Nam Dang showed us all this weekend that it’s not just in Toronto where [Card]Primeval Titan[/Card] is one of the FacetoFaceGames.com Open Series’ most dominant cards. He was able to lift the trophy in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. to and take down our Modern Open with Titan Shift.
Dang was able to harness the consistent power of excellent mana acceleration into powerful payoffs and triumph over a Top 8 filled with blue decks and other Primeval Titan strategies. Dang was joined by a full two copies of Amulet Titan, which adds up to 12 copies of [Card]Primeval Titan[/Card] in the elimination rounds. I guess we know what was well positioned in Vancouver this weekend.
Over the past few months we’ve really started to see Amulet Titan make a resurgence in the Modern metagame. It’s obviously been nerfed since the banning of [card]Summer Bloom[/Card], but it still has a very loyal following, and apparently — very few bad matchups. After Face to Face Games pro player Edgar Magalhaes won the the Toronto Open+ with it back in December, then he Matthew Dilks and Daryl Ayers made the Top 4 of the SCG Columbus Team Open with their triple Amulet lineup — it’s time we give this deck the respect it deserves.
Yascha Friesen played the version that splashes white this past weekend all the way to the finals. Specifically, the card [card]Path to Exile[/card] does a lot of work to swing the Grixis Death’s Shadow matchup and gives you the ability to be a little more interactive post-board. And that’s what’s particularly good about Amulet, much like the recently-banned Ironworks Combo, it’s able to win the game on turn-two while also being able to rebuild quite quickly. This is rare even by Modern’s power level, and is exactly why I believe Amulet to be one of the format’s best decks right now.
We also had a few awesome takes on Modern deckbuilding make it into the elimination rounds. There were a full three [card]Celestial Colonnade[/card] decks in the Top 8 and they were all distinctly different. Brad Collicutt played an awesome U/W Flash style deck with [card]Restoration Angel[/card] reminiscent of what Canadian Sean Mclaren won Pro Tour Born of the Gods with. Thanh Nguyen followed closely behind Brad with his Jeskai Geist deck he played to the semifinals. Both of these decks feature the high quality interaction that blue and white offer with a much quicker clock than usual. There’s a lot made of just how quick and linear Modern can be, so maybe these two have paved the way for us and built these Colonnade decks that can actually keep up with the format?
Face to Face Games contributor and recent StarcityGames Open champion Markus Thibeau also made the Top 8 with his beloved Mono-Green Tron deck. Thibeau has been on quite the heater recently, as this comes just days after he qualified for his first Pro Tour by winning a Magic Online PTQ with Tron. Thibeau is assuredly a rising Canadian star and showed that again this past weekend.
Congratulations once again to Nam on his win with Titan Shift this past weekend. Face to Face Games would also like to extend a special thank you to our sponsor, Ultimate Guard, who helped us out with some sweet swag for our Top 8 players. The next stop on the FacetoFaceGames.com Open Series is coming up this weekend in Halifax, N.S. where we’ll be hosting a Modern Open. Make sure to pre-register and we’re excited to see you there!
[Deck Title= First Place, Titan Shift – Nam Dang]
[Creatures]
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Search for Tomorrow
3 Farseek
2 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Prismatic Omen
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Summoner’s Pact
2 Faithless Looting
4 Scapeshift
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
4 Stomping Ground
3 Cinder Glade
6 Mountain
3 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Damping Sphere
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Thragtusk
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Carnage Tyrant
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Roast
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Second Place, Amulet Titan – Yascha Friesen]
[Creatures]
4 Sakura-Tribe Scout
1 walking Ballista
1 skyshroud Ranger
4 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
3 Trinket Mage
4 Primeval Titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Summoner’s Pact
1 Pact of Negation
1 Engineered Explosives
4 amulet of Vigor
4 ancient Stirrings
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Simia Growth Chamber
4 Selesnya Sanctuary
4 Gemstone Mine
3 Tolaria West
1 Boros Garrison
1 Slayers Stronghold
2 Cavern of souls
3 Forest
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Khalni Garden
1 Ghost quarter
1 Kabira crossroads
1 Grove of the burnwillows
1 Vesuva
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the legion
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Academy ruins
2 Engineered explosives
4 Path to exile
1 Tormod’s crypt
1 Ruric Thar, the unbowed
1 Sigarda, Host of herons
1 Negate
2 Spell pierce
1 Reclamation Sage
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Third Place, Jeskai Geist – Thanh Nguyen]
[Creatures]
4 Spell Queller
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Mantis Rider
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Restoration Angel
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Mana Leak
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Pierce
3 Lightning Helix
3 Opt
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Gideon of the Trials
4 Lightning Bolt
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Arid Mesa
1 Island
1 Mountain
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Steam Vents
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
1 Plains
3 Scalding Tarn
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Negate
1 Celestial Purge
1 Dispel
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Rest in Peace
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Stony Silence
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Ceremonious Rejection
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Humans – Mike Lee]
[Creatures]
4 Noble hierarch
4 Champion of the parish
4 Thalia’s lieutenant
3 Kitesail freebooter
4 Meddling mage
3 Mayor of avabruck
4 Mantis rider
4 Reflector mage
3 Thalia, guardian of thraben
4 Phantasmal image
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Cavern of souls
4 Horizon canopy
4 Unclaimed territory
4 Ancient ziggurat
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Seachrome coast
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Gaddock teeg
2 Izzet statiscaster
2 Dismember
1 Anafenza, the formost
1 Kambal, consul of allocation
2 Knight of autumn
2 Damping sphere
2 Auriok champion
1 Venser, shaper servant
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Mono-Green Tron – Markus Thibeau]
[Creatures]
3 wurmcoil engine
3 walking ballista
1 worldbreaker
2 ulamog, the ceaseless hunger
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 chromatic sphere
4 chromatic star
4 sylvan scrying
4 ancient stirrings
2 relic of progenitus
4 karn liberated
2 ugin, the spirit dragon
4 expedition map
4 oblivion stone
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 urza’s mine
4 urza’s tower
4 urza’s power plant
1 sanctum of ugin
1 ghost quarter
4 forest
1 horizon canopy
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 thragtusk
3 nature’s claim
2 surgical extraction
1 emrakul, the promised end
2 spatial contortion
3 thought-knot seer
1 dismember
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Azorious Flash – Brad Collicutt]
[Creatures]
3 wall of omens
2 snapcaster mage
3 kitchen finks
2 vendilion clique
4 restoration angel
1 archangel Avacyn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 cryptic command
2 supreme verdict
1 settle the wreckage
2 detention sphere
1 mana leak
1 negate
1 runed halo
4 path to exile
4 opt
1 spell snare
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 celestial colonnade
4 flooded strand
2 hallowed fountain
2 glacial fortress
1 mystic gate
4 field of ruin
1 ghost quarter
4 island
3 plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 dispel
1 spell pierce
1 ceremonious rejection
2 negate
1 snapcaster mage
2 rest in peace
1 celestial purge
1 runed halo
1 cataclysmic gearhulk
2 lyra dawnbringer
1 surgical extraction
1 geist of saint traft
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Jeskai Control – Jonathan Miller]
[Creatures]
4 snapcaster mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 supreme verdict
2 teferi, hero of dominaria
4 path to exile
2 electrolyze
3 lightning helix
2 search for azcanta
1 spell snare
1 secure the wastes
4 hieroglyphic illumination
3 logic knot
3 lightning bolt
4 cryptic command
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 field of ruin
4 scalding tarn
4 flooded strand
2 steam vents
2 hallowed fountain
1 sacred foundry
1 sulfur falls
1 glacial fortress
3 island
1 plains
1 mountain
3 celestial colonnade
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 baneslayer angel
1 engineered explosives
1 runed halo
1 anger of the gods
1 wear // tear
1 negate
1 timely reinforcements
2 dispel
2 ceremonious rejection
2 damping sphere
2 celestial purge
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Amulet Titan – Patrick Kimball]
[Creatures]
1 walking ballista
4 sakura-tribe scout
1 skyshroud ranger
4 azusa, lost but seeking
3 trinket mage
4 primeval titan
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 ancient stirrings
4 summoner’s pact
1 pact of negation
4 amulet of vigor
1 engineered explosives
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 snow-covered forest
3 Tolaria west
4 Simic growth-chamber
4 selesnya sanctuary
4 gemstone mine
1 boros garrison
1 slayers’ stronghold
1 vesuva
1 sun-home, fortress of the legion
1 cavern of souls
1 bojuka bog
1 khalni garden
1 kabira crossroads
1 ghost quarter
1 horizon canopy
1 grove of the burnwillows
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 path to exile
3 spell pierce
1 tormod’s crypt
2 engineered explosives
1 cavern of souls
1 reclamation sage
1 sigarda, host of herons
1 ruric thar, the unbowed
1 hornet queen
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]