Welcome to another weekly Showdown Recap, where we take a look at what happened at Face to Face Games Toronto’s weekly Sunday Showdown, a series of 1k events feeding into the Ultimate Showdown 5k Invitational. This week players battled in Modern to see who could take down the top prize.
It’s been a long time coming and Taimur Rashid finally made his way into the winner’s circle at a Showdown.
Taimur played Grixis Death’s Shadow on Sunday, a previous hero of the Modern format that was dethroned by the rise of Humans. The talk around the competitive Modern community is that it might be primed for a resurgence and Taimur surely showed that it has that kind of potential on Sunday.
Joining Taimur in the Top 8 were two copies of Bant Spirits, myself playing B/G Rock, an Amulet Titan deck, Chris Flink playing [Card]Ad Nauseum[/Card] as usual, one of Toronto’s nicest guys in Andrew Oyen playing Infect and a copy of Dredge.
What I think I like most about this Top 8 is that it might be the most perfect representation of Modern right now possible. Spirits has been riding high as of late and just took down Grand Prix Atlanta cementing its spot as the go-to disruptive creature deck in the format. Spirits, along with Rashid’s Shadow deck and Oyen’s Infect deck give us a good look at just how powerful a fast clock and some disruption can be in Modern.
Then there’s Ryan Sandrin and his baby Dredge. Dredge has picked up a lot in popularity with the addition of [Card]Creeping Chill[/Card]. I chose to play B/G Rock, as I usually do. That said, I do think it’s the deck I would recommend to anyone trying to play fair and take their time in a format filled with unfair decks that like to go fast. [Card]Assassin’s Trophy[/Card] is the real deal, and [Card]Tireless Tracker[/Card] is just as busted as it’s always been.
With his win on Sunday, Taimur cements his spot in the upcoming Ultimate Showdown and the next Regional Pro Tour Qualifier, while the rest of our Top 8 have begun their march up the leader board to qualify. This upcoming weekend at Face to Face Games Toronto is going we’ve got a Legacy Sunday Showdown. Get those [Card]Brainstorm[/Card]s packed, make sure to pre-register and come out to battle!
First Place, Taimur Rashid- Grixis Death’s Shadow
[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Death’s Shadow
4 Street Wraith
4 Gurmag Angler
3 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Mishra’s Bauble
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Faithless Looting
3 Serum Visions
3 Stubborn Denial
3 Thought Scour
2 Dismember
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Fatal Push
2 Temur Battle Rage
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Swamp
1 Island
2 Blood Crypt
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Stubborn Denial
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Abrade
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Fatal Push
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Kolaghan’s Command
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Second Place, Lucas Worrell – Bant Spirits
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Supreme Phantom
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Spell Queller
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
4 Collected Company
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
2 Temple Garden
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Botanical Sanctum
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Worship
2 Unified Will
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Damping Sphere
1 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
1 Tormod’s Crypt
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Third Place, Keith Capstick – B/G Rock
[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tireless Tracker
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Fatal Push
4 Assassin’s Trophy
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Blooming Marsh
3 Hissing Quagmire
2 Treetop Village
3 Field of Ruin
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Swamp
2 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Damnation
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Nissa, Vital Force
1 Collective Brutality
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Fourth Place, Tyrel Wildman – Amulet Titan
[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura Tribe Scouts
4 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Worldbreaker
1 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Pact of Negation
4 Summoner’s Pact
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Explore
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Adventurous Impulse
4 Amulet of Vigor
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Forest
4 Simic Growth Chamber
3 Gruul Turf
1 Boros Garrison
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
3 Gemstone Mine
3 Tolaria West
1 Vesuva
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Slayer’s Stronghold
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Khalni Garden
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Radiant Fountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Abrade
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Spell Pierce
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
1 Ruric Thar, the Ubowed
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Firespout
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Hornet Queen
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Fifth Place, Ryan Sandrin – Dredge
[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Shriekhorn
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Narcomoeba
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Blood Ghast
1 Golgari Thug
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Life of the Loam
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Creeping Chill
4 Faithless Looting
3 Conflagrate
1 Darkblast
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Arid Mesa
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 City of Brass
3 Copperline Gorge
1 Gemstone Mine
2 Mountain
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
1 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Axe
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Darkblast
3 Nature’s Claim
2 Ancient Grudge
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Sixth Place, Chris Flink – Ad Nauseum
[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Laboratory Maniac
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ad Nauseum
4 Angel’s Grace
4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Serum Visions
3 Sleight of Hand
3 Spoils of the Vault
3 Pact of Negation
1 Echoing Truth
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
1 Lightning Storm
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Temple of Enlightenment
3 Temple of Deceit
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Gemstone Mine
2 City of Brass
1 Nephalia Academy
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Bontu’s Last Reckoning
2 Path to Exile
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Thoughtseize
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Wear//Tear
1 Swan Song
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Seventh Place, Paul Xu – Bant Spirits
[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Rattlechains
2 Reflector Mage
2 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Supreme Phantom
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Collected Company
2 Path to Exile
3 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Botanical Sanctum
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cavern of Souls
3 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Island
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
1 Temple Garden
2 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Knight of Autumn
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dromoka’s Command
1 Settle the Wreckage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Worship
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]
Eighth Place, Andrew Oyen – Infect
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Spellskite
4 Blighted Agent
4 Glistener Elf
4 Noble Hierarch
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Mutagenic Growth
3 Might of Old Krosa
3 Groundswell
2 Become Immense
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Blossoming Defence
1 Distortion Strike
1 Spell Pierce
1 Rancor
1 Slip Through Space
1 Apostle’s Blessing
2 Dismember
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Windswept Heath
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Forest
2 Breeding Pool
2 Pendelhaven
4 Inkmoth Nexus
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Distortion Strike
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Dissenter’s Deliverance
1 Pithing Needle
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Spellskite
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spell Pierce
2 Slayer’s Stronghold
1 Wild Defiance
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]