There’s nothing like pre-release. The sound of packs cracking, a brand new D-20, foils being opened and the fresh feeling of a new Limited format to sink your teeth into.

This past weekend, as with the release of every new set, we hosted a Sealed Showdown to cap off our incredible pre-release weekend. But this time it was Team Sealed, one of Magic’s most beloved formats.

And when our chaotic weekend of pre-release action came to an end, the team of Nightingale, Newby and Gagnon were crowned our Theros Beyond Death Team Sealed champions.

Their team arrived at a combination of Gruul, Boros and Dimir on the way to their Top 4 victory. As you’ll find when you take a look at all of the Top 4 lists below both Gruul and Dimir were very popular colour combinations in this format. The Escape mechanic allows for grindy decks to really shine in this format and also allows more aggressively slanted decks in the Jund colours the extra gas they need to finish the game.

Joining our winners in the Top 4 was the Showdown all-star team of Swaluk, Gordon and Tubello, the team of Sims, Esplin and Scott and lastly the team of Arsenault, Sebuhyan and Koxhioni.

In my expirience this weekend Theros Beyond Death is shaping up to be an awesome Limited format. There are some hammers to be sure, [Card]Dream Trawler[/Card] and [Card]Kiora Bests the Sea God[/Card] can end games on the spot without a doubt. But the format revolving around the inherent resilience of Escape and unique synergy of Constellation makes for both interesting deckbuilding and gameplay. My early recommendation is to try to be black if you can, it just so deep in play-ables.

With his win on Sunday Nightingale, Newby and Gagnon qualify themselves for our upcoming Ultimate Showdown of ULTIMATE destiny and the rest of our Top 4 have begun their march up the leaderboard.

This season, we’re going to closely following the Ultimate Showdown leaderboard each week and I’ll be giving you updates on the race as the results unfold every week in these recaps. This week the big news is obviously that Gagnon, Newby and Nightingale are all qualified for the Ultimate Showdown. But, we’ve also got Andrew Gordon, one of out Ultimate Showdown champions, creeping up on the competition with 85 points early on in the season. If you’re interested in the current Showdown standings, check out our points sheet here.

This upcoming weekend at Face to Face Games Toronto we’re hosting a Modern Showdown! Now that Urza, [Card]Mox Opal[/Card] and [Card]Oko, Thief of Crowns[/Card] are banned the format is wide open! Make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you at the shop.

First Place: Nightingale, Newby and Gagnon 

[Deck Title= Boros – Tyler Nightingale]
[Creatures]
1 Daybreak Chimera
2 Heliod’s Pilgrim
3 Hero of the Pride
1 Lagonna-Band Storyteller
1 Revert Hoplite
1 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
2 Incendiary Oracle
1 Tectonic Giant
1 Haktos of the Unscarred
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Iroas’s Blessing
1 Final Flare
2 Omen of the Sun
1 Phalanx Tactics
1 Karametra’s Blessing
2 Dreadful Apathy
1 Flicker of Fate
1 Commanding Presence
[/Spells]
[Lands]
8 Plains
8 Mountain
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Dimir – Adrian Gagnon]
[Creatures]
1 Alirios, Enraptured
1 Shimmerwing Chimera
1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
1 Threnody Singer
1 Vexing Gull
1 Witness of Tomorrows
1 Blight-Breath Catoblepas
1 Mire Triton
1 Scavenging Harpy
1 Soulreaper of Mogis
1 Woe Strider
1 Devourer of Memory
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Entrancing Lyre
1 Tymaret Calls the Dead
1 Mire’s Grasp
1 Drag to to the Underworld
1 Final Death
1 Funeral Rites
1 Agonizing Remorse
1 Stern Dismissal
1 Deny the Divine
1 Glimpse of Freedom
1 Omen of the Sea
[/Spells]
[Lands]
8 Island
9 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Gruul – Andrew Newby]
[Creatures]
3 Stampede Rider
1 Arasta of the Endless Web
2 Ilysian Caryatid
2 Loathsome Chimera
1 Nessian Boar
1 Nessian Hornbeetle
1 Nylea, Keen-Eyed
1 Nylea’s Huntmaster
1 Nyx Herald
1 Nyxborn Colossus
1 Renata, Called to the Hunt
1 Setessan Champion
1 Warden of the Chained
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Omen of the Forge
1 Warbriar Blessing
1 Return to Nature
1 Relentless Pursuit
1 Mystic Repeal
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Temple of Plenty
7 Mountain
9 Forest
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Second Place: Swaluk, Tubello and Gordon

[Deck Title= Azorius – Jeff Swaluk]
[Creatures]
1 Captivating Unicorn
1 Hero of the Pride
2 Hero of the Winds
1 Sunmane Pegasus
1 Transcendent Envoy
1 Alirios, Enraptured
2 Brine Giant
1 Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea
1 Threnody Singer
1 Wavebreak Hippocamp
1 Witness of Tomorrows
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Ichthyomorphosis
1 Karametra’s Blessing
2 Omen of the Sun
2 Sentinel’s Eyes
1 Commanding Presence
1 Heliod’s Punishment
[/Spells]
[Lands]
9 Plains
8 Island
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Orzhov – Simon Tubello]
[Creatures]
1 Dawn Evangel
1 Heliod’s Pilgrim
2 Discordant Piper
1 Gravebreaker Lamia
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Hateful Eidolon
1 Soulreaper of Mogis
1 Tymaret, Chosen from Death
2 Venomous Hierophant
1 Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Banishing Light
1 Dreadful Apathy
2 Mire’s Grasp
1 Mogis’s Favor
1 Omen of the Dead
1 Pharika’s Spawn
2 Final Death
1 Funeral Rites
1 Agonizing Remorse
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Temple of Deceit
6 Plains
10 Swmap
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Gruul – Andrew Gordon]
[Creatures]
1 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
1 Flummoxed Cyclops
1 Stampede Rider
1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
1 Ilysian Caryatid
2 Nylea’s Forerunner
1 Nylea’s Huntmaster
1 Nyx Herald
1 Pheres-Band Brawler
1 Skola Grovedancer
2 Voracious Typhon
1 Klothys, God of Destiny
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Fateful End
1 Return to Nature
1 Warbriar Blessing
2 Furious Rise
1 Iroas’s Blessing
1 Oread of Mountain’s Blaze
2 Purphoros’s Intervention
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Temple of Abandon
7 Mountain
9 Forest
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Third Place: Sims, Esplin and Scott 

[Deck Title= Gruul – Thomas Sims]
[Creatures]
1 Dreamshaper Shaman
1 Heroes of the Revel
1 Incendiary Oracle
1 Skophos Mage-Warden
1 Skophos Warleader
1 Stampede Rider
1 Underworld Rage-Hound
1 Hyrax Tower Scout
1 Ilysian Caryatid
2 Loathsome Chimera
1 Moss Viper
1 Nessian Hornbeetle
1 Nylea’s Forerunner
1 Nylea’s Huntmaster
1 Gallia of the Endless Dance
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Return to Nature
1 Gift of Strength
1 Iroas’s Blessing
1 Omen of the Forge
2 Portent of Betrayal
1 Furious Rise
[/Spells]
[Lands]
8 Mountain
9 Forest
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Dimir – Reid Esplin]
[Creatures]
1 Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea
1 Naiad of Hidden Coves
1 Shimmerwing Chimera
1 Thassa’s Oracle
1 Thryx, the Sudden Storm
1 Vexing Gull
2 Scavenging Harpy
1 Underworld Charger
1 Woe Strider
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Entrancing Lyre
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
1 Drag to the Underworld
1 Final Death
1 Funeral Rites
1 Inevitable End
1 Mire’s Grasp
2 Thirst for Meaning
1 Deny the Divine
1 Glimpse of Freedom
2 Ichthyomorphosis
[/Spells]
[Lands]
9 Island
8 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Selesnya – Morgan Scott]
[Creatures]
1 Archon of Sun’s Grace
1 Daybreak Chimera
1 Eidolon of Obstruction
1 Heliod’s Pilgrim
1 Sunmane Pegasus
2 Transcendent Envoy
2 Chainweb Aracnir
1 Nessian Wanderer
2 Nyx Herald
1 Renata, Called to the Hunt
1 Bronzehide Lion
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Return to Nature
1 Setessan Training
1 Warbriar Blessing
1 The First Iroan Games
1 Indomitable Will
1 Sentinel’s Eyes
1 Dreadful Apathy
2 Banishing Light
[/Spells]
[Lands]
9 Plains
8 Forest
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place: Arsenault, Sebuhyan and Koxhioni] 

[Deck Title= Rakdos – Jason Arsenault]
[Creatures]
1 Discordant Piper
1 Pharika’s Spawn
1 Scavenging Harpy
2 Soulreaper of Mogis
2 Underworld Charger
1 Careless Celebrant
1 Flummoxed Cyclops
1 Incendiary Oracle
3 Underworld Rage-Hound
1 Slaughter-Priest of Mogi
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Omen of the Forge
1 Oread of Mountain’s Blaze
1 Final Flare
1 The Akroan War
1 Aspect of Manticore
2 Final Death
1 Inevitable End
1 Mire’s Grasp
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Temple of Malice
5 Swamp
10 Mountain
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Selesnya – Levon Sebuhyan]
[Creatures]
1 Captivating Unicorn
1 Favored of Iroas
2 Glory Bearers
2 Heliod’s Pilgrim
1 Lagonna-Band Storyteller
2 Leonin of the Lost Pride
1 Taranika, Akroan
2 Transcendent Envoy
1 Setessan Champion
1 Siona, Captain of the Pyleas
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Setessan Training
1 The First Iroan Games
1 Omen of the Sun
1 Sentinel’s Eyes
1 Indomitable Will
1 Karametra’s Blessing
1 Commanding Presence
1 Dreadful Apathy
1 Banishing Light
[/Spells]
[Lands]
10 Plains
7 Forest
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Gruul – Enea Koxhioni]
[Creatures]
1 Flummoxed Cyclops
2 Stampede Rider
1 Chainweb Aracnir
1 Hyrax Tower Scout
2 Loathsome Chimera
2 Moss Viper
2 Nylea’s Forerunner
1 Nylea’s Huntmaster
1 Pheres-Band Brawler
1 Skola Grovedancer
2 Voracious Typhon
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Warbriar Blessing
1 Entrancing Lyre
1 Relentless Pursuit
1 Klothys’s Design
1 The Triumph of Anax
1 The Akroan War
1 Final Flare
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Mountain
10 Forest
[/Lands]
[/Deck]