Aaron Barich
In a tournament dominated by Urza, Lord High Artificer and Oko, Thief of Crowns, Aaron Barich took home the Knoxville Modern Open trophy with Yawgmoth, Thran Physician.
Barich carefully maneuvered through a loaded Top 8, eventually winning her third Open with Golgari Yawgmoth by defeating Christopher Gooch on Mono-Green Devotion in the finals. Despite the Top 8 containing five Oko decks, not a single three-mana planeswalker reached the last match of the tournament. Barich was the only player in Day 2 to play Golgari Yawgmoth, a new creature-combo deck that takes advantage of creatures with undying and the powerful mythic rare from Modern Horizons.
The path to the finals wasn’t easy as Barich had to take down Edgar Magalhães in the quarterfinals on Sultai Urza and Corey Baumeister in the semis on Temur Urza. Also making the Top 8 were Drake Sasser, Daryl Ayers, Will Pulliam, and Vincent Daniels.
Notably, Ayers, Pulliam, Magalhães, and Baumeister all returned to the elimination rounds for a second week in a row following their Top-4 finishes in Columbus last weekend.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Wall of Roots
- 1 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 4 Geralf's Messenger
- 4 Young Wolf
- 1 Blood Artist
- 4 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
- 1 Cavalier of Night
Lands (21)
Spells (12)
View all the decklists from Day 2 of SCG Knoxville.
Pioneer Classic
Tony Norton
Three players made the Top 8 of the Pioneer Classic with Big Red and Tony Norton gave the deck its first win by taking down Ross Merriam on Sultai Dredge. Two copies of Hardened Scales made the Top 8 along with singleton copies of Mono-White Aggro and Izzet Phoenix.
Creatures (24)
- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster
- 2 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
- 3 Glorybringer
- 4 Soul-Scar Mage
- 1 Rekindling Phoenix
- 4 Goblin Chainwhirler
- 4 Bonecrusher Giant
- 2 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (9)
Sideboard
Modern Classic
Justin Parente
Justin Parente won the Modern Classic with Bant Snowblade, marking back-to-back weeks the deck earned a plaque on the weekend. Parente defeated Vince Thompson on Golgari Midrange in the finals of a diverse Top 8 with seven different decks. Only two Urza decks made the elimination rounds, leaving room for format sleepers like Selesnya Hexproof and Gifts Storm to make the Top 8.
Creatures (19)
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (21)
Spells (12)
The SCG Tour will be back in action on Feb 1-2 with a Team Constructed Open in Richmond, Virginia. Register for the Team Open, Standard, Pioneer, and Modern Classics today!