series of 1k events feeding into the Ultimate Showdown 5k Invitational. This week, we followed up Saturday’s Facetofacegames.com Modern Toronto Open with a Modern Showdown!

While a brand new post-bannings Standard was being explored at the Pro Tour, a host of Modern events took place at the local level this past weekend. Modern was also subject to some bannings, with [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] and [card]Golgari Grave-Troll[/card] getting the axe this time around. With these significant nerfs to top decks – Infect, [card]Death’s Shadow[/card], [card]Kiln Fiend[/card], and Dredge – as well as some splash damage, Modern looked poised to slow down a bit, with powerful linear decks weakened. Another significant impact predicted was the printing of [card]Fatal Push[/card] in Aether Revolt, giving fair decks an extremely powerful non-[card]Lightning Bolt[/card] answer to early creatures.

Modern is typically extremely diverse, even if it’s just a diversity of linear aggro and combo decks, but the predicted changes in the format certainly came to be this weekend. Caleb Keung took down Saturday’s Open with Eternal Command, a Temur-coloured deck originally designed by Shouta Yasooka that uses [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] and [card]Eternal Witness[/card] to cast the powerful [card]Cryptic Command[/card] over and over again. The Showdown was also dominated in the end by fair decks, with three black-green midrange decks making the top 8, and two of them in the finals!

Of course, it was still Modern, so there was some brewing afoot. Jeremy Rubinoff made the top 4 with [card]Jeskai Ascendancy[/card] combo, a powered-down version of the deck that ran rampant when [card]Treasure Cruise[/card] and [card]Dig through Time[/card] were legal in the format. Chris Flink has been playing [card]Ad Nauseam[/card] combo for ever, and continued to post good results with it yesterday.

Christos Kaldis, however, wins the top rogue deck award, bringing a mono-green [card]Genesis Wave[/card] deck to the table, and making it all the way to the top 8 with it! The deck looks to generate disturbing amounts of mana through [card]Utopia Sprawl[/card], [card]Overgrowth[/card], and [card]Arbor Elf[/card], draw and play a disturbing amount of cards through [card]Harmonize[/card], [card]Garruk, Primal Hunter[/card] and [card]Genesis Wave[/card], then potentially win the game through [card]Laboratory Maniac[/card]!

Abzan was traditionally built a bit differently from its Jund compatriot, eschewing a lot of the cheap efficient spells in combination with [card]Dark Confidant[/card] for a higher-end midrange plan. With the printing of [card]Fatal Push[/card], however, the door is opened for [card]Dark Confidant[/card] Abzan to be reborn, and both Keith Capstick and Matthew Loong brought different builds of the deck. Keith built his deck closer to traditional Jund lists, favouring a controlling game plan, while Matthew chose to be more aggressive, with [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] and [card]Grim Flayer[/card] leading the charge. Matthew was able to defeat Chris Ha’s Jund deck in the finals, continuing his chain of good finishes at our Modern events!

With his win, Matthew becomes the seventh player to qualify for the Ultimate Showdown, but Chris’s finals finish pushes him past Liam into first place in the standings! Congratulations to our top 8, and as always, thanks to everyone for coming! Join us next week for a Standard Showdown and see if you can break the Pro Tour’s dominance of Mardu Vehicles!

Matthew Loong – Abzan – 1st

[deck]
[Creatures]
3 Dark Confidant
3 Grim Flayer
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Scavenging Ooze
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Lingering Souls
3 Fatal Push
3 Path To Exile
2 Collective Brutality
3 Liliana Of The Veil
3 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition Of Kozilek
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Abrupt Decay
[/Spells]

[Lands]
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
3 Blooming Marsh
4 Marsh Flats
1 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vents
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Treetop Village
1 Plains
[/Lands]

[Sideboard]
1 Gideon, Ally Of Zendikar
1 Thrun, The Last Troll
2 Damnation
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Collective Brutality
2 Stony Silence
1 Liliana, The Last Hope
1 Scavenging Ooze
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Chris Ha – Jund – 2nd

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kalitas, Traitor Of Ghet
2 Grim Flayer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Fatal Push
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Terminate
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition Of Kozilek
2 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Liliana Of The Veil
1 Liliana, The Last Hope
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
1 Twilight Mire
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Raging Ravine
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Damnation
1 Night Of Souls’ Betrayal
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Fulminator
1 Collective Brutality
1 Durress
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Anger Of Gods
1 Kalitas, Traitor Of Ghet
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Golgari Charm
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Jeremy Rubinoff – Jeskai Ascendancy – 3rd

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Birds Of Paradise
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Fatestitcher
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight Of Hand
4 Thought Scour
4 Faithless Looting
2 Nagging Thoughts
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Glittering Wish
1 Postmortem Lunge
1 Noxious Revival
3 Jeskai Ascendancy
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 City Of Brass
4 Mana Confluence
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Monastery Mentor
1 Jeskai Ascendancy
2 Reborn Hope
1 Flesh // Blood
1 Sigarda, Host Of Herons
1 Villainous Wealth
1 Slaughter Games
1 Maelstrom Pulse
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Chris Flink – Ad Nauseam – 4th

[deck]
[creatures]
1 Laboratory Maniac
4 Simian Spirit Guide
[Spells]
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel’s Grace
4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Serum Visions
3 Sleight Of Hand
3 Spoils Of The Vault
1 Mystical Teachings
2 Pact Of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Pentad Prism
4 Lotus Bloom
1 Lightning Storm
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Urborg Tomb Of Yawgmoth
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Temple Of Enlightenment
3 Temple Of Deceit
4 Gemstone Mine
2 City Of Brass
1 Tolaria West
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Thoughtseize
3 Ethereal Haze
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Echoing Truth
2 Spell Pierce
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2 Sudden Shock
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Keith Capstick – Abzan – 5th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Dark Confidant
1 Kitchen Finks
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Fatal Push
3 Path To Exile
1 Gideon, Ally Of Zendikar
4 Liliana Of The Veil
3 Inquisition Of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
3 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Anafenza, The Foremost
1 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Flaying Tendrils
1 Gideon, Ally Of Zendikar
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Liliana, The Last Hope
1 Runed Halo
2 Stony Silence
1 Thoughtseize
1 Zealous Persecution
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Gokulan Balukrishnan – Eldrazi Tron – 6th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Reality Smasher
1 Emrakul, The Promised End
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Matter Reshaper
1 Ulamog, The Ceaseless Hunger
3 Endbringer
1 Spellskite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Dismember
2 All Is Dust
4 Expedition Map
4 Warping Wail
1 Ugin, The Spirit Dragon
4 Chalice Of The Void
2 Spacial Contortion
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Sanctum Of Ugin
1 Cavern Of Souls
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Wastes
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Spellskite
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
4 Relic Of Progenitus
2 Spatial Contortion
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pithing Needle
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Matthew Ouellette – Grixis Delver – 7th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Delver Of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Tasigur, The Golden Fang
2 Young Pyromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolts
4 Thought Scour
2 Remand
2 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
2 Spell Snare
2 Sleight Of Hand
2 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Dispel
1 Electrolyze
1 Forked Bolt
1 Mana Leak
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Sulfur Falls
[/Lands]
[sideboard]
2 Thoughtseize
2 Blood Moon
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Vandalblast
2 Vampiric Link
1 Keranos, God Of Storms
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Countersquall
1 Electrickery
1 Izzet Staticaster
[/sideboard]
[/deck]

Christos Kaldis – Genesis Wave – 8th

[deck]
[Creatures]
1 Omnath, Locus Of Rage
4 Arbor Elf
4 Wall Of Roots
3 Eternal Witness
3 Spellskite
1 Laboratory Maniac
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Overgrowth
1 Greater Good
4 Nissa, Worldwaker
4 Garruk Primal Hunter
4 Harmonize
4 Genesis Wave
[/Spells]
[Lands]
19 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Dismember
2 Creeping Corrosion
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4 Nature’s Claim
4 Vexing Shusher
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]