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, players battled in Frontier for the top prize.
As has become typical of our Frontier events, [card]Dig Through Time[/card] was a huge part of the successful decks on Sunday. Simon Tubello—who seemingly can’t lose in this format—was the lone control [card]Dig Through Time[/card] deck while three others opted to pair their card-draw with the [card]Saheeli Rai[/card] and [card]Felidar Guardian[/card] combo. Of these combo players, three opted for a midrangey build that’s heavy on planeswalkers and [card]Renegade Rallier[/card], while Michael Lambert took a more controlling approach with [card]Torrential Gearhulk[/card]. Playing with the combo obviously adds the “free-win” element to a format where it’s hard to get those, which is something we’ve seen players have success with in older formats before. The ability to play with mana open and a combo piece in play really can’t be understated, especially in these “mirrors” where both players have instants as powerful as [card]Dig Through Time[/card].
Tubello said that the best way to beat these Saheeli combo decks is to put pressure on them early, which explains why the rest of the Top 8 is filled with aggressive strategies like Peter DeVries first-place mono-white aggro deck. It’s likely we see a shift toward these faster strategies, and slower decks find away to speed up if Saheeli is going to be such a large part of the metagame going forward.
DeVries’ deck is a lot of what you’d expect out of a mono-white aggro deck. It picked up some valuable additions in Amonkhet with [card]Glory-Bound Initiate[/card] and [card]Cast Out[/card] as both another powerful attacker and a catch-all answer. [card]Cast Out[/card] is particularly important as so much of Frontier revolves around planeswalkers, particularly the Saheeli combo decks. The biggest stand-out in Peter’s list is the full four copies of [card]Archangel of Tithes[/card]. This is a huge flier that can’t be killed by a lot of the formats premier removal. [card]Grasp of Darkness[/card], [card]Kolaghan’s Command[/card], [card]Fatal Push[/card] and [card]Fiery Impulse[/card] all do nothing against the five-drop. The angel also operates as a hatebear for the Saheeli Combo as it’s static ability makes it so your opponent’s combo is impossible to execute while [card]Archangel of Tithes[/card] is untapped, which becomes easy to ensure in combination with [card]Always Watching[/card]. It’s also worth mentioning the full for copies of [card]Gideon, Ally of Zendikar[/card] in the sideboard which are likely a powerful sideboard option to sure-up the Grixis Control matchup which has been a popular deck of choice in Frontier.
In speaking with Simon, he thought the most interesting thing about the event was what was absent from the room. The Jund Delirium decks that cast [card]Emrakul, the Promised End[/card] had a bad day on Sunday, and both the [card]Hardened Scales[/card] and Four-Colour Rally archetypes didn’t even show up to play. The downtick in delirium decks is a big change from the past two Frontier Showdowns where Emrakul seemed to rearing her powerful head. But, it looks like these Saheeli decks which pad their combo with a high number of planeswalkers and sticky threats, were too much to handle for the BG midrange strategies. According to Tubello, [card]Hardened Scales[/card] should have a really strong matchup against Saheeli and might just be the next shift in the Frontier metagame. Scales combines enough pressure and removal to get under the combo in time to finish out games.
With his win Peter qualifies himself for the next Face to Face Games Ultimate Showdown and the rest of the Top 8 have started their march toward the top of the Showdown leaderboard. Join us this weekend to try to cement your spot on the leaderboard as we’ll be battling Triple Modern Masters Draft !
First Place: Peter DeVries, Mono-White Aggro
[deck]
[Creatures]
3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Mardu Woe-Reaper
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Glory-Bound Initiate
4 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Archangel of Tithes
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Smuggler’s Copter
3 Stasis Snare
3 Always Watching
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Cast Out
1 Valorous Stance
[/Spells]
[Lands]
19 Plains
1 Westvale Abbey
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Mastery of the Unseen
2 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Hushwing Gryff
2 Dusk // Dawn
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Second Place: Asha Mills Emmet, Jeskai Visions
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Mantis Rider
4 Soul-Scar Mage
3 Soulfire Grandmaster
2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Fevered Visions
2 Smuggler’s Copter
4 Fiery Temper
3 Treasure Cruise
3 Fiery Impulse
3 Lightning Axe
4 Lightning Strike
3 Cathartic Reunion
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Inspiring Vantage
2 Flooded Strand
2 Irrigated Farmland
2 Wandering Fumarole
1 Needle Spires
4 Mountain
1 Island
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Smash to Smithereens
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Weaver of Lightning
2 Dispel
2 Deflecting Palm
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Fragmentize
1 Sweltering Suns
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Third Place: Simon Tubello, Grixis Control
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Tasigur, The Golden Fang
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Fatal Push
4 Censor
3 Dig Through Time
1 Hieroglyphic illumination
2 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Ruinous Path
1 Disallow
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Yahenni’s Expertise
1 Fiery Impulse
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wandering Fumarole
3 Flooded Strand
2 Sunken Hollow
2 Smoldering Marsh
1 Fetid Heath
1 Canyon Slough
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Lost Legacy
2 Dispel
2 Collective Brutality
1 Radiant Flames
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Roast
1 Transgress the Mind
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Fourth Place: Andrew Abela, 4C Saheeli
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Renegade Rallier
4 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Ishkhana, Grafwidow
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Dig Through Time
4 Lightning Strike
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Fumigate
1 Nahiri, The Harbinger
1 Nissa, Vital Force
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
4 Flooded Strand
1 Canopy Vista
2 Cinder Glade
2 Prairie Stream
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Arashin Cleric
2 Silkwrap
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Dispel
1 Natural State
1 Nissa, Vital Force
1 Radiant Flames
1 Ishkhana, Grafwidow
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Fifth Place: Brad Burden, Atarka Red
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Foundry Street Denizen
2 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Soul-Scar Mage
2 Zurgo Bellstriker
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Lightning Strike
4 Atarka’s Command
4 Smuggler’s Copter
4 Dragon Fodder
3 Hordeling Outburst
2 Stoke the Flames
4 Wild Slash
1 Become Immense
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Cinder Glade
9 mountain
1 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Boiling Earth
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Exquisite Firecraft
3 Kari Zev’s Expertise
2 Roast
2 Rending Volley
1 Fiery Impulse
1 Goblin Heelcutter
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Sixth Place: Liam Kane, 4C Saheeli Rai
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Channeller Initiate
4 Reflector Mage
4 Rogue Refiner
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Whirler Virtuoso
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Saheeli Rai
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Attune with Aether
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
4 Aether Hub
1 Cinder Glade
1 Canopy Vista
1 Prairie Stream
1 Botanical Sanctum
3 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Negate
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Spell Queller
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Radiant Flames
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Reclamation Sage
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Seventh Place: Michael Lambert, Jeskai Saheeli
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Felidar Guardian
3 Reflector Mage
2 Torrential Gearhulk
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Censor
3 Anticipate
3 Shock
4 Disallow
3 Dig Through Time
4 Unsubstantiate
2 Sweltering Suns
1 Nahiri, The Harbinger
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Flooded Strand
2 Wandering Fumarole
2 Prairie Stream
3 Shivan Reef
3 Island
2 Plains
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
3 Spell Queller
2 Fumigate
2 Fragmentize
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Summary Dismissal
2 Dispel
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Eighth Place: Michael Bennet, 4C Saheeli
[deck]
[Creatures]
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Reflector Mage
4 Renegade Rallier
1 Ishkhana, Grafwidow
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Saheeli Rai
4 Lightning Strike
4 Dig Through Time
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Fumigate
2 Negate
1 Nissa, Vital Force
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Botanical Sanctum
2 Flooded Strand
2 Cinder Glade
2 Prairie Stream
1 Canopy Vista
1 Spirebluff Canal
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Glorybringer
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Silkwrap
2 Arashin Cleric
1 Ishkhana, Grafwidow
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Dispel
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Radiant Flames
1 Natural State
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]