Well, at this point what is there left to say? Omar Beldon won yet another Showdown!

This time — luckily for me — it was a Team Trios event where we played Modern, Legacy and Pioneer, and he chose to carry Daniel Fournier and I to the finish line.

In all seriousness Fournier never lost a match all day, so he was doing the majority of the carrying, but it’s way funnier the other way so I’m sticking to that.

We played what we thought we the best decks in each format. Inverter had a coming out party all weekend long at both PT Nagoya and Brussels in Pioneer, Amulet has been dominant in Modern since the last banned and restricted announcement and Omar thinks [Card]Underworld Breach[/Card] is absolutely broken in half. He remarked all day long how amusing he thought it was that WotC had allowed him to play [Card]Yawgmoth’s Will[/Card].

We defeated the team of Tsiligiannis, Loong and Wiradharma who played Inverter, Miracles and Jund in the finals.

Rounding out the Top 4 were the teams of Bao, Luk and Xiao who played Infect, Ramp and Sneak & Show as well as the team of Posaratnanathan, Ryl and Xu who played Infect, Five-Colour Niv-Mizzet and Dimir Reanimator.

For me this event was really interesting because for the first time in a long time I could honestly say that every format looked extremely fun and healthy. Breach may be just a little too good in Legacy, but Modern has a lot of challenging games in it right now and Pioneer is absolutely wide open. These team events are a great way to get an idea of where Magic’s is at as a whole, and I had a blast playing all day.

With our win on Sunday Omar, Dan and myself qualified for the upcoming Ultimate Showdown of ULTIMATE destiny and the rest of our Top 8 have begun their march up the leaderboard.

This season, we’re going to closely following the Ultimate Showdown leaderboard each week and I’ll be giving you updates on the race as the results unfold every week in these recaps. This week the big news was Fournier, one of our past Ultimate Showdowin champs — locked up his qualification and Omar pulled even further ahead in the Showdown leaderboard race. Seriously, this guy has 330 points and Andrew Gordon is sitting tight in second place with 160. Omar is truly off to an unprecedented start.

This upcoming weekend Face to Face Games Toronto we’ll be hosting two big Pioneer events. First on Saturday we’ll have our first local F2F Tour stop of 2020 in Hamilton, Ontario where we’ll be battling in Magic’s newest format. And then on Sunday, we’re back at the shop for a Pioneer Showdown. Make sure to pre-register for Hamilton here and the Showdown here and we’ll see you on the weekend!

First Place: Fournier, Capstick and Beldon

[Deck Title= Dimir Inverter – Daniel Fournier]
[Creatures]
4 Thassa’s Oracle
4 Inverter of Truth
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Opt
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
2 Censor
2 Thought Erasure
2 Supreme Will
1 Hero’s Downfall
1 Murderous Cut
4 Dig Through Time
3 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
[/Spells]
[Lands]
6 Island
3 Swamp
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Fabled Passage
3 Fetid Pools
2 Choked Estuary
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Legion’s End
4 Pack Rat
1 Enter the God Eternals
1 Tyrant’s Scorn
2 Cry of the Carnarium
3 Mystical Dispute
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Amulet Titan – Keith Capstick]
[Creatures]
4 Primeval Titan
4 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
4 Sakura-tribe Scout
4 Dryad of Ilysian Grove
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Amulet of Vigor
4 Summoner’s Pact
4 Once Upon a Time
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pact of Negation
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Simic Growth Chamber
4 Castle Garenbrig
2 Gruul Turf
2 Tolaria West
2 Valkut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Field of the Dead
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Hanweir Battlements
1 Radiant Fountain
1 Vesuva
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Forest
2 Snow-covered Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Dismember
2 Aether Gust
2 Beast Within
2 Force of Vigor
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Radiant Fountain
1 Field of the Dead
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Underworld Breach Combo – Omar Beldon]
[Creatures]
1 Thassa’s Oracle
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Grinding Station
2 Orim’s Chant
4 Underworld Breach
4 Brainfreeze
4 Force of Will
1 Defense Grid
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Spell Pierce
4 Preordain
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Lotus Petal
1 Pact of Negation
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Seal of Removal
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
1 Snow-covered Plains
1 Snow-covered Mountain
2 Snow-covered Island
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
2 Prismatic Vista
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Force of Negation
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Wear // Tear
2 Monastery Mentor
2 Serenity
2 Silence
4 Swords to Plowshares
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Second Place: Tsiligiannis, Loong and Wiradharma

[Deck Title= Jund – Matthew Loong]
[Creatures]
2 Dark Confidant
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Bloodbraid Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Wrenn and Six
4 Liliana of the Veil
3 Fatal Push
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Lighting Bolt
2 Thoughtseize
3 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Maelstrom Pulse
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Nurturing Peatland
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Pillage
2 Collective Brutality
3 Fulminator Mage
3 Plague Engineer
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Nihil Spellbomb
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Dimir Inverter – Richard Wiradharma]
[Creatures]
4 Thassa’s Oracle
3 Inverter of Truth
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Opt
4 Fatal Push
2 Censor
2 Omen of the Sea
1 Drown in the Loch
1 Thought Erasure
1 Tyrant’s Scorn
1 Coax From the Blind Eternities
3 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
1 Murderous Cut
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Dig Through Time
4 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
4 Fabled Passage
2 Fetid Pools
2 Choked Estuary
3 Swamp
6 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 The Scarab God
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Inverter of Truth
1 Ashiok, the Nightmare Weaver
1 Thief of Sanity
1 Cry of the Carnarium
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Noxious Grasp
2 Legion’s End
1 Coax From the Blind Eternities
1 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Miracles – Evangelos Tsiligiannis]
[Creatures]
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Mentor
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
3 Potent
2 Predict
3 Counterbalance
4 Force of Will
2 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Council’s Judgement
1 Entreat the Angels
3 Terminus
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Tundra
2 Plains
4 Island
1 Karakas
3 Mystic Sanctuary
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Prismatic Vista
4 Flooded Stand
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Back to Basics
3 Disenchant
1 Dovins Veto
2 Flusterstorm
1 Mindbreak Trap
2 Mystical Dispute
3 Rest in Peace
1 Supreme Verdict
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Third Place: Bao, Luk and Xiao

[Deck Title= Infect – Meng Bao]
[Creatures]
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
4 Noble Hierarch
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Blossoming Defense
1 Become Immense
2 Distortion Strike
4 Might of Old Krossa
3 Groundswell
4 Once Upon a Time
4 Scale Up
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Vines of Vastwood
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Waterlogged Grove
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Breeding Pool
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Forest
2 Pendelhaven
1 Dryad Arbor
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Veil of Summer
2 Spellskite
2 Dismember
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Spell Pierce
1 Distortion Strike
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Simic Ramp – Damon Luk]
[Creatures]
4 Arboreal Grazer
4 Cavalier of Thorns
3 Courser of Kruphix
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
2 World Breaker
1 Oblivion Sower
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
3 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Growth Spiral
4 Nissa’s Pilgrimage
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Breeding Pool
2 Castle Garenbrig
2 Fabled Passage
7 Forest
4 Hinterland Harbour
1 Island
3 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
4 Yavimaya Coast
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Damping Sphere
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
2 Graffdigger’s Cage
2 Negate
2 Perilous Vault
2 Tireless Tracker
3 Unravel the Aether
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sneak & Show – Ray Xiao]
[Creatures]
4 Griselbrand
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lotus Petal
4 Preordain
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
1 Flusterstorm
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack
2 Omniscience
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
3 Snow-covered Island
3 Volcanic Island
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Graffdigger’s Cage
2 Blood Moon
2 Goblin Cratermaker
2 Defense Grid
2 Arcane Artisan
2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
2 Pyroblast
1 Flusterstorm
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place: Posaratnanathan, Ryl and Xu

[Deck Title= Infect – Roy Posaratnanathan]
[Creatures]
4 Glistener Elf
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Blighted Agent
1 Spellskite
1 Viridian Corrupter
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Distortion Strike
1 Become Immense
3 Scale Up
2 Groundswell
4 Might of Old Krossa
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Spell Pierce
1 Apostle’s Blessing
4 Once Upon a Time
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Pendelhaven
2 Waterlogged Grove
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Verdant Catacombs
3 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Veil of Summer
1 Graffdigger’s Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Return to Nature
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Weather the Storm
2 Dismember
1 Krosan Grip
1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Force of Vigor
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Five-Colour Niv-Mizzet – Zachary Ryl]
[Creatures]
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Paradise Druid
2 Uro,Titan of Nature’s Wrath
2 Siege Rhino
1 Hostage Taker
1 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Dreadbore
1 Discovery // Dispersal
1 Cut // Ribbons
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Oath of Kaya
1 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Utter End
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Bring to light
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Fabled Passage
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Forest
3 Botanical Sanctum
1 Watery Grave
2 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Opulent Palace
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Mana Confluence
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Rest in Peace
1 Kunoros, Hand of Athreos
1 Hour of Devastation
1 Deafening Clarion
2 Infernal Reckoning
2 Rakdos’s Return
2 Thought Erasure
1 Selesnya Charm
1 Surrak Dragonclaw
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Dimir Reanimator – Geng Yu Xu]
[Creatures]
1 Grave Titan
3 Griselbrand
1 Hapless Researcher
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Tidespout Tyrant
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Entomb
4 Force of Will
4 Careful Study
3 Collective Brutality
4 Exhume
2 Ponder
4 Reanimate
3 Lotus Petal
2 Animate Dead
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Snow-covered Island
2 Snow-covered Swamp
4 Underground Sea
2 Verdant Catacombs
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
3 Echoing Truth
2 Fatal Push
2 Flusterstorm
4 Show and Tell
2 Pithing Needle
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]