Welcome to another 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 players battled in Modern to see who could qualify themselves for the Ultimate Showdown.

If there’s anything I know about Modern tournaments in Toronto, ON it’s that they’re disproportionately dominated by decks featuring the card: Steam Vents. Well, Sunday was no exception.

The finals of our Modern Sunday Showdown was a battle between two unlikely competitors. That is if you’ve looked at a Modern metagame breakdown as of late. It was Grixis Control versus Blue Moon, and Justin Wong was able to prevail with his Blue Moon deck featuring Thing in the Ice.

In classic Modern style, our event on Sunday was a snapshot of the format’s diversity and showed that really anything can win in Modern. Our Top 8 featured only one Humans deck, no copies of KCI or straight-up U/W Control.

In place of those very popular archetypes were two copies of Titan Shift, Ad Nauseum and Ponza.

Local stalwart Chris Flink secured what feels like his hundredth Top 8 with his trusty Ad Nauseum deck. Proving once again that in Modern all you’ve got to do is pick a deck, and master it.

With his win on Sunday, Zachary cements his spot in the upcoming Ultimate Showdown and the rest of our Top 8 have begun their march up the leader board to qualify. This upcoming Sunday at Face to Face Games Toronto we will be hosting Legacy Sunday Showdown. Come on out and see if Miracles will remain on top of the format after Grand Prix Richmond.

First Place, Justin Wong – Blue Moon

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thing in the Ice
1 Torrential Gearhulk
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Flame Slash
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Opt
4 Serum Visions
2 Abrade
4 Remand
2 Blood Moon
3 Electrolyze
4 Cryptic Command
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
7 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
1 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Logic Knot
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
1 Young Pyromancer
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Second Place, Zachary Ryl – Grixis Control

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Spell Snare
4 Thought Scour
1 Countersquall
1 Dreadbore
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Terminate
4 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Cryptic Command
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Blood Crypt
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Field of Ruin
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Collective Brutality
1 Countersquall
1 Damnation
1 Dispel
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Third Place, Chris Flink – Ad Nauseum

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Laboratory Maniac
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lotus Bloom
3 Pact of Negation
4 Angel’s Grace
2 Sleight of Hand
4 Serum Visions
3 Spoils of the Vault
1 Echoing Truth
4 Pentad Prism
1 Lightning Storm
4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Ad Nauseam
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 City of Brass
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Dreadship Reef
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Temple of Deceit
3 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Bontu’s Last Reckoning
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Path to Exile
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
2 Thoughtseize
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Wear // Tear
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place, Jacob Richer – Humans

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

Fifth Place, Curtis Watts – Norin Sisters

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Champion of the Parish
1 Legion Loyalist
3 Norin the Wary
4 Soul Warden
4 Soul’s Attendant
4 Ajani’s Pridemate
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
3 Mentor of the Meek
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
3 Ranger of Eos
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
1 Boros Charm
3 Genesis Chamber
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Battlefield Forge
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Inspiring Vantage
1 Mountain
8 Plains
1 Westvale Abbey
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Auriok Champion
3 Damping Sphere
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
3 Wear // Tear
1 Worship
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Sixth Place, Matt Gregersen – Ponza

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Arbor Elf
2 Birds of Paradise
1 Courser of Kruphix
4 Tireless Tracker
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Inferno Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Abrade
4 Blood Moon
2 Molten Rain
4 Stone Rain
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Stomping Ground
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Abrade
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Trinisphere
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Seventh Place, Russel Phillips – Titan Shift

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Reclamation Sage
4 Primeval Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Summoner’s Pact
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Explore
4 Farseek
4 Search for Tomorrow
2 Sweltering Suns
4 Scapeshift
2 Hour of Promise
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Cinder Glade
2 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
6 Mountain
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Sheltered Thicket
4 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Abrade
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Damping Sphere
2 Guttural Response
2 Nature’s Claim
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Eighth Place, Adrian Malusaj – Titan Shift

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Reclamation Sage
4 Primeval Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Summoner’s Pact
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Farseek
3 Khalni Heart Expedition
4 Search for Tomorrow
1 Sweltering Suns
4 Scapeshift
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Cinder Glade
3 Forest
7 Mountain
1 Sheltered Thicket
4 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Damping Sphere
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Roast
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Vivien Reid
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]