QUICK LINKS
The F2F Tour stopped in Halifax this past Saturday for a Modern Super Qualifier, drawing 58 players to compete for the top spot. After six rounds of Swiss and a cut to Top 8, it was Christopher Brennan who emerged victorious with Grinding Breach, while Alexander Sepa finished in second place with Boros Energy.
Christopher Brennan Wins with Grinding Breach
Christopher Brennan secured first place with Grinding Breach, navigating through a competitive field to claim the title.
Grinding Breach – Christopher Brennan (1st)
Christopher Brennan on His Win
1. Congratulations on winning the Modern Super Qualifier in Halifax! How does it feel to take down such a competitive event, and what stood out most about your run?
Christopher Brennan: Feels great to close one out! I don’t have as many opportunities to play these days so I’m always happy to have a F2F event in the Maritimes. I was hoping we’d hit 7 rounds but I think a combination of the weather and Valentine’s weekend blocked a few extra cars from making the trip. That being said, things were pretty tight at X-1 going into the last round and all of us had to play it out (including an X-0-1 table playing for seeding). Having to play out all the rounds and sweat it out a bit longer definitely made the top 8 feel even sweeter.
2. What deck did you choose for the event, and what led to that decision? Did you make any last-minute adjustments based on the metagame?
Christopher Brennan: I played Temur Breach. I originally planned to play the deck for the Ottawa RC, but I got cold feet and audibled back to Boros Energy at the last minute. After a very uninspired performance, I wanted to make sure I played Breach at a tournament that mattered while it was legal. With a second-place finish at our local shop’s monthly tournament series (shout out to HFX Games for their excellent Player’s Championship) and taking the trophy home this weekend, I’m 14-2-1 with the deck since I picked it up. So it looks like I may have made a mistake with my RC deck choice.
My list was fairly stock. I liked the Life from the Loam in the 4c variants from the Canadian RC, so I continued to play that alongside Wrenn and Six.
3. Every tournament has defining moments—was there a particular match, play, or unexpected challenge that stood out to you?
Christopher Brennan: The deck constantly surprises me and I often feel like I’m stealing a game in every round. The craziest moment was probably game 2 against 4c Saheeli, which was BW-based and looked like it was just built with every hate piece possible to beat Breach. After Slaughter Games hit my Breaches on turn 4, I played a Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and intended to win through Saga or self-mill. Trying to fend off Saheeli Cat for multiple turns, I wasn’t able to spend the mana on Loam to unlock my Station from Stony Silence. I suspected my opponent had Consign in hand, but I needed to win this turn with 8 cards still left in my library. Thankfully, the Emry trigger baited out the Consign and I was able to win with Jace to mill 2 and Thassa’s Oracle with 7 devotion.
4. Modern is a constantly shifting format. Were there specific matchups you were hoping to avoid or ones you felt particularly prepared for?
Christopher Brennan: I generally prefer not to play against Titan with most decks, and watching the Portland RC didn’t help that any. Titan pilots might be well practiced at downplaying their decks, but they’re also very practiced at playing their decks, so I usually feel pretty behind. Maybe Breach pilots should take a page out of the Amulet book if they hope to keep the deck around for a while.
5. Now that you’ve secured this win, what’s next for you? Any tweaks you’d consider for your deck, or is another big event on the horizon?
Christopher Brennan: Sadly it looks like Modern will be on the backburner for a while as it’s mostly Standard events for the next few months. I would love to still be playing Breach in the summer when F2F makes the trek back out our way for the Truro Open. I’m not a fan of most bans in Modern, I think we need to give the format some time to adjust and we need more real paper events that people care about to see if it can adjust. That being said, I think Underworld Breach’s days have always been numbered, Mox Opal or not.
If I do get the opportunity to play the deck again, Stock Up is a card I wanted to try for this event but couldn’t figure out how I wanted to fit it into the list. I read someone say this was the best Divination deck ever, and I kind of agree.
Thanks! I’m very happy Face is giving Truro a shot this summer, and I hope we’ll see a great turnout!
Top 8 Decks
- Christopher Brennan – Grinding Breach
- Alexander Sepa – Boros Energy
- Michael Goud – Mono-Black Necro
- Michael Giles – Mono-Blue Eldrazi
- Frederick Spoonheim – Asmo Food
- Philippe Leger – Azorius Control
- Nicolas Bourque – Azorius Affinity
- Olivier Mayer – Boros Energy
Looking Ahead: F2F Tour Edmonton
The F2F Tour heads to Edmonton next for another weekend of competitive Modern action on March 8-9. Find all the details at f2ftour.com.
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.
