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The F2F Tour returned to Edmonton for a full weekend of Magic, highlighted by two Modern Super Qualifiers that brought together competitive players from across Western Canada. With RC invites, trophies, and Tour momentum on the line, the weekend rewarded disciplined play across long Swiss rounds and showcased a wide range of viable Modern strategies.
Saturday’s Super Qualifier drew the larger field and served as the weekend’s featured event, producing a diverse Top 8 that reflected the current openness of the format. Azorius Control, Izzet Storm, W-U-R-G Midrange, Jeskai Blink, and multiple aggressive red decks all made appearances at the top tables.
The weekend also included a second Modern Super Qualifier on Sunday. Gavin Bennett emerged victorious, closing out the weekend with another RC invite awarded in Edmonton.
Saturday Super Qualifier – Top 8
- Anna Heggerud – Azorius Control (Kaheera)
- Mark Taylor – Izzet Storm
- Tyler White – W-U-R-G Midrange
- Josh Southcott – Jeskai Blink
- Connr Buchanan – Izzet Burn
- Matthew Hollett – Mono-Green Tron
- Up and Up Up And Up – Mono-Green Eldrazi Aggro
- Ryan Desmarais – Boros Burn
Saturday Super Qualifier Winner: Anna Heggerud (Azorius Control)
Anna Heggerud continued her strong run on the F2F Tour with a victory in Saturday’s Edmonton Modern Super Qualifier. A familiar name at the top tables, Anna has consistently converted strong Swiss performances into deep finishes, including a Top 4 result at this same venue last fall. This weekend, she navigated the field to an 8-1-0 match record, finishing with a 16-6-0 game record and adding another Tour Stop trophy to her resume.
After the event, we caught up with Anna to discuss her deck choice, how Modern has evolved since her well-known Merfolk run in 2023, and the key moments that defined her path to the trophy.
Congrats on your Edmonton victory with Azorius Control. You’ve had several strong finishes on the Tour, including a Top 4 here back in October. How did this win compare to your other deep runs, and what keeps bringing you back to compete at this level?
I felt more relaxed compared to past deep runs. The first time I won a Tour Stop event, I was nervous and made some pretty bad plays that I was lucky not to get punished for.
Having played more high-level events since then has lowered the personal stakes of each individual event and allowed me to play better.
The reason I keep competing is ultimately just that Magic is quite a fun game; I generally leave tournaments wishing I could play the game more often.
You’re still remembered for your 9-0-1 Merfolk run at Calgary in February 2023, a performance many players credit with briefly putting the deck back on the Modern map. What led you away from Merfolk, and how has your approach to Modern changed since then?
Merfolk is simply not a deck I consider competitively viable anymore. February 2023 was before LoTR, MH3, Riddler, Green Sun’s Zenith, and Mox Opal (re-)entered the format, so the two formats don’t share much more than a name.
The decks you can play now are much more powerful, and I wouldn’t register anything with as few impactful 0-1 mana spells as Merfolk.
The deck has just been outclassed in recent years.
Your Azorius Control list with Kaheera includes some less common choices, notably Isochron Scepter with Orim’s Chant, alongside Narset and Day’s Undoing. What drew you to this configuration, and where did it shine during the tournament?
The deck often plays more like a combo deck than a true control deck because of Scepter/Chant and Narset/Day’s; this helps to solve the problems of playing a reactive deck in a powerful format like Modern.
There’s a PVDDR article (from probably nearly a decade ago) talking about UW control being weak in Modern because, if you stumble, your opponent will kill you, whereas if your opponent stumbles, you’ll hold up Logic Knot, Path to Exile, and Cryptic Command without any targets, giving them time to draw back into the game.
This desire to be proactive is why I don’t play any copies of the card Counterspell.
During the tournament, I was often able to steal games I was behind in with one of the combos. In Game 3 of the semis, my Jeskai Blink opponent had chained Riddlers and Ephemerates, so he had way more raw resources than I did, but was ultimately unable to find an answer to a timely Scepter/Chant combo.
Looking back on your 8-1-0 run, was there a moment where the tournament could have slipped away? What ended up being the key decision that kept your run alive?
I was facing elimination from Top 8 contention in Game 2 of Round 5, having to play against one of my worst matchups (Tron) for the second round in a row.
My opponent had Karn and was using Coating to kill my lands. I fetched a surveil land in his end step and had to decide whether the Otawara on top, bouncing his Karn so I could force it on the way back down, would be enough to give me even a shot at winning the game.
It ended up being just enough, but gave me only ~10 minutes to fight out a Game 3 of the slow matchup, which luckily ended on turn 4 of extra turns.
Before we wrap up, any shout-outs you’d like to give to people who helped you along the way?
Definitely a shout-out to my Dad. He doesn’t play Magic, but when I was a kid, he thought the game was good for me and could tell I cared about it, and drove me to and from a lot of FNMs as a result.
I can’t imagine I would’ve stuck with the game if I hadn’t been able to play so often back then.
Azorius Control – Anna Heggerud (1st)
Companion
Creatures (4)
Artifacts (2)
What’s Next
The F2F Tour continues this weekend in Saskatoon, where players can expect a full slate of events beyond the main qualifiers. Alongside competitive play, the weekend will feature on-demand Commander pods, Lorwyn Eclipsed drafts, special guests, and an active Prize Wall, offering plenty of ways to jump into games throughout the day.
Sign up now for Saskatoon:
https://facetofacegames.com/collections/category-shopify-tour-events-round-12-saskatoon
Looking further ahead, attention turns to the Magic: The Gathering Spotlight Series – Toronto, taking place February 6–8, 2026 at the Queen Elizabeth Building. As the Tour’s premier event of the year, Spotlight Toronto will feature high-stakes main events, extensive side events across formats, vendors, special guests, and the kind of atmosphere Toronto Magic players consistently bring.
Register now for Spotlight Series Toronto:
https://facetofacegames.com/SpotlightSeriesToronto
Whether you’re chasing RC invites, battling in side events with friends, or settling in for a full weekend of Magic, we’ll see you at the next stop on the Tour.
Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.
