Just in time for the Ultimate Showdown in just two weeks time, Daniel Fournier has cemented his spot atop our leaderboard by winning our first ever Pioneer Showdown with his self-title “Simic Trade Binder” deck!

Fournier, as I’m sure he’s already told you, has torn up our Showdown Series this season and is in prime position to make a deep run at our Ultimate Showdown following his victory last season.

In many ways the deck he played this past Sunday looks shockingly similar to the Simic Food deck that was dominant at the last tabletop Mythic Championship with just a few small upgrades. I guess it turns out that food really was THAT good.

won the pioneer @F2FToronto showdown! simic trade binder went back to back 😀

— Daniel Fournier (@tirentu) December 9, 2019

Fournier was able to defeat another Simic deck in the finals. Ethan Carter played his way to a second place finish with Simic Nexus — yet another Standard port.

Joining them in the Top 8 was Omar Beldon who is still championing Mono-Black Aggro even after the banning of [Card]Smuggler’s Copter[/Card], Matt Cherkas back from the dead with a WILD Jeskai Fires deck, Shawn Dhaliwal also on Mono-Black, Daniel Armchuk on a sweet Orzhov Knights deck, Omar Aquino keeping it lean with his 17 land Mono-Red deck and Grady Hollis with a spicy Sultai Soulflayer deck.

In it’s early stages Pioneer looks like a pretty awesome format to me. I’ve had a chance to play a few matches online here and there and the format has been extremely popular at the shop since it’s announcement. Now that some of the format’s greatest early offenders are banned, I have high hopes it can only improve.

Early on, what I like most about the format is present all the way through our Top 8 from Sunday. It’s an eternal format where combat really seems to be king. You get to play your creatures and attack with them, you don’t get punished too hard for tapping out on your mainphase and this can lead to some extremely interactive games.

Now that [Card]Field of the Dead[/Card] is banned, I wonder if the next time I write one of these Pioneer recaps there will be a [Card]Thoughtseize[/Card] midrange deck among the top decks in the format? Now that would get me excited.

Now, before I leave you for the week, I have to give you an update on the Open Series if you haven’t heard yet. As we announced last week, in 2020 we’re bringing you the F2F Tour — your path from LGS to Players Tour. This change will be bringing you everything you loved about the Open Series, plus the addition of our F2F Tour Weekends, which will give you a shot to qualify for the Player’s Tour in your hometown. For all the details — check out our announcement.

Oh and incase you hadn’t heard yet, we’re bringing you a TON of formats next year:

With his win on Boston 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’re hosting a Modern Showdown which will be your last chance at picking up some Showdown points before our Ultimate Showdown the next weekend. Make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you at the shop!

[Deck Title= First Place, Simic Stompy – Daniel Fournier]
[Creatures]
4 Gilded Goose
3 Llanowar Elves
3 Elvish Mystic
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Lovestruck Beast
4 Steel Leaf Champion
4 Wicked Wolf
4 Hydroid Krasis
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Heart of Kiran
4 Oko, Thief of Crowns
4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Castle Garenbrig
4 Breeding Pool
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Yavimaya Coast
10 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Questing Beast
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Aether Gust
2 Disdainful Stroke
4 Negate
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Simic Nexus – Ethan Carter]
[Spells]
4 Opt
4 Supreme Will
4 Haze of Pollen
4 Growth Spiral
4 Nexus of Fate
2 Dig Through Time
3 Search for Azcanta
4 Wilderness Reclamation
4 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
1 Blink of an Eye
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Island
6 Forest
1 Desert of the Indomitable
2 Castle Vantress
2 Blast Zone
3 Hinterland Harbor
1 Lumbering Falls
2 Breeding Pool
1 Arch of Orazca
1 Memorial to Genius
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Fog
2 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
2 Tireless Tracker
2 God-eternal Kefnet
1 Murmuring Mystic
1 Carnage Tyrant
1 Narset’s Reversal
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Mono-Black Aggro – Omar Beldon]
[Creatures]
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Knight of the Ebon Legion
3 Murderous Rider
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Spawn of Mayhem
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Grasp of Darkness
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Aethersphere Harvester
4 Thoughtseize
4 Fatal Push
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Mutavault
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Aether Hub
4 Castle Locthwain
11 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Blightbeetle
3 Noxious Grasp
4 Duress
2 Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Ritual of Soot
1 Cry of the Carnarium
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Jeskai Fires – Matt Cherkas]
[Creatures]
3 Fae of Wishes
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Narset, Parter of Veils
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Deafening Clarion
2 Drawn from Dreams
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Search for Azcanta
3 Detention Sphere
4 Fires of Invention
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Castle Vantress
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Interplanar Beacon
1 Island
1 Mystic Monastery
1 Plans
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Temple of Epiphany
2 Temple of Triumph
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Pithing Needle
1 Command the Dreadhorde
1 Day’s Undoing
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Oketra’s Last Mercy
1 Slaughter Games
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Possibility Storm
1 Sarkhan the Masterless
1 Hour of Revelation
1 Rest in Peace
1 Casualties of War
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Mono-Black Aggro – Shawn Dhaliwal]
[Creatures]
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Knight of the Ebon Legion
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
3 Murderous Rider
2 Spawn of Mayhem
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Aethersphere Harvester
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
2 Grasp of Darkness
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Mutavault
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Castle Locthwain
2 Aether Hub
13 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Duress
3 Noxious Grasp
1 Grasp of Darkness
2 Rankle, Master of Pranks
2 Infernal Reckoning
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Cry of the Carnarium
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Orzhov Knights – Daniel Armchuk]
[Creatures]
2 Benalish Marshal
3 Black Lance Paragon
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Dauntless Bodyguard
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Kitesail Freebooter
3 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1 Thraben Inspector
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Venerable Knight
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Conclave Tribunal
2 Gonti’s Machinations
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Godless Shrine
4 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Drill Bit
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Sin Collector
1 Eerie Interlude
1 Rest in Peace
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Suncleanser
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Fragmentize
3 Oppressive Rays
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Mono-Red Aggro – Omar Aquino]
[Creatures]
4 Bomat Courier
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Bonecrusher Giant
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Shock
4 Skewer the Critics
4 Lightning Strike
4 Wild Slash
3 Light Up the Stage
3 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
[/Spells]
[Lands]
17 Mountain
2 Ramunap Ruins
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Skullcrack
2 Magma Spray
4 Searing Blood
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Rampaging Ferocidon
1 Pithing Needle
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Sultai Soulflayer – Grady Hollis]
[Creatures]
3 Cryptbreaker
4 Grim Flayer
4 Chromanticore
4 Soulflayer
4 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Oko, Thief of Crowns
4 Stubborn Denial
4 Thoughtseize
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Gather the Pack
4 Grisly Salvage
3 Monastery Siege
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Blooming Marsh
3 Botanical Sanctum
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Forest
4 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Duress
2 Assassin’s Trophy
4 Collective Brutality
2 Heroic Intervention
3 Legion’s End
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]