There’s been quite the roar lately from the Magic community about the legality of [Card]Ancient Stirrings[/Card] and [Card]Faithless Looting[/Card] in Modern. And when the FacetoFaceGames.com Open Series landed in St. John’s Newfoundland this past Saturday the results only added fuel to that fire.

That said, our winner — Dylan Woolridge — was one of our loan stand outs as he triumphed over the powerful cantrips with his Eldrazi Stompy deck.

Woolridge’s deck has seen a resurgence in popularity as of late due to its ability to play an inherently proactive game while also getting to play some effective interaction elements in [Card]Chalice of the Void[/Card] and [Card]Thought-Knot Seer[/Card]. Chalice in particular works to thwart the Izzet Phoenix deck that has been running rampant over the format lately.

Woolridge defeated Stephen Whelan and his Mono-Green Tron deck in the Finals. Whelan was one of three Tron players that made it to the elimination rounds on Saturday. There was also one copy of Burn, a lone Izzet Phoenix player, a copy of Dredge and Logan Brenton playing his spicy Naya Zoo deck.

As you may have noticed, those two cards I mentioned off the top are present in a full six out of the eight decks that made the elimination rounds on Saturday. Notably, Stirrings in particular powered up all three of our Tron players’ decks.

There’s certainly something to be said about the relative power level of these cards, but both Woolridge and Brenton showed us that they are beatable given the right kind of preparation and a little luck.

The real story on the day was our awesome judge staff. There were 69 players on at the venue battling in the main event and more playing sides. There were only three judges on staff and they managed to run an impeccable main event, side Drafts, Commander pods and Legacy Constructed pods. These guys were heros.

Congratulations again to our champion Dylan Woolridge from everyone at Face to Face Games! Additionally, we’d like to extend our thanks 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 Barrie, Ontario this coming Saturday March 23 where we’ll be hosting a Modern Open. Make sure to get your testing in, pre-register and we’ll see you there!

[Deck Title=First Place, Eldrazi Stompy – Dylan Woolridge]
[Creatures]
4 Eldrazi Mimic
1 Endbringer
4 Eternal Scourge
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Reality Smasher
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Thought-Knot Seer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Dismember
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Serum Powder
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Gemstone Mine
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Mutavault
2 Scavenger Grounds
2 Wastes
2 Zhalfirin Void
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Batterskull
2 Damping Sphere
3 Ratchet Bomb
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spatial Contortion
1 Torpor Orb
2 Warping Wail
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Second Place, Mono-Green Tron – Stephen Whelan]
[Creatures]
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Walking Ballista
1 Worldbreaker
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Expedition Map
4 Chromatic Star
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Oblivion Stone
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Sylvan Scrying
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Buried Ruin
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Mine
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Thragtusk
3 Nature’s Claim
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Spatial Contortion
4 Thought-knot Seer
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Third Place, Izzet Phoenix – Caleb Yetman]
[Creatures]
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Arclight Phoenix
2 Crackling Drake
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
1 Gutshot
2 Lightning Axe
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Opt
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Izzet Charm
4 Manamorphose
4 Serum Visions
4 Though Scour
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Breeding Pool
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Steam Vents
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Dispel
2 Life Goes On
2 Spell Pierce
2 Abrade
2 Negate
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Beacon Bolt
2 Blood Moon
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Fourth Place, Mono-Green Tron – Chris Stoyles]
[Creatures]
2 Thragtusk
3 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Expedition Map
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Oblivion Stone
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Forest
1 Buried Ruin
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Nature’s Claim
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Warping Wail
3 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Thragtusk
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Fifth Place, Naya Zoo – Logan Brenton]
[Creatures]
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
2 Voice of Resurgence
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Knight of Autumn
4 Bloodbraid Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Treeptop Village
1 Kessig Wold Run
1 Mountain
2 Forest
2 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Blood Moon
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stony Silence
1 Angel of the Gods
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Kor Firewalker
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Sixth Place, Mono-Green Tron – Nicholas Woolridge]
[Creatures]
4 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Oblivion Stone
4 Expedition Map
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Ancient Stirrings
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Forest
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Spatial Contortion
3 Though-knot Seer
3 Nature’s Claim
3 Thragtusk
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Seventh Place, Burn – Jordan Elson]
[Creatures]
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Grim Lavamancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Shard Volley
4 Searing Blaze
2 Skullcrack
2 Light up the Stage
4 Rift Bolt
4 Skewer the Critics
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Arid Mesa
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Inspiring Vantage
5 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Dragon’s Claw
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Skullcrack
2 Path to Exile
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Wear // Tear
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title=Eighth Place, Dredge – James Randell]
[Creatures]
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prize Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Golgai Thug
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Creeping Chill
3 Conflagrate
1 Darkblast
4 Life from the Loam
4 Shriekhorn
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Gemstone Mine
1 Dakmor Salvage
4 Copperline Gorge
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Damping Sphere
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Lightning Axe
1 Darkblast
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Nature’s Claim
3 Leyline of the Void
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]