This past weekend was the last chance for player’s to qualify for our end-of-season Ultimate Showdown Invitational, and Brian Ching did not squander that opportunity.
He brought his unique take on Bant Snow — a deck that’s been gaining in popularity in Modern — and was able to triumph over the competition and secure his spot in next weekend’s event.
Over the past few weeks, various takes on the Bant Snow archetype have been cropping up all over Modern events due to their favourable matchup against both [Card]Death’s Shadow[/Card] decks and Simic Urza. [Card]Spell Queller[/Card] tends to be a frustrating card for Urza to beat, and the combination of [Card]Ice-Fang Coatl[/Card] and [Card]Path to Exile[/Card] can be frustrating for creature decks to beat. Ching actually beat the crap out of me and my Urza deck in a win-and-in for Top 8 of this event and I’m definitely not surprised to see him take it down.
Ching defeated one of our resident Amulet Titan enthusiast in Ben Lu in the finals.
Joining them in the Top 8 was Chris Ha on his classic Jund deck, Lucas Worrell who decided to forgo his typical Spirits deck for Burn, Ryan Sandrin playing Bant Devoted Devastation because he’s hopelessly obsessed with the shard, Zachary Ryl on Five-Colour Niv-Mizzet Russel Phillips on Eldrazi Tron and Keegan Ferreier on Infect.
From my perspective, there seems to be at least a little bit of a shift going on in Modern. Everyone has acknowledged that Urza is great and are reacting by trying to find the best fair Snow decks to beat it with.
If you look at our Top 8, we’ve got Brian’s deck, a Five-Colour deck built around Astrolabe and another midrange deck in Chris Ha’s Jund that all have solid game against Shadow and Urza. Maybe that means next weekend at the Ultimate Showdown it’s time to Tron some of these midrange players?
With his win on Sunday Brian qualified himself for next weekend’s big dance — the Ultimate Showdown (of ultimate destiny). That’s right, it’s time to crown this season’s Showdown champion!
If you’re interested in whether you’re qualified or not or you still need to select your format of choice for the first free rounds visit this Google Form here to confirm all the details. Thanks again for another great season on the Showdown Series! We can’t wait to see you next weekend!
[Deck Title= First Place, Bant Snow – Brian Ching]
[Creatures]
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Spell Queller
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Ice-Fang Coatl
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Oko, Thief of Crowns
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Path to Exile
4 Arcum’s Astrolabe
2 Mana Leak
3 Force of Negation
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Batterskull
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
2 Field of Ruin
3 Prismatic Vista
2 Waterlogged Grove
1 Breeding Pool
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Flooded Strand
1 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Rest in Peace
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Celestial Purge
2 Damping Sphere
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Veil of Summer
2 Mystical Dispute
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Second Place, Amulet Titan – Ben Lu]
[Creatures]
4 Sakura-Tribe Scout
4 Azusa Lost but Seeking
4 Primeval Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Amulet of Vigor
4 Summoner’s Pact
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Once Upon a Time
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pact of Negation
2 Oko, Thief of Crowns
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Breeding Pool
4 Simic Growth Chamber
2 Selesnya Sanctuary
2 Forest
3 Castle Garenbrig
3 Tolaria West
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boro Garrison
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1 Field of the Dead
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Gruul Turf
1 Slayers’ Stronghold
1 Vesuva
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Khalni Garden
1 Radiant Fountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Dismember
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Mystical Dispute
2 Force of Vigor
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Field of the Dead
1 Tireless Tracker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Third Place, Jund – Chris Ha]
[Creatures]
2 Dark Confidant
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Fatal Push
2 Kologhan’s Command
3 Assassin’s Trophy
3 Wrenn and Six
4 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Mountain
1 Nurturing Peatland
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
2 Raging Ravine
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Barren Moor
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Bloodstained Mire
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Plague Engineer
2 Collector Ouphe
2 Collective Brutality
1 Tireless Tracker
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ashiok, Dream Render
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Liliana of the Last Hope
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Burn – Lucas Worrell]
[Creatures]
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Eidolon of Great Revel
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Boros Charm
4 Lighting Helix
4 Searing Blaze
4 Rift Bolt
4 Skewer the Critics
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Fiery Islet
4 Inspiring Vantage
5 Mountain
2 Sacred Foundary
3 Sunbaked Canyon
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Path to Exile
2 Deflecting Palm
3 Kor Firewalker
4 Skullcrack
3 Smash to Smithereens
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Five-Colour Niv-Mizzet – Zachary Ryl]
[Creatures]
3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
1 Tolsimir, Friend of Wolves
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen
3 Wrenn and Six
4 Arcum’s Astrolabe
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Oko, Thief of Crowns
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Assassin’s Trophy
4 Bring to Light
1 Dreadbore
1 Drown in the Loch
1 Kaya’s Guile
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
1 Kolaghan’s Command
3 Lightning Helix
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Breeding Pool
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Pillar of the Paruns
4 Prismatic Vista
2 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Dovin’s Veto
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Kaya’s Guile
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
1 Lightning Helix
2 Mystical Dispute
2 Rest in Peace
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Veil of Summer
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Devoted Devastation – Ryan Sandrin]
[Creatures]
4 Devoted Druid
1 Walking Ballista
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Deputy of Detention
2 Duskwatch Recruiter
2 Eternal Witness
1 Gilded Goose
4 Giver of Runes
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
3 Vizer of Remedies
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Oko, Thief of Crowns
4 Eladamri’s Call
4 Once Upon a Time
4 Finale of Devastation
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
1 Botanical Sanctum
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Collector Ouphe
3 Mirran Crusader
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Unified Will
3 Veil of Summer
4 Path to Exile
1 Gaddock Teeg
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Eldrazi Tron – Russell Phillips]
[Creatures]
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
3 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Karn, the Great Creator
2 Ugin, the Ineffable
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Expedition Map
2 Mind Stone
2 Dismember
1 Warping Wail
2 All is Dust
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Blast Zone
2 Wastes
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spatial Contortion
1 Warping Wail
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Walking Ballista
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Liquidmetal Coating
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Mystic Forge
1 Mycosynth Lattice
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Infect – Keegan Ferreier]
[Creatures]
4 Glistener Elf
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Blighted Agent
1 Spellskite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Might of Old Krosa
2 Pendelhaven
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Scale Up
2 Distortion Strike
2 Once Upon a Time
2 Spell Pierce
4 Mutagenic Growth
1 Dismember
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Waterlogged Grove
1 Botanical Sanctum
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
2 Breeding Pool
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Oko, Thief of Crowns
2 Veil of Summer
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Shapers Sanctuary
1 Weather the Storm
1 Wild Defiance
2 Force of Vigor
1 Dismember
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Dispel
1 Spell Pierce
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]