This past weekend, professional Magic The Gathering players from around the world converged in Barcelona, Spain, for the chance to become a Pro Tour champion. After two grueling, hot days of Lord of the Rings draft and Modern, only eight players remained standing.
Among those remaining were a few well-known faces, such as Javier Dominguez, Simon Nielson, Kai Budde, and Christina Calcano. One of the top eight was a player named Jake Beardsley, who had never been to the Pro Tour before. Jake stood out from the rest, as he was the only Rakdos Scam player to make it into the top eight.
Of the other decks in the top eight, three of them were Temur Rhinos, three were Mono-Green Tron, and there was one copy of Amulet Titan. With Rakdos Scam making up a majority of the field, it was very surprising that it was not very well represented at the end. However, Jake’s skill with the deck showed everyone why it is the deck to be feared.
After defeating Marco Del Pivo on Temur Rhinos in the quarterfinals, Jake made quick work of Dominic Harvey in the semifinals, who was on Amulet Titan. Headed to the finals, Jake only had one competitor left in his way: Christian Calcano.
A long-time pro player and crowd favorite, Christian had dominated the Pro Tour wielding one of the most loved and hated decks of all time: Mono-Green Tron. The two remaining finalists left everything on the table, and it was a clash of titans. Calcano showcased the power of The One Ring in Tron, while Beardsley showcased the power of a turn-one Fury and Grief.
The final match consisted of five incredible games, including a turn-three Ulamog for Jake, which was stolen by a Dauthi Voidwalker, and an incredible win for Calcano in game four after fighting tooth-and-nail through multiple hard decisions. In the end, however, Scam was too offensive and quick for Tron, and Jake was able to take down game five and take home the trophy.
Rakdos Scam is a powerhouse in Modern, combining aggressive starts and hand disruption to quickly overwhelm the opponent. As long as this deck survives the B&R announcement coming on August 7th, I expect to see this deck a lot during the next RCQ season.
You can find Jake’s decklist here.
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