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 Standard to see who could take down the top prize.

When you live in the Toronto area, Standard feels like a nice treat sprinkled in amongst the metric ton of Modern events. This past Sunday at Face to Face Games Toronto we had some Standard action, and what ended up victorious was a whole lot of basic islands in the hands of Nathan Girdharry.

Yes of course I’m talking about the same Mono-Blue Tempo deck that won the Mythic Championship in Cleveland just a few short weeks ago. I honestly can’t begin to explain just how cool I think it is that this is one of the best decks in the format. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had such a unique style of tempo deck at the top and it’s a delight to watch the format because of it.

The rest of our Top 8 featured three copies of Esper Control, Pasha Meshkati playing Temur Reclamation, Isaac Krut holding our second Mono-Blue deck, a Gruul Aggro deck and one copy of that sweet Temur Gates deck.

Notably, it feels like both Delan Hamasoor and Daniel Fournier Top 8 virtually every single Standard event we host at the store and they were both in fine form on Sunday. The same can be said about Krut, who is consistently in the elimination rounds at these events.

Esper Control has been the talk of the format since the Mythic Championship and we obviously saw its presence in the metagame on Sunday. Recently, these lists have added [Card]Kaya, Orzhov Usurper[/Card] to give them a stable win condition and help out in the Mono-Blue matchup. This along with solidifying some of the wonky splits of counterspells and removal spells that were showing up before the MC have really served to improve the list.

With his win on Sunday, Nathan cements his spot in the upcoming Ultimate Showdown, while the rest of our Top 8 have begun their march up the leader board to qualify. If you’re interested in your Ultimate Showdown point total, you can check it out here. If you’d like to inquire about your point total or report a discrepancy, please email Toronto@facetofacegames.com. This upcoming weekend at Face to Face Games Toronto we’ll be hosting a Modern Sunday Showdown! Get your [Card]Arclight Phoenix[/Card]s ready and come on out and battle!

[Deck Title= First Place, Mono-Blue Tempo – Nathan Girdharry]
[Creatures]
4 Pteramander
4 Siren Stormtamer
1 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Tempest Djinn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Opt
4 Dive Down
3 Spell Pierce
1 Essence Capture
1 Negate
4 Wizard’s Retort
2 Entrancing Melody
1 Chart a Course
4 Curious Obsession
[/Spells]
[Lands]
19 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Island
3 Surge Mare
3 Negate
2 Deep Freeze
2 Entrancing Melody
2 Essence Capture
1 Disdainful Strike
1 Jace, Cunning Castaway
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Esper Control – William Scott]
[Spells]
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
4 Chemister’s Insight
4 Kaya’s Wrath
3 Cast Down
1 Moment of Craving
4 Absorb
2 Negate
3 Mortify
2 Search for Azcanta
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Swamp
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Memorial to Glory
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Cry of the Carnarium
1 Negate
1 Lyra Dawnbringer
4 Thief of Sanity
2 Duress
2 Moment of Craving
3 Hostage Taker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Gruul Aggro – Brady Bachan]
[Creatures]
2 Direfleet Daredevil
4 Kraul Harpooner
4 Growth Chamber Guardian
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Gruul Spellbreaker
4 Rekindling Phoenix
3 Siege-Gang Commander
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Domri, Chaos Bringer
3 Shock
3 Lightning Strike
2 Lava Coil
2 Collision // Colossus
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Gruul Guildgate
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
4 Unclaimed Territory
1 Forest
9 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Legion Warboss
4 Cindervines
2 Fiery Cannonade
2 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Lava Coil
2 Treasure Map
1 Fight with Fire
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Temur Reclamation – Pasha Meshkati]
[Creatures]
3 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Growth Spiral
4 Sinister Sabotage
4 Chemister’s Insight
2 Syncopate
4 Wilderness Reclamation
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Blink of an Eye
4 Shivan Fire
4 Expansion // Explosion
1 Fiery Cannonade
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Steam Vents
4 Breeding Pool
4 Stomping Ground
4 Hinterland Harbour
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Rootbound Crag
2 Island
1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Fiery Cannonade
2 Crushing Canopy
1 Disdainful Stroke
3 Negate
2 Rekindling Phoenix
3 Lava Coil
1 Thrashing Brontodon
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Esper Control – Delan Hamasoor]
[Spells]
3 Absorb
3 Cast Down
3 Chemister’s Insight
2 Cry of the Carnarium
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
3 Kaya’s Wrath
1 Moment of Craving
3 Mortify
1 Negate
2 Search for Azcanta
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
1 The Eldest Reborn
4 Thought Erasure
3 Vraska’s Contempt
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
1 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Duress
3 Hostage Taker
2 Lyra Dawnbringer
1 Moment of Craving
1 Negate
1 The Eldest Reborn
4 Thief of Sanity
1 Unmoored Ego
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Temur Gates – Zachary Colavecchia]
[Creatures]
4 Gatebreaker Ram
2 Archway Angel
4 Gate Colossus
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Shivan Fire
4 Growth Spiral
2 Deafening Clarion
4 Gates Ablaze
4 Circuitous Route
2 Mass Manipulation
4 Guild Summit
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Azorious Guildgate
2 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
4 Gruul Guildgate
4 Izzet Guildgate
4 Plaza of Harmony
2 Selesnya Guildgate
2 Stomping Ground
4 Simic Guildgate
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Kraul Harpooner
1 Archway Angel
2 Lava Coil
4 Negate
2 Deafening Clarion
1 Mass Manipulation
3 Cindervines
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Mono-Blue Tempo – Isaak Krut]
[Creatures]
4 Pteramander
4 Siren Stormtamer
2 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Tempest Djinn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Opt
3 Spell Pierce
4 Dive Down
4 Wizard’s Retort
2 Essence Capture
4 Curious Obsession
1 Entrancing Melody
[/Spells]
[Lands]
20 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Negate
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Entrancing Melody
3 Surge Mare
1 Essence Capture
2 Deep Freeze
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Esper Control – Daniel Fournier]
[Spells]
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
4 Chemister’s Insight
2 Vraska’s Contempt
2 Kaya’s Wrath
3 Mortify
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
2 Cry of the Carnarium
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Isolated Chapel
4 drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Watery Grave
4 Godless Shrine
1 Swamp
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Lyra Dawnbringer
1 Cry of the Carnarium
2 Moment of Craving
1 Negate
2 Duress
2 Hostage Taker
4 Thief of Sanity
1 Chromium, the Mutable
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]