In short, the answer to the question in the headline is a resounding, no.

[Card]Dark Depths[/Card] and the ancient monster stowed away within its icy prison — Marit Lage — dominated yet another Legacy Showdown on Sunday.

In fact, Depths strategies were so popular at the event that the brew that took down the tournament in the hands of Dominic Harvey was designed specifically to prey on Depths mirror matches and other fair decks. Harvey piloted his own unique version of Golgari Lands to a win on Sunday.

Won another @F2FToronto Legacy Showdown (easily slaying final boss @tirentu) with a Lands/Depths deck I cooked up and may have fatally baited myself for #SCGNY. Not sure yet on merit of this vs typical Lands or Depths but worth exploring! pic.twitter.com/qlR1t2f85G

— Dom Harvey (@dominharvia) September 8, 2019

At its heart the deck Harvey played is very similar to the popular Golgari Depths deck that’s been dominating our local Legacy scene for months in the hands of Daniel Fournier and Matthew Dilks. But, with this version Harvey sacrifices a bit of disruption for some added staying power in the [Card]Life from the Loam[/Card] and [Card]Exploration[/Card] package. It’s an awesome brew and it’s cool to see deckbuilding rewarded even in a format with as many powerful staples as Legacy.

Harvey prevailed over Daniel “CantLoseLately” Fournier in the finals who finally lost his first match in the last two months. Fournier played the aforementioned Golgari Depths deck he won our previous Legacy Showdown with.

The rest of our Top 8 featured Matthew Dilks also playing Depths, Andrew Gordon on Temur Delver, myself playing the extremely milquetoast Azorius Stoneblade, last week’s champ and wonder child Jacob Richer on Sneak & Show, Justin Wong playing Storm and Shuen Tse Wan playing a Jeskai Midrange deck that leans on [Card]Dreadhorde Arcanist[/Card].

With a clear vision of the Top 8 you can now see what I mentioned earlier — Marit Lage has clearly not been defeated in Toronto. Even with multiple [Card]Swords to Plowshares[/Card] decks in the Top 8 it just wasn’t enough to thwart the powerful 20/20 Legend. These lands-based combo decks just have so many tools to juke and jive the metagame if they’re going to be able to matchup against fair blue decks round after round.

It’s starting to feel like dethroning Depths is going to take a metagame shift towards combo decks like Sneak & Show or Reanimator if we’re going to see the Toronto Legacy meta shift in a meaningful way.

That said, it’s worth noting that there were a mere three copies of [Card]Wrenn and Six[/Card] in this Top 8. This was a card that was everywhere after its printing in Modern Horizons and had people worried about its power level, but it’s nice to see the format has adapted to its dominance.

I personally think Legacy is in a great place right now. You’ve got options play to just about every kind of Magic this game offers, and it’s nice to not feel forced to play [Card]Delver of Secrets[/Card] for once.

Before I leave you for the week I’ve got one last reminder for you. Our Toronto MCQ is coming up THIS SATURDAY and you’re going to want to make sure to pre-register to secure your spot. This time it’s Modern so it’s sure to be packed! We’ll see you there.

With his win on Sunday, Dom 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 Showdown! After you get done battling at the MCQ on Saturday, stop by the shop on Sunday for some more post-ban Modern action. Make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you there!

[Deck Title= First Place, Golgari Lands – Dominic Harvey]
[Creatures]
4 Vampire Hexmage
2 Elvish Reclaimer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Assassin’s Trophy
4 Crop Rotation
4 Mox Diamond
4 Life from the Loam
4 Exploration
1 Sylvan Library
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4 Wasteland
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Rishard Port
4 Thespian’s Stage
1 Maze of Ith
1 Karakas
3 Nurturing Peatland
1 Field of the Dead
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Forest
4 Dark Depths
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Blast Zone
2 Bayou
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Force of Vigor
2 Pithing Needle
4 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Tireless Tracker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Golgari Depths – Daniel Fournier]
[Creatures]
2 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Elvish Reclaimer
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Mox Diamond
4 Thoughtseize
3 Duress
4 Crop Rotation
2 Sylvan Scrying
1 Sylvan Library
1 Assassin’s Trophy
3 Abrupt Decay
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Thespian’s Stage
4 Dark Depths
3 Bayou
2 Wasteland
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Karakas
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Nurturing Peatland
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Hymn to Tourach
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Plague Engineer
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Assassin’s Trophy
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Pithing Needle
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Temur Delver – Andrew Gordon]
[Creatures]
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Tarmogoyf
2 True-name Nemesis
2 Dreadhorde Arcanist
1 Hooting Mandrills
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
1 Force of Negation
2 Spell Snare
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Chain Lightning
3 Wrenn and Six
2 Spell Pierce
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Fiery Islet
4 Wasteland
3 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Force of Negation
1 Flusterstorm
1 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Pyroblast
1 Veil of Summer
2 Crop Rotation
1 Karakas
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Golgari Depths – Matthew Dilks]
[Creatures]
4 Elvish Reclaimer
4 Vampire Hexmage
2 Dark Confidant
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
3 Duress
3 Sylvan Scrying
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Crop Rotation
4 Mox Diamond
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Dark Depths
4 Thespian’s Stage
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Karakas
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Sejiri Steppe
2 Wasteland
1 Ghost Quarter
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Bitterblossom
1 Sylvan Library
3 Pithing Needle
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Plague Engineer
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Assassin’s Trophy
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Azorius Stoneblade – Keith Capstick]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True-Name Nemisis
1 Palace Jailer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Council’s Judgment
2 Spell Snare
1 Spell Pierce
1 Force of Negation
1 Path to Exile
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Flooded Strand
4 Prismatic Vista
1 Polluted Delta
6 Island
2 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Tundra
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Rest in Peace
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Flusterstorm
1 Palace Jailer
1 Force of Negation
1 Batterskull
1 Celestial Purge
1 Disenchant
1 Pithing Needle
1 Hydroblast
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Jeskai Midrange – Shuen Tse Wan]
[Creatures]
4 Dreadhorde Arcanist
4 Monastery Mentor
2 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
3 Portent
1 Preordain
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
1 Force of Negation
2 Counterbalance
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
1 Prismatic Vista
4 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Nature’s Chant
1 Disenchant
1 Path to Exile
1 Celestial Purge
2 Flusterstorm
2 Hydroblast
2 Back to Basics
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Storm – Justin Wong]
[Spells]
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
3 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
1 Veil of Summer
4 Infernal Tutor
1 Dark Petition
1 Ad Nauseum
2 Past in Flames
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Tendrils of Agony
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Bayou
2 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Veil of Summer
1 Xantid Swarm
1 Flusterstorm
1 Empty the Warrens
3 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Echoing Truth
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Dread of Night
1 Massacre
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Sneak & Show – Jacob Richer]
[Creatures]
4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Brainstorm
1 Flusterstorm
4 Ponder
3 Preordain
2 Spell Pierce
1 Cunning Wish
4 Show and Tell
4 Force of Will
4 Lotus Petal
4 Sneak Attack
2 Omniscience
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
3 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
1 tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Pyroblast
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Flusterstorm
2 Veil of Summer
1 Abrade
1 Defense Grid
1 Echoing Truth
1 Arcane Artisan
1 Blood Moon
1 Intuition
1 Kozilek’s Return
1 Through the Breach
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]