It’s funny how the more things change in Magic the more they tend to stay the same.

One week we’ve got this massive banned and restricted announcement that is supposed to change the Modern format, and the next we’ve got [Card]Death’s Shadow[/Card] sitting atop of an Open Series event like it’s 2017.

This past weekend Grixis [Card]Death’s Shadow[/Card] took down our Victoria, B.C. Modern Open in the hands of Patrick Berdusco.

Shadow is an interesting deck within the context of Modern. The archetype really seems like it ebbs and flows with the format, some weekends it can look like you’re playing a Legacy deck in Modern, and others you just get [Card]Path to Exile[/Card]d out of the gym. This weekend though, Pat was able to take advantage of the high powered midrange strategy, and there’s rumblings around the Magic community that it may be time for a return to form for Shadow.

@MatthewLNass’s Jund DS deck that I was too cowardly to play at the GP. -1 Hazoret +1 Kalitas. Deck is very good pic.twitter.com/v5EvY1xj93

— Sam Pardee (@Smdster) September 9, 2019

Pat triumphed over David Horgen and his Infect deck in the finals.

Joining them in the Top 8 was Oleg Matveenko on Azorius Control sans Stoneforge, Ryan Sheehan playing Affinity, Jonah Fax playing Dredge, Brandon Ainey on Tron, Ian Smith playing a classic [Card]Slippery Bogle[/Card] strategy and Curtis Klajch playing the [Card]Spell Queller[/Card] infused Stoneblade deck that’s been popular lately.

For the first time since the banning of [Card]Faithless Looting[/Card] and [Card]Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis[/Card] I feel like we had a balanced Top 8 this weekend in Victoria. We had Tron and TitanShift dominate in St. John’s, a revamped version of Dredge take down our Edmonton Open and now here we had it all.

This to me is particularly interesting after seeing the results of our Toronto MCQ which also took place on Saturday. At both events there were a surplus of hyper-efficient decks, whether it be Grixis Shadow, Infect or the Mono-Red Prowess deck that won in Toronto. Maybe these decks based around cheap spells are the future in Modern.

One thing I’m waiting for is a higher representation of Whirza decks in our Top 8s. This archetype seems to be dominant online and on the GP circuit as of late so I’d like to see it catch on more on our Open Series.

Congratulations again to our champion Patrick Berdusco from everyone at Face to Face Games! We’d also like to thank our awesome judge staff who ran a smooth event all day long!

With our tournament series growing every week we’ve added a feedback point of contact to our workflow in order to create the best events possible for you all in the future. If there are any changes you’d like to see from our events email us at: feedback@facetofacegames.com.

The next stop on the series is coming up this Saturday Sept. 21 when we’ll be traveling to London, Ontario for a Modern Open. We’ll be on site all day firing drafts, Commander pods and buying and selling cards at the booth so make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you there!

[Deck Title= First Place, Grixis Death’s Shadow – Patrick Berdusco]
[Creatures]
4 Gurmag Angler
4 Death’s Shadow
1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Street Wraith
3 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Opt
3 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
4 Stubborn Denial
2 Dismember
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Thought Scour
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Temur Battle Rage
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Watery Grave
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Swamp
1 Island
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
1 Steam Vents
2 Blood Crypt
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Seasoned Pyromancer
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Alpine Moon
1 Abrade
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damping Sphere
2 Plague Engineer
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Kolaghan’s Command
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Infect – David Horgen]
[Creatures]
1 Spellskite
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
4 Noble Hierarch
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Become Immense
1 Dismember
2 Distortion Strike
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Scale Up
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Blossoming Defense
2 Groundswell
2 Spell Pierce
4 Might of Old Krosa
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Breeding Pool
1 Horizon Canopy
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Snow-covered Forest
1 Snow-covered Island
2 Pendelhaven
1 Waterlogged Grove
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Pithing Needle
1 Postmorten Lunge
1 Spellskite
1 Spell pierce
2 Veil of summer
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Shaper’s Sanctuary
1 Dissenter’s Deliverance
2 Viridian Corrupter
1 Noxious Revival
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Azorius Control – Oleg Matveenko]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
2 Mana Leak
1 Detention Sphere
1 Timely Reinforcements
3 Force of Negation
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
2 Cryptic Command
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Plains
6 Islands
4 Celestial Colonnade
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Stony Silence
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Celestial Purge
2 Dispel
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Disenchant
2 Rest in Peace
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Affinity – Ryan Sheehan]
[Creatures]
4 Etched Champion
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Mishra’s Bauble
4 Mox Opal
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Cranial Plating
3 Springleaf Drum
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Mountain
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Sulphorus Spring
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Thoughtseize
2 Stain the Mind
3 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Whipflare
1 Bitterblossom
3 Spellskite
1 Experimental Frenzy
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Dredge – Jonah Fax]
[Creatures]
4 Bloodghast
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Narcomoeba
1 Golgari Thug
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Shriekhorn
4 Creeping Chill
2 Conflagration
4 Life from the Loam
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Copperline Gorge
2 Blood Crypt
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Stomping Ground
1 Steam VGents
2 Mountain
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Dakmor Salvage
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Darkblast
4 Lightning Axe
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Driven // Despair
2 Duress
1 Nature’s Claim
3 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Ancient Grudge
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Mono-Green Tron – Brandon Ainey]
[Creatures]
1 Thragtusk
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Walking Ballista
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 World Breaker
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Oblivion Stone
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Chromatic Star
4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Expedition Map
4 Karn Liberated
3 Karn, the Great Creator
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Blast Zone
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Tower
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Torpor Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Weather the Storm
2 Dismember
3 Nature’s Claim
2 Thragtusk
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Bogles – Ian Smith]
[Creatures]
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Gryff’s Boon
2 Spirit Mantle
4 Spider Umbra
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Hyena Umbra
3 Path to Exile
4 Rancor
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Ethereal Armor
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Windswept Heath
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Temple Garden
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Razorverge Thicket
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Suppression Field
1 Spirit Link
1 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
3 Gaddock Teeg
1 Force of Vigor
1 Rest in Peace
1 Damping Sphere
1 Dromoka’s Command
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Azorius Stoneblade – Curtis Klajch]
[Creatures]
4 Spell Queller
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Stoneforge Mystic
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Opt
4 Path to Exle
1 Mana Leak
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Cryptic Command
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of fire and ice
1 sword of feast and famine
4 Force of Negation
[/Spells]
[Lands]
5 Island
2 Plains
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Field of Ruin
1 Prismatic Vista
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
2 Celestial Colonnade
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Sword of Sinew and Steel
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Celestial Purge
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Rest in Peace
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Supreme Verdct
1 Wrath of God
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]