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WPNQ Prelim Recap: Sultai dominated in Pioneer

It took us a few events, but I think we’ve found the grindy midrange deck Toronto players love to play in Pioneer. Sultai Delirium dominated our WPN Qualifier Showdown this past weekend by putting four copies in the Top 8.

But even that kind of domination wasn’t enough to stop Lucas Worrell and his beloved Spirits deck. He was able to overcome Ishkana and friends on his way to a Showdown victory on Sunday.

Your Showdown champ, Lucas Worrell.

It’s funny, because despite Spirits being a traditionally favourable matchup for Sultai, Lucas was able to tear through the deck on the way to his win. Including absolutely destroying me in the semifinals. The kid is a great competitor and loves this deck and it’s obviously no surprise to see him take down another Showdown and move up the leaderboard towards the top slot. He defeated Pete Smith on Sultai in the finals.

As for the dominance of Sultai itself, I think there’s a few reasons for that. First, it’s just a know phenomenon at this point that Toronto players gravitate towards this kind of deck. Midrange is always popular in the city and this deck is no exception to that rule. Edgar Magalhaes and I were both in Top 8 with the same 75 and I can confidently say that a major reason we chose to pilot it is that it’s extremely fun (while also being pretty good).

The second reason is the way Dimir Inverter has impacted the format. The combo control deck struggles a little against aggressive decks but has been putting up great results lately in Pioneer. So, the natural next step for competitive players is to build an interactive deck that beats aggro and has game against Inverter — which is why many people have arrived at Sultai.

Joining us in the Top 8 was Massimo Gordillo on Mono-Red Aggro, Daniel Fournier playing Inverter, Bill Irons rounding out the suite on Sultai Players and Robert Chalkey on Izzet Ensoul.

This event on Sunday was one of four total WPN Preliminary events that will lead up to our WPN Qualifier. In short, the Top 8 from each of these four prelims will battle it out in a 32 player event at the end of the season to qualify for the Players Tour.

Congratulations to Lucas Worrell on his finish this weekend that qualifies him for our upcoming Ultimate Showdown! He and the rest of our Top 8 qualified for our upcoming 32-person WPN  even that will have a Players Tour qualification on the line and also picked up some valuable points towards their qualification. Notably, his Top 8 finish pulls Daniel Fournier into second place on our Showdown leaderboard behind Omar Beldon. It’s still an uphill battle if anyone is going catch Beldon, but at least someone else has crested the 200 point mark. If you’re interested in your Showdown point total, check out our tracker here.

This upcoming weekend at Face to Face Games Toronto we’ll be hosting our second consecutive WPN Qualifier Showdown, but this time it will be Standard! Make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you at the shop!

[Deck Title= First Place, Bant Spirits – Lucas Worrell]
[Creatures]
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
2 Spectral Sailor
4 Rattle Chains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Supreme Phantom
2 Brazen Borrower
4 Empyrean Eagle
4 Nebelgast Herald
4 Spell Queller
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Collected Company
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Breeding Pool
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
2 Plains
4 Temple Garden
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Rest in Peace
4 Mystical Dispute
1 Settle the Wreckage
2 Damping Sphere
4 Deputy of Detention
2 Devout Decree
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Sultai Delirium – Peter Smith]
[Creatures]
1 Walking Ballista
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
1 Ishkana, Grafwidow
2 Courser of Kruphix
1 Nimble Obstructionist
1 Murderous Rider
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
1 Lazav, the Multifarious
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Satyr Wayfinder
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
1 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Grapple with the Past
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Thoughtseize
4 Fatal Push
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Ipnu Rivulet
1 Island
1 Watery Grave
3 Fabled Passage
1 Botanical Sanctum
4 Breeding Pool
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blooming Marsh
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Damping Sphere
1 Noxious Grasp
1 Assassin’s Trophy
3 Mystical Dispute
1 Notion Thief
1 Nimble Obstructionist
1 Hostage Taker
1 Reclamation Sage
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Languish
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Sultai Delirium – Keith Capstick]
[Creatures]
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
1 Murderous Rider
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Walking Ballista
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Eat to Extinction
1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
2 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Opulent Palace
3 Fabled Passage
2 Forest
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Ipnu Rivulet
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Unmoored Ego
3 Mystical Dispute
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Sultai Charm
1 The Scarab God
2 Tireless Tracker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Izzet Ensoul – Robert Chalkey]
[Creatures]
4 Bomat Courier
4 Gingerbrute
2 Hope of Ghirapur
4 Skilled Animator
4 Stonecoil Serpent
2 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
1 Hangarback Walker
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ensoul Artifact
4 Ghostfire Blade
1 Shadowspear
4 Shrapnel Blast
2 Wild Slash
2 Metallic Rebuke
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Shivan Reef
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Mutavault
3 Spire of Industry
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Experimental Frenzy
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Lava Coil
3 Mystical Dispute
1 Stubborn Denial
1 Bonecrusher Giant
3 Damping Sphere
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Sultai Delirium – Edgar Magalhaes]
[Creatures]
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Urp, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
1 Murderous Rider
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Walking Ballista
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
1 Eat to Extinction
1 Tamiyo Collector of Tales
2 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Opulent Palace
3 Fabled Passage
2 Forest
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Ipnu Rivulet
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Unmoored Ego
3 Mystical Dispute
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Sultai Charm
1 The Scarab God
2 Tireless Tracker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Sultai Delirium – Bill Irons]
[Creatures]
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Walking Ballista
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
1 Murderous Rider
2 Courser of Kruphix
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
1 Brain Maggot
1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Fatal Push
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 Grisly Salvage
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Thoughtseize
2 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Botanical Sanctum
1 Watery Grave
1 Opulent Palace
2 Island
2 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Fabled Passage
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Breeding Pool
4 Overgrown Tomb
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Damping Sphere
3 Unmoored Ego
1 Notion Thief
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Sultai Charm
1 Chanweb Arachnus
1 Duress
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Mono-Red Aggro – Massimo Gordillo]
[Creatures]
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Soulscar Mage
1 Zurgo Bellstriker
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Torbran, Thane of Redfell
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Wild Slash
4 Lightning Strike
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Castle Embereth
14 Mountain
4 Ramunap Ruins
4 Mutavault
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Abrade
1 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Fry
2 Lava Coil
2 Collective Defiance
3 Rampaging Ferocidon
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Rending Volley
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Dimir Inverter – Daniel Fournier]
[Creatures]
3 Thassa’s Oracle
4 Inverter of Truth
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
3 Thought Erasure
1 Censor
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Hero’s Downfall
4 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
4 Dig Through Time
1 Mystical Dispute
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Choked Estuary
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Fetid Pools
4 Watery Grave
3 Swamp
6 Island
3 Fabled Passage
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 The Scarab God
2 Legion’s End
4 Pack Rat
1 Cry of the Carnarium
1 Negate
1 Doom Blade
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

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