Modern

Showdown Recap: Modern

Welcome to another 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. Today, we’re covering May 13th’s Facetofacegames.com Kingston Modern Open and taking a brief look at the results of the Toronto Sealed PPTQ Showdown.

Let’s start off with, by far, the sweetest deck in the top 8. Michael Orr, clocking in at 7th place, brought a [card]Collected Company[/card] tribal Slivers deck to jam. This deck always runs under the radar due to its inability to interact with significantly more linear decks, but can be a real threat to all of the fair decks of the format – [card]Death’s Shadow[/card] included. Much like a Merfolk deck, and like the Standard Zombies deck, Slivers can flood the board, making things get out of hand very quickly. If there aren’t many combo decks in your metagame, this is a powerful deck to keep in mind!

Two Burn decks, piloted by Ryan Whitsitt, and Dominic Tremblay, also made their way to quarterfinals finishes. Dominic opted for a more traditional [card]Wild Nacatl[/card] build of the deck, taking almost a more Zoo-centric approach. This deck has an ostensibly higher power level than other Burn builds due to the ability of creatures to attack repeatedly, but adds some vulnerability to multiple pieces of removal, especially [card]Lightning Helix[/card]. Ryan, on the other hand, played the old Mardu version of the deck, with [card]Bump in the Night[/card] providing additional copies of [card]Lava Spike[/card] as well as more reach than Naya versions.

Our last quarterfinalist, Ricardo Lopez Ambrosio, played the recent menace, Eldrazi Tron. [card]Walking Ballista[/card] has really powered up this deck, giving it an unbelievably powerful [card]Triskelion[/card] against a variety of small creature decks. Put a [card]Basilisk Collar[/card] onto it and you’re off to the races, and it’s not like [card]Thought-Knot Seer[/card] is anything to laugh at!

Let’s move on to the semifinals, where Jesse Fumerton played a [card]Grim Flayer[/card]-centric version of Abzan midrange. With plenty of cards like [card]Mishra’s Bauble[/card] and [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] to power up its early attacks. [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] as an Exalted stick can be weak, but Jesse is also ramping into the powerful [card]Lingering Souls[/card] and [card]Siege Rhino[/card] to go over the top of the other fair decks in the format. I’m personally more a fan of [card]Dark Confidant[/card] builds, but this is a very reasonable approach towards [card]Grim Flayer[/card] Abzan. Jesse’s sideboard is also quite powerful, with targeted cards like [card]Stony Silence[/card] and [card]Surgical Extraction[/card] featuring prominently.

Former National Champion Andrew Ting-a-Kee pulled off a third place finish at this Open with his favourite Modern deck, Grishoalbrand. This black-red deck looks to cheat a [card]Griselbrand[/card] into play with either [card]Goryo’s Vengeance[/card] or [card]Through the Breach[/card], then chain [card]Nourishing Shoal[/card]s to draw your entire deck and [card]Simian Spirit Guide[/card] out a [card]Borborygmos Enraged[/card] and throw the lands in your hand at your opponent. While fast and definitely furious, this deck struggles against a lot of the graveyard hate that’s become popular in the format as of late. It does also get to play a powerful [card]Blood Moon[/card]/[card]Chalice of the Void[/card] sideboard thanks to its [card]Simian Spirit Guide[/card]s, which gives it a surprising and powerful sideboard plan against a lot of decks.

Our second Eldrazi deck in the top 8, Jeremie Filion made it through to the finals with the Bant version of the deck. We see this deck show up in the Recap pretty much every time we feature Modern, which is testament to the deck’s power, popularity, and consistency. Jeremie’s list, while tight, is quite stock, featuring maindeck [card]Engineered Explosives[/card] and all of white’s best enchantments in the sideboard, from [card]Rest in Peace[/card] to [card]Worship[/card]. Moreover, any deck that gets to play [card]Elspeth, Sun’s Champion[/card] gets a high grade in my book.

The deck that gained the most from Amonkhet, however, was piloted to a win by Richard Ashlock. [card]Living End[/card] gained a host of new toys from the new set, with tons of new cheap cycling creatures to add to the deck. No more cycling for 2! [card]Desert Cerodon[/card] and [card]Horror of the Broken Lands[/card] are worthy additions, while [card]Archfiend of Ifnir[/card] lets you clear out blockers like [card]Lingering Souls[/card] with ease after you resolve a [card]Living End[/card]. Expect to see more out of this deck in the near future due to its increased power level – and make sure to pack enough graveyard hate to fight it! Congratulations to Richard on the win!

Last weekend, we also hosted an Amonkhet Sealed PPTQ Showdown. Turnout was fantastic, as players came out in droves to enjoy what many are calling one of the best limited formats in years. Unfortunately, the decklists from the top 8 draft were lost to history, thanks to a filing error. The Consulate would not be pleased! What we do know, however, is that Quinn Gregg continued his streak of stellar Showdown finishes with yet another win! We can’t wait to see how he does at the RPTQ.

Quinn’s “winn” pushes him to a top 5 berth in the standings. With 32 players now qualified, we’re getting down to the wire for Ultimate Showdown qualifications! Remember that all you need to do is earn 50 Showdown points, and if you haven’t started earning them yet, then all you have to do to play this fantastic 5k is win a Sunday Showdown. Easy! Join us this weekend for a Standard Game Day Sunday Showdown, and get yourself a Worthy Champion playmat as well as a full-art foil [card]Glorybringer[/card].

Richard Ashlock – Living End – 1st

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Desert Cerodon
3 Architects of Will
4 Horror of the Broken Lands
4 Street Wraith
2 Faerie Macabre
4 Monstrous Carabid
2 Archfiend of Ifnir
4 Deadshot Minotaur
2 Shriekmaw
2 Fulminator Mage
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Violent Outburst
3 Living End
4 Demonic Dread
[/Spells]

[Lands]
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Blood Crypt
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
[/Lands]

[Sideboard]
3 Beast Within
1 Shriekmaw
4 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Living End
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Ricochet Trap
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Jeremie Filion – Bant Eldrazi – 2nd

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Eldrazi Skyspawner
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Reality Smasher
3 Drowner of Hope
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Ancient Stirrings
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Windswept Heath
3 Brushland
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Yavimaya Coast
2 Forest
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Plains
1 Hallowed Fountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Worship
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
1 World Breaker
1 Fragmentize
1 Spellskite
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Andrew Ting-A-Kee – Grishoalbrand – 3rd

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Borborygmos Enraged
4 Griselbrand
4 Worldspine Wurm
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
3 Cathartic Reunion
3 Desperate Ritual
4 Goryo’s Vengeance
2 Manamorphose
3 Night’s Whisper
4 Through the Breach
4 Nourishing Shoal
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Temple of Malice
4 Swamp
2 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Blood Moon
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Pact of Negation
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Pyroclasm
1 Shattering Spree
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Jesse Fumerton – Abzan – 4th

[deck]
[Creatures]
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Grim Flayer
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Siege Rhino
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Mishra’s Bauble
3 Fatal Push
3 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Path to Exile
1 Collective Brutality
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Lingering Souls
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Shambling Vent
3 Marsh Flats
1 Godless Shrine
1 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Path to Exile
1 Damnation
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Fuminator Mage
1 Collective Brutality
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Stony Silence
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Ryan Whitsitt – Burn – 5th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Grim Lavamancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Boros Charm
4 Searing Blaze
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump in the Night
4 Skullcrack
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Arid Mesa
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Inspiring Vantage
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Wear // Tear
1 Shattering Spree
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Ricardo Lopez Ambrosio – Eldrazi Tron – 6th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Walking Ballista
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
3 Endbringer
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Karn Liberated
4 Expedition Map
2 Basilisk Collar
1 Warping Wail
2 Mind Stone
1 Spatial Distortion
1 Dismember
1 Batterskull
1 All is Dust
2 Chalice of the Void
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Wastes
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Cavern of Souls
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Pithing Needle
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Warping Wail
2 Spellskite
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Michael Orr – Slivers – 7th

[deck]
[Creatures]
3 Blur Sliver
2 Sentinel Sliver
4 Sedge Sliver
2 Necrotic Sliver
1 Gemhide Sliver
4 Manaweft Sliver
3 Diffusion Sliver
4 Sinew Sliver
4 Predatory Sliver
4 Galerider Sliver
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Dismember
4 Collected Company
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Sliver Hive
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Telekinetic Sliver
1 Syphon Sliver
4 Harmonic Sliver
1 Fatal Push
2 Frenetic Sliver
2 Warping Wail
2 Spellskite
2 Darkheart Sliver
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Dominic Tremblay – Burn – 8th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Searing Blaze
3 Lightning Helix
4 Lava Spike
4 Atarka’s Command
4 Rift Bolt
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Stomping Ground
3 Inspiring Vantage
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Arid Mesa
2 Mountain
3 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Searing Blaze
2 Path to Exile
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Skullcrack
2 Deflecting Palm
2 Harsh Mentor
3 Destructive Revelry
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

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