Sacred Torch Showdown III Main Event — Andy vs. Andy Winner’s Report

Magic: The Gathering · by Andy Levine · August 2, 2026

I’ve seen a lot of tournament reports come out following Sacred Torch Showdown III 2026. Let’s be real: Nobody wants to hear about how Dan got to the finals in his first premodern tournament. We already saw Etai do that at Lobstercon 2023. Who cares whether it was right to shuffle with {Portent} or stack the variety of blasts in some particular order? I know that {Gush} is worth 6.5 points of damage with {Psychatog}, but nobody has time to read about counting up to 19 or 23 with Dr. Teeth.

Who cares about Lobstercon 2026 finalists, Bryan, following that run with a Sacred Torch Showdown Top 4? Like a {Giant Shark} in an Old School champion’s sideboard, Bryan’s {Nevinyyral’s Disk} sat in his sideboard at Lobstercon, showing the whole Premodern community that he didn’t need a 15-card sideboard to reach the finals of that event. With Bryan unshackled from the {Nevinyyral’s Disk} handicap, a tournament win is expected. We already know Bryan is a good player, but a truly great player would Top 8 Lobstercon with a {Nevinyyral’s Disk} in the maindeck and then either follow it up by adding more Disks or switch entirely and Top 4 Sacred Torch with a much worse deck.

The people want to read about the weekend’s real main event: the Andy vs. Andy mirror match. Two local juggernauts in a niche casual format duke it out over a cool $20. This is peak Magic. Before we start talking about the match, let’s go through how we got to this primetime Friday night fight.

{Mortal Combat} by Mike Ploog

The Bet

As many readers may know, Andy V is a longtime Landstill player. He’s had local success with the deck, beating most everyone in the NYC area not also named Andy. A few weeks ago, he had a group of friends over for his birthday. We played a variety of different cubes and chaos drafts and minimal amounts of Premodern.

The following morning Andy left NYC around 6 a.m. to head to Massachusetts and steal their trophy at the Duress Crew Summer Regional. After a round of congratulations from the members of the Order of the Sacred Torch, I texted Andy about trying out the Terrageddon vs. Landstill matchup with him at some point. I was just thinking about a casual bonus match at league one week, but he was out for blood.

I had played against Landstill a couple times before with the deck but mostly against players who were new to the format or didn’t know what to prioritize. I was undefeated against Landstill. Andy, on the other hand, has one career loss to any {Terravore} deck and zero losses to Terrageddon specifically. Like Ali vs. Frazier in ‘71, under the bright lights of New York City with upwards of tens of thousands of onlookers, one of us was going to pick up our first career L.

The Preparation

We settled on running our Lobstercon 2026 decklists against each other. I went to Moxfield for the two lists and loaded them into Cockatrice. I’ve been traveling a lot for work of late, so I didn’t have the best opportunity to test with others. I don’t play Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO), so I settled for playtesting against myself. I figured I had a couple of weeks and could get some matches in against myself each evening. That lasted for one day before I decided to play more Slay The Spire 2 in that allotted time instead. But in that one day, I figured out a few things about the matchup.

I knew I had to win game one, and the best way to win game one was to get a {Weathered Wayfarer} going before he resolved a {Standstill}. I could follow that up with {Rishadan Port}s/{Wasteland}s while he doesn’t have the {Teferi’s Response}s or {Thawing Glaciers} yet. I’d use {Meddling Mage} to name {Swords to Plowshares} and should find an opening in the midgame to resolve an {Armageddon} to close the door. Games two and three should be played similarly: do much of the same but also need to skillfully draw a {Red Elemental Blast}, {Pyroblast}, or {Abeyance} in the process.

{Abeyance} by Thomas Gianni

The Lead Up

You may be asking why we’d have a crowd around us on the Friday night before Sacred Torch Showdown III. Isn’t premodern league night Thursday? Well, for the second year in a row, members of the Duress Crew, Jay McCowan and Brad Stone, made the trek from Worcester for the Sacred Torch Showdown and crashed at my apartment. Aiden Johnson, after hearing that he could do coverage for the weekend’s main event, decided to join in making the journey down to Brooklyn.

At Thursday league, I told players to stop by my place if they wanted to hang with the Duress Crew members and get some playtesting in for the side event going on Saturday. Secretly, I invited others because I wanted to get Andy V to play some games of Landstill against other opponents first to tire him out before the fight.

The Day Of

I woke up early. I sometimes have a hard time going to sleep the night before a big tournament, and this was perhaps the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in. I went to pick up some groceries for the weekend, and by the time I unpacked them, the Duress Crew members were just around the corner. After they settled, I gave them a talk about what it means to be a winner in New York.

At 3:18 p.m., I got the much-anticipated text from Andy V.

After some train issues, he showed up a bit before 5 p.m. with deck in hand and seed cube over his shoulder. Following Andy’s arrival, SWB came with his ‘99 extended battle box. Dan came next, ready to test either [u][w] Control or stick with GAT for the Saturday event. Several other OST members followed shortly after.

We needed to wait for Lanny to come with the stream equipment, so I got to work trying to get Andy to tire himself out on Landstill testing against others. He must’ve been onto my plan, though, as he rebuffed attempts by others to play against him on Landstill, saying that he’d play any other deck in Premodern or any of the other formats available (Seed Cube, 99 Extended, Classic Legacy) but needed to save his Landstill energy for the feature match.

I kept stalling by grilling vegetables and cooking burgers. Two veggie burgers for Dan, nothing for Bryan — he had to stay sharp for the side event, a double cheeseburger for Jay, a single hamburger for Lanny, a single cheeseburger for Andy himself, and on and on. Once those were done, I threw on a couple of steaks. Throughout this whole time, Andy wouldn’t budge on playing anyone else with Landstill. With all the meat off the grill, I eventually broke the {Standstill} we were in and said we should start the match, but not before I got one warm-up match in against Dan.

The Undercard - Dan (GAT) vs. Andy (4c Terrageddon)

My memory of this match is not strong. Knowing Dan’s manabase is horrible versus {Wasteland} and {Rishadan Port}, I probably did a lot of {Wasteland}ing and {Rishadan Port}ing. Game one, I know I cast {Call of the Herd} at some point, which was probably never answered. I did get hit by a turn six {Daze} on {Cataclysm}. Ouch.

Game two, I decided to do the single Oath juke. It was almost certainly the wrong call, but I wanted to try it out for science. It didn’t really matter. I had a moderately sized {Terravore} out and maybe a {Meddling Mage} on {Swords to Plowshares}. At some point I could’ve forced an {Armageddon} through, but Dan conceded knowing the writing was on the wall.

I hadn’t played with my Terrageddon deck since Lobstercon. I felt warmed up and ready for the main event.

The Main Event - Andy V (Landstill) vs. Andy L (4c Terrageddon)

Lanny got the stream set up. Aiden and Mike got set up in the guest bedroom, a.k.a the stream booth.

See the VOD

Game One

I win the die roll, which is huge. It means I can get under a {Standstill} with a {Meddling Mage} without {Mox Diamond}. Once there’s a {Meddling Mage} in play naming {Swords to Plowshares}, it’s a lot harder for him to stick a {Standstill}. Following my preparation, I knew I wanted a hand that has some subset of {Weathered Wayfarer} to get {Wasteland}s, {Meddling Mage} to turn off {Swords to Plowshares}, and {Sylvan Library} for card advantage/selection. My opening hand had none of these cards. Snap keep.

I led with {Treetop Village} to Andy's {Island|. I cast {Mox Diamond}, {Plains}, and a facedown {Exalted Angel}. Screw the {Rishadan Port}/{Wasteland} strategy; change of plans. I’m beating down with Angel and {Treetop Village}. The plan worked as Andy failed to find a [w] source and I took a quick game one.

Game Two

Andy mulliganed to six and led with a {Faerie Conclave}. I don’t have a {Wasteland} for it and play a {Gemstone Mine} with {Red Elemental Blast} in hand to protect against a turn two {Standstill}. Andy doesn’t have the {Standstill}, so I follow up with a {Treetop Village}. Andy dropped a {Plains}; I dropped a {Rishadan Port}. He played a fourth land and a {Powder Keg}, leaving two mana open. {Powder Keg} sucked for me since it meant I couldn't get aggressive with {Treetop Village}.

I {Rishadan Port} one of his two lands at end of turn to keep him off {Counterspell} mana for my turn. He had {Teferi’s Response}, but I had {Red Elemental Blast}. With him tapped out, I drop a pair of {Sylvan Library} to play around a single {Disenchant} effect before my draw step. He dropped a {Standstill}, and we draw-go for a bit.

{Rishadan Port} by Jerry Tiritilli

With a {Powder Keg} in play, I can’t get aggressive with my {Treetop Village}. I used my {Rishadan Port}s to mess with his mana, giving me an opening to resolve a spell if I want. If I waited another turn cycle, he may have enough mana to counter whatever play I try to make. I didn’t want to go for an {Armageddon} since he would have a {Powder Keg} leftover to clear my {Mox Diamond}, allowing him to recover faster than me.

I opted instead for a {Meddling Mage} naming {Swords to Plowshares} and a {Weathered Wayfarer}. This gave me multiple threats at multiple mana values to tax his {Powder Keg}. It meant I fell behind on cards, though. He ticked up the {Powder Keg}. I attacked the following turn, then lost my {Meddling Mage} to {Powder Keg}, my {Weathered Wayfarer} to a {Swords to Plowshares}, and a {Rishadan Port} to a {Teferi’s Response}. Oof. Andy followed with a cycled {Decree of Justice} shortly after. I’ve paid a lot of life for {Sylvan Library} and don’t have the defenses to stop Andy’s go-wide plan.

Game Three

I opened with {Weathered Wayfarer} into a {Meddling Mage} on {Swords to Plowshares} before Andy can get {Counterspell} mana up. I bait a {Counterspell} with another {Weathered Wayfarer} and hold back with blast mana up. I burn through my {Gemstone Mine} to start the {Wasteland} loops. I take out Andy’s {Coastal Tower}, which gets met by a {Teferi’s Response}, which draws my {Red Elemental Blast}. Andy played a {Flooded Strand} to back his {Mishra’s Factory} and fetched a basic.

In response to Andy’s end-of-turn fetch, I {Wasteland}ed the {Mishra's Factory} to play around the second {Teferi's Response}. I spent the rest of the game {Rishadan Port}ing Andy off of [w][w] to play around {Wrath of God}. {Weathered Wayfarer} joins in on the {Meddling Mage} beats. With lethal creatures on board as well as a lethal {Treetop Village}, I cast {Abeyance} in Andy’s upkeep. A handshake soon followed.

I never used my {Black Lotus} as an Elephant Token but did end up a whopping $20 richer. More importantly, I remained undefeated against Landstill and Andy (in Premodern). Meanwhile, Andy technically didn’t lose to a {Terravore}.

Shoutouts

Got a lot of people I’d like to thank and apologies if I missed anyone:

Simon for providing the display $20 bills.
Lanny for setting up the stream.
Aiden and Mike for commentary.
Neal for coming down from Massachusetts and winning the side event.
Dan for the warm-up match and getting 2nd in the side event.
Bryan for getting 3rd in the side event.
{Weathered Wayfarer} for being the best one drop in premodern.
Whoever’s D20 we borrowed for the die roll that awarded me the play.
Brad for believing in me when Aiden wouldn’t.
Billy for banning {Parallax Tide} to force me to play Terrageddon more. (Should unban {Parallax Tide}, though).
Roland and the rest of OST cheering me on in person and in Twitch chat.

I don’t know why anyone would’ve actually read this far, but if you made it here, then do check out Dan and Bryan’s tournament reports from the Sacred Torch Showdown side event. I look forward to other reports from that event as well.