Standard

Showdown Recap: Feb 12th – Standard

Welcome to another weekly Showdown Recap, where we take a look at what happened at Face to Face Games Toronto’s weekly Sunday Showdown, a series of 1k events feeding into the Ultimate Showdown 5k Invitational. This week, we leveled up our Game Day event into a Standard Showdown!

Last weekend’s Pro Tour saw the emerging dominance of two archetypes: black-green [card]Winding Constrictor[/card] decks, but, mostly, Mardu Vehicles, characterized by powerful aggressive creatures, maybe-better-than-[card]Smuggler’s Copter[/card] [card]Heart of Kiran[/card], unreasonable removal like [card]Fatal Push[/card] and [card]Unlicensed Disintegration[/card], and unbelievably powerful midgame threats like [card]Gideon, Ally of Zendikar[/card]. Vehicles decks finished first through sixth at the Pro Tour, with the Snakes dying off quickly in the first stage of the quarterfinals. While Twitter was furious, as is tradition, innovators kept plodding on, working on developing the metagame. Anyone who paid attention to Magic Online results over the course of the week would see a trend away from Vehicles decks winning thanks to the black-green decks becoming more and more tuned. [card]Ishkanah, Grafwidow[/card] started to play a bigger role, and [card]Fatal Push[/card] as a mainstay of the format suddenly opened up a lot of paths for different decks to make inroads.

Several top finishers at the Showdown took advantage of the top decks’ dependence on cheap removal spells to go over the top. Jack Cooke took a third place finish with a Grixis [card]Dynavolt Tower[/card] deck, taking Pro Tour Kaladesh’s winning combination of [card]Glimmer of Genius[/card] and [card]Torrential Gearhulk[/card] and pairing it with the [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] machine to mow down the horde of [card]Winding Constrictor[/card]s and [card]Inventor’s Apprentice[/card]s. His deck has absolutely no targets for [card]Fatal Push[/card] or [card]Grasp of Darkness[/card] save the pair of [card]Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet[/card] in the sideboard. Ben Wang, on the other hand, looked to the [card]Saheeli Rai[/card]/[card]Felidar Guardian[/card] combo to round out his Glimmer/Gearhulk deck. Jeskai Saheeli utterly dominates [card]Winding Constrictor[/card] decks, but can be a liability against Mardu Vehicles. Kevin Guertin looked towards the third path, playing a bunch of creatures that make for terrible [card]Fatal Push[/card] targets, while also running the Saheeli combo alongside a powerful card advantage/combo insurance engine in [card]Aetherworks Marvel[/card].

Of course, it wouldn’t be a top 8 in this format without a bunch of [card]Winding Constrictor[/card] variants. Gokulan Balakrishnan brought an aggressive [card]Longtusk Cub[/card] build to the event, featuring a spicy maindeck [card]Lifecrafter’s Bestiary[/card] alongside several [card]Blossoming Defence[/card] to give him a powerful edge against control decks. Arkein Pangilinan brought a Jund variant of the deck, based on Martin Juza’s top 8 deck from the Pro Tour, mostly featuring a playset of the powerful [card]Harnessed Lightning[/card], but also a spicy [card]Aetherworks Marvel[/card] to keep the gas going in case the aggro plan peters out. Chris Anderson made it to the finals with a more typical build of the deck, with lots of the technology popularized on Magic Online over the course of the week. Maindeck [card]Gonti, Lord of Luxury[/card] gave him a huge edge in the mirror, while a suite of powerful 5-drop planeswalkers in the sideboard ensured that his deck could beat any amount of removal.

Liam Kane, however, continued to demonstrate his mastery of the Sunday Showdown series by taking down the whole event, and earning himself a nice playmat in the process, with Mardu Vehicles. Liam’s build differs slightly from the norm, eschewing too much cheap removal like [card]Fatal Push[/card] or [card]Shock[/card] in favour of [card]Inventor’s Apprentice[/card] and more powerful 3-drops. This more aggressive path continues down the path taken by Lucas Esper Berthoud’s deck – of Frank Karsten design – that won the Pro Tour, focusing on the deck’s aggressive potential rather than trying to get cute with heavy interaction.

With his win, Liam pushes past Chris Ha to first place in the standings! Gokulan’s finish also puts him at 48 points, a hair’s width away from a qualification for the Ultimate Showdown. Congratulations to our top 8, and as always, thanks to everyone for coming! Join us next week for a Sealed PPTQ Showdown and take your first step towards playing Pro Tour Hour of Devastation in beautiful Kyoto, Japan! We’re also running a special Frontier 2k Double Showdown on the holiday Monday – check that out here!

Liam Kane – Mardu Vehicles – 1st

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Toolcraft Exemplar
4 Thraben Inspector
3 Inventor’s Apprentice
4 Veteran Motorist
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
1 Depala, Pilot Exemplar
1 Pia Nalaar
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
2 Shock
4 Heart of Kiran
1 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Cultivator’s Caravan
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
[/Spells]

[Lands]
4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Spire of Industry
4 Plains
4 Mountain
1 Needle Spires
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Aether Hub
[/Lands]

[Sideboard]
1 Aether Hub
1 Aethersphere Harvester
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Fatal Push
1 Fragmentize
1 Inventor’s Apprentice
2 Release the Gremlins
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Shock
2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
1 Skywhaler’s Shot
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Chris Anderson – BG Energy – 2nd

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
2 Tireless Tracker
4 Verdurous Gearhulk
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Walking Ballista
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Aethersphere Harvester
4 Fatal Push
2 Grasp of Darkness
1 Lifecrafter’s Bestiary
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Hissing Quagmire
4 Aether Hub
5 Forest
6 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Aethersphere Harvester
3 To the Slaughter
1 Nissa, Vital Force
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
4 Transgress the Mind
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Natural Obsolescence
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Jack Cooke – Grixis Dynavolt – 3rd

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Torrential Gearhulk
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Dynavolt Tower
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Anticipate
3 Negate
2 Disallow
2 Fatal Push
1 Shock
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 To the Slaughter
1 Radiant Flames
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Sunken Hollow
4 Aether Hub
2 Smoldering Marsh
2 Wandering Fumarole
2 Spirebluff Canal
3 Swamp
3 Mountain
3 Island
3 Evolving Wilds
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Radiant Flames
2 Release the Gremlins
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Dispel
1 Transgress the Mind
1 Negate
1 Fatal Push
1 Painful Truths
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dark Intimations
1 To the Slaughter
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Ben Wang – Jeskai Saheeli – 4th

[deck]
[creatures]
3 Felidar Guardian
3 Torrential Gearhulk
[Spells]
4 Saheeli Rai
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Shock
3 Harnessed Lightning
1 Decommission
2 Immolating Glare
1 Radiant Flames
2 Fumigate
3 Anticipate
4 Glimmer of Genius
1 Oath of Jace
3 Disallow
2 Negate
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Inspiring Vantage
3 Wandering Fumarole
2 Needle Spires
2 Port Town
4 Aether Hub
4 Island
2 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
2 Negate
3 Spell Queller
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Radiant Flames
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 Release the Gremlins
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Joel Parsons – Abzan Humans – 5th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Walking Ballista
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Winding Constrictor
3 Metallic Mimic
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Tireless Tracker
2 Renegade Rallier
1 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Aetherstorm Roc
1 Archangel Avacyn
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Underhanded Designs
2 Always Watching
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Aether Hub
4 Spire of Industry
4 Concealed Courtyard
3 Blooming Marsh
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Fatal Push
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Yahenni’s Expertise
3 Transgress the Mind
1 Root Out
2 Aethergeode Miner
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Lifecrafter’s Bestiary
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Arkein Pangilinan – Jund Energy – 6th

[deck]
[Creatures]
2 Greenbelt Rampager
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Winding Constrictor
2 Walking Ballista
4 Verdurous Gearhulk
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Aetherworks Marvel
4 Attune with Aether
2 Blossoming Defense
2 Fatal Push
4 Harnessed Lightning
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Mountain
6 Forest
3 Swamp
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Game Trail
3 Hissing Quagmire
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Aether Hub
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Noxious Gearhulk
2 Key to the City
3 Transgress the Mind
2 Ruinous Path
1 Lost Legacy
2 Natural Obsolescence
2 Painful Truths
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Kevin Guertin – 4-colour Saheeli – 7th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Rogue Refiner
4 Whirler Virtuoso
4 Felidar Guardian
3 Elder Deep-Fiend
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Aetherworks Marvel
4 Oath of Nissa
4 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
[/Spells]
[Lands]
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Botanical Sanctum
6 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Island
4 Aether Hub
[/Lands]
[sideboard]
2 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
3 Spell Queller
3 Negate
2 Baral’s Expertise
2 Natural State
3 Kozilek’s Return
[/sideboard]
[/deck]

Gokulan Balakrishnan – BG Energy – 8th

[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Verdurous Gearhulk
3 Bristling Hydra
3 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
3 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
3 Longtusk Cub
4 Winding Constrictor
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Attune with Aether
4 Grasp of Darkness
1 Fatal Push
1 Lifecrafter’s Bestiary
2 Aethersphere Harvester
3 Blossoming Defense
[/Spells]
[Lands]
5 Forest
4 Aether Hub
4 Swamp
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Hissing Quagmire
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Fatal Push
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Lost Legacy
2 Tireless Tracker
4 Transgress the Mind
2 Natural Obsolescence
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

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