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The F2F Tour brought its competitive spirit to Ottawa this past weekend, hosting an exciting Team Trios event that saw 36 teams—108 players—battle across Standard, Pioneer, and Modern formats. Emerging victorious were Jonathan Dery, Alan Ngo, and Christopher Nguyen, showcasing their synergy and strategic prowess. Runner-up Dalia Morin also made her mark, leading her team to a top 8 finish. Let’s dive into the highlights and hear from the top contenders about their experiences.
Interview with the Winning Team: Alan Ngo Speaks on Behalf of the Trio
KYT: Alan, tell us about how your team came together for this event. What were the key strengths that each of you brought?
Alan: We’ve been looking forward to this tournament. The three of us don’t often get the chance to play together since Christopher became a father and has limited time to play Magic.
My choice of deck was Quintorius combo for Pioneer. I have played this deck in the last F2F Team Trios Open in Montreal and did really well with it. Christopher wanted a straightforward deck, so he settled for Boros Energy, and it was a good choice because he went undefeated. For Standard, there wasn’t a defined metagame, so Jonathan decided to play B/G Obliterator because it fit his playstyle (midrange).
KYT: It sounds like you had some intense matches. Was there a standout moment that you feel was crucial for your team’s victory?
Alan: Our most important play decision was in round 3. I was playing against the well-known Patrick Wu on U/W Lotus. Both of our teams had an overall score of 1-1, so a loss would’ve reduced our chance to top 4 to null. Christopher had won his game, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the same for Jonathan. The decisive match was between me and Patrick.
Pioneer: Alan Ngo
Planeswalkers (4)
Spells (4)
Enchantments (4)
We were in game 3, and Patrick had 2 copies of High Noon on the board to stop my combo. I was able to Boseiju one copy and Leyline Binding the other one. On my turn, I tried to cast Trumpeting Carnosaur, thinking I could combo off. However, Patrick had Get Lost and was able to destroy the Leyline Binding to bring back the High Noon and stop the combo.
On his turn, he only played a land and passed. On my turn, I attacked with the Trumpeting 8/7 (map token) and took his life down to 10, and cast a Beanstalk Giant afterward. At the end of my turn, Patrick cast a Hullbreaker Horror. We knew at this point we were in trouble. He didn’t cast anything on his turn.
On my upkeep, he cast Discontinuity and bounced back my Beanstalk Giant. He again didn’t play anything on his turn and passed. I attacked with my Trumpeting again, and he took it and went down to 2 life. This was the crucial moment.
The option was to cast a threat or just pass the turn. After talking with each other, we made the decision to not cast anything because we didn’t want to allow him to cast a counterspell and bounce the Trumpeting. We needed him to draw a spell that he couldn’t cast, and next turn he had to block with his Hullbreaker.
This is exactly what happened on the next turn; he traded his Hullbreaker for my Trumpeting. I cast the Beanstalk Giant (played around Dovin’s Veto and Tale’s End) and took over the game. At the end of the game, Patrick showed us his hand, and he had only counterspells.
KYT: How does the feeling of winning as a team compare to individual successes in Magic?
Alan: In my opinion, it always feels better to win in a team than individually because if you have a bad matchup, you can still count on your teammates to get you out of trouble. We also have different skill sets that are really helpful depending on the board state of the game.
KYT: What’s next for you and the team? Any plans or goals?
Alan: The next step is trying to figure out who is the team captain [laughs]. This has been an ongoing discussion since our first team event together six years ago, but no one is yet ready to give up his place. We might have a conclusion in the future (I really doubt it).
On a serious note, I really hope there is going to be a Team Trio Regional Championship in the future because it’s the best format.
Interview with Top 8 Finisher: Dalia Morin’s Thoughts on Team Dynamics and Challenges
KYT: Dalia, can you introduce your team and the decks you chose for each format?
Dalia: For this event, I teamed up with Maxime Legault and Bertrand Joseph-Paré, two great players from the Montreal area. They are also people I’ve been carpooling with for Regional Championships before. Max was playing Jeskai Convoke in the Standard seat, and Bert was playing his trusty Mono Green Devotion deck in Pioneer. As for me, I registered the current menace: Bant Nadu in Modern.
KYT: What was your team’s overall strategy going into this Team Trios event?
Dalia: Since I had the most reps in Modern recently and since I had been playing Nadu for a while, we determined that I should be in the Modern seat. Max had been a bit out of the loop recently, so we elected to have him play my Jeskai Convoke deck since he played Boros Convoke at the last RC.
We felt both our picks were well-positioned and objectively strong decks. For Pioneer, the best fit was to have Bert play his Mono Green deck since he had a lot of experience with the deck going back years now. Despite its questionable position in the metagame, we trusted his skill and experience to deliver a solid performance.
KYT: Were there any particularly tough matchups or rounds that stood out?
Dalia: That’s difficult to answer because I think we each faced difficult matchups at different times. Max was generally breezing through, and his only loss was to his own deck not functioning. Meanwhile, Bert had a bit of an uphill battle, facing blue decks every other round.
My toughest opponent was definitely Eduardo Sajgalik in round 7. He played Esper Goryo’s, which is one of the few decks that I feel can be favored vs. Nadu. He was my only loss in the tournament. I always like playing against him because he is a fierce yet very pleasant opponent.
KYT: How did your team handle communication during the tournament?
Dalia: Historically, I’ve always approached Trios in a way where all teammates communicate quite a bit with each other during their match. However, I found that to affect my performance negatively.
For this event, we barely talked to each other during our matches, and I think that allowed us to leverage our individual strengths better. We are all players who do well in solo events usually but have struggled in team events before. We would only spectate each other when our own match was over and try to minimize distracting each other. This seemed to work very well!
KYT: What do you find most enjoyable about competing in Team Trios events?
Dalia: I would say it’s the feeling of being able to celebrate wins or grieve losses as a team. Seeing all the preparation and the strategizing paying off…or backfiring catastrophically, depending on the event, is very fun. In either case, the whole team gets to share the same stories.
There is also something very fun about having three opponents every round, which really underlines the deeply social aspect of the game, which I really enjoy.
As we wrap up our coverage of this thrilling event, we look forward to seeing more great matches and strategic plays in future tournaments. The next stop on the F2F Tour is in Edmonton on September 7. Whether you’re a local competitor or someone looking to test their skills on a bigger stage, we expect another exciting showcase of Magic: The Gathering talent. Stay tuned for more action!
Kar Yung Tom (KYT) is the Digital Content Manager for Face to Face Games. He oversees the F2FTour.com and Magic F2F websites. He is also the lead host of the First Strike podcast.