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 take home the top prize!

Let this weekend’s Showdown be a lesson to all of us — never forget about the power of [Card]Thought-Knot Seer[/Card] and [Card]Reality Smasher[/Card]. This dynamic duo has been a force in Modern ever since their original printing, and on Sunday Tse Shuen Wan showed us that they are still a force to be reckoned with in the format.

Tse of course played Eldrazi Tron, the deck that best cheats on mana to allow you to get these powerful Eldrazi into play as soon as possible. This deck has been powered up lately by two factors: [Card]Chalice of the Void[/Card] bullying spell-based decks like Izzet Phoenix and [Card]Karn, the Great Creator[/Card] offering it a difficult to interact with new angle of attack. Tse defeated Chris Flink in the finals, who was of course piloting his bread and butter Ad Nauseum deck.

Joining Chris and Tse in the Top 8 was Liam Kane on Izzet Phoenix, Jeff Swaluk on Modern’s current scourge Hogaak, Tyrel Wildman on Amulet Titan, Chris Ha playing classic Jund, Elliot Stanwick with a sweet Rakdos brew featuring [Card]Unearth[/Card] and Ellis Straker playing a super sweet Affinity and Goblins hybrid.

Seeing only one copy of Hogaak in the Top 8 is a pretty nice sight given the fallout of Mythic Championship Barcelona. The event was swarming with the powerful graveyard strategy and players all over the world have been crying for the ban of its namesake card [Card]Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis[/Card] even after the recent banning of [Card]Bridge from Below[/Card].

Now more than maybe ever, Modern is forcing us to be low to the ground and pilot decks that end the game immediately, and we saw a lot of that in our Top 8 on Sunday. That said, Jund has been having a bit of resurgence lately, Team Face to Face Games’ Edgar Magalhaes piloted it to an 11-5 record in Barcelona, and Chris Ha played his list to a Top 8 finish here. So maybe we shouldn’t be panicking just yet.

So is Hogaak too good? We’ll have to wait for the next banned and restricted announcement to find out.

With his win on Sunday, Tse cements his spot in the upcoming Ultimate Showdown, while the rest of our Top 8 have begun their march up the leader board to qualify. If you’re interested in your Ultimate Showdown point total, you can check it out here. If you’d like to inquire about your point total or report a discrepancy, please email Toronto@facetofacegames.com. This upcoming weekend at Face to Face Games Toronto we’ll be hosting Legacy Showdown. Grab your Brainstorms and make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you at shop!

[Deck Title= First Place, Eldrazi Tron – Tse Shuen Wan]
[Creatures]
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
2 Endbringer
2 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Expedition Map
2 Mind Stone
2 All is Dust
3 Dismember
4 Karn, the Great Creator
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Chalice of the Void
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Wastes
2 Blast Zone
1 Cavern Of Souls
1 Gemstone Cavern
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 Walking Ballista
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Torpor Orb
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Spatial Contortion
1 Ensnaring Bridge
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Ad Nauseum – Chris Flink]
[Creatures]
4 Simian Spirit Guide
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Silence
2 Solemnity
1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
1 Lightning Storm
4 Serum Visions
3 Sleight of Hand
2 Spoils of the Vault
4 Angel’s Grace
4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Ad Nauseum
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Blast Zone
4 Gemstone Mine
2 City of Brass
3 Temple of Deceit
3 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Darkslick Shores
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Bontu’s Last Reckoning
2 Thoughtseize
1 Night of Soul’s Betrayal
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Veil of Summer
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
2 Sudden Shock
2 Path to Exile
1 Echoing Truth
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Affinity for Goblins – Ellis Straker]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Guide
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
4 Memnite
2 Mogg Warmarshal
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Light up the Stage
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Ramunap Ruins
14 Mountains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Searing Blood
1 Light up the Stage
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Izzet Phoenix – Liam Kane]
[Creatures]
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Arclight Phoenix
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Gut Shot
3 Sleight of Hand
2 Opt
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Flame Slash
1 Magmatic Sinkhole
4 Manamorphose
4 Faithless Looting
1 Finale of Promise
3 Aria of Flame
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
4 Spirebluff Canals
2 Steam Vents
1 Fiery Islet
3 Island
2 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Disdainful stroke
2 Alpine Moon
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Abrade
1 Flame Slash
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Spell Pierce
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Hogaak – Jeff Swaluk]
[Creatures]
3 Insolent Neonate
4 Stitcher’s Supplier
4 Carrion Feeder
4 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Golgari Thug
4 Gravecrawler
4 Bloodghast
4 Vengevine
4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Lighting Axe
2 Assassin’s Trophy
4 Faithless Looting
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Blooming Marsh
2 Swamp
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Stomping Ground
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Thoughtseize
1 Assassin’s Trophy
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Fatal Push
2 Rotting Regisaur
1 Engineered Explosives
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Rakdos Pyromancers – Elliot Stanwick]
[Creatures]
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Dreadhorde Arcanist
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Magis of the moon
3 Seasoned Pyromancer
2 Plague Engineer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Faithless looting
2 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Surgical Extraction
3 Unearth
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Fatal Push
2 Force of Despair
2 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
6 Swamp
2 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Plague Engineer
2 Terminate
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Madcap Experiment
2 Platinum Emperion
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Amulet Titan – Tyrel Wildman]
[Creatures]
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Scout
4 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Walking Ballista
1 Arboreal Grazer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Karn, the Great Creator
4 Amulet of Vigor
4 Ancient Stirrings
1 pact of negation
4 Summoner’s Pact
1 Engineered Explosives
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Simic Growth Chamber
4 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Boros Garrison
1 Slayers Stronghold
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
3 Tolaria West
1 Field of the Dead
1 Kehlani Garden
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Gemstone Mine
3 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Vesuva
1 Waterlogged Grove
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Rest in Peace
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Negate
1 Force of Vigor
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Hornet Queen
1 Winds of Abandon
2 Path to Exile
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Jund – Chris Ha]
[Creatures]
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Fatal Push
1 Kologhan’s Command
3 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Wrenn and Six
4 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Nurturing Peatland
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
1 Raging Ravine
2 Wooded Foothills
2 barren Moor
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Bloodstained Mire
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Surgical Extraction
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Plague Crafter
1 Collector Ouphe
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Collective Brutality
1 Tireless Tracker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]