For the first time ever the FacetoFaceGames.com Open Series traveled to Lethbridge, Alberta this past weekend for a Modern Open, and we were blown away by the response from the local community. We had a packed house for the event and Jozef Telecki was able to triumph over the competition to become our first Lethbridge Open champ.

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple months of Modern action — let me update you. Graveyard synergies have basically completely taken over the format. The combination of [Card]Faithless Looting[/Card] and [Card]Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis[/Card] have been dominating ever since the release of Modern Horizons. So much so in fact that [Card]Bridge from Below[/Card] was of course banned recently.

Well, as we saw on Saturday in Lethbridge and all weekend long at the Mythic Championship in Barcelona — the graveyard menace is still alive (well sort of) and well.

Telecki was certainly aware of this as well, as he piloted a traditional Dredge deck featuring a copy of Hogaak to his victory on the weekend.

Telecki defeated an absolutely awesome brew in the finals. Mason Hoffos piloted a combination of traditional Izzet Phoenix and [Card]Goryo’s Vengeance[/Card] reanimator all the way to the finals. This deck looks absolutely sweet. Modern is such a high power format right now and to see a brew make it all the way to the finals at an event like this is absolutely what Magic is all about.

Joining them in the Top 8 was Michael Buttazzoni playing Humans, Michael Doherty bringing Bant Spirits back from the dead, Estephan Nicolas on Affinity, Maurice Turcotte piloting Azorius Control and Jason Poteet and Liam Hoban playing the aforementioned Hogaak deck that was so popular at the MC.

Now, obviously these Looting decks have a stranglehold on the format right now. But, as usual, Modern was able to hold stable on Saturday and offer us a fairly diverse Top 8. Azorius Control has managed to hang around despite it’s difficulty against these decks, Humans is trucking along and even brews like Mason’s are seeing success. We’ll have to wait until the end of the month to see if Hogaak gets hit with yet another ban, but our Open Series competitors will still be bringing the hotness with or without.

In addition to all of the action in the main event, we had players on-site battling in side events and hanging out at the Face to Face Games booth all day long. We can’t express enough just how awesome the Lethbridge community was and we can’t wait for another opportunity to bring the series back.

Before I leave you for the week I want to make sure to remind you of Face to Games’ upcoming Mythic Championship Qualifiers (MCQ). First on Saturday August 24, we’ll be hosting a Modern MCQ in Montreal and just a few weeks later on September 14, we’ll have our Toronto Modern MCQ. These events will definitely fill up quick, so make sure to sign up if you’re interested!

Congratulations again to our champion Jozef Telecki from everyone at Face to Face Games! Additionally, we’d like to extend our thanks to our amazing judge staff who ran a smooth event all day long! The next stop on the series is coming up on August 10 when we’ll be traveling to to beautiful Moncton, New Brunswickfor a Modern Open! Make sure to pre-register and we’ll see you there.

[Deck Title= First Place, Dredge – Jozef Telecki]
[Creatures]
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoeba
3 Prized Amalgam
1 Golgari Thug
4 Stinkweed Imp
1 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Shriekhorn
4 Faithless Looting
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Life From the Loam
2 Conflagrate
2 Darkblast
4 Creeping Chill
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground
3 Copperline Gorge
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Blast Zone
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Arid Mesa
2 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Nature’s Claim
1 Assassin’s Trophy
3 Lightning Axe
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Shenanigans
4 Leyline of the Void
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, GriselBirds – Mason Hoffos]
[Creatures]
3 Griselbrand
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Arclight Phoenix
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
3 Sleight of Hand
4 Manamorphose
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Collective Brutality
1 Magmatic Sinkhole
1 Echoing Truth
3 Goryo’s Vengeance
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
3 Spirebluff Canal
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
1 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Aria of Flame
1 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
2 Ravenous Trap
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Humans – Michael Buttazzoni]
[Creatures]
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Thalia’s lieutenant
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Phantasmal Image
3 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Meddling Mage
4 Reflector Mage
2 Militia Bugler
1 Deputy of Detention
4 Mantis Rider
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Ziggurat
1 Waterlogged Grove
1 Plains
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Unclaimed Terrritory
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Plague Engineer
2 Deputy of Detention
2 Dismember
2 Collector Ouphe
2 Gaddock Teague
3 Auriok Champion
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Bant Spirits – Michael Doherty]
[Creatures]
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Phantasmal image
1 Rattle Chains
2 Deputy of Detention
2 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Supreme Phantom
3 Unsettled Mariner
1 Kira, The Great Glass Spinner
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Collected Company
2 Path To Exile
2 Aether Vial
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Botanical Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cavern of Souls
3 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Island
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
1 Temple Garden
2 Windswept Heath
1 Waterlogged Grove
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Knight of Autumn
3 Rest in Peace
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Settle The Wreckage
2 Damping Sphere
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Worship
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Affinity – Estephan Nicolas]
[Creatures]
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Etched Champion
2 Goblin Engineer
4 Master of Etherium
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
2 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Welding Jar
4 Mox Opal
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Snow-covered Mountain
3 Spire of Industry
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Cranial Plating
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Bitterblossom
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Damping Sphere
2 Experimental Frenzy
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Karn, the Great Creator
1 Spellskite
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Wear // Tear
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Azorius Control – Maurice Turcotte]
[Creatures]
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Monastery Mentor
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Logic Knot
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Mana Leak
1 Detention Sphere
2 Dovin’s Veto
2 Cryptic Command
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Day of Judgement
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
3 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Exclude
1 Oust
4 Opt
4 Path of Exile
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Prismatic Vista
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Reflecting Pool
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Plains
2 Field of the Dead
2 Field of Ruin
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Seachrome Coast
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dovin’s Veto
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Field of Ruin
2 Celestial Purge
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Rest in Peace
1 Lyra Dawnbringer
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Hogaak – Jason Poteet]
[Creatures]
4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
4 Vengevine
4 Bloodghast
4 Gravecrawler
4 Sticher’s Supplier
4 Carrion Feeder
3 Insolent Neonate
4 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Golgari Thug
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
2 Lightning Axe
1 Assassin’s Trophy
1 Claim // Fame
1 Darkblast
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Polluted Delta
2 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Swamp
2 Blood Crypt
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Gemstone Mine
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Plague Engineer
3 Thoughtseize
1 Force of Vigor
1 Nature’s Claim
1 Fatal Push
1 Shenanigans
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Hogaak – Liam Hoban]
[Creatures]
4 Carrion Feeder
1 Cryptbreaker
4 Gravecrawler
4 Stitcher’s Supplier
4 Bloodghast
3 Golgari Thug
2 Lotleth Troll
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Vengevine
4 Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Faithless Looting
3 Lightning Axe
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Swamp
2 Gemstone mine
1 Blooming Marsh
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Polluted Delta
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Verdant Catacombs
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Nature’s Claim
2 Force of Vigor
2 Assassin’s Trophy
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]