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 Rivals of Ixalan Sealed for the first time at our Rivals of Ixalan Pre-Release, and our winner was familiar to our Showdown Top 8s, but picked up his first ever win.

Andrew Abela took it all down on Sunday on the strength of a sweet late-game focused Naya Dinosaurs Sealed deck. Wakening Suns Avatar did what a wrath-on-a-stick should do in Limited and he was able to defeat Omar Beldon in the finals.

I also played and Top 8’d the event, and my biggest take away from the day was this: play B/W every chance you get in Sealed. There were a virtual four copies of the archetype in the Top 8 and Omar clued me in that he’d played at at pre-releases all weekend long. The thing is that you can get both a synergistic Vampire deck as well as a mashed up control deck that lacks synergy but leans on its removal. B/W just seemed like the best deck all day long.

Enchantments are everywhere in this format, Baffling End is a premier removal spell, there are great rare enchantments, Pious Interdiction is still around and Luminous Bonds is another new staple. Crushing Canopy is a great maindeck card all of a sudden and you should be putting huge stock in your sideboard enchantment removal.

With his win on Sunday Andrew moves himself up Face to Face Games Ultimate Showdown leaderboard. Next week it’s time for we’re battling Sealed again to celebrate the release of Rivals of Ixalan, come out and battle some B/W !

First Place, Andrew Abela- Naya 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Exultant Skymarcher
1 Raptor Companion
1 Colossal Dreadmaw
1 Hardy Vetren
1 Overgrown Armasaur
1 Atzocan Seer
1 Raging Regisaur
1 Gleaming Barrier
1 Skyblade of the legion
1 Wakening Suns Avatar
1 Deeproot Warrior
1 Grazing Whiptail
1 Snaping Sailback
1 Tishanas Wayfinder
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Pounce
1 Orazca Relic
1 Cobbled Wings
1 Pious Interdiction
1 Baffling End
2 Divine Verdict
1 Luminous Bonds
1 Commune with Dinosaurs
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Forest
1 Mountain
8 Plains
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Second Place, Omar Beldon- B/W 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Legion Conquistador
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Anointed Deacon
1 Bloodcrazed Paladin
1 Desperate Castaways
1 Dire Fleet Hoarder
2 Legion Conquistador
1 Martyr of Dusk
1 Sun-crested Pterodon
1 Dinosaur Hunter
1 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Fathom Fleet Boarder
1 Voracious Vampire
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Impale
1 Pirates Cutlass
1 Reaver Ambush
1 Contract Killing
1 Luminous Bonds
2 Squires Devotion
1 Moment of Craving
1 Vanquish the Weak
[/Spells]
[Lands]
8 Plains
8 Swamp
1 Evolving Wilds
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Third Place, Ben Moir- Sultai 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Daring Sabateur
1 Watertrap Weaver
1 Deeproot Warrior
1 Grazing Whiptail
1 Kumenas Speaker
1 Thundering Spineback
1 Kitesail Corsair
2 Sailor of means
1 Siren Reaver
1 Soul of the rapids
1 Spire Winder
1 Giltgrove Stalker
1 Jungleborn Pioneer
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Merfolk Mistbinder
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Skulduggery
1 Travelers Amulet
2 Hunt the weak
2 Waterknot
1 Aggressive Urge
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Woodland Stream
7 Forest
6 Island
1 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Fourth Place, Jeffery Pike- U/R 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Deadeye Rig-Hauler
1 Kitesail Corsair
1 Mist-cloaked Herald
1 Daring Buccaneer
1 Fanatical Firebrand
1 Frilled Deathspitter
2 Goblin Trailblazer
1 Orazca Raptor
1 Relentless Raptor
1 Prosperous Pirates
1 Shipwreck Looter
1 Bonded Horncrest
1 Storm Fleet Pyromancer
1 Sun-crowned Hunters
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Swashbuckling
1 Pirates Cutlass
1 Crashing Tide
2 Waterknot
1 Bombard
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Unknown Shores
1 Stone Quarry
7 Island
8 Mountain
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Fifth Place, David Goldfarb- Grixis 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Prosperous Pirates
1 Sailor of Means
1 Wind Strider
1 Lightning Rig Crew
1 Deadeye Plunderers
1 Marauding Looter
2 Dedeye Rig Hauler
1 Sailer of means
2 Slipery Scoundrel
1 Charging Tuskodon
2 Fanatical Firebrand
1 Goblin Trailblazer
1 Swaggering Corsair
1 Storm Fleet Sprinter
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Mutiny
1 Waterknot
1 Bombard
1 Firecannon Blast
1 March of the Drowned
1 Vanquish the Weak
1 Pirates Cutlass
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Island
7 Mountain
2 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Sixth Place, Keith Capstick- B/W 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Bellowing Aegisaur
1 KiteSail Freebooter
1 Queens Agent
1 Skymarch Bloodletter
1 Forerunner of the Legions
1 Martyr of Dusk
1 Raptor Companion
1 Skymarch aspirant
1 Sun Sentinel
1 Dinosaur Hunter
1 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Oathsworn Vampire
2 Voracious Vampire
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Profane Procession
2 Impale
2 Mark of the Vampire
2 Pious Interdiction
1 Slash of Talons
[/Spells]
[Lands]
9 Plains
8 Swamps
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Seventh Place, Jeff Wan- Mardu 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Pterodon Knight
1 Shining Aerosaur
1 Everdawn Champion
1 Exultant Skymarcher
1 Legion Conquistador
1 Martyr of Dusk
1 Pride of the Conquerers
1 Sanguine Glorifier
1 Sun-Crested Pterodon
1 Dusk Charger
1 Oathsworn Vampire
1 Twilight Prophet
1 Vampire Revenant
1 Legion Lieutenant
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Contract Killing
1 Divine Verdict
1 Gleaming Barrier
1 Masterminds Acquisition
1 Moment of Craving
1 Moment of Triumph
1 Reaver Ambush
1 Radiant Destiny
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Mountain
8 Plains
7 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/Deck]

Eighth Place, Massimo Gordillo- B/W 
[Deck]
[Creatures]
2 Exultant Skymarcher
1 Martyr of dusk
1 Raptor Companion
1 Skymarcher Aspirant
2 Duskcharger
2 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Oathsworn Vampire
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Tetzimoc, the Primal Death
1 Territorial Hammerskull
1 Deadeye Tormentor
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Baffling End
1 Divine Verdict
1 Profane Procession
1 Orazca Relic
1 Legions Judgement
1 Recover
1 Masterminds Acquisition
1 Boneyard Parley
[/Spells]
[Lands]
7 Plains
10 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/Deck]