HFX Games Players Championship Qualifier #1 Recap

Player’s Championship Qualifier – Modern

This weekend marked our first Player’s Championship Qualifier, where 16 Modern players battled it out for an invitation to our end of year Championship tournament. This also happens to be our first Modern event after the banning of Violent Outburst. Many people may have thought the days of Cascade were over, but it looks like the footfalls will still be crashing in modern. With two copies in the top 4 of this tournament, it looks like Rhinos are here to stay. At the end of the day, only one deck could come out on top, and that deck was Mono Green Tron in the hands of Frank LeBlanc!

Frank LeBlanc – Mono Green Tron (1^st):

Gabe Vienneau – Mono Black Coffers (2^nd):

Leah Wiseman – Domain Rhinos (3^rd-4^th):

Adrian Quiring – Domain Rhinos (3^rd-4^th):

Connor Cheney – Temur Prowess (5^th-8^th):

Jamaul Toussaint – Esper Goryo’s Vengenace (5^th-8^th):

Adam Joyce – Domain Zoo (5^th-8^th):

Matthew Bailey – Esper Goryo’s Vengeance (5^th-8^th):

I got the chance to talk to our first Championship Qualifier Winner, Frank LeBlanc on how he ended up choosing Tron as his weapon of choice for this tournament. Here’s what he had to say:

“A couple factors led me to choosing Tron – midweek metagame podcast was talking about how the deck seemed to be in a good place after the outburst ban (mtgo results seemed to confirm). I also played a bunch of mono green in pioneer prior to the banning, and missed getting to play a big mana Karn deck. Not to mention I have some dope friends (Sean and Leah) who have the deck and didn’t mind lending it to me. I also don’t have too much experience in the modern metagame recently, and a linear strategy like Tron seemed like it would be easier to pick up than something more interactive.”

I asked Frank what card he thought was an absolute standout crusher for him through the tournament and this was his reply:

“This was the first time I got to play with The One Ring and man is that card busted. Just insane amounts of card draw. But to be honest Sundering Titan and Chalice of the Void probably did the most work, given I played vs Domain Rhinos for 3/6 rounds. So, really would be Karn, the Great Creator come to think of it.”

There you have it! Congratulations to Frank for winning his invitation, and the rest of our Top 8 on their finish, earning them prizes and Leaderboard Points! Couldn’t make it out to this one and want to get in on the action? Our next Player’s Championship Qualifier also happens to be a Regional Championship Qualifier on April 27^th! Bring your Pioneer A-game and you could be featured in our next article!