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 Team Trios, with one player on Standard, one on Modern and the third on Legacy to take down the top prize. That’s right this week we locked not just one, but three players for the Ultimate Showdown.

The time has come everyone, I have to navigate myself through writing a recap of a Showdown that I was lucky enough to win.

Obviously I have a lot of good things to say. Team Magic is the most fun way to play in my opinion, and it went swimmingly on Sunday. We didn’t lose a match, I went 7-0-1, Ryan went 7-0-1 and Chris went 6-1-1 respectively—Chris carried our team moral though. More importantly this was just the coolest event I’ve ever played. The fact that there was a sold-out Team Trios event with twenty teams at a local game store is just phenomenal and really a testament to the great community we have at Face to Face Games Toronto. There was even a team that drove all the way from Buffalo to battle.

I was almost right-on-the-mark with my pre-tournament predictions. Team Liam Kane almost made the finals and both Nathan Stark and Ryan Nightingale didn’t show up to the event which allowed Tyler Nightingale to draft the absolutely gas Omar Beldon and the WonderKid Jeff Swaluk. They finished 4-2 at the event. As for the actual in-room goings-on, it was actually about what you’d expect. A lot of the matches were decided by the Legacy seat because that’s the hardest teammate to find. Most Standard matches didn’t even finish because the were Temur Energy mirrors which actually added a pretty interesting dynamic and Modern was just a crap-shoot.

Our team communicated, but only when necessary, which I think was optimal. We discussed mulligans here and there and honed in on some key decisions but mostly left each other to win on our own. I was able to finish a lot of my matches early, (because I only lost one game on the day, ha, brag) and sit between Chris and Ryan to help finish-off the match.

As for the metagame, I found the Modern seat to be the most volatile. There was obviously everything imaginable because it’s Modern, but the polarizing nature of the matchups in the format really made for a lot of run-aways in the middle seat.

Jason Drossis joined forces with Brad Burden and Liam Kane as their Legacy player, and I’d like to give him a special shoutout as someone who won last week’s Modern Showdown and then came back strong to Top 4 this event. Look out for Jason as a big Showdown contender going forward.

With our win on Sunday Chris, Ryan and I have qualified ourselves 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 at Face to Face Games Toronto for our Legacy Sunday Showdown, be sure to play my 4C Leovold deck because it is, in fact, great!

Interested in how many Showdown Points you have? Click here.

First Place- Keith Capstick, Chris Ha and Ryan Sandrin

4c Leovold, Keith Capstick

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 snapcaster mage
4 deathrite shaman
4 baleful strix
2 leovold, emissary of trest
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 jace, the mind sculptor
4 force of will
4 brainstorm
4 ponder
3 kolaghan’s command
2 fatal push
2 lightning bolt
2 hymn to tourach
1 abrupt decay
1 thoughtseize
1 toxic deluge
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 polluted delta
3 verdant catacombs
3 scalding tarn
3 underground sea
2 badlands
1 volcanic island
1 tropical island
1 bayou
1 swamp
1 island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 flusterstorm
2 liliana, the last hope
2 surgical extraction
2 diabolic edict
2 pyroblast
1 red elemental blast
1 blue elemental blast
1 invasive surgery
1 toxic deluge
1 hymn to tourach
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Abzan, Chris Ha

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 tarmogoyf
4 dark confidant
2 scavenging ooze
2 siege rhino
2 tireless tracker
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 fatal push
3 path to exile
2 abrupt decay
1 maelstrom pulse
3 lingering souls
1 collective brutality
2 inquisition of kozilek
4 thoughtseize
4 liliana of the veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 marsh flats
4 verdant catacombs
1 windswept heath
1 forest
1 plains
1 swamp
2 overgrown tomb
1 godless shrine
1 temple garden
2 shambling vents
1 concealed courtyard
3 blooming marsh
2 ghost quarter
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 damnation
1 wrath of god
3 fulminator mage
1 liliana, the last hope
3 leyline of the void
2 stony silence
2 collective brutality
1 maelstrom pulse
1 gideon, ally of zendikar
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Hazoret Red, Ryan Sandrin

[Deck]
[Creatures]
3 kari zev, skyship raider
2 harsh mentor
4 hazoret, the fervent
4 bomat courier
4 soul-scar mage
4 earthshaker khenra
4 rampaging ferocidon
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 shock
3 abrade
4 lightning strike
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 scavenger grounds
4 ramunap ruins
4 sunscorched desert
15 mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 key to the city
2 chandra, torch of defiance
2 glorybringer
2 harsh mentor
3 aethersphere harvester
2 chandra’s defeat
2 pia nalaar
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Second Place, Ben Lu, Matthew Long and Leslie Walderman

Grixis Delver, Ben Lu

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 delver of secrets
4 deathrite shaman
3 young pyromancer
2 gurmag angler
2 true-name nemesis
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 daze
4 force of will
4 lightning bolt
4 ponder
4 brainstorm
4 gitaxian probe
2 spell pierce
1 forked bolt
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 scalding tarn
2 flooded strand
1 polluted delta
1 misty rainforest
3 volcanic island
2 underground sea
1 tropical island
4 wasteland
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 umezawa’s jitte
1 abrade
2 surgical extraction
2 pyroblast
2 cabal therapy
1 ancient grudge
1 izzet staticaster
1 flusterstorm
1 grim lavamancer
1 pithing needle
1 diabolic edict
1 price of progress
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

5C Death’s Shadow, Matthew Long

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 tarmogoyf
4 street wraith
4 death’s shadow
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 liliana of the veil
4 fatal push
2 abrupt decay
2 terminate
4 mishra’s bauble
4 traverse the ulvenwald
4 thoughtseize
4 inquisition of kozilek
2 stubborn denial
1 temur battle rage
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 verdant catacombs
4 bloodstained mire
4 polluted delta
2 overgrown tomb
1 stomping ground
1 blood crypt
1 watery grave
1 swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 flaying tendrils
2 liliana, the last hope
1 dismember
1 temur battle rage
1 ancient grudge
1 stubborn denial
2 disdainful stroke
1 ranger of eos
1 izzet staticaster
1 godless shrine
3 lingering souls
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Abzan Tokens, Leslie Walderman

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 anointer priest
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 vraska, relic seeker
1 ajani, unyielding
4 fatal push
4 hidden stockpile
4 fumigate
4 anointed procession
4 legion’s landing
3 cast out
2 renegade map
2 treasure map
1 start // finish
1 ixalan’s binding
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 concealed courtyard
4 evolving wilds
3 field of ruin
1 shefet dunes
1 forest
4 swamp
7 plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 duress
3 solemnity
2 lost legacy
2 angel of sanctions
1 arguel’s blood fast
1 dreamstealer
1 regal caracal
1 settle the wreckage
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Third Place- Jason Drossis, Brad Burden and Liam Kane

Jason Drossis, 4C Leovold

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 deathrite shaman
3 baleful strix
4 snapcaster mage
2 leovold, emissary of trest
1 true-name nemesis
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 brainstorm
4 ponder
2 hymn to tourach
2 fatal push
1 lightning bolt
1 abrupt decay
1 liliana, the last hope
2 kolaghan’s command
1 toxic deluge
2 jace, the mind sculptor
4 force of will
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 polluted delta
3 scalding tarn
2 verdant catacombs
3 underground sea
2 volcanic island
1 tropical island
1 badlands
1 swamp
1 island
1 diabolic edict
1 thoughtseize
1 bayou
1 misty rainforest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 hydroblast
2 pyroblast
2 flusterstorm
1 marsh casualties
1 thoughtseize
1 painful truths
1 diabolic edict
1 pithing needle
1 wasteland
2 surgical extraction
2 hymn to tourach
[/Creatures]
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Grixis Death’s Shadow, Brad Burden

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 death’s shadow
2 gurmag angler
4 snapcaster mage
3 street wraith
2 tasigur, the golden fang
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 dismember
3 fatal push
2 inquisition of kozilek
1 kolaghan’s command
2 lightning bolt
4 serum visions
3 stubborn denial
1 temur battle rage
2 terminate
4 thought scour
4 thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 blood crypt
4 bloodstained mire
1 island
4 polluted delta
3 scalding tarn
1 steam vents
1 swamp
2 watery grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 by force
2 ceremonious rejection
2 disdainful stroke
1 izzet staticaster
1 kolaghan’s command
2 kozilek’s return
1 liliana of the veil
2 liliana, the last hope
1 nihil spellbomb
1 surgical extraction
1 temur battle rage
[/Creatures]
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Mardu Vehicles, Liam Kane

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 toolcraft exemplar
4 bomat courier
4 scrapheap scrounger
4 veteran motorist
2 pia nalaar
3 hazoret, the fervent
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 gideon of the trials
2 shock
4 heart of kiran
2 lightning strike
1 cut // ribbons
4 unlicensed disintegration
1 aethersphere harvester
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 inspiring vantage
4 concealed courtyard
4 spire of industry
2 canyon slough
5 plains
5 mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 aethersphere harvester
1 cartouche of ambition
2 chandra, torch of defiance
3 duress
2 fatal push
2 glorybringer
1 hazoret, the fervent
2 rampaging ferocidon
1 gideon of the trials
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place- Nathan Mongeon, Matt Foster and Erik Jervis

Punishing Abzan, Nathan Mongeon

[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 gaddock teeg
1 scavenging ooze
1 ramunap excavator
1 qasali pridemage
3 dark confidant
4 knight of the reliquary
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 sylvan library
4 chalice of the void
4 mox diamond
1 maelstrom pulse
2 life from the loam
2 green sun’s zenith
3 abrupt decay
3 punishing fire
3 liliana of the veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 dryad arbor
1 karakas
1 maze of ith
1 forest
1 dark depths
1 thespian’s stage
1 tranquil thicket
2 windswept heath
3 grove of the burnwillows
4 wasteland
4 verdant catacombs
2 bayou
1 badlands
1 taiga
1 scrubland
1 savannah
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 leyline of the void
2 golgari charm
2 thalia, guardian of thraben
2 swords to plowshares
2 containment priest
1 reclamation sage
1 toxic deluge
1 ghost quarter
1 ethersworn canonist
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

G/B Elves, Matt Foster

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 elvish archdruid
4 nettle sentinel
4 heritage druid
4 shaman of the pack
4 dwynen’s elite
4 elvish mystic
4 llanowar elves
3 ezuri, renegade leader
3 elvish visionary
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 driven // despair
4 collected company
3 chord of calling
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 blooming marsh
1 nykthos, shrine to nyx
1 cavern of souls
1 pendelhaven
3 wooded foothills
1 overgrown tomb
1 gilt-leaf palace
6 forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 relic of progenitus
2 stain the mind
2 reclamation sage
1 scavenging ooze
1 dismember
1 eternal witness
1 driven // despair
1 abrupt decay
1 creeping corrosion
2 sylvan messenger
1 nissa, voice of zendikar
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

U/B Control, Erik Jervis

[Deck]
[Creatures]
3 torrential gearhulk
2 the scarab god
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 fatal push
2 bontu’s last reckoning
2 essence extraction
4 essence scatter
4 censor
4 hieroglyphic illumination
4 disallow
3 vraska’s contempt
2 search for azcanta
[/Spells]
[Lands]
6 swamp
4 fetid pools
3 field of ruin
2 evolving wilds
4 drowned catacombs
6 island
1 ipnu rivulet
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 search for azcanta
3 duress
2 glint-sleeve siphoner
2 vizier of many faces
1 vraska’s contempt
2 negate
4 gifted aetherborn
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Want your shot at qualifying for the Ultimate Showdown?  Join us this coming Sunday for our Legacy Showdown ! Really want to get in on this team Magic action? Well, we have a huge 3k Team Trios FaceToFaceGames.com Open coming up on Dec. 2 that you do not want to miss ! Grab a couple friends and get practicing.