Hey everyone! 😁
I'm back today to talk about the RCQ Modern tournament that took place at F2F Montreal on Sunday, April 12th. With the Modern season starting, this was the first RCQ in the region to qualify for the upcoming Regional Championship this fall. Although we don't yet know where it will be, 33 of us were ready for battle on Sunday morning 🫡
I was also happy to see my teammate Alex there, whom I hadn't seen in a while. It's always great to compete with the other members of the Cartes-L team ☺️
For the event, I chose to play my trusty Prowess deck. I have to say that I haven't been following Constructed formats as closely as I could have lately, and my options were rather limited. Despite this, the old Prowess list from last fall seemed perfectly capable of performing well, as long as the local meta wasn't too hostile. Since the deck is much less common than before, I also figured that many decks wouldn't be very well prepared to fight this archetype.
My tournament started with a super close round against Dimir Mill. I lost the first game quite quickly, but I managed to come back and win the match 2-1. It's a matchup that can really go either way, and I was forced to play Pick Your Poison in case my opponent solved an Ensnaring Bridge. Fortunately, increasing the number of cards in my post-sideboard deck was enough to secure the victory.
In the second round, I had to face a friend playing Amulet Titan, the least enjoyable deck in the format. He quickly beat me in two games, one of which was on his second turn. Unfortunately, it was too early to get lunch, so I had to wait for the remaining 40 minutes of the round.
After that, I won a long match against Esper Blink, which ended 2-1 in my favor with a triple Lightning Bolt to my opponent's face when there was very little time left in the round.
For the fourth round, I had to face another friend who was playing Storm. This matchup always scares me a little because you never know when you're going to blow up. That said, I ended up winning the match 2-1 after losing the first game. With a score of 3-1, I only needed one more win to guarantee myself a Top 8 finish.
In round five, I was up against Dimir Flash. Fortunately, this was very favorable for me, and I quickly won both games. With my score of 4-1, I could draw in round six and secure my Top 8 spot.
To get my invitation, I had to win my quarter-final match, and that wasn't going to be easy. I was scheduled to play Gruul Eldrazi in the second game. Luckily for me, I managed to navigate both games to victory, notably by thinking outside the box a bit in the second game. With the win secured, I was thrilled to have qualified for the next RC. However, the job wasn't finished.
In the semi-finals, I was to play against Esper Frog. This matchup is also one of those that can really go either way. I was quite lucky with my Unholy Heat during the second game, managing to deal with two consecutive Frogs and eventually sealing the match with a victory.
In the final, I was to play against my friend Jeremy with his Mardu Blink deck. We split the pot and played to see who would have the stack. Unfortunately for me, Mardu Blink is a nightmare for Prowess. I did my best to maximize my chances, but it was still a massacre in Jay's favor, and he beat me 2-0. Congratulations to him on his great victory! 💪
It was a very enjoyable event to participate in, and I'm very happy with my performance, both the results and my level of play. It feels good to make a little return to Modern after several months, and even more so when things are going well, haha.
In conclusion, I'd like to take a moment to thank the readers for following me this far, as well as thank Cartes Léo and the Team Cartes-L team for their support before and during the event. I wish you all a wonderful day, and I'll be back in a few weeks to talk about Secrets of Strixhaven Sealed. 😉
Until next time!