The F2F Tour was back in the great city of Edmonton this past Saturday to host two Super Qualifiers.

Last week, we saw Mono-Green Tron and Yawgmoth take over the top 8 standings. This week, Pro Tour veteran Francis Toussaint believed he cracked the code to Asmo Food before claiming victory.

Francis was kind enough to tell me what kind of spice he added to the deck.

Asmo Food – Francis Toussaint (1st)

8 19 48 0

Creatures (23)

4

Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar

4

Gilded Goose

1

Haywire Mite

2

Sarinth Steelseeker

4

Academy Manufactor

4

Emry, Lurker of the Loch

4

Ovalchase Daredevil

Spells (1)

1

Unearth

Artifacts (14)

4

Mishra's Bauble

1

Shadowspear

1

Springleaf Drum

4

The Underworld Cookbook

4

Time Sieve

Enchantments (4)

4

Urza's Saga

Lands (18)

1

Boseiju, Who Endures

2

Breeding Pool

1

Island

4

Misty Rainforest

2

Overgrown Tomb

4

Polluted Delta

1

Swamp

1

Undercity Sewers

1

Underground Mortuary

1

Watery Grave

Cards (60)

Sideboard (15)

1

Haywire Mite

1

Nihil Spellbomb

4

Pick Your Poison

1

Pithing Needle

1

Stone of Erech

4

Thoughtseize

1

Damping Sphere

1

Soulless Jailer

1

Jegantha, the Wellspring

KYT: You’ve been cooking in the lab Francis?

Francis: Yeah, I’ve been messing around with some variants of Asmo Food since Ottawa. Started with Insidious Roots at Ottawa, but it was a bust. Time Sieve was the missing piece.

KYT: What are the bad matchups for this new concoction?

I didn’t play against either in the tournament, but Tron can be tough due to Karn and Oblivion Stone

I think Yawgmoth is a good matchup. I played against misplacedginger in the lead up to the tournament in a league and won.

KYT: Should we expect you in Montreal?

Francis: Not planning on it. I’m feeling a bit of travel fatigue and am focusing on my studies since I started school again in January. I’m waiting for the tour weekend to come to me.

KYT: If you change your mind, I’ll be there rooting for you.

In the Pioneer Super Qualifier, Alex Hatch brought home the trophy with Rakdos Vampires. With an invite already in his pocket, Andrew Traynor decided to play his favourite deck in the format and put up a top 4 finish.

I chatted with both gentlemen briefly about the format.

KYT: Andrew, you tweeted that you played a fun but “unplayable” deck this past Saturday?

Andrew: Ya that pretty much sums it up. I already had an invite to Montreal but wanted to go to the event to see people and hang out.

Didn’t care about winning or losing much so picked my favourite deck to play. It’s got really lopsided matchups. Really good against Phoenix and control decks. Can’t ever beat Thoughtseize into a 2 drop or an aggro deck of any kind. Got lucky with my pairings and I drew a lot more cards off my Day’s Undoings than my opponents did.

KYT: What’s the best deck then?

Andrew: Probably Vamps or Phoenix.

Alex: I’d have to agree with Andrew, both decks are very popular right now and put up consistent results.

Phoenix is so good at looking at so many cards to put Arclight Phoenix in the graveyard and swinging in for a lot of damage.

And Vampires of course has Vein Ripper which can be difficult to get rid of and will win the game if you can untap with it.

Rakdos Vampires – Alex Hatch (1st)

8 13 39 15

Planeswalkers (4)

4

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

Creatures (18)

4

Bloodtithe Harvester

4

Dusk Legion Zealot

2

Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

4

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker

4

Vein Ripper

Spells (12)

2

Duress

4

Fatal Push

4

Thoughtseize

1

Bitter Triumph

1

Go for the Throat

Artifacts (2)

2

Smuggler's Copter

Lands (24)

2

Blackcleave Cliffs

2

Blightstep Pathway

4

Blood Crypt

1

Castle Locthwain

1

Cavern of Souls

4

Haunted Ridge

2

Hive of the Eye Tyrant

2

Mutavault

2

Sulfurous Springs

2

Swamp

1

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

1

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Cards (60)

Sideboard (15)

2

Unlicensed Hearse

3

Go Blank

2

Liliana of the Veil

4

Path of Peril

2

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

2

The End

KYT: How’s the head-to-head matchup between Phoenix and Vampires?

Alex: For me the matchup is pretty 50/50. I think Phoenix has a better game 1 against Vampires because of they run 4 Lightning Axe but post sideboard I feel Vampires is slightly favoured with access to graveyard hate and other discard spells.

At least in my experience the sideboard games feel better because I have a lot of cards in there for the Phoenix matchup because I expect it to be popular

KYT: Good luck to both of you in Montreal!

Community Spotlight

Because the Edmonton Tour Stop was going to bring judges from all around Alberta for the weeknd, Ash Loraas had this idea of organizing an event on Sunday as a way to give back to the judges for all their hard work – a chance for them to play and have fun.

One judge took this opportunity to bring in a Battle of Wits masterpiece!

Originated as an event for the judges with a charity component, the tournament had 4 rounds of Modern and then 2 rounds of Judge Tower in top 8.

A special shout-out to Ash and the local Edmonton community for putting this together!

The F2F Tour to the wonderful city of Toronto in April. Be sure to check F2FTour.com frequently for updates as we might be coming to a town near you soon!

Kar Yung Tom

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.