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 for the top prize.

The story of Sunday’s tournament was certainly the various linear colourless archetypes that dominated the Top 8 of the event. In total there were three different Tron decks and an Affinity player who made it to the elimination rounds. Zach Chatel went the biggest of them all and was able to come away with the first place prize on the back of his G/W Tron deck that went over the top of the Eldrazi Tron decks but also sported some [card]Path to Exile[/card]s to interact with decks like [card]Death’s Shadow[/card]. Walking into a Modern event right now you’d expect a room full of [card]Death’s Shadow[/card] decks, and if you look at our Top 8 you see the opposite – a bunch of decks that are hateful toward [card]Death’s Shadow[/card].

Grand Prix Las Vegas showed us that these colourless archetypes do a good job of handling [card]Death’s Shadow[/card] and that information seems to have crept its way back to Toronto and into our local Modern scene. Even Stephen Trochimchuck’s U/W [card]Spreading Seas[/card] control deck looks to handle the powerful midrange deck very nicely. The other members of our Top 8 seem to exist on the the same end of the spectrum, a couple of creature-combo decks and Seth Black’s Burn deck have their own linear gameplans and can get games over with in a hurry.

Notably, this is Black’s second consecutive Top 8 with his Burn deck in the Modern format. His deck lists have looked very clean, full of four-ofs and it’s clear that he’s chosen the exact sideboard cards he wants for each matchup. In such a linear strategy you’re looking for strictly the most high impact sideboard cards, and then once you’ve found them, maxing-out on them. Burn is in a unique place in the metagame right now. It generally has good matchups against a lot of the decks people are using to beat [card]Death’s Shadow[/card] but it’s the Shadow matchup where it earns its worth. In my experience the Shadow versus Burn matchup is one of the most challenging the format has to offer and Seth must be playing well to be finding so much success with Burn. Look out for him and his [card]Goblin Guide[/card]s if you’re looking to battle in the next Modern Showdown.

Notably absent from this Top 8 is the Mono-White Hatebears deck that has popped up as of late. With that said Chris Duong’s wild Four-Colour Company deck does feature some similarities and having access to three copies of [card]Mirran Crusader[/card] after board gives it access to the Shadow-hate that some of those white-based decks rely on. Maybe these combo decks have found the answer to their “how do I build this?” problem with [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card] and they will be the creature deck of choice in Modern. They certainly shined on Sunday.

If these deck lists have you hungry for some Modern action your next opportunity will be our big FacetoFacegames.com Toronto Open at Seneca College on Aug.12, come out for 2k in prizes!

With his win Zach qualifies himself for the next Face to Face Games Ultimate Showdown and the rest of the Top 8 have started their march toward the top of the Showdown leaderboard. Join us this weekend to try to cement your spot on the leaderboard as we’ll be battling Standard for our Game Day Showdown, featuring some sweet playmats and promos!

First Place: Zach Chatel, G/W Tron

[deck]
[Creatures]
2 Worldbreaker
2 Ulamog, The Ceasless Hunger
1 Walking Ballista
1 Emrakuel, The Promised End
2 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Expedition Map
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Karn Liberated
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Path to Exile
1 Relic of Progenitus
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Power Plant
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Forest
1 Brushland
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Sanctum of Ugin
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Rest in Peace
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Thragtusk
2 Timely Reinforcements
3 Warping Wail
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Second Place: Chris Duong, Knightfall Counters Company

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Eternal Witness
1 Viscera Seer
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Mirran Crusader
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
2 Retreat to Coralhelm
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Temple Garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Gavony Township
2 Forest
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Stony Silence
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Lingering Souls
2 Dusk // Dawn
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Selfless Spirit
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Third/Fourth Place: Stephen Trochimchuck, U/W Control 

[deck]
[Creatures]
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Wall of Omens
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Cryptic Command
2 Detention Sphere
1 Gideon Jura
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Mana Leak
1 Negate
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
1 Sphinx’s Revelation
4 Spreading Seas
4 Supreme Verdict
1 Supreme Will
1 Think Twice
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Enlightenment
6 Island
3 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Dispel
2 Negate
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Celestial Purge
1 Vendillion Clique
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Third/Fourth Place: Darren Mancini, Grixis Death’s Shadow

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Death’s Shadow
4 Street Wraith
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Tasigur, The Golden Fang
3 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
3 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Claim // Fame
2 Stubborn Denial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Blood Crypt
2 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Steam Vents
1 Arid Mesa
1 Island
1 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Collective Brutality
2 Dismember
2 Lingering Souls
1 Stony Silence
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Flaying Tendrils
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Fifth-Eighth Place: Quan Le Minh, Eldrazi Tron

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Walking Ballista
4 Matter Reshaper
2 Endbringer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Karn Liberated
2 Dismember
2 All is Dust
2 Relic of Progentius
2 Mind Stone
4 Expedition Map
4 Chalice of the Void
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Seagate Wreckage
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Wastes
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Hangarback Walker
2 Warping Wail
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pithing Needle
1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Fifth-Eighth Place: Seth Black, Burn

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Harsh Mentor
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Boros Charm
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Atarka’s Command
2 Skullcrack
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Arid Mesa
3 Sacred Foundry
3 Stomping Ground
2 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Destructive Revelry
3 Deflecting Palm
2 Harsh Mentor
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
2 Sudden Shock
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Fifth-Eighth Place: Jerrico Reguirre, Eldrazi Tron

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Walking Ballista
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Matter Reshaper
2 Endbringer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Expedition Map
3 Dismember
3 Mind Stone
1 Ugin, The Spirit Dragon
1 Karn Liberated
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 All is Dust
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Power Plant
2 Wastes
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Hangarback Walker
2 Basilisk Collar
3 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sundering Titan
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Fifth-Eighth Place: Jeff Kam, Affinity

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
1 Bomat Courier
4 Ornithopter
2 Memnite
2 Glint-Nest Crane
4 Steel Overseer
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Master of Etherium
1 Etched Champion
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Galvanic Blast
4 Mox Opal
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Spire of Industry
2 Glimmervoid
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
3 Etched Champion
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Dispatch
1 Whipflare
1 Thoughtseize
1 Spell Pierce
2 Ancient Grudge
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]