Relic Fest 2025: My first Modern tournament
Thursday#
We arrived in Labège, on the outskirts of Toulouse, on Thursday at around 4pm and, once we had settled into the hotel (there were already people playing Magic in the reception area), we took a walk around Diagora to soak in the atmosphere. The Agora, which is the space reserved for Relic Fest, is divided into two areas: the roughly 500 m² hall, where the bar was and, at the back, the artists’ area; and the main room, a huge square space with an organizer booth in the middle where crowds gathered on all four sides, flipping through binders and playmats, evaluating cards and negotiating trades, or simply admiring some of the most powerful cards in the game.
There was quite a long line in the artists’ area to get to Rebecca Guay’s booth, but since we had nothing else to do and had already bought the official playmat, we decided to join the queue so that on Friday I could focus on the tournament I had come to play: the Modern Main Event. Rebecca took things calmly, signing at an easy pace and chatting and taking photos with the people who asked. A signature cost 5€, or 10€ if you wanted it shadowed in two colors. Each person could ask for a maximum of 20 signatures. If you do the math, you quickly realize that signing cards and playmats is pretty good business for artists…
Friday#
During the four days of Relic Fest there are tournaments in all kinds of formats (even Australian Highlander! aka 7 Points Singleton), and new ones are organized on the fly if there is enough demand. The day’s main tournaments were the Legacy Main Event and the Modern Main Event, which was the one I had registered for.
At 10:00 sharp, my tournament began. Everything was managed through the official Companion app. Once you completed registration with a code they gave you at the organizer desk, at the start of each round the app notified you of your opponent and the table number where you had to play your match. Rounds lasted 50 minutes, and you also entered the result directly into the app. It was the first Magic tournament I had played in many years, and I was a bit nervous. I do not usually play Modern and, although I know the format’s most relevant cards, I do not know the meta decks in depth, nor am I used to the rituals of competitive play.
My deck was a version of SaffronOlive’s Budget Dino Whack with a slightly improved mana base. I chose it for three main reasons:
- It is a deck you can build on a very tight budget.
- Even though it is not a very competitive deck, it can catch opponents by surprise and steal some wins.
- It has no room to play interaction. That may sound negative at first, but I saw it as an advantage. There is nothing more frustrating, when you are playing against decks you do not know, than having interaction in hand but not knowing exactly which key pieces from your opponent’s deck you should counter or destroy.
The tournament begins! My main goal is to learn, have fun, try not to make mistakes in my play, and, if possible, steal a few games so I do not finish last.
Round 1#
I play against a very friendly guy named Valentin. While we shuffle our decks we chat a bit and I tell him this is my first tournament in about 15 years. He is playing a version of 4-Color Omnath Control .
Game 1: I win the die roll and start by mulliganing to 6, keeping a weak hand with no dinosaur or Bushwhacker. I get in for a few attacks with my 1/1 goblins, but he lands Omnath, starts gaining life and generating mana, then stabilizes with planeswalkers and beats me without giving me any real chance to do anything.
Game 2 I am on the play again, this time with a good hand. Three goblins on turn one, a few squirrels on turn two, and a 20/20 Ancient Imperiosaur on turn three. He exiles the dinosaur with Solitude , so I gain 20 life, but I draw a Bushwhacker or two and, attacking with goblins and squirrels, I pick up a quick win. The theory was correct: the deck really can win some games! Honestly, getting a win in the very first round made me really happy.
Game 3: He starts. I have another explosive opening and put two dinosaurs onto the battlefield early, a 20/20 and a 12/12. Still, the control deck always seems to have Solitude in hand. There is no way for the dinos to actually attack. With my dinosaurs getting exiled I gain a lot of life, all the way up to 51, but I end up with no board, five lands, and an empty hand. Meanwhile, Valentin has a full grip, is gaining life, has all the mana he wants, and is drawing multiple cards a turn. I concede at 39 life, once he has climbed back above 20.
Result: ❌ 1-2
Round 2#
I play against Guillem, a Catalan player, on Esper Goryo’s Vengeance . Just from the way he handles the cards I can tell right away that he is a strong, experienced opponent.
Game 1: We both mulligan to 6. I have to keep a one-lander. He starts. He steamrolls me with a hasty Atraxa on turn three, which he then blinks several times with Ephemerate.
Game 2: At least my sideboard plan is clear: Tormod’s Crypt . I am on the play and have a good hand. On turn two I attack for 10 with a kicked Bushwhacker and I think maybe I still have something to say here. How naive of me. Before blocks, he plays Solitude and Ephemerate and wipes out half my team. I manage to exile his graveyard with the Crypt, stopping him from putting Atraxa back into play, and I can even rebuild the board a bit, eventually convoking a 16/16 Imperiosaur. He beats me on the next turn with a Psychic Frog . I knew the psychedelic frog was a good card, but in this deck it does absolutely everything. It is spectacular.
Result: ❌ 0-2
Round 3#
My opponent is playing Simic Ritual , a sort of Merfolk Tempo deck…
Game 1: I am on the play with an excellent hand. I land an 18/18 dinosaur on turn three, and this time my opponent is not playing white, so on turn four I attack with everything for the win.
Game 2: He starts. I have a decent opening, but no dinosaur. I manage to get him down to 9 life, but step by step his deck, with flash and cascade creatures (Coiling Oracle , Ice-Fang Coatl , Abhorrent Oculus …) plus Birthing Ritual , wins the tempo battle and stabilizes. In the end a Harbinger of the Seas delivers the final blow, leaving me with a single red mana and no green.
Game 3: I am on the play again and I think that if I get a hand like in game one, I have a real chance to win my first match. Luck is not on my side. After mulliganing I have to keep a one-land hand and do not find the second land until turn six. My opponent does not apply especially heavy pressure, but he builds his board in a steady, solid way, so by the time I finally have a second land there is nothing left to do.
Result: ❌ 1-2
Round 4#
Last round before lunch. My opponent, Ioic, is playing Rakdos Burn . At this point in the tournament, the Swiss system is doing its job, and the pairings I am getting are against opponents on a losing streak similar to mine.
Game 1: We both mulligan to 6. Ioic is stuck on one land for the entire game, a Mountain, and I am stuck on two. Still, since we both attack every turn, me with goblins and squirrels and him with Monastery Swiftspear and Ragavan , the Treasures his monkey creates keep him going. It is a slow and agonizing game for both of us, but in the end his multiple direct-damage spells finally bring me to 0.
Game 2: I am on the play with a decent hand, but the dinosaurs are nowhere to be seen throughout the match. His draw is also much better than in game one. Monastery Swiftspear, Goblin Guide , and Dragon’s Rage Channeler get to work and, once again, direct-damage spells finish me off. The Weather the Storm that might have kept me in the game are nowhere to be found either…
Result: ❌ 0-2
Round 5#
After a quick veggie sandwich with chicken and mayonnaise, I face a red-haired guy whose name I do not remember. He is playing Izzet Affinity , a deck I am somewhat familiar with because its mechanics are very similar to the Pauper version I play.
Game 1: I start with a solid hand, able to make goblins on turn one. His first turn is spectacular too, with Mox Opal and several zero-cost artifacts that let him cast Thoughtcast . Looking at that opening, which also includes Engineered Explosives , the perfect answer to my multiple token creatures, I think I have no chance at all. Still, for some reason, perhaps a mistake, he does not crack the Explosives, and my goblins, with help from a couple of Bushwhackers, manage to cross the finish line.
Game 2: He starts, with an opening that is not quite as explosive as the previous one. But there are two key moments that let victory slip out of my hands. On the one hand, this time he does use the Engineered Explosives to destroy all my tokens just as I am about to convoke the dinosaur, and on the other I make the mistake of trying to destroy his Kappa Cannoneer with Gleeful Demolition without remembering that the Cannoneer has Ward 4. In my defense, even though I knew the card, I had forgotten it had Ward, and the copy he was playing was in French, so I did not notice before casting the spell.
Game 3: I start with a decent hand. On turn three I manage to land a 14/14 Imperiosaur. I had not managed to cast one in either of the previous two games, and I can see on his face how a creature of that size catches him completely off guard. On his third turn, Urza’s Saga lets him fetch Shadowspear from his deck and equip a 7/7 Cannoneer to prepare for the hit. On turn four I attack only with the 14/14 trampler, which he blocks with the equipped Cannoneer. He takes 7, but Shadowspear’s lifelink safes him from losing any life. The Cannoneer dies anyway. Then after combat I increase the pressure by convoking a second 14/14 dinosaur. I watch him study the cards in his hand, think for a while, and finally concede. My first match win of the tournament!
Result: ✅ 2-1
Round 6#
I play against Mathieu, who is on Esper Midrange/Control . At first I suspect it might be the Goryo’s and Atraxa version, but fortunately neither of them shows up at any point.
Game 1: He goes first, but I have an aggressive opening with goblins and Bushwhacker. He punishes my Chromatic Star a little with Orcish Bowmasters , but he does not have time to stabilize and I take the win.
Game 2: I bring in Pithing Needle for Tamiyo and Tormod’s Crypt for Psychic Frog, and just in case Murktide Regent or Goryo show up, but he has the perfect sideboard card against me: Pest Control . He wipes my board and manages to flip and grow a Tamiyo. On his final turn he does not realize he has lethal by combining Tamiyo’s ultimate with Psychic Frog, but I concede anyway because there is nothing I can do.
Game 3: Very similar to game two. Pest Control, Bowmasters, and a few Fatal Pushes leave me with no options. Esper Control is probably my worst matchup. Special mention to Quantum Riddler , a new EOE card that fits beautifully into these Esper Control decks!
Result: ❌ 1-2
Round 7#
I play against Mono-Blue Merfolk . I do not remember my opponent’s name.
Game 1: I start, but I am forced to mulligan to 5 after drawing two hands with no lands, and my opponent sympathizes showing great sportsmanship. I manage to put some tokens into play, but I do not have enough power to apply pressure. My opponent executes his plan, with Aether Vial putting creatures onto the battlefield on both his turn and mine. He does not attack until he has enough power to close the game in a couple of turns.
Game 2: I am on the play again, this time with a good hand. Just with tokens and Bushwhackers I get him down to 6 life in a few turns. Then I face an important decision: attack and leave him at 1, or convoke a dinosaur and wait one more turn to attack for lethal. I decide to play the dinosaur and wait, and in the end it turns out to be the correct decision. He does not have the counterspell, and on the next turn I can attack and win.
Game 3: He starts and comes out strong, playing several lords and completely locking me out of the game with Harbinger of the Seas. A couple of attacks from his pumped-up islandwalking Merfolk are enough to beat me.
Result: ❌ 1-2
Round 8#
Final round against a young guy playing Esper Blink . A tough matchup to end the tournament…
Game 1: I get lucky with the dice but not with the cards, and I start with a mulligan. The game is slow, but step by step I manage to get him down to 3 life. He stabilizes with Solitude and plays very cautiously, never attacking because he is afraid of my hasty creatures. His patience pays off, and I am unable to cross the finish line.
Game 2: I am on the play again and the story repeats itself. I have a good opening, but once again Solitude stabilizes the game, controls the board, and my opponent prevails.
Result: ❌ 0-2
Conclusions#
All in all, it turned out to be a very positive experience. Everyone I played against was very kind. The event was very well organized. I managed to get my playmat signed by Rebecca Guay, which had been the original reason I decided to sign up for the tournament.
The deck worked well enough and, overall, I do not think I made too many mistakes. I managed to win one match, which is more than I expected, and I won a total of 6 games out of the 21 I played, which meant I finished in 134th place out of 144 participants.