While we crowned a new National Champion on one side of the International Centre, Truman Yee and Jerico Reguirre were cementing themselves invites and travel stipends to the next StarCityGames Invitational in our Modern FaceToFaceGames.com Open+.

For me, one of the coolest parts about looking at the decklists from this event is the discrepancy between these Top 8 lists and what we’re used to seeing at Toronto-centric events. With players coming from all over the country to compete in Nationals and subsequently this Open+ our usual four copies of Eldrazi were replaced with four blue-based combo decks (five if you include Infect).

Truman’s deck looks very similar to one that had success in a Modern MTGO PTQ recently with the addition of a little Ixalan spice with one copy of Search for Azcanta. Jerico Reguirre held down Toronto’s reputation as a hotbed of colourless decks and is someone who seems to be having a lot of success locally as of late. Ad Nauseum certainly had the biggest day of any single archetype with both Chris Flink and Christopher Milewicz making the elimination rounds but being quickly dispatched in the quarterfinals.

All of these spell-based combo decks hold down a very interesting place in the Modern metagame right now. In theory, Death’s Shadow should be the deck holding them back, but Shadow decks are notably absent from this Top 8 so maybe these combo-specialists are just finding ways to finally beat Thoughtseize. Something’s got to give on the fair side of the format or these Top 8s are going to become all too familiar. Primeval Titan is another card that I found surprisingly absent from the Top 8 of this event which is jarring if you look at the space G/R Titan decks occupy in the MTGO metagame right now.

Can the fair decks adapt? Or is Modern going to be about racing to victory (like always)? You can find out the answer to these questions on Oct.28 at our Modern Open in Saskatoon or on Nov.4 at our Toronto Modern Open at Seneca. It’s truly fascinating to watch the FaceToFaceGames.com Open series develop it’s own Modern metagame, make sure you’re at these events so you can keep up !

First Place, Truman Yee, U/R Breach

[Deck]
[Creatures]
3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
1 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Pull from Tomorrow
4 Remand
1 Spell Snare
1 Supreme Will
4 Through the Breach
4 Serum Visions
2 Blood Moon
1 Search for Azcanta
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Desolate Lighthouse
7 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Anger of the Gods
1 By Force
1 Dispel
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
3 Madcap Experiment
2 Platinum Emperion
2 Roast
2 Dispel
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Second Place, Jerico Reguirre, Eldrazi Tron

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Walking Ballista
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Reality Smasher
4 Endbringer
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Dismember
2 All Is Dust
2 Karn Liberated
4 Expedition Map
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Urzas Mine
4 Urzas Power Plant
4 Urzas Tower
4 Walking Ballista
2 Wastes
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Basilisk Collar
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
2 Grafdiggers Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spatial Contortion
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Warping Wail
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Third Place, Les Miller, U/R Storm

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Baral, Chief of Compliance
4 Goblin Electromancer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Manamorphose
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Remand
1 Empty the Warrens
3 Grapeshot
2 Past in Flames
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Flooded Strand
3 Island
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Spirebluff Canal
3 Steam Vents
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Blood Moon
2 Dismember
2 Dispel
1 Echoing Truth
2 Empty the Warrens
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Pieces of the Puzzle
1 Shatterstorm
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place, Louis Debe, B/W Eldrazi and Taxes

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Blade Splicer
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
1 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Mirran Crusader
3 Rest in Peace
2 Runed Halo
1 Sin Collector
3 Stony Silence
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Fifth Place, Ted Slone, Merfolk

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Cursecatcher
2 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Master of Waves
3 Merrow Reejerey
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Silvergill Adept
1 Vendilion Clique
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Dismember
3 Vapor Snag
4 Spreading Seas
4 Aether Vial
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Cavern of Souls
12 Island
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dismember
3 Hurkyls Recall
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spell Pierce
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Tidebinder Mage
2 Unified Will
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Sixth Place, Adam Farran, Infect

[Deck]
[Creatures]
4 Blighted Agent
4 Glistener Elf
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Spellskite
1 Viridian Corrupter
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Become Immense
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Groundswell
4 Might of Old Krosa
3 Mutagenic Growth
2 Opt
2 Spell Pierce
4 Vines of Vastwood
1 Distortion Strike
[/Spells]
[Lands]
3 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Pendelhaven
2 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dismember
1 Dispel
2 Dissenters Deliverance
3 Shapers Sanctuary
2 Spell Pierce
1 Spellskite
2 Twisted Image
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Seventh Place, Chris Flink, Ad Nauseum

[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Laboratory Maniac
4 Simian Spirit Guide
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angels Grace
1 Desperate Ritual
1 Lightning Storm
1 Mystical Teachings
3 Opt
2 Pact of Negation
2 Spoils of the Vault
4 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Solemnity
4 Lotus Bloom
3 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
3 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Tolaria West
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Disenchant
1 Echoing Truth
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Pact of Negation
2 Path to Exile
3 Pithing Needle
1 Silence
1 Solemnity
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Eighth Place, Christopher Milewicz, Ad Nauseum

[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Laboratory Maniac
4 Simian Spirit Guide
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angels Grace
1 Lightning Storm
1 Pact of Negation
3 Spoils of the Vault
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Phyrexian Unlife
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 City of Brass
3 Darkslick Shores
1 Dreadship Reef
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Bontus Last Reckoning
1 Echoing Truth
1 Elspeth, Suns Champion
2 Grafdiggers Cage
2 Hurkyls Recall
1 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Pact of Negation
1 Phyrexian Unlife
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Thoughtseize
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Want to try out one of these decklists? Join us this Sunday at Face to Face Games Toronto to tune-up your Modern game at our 1k Sunday Showdown !