Quarterfinals – Felix Tse vs Andrew Robdrup

A matchup worthy of a finals – fortunately granted to us in our first round of top 8! Felix is well-known locally as a Modern Master, with an unbelievably consistent winrate in the Face to Face Games Open Series, appearing in the finals of almost every event he’s played in. He’s played several Pro Tours in the past, but finally made it to the single elimination rounds of a premier event with a top 8 at Grand Prix Montreal. Today, he brought the deck he’s been the most familiar with over the past few years, RG Titan-Shift. Built for speed, [card]Khalni Heart Expedition[/card] is able to allow game-ending [card]Scapeshift[/card]s as early as turn 3, and is known for its fantastic matchup against the midrange decks of the format.

Andrew, on the other hand, has plenty of experience as well. He’s played at the World Magic Cup before, back in 2013, has played plenty of pro-level events, and is a perennial fixture at Toronto RPTQs. He brought [card]Bring to Light[/card] [card]Scapeshift[/card] today, foregoing some of the faster ramp elements of the RG deck for control options – a much more versatile, but slower deck.

Andrew, on the play, plays lands for the first three turns, while Felix opens with a first turn [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card] – very important in a [card]Scapeshift[/card] mirror. This lets him sneak a [card]Courser of Kruphix[/card] into play on the fourth turn through Andrew’s hand of [card]Izzet Charm[/card]s and [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]s. Andrew responds with a [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card] on his own turn, finding a [card]Swamp[/card], unlocking all four colours of his [card]Bring to Light[/card] deck. Felix responds with a second Courser, which meets a [card]Remand[/card] from Andrew, who’s desperately trying to either set up his combo or find a [card]Cryptic Command[/card] to stop Felix from quickly ending the game. The [card]Remand[/card] finds him a Cryptic, and he passes the turn with it up to Felix’s lonely Courser. Felix, at this point, is left with plenty of gas in hand, and has to decide whether to slam his [card]Primeval Titan[/card] into open mana, or play ramp spells in an effort to set up a lethal [card]Scapeshift[/card] on the following turn.

He fetches first to maximize information, then attempts to play the Titan, which swiftly meets [card]Cryptic Command[/card]. Andrew draws [card]Bring to Light[/card] off of it, but is not able to kill Felix with [card]Scapeshift[/card] on his seven lands on account of Felix’s lifegain from the Courser. Felix, sure that he is dead on the following turn, casts [card]Summoning Trap[/card] to find a [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card], giving him his seventh land with which to [card]Scapeshift[/card]. Andrew hesitates, announcing an [card]Izzet Charm[/card] on the Trap but deciding not to cast it, aware that he’s able to beat any [card]Primeval Titan[/card] he might tutor for. Felix plays and sacrifices the Elder, but his [card]Scapeshift[/card] is countered by the [card]Izzet Charm[/card].

Andrew untaps, plays his eighth land, and casts [card]Bring to Light[/card], ending the game with a massive [card]Scapeshift[/card].

Andrew 1-0 Felix

This time, Andrew has the first turn [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card], but Felix is able to keep up with a second-turn Sakura Tribe Elder, while Andrew has nothing to add. Sacrificing [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card] allows Felix to untap and slam a spectacular sideboard card in [card]Witchbane Orb[/card], protecting him from his opponent’s [card]Scapeshift[/card]s. Andrew sets up his four colours with the [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card], but has no additional plays, while Felix accelerates further with a Farseek.

Andrew, at this point, has some difficult decisions to make. His hand is full of [card]Bring to Light[/card], but none of them can be lethal until he gets rid of the [card]Witchbane Orb[/card], and Felix, on the other hand, is threatening a lethal [card]Scapeshift[/card] on the following turn. He decides to take the aggressive route instead of risking falling behind further, and gets a [card]Maelstrom Pulse[/card] with his [card]Bring to Light[/card], taking out the Orb. Felix has a [card]Primeval Titan[/card] rather than a [card]Scapeshift[/card], allowing Andrew a tiny amount of breathing room, despite fetching a pair of Valakuts. Andrew casts another [card]Bring to Light[/card], bouncing the [card]Primeval Titan[/card] with [card]Cryptic Command[/card], and adding another land to the board. Felix, however, has [card]Scapeshift[/card] this time to end the game on the spot.

Andrew 1-1 Felix

Andrew takes the first mulligan of the match, and keeps a hand with countermagic, but no green sources. Felix’s [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card] was met with a [card]Remand[/card], which finds Andrew the [card]Breeding Pool[/card] he needs to cast [card]Cultivate[/card], solving his mana woes for the time being. On the back foot all of a sudden, Felix plays a [card]Khalni Heart Expedition[/card] to try and catch up, but only has a basic [card]Forest[/card] to put a single counter on it. Andrew passes the turn with [card]Cryptic Command[/card] and [card]Izzet Charm[/card] active, ready to Bring Felix to Light in a few turns. Felix draws and goes into the tank, aware that he’s in an awkward situation.

He decides on a [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card] and a Farseek, threatening 8 lands in play on the following turn. Andrew draws [card]Scapeshift[/card], threatening a power play with the [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card] in his hand, but only has a pair of green sources with which to work. Instead he plays the Elder and passes the turn with Cryptic up once more. Felix opts not to crack the Expedition, saving it in case he gets Valakuts into play off a non-Scapeshift source.

Felix maximizes this play by adding a second [card]Khalni Heart Expedition[/card] then following up with a [card]Sudden Shock[/card] on Andrew’s Elder, killing it before he can sacrifice it to respond. He then has a Valakut to threaten a ton of damage off of the pair of Expeditions he has in play – but it’s not lethal. Andrew untaps, and suddenly his hand full of interaction seems weak. He loots with [card]Izzet Charm[/card], finding a seventh land to threaten lethal on the following turn, and passes with Cryptic up once more.

On Andrew’s end step, Felix sacrifices his active [card]Khalni Heart Expedition[/card], threatening to activate the other one with its triggers. Andrew goes deep into the tank, counting vigorously on the table, unsure if he should [card]Cryptic Command[/card] or not. Eventually, he decides on bounce-draw on Felix’s single Valakut. Felix, however, replays the Valakut and slams a [card]Primeval Titan[/card] after making sure it’s lethal. He fetches two more Valakuts and cracks the second Expedition to deal a boatload of damage, securing his way to the semifinals.

Andrew 1-2 Felix

Semi- Finals Michael Orr – Matt Mealing

Michael, from nearby Belleville, has been playing Magic competitively for about a year, and picked up Modern after investing heavily in it. He’s had some local success, with good finishes at Face to Face Games Opens, and several PPTQ top 8s. He’s through to the semifinals of his first major event top 8, defeating Abzan Company with his trusty Merfolk deck.

Matt, on the other hand, is a bit of a Toronto legend. He’s been around the competitive scene for countless years, qualifying for the Pro Tour here and there, making friends of everyone along the way. And he’s sure to let you know how he feels about your mother. Always one to stray from the beaten path, he brought RG Ponza, a land destruction deck, to the tournament today.

Matt is on the play thanks to his higher seeding, and leads with an Arbor Elf into [card]Utopia Sprawl[/card] and [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], while Michael has [card]Aether Vial[/card] into [card]Silvergill Adept[/card]. Matt follows up with a [card]Blood Moon[/card], which has an interesting role in the matchup. It struggles to hinder Merfolk’s progression in mana development thanks to [card]Aether Vial[/card] and a high basic [card]Island[/card] count, but turns off [card]Mutavault[/card] and any other utility lands. Matt, however, also has a [card]Beast Within[/card] to take out the Vial, but a pair of [card]Island[/card]s from Michael cast a [card]Spreading Seas[/card] on the Utopia Sprawl’d [card]Forest[/card], removing the enchantment. [card]Silvergill Adept[/card] trades with the front half of [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], an additional [card]Aether Vial[/card] is played, and Matt untaps and casts [card]Harmonize[/card] to refill his hand.

Michael plays [card]Harbinger of the Tides[/card] to bounce Arbor Elf and restrain Matt’s mana development, forcing him to play only a single [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] on his turn. Michael adds a [card]Merrow Reejerey[/card] and attacks with six power of creatures, to which Matt chumps. He plays a pair of Arbor Elves, but has no threats. [card]Aether Vial[/card] cheats in a [card]Master of the Pearl Trident[/card], then again a [card]Lord of Atlantis[/card], and suddenly the board is looking bleak for Matt, and he goes to 2 off an attack.

Matt has finally reached 9 mana, however, and a [card]Bonfire of the Damned[/card] for 4 clears all the pesky fish off of the board – and Michael is out of gas. Arbor Elves start attacking, and Matt starts to [card]Stone Rain[/card] Michael’s basics. He draws only an [card]Aether Vial[/card], and suddenly Matt is looking in control of the game. A [card]Mwonvuli Acid-Moss[/card] takes Michael down to a single [card]Island[/card] in a sea of [card]Mountain[/card]s, and he continues to draw lands as the Arbor Elf beatdown continues.

Michael finally draws a threat, playing the difficult-to-answer [card]Master of Waves[/card], generating a pair of tokens. Matt adds a third Arbor Elf to equalize the board, and trades with Michael’s Master and tokens when it attacks. Matt, however, fails to draw anything else, and a flashed-in [card]Merrow Reejerey[/card] ends the first game for Michael.

Michael 1-0 Matt

Matt ponders a difficult one-land keep with multiple mana dorks, ultimately deciding to keep, while Michael sends back his seven. His six is no better, neither is his five, nor his four, and he takes his chances going to a mere three cards in hand. Matt’s draw is far from explosive, however, and both players miss their second land drop. Matt finds his on the following turn, however, and deploys a [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], following up with [card]Obstinate Baloth[/card] before Michael finds a second land, which casts only a [card]Spreading Seas[/card]. Matt adds a [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card], mercifully ending the game quickly.

Michael 1-1 Matt

Michael keeps his full hand this time, while Matt sends his back to his deck to find a way to win a difficult matchup. He finds it in his six, and we’re off to the races. Michael leads with a pair of [card]Aether Vial[/card]s to Matt’s [card]Utopia Sprawl[/card], but an [card]Ancient Grudge[/card] immediately evens things up. A lonely [card]Cursecatcher[/card] attacks, but Michael has no additional plays, while Matt adds [card]Thrun, the Last Troll[/card] to his board. A [card]Tidebinder Mage[/card] clogs up the board, but is unable to deal with the troll. It powers up a [card]Master of Waves[/card] on the following turn, however, while Matt only has an Arbor Elf to add to his Thrun. [card]Spreading Seas[/card] cantrips while destroying a [card]Utopia Sprawl[/card], and [card]Elemental[/card] tokens crash into Matt’s board.

Both players are flooding out, but Matt’s single threat is making things awkward as Michael begins to attack with his horde of small creatures. He draws another land and extends the hand – and Michael is through to the finals of his first major top 8!

Michael 2-1 Matt

Finals – Felix Tse vs Michael Orr

Felix soundly defeated a Jund deck in the semifinals, showing the sheer consistent power of his [card]Scapeshift[/card] deck, and is now in the finals, on the play, against Michael’s ragtag team of Merfolk.

Felix has the powerful opening of [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card], while Michael plays his own mana acceleration in [card]Aether Vial[/card], disrupting Felix’s lone green source with a [card]Spreading Seas[/card]. Felix, however, draws another second green source after searching up a [card]Forest[/card] with [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card] to cast a [card]Courser of Kruphix[/card] on an empty board. Another [card]Spreading Seas[/card] turns off [card]Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle[/card], and a [card]Dismember[/card] continues Michael’s onslaught against Felix’s board, leaving him far, far away from an active Valakut.

An Aether Vial’ed [card]Lord of Atlantis[/card] meets an early demise in [card]Lightning Bolt[/card], and is followed up with [card]Kira, Great Glass-Spinner[/card], putting an end to any further removal. Felix plays a sixth land, holding a seventh and [card]Scapeshift[/card], and calmly passes the turn. Michael adds a pair of [card]Master of the Pearl Trident[/card] to the board, but is unable to defeat the game-ending spell.

Felix 1-0 Michael

Michael once again leads with an [card]Aether Vial[/card], but Felix doesn’t have the [card]Search for Tomorrow[/card] to match it this time. A second-turn [card]Lord of Atlantis[/card] threatens a more aggressive draw this time, while Felix’s response of [card]Khalni Heart Expedition[/card] threatens an equally aggressive combo. [card]Spreading Seas[/card] on a [card]Stomping Ground[/card]s does little to deter Felix from progressing with his plan, as Explore into Sakura Tribe Elder adds the full three counters to the Expedition, in addition to keeping him full of green mana. Looking to keep up as much aggression as possible, Michael [card]Vapor Snag[/card]s the [card]Sakura-Tribe Elder[/card], which is sacrificed in response, as he Vials in [card]Merrow Reejerey[/card] and attacks for three with the [card]Lord of Atlantis[/card].

Titan-Shift tends to operate on a different power level than the combat step, however, and [card]Primeval Titan[/card] fetches a pair of Valakuts, allowing the [card]Khalni Heart Expedition[/card] to clear out Michael’s board. He draws his card for the turn, and, exasperated, extends his hand.

Felix 2-0 Michael

Congratulations to Felix Tse – joining the rest of Team Canada at the 2016 World Magic Cup!