ModernNews

Showdown Recap: Stoneforge Mystic is free in Modern

This past Sunday I walked into Face to Face Games Toronto glistening with the prospect of playing a newly revamped Modern format. There were [Card]Stoneforge Mystic[/Card]s all over the place and not a Hogaak to be found.

And then … A small child beat me in the finals with Tron.

Jacob Richer took down the whole event.

Your Showdown champ, Jacob Richer.

Of course — before y’all get your pitchforks out — Jacob is not actually a small child and is both a great kid and an extremely talented young player within the Face to Face Games Toronto community. My friends and I have affectionately referred to him and his friends as “small children” since they first showed up four years ago and started beating the crap out of us over and over again. Jacob played extremely well all day on Sunday, and in our finals match and I’m stoked he won despite my unending hatred for Tron.

I played Jund on Sunday and took my first loss in the finals to Jacob. It was the most fun I’ve had playing Modern in a long time and I played long, interesting and interactive games of Magic all day.

Modern has of course gone through a bit of a metamorphosis over the last week or so. This was our first big event without Hogaak or [Card]Faithless Looting[/Card] and with Stoneforge free from the banned list. From my perspective it really pulled the format in two directions. There were a lot of fair decks chalked full of interaction going toe to toe all day, but on the other side of things there was also a healthy amount of Burn and big mana strategies.

As local hero Daniel Fournier and I discussed yesterday: in order to have success in this new Modern format you’ve got to build your interactive decks with decks like Tron and Titan Shift in mind.

Your Modern Showdown Top 8.

Joining Jacob and I in the Top 8 was Fournier playing his Bant Snowblade deck he’ll be writing about later this week, Liam Tate on Burn, Quinn Graham on Azorius Stoneblade, David Yin playing Mardu Shadow, Derek Chiu who also played Jund and David Kelly who played a sweet Mono-Green Stompy deck.

So, there we have it. The first Top 8 after this massive change in the format and wow do things look different. Two Stoneblade decks, two Jund decks, a Shadow deck, Burn and two big mana decks. Conveniently, this Top 8 really reflects a lot of what I expect Modern to be made up of going forward. You’re going to be rewarded if you’re skilled at playing long games of Stoneblade versus Jund but at the same time, you’re going to need very dedicated plans to combat the format’s linear decks.

Even in my deck the late addition of multiple [Card]Kitchen Finks[/Card] paid off in both my matches against Burn and even my dedicated hate card [Card]Alpine Moon[/Card]s almost stole me a win against Jacob in the finals. You see even more of this dedicated deckbuilding with Fournier’s deck with his emphasis on [Card]Timely Reinforcements[/Card] and [Card]Field of Ruin[/Card].

Before I leave you for the week I’ve got one last reminder for you. Our Toronto MCQ is coming up quickly and you’re going to want to make sure to pre-register to secure your spot. This time it’s Modern so it’s sure to be packed! We’ll see you there.

With his win on Sunday, Jacob cements his spot in the upcoming Ultimate Showdown, while the rest of our Top 8 have begun their march up the leader board to qualify. If you’re interested in your Ultimate Showdown point total, you can check it out here. If you’d like to inquire about your point total or report a discrepancy, please email Toronto@facetofacegames.com. This upcoming weekend at Face to Face Games Toronto we’ll be hosting a Legacy Showdown! [Card]Wrenn and Six[/Card] has turned the format on its head and Daniel Fournier will be back gunning for another title with Golgari Depths, so gear up, pre-register and we’ll see you at the shop!

[Deck Title= First Place, Mono-Green Tron – Jacob Richer]
[Creatures]
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Thragtusk
2 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Sylvan Library
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Expedition Map
4 Chromatic star
3 Chromatic Sphere
4 Oblivion Stone
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Forest
1 Sanctum of Ugin
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Urza’s Tower
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
1 Blast Zone
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Warping Wail
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
3 Thragtusk
2 Spatial Contortion
3 Nature’s Claim
2 Dismember
3 Veil of Summer
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Second Place, Jund – Keith Capstick]
[Creatures]
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Dark Confidant
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Bloodbraid Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Liliana of the Veil
3 Wrenn and Six
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Fatal Push
3 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Raging Ravine
1 Nurturing Peatland
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
2 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Barren Moor
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Alpine Moon
2 Collective Brutality
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Plague Engineer
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Third Place, Bant Stoneblade – Daniel Fournier]
[Creatures]
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Ice-Fang Coatl
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
2 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
4 Opt
2 Spell Snare
1 Mana Leak
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Negation
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
4 Prismatic Vista
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
4 Snow-covered Island
2 Snow-covered Plains
1 Snow-covered Forest
4 Field of Ruin
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Celestial Purge
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Veil of Summer
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Nature’s Chant
1 Sword of Light Shadow
2 Rest in Peace
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fourth Place, Burn – Liam Tate]
[Creatures]
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Goblin Guide
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Skewer the Critics
4 Lightning Helix
4 Searing Blaze
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Boros Charm
4 Rift Bolt
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Arid Mesa
3 Mountain
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Sunbaked Canyon
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Inspiring Vantage

[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
3 Skullcrack
3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Deflecting Palm
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Fifth Place, Azorius Stoneblade – Quinn Graham]
[Creatures]
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Restoration Angel
1 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
1 Logic Knot
2 Spell Snare
2 Serum Visions
2 Force of Negation
1 Wrath of God
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Dovin’s Veto
3 Cryptic Command
1 Batterskull
1 Mana Leak
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Detention Sphere
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Field of Ruin
6 Island
2 Plains
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
2 Glacial Fortress
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Lyra Dawnbringer
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Rest in Peace
1 Stony Silence
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Celestial Purge
2 Monastery Mentor
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
1 Sword of Sinew and Steel
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Sixth Place, Mardu Death’s Shadow- David Yin]
[Creatures]
4 Death’s Shadow
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Ranger-captain of Eos
4 Street Wraith
1 Hex Parasite
1 Gurmag Angler
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Mishra’s Bauble
2 Kolaghan’s Command
4 Fatal Push
2 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
2 Temur Battle Rage
2 Unearth
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
4 Silent Clearing
2 Godless shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Swamp
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Damping Sphere
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Stony Silence
2 Phyrexian Unlife
1 Wear // Tear
1 Kolaghan’s Command
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Plague Engineer
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Seventh Place, Jund – Derek Chiu]
[Creatures]
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Seasoned Pyromancer
4 Bloodbraid Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Inquisition of Kozliek
2 Thoughtseize
3 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Kolaghan’s Command
3 Wrenn and Six
4 Liliana of the Veil
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Blood Crypt
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
1 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Raging Ravine
2 Nurturing Peatland
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Barren Moor
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Ashiok, Dream Render
2 Collective Brutality
2 Collector Ouphe
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Nissa, Vital Force
3 Plague Engineer
2 Surgical Extraction
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

[Deck Title= Eighth Place, Mono-Green Stompy – David Kelly]
[Creatures]
4 Arbor Elf
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Spore Frog
1 Walking Ballista
1 Scavenging OOze
3 Eternal Witness
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Acidic Slime
1 Hornet Queen
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Karn, the Great Creator
4 Mwonvuli Acid-moss
4 Primal Command
3 Trinisphere
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Ancient Stirrings
[/Spells]
[Lands]
10 Forest
8 Snow-covered Forest
2 Blast Zone
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Walking Ballista
2 Spore Frog
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Pithing Needle
3 Damping Sphere
1 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 Mycosynth Lattice
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

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