This past Saturday the FacetoFaceGames.com Open Series traveled to Red Deer, Alberta and Truman Yee used [Card]Whir of Invention[/Card] to lock some people up in Magic prison on his way to hoisting the trophy.
Of course, Yee played the Whir Prison deck that has been growing in popularity as of late to his title. The deck has a very favourable matchup against Izzet Phoenix and can also lock out Dredge with ease which makes it pretty well positioned in Modern right now. I’ve heard through the grapevine that Yee is a real master in the Alberta region, and he showed that on Saturday with this new deck.
Yee defeated Sam Tsafalas’ Titan Shift deck in the Finals, a deck that has been around since Modern’s beginnings but hasn’t been that popular recently. That said, cards like [Card]Relic of Progenitus[/Card] and [Card]Anger of the Gods[/Card] can be pretty punishing to all these popular graveyard decks, so maybe this is the time for a comeback.
The rest of our Top 8 featured a copy of [Card]Hardened Scales[/Card], a Grixis Death’s Shadow player, Burn, an Amulet Titan Player, a sweet Turbo Vizier deck and a Sultai Reclamation deck that you do not want to miss.
There have been some rumblings about [Card]Wilderness Reclamation[/Card] making its way into Modern, and although a four mana enhancement needs a lot to make it in the format, maybe this one is just that good.
Despite some of the uproar after today’s lack of bannings in Modern, our Top 8 both here in Red Deer and in our other Open+ in Toronto show an image of a pretty healthy Modern format. In Alberta in particular, there were zero copies of [Card]Faithless Looting[/Card] in the entire Top 8 which was the card that many people were asking to be banned on Monday morning.
We had a total of 149 players brave the winter elements to make it out and battle with us at our first Alberta Open+ of 2019. Over the course of the day, we fired seven Ravnica Allegiance Drafts, an Ultimate Masters Draft, 11 Commander pods and three constructed side events.
Congratulations again to our champion Truman Yee from everyone at Face to Face Games! Additionally, we’d like to extend our thanks to our awesome judge staff on Saturday and to our Open Series sponsor — Ultimate Guard — who hooked up everyone in the Top 8 with some awesome swag. The next stop on the series is coming up in St. John’s Newfoundland on March 16, when we’ll be hosting a Modern Open. We’ll see everyone on the East Coast!
[Deck Title=First Place, Whir Prison – Truman Yee]
[Spells]
4 Ancient Stirrings
1 Bottled Cloister
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Damping Sphere
3 Engineered Explosives
4 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Mishra’s Bauble
4 Mox Opal
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Welding Jar
4 Whir of Invention
1 Witchbane Orb
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Academy Ruins
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Glimmervoid
1 Inventors’ Fair
1 Ipnu Rivulet
2 Island
4 Spire of Industry
1 Tectonic Edge
4 Tolaria West
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Sai, Master Thopterist
3 Spellskite
1 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Jester’s Cap
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Torpor Orb
1 Damping Sphere
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Second Place, Titan Shift – Sam Tsafalas]
[Creatures]
2 Courser of Kruphix
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Explore
3 Farseek
2 Flame Slash
2 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
2 Summoner’s Pact
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Cinder Glade
2 Forest
2 Misty Rainforest
6 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Abrade
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Damping Sphere
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Shatterstorm
2 Tireless Tracker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Third Place, Hardened Scales – Shane Simpson]
[Creatures]
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Steel Overseer
4 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Animation Module
2 Dromoka’s Command
1 Evolutionary Leap
4 Hardened Scales
4 Mox Opal
2 Welding Jar
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Llanowar Reborn
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Temple Garden
2 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
3 Nature’s Claim
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Damping Sphere
2 Rule of Law
2 Dispatch
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Fourth Place, Grixis Death’s Shadow – Doug Hewson]
[Creatures]
4 Death’s Shadow
4 Gurmag Angler
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Street Wraith
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Dismember
1 Faithless Looting
4 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Lightning Bolt
3 Mishra’s Bauble
3 Serum Visions
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Temur Battle Rage
3 Thought Scour
4 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Stubborn Denial
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Collective Brutality
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Fifth Place, Boros Burn – Marek Baleja]
[Creatures]
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Boros Charm
4 Lava Spike
2 Light Up the Stage
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Skewer the Critics
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Arid Mesa
3 Inspiring Vantage
3 Mountain
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Stomping Ground
3 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Rest in Peace
2 Path to Exile
2 Exquisite Firecraft
2 Skullcrack
3 Cindervines
1 Deflecting Palm
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Sixth Place, Turbo Vizier Combo – Aaron Robinson]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Devoted Druid
2 Duskwatch Recruiter
2 Eternal Witness
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chord of Calling
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Faithless Looting
4 Postmortem Lunge
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Forest
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
3 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
3 Knight of Autumn
2 Rest in Peace
2 Worship
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Seventh Place, Amulet Titan – Richard Statham]
[Creatures]
4 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Scout
2 Trinket Mage
1 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Amulet of Vigor
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Coalition Relic
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pact of Negation
4 Summoner’s Pact
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Academy Ruins
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boros Garrison
1 Cavern of Souls
3 Forest
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Gruul Turf
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Khalni Garden
3 Selesnya Sanctuary
4 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Slayers’ Stronghold
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
3 Tolaria West
1 Vesuva
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Hornet Queen
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Spell Pierce
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Path to Exile
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
[Deck Title=Eighth Place, Sultai Reclamation – Robert Smith]
[Creatures]
3 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Blue Sun’s Zenith
1 Consume the Meek
4 Cryptic Command
2 Fatal Push
3 Growth Spiral
1 Logic Knot
2 Mystical Teachings
1 Nexus of Fate
3 Opt
1 Pulse of Murasa
4 Remand
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Spell Snare
1 Surgical Extraction
3 Wilderness Reclamation
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Breeding Pool
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Field of Ruin
1 Flooded Grove
1 Forest
1 Hinterland Harbor
4 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Cry of the Carnarium
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dispel
1 Duress
2 Fatal Push
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Life Goes On
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Vendilion Clique
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]